Our Fun Ward Youth Fundraiser/Luau 2010

Both Gene and I have the privilege of working with the youth in our church.

He is the Young Men's President and I am a counsellor in the Young Women's leadership. It is so fun, and we really enjoy it. It takes up a lot of our free time but we have really grown to love these young kids as our own,

and we both cherish our time with them.

This first video is of the Young Men of our ward, doing a Samoan slap dance.

Some awesome Young Adult guys from Long Beach came over several times to teach our boys this dance. Then they came to our Luau to help out and support our effort.

I love my Samoan brothers and sisters, they are so generous and kind. Our wonderful MC that evening was Sepa/Lisa who grew up in our ward and graduated from Westminster High School, she was even the Homecoming Queen in 1993/94.

She, along with several others flew all the way from Utah to help us out with our Luau.

Our Samoan guests/helpers were also our wonderful entertainment for the evening aside from our youth who did their dances. A Polynesian custom that we've learned as a ward, is to throw money onto the stage to show appreciation for the dancers. The boys really raked in the money. At the end of the evening they called all of the Bishopric, Activities Committee and all of us youth leaders up on to the stage to do our impromptu dance . . . . All of our efforts raised just under 4 thousand dollars that evening and we had a lot of fun too!

The Westminster Ward has had many, many luaus through out the years but this one is the funnest one I can remember!!!

Yipee!

One of our favorite places to eat is Cafe Rio. Until reciently that meant that we needed to be in Utah to enjoy this cuisine. Earlier this year one Cafe Rio opened in Lake Forest which meant a serious time commitment, but now we have one closer in Costa Mesa, yea . . . it's really close to Gene's office.

We Stopped by tonight on our way home from work, yum, good as always!

Welcome to the World Parker Dane Boling

Parker with his Grandma Holly

So Peaceful, hope it lasts!

Could they look happier or more pleased?

I think Grandpa Gene approves

Our oldest and youngest grand children, Ema with Parker.

April 6th, What a Beautiful Day to Welcome Our Newest Grandson

Our beautiful Julie has waited a long time for this wonderful experience.

Today she became a mommy.

She had her weekly appointment with her OB doc. yesterday and she was told that she was very ready to have her baby, (she could have told the Dr. that!) But of course if nothing happened to go in on Friday if she wanted to get things started for real. So she went back to work and put in her full day, until 5 p.m.

As all first time mommies can attest, we really don't know what to expect and when things do start to happen we wonder if it's really labor. She felt some discomfort all afternoon which she passed off as resulting from her doctor's examination, but they had a normal evening. She called me at about 12:30 asking me some questions about how she was feeling. After her initial explanation and questions I said, "that sounds like real labor, you better go to the hospital!" She called her Dr. and she said, "Go to the hospital." She was so worried about it being false labor but they decide to err on the side of caution and got there by about 1 a.m.

She is so tough, she actually walked into the hospital, went up the elevator and got checked in to find she was indeed in labor and dilated to 8 centimeters. Her first question was, "can I still have my epidural?" Dustin called us to report in and tell us she was really in labor and we were on our way. By the time we got in to see them she had indeed received her epidural meds. was way more comfortable, and dilated to 10! By now it was only about 3 a.m.

We found her resting comfortably and we visited with them and took some pictures until about 4:15 when she was feeling the need to push. The nurse excused us to the hallway and instructed her on how to push. Then she came and told us we could wait in the waiting room but that it probably wouldn't be very long because she was a really good pusher!!! That proved to be the case because she said it only took four contractions more to give birth. What a champ!

Here's what all the fuss is about . . .

Parker Dane Boling

7 lbs 6 oz and 20 inches long

born at 4:55 a.m. on April 6, 2010

He shares his birthday with our Savior Jesus Christ, how wonderful is that?

She did such a wonderful job, only a few pushes and there he was.

What a difference a few hours makes, now they are a party of three!

Opps, More Shower Pictures

Sometimes when I think a post hasn't worked I find that it did after all. Here's the center piece on the buffet table at the shower.

The guest of honor, Mommy Julie and Ema

Ema and her beautiful mommy, my baby girl Brandi

Sweet Aunt Jan and a family friend Kyla Armstrong, she's in Julie's new ward in Irvine.

Julie's Baby Shower

Last Saturday was Julie's baby shower given by sweet Aunt Jan and a dear friend Marsha Clawson. It was a beautiful shower and Julie definately felt the love. Everything that both Jan and Marsha do is done so nicely, but this one was great. Everything from darling center pieces to fantastic food all making for wonderful memories. I love these ladies, they are two of my dearest friends. Aunt Ann, Grandma Wilson, Jenny, Brandi and Chelcie Wright helped with the shower too.

Her Nursery is done up in a Baby Jungle Animal theme so the shower was that too.
Aunt Jan makes the cutest "diaper cakes" as center pieces, sorry that this picture doesn't really do it justice, it was darling.

Here's a much better view of it.

Here is the blanket that Kylie made for her gift to Julie and the baby.

Here Julie has opened and is trying out one of the burp rags that Ema made for her.
We are getting so excited for this new little member of our family to join us. I think she finally feels like she has all the things she needs to have to welcome him to their home and life.

Sewing Lessons

So, this is Kylie, she's my second grand daughter and is 10. She has been very anxious to spend time with me so we can work on one of her talents, sewing. She's done a few projects with her other grandma and at Primary Activity day, but has been wanting to show me what she's learned. Since I've been sewing for Julie's baby, I had something that she could make for the baby shower that was coming up.

This picture was taken at the baby shower last Saturday.

Here is the project that she put together for her newest baby boy cousin who will be joining us very soon. It's just a little "Lovie blanket" I'm sure he'll really love it, especially because Kylie made it for him.

Here we are putting it together, and she's learning to watch the pressure foot instead of the needle.
Guiding the fabric and she was working the foot peddle.
This is my first sewing machine, purchased over 35 years ago. It's a good ol' friend and has been a great machine but is defiantly on it's last leg. The foot peddle has been broken and repaired many times first with hot glue, then super glue and tape, but it still works. I can't find a replacement one either. Now the bobbin winder has stopped working. I probably would have just replaced it but it has one built in stitch that I just love and use all the time. Some old friends are just impossible to really replace.
Here's Ema, she's 13 1/2 now. She has been working on her sewing skills for some time now. In Young Women, her first 10 hour project is learning how to sew. The first few hours of the project was done at Christmas time. She made pillow cases for Dane, Ella, Abby and herself. She's getting good at it too. In fact the sewing machine that Kylie was using is Ema's.
I guess I'm a serious seamstress, (or maybe I'm just a sewing machine collector) these are my other machine choices.
Grandma Jeanie's Viking machine by the wall, which I am trying out to see if I want to buy that kind. Then there's my serger, which I don't know how to use to it's fullest potential, and Ema's sewing machine. I need to figure out which kind I want to buy so they can have theirs back.
Ema is almost finished with her 10 hour project, she made 4 burp rags for Julie's baby shower and will finish up by making some drawstring pajamas for herself and her sisters.

He Did It Again! Another Ruby's

This morning Gene and I decided to go to Disneyland for some people watching and to get our exercise in for the day. We still have our annual passes so we thought it was a good idea. Before we left the house he said, "are we blocked out today?" I didn't think so. so we headed out that way. We made our first Del Taco stop for an egg burrito then on to the park. Well, we were blocked out. So, we decided to go check out one of his latest projects that is located pretty close to Disneyland.

He's just finishing up this Ruby's Diner in Anaheim on Lincoln Avenue, just North of the 5 Freeway. This is the back of the diner, with an outdoor patio. They were striping the parking lot today that will include roller-skating waitresses.

Every Ruby's has a theme to the decor,

this Harley Davidson is the main focal point of this location.

We just went in there to check up on the progress, but we got breakfast too, definitely not planned, but if you share I guess it's O.K. Their breakfast are really good, so go check it out some time.

This is what greets you when you walk in.

Did I Say How Cute She Looks?

We Wilson's tend to shy away for the camera, so you can imagine how hard this was to get her to pose for a full body shot . . . but we tried to assure her that she will appreciate these pictures someday!
She looks so very darling pregnant

More of her beautiful gifts

What a fun way to fill the time as she awaites the birth of their

Sweet Baby Boy Boling!!!

A Shower In Box From Utah

Because of the distance between some of our family members, we've started a tradition of sending "Baby Shower" gift boxes to our loved ones out of state. It's a fun way to show our love and excitement for the up coming event. Today Julie was the recipient of that love from her grandma and aunties in Utah. We snapped some pictures to share with everyone.

Jenny and her children were here to share in the excitement too.

A custom made diaper bag, I'm sure one of Aunt Connie's beautiful creations.

A darling burp rag, Who made it and how???
Sweet booties, made by Aunt Karie . . . I need this pattern!

And of course, coming from "Cougar-town" a BYU jacket.