Early Christmas presents opened at Grandmas

Family and Fun Gathering for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving fun and fall time updates

We enjoyed the company of each of our un married and married children and spouses, grandchildren, along with my brother Mike and his wife Cyd, and my nephew David and his wife Lisa and daughter Skye. What fun to celebrate together the joy of family and the bounty of life!

The passing of Paul's mother, Shirley, was a blessing for her, but we miss her sweet spirit. She was an angelic lady who made life sweeter for all who knew her! Thanks for the memories!

Paul and I took a trip after a long recuperation over the summer recovering from an ATV accident. This is Mesa Falls close to West Yellowstone. We loved it. By the way, I'm all healed up now. I had good care from my hubby and kids. I was an invalid for a while with some pelvic breaks as well. What a fluke accident!

Between Grandpa Jack's passing and Paul's mother Shirley passing, we welcomed a new little grandson. His name is Matthew Brandon Monson. He's totally adorable. We love being grandparents!

We've had a crazy summer and fall. Grandpa Jack (99 1/2) passed away at the Charleston Assisted Living Center here by me in Cedar Hills. We enjoyed having him over for family dinners and have fond memories of him and cherished experiences together. Paul and I put together a slide show of his life an really came to appreciate his zest for living and fun times with family. We showed it at his Memorial/Funeral services.

Winter Blahs are gone!

Hello Everybody! We're coming out of the holidays and recuping in fun ways. We have loved our new Wii and I requested a Wii Fit to go along with it. I've been doing Aerobics, Yoga, Strength Training, and balance games. The Wii Fit gets my vote for best invention that entertains. I can actually stand to exercise now! It makes getting through January blahless!

We're head over heels on a den renovation. We may as well work hard inside during the cold months. Can't wait for you all to see it!

Christmas 2008

Five generations! We had Krystal and Austin and Grandpa Jack along with Grandma Georgie all here at Christmas. Great opportunity for a five-generation photo!

We had a surprise visitor at our family Christmas party. What a great son-in-law J.J. is! He's a jolly, good guy all year long, but he looks especially stunning in this photo.

He's enchanted Brenna and Rachel (our two cute granddaughters) with a candy cane and visit!

Look at what our friends/neighbors, the Hovorkas, made for us! It is acutally our house! What talent they have! We'll preserve it as long as we can. Thank you, Hovorkas!

What a memorable, amazing Christmas we had with our whole gang home for Christmas!

Happy Holidays To All Of You!

We are looking forward to having all our children and grandchildren with us this Christmas!
Check in right after Christmas day with photo updates! To you--our family and friends, we wish you all the best this holiday season! We love you all!

UEA in Logan and Idaho

For UEA we had a good time visiting Krystal and Austin and Rachel in Idaho Falls. We played frisbee golf, and hiked to Crestcreek. It was beautiful! We stopped off in Logan and spent a night with Brandon and Mandee and Brenna and went to a corn maze and spookey barn ride! It was a joy to see our cute family and grandbabies! Stephanie just got a new job at the local movie theatre. She was scheduled to work all UEA! We missed her!

Monson Family Reunion

Monson's gathered at Lagoon on July 17th for Aggie Alumni Day and free Aggie ice cream. We

have a few Aggie Alumni

in our family.

Here's the first amusement park rides for our grandbabies on the Carousel. Whee!

Below is the Monson's at the Wild Kingdom Train Ride.

Brenna and Rachel at grandma's house. We

celebrated Rachel's first birthday a week

early for the Monson side.

Krystal, Austin and Rachel at Mirror Lake

Bald Mountain is in the background.

Monson crew at Mirror Lake and Bald Mtn.

Five Generations!

Our mother's Day celebration included pictures of five generations. Pictured above from left to right is (the proud grandmother of Brenna Marie) Leslie Monson, great-great-grandfather of Brenna--Jack Larson (age 98), Brandon Monson holding his daughter, Brenna Marie Monson, and Sandra Anderson (great grandmother of Brenna). What a mother's day treat to have them all here at our home for dinner and pics!

Grandma Georgie and Leslie in Canyonlands

Canyonlands is definately worth seeing. We're overlooking Upheaval Dome behind and below us. It's a wonder and mystery how it got there. This was our two-day jaunt to Moab. We met up with Austin and Krystal & Rachel our first day in Arches. Pics of Arches are forthcoming.

Spring Break getaway - Capital Reef State Park

First Place Freedom Festival Speech Contest

Stephanie participated in the Freedom Festival Speech Contest held in Provo, Utah, and she won first place in the Junior Division. She had to write and present her own speech. There was a cash prize of $250.00 for the first place winner. She's thrilled that she now has gas money!
Congratulations Stephanie!

Spring Break in Capitol Reef !

Back country hiking in the scenic park of Capital Reef left the Monson family hikers euphoric after reaching their destination of Natural Bridge. Paul, Stephanie, and Jared Monson are enjoying some shade as they rest up for the next leg of the journey.

Our Catalina/Baja Mexico Cruise

This past March, Paul and I celebrated our birthdays on our first cruise together! We stayed over in Las Vegas before we ported in Los Angeles. The next day we arrived in San Diego. We enjoyed touring the famous Sand Diego Zoo. Our ship (pictured behind us) then arrived at Catalina Island the third day. Paul and I completed the arduous journey to Frog Rock and back by kayak. "Be it known to all others that on this 12th day of March in the year 2008, that these intrepid adventurers did snivel not and have officially achieved the rank of Novice Kayaker- bestowed upon them by their guides on the clear ocean waters of Santa Catalina Island." What a blast it was! You can't beat kayacking on the ocean. We then went on to Ensenada, Mexico, the fourth day. While at Ensenda, we visited the La Boufadora Blowhole attraction (one of three in the world) and did some shopping there. Afterwards we went to downtown Ensenada to see a Mexican folklore show featuring dancers and musicians. We were thoroughly entertained! It was the perfect fit for the winter blahs which were exceptionally bad this year!