Muir MOMents

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

April 22-May 8, Dale & I were able to go on an amazing cruise with his parents, and his 2 sisters and their spouses. This was the longest I've ever been on a vacation and it was maybe a little too long, but very fun!! We weren't able to do the first part of our trip (Florence & Venice) because of the volcano in Iceland...our flight to Venice was cancelled! Instead we left 3 days later and went directly to Rome where we boarded Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas. Our first stop was Naples, Italy (my favorite). The Amalfi Coast was beautiful. Next stop, Athens, Greece. Athens gets my vote for the best food! Rhodes, Greece was our next port. Rhodes is very medieval and a fun place to visit. Then it was on to Turkey (Ephesus), and finally Alexandria, Egypt. One word to describe Egypt: Filthy! Apparently there are no fines for littering, and there are no traffic laws either! After a CRAZY van ride to Cairo, we visited the pyramids, rode a camel, and stayed overnight in a fairly nice hotel. The next day we did some sight-seeing in Alexandria before going "home"-our cabin on the ship! Sickness started to hit some family members that night. We had a final stop in Sicily, Italy and those who could get off the ship, took a quick walk into town and then promptly came back to the ship where we pretty much stayed in our cabin for the next 2 days. Our whole family plus another 90 people on the ship were sick (the ship blamed the sickness on food we ate in Egypt). Gatorade and water became our best friend! The ship docked in Rome early on May 6th. We were able to get a tour guide to take us around to the "most important" sites in Rome in about a 6-hour time period. The Colosseum was huge! Way bigger than I thought it would be. Even though we still weren't feeling well, we were able to see a lot. We stayed in a hotel that night and then back to the airport to head home. After a 3 1/2 hour wait on the plane to fix a mechanical problem, we had an 11 hour, yes 11 hour flight home! We missed our connecting flight, so we had to stay overnight in Atlanta. We were so grateful when we finally got home! Two weeks later and with the help of two different antibiotics, we finally got rid of our "intestinal bacteria"! While we were gone, our oldest grandchild turned eight and her baby brother was born. As a grandma, it was hard to miss those special events, but it was a memorable trip, one I will never forget and am grateful for.

The ship docked in Rhodes, Greece.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Introducing...AUSTIN

Meet our new grandson, Austin Dale Muir, born April 28, 2010, at 3:15 p.m. Weighing in at 7 pounds 14 oz., 19 1/2 inches. He was born 2 weeks early while Dale & I were on a cruise. I'm so thankful for modern technology. We were able to receive a photo of him on our cell phone when he was only 10 minutes old, while we were sailing in the Mediterranean Sea somewhere between Rhodes, Greece and Turkey! He's a handsome and healthy boy. His parents Chris & Shannon and his siblings Jensyn, Ashley and Jacob are so happy to have him join their family.

Love you, Austin!

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

RECIPE OF THE MONTH

CARROT CAKE:

1 1/2 cups oil

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

2 cups flour

2 tsp. soda, 2 tsp. cinnamon, 1 tsp. salt

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups shredded coconut

2 cups shredded carrots

1 8 oz. can crushed pineapple (save juice)

1 cube butter

1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened

4 cups powdered sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

Mix oil, sugar, and eggs. Add flour, spices, 2 tsp. vanilla, coconut, carrots and pineapple with juice (you can also add 1 cup of nuts if desired.)

Pour into a 9x13 greased pan and bake at 350 for about 35-40 minutes until done. When cool, frost with cream cheese frosting: Mix butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar and 2 tsp. vanilla until smooth.

I got this recipe from a neighbor when we lived in Murray many years ago. I hadn't made it for along time, but we had it for dessert on Easter and it's yummy!

Here Comes Peter Cottontail...

Hoppin' down our bunny trail!!

Easter was "Eggcellent"!

Our first Easter activity was to have the grandkids over to color Easter eggs on Friday afternoon, which was a little messy but very fun! Jacob just kept dipping his eggs in blue (see photo). Sunday afternoon after watching General Conference (which was wonderful and up-lifting), we had an Easter Egg hunt in the basement because there was still snow on the ground! For our egg-rolling tradition at MPJ, we had to bundle up in our winter coats and throw instead of roll the eggs! (There are usually tons of seagulls there cleaning up our mess, but not this year. But...Monday morning on his way to work Dale saw the seagulls doing their job!) We had a yummy dinner and enjoyed being together with my parents and my sister and her family.

I LOVE EASTER!

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

HOPPY EASTER!!

"Bunbun" by Jensyn...

Thursday, April 1, 2010

MARCH MADNESS

MARCH was a busy month...St. Patrick's Day, NCAA tournament, Jazz games, dance competitions, Young Women region basketball (our ward came in 1st), "Girls Week", and Spring Break for Darren...

I'm so LUCKY and grateful to have such fun people in my life!

Ashley in her "green"

Two little leprechauns at my door!!

Jacob and his new wheels!

Ashley's solo dance routine...

Jensyn after her lyrical dance...

Two cute dancers!

Ashley the sailor girl!

Jensyn practicing her heel stretch

I've been to TONS of basketball games in my life, but never a NCAA Tournament. Very fun!

Darren holding his "golden ticket"!!

We ran into my brother Mark and my niece Lisa at the tournament!

"May your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow, and may trouble avoid you wherever you go." - Irish Blessing

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Girls Weekend

March 11-14 the girls in the Muir family got together for a "girls weekend" in St. George. We had a fun time being together crafting, having a baby shower for Kim, a bridal shower for Lauren, hot tubbing, shopping, and playing a wicked game of "spoons" complete with people falling off their chairs! A big thank you to Sharla for being such an awesome hostess!