Dallas

This picture of Kelly's paternal grandparents, Dallas & Hazel Dolar. After 96 years on this earth, Grandpa Dolar passed away on July 7th, 2011. We have been blessed to have this pillar of our family with us for this many years.

Dallas & Hazel had been married for 73 years and set an amazing example for all of us. I remember the first time I was welcomed into their home, Kelly and I were young and still dating. Dallas was a quiet man, and with those dark sunglasses could be intimidating when first meeting him. However, from the moment I walked into that blue house in Bountiful I was welcomed as part of the family. I never felt like I was just the girlfriend of their grandson, I was Katie and part of the family. Of course, when Kelly and I married several years later I was officially part of the family.

Grandpa loved his family, his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Hearing about the family trips when Kelly was a child are what memories are made of. As Grandpa got older and was no longer able to drive their fifth wheel camper trailer, Kelly and I bought the trailer from them. I remember the day we drove to Bountiful to pick it up, Grandpa spent, what seemed to be hours, with Kelly and I going over every inch of the trailer, he wanted to make sure we knew how to use it and take care of it properly. We treated that trailer with the same love and care that Dallas and Hazel had for all of those years.

As I mentioned, Grandpa was a quiet and unassuming. I was always delighted when I was able to engage him in a long conversation or story about his childhood or the kids and grand kids growing up. Although I didn't hear it much these last few years, I loved to hear him laugh.

Our son, Chase is named after Grandpa. Chase Dallas Dolar, we choose the his middle name after Grandpa, its a strong name and one we were proud to carry on. Chase is a strong child that will grow into a strong man and hopefully remember his Great-Grandpa and carry on the strength that he showed during his time here.

I don't know what else to say. He is missed and loved. I'm honored to be a part of this family that Dallas helped create and loved. We will continue to love and take care of his sweet Hazel. Until we meet again...

Its Been A While…

I don’t have a good excuse for the lack of updates to my blog.  I have some catching up to do.  To start, we had some family pictures taken by the wonderful Amber Lintz Photography.  Here are some recent shots of the family.

Handsome bunch, don’t you think?

Mastin, Emma Jane and Chase.

It was Different Today

It was different today, not in a bad way, not in a good way, just different. You see, today was the first day in 12 1/2 years that Kelly or I did take or pick up one or all of our children from daycare.

Last Friday was our last day at daycare. A few things you should know:

• Kim started watching our kids when we only had one, Mastin, and he was 3 months old.
• We bought our home in this area to be close to Kim
• We consider Kim and her family part of our family
• We’ve watched Kim and Manuel’s daughters grow up, get married and start families of their own
• I never once worried about the safety and security of my kids
• I can’t imagine having anyone else take care our children while we have to work

Mastin and Chase haven’t gone to daycare for a little while now. And now, Emma doesn’t go either. It’s just different today.

I’ve struggled to think of the words for this post and what I wanted to say. Words cannot describe how blessed we have been to have Kim and her family in our lives. We are thankful to call them friends and family and although we won’t see them everyday now, we will continue to be in each others lives for many, many years.

Kim, Manuel, Shirley, Amber & Vanessa thank you for the love and care that you have shown to our family throughout these last 12 1/2 years. We love you all!

Eight is Great

Little Ms. Emma Jane turned 8 on Saturday!  (I’m a couple days behind in my blogging)…

She wanted a chocolate cake with red icing for her birthday.  I did the homemade version (don’t worry, you won’t see me on the food network anytime soon).  When I started mixing the red food coloring into the icing she decided she liked the pink shade much better.

We had a great time celebrating her special day.  This year she had a birthday party with her friends.  It was a great time and I still can’t believe how loud 6 little girls can be!  This is a picture of her friends, one of her best friends, Erika had to leave early and is not in the picture below.

For her birthday, Emma wanted the dog pillow pet and clothes, including knee high black boots with a small heel (harder to find than you would think).  She received lots of clothes and the pillow pet and I had fun buying earrings to match.

Its all about the bling…

Emma is full of life, LOVES to read and spend time with her friends.  Happy 8th Birthday, Baby Girl!  We love you.

Tradition

When I was pregnant with Mastin, someone that I worked with gave me a great idea.  Hallmark has many ornament series and we decided to start a series for Mastin and the year he was born, I bought the first ornament in the Snow Buddies series.  Each year, we buy the next ornament in the series.  By the time he is out on his own, I plan to give him the entire series for his own tree.

Of course, we continued the tradition with each child.  Chase has the Snowball and Tuxedo series and Emma started with a music box series but we changed a few years ago to the Fairy Messenger series.

Each Christmas the kids get excited to see what the ornament looks like for their series.  This year, I purchased a small tree for each of them to display their own ornaments.  It was fun to open up the boxes to see the ornaments over the past several  years and it has become a  very special tradition for our family.

Mastin and his 12 Snowbuddies

Chase and his 9 Snowball & Tuxedo

Emma and her 8 ornaments

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is Thanksgiving, and I am thankful.  Better yet, today is the birthday of my wonderful, amazing, beautiful, strong Mom!

Happy Birthday Mom!

I know this is a “Big” birthday for you and you just need to know, its only a number and you are only as old as you act.  I still can’t keep up with you!!!

We are excited to be able to spend the entire day with you to give thanks and celebrate your birthday.  I am so blessed to be your daughter, thanks for paving the way and setting an amazing example.

Happy Birthday to you, from the entire Dolar crew, we Love You!

Abraham Lincoln said it so well, “All that I am or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.”

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes

I don’t know how our ancestors did it….  I decided one day last week that I wanted to can homemade spaghetti sauce and chili sauce.  I was able to find a good deal on tomatoes and I convinced my Mom to help.  When I was younger, growing up in Springville, my Mom canned everything.  Dad always had a large, plentiful garden and my Mom took those home grown veggies and made food for our family that would usually last most of the Winter.  Maybe I was trying to capture some nostalgia from my childhood or maybe I was trying to be domestic and prove that I can provide for my family and not rely on eating out all the time.  I think I captured both of those things but mostly I think I was a little off my rocker when I planned this little adventure.     

We had planned to make our preserves on Saturday but the tomatoes weren’t ripe enough, so instead we got to do it on a Tuesday night…a “school” night, a “work” night, a “you need to get to bed early” night.  Whatever, I’m woman - hear me roar!

Let me give you the run down:

• 75 lbs of Tomatoes
• 10 large Green Peppers
• 15 large onions
• An entire bag of Costco sized garlic cloves
• Spices and more spices
• 24 Quart Kerr Jars
• 32 Pint Kerr Jars
• 7 hours of preparing and cooking (remember, a Tuesday NIGHT) 
• A huge mess in the kitchen, every pan in the house is dirty
• Tomato remains everywhere
• 2 extra trips to the store for items we forgot or ran out of
• 1 phone call to a neighbor to borrow Worcestershire Sauce
• Countless Diet Cokes
• An episode of Glee, Dancing with the Stars, No Ordinary Family, Brothers & Sisters and Oprah
• Exhaustion
• Success!

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

Needless to say, I have a much greater appreciation for all the time my Mom and my Grandmothers spent in the kitchen every fall.  Sure, it was a lot of work but I really enjoyed spending the night with my Mom, making yummy things we will enjoy for months to come.  Here is some of our finished product and a picture of the time I left Mom’s house, as in AM…