Happy Birthday Lindsey....29 and counting!

On Friday Night we celebrated Lindsey's birthday. Her birthday is on April 8th, unfortunately, I will be out of town on the 8th. Max and I decided to take Ryan and Lindsey to dinner and a movie to celebrate a little early. We went to Cheesecake Factory and had a fun dinner. It isn't often that we get to spend time with Ryan and Lindsey away from their sweet kids. It was fun to sit and chat for awhile and enjoy the beautiful weather. After dinner we went to a movie.


Lindsey has been a wonderful daughter! She is always willing to help and contribute. She is sweet and sensitive and has turned out to be a wonderful mother. She has 3 wonderful kids. She has grown into motherhood so well. She has her hands full, but continues to love and take care of her little family so well. She is an incredible mom.


Lindsey has developed a wonderful talent in photography......and she loves it. I am so proud of her abilities and her hard work to develop this fun talent. She has taken so many great pictures of our family and we are excited she has this talent because it directly benefits us!!! Keep it up Linds!


We are so glad Linds is in our family. I love Ryan and my sweet grandchildren, Emma, Kate and Drew (anymore?) Happy Birthday Lindsey....I look forward to the big 30!

Memories of My Dad

Today is my Dad's birthday, April 4th. It is a day that is bittersweet. He died 3 years ago. My dad was a wonderful man and taught me some incredible lessons by his example. When I think back over my life, I realize that I did not appreciate him as much as I should have. First of all, he was so out-numbered by his six daughters he really did not have a chance to survive all of our sweet talk. Nonetheless he taught us to work hard....something I am very thankful for.

I have fun memories of our family trips to Lake Powell. Unpacking our boat in the heat at Lake Powell. Lots of water skiing, eating and spending time together. We would often stop the boat and jump in the water just to cool off......floating in our orange preservers laughing and having fun. My mom would always make wonderful sandwiches on the boat with her Squaw Bread......a family favorite! We spent many summers at Lake Powell. Dad would spend hours driving the boat around so each of his girls would get a fair chance to water ski.....something we all loved. Of course, there was unspoken competition between all of us girls. We each thought we were the best water skiier.

The fondest memories I have are the times we spent at Bear Lake. My parents worked hard to obtain a place for our family on property that my Grandparents owned. My dad was always working on "the cabin." Yard work, building, painting, and watering. Much love and hard work
went into our place at Bear Lake. I loved to take my own children up in the summer to experience the fun I use to have. Riding motorcycles up the canyon and visiting The Rock Store in Laketown. My dad loved to ride Big Red up on the trails by our cabin. We would often take the trip around Round Valley...the long trail ride up to Temple Flats...or just back and forth to the reservoir time and time again. My dad always had a motorcycle for his girls to ride. We had such a great time together. Those memories are so sweet.

My Dad's famous motto was "Remember Who You Are" I put much importance on that statement now. I realize now that my dad taught me so many important things without me even realizing it. He served faithfully in his Church callings. Always taking them seriously and doing his very best. I knew he had a testimony. He was very diligent. He would always attend all his Church meetings. He supported his daughters and his grandchildren in everything they did. I admire him for being a great Priesthood holder in our home.

The grandchildren loved and respected my dad. He made them work! Sometimes he was stubborn and a little harsh with them. He loved them and wanted them to learn to work hard, to help out and step up. Good on Ya.....a familiar little phrase he would say all the time. When the grandchildlren turned 16 he gave the grandsons guns and the granddaughters a birthstone ring. He tried hard to set a good example for them and encouraged them to serve missions. He was always there for the Grandsons when they left. So loving and supportive. I remember him coming to Arizona to be here when Ryan came home from his mission. I love him for that.

I remember when I lived in Washington State when Max was in Law School. A couple of times he came up to visit me. It was a long way to come. It was special. I knew he noticed how desperate we were. Those were tough times. He helped me replace some carpet in my bathroom. It was so badly needed. We went on some fun drives just to sight see and then he would take me to lunch. A few weeks after he left, there was a knock at the door and there was a lady there from our ward. She had several sacks of groceries that she had purchased for us. Dad had sent money up.....he wanted to make sure we had enough food in the house! He was so sweet.

When Max was finished with Law School, we moved to Arizona. My mom and dad would come down and spend the summers at Greenfield Village. It was so fun to have them here. Dad would always help me with major projects at my house. Yard work, and painting were usually needed. He was such a hard worker. I think that is the most important lesson I learned from my Dad. He taught his girls to work. It has always been a family joke, weeding the rock pile.! My dad would wake us up on Saturday morning to a few hours of yard work. He would not let us get out of it. I value that now. I love to do yard work! Go figure......I guess I took those lessons to heart!

I miss my dad so much. I think of him so often and wish he were here to see my own family grow up. I would love my children to know him better. I know my older kids remember him, but Kevin has no firm memory of him at all. If he could hear me today......I would tell him how much I love him and thank him with a big kiss for everything he taught me. I love you Dad!

Bunny Day*****2008

Nana and the Easter Gang

These kids made a haul! Grandma Schaar brought present too!

"Only ONE picture please, Nana!"

Easter held many fun memories this year. Easter dinner with everyone in attendance, including Mom and Lee from Salt Lake, good food, lots of laughs, an Easter Egg Hunt with the grandchildren, Easter gifts, and a BIG Easter Egg Hunt for the Adults with a big dollar amount at stake!

Merry Christmas...oops! I mean Happy Easter!

Easter was fast and furious this year, mostly because Max, Kevin and I had just returned from Puerta Vallarta, Mexico for Spring Break two days prior. Soooo to make it easy on me, I left the planning up to the girls (mainly Amy) to pull off Easter dinner without a hitch. She did a pretty good job, with everyone contributing! It was extra fun because Mom and Lee were here from Salt Lake City and they were able to join in the fun!

The "Kiddie" Table....A Tradition

We all sat down to a delicious dinner. Our family is getting so big....I have to think how to accomodate everyone. The little ones always have their own table. They love to sit together and hopefully one or two bites are taken between playing and laughing together! Love those grandkids!

Anticipation!

After dinner we have the big Hunt! While I am cleaning up dinner....The dads and Grandpa go out and hide all the Easter Eggs that are full of candy for the kids to find. They go easy on the little ones and put them in clear sight, but a few are harder to find so the big kids have something to really hunt. All of them are so excited to get started. This year we put them behind the backyard gate to keep them back until we were ready to start. Geez....we could hardly contain them. We let the little ones out first to get a head start.....Zack found the first egg. Of course he didn't have a clue to what was going on. Lucy, however, knew exactly what to do. They yelled and screamed trying to get the most eggs as fast as they could. I don't even know who ended up getting the most eggs this year. The biggest treat is standing back and watching the pandemonium!

Zack..head start and first find

Emma races for the most eggs

Riley finds the highest egg

The big event was the Adult East Egg Hunt. Lots of trash talking and elbowing was evident as the adult kids got ready to find the Golden Egg. This year Max and I decided to put a $100 in an Easter Egg along with several $20's, $5's and $1's. The older kids immediately wanted to kick Kevin out of the race because they think he's a spoiled brat (just returning from Puerta Vallarta) (receiving Guitar Hero for Easter) Hmmmm, but Max gave the thumbs down! Kev was in the race. The kids had no idea how much the Golden Egg was worth, we just told them it would be worth it.

Stretching out "Maxy Style"

"Trash Talkin'"

On your mark....get set...GO!

The result of the race was a let down! Max allowed each of the kids a chance to trade the egg they had found for an egg that he had held back. Temptation! I think Amy traded and Lindsey traded. Boo! In the end after the trades, Max held the egg that had the $100 bill in it! We then opted for a blind draw. We put all the eggs in a bucket and each one of them drew one out. Lindsey was the winner! Yes, we will plan better next year!

Amy.......always the"Poser"


Ryan and Lindsey are thinkin' they got the "Golden Egg"

Easter is such a great time to make family memories and remember the resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I am so blessed to be a member of his Church and have such a loving, wonderful family to share my life with. Love you all!