2010 Christmas Greeting and Family Update

Putnam Family




LEAH, Landon and 10 month-old daughter, Logan,
live in Logan, UT





Landon graduates Dec 2010 with a degree in Business/Spanish
Leah graduates in May, 2011
Big adventures ahead in 2011 as they hit the job market!




Chase Weed Family

CHASE and Amberlyn welcomed little Anna in August, 2010
Live in Salt Lake City, UT
Amberlyn graduated from BYU in August, 2010
Chase works for Yamato, shipping goods between the US and Japan

Trevor Weed Family


TREVOR and Liz live in Long Beach, CA

Ben will be 2 in February, 2011
Liz working on Master's degree at Cal State Long Beach
Trevor working on MBA at UCLA and working at McMaster-Carr

Ryan Weed Family

RYAN and Bethany live in Boise, Idaho
Ryan loves working as a Chiropractor at Dudley Chiropractic

Bethany coupons, blogs, organizes, manages and teaches. . .

Leah, who will be 2 in March

4 year-old Cody

And 7 year-old Nathan

The Steve Weed Family

Steve and Heidi still live in Olathe, Kansas

Steve works for Huhtamaki and Heidi . . . well, no one's really sure what she does.
We wish you and yours a Merry Christmas
And the Lord's choicest blessings in 2011.

Holiday Home Tour

I've had fun warming our home with a few holiday decorations. Now that its done, I'd love to share it with someone . . . so I'm glad you stopped in.

Just feel free to look around!













Happy Holidays!

Thankful Tree

My daughter-in-law, Bethany, gave me this wonderful idea for a Thanksgiving Tree. She has one at her house. I decided that I would like to start our tree on Thanksgiving and keep adding to it through the Christmas season. So, here is a look at our tree today.




If you look closely you might be able to read a few of the leaves. You might even see your name, because the people in our lives are some of our most precious blessings.




If you see something we've missed, please just send me a note and I'll add a leaf to our tree. We have SO MUCH to be thankful for!

The Turtle and the Hare

I am a turtle.

I do things slowly and deliberately.

I, of course, do not notice this because I have been me since the day I was born. However, I am married to a hare. He does things quickly and efficiently. His focus is to get the job done . . . so he can do "other things". I am happy to have the job to do. The job is the "other things".

I have never been hampered by my slowness . . . at least I haven't thought so. What I am starting to realize is that maybe all of YOU have been hampered by MY slowness. I'm sorry!

I haven't realized before that you have probably all spent too much time patiently waiting for me to get things done.

Why has this come to mind today?

These bags.



As part of a RS project these bags needed to be made. My presidency got together and we each made a bag together and then I brought the rest home to make on my own. The sister who created the project said that it takes about 1 hour to make a bag.





It took me 4 hours.

I know I'm slow. But I didn't know I was that much slower than everyone else. I'm sorry, children, that we have only accomlished a 1/4th of what everyone else has been doing! Maybe I'd better try to speed it up! I've been very content in my slowness.

I think these 4 hour bags turned out almost as cute as the 1 hour bags.








What do you think?








Now that I'm thinking about it . . . I do remember a time when my slowness really got me in trouble. I was about 11 and my softball team had practice one summer morning. After practice our coach, my friends older brother, decided that we all needed to run around the outside of the fence on the baseball field for a little conditioning. We all ran. I finished dead last! I think I was trying. I don't really remember. But, when we got done, the coach told us that whoever finished last would have to run again. So, he sent me running around again . . . with the added incentive of him following me as I ran, kicking me in the seat of my pants every few steps. (Could that happen in this day and age?) I should have learned then.

Wisdom

Knowledge is understanding that a tomato is a fruit.










Wisdom is understanding that you don't put one in a fruit salad!

BSU Blue

I am a card-carrying member of Bronco Nation. I can't tell you how sad I am about the BSU loss to Nevada last night. The game finally ended at 1:15 am, this morning. I just sat there staring in disbelief at the television.

So many hopes and dreams dashed in a matter of inches.



Yes, I'm sad for BSU, Kellen Moore and Chris Peterson. But I'm almost just as sad for every non-BCS student, fan, player and interested observer in this country. I was so hoping that BSU could continue to represent all that is wrong with the current BCS system.



I'll get over it. . . eventually!

Family Work Day

Wishin' you were here . . . because, you see, last Saturday was declared a Family Work Day. . .


You know what that means.





But a few things have changed.


All the same work has to be done. Lawns mowed. Trees and bushes trimmed. Leaves raked. Flowerbeds weeded and cleaned out. Sidewalk, steps and patio swept. Sprinkler lines blown out. Garage swept. Winter Fertilizer applied. Ahhhh, the list goes on.




Except, now there are just two of us. And we are old. And Dad is still a hard working, efficient rabbit. Stuck working with only me . . . a very slow and deliberate turtle.




Oh, it can be a painful experience. But he's very patient.



Wish you could have been here. In more ways than one.




Sorry you missed it. I'm sure you are too. :)

Many Thanks

While circumstances did not permit us to have any of our own children and grandchildren with us this Thanksgiving Day, we were able to adopt some very close substitutes who filled in quite nicely and helped to make our holiday special.

Let's start by giving thanks for the bounty that is ours, as represented by all of this lovely food. Thanks to our guests, our meal became a FEAST!





Food is good, but the people that come to share it are even better. Here's a quick look at some of our holiday guests.



Lindsey Ferguson, Larissa Peterson, Elder Matthias Warner, from Wenatchee, Washington. Our new friend, Bayena Saquintaah, from Togo in Africa. Steve. Jarrett Riley, doctor in training. Elder Benson, here less than a week. His home is in Logan, Utah. Tim Smith. And Jennifer.

After dinner we were able to relax and enjoy some of our favorite things . . .



A little cheerleading/dance routine by Kate with back-up break-dancer Bret. Doesn't get any better than that!



Singing a few of our favorite hymns.



Playing games with Kate.



And more games, with Scott and Aunt Katherine Sawaya.



Relaxing with Laura, Steve and 5-week old Kaylie Sue.



Before they left for home, we snapped a quick picture of the Sawaya kids: Kate, Scott, and Brett.




We hated to say goodbye at the end of the day, but even holidays must come to an end.

Happy Thanksgiving 2010!

Foot-Longs?

In past posts I have lamented the size of bugs and other such creatures here in Kansas. We have lived here beyond 2 years now and my opinion has not changed one whit.

At times I will make certain claims about the size things only to be given the knowing look from my children that I am again exaggerating. So, to prove the fact that I am NOT exaggerating my claims, I decided to take a photograph to prove my assertion. So, judge for yourself. An earthworm . . .





This particular one was crossing my driveway the other morning. I just couldn't resist getting photographic proof.

Harvest Time

At various locations all around the earth this season of the year represents harvest time. The huge harvest moon, the time change, the weather change and the Thanksgiving holiday all signify that the season of gathering is upon us and we must store things away for the coming months.

I have pictures in my mind of all of you harvesting, bottling, pickling and storing the efforts of your spring and summer labors. We have also done our part.

Many of you probably didn't realize that, since moving to Kansas, we have become farmers. Yes, we've digged, and pruned and dunged, and done all of the farmer-like work required for a bountiful harvest. And here's what we got. . .



This ONE LITTLE APPLE!

But, you WILL notice that it is a beauty! Really! This one perfect little apple is the only one that survived the winds, rains and storms of the spring and summer. This one little apple survived the worms and the catapillars and all of the other pesky pests that could have polluted. This one little apple stood firm and brave. Yes, we were so proud! You could not ask for a nicer apple.

Happy harvest!

Birthday Wishes

Happy Birthday Amberlyn! Hope you have a wonderful day!

7 Is My Favorite Number

This beautiful little baby boy made me a grandma 7 years ago!





Since that incredible day he has continued to bring Steve and I
great joy and happiness.





He's his own man . . . whose talents and abilities are extraordinary.





He is strong and good and upstanding.





We love him and want him to know what a blessing he is in our lives.





Being the first gives him some extra special responsibilities in our family.
You can see that he'll handle it just fine. We love you Nathan!

Have a wonderful birthday today!

Halloweed

Just one more. . .

Turns out our little Anna did a little Trunk-or-Treating herself.

So, I couldn't just leave her out.


Here is the littlest trick-or-treater in the Weed Family 2010.



She's got a VERY talented "other" grandma . . . who is, at least in part responsible for this darling outfit. I know Grandma Jones made these darling shoes. At least she'll benefit by half her relations!

We love you Anna!

What are YOU doing in Kansas?

Guess what?









That big space was to give you time to guess. Did you guess? Bet you didn't.

I've got another friend who has moved to Kansas. She's a friend from Idaho. She's tall and athletic. She's smart and pretty. She's a wife and a mom. She has a Master's degree and she played a sport in college.



Anybody have a guess?



Well, I'll give you a big clue. . . here is a picture of her 3 year old, Autumn.






For those of you who know this woman, if you look real closely at Autumn, you might be able to tell that she is her mommy's daughter. Autumn just turned 3 and she is as smart as a whip. She's very friendly and very funny and we had a lovely lunch together.




Did you guess yet?




Here she is . . . my new "neighbor".







Meredith and her husband, Eric Alder, moved to Lawrence a few months ago. Eric is a grad student at KU in Lawrence, which is abou 25 minutes west of us. So, we got together this week for lunch. Welcome to Kansas Meredith!