Remembering Dougie

I really didn't have the "Christmas Spirit" the whole season so on the 24th I woke up and made my mind up that today would be the day and started working toward that goal. I got a call from Jenna at about 10:30 a.m. and she was on her way to Grandma Mary's. There was something with Doug and she said "mom they think he's dead"...my heart stopped and I couldn't believe what she was telling me. From that point on that day there certainly was no thought of Christmas. Our family was reeling with the news that Grandma Mary found Doug dead at between 9:00 and 10:00 a.m. on the morning of the 24th. I called Velda and she was devistated and it broke my heart to hear her sob at the loss of her little brother, Dougie. Calls made back and forth throughout the day confirmed that indeed, Doug had passed away sometime between 7:00 and 8:00 a.m. on the morning of the 24th. His body was taken for autopsy to confirm cause of death (we're thinking heart attack) and as of yesterday (Saturday) the autopsy was complete but coroner's report won't be ready for 45 days or so. His wife, Caroline, said that his wishes were to be cremated and she is honoring his wish. Details at this point is that there will be a family viewing on Wednesday or Thursday, cremation on Friday, and graveside services in Thatcher on Saturday or Sunday. My point for writing this is to sort out my emotions, to share my love for Doug.

When Don and I started dating back in 1969, Dougie was 6 years old and the cutest little kid ever... dark hair, dark eyes and all the personality that the cherished baby of the family has. His personality was fun and he loved to laugh. By the time that Don and I got married in 1974 he was almost 12 years old and still fun as ever. He stayed with us a lot when Farrell and Mary went out of town on buying trips or on vacations during the school year. One time in particular, Don and I were living in our little trailer over on Voigt Street and Doug was staying with us. The movie, "What's Up Doc?" starring Barbra Streisand and Ryan O'Neil came on the tv and Doug and I were watching it. It was a funny movie and that dang kid got to laughing so hard he would fart and the more he would fart, the more he would laugh. I laughed so hard I thought that I would pee my pants. Doug had so many good friends growing up, Scott Hamblin, Kelly Udall, Tony Eagar, Trenton Lund, just to name a few. Doug worked for Don plumbing once-in-awhile, too. He was terrified of Elwin Browning and one day they (Don & Kelly LeSueur) and (Elwin & Doug) were racing to see who could get x amount of plumbing done by noon. The losers had to buy lunch. Going along at a pretty good clip but losing slightly, Elwin yelled something at Doug and Doug said he looked up to see Elwin running at him on the floor joists then suddenly, Elwin fell and hit the ground. Doug just knew that was the ONLY thing that saved his life that day. When I told Elwin of Doug's death this morning he said that Doug had to have a testimony of prayer because why else would Elwin have fallen that day?

Doug will be missed and his loss mourned by all of us. He leaves behind his two boys, Josh 22, Justin 21 and the darling of his life, Maddie (4). We (my kids - know what it's like to lose your dad) and I know what his wife, Caroline is going through at the loss of her husband. It won't be easy for them, but I have a testimony that families can be forever. Heavenly Father knows their needs and will comfort them as only He can. We love all of them and are so very sad. I expressed to Mary that no mother should lose one child, let alone two. She is stronger than she thinks and is going to be needed by Doug's family. Caroline's parents are both gone and Mary is all she has. Priesthood blessings have been given and comfort felt.

I just want all of you to know that I love you. I love Doug and my heart breaks for his family. I love Mary and am thankful for the strength she has been to my family. We can get through this as a family with all the love and support that we have for each other.

Ok...It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas (again)

So there has been this BIG storm forecast for the last few days and we are supposed to be getting one of the biggest snow storms in years. So far it has spit a little. Wasn't the wind on Friday and Saturday something else? Those people living in the tornado states don't have much on us. So many trees in town blew over. I'm worried about the two big spruce trees in my yard and am thinking of having them taken out before they take my house or somebody elses out :o(

Kamryn is spending the night and so far I've only threatened to beat her with a stick a dozen times. Must be the terrible twos...actually she is pretty good most of the time but once-in-awhile she gives me a run for my money. We played chase with Sadie until Sadie got tired of us and went outside and now I am blog stalking because she wanted to see the pictures of the "owiee" on Whitney and Cord's blog. She and Gunnar are obsessed with the pictures of his welts from paint ball.

I am so far from being ready for Christmas it isn't funny. We decided to work on food supply and not spend money on foo foo this year as a family so it is different. Having a hard time deciding what to get for the grandkids. Don't have the money to buy everything I want so narrowing down to what I can afford and what is available is proving to be interesting.

Kamryn helped me decorate my little tree yesterday afternoon. She enjoyed playing with the "balls" - I bought some shatterproof plastic ones so that the grand kids could enjoy the tree and so far she thinks it is pretty.

Gunnar got a puppy and has started calling her "Sadie Sue" (that's what I call Sadie) and I guess it's gonna stick. Puppy might drive them over the edge - guess it cries non-stop 24/7. Just glad it isn't me.

Bailey wants to walk but isn't quite brave enough to take more than a step. Trentin is getting pretty brave and might beat her.

Tad is working on some remodels and last week had to work on some roofs (snow and all) and this week he says he gets to work inside.

Have to get some inspiration, energy, motivation or something...any ideas?

It's A Full Moon

The full moon Friday night will be the biggest one of the year as Earth's natural satellite reaches its closest point to our planet.
Earth, the moon and the sun are all bound together by gravity, which keeps us going around the sun and keeps the moon going around us as it goes through phases. The moon makes a trip around Earth every 29.5 days. But the orbit is not a perfect circle.
The moon's average distance from us is about 238,855 miles (384,400 km). Friday night it will be just 221,560 miles (356,567 km) away. It will be 14 percent bigger in our sky and 30 percent brighter than some other full moons during the year, according to NASA.
Tides will be higher Friday night, too. Earth's oceans are pulled by the gravity of the moon and the sun. So when the moon is closer, tides are pulled higher. Scientists call these perigean tides, because the moon's closest point to Earth is called perigee. The farthest point on the lunar orbit is called apogee.
Some other strange lunar facts:
The moon is moving away as you read this, by about 1.6 inches (4 centimeters) a year. Eventually it'll be torn apart as an expanding sun pushes the moon back toward Earth for a wrenching close encounter.
There is no proof the full moon makes people crazy.
Beaches are more polluted during full moon, owing to the higher tides.
The moon will rise Friday evening right around sunset, no matter where you are. That's because of the celestial mechanics that produce a full moon: The moon and the sun are on opposite sides of the Earth, so that sunlight hits the full face of the moon and bounces back to our eyes.
At moonrise, the moon will appear even larger than it will later in the night when it's higher in the sky. This is an illusion that scientists can't fully explain. Some think it has to do with our perception of things on the horizon vs. stuff overhead.
Try this trick, though: Using a pencil eraser or similar object held at arm's length, gauge the size of the moon when it's near the horizon and again later when it's higher up and seems smaller. You'll see that when compared to a fixed object, the moon will be the same size in both cases.
You can see all this on each night surrounding the full moon, too, because the moon will be nearly full, rising earlier Thursday night and later Saturday night.
Interestingly, because of the mechanics of all this, the moon is never truly 100 percent full. For that to happen, all three objects have to be in a perfect line, and when that rare circumstance occurs, there is a total eclipse of the moon.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

It's the day after Thanksgiving and the skies are cloudy and when I came home from feeding Maggie's dogs a while ago you could see snow on the trees on the mountain. Looked like they had been dusted with powdered sugar. Saw the first Christmas tree of the season, too and called Jenna. If she wasn't in the middle of trying to move her tree would have already been up. She LOVES Christmas.

Yesterday was a good day. We all cooked and took dinner to mom and dads. Had so much food and it was great. I enjoy getting together with family and friends and enjoying each other. I reflected last night on my many blessings and made me even more grateful to be able to celebrate Thanksgiving.

Today Tad is guiding and elk hunt. Ed is at work and I'm not getting too much done. Troy & Maggie are in the valley. They spent Thanksgiving with Grandma Mary. I'm glad they were able to go.

I have a dr. appt on Monday so I am going down on Sunday. I will stay a few days and see if I can help Jenna with her move. I am so far behind on Christmas this year (so what's new?)

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Love all of you.

Tag...I'm It?

Thanks Ginger for tagging me. Now I am doing some serious and some not so serious reflecting...
Eight things I am passionate about - 1) my kids because they have turned out to be pretty darned awesome in spite of me; 2) my grand kids because they are little butterflies coming out of the cocoon and they are amazing to watch. 3) My family, close and extended because they are all a part of me. 4) My friends who inspire, lift and are truly the best ever. 5) I am passionate about scrapbooking the lives of my little can of assorted nuts and I am the BIGGEST nut of all; 6) my testimony of the restored gospel and of my loving Savior, Jesus Christ and my Heavenly Father - they LIVE! 7) my love of this great country I was blessed to be born in and 8) a good laugh.

Eight words or phrases I use the most - 1) what :o( with a grouchy tone 2) bull &@#& 3) holy moly 4) oh quit it (when one of the babies are whining) 5) what are you doing here? (when the babies come through the front door? 6) I LOVE YOU 7) Do you know that Grandma loves you?
8) Sadie Sue...time for night night.

Eight things I want to do before I die...1) finish getting my little bedroom ready for the grand babies; 2) just for one day have everything completely clean, in it's place, organized and wonder what it feels like to be bored 3) finish painting the inside and outside of my house; 4) do some traveling 5) take my mom and dad on a way fun trip somewhere 6) volunteer in a pediatric nic unit 7) figure this life out and 8) go on a really awesome trip/adventure with my kids and grandkids and create the most amazing memories for all of us.

Eight things I need right now 1) to get dinner going 2) to get the little bedroom cleaned up before company arrives tomorrow night 3) extra money to do some extras on my house 4) PATIENCE 5) my sense of humor back 6) to have lost all the extra weight that I carry around 7) to be a bette wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, sister, and friend 8) 8 extra hours.

Eight places to visit: 1) Ireland doesn't it sound wonderful? 2) New Zealand 3) Church History Sites 4) American History Sites 5) New York City ( I can't imagine a city so large) 6) Danny & Kris in Idaho 7) the beach with the kids this summer and 8) maybe Hawaii

Eight TV Shows I watch 1) Cold Case 2) Without a Trace 3) 2 1/2 Men 4) Law & Order SVU 5) Criminal Minds 6) Frazier reruns 7) Law & Order Criminal Intent 8) Sesame Street

Eight Picture in my 8th Folder:Kamryn eating spaghetti. How time has flown!

Eight people I tag: Jenna, Jennifer, Emily, Maggie, Velda, Sariah, Katie, Colleen

Life is Uncertain At Best

I spent a week in the valley with Jenna and the babies and then they came home with me for the weekend. Weston had to check on a cabin in Overgaard on Friday so he had to work for a while and then we played. While I was in the Valley, I ticked Gunnar off. On Sunday night he was tired so I went up to lay down with him when he went to sleep but just before 8:00 he got a new burst of energy and started playing. I went back downstairs and asked Jenna if she was watching the tv and she said no so I turned to Cold Case and then went to do something. Gunnar was right behind me and put Mulan on the dvd player and I said I thought you were going to bed and he said "watch Mulan". I asked him if he could watch it after mo mo watched her show and he said no. Jenna took Bailey upstairs to put her down and Gunnar followed so I switched back to Cold Case. Along comes Gunnar and says "watch Mulan". I pause Cold Case and offer him some ice cream and he eats it and while he eats it I watch Cold Case. I'm sitting on the couch and he gives me this look as he walks past me to the stairs and I said "where you going, bud?" he says "I talk to my mom" and up he goes. Pretty soon Jenna is coming downstairs and asks me if I pushed the "bumpuns" = buttons on the tv? I said yes, why? She said Gunnar came up and told her "mo mo is mean, she pushed the bumpuns on Mulan" Jenna asks him if he wants her to get me and he says yes. Little toot never indicated he was ticked. We both laughed at his thought process. He didn't care if he was downstairs or not...he turned Mulan on and wanted it playing just in case he did come back.

Gunnar and Kamryn played the best they have ever done. They are finally starting to enjoy playing with someone their own age.They played chase, jumped on the trampoline, played in the water, played with the toys and just had a great time.

Bailey and Trentin are just starting to size each other up...Bailey is such a drama queen - she just cracks me up. She and Trentin kind of played around each other, they basically are too busy exploring this big world to play too long.

Trentin's favorite fishing hole (toilet) gets closed as fast as we find him there. Seems if you miss him for half a second you know where to look. If he hears you coming he stretches as far as he can stretch and swishes as fast as he can.

While I was in the valley heard the news of the little 8 year who is believed to have shot and killed his dad and a boarder in the home. I absolutely cannot believe the details of this heart breaking story. What saddness there can be in this world.

Monday was a rough day. Troy will be out of work before long, the house they are building is just about finished and his boss doesn't have anything else lined up and they did a big lay off at the mine on Monday. Tad was one of the 406 layed off. Times are hard and looks like they could be getting harder. I hate for my kids and grandkids to have to go through these things. Tad said that he felt that things happen for a reason - he had a better attitude than I thought he might. Maggie has been having terrible headaches and with everything else on Monday I thought that I would like to sit in a corner and cry. I normally don't let things get me too down, but for some reason all of it together was light a HUGE pile of crap all at once.

Tuesday was enrichment and I was asked to do my class on cooking with pumpkin. I did pumpkin soup, dinner in a pumpkin, pumpkin rolls and pumpkin pie squares. My kitchen is too small for very many so we did it at Sister Reece's house and traveling I didn't have everything I am used to using. I did the dinner in a pumpkin using a pumpkin out of dad's garden. The rind was really thick so it didn't cook as quick as it should have. We kind of had the pumpkin class in courses. Sorry, sisters.

We are going to the valley this weekend. Troy's favorite football team the Giants will be in the valley to play the Cardinals and they bought tickets in March when he found out they would be coming to Phoenix. I am going as the baby sitter so that Troy and Maggie can go to the game. They are excited. It will be fun to let the kids play together again.

Tad killed a nice little coues deer on Tuesday and came home this morning. Tonight he grilled the backstrap on the grill with potatoes and onions and I fixed frozen corn. It was a yummy meal. The kid is a pretty good cook. We will cut his deer up when I get back from the valley.

Thinking ahead to Thanksgiving, I can hardly wait. It is my FAVORITE holiday of the year. You get together with family and friends and enjoy a wonderful meal and each other WITHOUT the pressure of gifts, and worrying if you bought the right gifts or not. We are doing Thanksgiving at Mom & Dads and as usual anyone and everyone is invited. That's how we like it best!

Happy Birthday

Saturday would have been Don's 56 th birthday. I think about those numbers sometimes and remember that he always said he would never live to be an old man. 56 is not old and I wish so much that he could have been here to see our kids grow up and become the good people they are and most especially to be Grandpa to these four amazing grandbabies. I am nostalgic, mad as hell, happy, sad, heart-broken and never to be the same because of him. Yes, life did go on. But not the life I had planned because he was supposed to be a part of it. When I think that he has been gone twelve years and he left us during the most critical time of our kids' lives - their teen years, I cry for my own babies who miss their dad. He was a GOOD dad. Don LOVES his three kids so much and I still remember him teasing and playing with them. Don was good to me. Yes, he teased and played with me, too. I think teasing was a big part of who he was. Boy did I make some mistakes trying to raise them - yes, Don, too. The best part of all of this is that we did have him in our lives for 15, 13 and 11 years and for me 27 years.

The best part of our lives is happening right now. Our three kids are grown, doing well and we are being blessed with grandbabies. Don would have been a good Grandpa. I'm sorry that they will miss out on being teased and played with. I do my best to play with them, I never was much of a tease...you see I took life way to serious. That's just who I am.

I've been watching "Snow Wipe", "Seeping Booty" and "Winnie Pooh" with Kamryn. I chuckle when she sometimes acts out what is happening on the movie. She has an alter ego "tam tam", who must be the devil on her shoulder. Sometimes tam tam does things that kam kam wouldn't and so there is a struggle and the angel, kam kam wins out. Gunnar has finally started talking to me on the phone and my heart melts. To hear him tell me I Love You Mo Mo Sadie...ah that is what life is all about. Gun Gun as Kamryn calls him, is so sweet. A little reserved like his mo mo sadie and so darned smart. He has been "dowee" = do it for so long that Jenna calls him Gunnar dowee. Kamryn has always loved talking on the phone and when Maggie called the other night she was calling her mother "my honey". I'm going to the valley this weekend and Gunnar told me last night that I would be in his room (where else?) The only thing I usually have an 8:00 bedtime - he makes me go when he goes. Bailey Boo is growing up so fast. I can't believe she is 9 months old. Jenna will call me one morning with the news that she is walking and I will be sad. Maybe one day she will not be such a mama's girl and I can do more with her. Right now, it is Jenna all the way for her. Trentin is the easiest going of the four. He will go to anyone and has a BIG smile for everyone. He is almost 8 months old and is crawing and pulling himself up to everything. He will be walking before we know it.

Halloween came and went. Kamryn and Maggie were sick on Friday but Troy took Trentin and Kamryn to the 3rd Ward party on Garth Drive and then Maggie came with them when they came up here. Kamryn was a monkey and Trentin was a banana. I'd pay good money to get a decent picture of Kamryn. She goes out of her way to look the other way, move or be a jackass when the camera is out. Jenna's blog has pictures of Gunnar and Bailey dressed as a fisherman and a baby fairy.

-117 and counting

Went to Nola's on Sunday night for Ethan's (#11) and Tanya's (#31) birthday celebration(s). First, how in the heck did my neices and nephews grow up so darned fast? I have fun memories of each of them. Then, how did Sarah have a 12 year old and an 11 year old? It was fun once again to go and be with the family, especially all of the boys. They are all so cute and have such fun personalities. Larry finished his dinner and went to the living room and I being the last to leave, sat on the couch and visited with he and Nola for awhile. He has lost 117 pounds and still losing more. He is the OLD Larry and it is absolutely amazing to watch the transformation, almost like a butterfly coming out of the cocoon. His sweatshirt jacket went from a 6XL to a 2XL and he is so PROUD - he beams! I noticed he had on some new jeans and mentioned it and he was quick to tell me that he has gone down 10 waist sizes and the new pants now have a fist size gap in them, too! I am so proud of Larry and his accomplishments.

Maggie (no babies) and I spent the weekend in the valley with Jenna and Weston and the kids. Had a good time, but Maggie was ready to come home on Sunday. I was too, it was cold at home and I hated for Troy to have to take care of Sadie while I was out of town and have to drag the kids out into the weather. I did, however, enjoy Gunnar and Bailey Boo. He is my buddy and I enjoy sharing a room with him. He tried to get me back to bed on Sunday morning so I couldn't leave and he told "Mangie" I love you when we left. Bailey Boo took a liking to Maggie so we baby sat on Saturday night so that Jenna and Weston could go to dinner with friends.

On Tuesday, Debbie and I made 100 jars of raspberry plum jam. It took all day long but the work was worth it. Today I spent the day at mom and dads and we put up 18 more jars of chili sauce, 10 jars of spaghetti sauce and 8 jars of salsa. Next...pickled beets.

I love this time of year, but boy is it hard work. My dad grows the best gardens...his corn this year was to die for. We enjoyed the bounty of his hard work.

Tomorrow I take Zip to the vet. If it isn't one thing it's another. And most importantly of all, it is my mom's birthday. I love my mom beyond words. She has always been there for me and I have learned so much from her and her mother and her mother...yes, I was blessed to KNOW my grandmother and great grandmother on the Stover side; my great grandmother on the Gilliam side; my grandmother on the Roger's side. We have a five generation picture of Jenna, me, mom, Grandma Gilliam and Nary (my great grandmother). What a treasure! My grand daughters have four generations of girls...them, moms, me and my mom! I LOVE YOU, MOM! I need to get some better photos of my mom and dad...just realized that :o(

Tonight I am too pooped to pop, but it is a good tired. I can hardly wait to crawl into bed under my down comforter.

Happy Birthday To You...

With all of the extended family and my own kids and grandkids we now have at least one birthday a month. Last night I went to Nola's to celebrate Jordan and Kevin's #3 birthday. They are so darned cute. My boys (Zack, Bryan and the twins) came tumbling out of Nola's when they saw me drive up. After hugging Zack and Bryan the twins both holding up three fingers told me that it was their birthday. I asked how old they were, "forty?"..."no, two" said one and the other said, "no, four" both still holding up three fingers. Last Sunday night we celebrated Trey's, Bryan's & Nola's birthday at her house. Trey is twelve. I can't believe he is that old. Bryan is 6 and next year we celebrate the big 5 0 for Nola. A year of planning. I am so lucky to have a sister. My sister has the biggest heart in the world and will do anything for anybody. Me, I have to have "things" done, first. Not Nola - I wish I were more like her. Mom and I want to take her to lunch - road trip over the mountain.

I told you all about Larry having gastric by pass surgery. As of this date he has lost 107 pounds and I am so PROUD of you Larry! What an inspiration. He doesn't cheat and you can't believe the change in Larry. He's like the old Larry - we have a date in three months for pizza and bowling. We used to do that before we all had too many kids to leave the house.

I went to 3rd Ward on Sunday to watch Dustin and Ethan in their primary program and to see Trey receive the priesthood. They are such good boys - and such hard workers. Jake and Sarah are good parents. Ethan is in a walker because he still has a cast on his lower leg. He is recovering nicely from his atv wreck. Saw Merr at church - she is the primary president in the 3rd ward - it is good to take a minute and visit with the people that make a difference in my life!

This morning Maggie and I went to Max Saunders' funeral. He used to run around with Maggie - the thing I remember most about Max was his infectious laugh. That was mentioned over and over in his funeral, his love of life and love of people. I feel so bad for Vada and her family, losing Max. With our eternal perspective, it is but for a short time.

Tad went back to work in Morenci this morning. Another change in his life, but one he was looking forward to. He told me he was ready to get on with his life so I hope all is well. I will miss seeing him once in a while. Even though he lived here, I hardly ever saw him. He worked 24/7 or was hunting or playing at the lake.

A lot of info for a blog, but I have many thoughts and feelings today. I am so lucky to be where I am and doing what I am at this time in my life. Better get busy taking more pictures...SMILE, you're on Dorlene's camera!

Playing Catch Up

Where does the time go? Just yesterday it was August and summer was here in full swing and today fall is definitely on it's way. My virginia creeper (yah, the one that Gunnar taste-tested) is turning colors and my rose bushes are in full bloom again. Go figure...one month ago today, I took this picture of a double rainbow it was gorgeous - just in the wrong location to get a great shot... and right out my back door, I just heard thunder. I hope it rains alot because my grass sure could use it.


Jenna and Weston came up on the 6th for a wedding reception in St. Johns and on Sunday we had pit bbq beef , coleslaw and corn. Gunnar loves corn on the cob and thank goodness, "papa"(my dad) had a few ears that were ready. I get the biggest kick out of watching him eat corn. It was fun to have all of the babies together. Gunnar and Kamryn get along pretty good most of the time. When he gets that "look" in his eye, that little toot is going to pester, tease, or something come hell or high water.

Tad has Alvin and the Chipmunks movie in his room so I took it to my room where Gunnar and I slept and put it on for him. It quickly became his new favorite. While watching it one afternoon here is what we foundGunnar sound asleep sitting on my hope chest at the end of the bed. Before they could move him, I had to take the pictures :o)



I took Jenna and the babies home on Wednesday and stayed until Monday. A mini vacation that I enjoyed, mostly because I was with my kids. We didn't do much, although on Saturday, Jenna and I went for manicures and pedicures. I'm old and this was my first for either one and gosh, a girl could really get spoiled. It felt so nice and my hands looked so nice.


It was so good to play with Gunnar and Bailey (when she will let me). I'm afraid we have another "mama's baby" with Bailey boo... Maggie says she can feel Jenna's pain. Kamryn was a mama's baby and Trentin will go to anyone. Gunnar is a little more reserved but doesn't go into hysterics the second Jenna is out of sight.

I got back into town Monday afternoon and have been trying to catch up from the last couple of months of non-stop go. I missed my little house and Sadie missed me. Gunnar still calls me mo mo Sadie and I love it.


While in the valley I stay in Gunnar's room with him. We make a pallet on the floor for him but before too long we are sharing a twin bed. I spoil him so when it's time for a nap or for bed, I lay down with him and we watch "Chipmunks" cause, guess what mo mo bought for Gunnar? His very own copy! He soon realized that once he was asleep that mo mo, being the shifty character she is, slips out of the room and goes down stairs to talk to mama, so he got to where he would make me lay down against the wall and would try to wrap his arms around mine so he would know when I left. I still chuckle when I think of how hard he worked to keep me from escaping.

When I got home, Kamryn wanted to see her amma - so she spent the night on Tuesday night. She is spending the night tonight - Troy is taking Maggie out for her birthday. Ed will be home and they will have a ball.


I am so blessed to have the privilege of being a wife, mother and grandmother. These are blessings I do not take forgranted. I love my kids and my grandbabies so much it makes my heart hurt. I cry every time Jenna and her kids leave here or I have to leave them behind. I miss Kamryn and Trentin when I am there and miss Gunnar and Bailey when I am here. What's a mo mo to do?

By the way...my baby (Maggie) is 24 today! Happy birthday. I love you and am so proud of the person you have become! Love you, Mom

Feeling Neglected

Maggie was talking to Jenna the other day and they asked when I was going to be through with the Jamboree. They were feeling neglected and wanted to know where their mother is. Other than my kids, church, and scrapping this is the thing I do for me. I try to jump through hoops when my kids need something. I try to fulfill my church callings. I scrapbook to keep a history for my kids and the jamboree my one selfish "me" thing.

Anybody else noticed that our weather has a definite "fall" feeling to it this past week? I do love our falls here but my favorite is summer. The sun rises early and sets late. I feel better when it is warmer and seem to have more energy.

Did take a couple of hours on Friday and scrapped with Bonnie and Terry. I got Trentin's newborn album done and from that point on the other albums I do of the kids and grandkids will be theirs probably when I die. That's their inheritance -

The Jamboree starts on Tuesday but I will be working the Eagar Precinct Primary Election. I have been doing that for 12 years and do enjoy working the elections. I have learned a lot and it feels good to serve in that capacity. Pay isn't anything for the hours put in so it is service. I have a good crew I like to work with. Again, I have made some new friends in this capacity, too. My circle of friends grew after I took my leave of absence from work. With work, my family, church, and any service every minute of every day was taken. Now that I have a little more time, I enjoy my lunch dates with the girls from work, birthday lunches with my circle of friends and just visiting when I see people around town.

There are so many positive things about living in a small town, a few negatives...like limited shopping, but I couldn't imagine raising my kids anywhere else. I am sad that there aren't more work opportunities here for some of our kids that have to live in the valley to make a living. But, that does make coming home special.

I haven't had time to even blog stock hope all of you are well. Miss checking in on you and seeing what is going on in your lives. I do care - have a good weekend.

This Life Has Been Temporarily Interrupted...

Oh yah...JAMBOREE time! I know, I know...some of my family and friends think I am nuts. I love riding my quad and have met some really nice people and made new friendships through the ATV Club. This is crunch time and for the next three weeks it will be a zoo around here, but I love it. You had to be there in 2004 when Ed won the first quad we raffled off. He gave it to me and the rest is history. You had to be there in 2007 when Weston won the quad... they way I screamed and jumped up and down you would have thought that I won it. Hank even said to me, they didn't call your name...I said, he's my son-in-law! This year we are raffling off another polaris like the one Weston won.

We went for a ride up by Oscar Schultz' grave on the mountain Saturday and it was beautiful. The grass is about a foot tall and the wild flowers are breath taking. There has been lots of rain and there is water running in some of the little streams. 80+ miles and we might go again this weekend.

On Saturday during the jamboree they run an obstacle course that is really fun to watch. Lots of competition and good fun. Want a week chock full of fun? Join us!

One Popular Blog...

Cord & Whitney's blog has a picture of Cord with welts and it is one blog that Gunnar and Kamryn are obsessed with. They want to see the "owiee". I think I have created a monster. I started looking at blogs one day for entertainment for Gunnar and he is hooked. Kamryn is too. I always take pictures and I always put them on a slide show on my computer. Those two will sit on my lap and look at pictures for hours. Gunnar's "girlfriend", Taylor Swuft (no that's not a typo, that's how he says it) had a video showing her toes - he was obsessed with her toes. I guess his new favorite song is by Sugarland. Everytime you get in the car with him the first thing you hear is "one, two, three like a bird I sing..." by Tim McGraw. Both Gunnar and Kamryn like music. Kamryn loves to dance. Gunnar is more into listening than dancing.

It is amazing how smart those two little toots are. They know their family and then most of their extended family members through pictures. See...my hobby of photograph/scrapbooking will pay off in the end. Who knows, maybe they will be photographers. Anyway, they will grow up knowing family and friends through pictures and memories.

Lessons Learned (from a 2 Year Old)

Well, here are a couple of things that I have learned with Gunnar this past weekend. 1) Sadie will NOT die of thirst in three days without water no matter what Mo Mo Sadie tells me...

2) I will NOT eat berries off of Mo Mo's Virginia Creeper vine and tell my mama "popples" = apples (and yes they are yucky), because you wind up in the Emergency Room and you become POPULAR right away...

Dang kid runs the water hose 24/7 while he is here and empties Sadie's water bucket within minutes of me filling it. At least for the most part he is past the part where he puts the dry dog food in the water and makes it look like floating poop. I can't stay ahead of him so that Sadie has water and sometimes food. But that's ok, I guess. Sadie loves to play chase with Gunnar and Kamryn and for the most part stays out of their way. Jenna says he's going to be a fireman when he grows up and he will be able to save lots of lives and it is because of all of the training he had at Mo Mo Sadie's house when he was little.

Now for the ER story...I was out early Friday morning with the weed eater getting the last of my weeds knocked down when Jenna comes and asks me what kind of berries are on the bush. I'm thinking "berries...bush..." then she asks me again and I finally realize she is talking about the Virginia Creeper that grows up my chimney. She told me that Gunnar ate a berry. I told her to look it up on the internet... and it says "Highly toxic and can be fatal to humans"...I run through the shower while she calls Poison Control who tells her to get him to the ER. On the way down the road I call ahead to the ER and tell them we are bringing in a 2 year old and that Poison Control said to get him to the ER. We get there in 2 minutes and they are online researching the Virginia Creeper. I had no clue that dang thing could be poisonous, of course until Friday, I'd never had anyone go out and eat the berries either. Misti Eagar was the RN who was online and said that they might have some good news for us. Not ALL Virginia Creepers are toxic and I looked at one that looks identical to mine and it isn't supposed to be.

Once they started working with Gunnar (who up to this point is completely normal) he starts having a fit and wants to go home, wants to go find "Pamryn", etc. They check is temp, his blood pressure and then want to draw blood. His mama leaves the room in tears and I am left to help make him into a human burrito with one arm out and hold him down. It was so hard - I wanted to cry, but I needed to keep calm for him. Then they put a urine collection contraption on him because they needed to make sure his urine was clear, not cloudy and no crystals. (Question...why do when you want someone to pee they won't and when you don't want them to, they will?) Finally, after about 2 hours we found pee in the baggie and they had to send it to the lab before we could be released. We finally were released at 12:30 and Gunnar and his mama were a little worse for wear. We went and collected Bailey who had been rescued by Aunt Maggie and went to lunch at Booga's. Gunnar who has a history of not eating, scarfed down his cheese crisp. I have NEVER seen him eat that much.

His daddy was a nervous wreck in the valley until we were able to report an "all clear". Needless to say, our Friday was NOTHING like we thought it might be.

Jenna has been making tutu's for Bailey for dress up. Yes, I know she is only 6 months old, but she does look cute in them. Jenna brought some tulle for Maggie to make a tutu for Kamryn and it turned out cute, too.

Weston and his two brothers, Max and Spencer came up Friday night and camped on Terry Flat. Jenna and I went out Saturday night and took chicken to bbq. Max and Spencer had made this huge bonfire for Gunnarwho really just wanted to put a stick in the fire and go home. The bonfire was awesome...but Gunnar wanted to go home. I guess he was a little unsure being out at night like that.

This morning I made biscuits and gravy for everyone and then Weston and Jenna loaded up and went home. It was a busy weekend, a traumatic weekend and I am sad to see them go. The good news is I am going down the end of this week for my dr. appt. so I will spend time with those two babies again.

On a really traumatic note...Sarah's son Ethan was riding his quad and had a serious wreck. They flew him out on Friday night and he had surgery this a.m. he broke the (femor??) above his knee, two bones below his knee, tore up both ankles, and has a cracked pelvis. He was given a priesthood blessing and with all of the trauma to his body, he has NO internal injuries, no head injuries, just what I mentioned above plus scrapes and bruises. He has a couple of hard days ahead of him and when he can get up and get around on his own, he will be released. When we think of how serious it is and how much worse it could have been, we KNOW that he was blessed.

Hotter Than the Hubs of Hell

They're finally here...those hot, muggy days that come with the summer rains. On rain days the weather is perfect. On the days building up to rain you sweat gallons of water (how come I'm not shrinking???) feel sluggish, and get meaner than hell (so what's new?) Must be the full moon, the heat and my even-tempered personality - boy I have a short fuse. Wish I could use the rage for energy :o(

Kamryn and I were watching Bambi (for the millionth time) and she heard "thumber" = thunder and said, "I keered" = I'm scared. When we were in the valley at Jenna's the electricity went out and both girls freaked and so Gunnar and Kamryn both say "I'm scared" now.

Every body on my block is mowing yesterday and today in anticipation of Saturday's promised rains. I got most of my yard work done yesterday - when I came in the house I was as red as my truck. I over-heated and it took forever to cool down. I got a lot done though - just forgot to drink (and I'm gonna start on the hard stuff) enough.

I have these two kamakazi black birds that live in my back yard. They had babies and one fell out of the nest and Sadie got it so now every time Sadie is out in the yard, they dive bomb her and are making this awful scolding sound. After three months of the noise I'm tired of them and am thinking bb gun...Sadie is tired of getting hit from all sides when they attack her. Today, while my fuse was lit, I threw Sadie's water bucket at one of them and broke her bucket - now wasn't the smart thing to do? Sadie will be mad when she realizes what I did and the dang bird is still scolding and dive bombing...birds 1 Dorlene 0...

I always tell Sadie, "those birds will poke your eyes out" so now Kamryn says "birds poke eye" or "birds eye" - she isn't really sure what is going on, just repeating what she hears...which brings me to my little repeat. For any of you that know me, you know I throw a few swear words in every once-in-awhile...one day I said son of a (%*#) and guess who says the "b" word. Her mama is ready to kill me and I tell her to ignore her because when you react she is sure to say it again. Any other ideas? (No, getting me to quit now isn't one of the ideas)

Well, Trentin is crying again and I better see what has made him mad this time.

Happy 4th of July

I've always loved the 4th of July. When I was little, everybody dressed "western" and it was the thing to get new riders (before the days of Rockies) and moccasins (before the fad of boots) and the parade was HUGE! Then our family would load up and go camping somewhere. When my kids were little, the parade was still a big deal and Jenna said she remembers her dad taking her to Allred's to buy rockies and boots. Now days we wear flip flops, shorts and get comfy. My how times change. They didn't always have fireworks, but once they started having them here, it was a fun thing to watch from our balcony at 26- and eat cherries and watermelons and spit the seeds. This year we had to drive to Lyman but it was ok - they were pretty good, but never as good as when my kids were little.

I think the coolest part of the whole 4th this year was the fly over by the Army helicopters. I got so choked up I couldn't talk for a few minutes. I AM so GRATEFUL for every man and woman who so willingly serves.

Since I've joined the "grey wave" a group of "mature" atv riders...(I know that is stretching it), I ride my quad in the parade and don't see much of it anymore. Normally I have one or two of my nephews on with me, but this year I picked Kamryn up in front of Java Blues and let her ride. It was too hot for her to ride the whole parade. It was a good day. After the parade we went to my mom and dads for our cook out and then home to rest up before the fireworks. Jenna and Weston were here and I went with them and met their friend, Brett Overson and his fiance at the lake and watched the fireworks together.

Jenna makes her dad's banana ice cream and we did that Saturday night and the kids all watched UFC...now that's a phenomenon I'm not in to, but the kids are. I had my "rap crap" on and Jenna thinks I'm missing a few brain cells. I like all kinds of music and there's some of the stuff that is cool :o)

Tad spent the weekend at Roosevelt with Troy & Suzanna & Jay skiing and playing in the water.

Maggie and I drove to the Valley Sunday afternoon when Jenna and Weston left and stayed until Thursday a.m. It was fun, but Trenton is NOT a traveler. We were ALL glad to get out of the car last night.

Tonight I am blog stalking, checking up on everyone...love to all - it is fun to see what you are up to.

Yum Yum

On Saturday Troy & Maggie asked me to baby sit so they could go to Show Low to a movie. They ended up just shopping around and eating bocci balls from La Venti and then coming back home. Anyway when they got home, Maggie asked Kamryn what she had for lunch and she looked up at her mama and said dog food. That's probably not too far off from what she had. (I fixed her lunch but she didn't eat much, I think she was already full :-) Dang kid, I caught her down on her hands and knees drinking out of Sadie's water dish the other day, and we've caught her chomping on dog food since she was a baby. Yesterday while we were visiting out on Maggie's front porch , she was drinking out of the bird bath! Maggie grabbed her by the arm and was dragging her away from the bird bath and Kamryn kept saying "arm, arm"...I was chuckling and Maggie was telling me it's not funny. It WAS funny...Kamryn being raised around the dogs, thinks she is one. Sadie huffs and puffs when people drive up or go by and once in a while you hear Kamryn huffing and puffing, too.

Maggie's dogs howl when they hear a siren and every once in a while you hear Kamryn howl when she hears the siren. What is she gonna teach poor little Trentin? How will he know what is normal? Will we have to buy Kamryn a flea collar? (and tell her it's a necklace), will we have to buy her a leash? Oh who knows...all I know is that you NEVER know what she is gonna do next and that makes my heart smile. I LOVE the things these babies do...Gunnar likes to strip naked and wreak havoc. Their mothers are in for the run of their life and I love every minute of it!

Blessings

Troy blessed Trentin on June 1st. I know he was nervous, but he did such a good job. Weston assisted and I felt so blessed to know that my girls have married men who honor the priesthood they hold. Troy wasn't a member when Kamryn was born and didn't get to participate in her blessing so this was a really special day for us to see how far he has come. I am so proud of Troy!

The few days before and that weekend were busy, too. Troy's dad came through from Louisiana on his way back home to Washington state. It was nice to meet Kris and LeAnn. Troy & Maggie had a big cookout on Friday night and then a big bonfire in their pasture. Tad, Jenna & Weston were all there so it was good to see our families being together.

On Saturday we went up to Slade lake on the quads and had a picnic. There was a big herd of elk under the damn that everyone got to see. Gunnar wanted to see them again.

I went to Youth Conference on Saturday night. The Amity Ward chose the Rogers Family Cemetary as their clean up project and did a dvd to honor the Floyd & Zola Rogers Family. It was cool to see what each of the ward's had done as their clean up projects.

Skipping ahead...I set a goal that I would tackle one room a week and deep clean until my house was completely done. This week I started with washing windows inside and out and then hit my bedroom. I was tired of the wallpaper and started ripping it down. HARD WORK - if anyone says wallpaper to me again...thanks to Maggie we got most of it down by Wednesday night.While we were busy doing this, Kamryn was busy doing this..."wimming" in Sadie's dog water dish and this...
playing in the sprinkler buck naked. She is a hoot and you never know what she's gonna do next.

I am finishing the wallpaper removal project today so I can paint. YEA!

Tad came home the other day and was telling me that he was at Short Stop filling up and this lady in this car drove through, stopped and looked at him, drove around and came back again. She did this about three times and he and Chris (his helper) were wondering what was wrong with the lady. On the fourth time through she got out of her car and said that he looked just like Don standing there and she just couldn't believe what she was seeing.

With every wedding, every new baby, every blessing and most recently the Allred Family Reunion, Don is in our thoughts so much. He is missed, he is loved.

I like to check in on friends and family through their blogs. I found this story about a snake on 2 Peas and the crazy lady started a blog. She is one of the funniest people ever. I have her blog "Ava Jo" if you want to read some of her adventures. She is my age, maybe that is why I think she is so funny.

Family Reunion

I didn't get a lot of pictures taken at the family reunion. Everybody went to the lake on Saturday except Velda and I. From the pictures I have seen, that was one fun activity! We had a great time and THANK YOU, Velda for planning and dragging. I know it is a lot of hard work, but it was definitely worth it. The Saturday cook out at Nate & Jen's house was a lot of fun and the kids loved playing on the GIANT water slide. Heck if I wasn't so old and fat, I might have gotten in on that one, but I'm afraid I would have looked like a beached whale :-(

Sunday was great, too. Sunday morning we kind of kicked back and then on Sunday afternoon most of us met at the Temple to view the Joseph Smith film. Mike & Ashley were so great to take photos and they are awesome! The prime rib dinner was wonderful! - Velda got a dang good scald on cooking prime rib. Even though it was delicious, we still missed Brando & Tammy.

The guys did a four hole scramble golf game on Sunday evening and the rumor was that Dal, Steve, Weston & Tad won.

I had to laugh as Tad and Weston reported their "walk" back to grandma's. She lives down "Ashton". They said (hunting terms) they were off one "ridge" and found themselves coming down "Gayridge" to Grandma's. They said they looked at each other and asked if they should hold hands and skip - I would have paid good money to see that.

Coming home on Monday, Tad and I talked about the good time we had and he was glad that he went, and I am glad that he stayed. He did have a good time, we all did. Now everyone is saving their nickels to go on the cruise. (Did someone say sea sick?)

You're Kidding Me

We woke up to 6 inches of snow on Friday morning. I had to chuckle - the last day of school kids usually wear shorts and are buzzing with excitement. Today the kids were in their coats and long pants waiting for the bus, brrr! It was a really heavy and wet snow. In the 12 years we have been here at this house I've never seen my lilac bushes fall over from the weight of the snow. This bush is normally taller than the over-hang of my roof

but the weight of the snow had it on the ground.

Any hooo Mother Nature is in charge and must have quite a sense of humor!

Holy Crap...

The last three weeks have been busy! Maggie & I drove to the valley a couple of days early so we could play. Troy came down on Thursday evening and we took the kids to the zoo on Friday.

Kamryn & Gunnar had a good time. Gunnar saw the carousel at the entrance and all he wanted to do was ride the "ashar" = Tiger. Pulling him along to see the animals, he enjoyed them, but never once did he forget about that d*&#ned carousel. Finally Jenna and I took a break and let him ride while Troy & Maggie took Kamryn to see more animals.
We ended up meeting at the water hazzard (the water randomly shoots out of the ground) and both kids were in heaven playing in the water.



We finally drug them out of the zoo and went home for a rest. Friday evening Weston & Troy baby sat all four kids and the girls and I went to the mall. It was a lot of fun. We stopped for pizza and just kind of shopped around. Look at Jenna's blog for the sunglasses story. We took the guys Cold Stone ice cream for being such good sports. Saturday morning the guys went on a quad ride in the desert and Saturday afternoon we went to Grandma Mary's to swim. Grandma and I took care of Bailey and Trentin while everyone else played in the pool.

Oh, I love these babies. I am so blessed and so happy to be "ammah" to Kamryn and "mo mo Sadie" to Gunnar. After the pool, we cooked hamburgers on the grill at Grandma Mary's and Dal's. We had a good time together and then Gunnar & Kamryn were running wild on the golf course ( a no no) but no one complained. Saturday night at 10:30 Jenna and I were in the grocery store so that we could make Hawaiian haystacks on Sunday after Bailey's blessing. I got up Sunday morning and got the chicken going and then Jenna and I cut up all of the veggies and got the rolls to raising. By the time we left for church everything was under control. NOTE: if you are feeding a crowd, leave church right after the blessing and go home and start the rice) I thought of that on my way back to Jenna's. By the time I got to her house there were people knocking on the front door. I started the rice and pretty soon Weston came in and more people were coming, but no Jenna. Guess who the last person through the door was? Weston and I were stressed. By the time we got the rolls and first batch of rice done and people started eating I started to relax. When talking about it on Sunday night, Jenna just laughed as she talked about the death rays that Weston and I shot her when she walked through the door. We looked at each other and said, "she doesn't get it"...meaning that when you invite 30 people for lunch, maybe you should be there when they get there!

Bailey's blessing was beautiful and that was the whole reason we were there.

I spent the week with Jenna so she wouldn't have to be alone every evening while Weston was at class and she came back home with me on Friday. On Saturday we took the kids to the park and I made a batch of chalupa for dinner. It was so good with all of the stuff on top! Sunday I had to teach my RS lesson and Jenna went to church with Troy & Maggie. We were getting ready to eat Sunday dinner when they told me that they had invited the missionaries to my house at 5:00 for dinner. Well, there wasn't going to be enough roast left so we heated up the left over chalupa and I made a batch of brownies. Chalupa is better the second day anyway and the sister missionaries never knew we were eating "left overs".


Monday morning Jenna was ready to start taping and caulking so we could get on with my painting project. It only took 5 days to paint the kitchen and dining room. We had two toddlers and two infants - guess we're lucky it only took that long.


Gunnar was in the terrorist twos last week. No that is not a typo. He and Kamryn didn't get along as good as they have on past visits. There seemed to be a lot of crying (once -in-awhile I swear it was ALL of us) and a lot of refereeing. I personally changed 200 diapers, I swear! On Thursday if having four wasn't pushing the limit, I had Tanya's 2 year old twin boys, too. Now that things have calmed down some, I can laugh. Both Jenna and Maggie were stressed with Kamryn and Gunnar not getting along. It will get better, it seemed every time there was a crisis, the two babies would need mama, too!


Weston found out that his Clinicals were going to start on Saturday so he wasn't going to be able to come for the weekend and pick Jenna up as planned so on Friday afternoon we drove to Salt River Canyon and met Weston. I brought my truck and quad home and they went back home from there. I spent Saturday touching up the paint where needed and cleaning and thinking how much I LOVE my new kitchen/dining room. We painted the walls a rich yellow and one of the dining room walls a "sangria" red...it is so pretty! Thanks, Jenna and Maggie for all of your help!


Today I am kicked back and thinking about the Allred Family Reunion coming up next weekend in the Valley. It will be a lot of fun to see all of the kids, and of course we will be taking a lot of pictures.


Yep...I am blessed and I am thankful for my kids and grandkids. You are my heart and soul!

3 Days And Counting...

...till I'm on my way back to the Valley. Maggie and I are going down on Wednesday so we can play and do some cooking for next weekend. Bailey is getting blessed next Sunday and we will all be together, can hardly wait. Sounds like Weston and Troy have a quad ride planned - don't know what the girls have planned. I am staying until the 9th - and then Jenna is coming back to spend a week up here. Maybe I'll put the girls to work helping me paint??

I had Jordan and Kevin on Thursday and they are so darned cute. They look so much alike that most people can't tell them apart. I have been wrong only three times. I see them once-in-awhile and still they know me. Jordan called me Dorlene and Kevin called me Grandma - you should have seen them "looking" for dog poop for me to rake up in the back yard. I would hear "Dorlene...poop" from Jordan and "Grandma...poop" from Kevin. Kamryn came to play with them, I noticed that she thought she was in charge and would try to herd them where she wanted them to go - with two of them it was kind of like herding cats...(it CAN"T be done). Jennifer, I still can't tell which is which with your boys and sweetie I don't know how you do it. I was one tired poopsy on Thursday evening.

I am SO blessed. I have a big family (I count all sides) that I love. I have enjoyed "stalking" all of them on their blogs to see what is going on in their lives. I feel like I'm in touch, does that make sense? I have some very dear friends that enrich my life immensely. We enjoy doing things together like attending weddings, funerals (hey here in 4th Ward we have three funerals to every other ward's one so they become a "social activity" and could almost be a ward activity, how easy would that be for the activities committee?), musical programs, shopping, birthday lunches (Nadine and Linda, you're next), SCRAPPING (isn't that the coolest hobby ever???) and thanks to my dear friend, Darlene, I even get to Curves on a REGULAR basis :-)

If Ed doesn't go to work soon there will be yet another funeral in the 4th Ward :-( Having him around is messing up my routine.

Better get my Sunday dinner on the table - I invited Troy & Maggie up. Kamryn is the cutest when it comes to eating...she will fold her arms and wait for the "amen" meaning the prayer. IF by chance you start without the "amen" you get the "look" and go back and do it right. "and the little ones shall lead them..."

It's Spring...(today)

Yesterday I was coming home from Maggie's and as I turned on to 8th Street I noticed that all of the trees were leafing out. Then when I went back to town a little later I looked down main street and all of the big trees are leafing out and the whole town is starting to turn green. It is so pretty here in the spring, summer and fall and on snow days. I thought how lucky I am to live in a small town and not have to be so rushed -I can piddle around at my own speed and look at the trees and flowers that are in bloom and enjoy it.



I am going scrapping on Friday and am planning my work so I get something accomplished. I met my goal of having Jenna and Maggie's wedding albums done for last Christmas and since then I have kind of gotten out of the swing of things. I need to set a goal so that I keep using up all of the pictures I take.



Tomorrow Tanya has to take Bryan to the pediatric dentist in Flagstaff and she has asked if I will either go and help her with the twins or if I want to keep them here at the house. Still haven't decided. Those two little toots are busy.
Larry had gastric by-pass surgery on Monday and is doing great - might even get to come home today. Way to go Larry, I'm happy for you.

Short Trip

Got up at 3:45 a.m. Saturday with Tad and drove to Globe. Met Jay at the light in Globe (he came in from Tucson) and then we met Gunnar Hubbard at the WalMart parking lot and the guys went on to Roosevelt to fish and I went on to the Valley and spent the weekend with Jenna. Jenna and Weston went and picked up the pavers to do their side yard - they worked pretty darned hard and then Jenna was pumped to finish. They have to order sand. Jenna and I did some cooking. She made her first batch of rolls and cinnamon rolls. Pretty tasty.

Gunnar had fun playing with mo mo Sadie. I wore him out so he slept through church. Bailey is growing like a weed. She has the sweetest smile that lights up her whole face. Whew! Short trip and I am feeling it today.

Jenna called this morning and said that Gunnar stood at the door and cried for mo mo Sadie after I left. That made ME cry (doesn't take much). Counting the days till I get back down there 11.

What Do You Mean It's Not Up-to-Date???

Where did the last two weeks go? Looked in at Jennifer's blog and saw Harlee's birthday party - how fun :-) All of a sudden there was this picture of my Gunnar and I got teary eyed. Oh I love these babies so much it makes my heart hurt. Tad may go fishing again this weekend and if he does I might ride to the lake with him and have Jenna pick me up and spend the weekend with her - gotta see Gunnar and Bailey! Tad has been catching some nice fish and we have been enjoying them yum! Dang wind is blowing today and it is a cold wind so I am making homemade chicken noodle soup and rolls for dinner. Read Jenna's blog about the ceiling fan :-)

Gotta put our nickels together and buy a place at the Lake and a boat - as Don would say "why aren't I rich instead of good looking?" Oh I miss his wit.

Kamryn is such a crack up - quite the drama queen. Little Trentin is starting to fill out and has little rolls on his arms and legs. Gunnar never even got close to having a roll. Kamryn likes to have "dip dip" with everything she eats - depending on what it is the "dip dip" is ketchup or ranch dressing.

It's Already Sunday again???

Wow! I don't know where the last week went. Had a great weekend listening to General Conference. I am always anxious after conference to get the Conference issue of the Ensign to read my favorite talks again. I can hardly wait for spring to finally settle in...I KNOW the wind will have to blow 200+ miles an hour and then suddenly it will be June :-)

Maggie took Kara her sister-in-law to the valley to buy a prom dress. I am hoping that Jenna can come back with her and then I can take her home next Sunday when I go down. Time once again for my arthritis check up. Maggie took Trentin with her and Kamryn stayed home with Troy. I will babysit tommorow until Maggie gets back. If it's nice, maybe we can go to the park?

Tad is at San Carlos lake fishing today with Jay and Lynn & Laura. He left early this a.m. He caught some nice fish last weekend and we had a fish fry on Friday night. It was SOOOO good. I wish that mom and dad still had their place at Roosevelt. We had a lot of good times there.

Sunday coming down...

It's 6:05 Sunday evening and I am reminiscing about the weekend. Weston and Jenna came on Friday to spend the weekend and to finally see Trentin. I love having the kids home, even though it is a lot of work. It just seems like the time flies so quickly and boom...they are gone again. I spend a lot of time playing with babies and cooking. I love to treat the kids to some of their favorites - we always have biscuits and gravy for breakfast at least once. This morning I told Jenna I was thinking of making muffins - I told her I could make blueberry, banana nut and lemon poppyseed (all from a mix) and she asked about the chocolate ones I used to make...the ones that had the fudge in the middle. I dug out the recipe and also ran across the "Holy Cow" recipe. Jenna ran to Bashas and got the ice cream toppings we needed so today we had two old "favorites".

My grand babies are the joy of my life after my kids. Gunnar and Kamryn seem to be a little jealous of the time I spend with the other. On Saturday afternoon both babies needed naps so I went into the little bedroom and laid down with Kamryn and Trentin and Jenna had Bailey and Gunnar in her old room. Gunnar started crying and Jenna said he wanted "ma mo" so I told her I would be in as soon as Kamryn was asleep. I didn't want her waking Trentin up. I could still hear Gunnar crying and when I went in, Jenna told me that he was crying for "ma mo Sadie" - well, how could you NOT let him call you Grandma Sadie...(yes, Sadie is the dog)... I lay on the bed with him until he fell asleep - he kept touching my arm to make sure I wasn't pulling a fast one on him. Oh, I love these babies! I had Kamryn and Gunnar in the tub after Sunday dinner and when I pulled Kamryn's shirt off it hung up on her little ear lobe (she has pierced ears) and it must have pinched a little because she cried just a second. I hugged her and told her I was sorry and looked at both ears again. She felt her little ear and then checked her hands to make sure her ring was still on her finger. She is a "girly" girl...wears a little turquoise ring.

Jenna brought Kamryn a gift when she gave Trentin a gift. My hearing is going and when I was looking at baby Elmo, Jenna told me to "slap its hand" - so I did. Then she told me to "slap his hands together" which I did...guess what she told me to do? "Snap" not slap. Anyway the girls are sure I'm ready for a keeper and they are worried about leaving babies with me unattended. Poor baby Elmo! :(

I made both Bailey and Trentin "fringed" fleece blankets on Saturday. Now I have to finish Trentin's "camo" flannel blanket.

I am getting more organized - slowly but surely. Want to get my house painted before it's time to play outside - guess we'll see how it goes.

Hoppy Easter??

Tomorrow is Easter Sunday and even though today seems like it might be nice, it certainly doesn't seem like Easter to me. I think it is because my kids are all grown up and on their own and I don't have little one's excited about egg hunts, etc.

Spent last weekend in the Valley with Jenna. It was fun. We went to the mall on Saturday and it turned out to be a pretty good trip. Bailey was a star shopper, Gunnar not so much. He did good for a while but then got tired and was ready to go home. When he laid down on the mall floor and refused to go any further Tad watched with interest to see what I would do. My kids will tell you that if it had been them, I would have yanked them up, busted their butt and we would have gone on...seems like I was a mean mom. I just stood over Gunnar so the mall crowd didn't step on him and let him decide what he wanted to do. After a while he was ready to get up and be the Gun man again. Funny, I am so much more patient with grand babies than I was with my own :(

Wednesday was my dad's birthday - turned 75. We are getting together at my house tonight and having mexican food pot luck. Guess I should finish cleaning house and quit messing with the computer..

Anyway hoppy Easter.

Getting The Hang of Things

Well, after spending most of yesterday afternoon playing around on this site, I am finally getting the hang of things. I looked at a few other blogs and in awe of the creativity out there.

Maggie has had quite a week. Trentin has a little jaundice and she has had to take him in for blood tests every morning. She hates having his little heels poked. She says that he is very good for the lab tech. Kamryn has had a week adjusting to baby brother, "tentin" but all in all a good week.

Jenna on the other hand has come close to being the mother of only one! Seems Gunnar has been pushing the limits this week - I can laugh but I know how frustrating it is to have two babies crying and wanting mommy at the same time. I know both girls have their hands full, but they will get through it. We all do even though there are times we wonder if we will survive the next minute.

Kamryn is running a temp this morning and not feeling well. It's so hard when the babies are sick - we really worry that the new baby will get something. Hopefully it's just a 24 hour bug. Trentin has to go in at 5:00 p.m. today to be circumcised OUCH! - they wouldn't do it at the hospital so Dr. Bigham will do it today.

Jenna is finally "out of the house". Her pediatrician always tells his patients to keep new babies in 8 weeks and Bailey Boo is 8 weeks old and Jenna is so excited to finally leave the house. Hope that Bailey likes to shop...

Tad is going to the Valley for the weekend and I am riding down with him to spend time with my two babies, Gunnar and Bailey Boo. I can hardly wait!

Gosh, getting this thing set up is harder than I thought. A lot of fun, though. I'm still working out the bugs and then I want to customize my page...lots of fun for a computer nut.

These are the days worth living. I am so blessed to be a mother and grandmother and these are truly the loves of my life. We were blessed to get both Bailey and Trentin here safe and sound and now we have two of each! Bailey was born on January 22, 2008 and Trentin was born March 08, 2008. Gunnar turned two on February 11, 2008 and Kamryn will turn 2 on May 26th.