Hancock's Happy Home

FORT BRAGG BEACH DAY

2011-08-09T18:32:00.000-07:00

So all of the Hancocks wanted to get together for a reunion this year and we talked it around a bit but then nobody did anything about it....until Than and Erica did. They took the notion and ran with it. He booked three campsites as soon as he could and said..."I have three booked. Whoever can come, should come." He immediately contacted everyone and told them the days and then hoped for the best. He kept everyone notified of plans by email and pretty soon it caught fire and we had a reunion. Everyone came!!! Than and Erica were the spearheads of it though and even went so far as to plan out the menu and the food and we did a food lottery. I think that worked out fabulously too. Everyone had their few meals to cook and clean up and provide the food for and when it wasn't your turn, you could just sit and relax and visit. This is going to be a two part post because of its length. This was the day of the beach. It was beautiful weather the entire time we were there....a first for us at Fort Bragg. No fog or moisture at all. It was great. Here is this cutie pie digging in the sand.....Claira Belle.

The kids got together a baseball game. It was so fun to watch all of them play together. I think Shauna is cheering for Ben here.

Here is Ben probably admiring his hit instead of running to the bases like he should have.

These two little girls crack me up when they play together. It is so fun to watch them and listen to them. They get along really well. The little spitfire and the class clown.....both very loud.

There is nothing cuter than a little boy in overalls and a red shirt. I loved to dress my boys like that. I tried very hard to get a picture of him and he was never cooperative. He was in heaven at the beach. Free to roam as much as he wanted. We could relax our watch on him a little....he is a wanderer.

Speaking of wanderers, you can't let this little one down at all at the beach. She heads straight for the sand...with her mouth. It is nasty and sends chills down me like fingernails on a chalkboard. Candy was kind enough to hang with her for part of the time. We pretty much had to take turns holding her so she wouldn't eat the sand. But she is a cutie...sunburn and all.

Apparently, another one who likes to eat the sand....why??? What is the attraction? It can't possibly taste good and the thing is, they don't just do it once and think, "Hey, this isn't all that good!" They continue to do it over and over. But I finally got a picture of his face.

Another one who loves the beach. And another one who likes to wander.... so it is nice to be able to let down our constant watch for him and relax a little at the beach.

What a cutie. She sported THE look at the beach and at the campground. Ballerina bathing suit and pink cowboy boots....usually with one butt cheek hanging out a little. For her, it is all about looking good and fashion.

She is another one who doesn't like her picture taken. She and Camry get along great and are another two that I love to eavesdrop in on their conversations.

The oldest grandchild and the oldest of the girl gang. I love to watch her and Camry together. Camry doesn't have an older sister so she loves the attention she gets from Heidi and Heidi loves to hang out with her too.

Chris is always a good sport to hang out with the kids and build sandcastles with them. And his castles are not ordinary sand castles. You can tell that he is an engineer when you see them. There is exactness and precision in them. But he is patient with the kids who don't quite have the same standards and blueprint as he does.

Just a cute picture of Daisy.

And the building continues.

I have the next two pictures backwards, but that's okay. This is Erica looking very humble and modest about her hit. I am sure that it was a home run.

And this was the pitcher, looking very handsome and athletic in his pink salmon colored shirt.

One cute beach bum.

I love this picture of Blake with his one foot up going after the ball. If there is a ball anywhere around, he wants it.

The big Bocce ball tournament. They all look very determined and focused.

Daddy on Gentry watch.

Just relaxing and watching the ocean and drinking a soda. My favorite things to do at the beach.

Becca, Kyle and Preslee. So we had three dogs at Fort Bragg with us. Two of them were Bassett Hounds ..... Preslee and Dinah (Joe and Candy's dog) and one Shih Tzu, Maggie (Kaylee and Chris' dog). It actually worked out pretty well with all of them and didn't seem to be a problem at all.

Another one that is camera shy and it drives me crazy. As soon as I get my camera out, she turns around so I was happy with this picture of her.

Getting ready for a family picture and trying to round everybody up.

Still not quite there yet. Erica has the only good picture of all of us and if I knew how to steal a picture from her blog, I would steal it because I would love a copy of it.

Becca playing with the kids. All of the mothers said how nice it is to have a sister who doesn't have kids yet because she will still play with them. She does their nails and she and Kyle play endless games of hide and seek with them and kickball. Thanks Becca for all of your help. Sam was a lot of help with all of the kids too. He was always willing to hold one at any time. The kids played in the road a lot and even though it scared me, it all worked out fine. They loved riding the bikes that Kaylee and Chris brought. One thing to remember for next time is to bring more kids' bikes. They loved it and their were a few squabbles over whose turn it was to ride them. We had several adult bikes there too and they were always willing to let the kids tag along on their bikes.

The cool thing about this trip was that Grandma and Grandpa came and spent a few days with us. They stayed in a motel but came and hung with us all day long. It was great having them and having them get to know the great grandkids a little more. Carolyn was the same Carolyn and didn't want to be left behind on any of the activities in spite of the fact that she has to use a cane now. She went down to the beach and went for a long walk along the water. I hope that I am like her when I get that age.....I am not even that way now....who am I kidding!!

The men holding the babies. Chris with George and Sammy with Gentry. Everyone was more than happy to hold the two babies who can't walk yet. I don't know how those pictures ended up together and I can't get them separated now either.

G-ma and G-pa. Thanks for coming.

This last thing is a video and I have no idea if it uploaded right or not. The picture on the blog looks kind of creepy though.

random grandkid pictures

2011-08-09T14:14:00.000-07:00

Here are just some random pictures that I took this summer when some of the grandkids visited. I may have already posted some of them, but if I did, oh well.....here they are again. Scotty is a baby lover. He may not be too great with older kids, but with babies, he is gentle and kind and patient.

Here are the girls watching a movie. On a few of the days it rained and it was nice to be able to turn the tv on for awhile and just let them relax and veg for awhile. Look how tan the girls are here and it was the beginning of the summer.

Here is the Blakester eating his lunch. It really helped after we found this chair for him to sit in.

Kaylee eating outside on the table. It was so nice to be able to have the kids eat outside. It kept the noise and the mess outside. Tucker and Rylee took care of the cleanup and I am sure they were well fed too.

Here is Miss Daisy in her Daisy dress that Erica got for her. I love this smirk. Something is wrong with my computer and it keeps going up to the top of my pictures and so I can't download anymore. Consequently, this is a very short post. I need help ...... Erica!!!!!

ANCESTRY AND POSTERITY

2011-08-03T15:48:00.000-07:00

During the month of June, right after we went to Washington, we had the privilege of going to this beautiful cemetery in North San Juan. Kathy, Kevin, and Kim came out from Utah and Colorado to bury their father's ashes who had died earlier in the year. We weren't so sure we were going to go having just gotten back from the Smiths and that was one of the days that Walt actually had work. We wanted to be there for the family though, especially Kathy, since she has done so much for us in the past and this was so important to her. Walt got home and we decided to go anyway and I am so grateful that we did. The cemetery is old, really old, but very peaceful and beautiful. Walt comes from some great stock. His mom had nine brothers and sisters and they grew up in that area. There are only four surviving members of her family. Carolyn is the second oldest and still doing well thankfully. Shauna had to do a talk on ancestry and temples last week and she talked to me at great length about my grandma Watts and that is who she centered her talk on. She has taken an interest in her and been trying to do some research on her and trying to find out where her journals ended up after Aunt Roxie died. So this subject has been on my mind a lot lately. But back to this day.......

Uncle Dick was unable to attend but Carolyn and her two brothers made it and this is a picture of them and their spouses. Here are Uncle Harry, Aunt Maryann, Gpa and Gma, and Aunt Pat and Uncle George. I am so glad that we have this picture. We had not seen George and Pat in awhile and Harry and Maryann for even longer and so it was so good to see them.

I love this picture. Harry, Carolyn and George. Kaylee actually named her baby George after this uncle and baby George's middle name is Patrick since he was born on St. Patrick's day. The cool thing is that George is married to Pat so it is sort of after both of them....George and Pat like to think that too. George's legacy will always be tied up with the game of cribbage. I think he taught several of my kids to play that game. Like I said in my previous posts, you will rarely come to our home for a family gathering without someone eventually taking out the cribbage board.

I don't know how to get this picture deleted.

Here is the above picture right side up. Since they were doing a memorial for Johnny and putting in a marker for him, they decided to put in a marker for aunt Cookie too. I loved aunt Cookie. She made every family gathering more fun with her quick wit and easy smile. She died of Lou Gherig's disease, ALS, and it was a long, hard death for someone so full of life. Her ashes were placed up in Oregon next to her son, Stacy, who died when he was 12. Some of her ashes had been scattered here too, so they wanted a marker.

This is Kevin, Kim, and Kathy. They are siblings and were born to John Harper and Frankie. We are lucky to have them in our family. We don't see Kevin and Kim too often but we hang out with Kathy every chance that we can. She makes us laugh and she poses really well. She has pretty much taught all of us "cruisers" how to pose for a picture. Whenever we are taking a picture on the cruise someone can just yell out, "Do the Kathy pose" and one hand is automatically put on our hips, our chests are put out just a little, one knee bent and a big, open, pretty much fake smile on our lips. We love Kathy.

Kevin had this marker made for his dad and the interesting thing is that they just went up into the cemetery and dug up some dirt, put some cement in the hole, and plunked the marker down in the middle of the cement and covered the edges with dirt. Aren't you supposed to have some sort of clearance or permit to do something like that.....not so with the Harpers. But then Uncle George has his own key to the gate of the cemetery so maybe he has some pull.

I love this picture of the kids. They just sat there so reverently, without even being asked. They listened and watched without any of us saying anything to them at all. It was if they knew that this was a sacred time.

Kevin getting ready to place the marker. Kathy was having a little bit of a hard time so Kim is comforting her and that is Jessie looking on with Johnny tucked under her arm.

I love that Than and Erica are so supportive of people. They came for Kathy and Grandma and pretty much try to go to anything that they can. I love that they live closer to us and we get to hang out with them more and their kids are starting to really know us now. Than just jumped right into it and began shoveling dirt for the hole for the marker. He doesn't wait to be asked, he just took the initiative to do it.

What a cute couple and baby Gentry. I couldn't do this post without pictures of the kids. Since Shauna has gotten me thinking about my ancestors and their posterity, I wanted to do this post to remember these people and this day. What a great lineage my kids have. Herm's family is pioneer stock in the church. His great grandfather, Levi Ward Hancock, was even mentioned in the Doctrine and Covenants....so cool. Carolyn's family is new in the church, with her being the first member. Her influence and example have been great and powerful however. My grandmother, Agnes Watts, was also pioneer stock in the church coming across the plains from England. Her children were not so active, in fact I think only one of them was. My mom was not active and yet Grandma Watts' influence and example sunk deep into our hearts and out of nine children, five us have been through the temple and received our own endowments. I think about Grandma often and I hope that she realizes what her commitment and faithfulness to the gospel has done for me in my life.

Scotty lookin' quite Bieberish. He is currently obsessed with Justin Bieber and wants his hair like his and to dress like him and to sing like him. He listens to him on my computer. It is frustrating to me, especially the hair debate. The other day Becca asked him what he wanted for his birthday at the end of the month. He said, "A book about how to build guns and bombs." She screamed out, "Mom!" as if I have any influence over this boy. I am thinking in my mind, "Well that is the first time he has ever wanted a book...there's a little progress in the academia area." And hey, he didn't ask for a bag of fertilizer to go with it!! So then she took him over to the computer and they began looking at alternative ideas. He wants J. B. shoes and a hat like he wears. Although I am not thrilled with his passion for Justin, I would rather steer him toward music rather than terrorist activities!!!

And look at this cute, sunburned boy who is a swimmer this year and a very good one I might add. He and Camry, who I don't have a picture of, have started on swim team this year and they are both doing fantastic. I went to one of their meets and it just made me nostalgic about all of the years that I spent on the pool deck watching my kids practice and swim endless laps across the pool and then cheering them on during the competitions.

And the post would not be complete without a picture of this sassy girl. She never lets me take her pictures and so I was happy to get this picture of her beautiful smile. So anyway, I am grateful that we went to this memorial. I am grateful for the people in my life who have been such great examples to me. I am grateful for my ancestors and their example of enduring to the end and faithfulness under extreme hardship. I am so happy to be a member of this church and to realize that this life is not the end and that one day we will be re-united with those who have passed. I am so thankful that Erica will get to hang out with her mom again and love on her and get advice, because I am so inadequate in so many areas that my kids and in -law kids are usually the teachers and I am the student. I love the gospel and all of this has made me more curious about my ancestors and who knows, maybe someday I will even do a little geneology. And I know that most of you have stopped reading this by now, because you all say that I write too much, but maybe someday, one of you or your children or grandchildren will be interested in these writings (like Shauna is in my Grandma's journals) and wonder what THIS old lady was really like.

GEORGE'S BLESSING

2011-08-02T10:33:00.000-07:00

The day after the Tim McGraw we headed to Washington for George's blessing. It sort of looks like I am saying George Washington when you see that together. Walt, Scotty, and I drove to Medford and picked up Shauna and Blake and then headed straight up there. It was a long drive. Shauna read a book called "The Witches" to Scotty the entire way there. It actually was entertaining to listen to...not "sit on the edge of the seat" entertaining, but certainly better than some of the talk radio that Walt listens to. It was a long ride though and we were thrilled to get out of the car in Kennewick. Kaylee and Chris were all set up in the driveway with a great dinner for us and we got to meet Chris' family. That was a treat and we enjoyed our visit there and getting to get to know them for a short time. We met Chris' dad and sister, Jamie, and got re-acquainted with Deanna. We also got to meet Heather's family and that was good to meet these people who I only know on facebook. And here is the star of the show all dressed up on Sunday morning for his day. Kaylee picked his outfit....are you surprised???? I thought he either looked like a train engineer in white or the Pillsbury doughboy. Either way, he was adorable.

Daddy and George.

Chris' dad, facing the camera, and Heather's dad and Heather's brother. This table was the setting of many pinochle games....or penuckle, peenukle, penochal....there are a variety of spellings for that game!!!! The Smiths love that game and taught Sam and Walt and they spent a lot of time playing over the weekend. They actually really liked it ..... I am not sure if it will replace the Hancock cribbage game tradition but they enjoyed learning it and will probably play it a lot more. It reminded me of all of my summers as a kid watching my brothers play it literally day and night while drinking RC cola and eating Wampum chips.

Here we were waiting to leave for church. The kids are playing with someone's Ipad, and Shauna is texting Ben...I am sure. That is Heather's mom, Karen, leaning over the couch and Chris' sister sitting next to Olive. Both families have been such a support of Kaylee and Chris and so good to accept Olive as another grandchild/niece.

And here he is again. I love this look on his face.

Olive is a bit of a tomboy and had a lot of fun playing guns with anyone who would play with her.

This was the best family picture I could get. I am not a photographer and so I don't know anything about lighting but is all I know is that the sun was bright and right in their eyes. This was the only picture that I took where William was looking at the camera. I don't think he was too happy about the sun either. Olive looks adorable.

Sam came from Utah for the blessing. It was so nice of him and I know that Kaylee appreciated it. He also got harassed a lot over the weekend from his two sisters. They love to tease him and he gives it right back to them. Part of the teasing was in trying to get him to date Chris' sister Jamie, who is beautiful by the way.

The threesome.

Shauna and the Blakester. The funny thing about Blake over the weekend is that he is into everything and you have to watch him constantly. One evening there was a knock at the door and the neighbor came by with him and asked if he belonged at the house. He had gone out through the garage door and out in the neighborhood. Chris took him from the neighbor and was holding him and said that he stunk really badly. He set him down on the floor and it was then that we realized that it wasn't his diaper but that he had stepped in dog poop. If you could have heard Chris yell for Shauna....it was the funniest thing ever and I can still hear it in my mind. And the funny thing is, she could not stop laughing about it....the entire time she was cleaning it up.

Papa with the two munchkins.

Another munchkin. I am totally hating his hair but he wants it like Justin Bieber's hair and we fight about so many other things that I am trying to let him have his way on this one but I am having the hardest time with it. It has bugged me all summer and here we are all ready to go back to school with this ugly hair. He also wants the Bieb's hat and yellow shoes for school. The other day when Becca asked him what he wanted for his birthday he said, "A book about how to build guns and bombs." What eight year old asks for that? But at least he is asking for a book. She is trying to push him toward the Bieber's shoes, rather than terrorist accessories.

Aren't these two guys so cute?

Aunt and nephew. I love that my kids LOVE each other's kids. We babysat for Kaylee and Chris for two evenings so that they could have a few date nights. I love this baby.

Another aunt and nephew. Kaylee thinks that Blake is so funny and she is so good with him.

We went to the park along the Columbia river on Monday and just hung out for awhile. I just like this expression George makes. He cracks me up with his serious looks.

And there's a smile. He is the cutest thing ever. Kaylee keeps trying to get me to say that he is the cutest grandson, but how can you compare four really cute grandsons? I will say that I have the cutest grandsons anywhere in the world though.

We had a great time in Kennewick. We got to go out to eat once. We got to have Chris's ribs and corn on the cob on Sunday. We went to Hobby Lobby and spent a lot of money. I have never been to that store and even though I am not crafty, I loved it and spent way too much money. However, every time I look at my walls in my house, I just think, "Money well spent." As you can see the trip home was much more quiet than the trip up there. We were exhausted after a fun time at the Smiths. Thanks Chris and Kaylee for hosting us and for having that cute baby.

TIM MCGRAW

2011-07-16T19:06:00.000-07:00

For Mother's day and Father's day Than and Erica gave us country mega tickets to three concerts and the first was this cute guy. I have always said that if I could go to one concert, it would be his and I got my wish. The last real concert that I went to was Elton John...it was that long ago....so this was a real treat. We didn't know what to expect with grass seats since we had never been there but Than got the hook-up for us because he was willing to run when the gates opened. We got the first grass seats, so basically, nobody was directly in front of us and we could have sat down for the entire concert if we had wanted to....but we didn't sit because pretty much everyone stands and sings and dances. It was so much fun and I didn't even mind standing. The weather was perfect with a slight, cool breeze and we just had a wonderful evening. This was as good as my camera could get but it was better than my eyes could get. He was pretty small from our grass seats, but still so enjoyable. He is just cute and what a smile.

Another shot of the crooner.

I usually don't post pictures of myself because I don't usually take them of myself and I am not good to look at but Erica took this of the two of us and I guess occasionally it is good to document that you were actually at an event.

I am so thankful that they not only got us tickets, but they got them for themselves and will be able to attend the concerts with us. Than and Erica are great company and always fun to be with. There is Than sporting his western shirt. Everyone was dressed country....the men in snap shirts and boots and hats and the women in booty shorts and hats. I am contemplating getting me some Daisy Duke shorts for the next concert but then I remember that line from the comedian on the cruise..."Just because they make it in your size, doesn't mean you should wear it." I will probably hear from Kyle and Benji on the thought of me wearing booty shorts because they love to make fun of me.

Another fun thing was that the Avilas bought tickets too and we all got to sit together. We were right by the sidewalk and it was crowded and the girls loved to dance on that sidewalk. Chris was sitting on the edge of the sidewalk and there were several times when we thought that one of those girls was going to end up right in his lap, especially as the night wore on and the drinking wore on. Plus, because he was sitting, their butts in those short tight booty shorts were pretty much eye level with him. But he was a good sport and just laughed even when he was re-baptized a few times...in the Catholic way....with beer.

Another fun person to hang out with...Dee. She loved to rock out to the music and knew most of the words and I thought she was going to tackle a few of those booty-shorted girls who were a little too close to her husband!!!

There they are...the cute couple who made this possible for us.

The concert started with a brother and sister band (I can't remember their name however) and then this guy, Luke Bryan, came on and he was really good too. Although Walt is not much of a country kind of guy, he really enjoyed the evening. He liked Luke Bryan and really liked Tim McGraw. We even listened to his cd on the way to Medford the next day. He did have a girl fall into his arms who was crying because she couldn't find her friends and she was upset about it. The place was packed and she had gotten separated from them. Oh, and did I mention, she was drunk off her butt. Than went to the bathroom and he said there were several girls in there because the girl's line was too long and he actually got flashed by one of them. So in spite of some of the glitches for this innocent Mormon group....or maybe because of all of them....a good time was had by all and we are looking forward to the next one in August. Thanks Than and Erica.

CHILLAXIN' AT MIMI'S/GRAMMY'S

2011-07-14T13:10:00.000-07:00

I have been torn about what the kids are supposed to call me. The older ones started with calling me Grammy. Then Olive came along and shortened it to Mimi and for me it has kind of stuck. When she was first talking, she would get exasperated and she would say, "Mimi" in a really exasperated, frustrated, cute little way and it was so funny that I found myself doing things to sort of irritate her....in the most grandmotherly way....just so I could hear her say it. Maybe that is why she likes Papa so much more!! But I love it when she calls me that and I love that William calls me that and I especially like the way that Daisy says it right now. Not in the exasperated, frustrated way of Olive, but in a friendly, excited voice that is equally as cute. So I am hoping that the younger kids all call me Mimi...and I like it that it is a little different. Anyway, fun times at our house. I have sensed a theme in the pictures of Walt....he is asleep in a lot of them. Shauna and Ben finally came home...well to the west coast. They stayed with us for several weeks and we had a great time re-connecting with their family. Walt had never even met Blake and I think that this picture was day two of their visit. Why do all of the grandkids like him so much???? I just don't get it. Blake crawled right into his lap and fell promptly to sleep, as did Papa.

Blake was not very cooperative in getting his picture taken. Every time I tried to snap one, he crawled or walked away so this was about as good as it gets. I have loved getting to know this cute little rascal. He reminds me a lot of Than or I can picture Walt looking just like this as a baby. Love this little guy.

And then there is this cute little darlin'. She is the cutest, friendliest, easiest going baby I think I have ever met. I love that she will come to me and let me hold her. I don't think I heard her cry once at Fort Bragg in the whole time we were there. And she just smiles....all the time. Love this girl.

Shauna does special time with her kids every night before they go to bed. She reads to each one of her kids individually from a book of their choice. Well it would have taken all night to read to each of these kids separately, so she read to them as a group and they loved it. Even the dogs wanted to get in on it.

After story time Shauna and Erica let the kids watch a movie and have a semi-slumber party. They loaded them up on junk food and they all laid down to watch the movie. Trying to get all of the kids to agree on a movie was no easy task.

I don't think that Than or Sammy or Joe ever come to our house without getting in a few games of crib with their dad. This has been a Hancock tradition that has been carried down the generations. If grandma Hancock is here, she is in on it too. Notice the various drinking paraphanelia on the table...bottles, sippy bottles, sippy cups, cups and of course Papa's soda bottle. The kids were eating dinner here right before the movie/junk food night.

Corn on the cob and chips and salsa....that's all I can see. What kind of a dinner is that????

If the kids have already hot tubbed and played outside and swam and are all tired out or if the adults are just sick of the kids, this is what we do with them. It's not quite Grandma's feather bed, but it is pretty darn close and I love it when they all pile into it. Look how intense they all are. There is very seldom any fighting when they are watching a movie.

And when the kids are in Mimi's bed, the adults can usually be found here....just relaxin' and being totally thankful that the kids are out of their hair for a few minutes.

I think Erica and Shauna were planning a menu or something....maybe for Memorial day, of which I just realized, I have no pictures. But we did have it this year. The weather wasn't very cooperative and it was sort of cold and attendance was down a bit, but it was still fun and relaxing and I am glad that we do that every year. I love it when my kids come to visit. It is loud and noisy and very messy and I complain about all of it. I still am thankful that they come. I am thankful that I was able to spend so much time with my family over the last six weeks. I have to say though that it has been nice to have a peaceful, clean home for the past few days. But I would do it all over again in a minute. I love all of you guys and appreciate all of the help you are to me.

PAPA'S HOT TUB

2011-07-13T09:46:00.000-07:00

Walt loves his hot tub. It is probably his favorite thing that we own. He uses it almost every day and so we definitely get our money's worth out of it. I only get in during cold weather and then it is just a little piece of heaven. I hate to be cold and nothing feels better on a cold winter's night then to just soak in 104 degree water. The grandkids also love Papa's hot tub and they are not picky about the weather. They get in year round and it is probably one of the best things about coming to Papa's house. I take lots of pictures of them so this post is dedicated to the hot tub. What is cuter than this little ballerina swimmer? Nothing completes an ensemble like bright purple and green goggles.

And then we have this cute little imp sporting the tye-dye look (she is so much her mother!) and the upside down pink goggles....that's right, goggles can be worn either way.

One of George's first times in. He loved it. Hot tubbing is quite the family affair around this place.

And this guy loves it too. He spends quite a bit of time in here. Sometimes, especially during the winter, he will just go out in the afternoon or evening and spend an hour or so just playing with his toys in the hot tub. We do have to watch him during the summer however. A few weeks ago I caught him up on the railing of the deck...about six feet above the tub...cannon balling into the hot tub....not good!!

A little daddy/ son time.

Group time.

I love George's look here. He has the most serious expressions... like he just has a lot on his mind.

Mommy /son time.

The ballerina and her daddy. I love that my kids are always willing to get in the hot tub with the little ones.

Just four of my seven grand daughters. I LOVE to watch all of them play. I have one seven year old, two five years olds, a four year old, two three year olds, and a nine month old. They are hilarious to watch and most of all to listen to and they all get along so great.

I complain about the expense of the hot tub. Sometimes I am not so thrilled with the water mess in the house when everyone is here and running in and out. But overall, this has been a good family investment and I am so glad that my kids and grandkids like it and get to enjoy it.

EASTER AND MOTHER'S DAY

2011-07-11T11:40:00.000-07:00

Easter was a little different for our family this year. Than and Erica flew to Atlanta for her step father's wedding and we went to Walnut Creek and watched the kids for them. We went down early Friday afternoon and came home Sunday night so Walt and I could go back to work the next day. The kids (and Walt) wanted pizza that night so we got some Papa Murphy's and soda. Pacen was acting a little quiet but not too bad. None of the kids seemed motivated to do much so this was a typical scene. Than and Erica really do have more seating than this....it just seemed like they all wanted to be piled up on each other at all times.

On Saturday morning we went yard selling because that is what Walt does on Saturday mornings. Then we took the kids to the movies and saw that bird movie....I think it was called Rio. It was fun and actually rather entertaining. Pacen was getting more and more quiet though. We bought the kids some suckers to eat there. Claira was pounding them. I think she ate at least five or six of them. Pacen didn't even finish his first.

And then when we got home, he looked like this for the rest of the time we were there. He started throwing up and had a fever and it was just sad. I felt so badly for him too because there is nothing worse than feeling this badly and not having your mom around. But Pacen was typical Pacen. He didn't complain or whine or anything. He just looked sad and rather pathetic. So I spent the rest of the time cleaning up throw up and taking his temperature and giving him medicine. Thank goodness none of the others got it. It really was just sad though.

And while Pacen looked like that, Papa looked like this. I love that Penny likes him so much.

So even though Easter passed rather uneventfully for us, Mother's day was a huge event, thanks to Than. He surprised me and they drove up after a ward activity on Saturday night. They got here around one o'clock in the morning. Everyone crashed out and then in the morning, Than began cooking and he literally cooked all day, except for the time he was in church. For breakfast he fixed sausage and hash browns and this really good peach breakfast thing. It was delicious.

Here is the most beautiful mother of the day. Than spoiled me and he spoiled her.

Here he is slaving away in the kitchen. Seriously after such a great breakfast, the spoiling continued. He made homemade chinese chicken salad (my favorite), and this really good marinated steak that was so incredibly tender and delicious, sauteed mushrooms, corn on the cob and pink lemonade pie for dessert. How awesome was that menu? It was a ton of work, but he didn't complain even once and he even did all of the cleanup.

So thank you Than for all of the hard work. I don't know why he acts so moronic when it is picture time. Than and Erica also gave us tickets to see Tim Mcgraw, Toby Keith, and Rascal Flatts. The cool part is that we get to go with them to all of them. Thanks Than and Erica. That was the best mother's day ever. I got to hear from all of my kids, I didn't have to clean up anything, and I got to eat all of my favorite foods. It doesn't get any better than that.

SIX FLAGS

2011-07-11T11:17:00.001-07:00

Okay, it has been a long time since I have blogged....again. I am going to try to catch up in the next few days. Way back in April, we were bored one day and so we called Erica and asked if she wanted to go to Six Flags, and when have you ever known Erica to turn down a fun day. She is always game for anything. It was a fun filled day. It was hot though, very hot and so we found this splash park area and let the kids get wet. We were unprepared for the heat though so the kids just went in their clothes. They didn't even have shorts but they still had fun. Camry wanted to strip down like Claira but Erica thought she was too old. There was a boy there who looked to be about ten years old and he stripped down to his cartoon underwear. It was really quite disgusting.

Scotty loves any chance of getting wet.

Even Gentry was hot and got in the action. She loved it. Look at those thunder thighs.

Papa and Gentry.

It didn't take long for Claira to tucker out. When you go anywhere with Papa, you are pretty much on a dead run, especially at an amusement park. But Gentry is just happy to be there. She really is the best baby.

The cute little girls.

The kids loved this ride. I think Erica did too. I really like Six Flags because the children's area is really quite good and entertains even Scotty. He is too short to go on most of the big roller coasters, but there are enough that he can go on to satisfy him.

Here they are ready to blast off. Erica pretty much did the riding while Walt and I did the tending of Gentry.

This was a ride like the pirate ship that rocks back and forth and after the kids were all buckled we looked over and realized that Claira was in a side all by herself and she just started crying. Scotty quickly hopped over and rode with her. He really is good with little ones...most of the time.

Doesn't Erica look like she is having a fun time? She really is fun to go with and I love that she is always "up" for anything. She convinced us to buy season tickets and we hope that we can join them a few more times before summer ends. We have only used our tickets once and my summer is half over so we need to get going.

GEORGE PATRICK SMITH

2011-05-06T16:21:00.000-07:00

I should get the worst grandma of the year award. This beautiful baby was born on my birthday, March 17, and I am just now getting around to blogging about it. I am trying to figure out how to do my pictures differently too and I obviously called Erica too late, so I will just have to live with this. Isn't he the cutest thing ever? I didn't make it for the delivery but I got there just a few hours after he was born. I made the trip alone and it was kind of scary because it was snowing along the way and I had to pull over several times and just say a little prayer and wait a minute for it to let up a little, but I made it....and I am so glad that I did. There is NOTHING cuter or sweeter than a newborn baby. So after much thought and consideration, they decided NOT to go with naming the baby after me (I wanted them to name him Breckan and then I would call him Brecky). I do love that they went with Patrick as his middle name since he was born on St. Patrick's day. He is so, so cute. I have not seen him for awhile except on skype and I can hardly wait to see him this month.

George is blonde and dark and reminded me of a little surfer baby at one day old. He has hair, you just can't see it very well because it is so blonde. He was a chunky little thing.....nine and a half pounds and 21 inches long.

I got Olive this fake food for her birthday. It is that wooden stuff that is velcroed together and it had a few knives that you could use to cut it apart. Olive and William loved it and it was great entertainment for them. They loved to play restaurant with me where I would order food and they would prepare it and serve it to me. Look at that smile.
In spite of the fact that Kaylee really didn't want a lot of monkey things since his name was George and there are a lot of Georges out there....Curious George, George of the Jungle, Georgie Porgie, George Clooney...she got several monkey outfits at her shower. And monkey stuff is really "in" right now. You see it everywhere. He looks adorable in it though. Actually (Olive's new word), he looks adorable in anything.
Like Shauna said, he is better dressed than any of her kids and better dressed than she and Ben dress. I would have to say he is better dressed than any of us at our household but that isn't saying much. Isn't he just so cute?
Olive loves to mother him and William is a great big brother. They loved sitting on the couch holding him. They are probably watching Dinosaur Train or Little Einsteins in this picture. I loved that Kaylee and Chris have that TEVO thing and had a lot of shows recorded for them. It made it easier on me to figure out what was okay for them to watch. I love that when Olive and William watch TV they sit really close to each other and are just totally content to watch it together.
This is Prince George's new bed. It is so pretty and this picture doesn't do it justice. I am so proud of Kaylee for attempting to sew. She made that crib bumper all by herself and it even has the cording junk around the top of it. I love her color scheme and the bright colors. William's bed is in the same colors and their room is just cute.
This is at the hospital getting ready to leave. He is dressed to the nines here too.
Worn out mama and daughter. I love this picture at the hospital.
The brothers at the hospital.
I love that he wears hats a lot.
Here they are again, sitting close and watching TV together. They are sitting on the trunk drinking their milk. I am so glad that they get along so well.
Olive, looking a lot like Popeye....love it.
Mom, Dad and Baby.
I was so grateful that I got to go up there and spend some time with the Smiths. I wish that I could have stayed longer but I had to get back for work. I loved watching their family and how they "worked" together and how they made adjustments for this new little one. I love that they really are a family of "Yours, Mine, and Ours" now and that this precious little boy has bound all of them together as one. Welcome to the world George Patrick Smith.

U.S.A.

2011-05-01T22:25:00.000-07:00

It is late and I am tired and know that I should go to bed since I have to work tomorrow and I have a very busy, stressful day ahead of me because of state testing, but I want to put down my feelings right now, when I am in the midst of them. I can remember where I was when I heard about the plane hitting the world trade center (as I am sure most people can). I was reading the newspaper on the computer, back in the corner of Scotty's room...then Sammy's room. My yahoo homepage had a picture of the trade center and the impact of the first plane. It was just after six in the morning and then the phone rang and Walt, who was at work, told me to turn on the tv and watch the news because a plane had just hit the world trade center. I told him that I was just reading about it on the internet. And then, as we were talking, another plane hit the other tower and it was then that we knew. .....this was not just a plane that had lost its way or was crashing involuntarily into the building. Our country was under attack, on our own soil. This was something that we really had never even worried that much about...nobody would dare to attack our country. We were too powerful, too strong. But it had happened and it was scary. We even watched it all day off and on at work in Bruce Crist's office at Wilcox because we were all stunned by it...almost with a sense of false security. Who would do this to America? And then Bin Laden came on and smugly took credit for it and spoke unceasingly of his hatred for the United States. For weeks he came on and almost taunted the United States with the strikes on the towers and the Pentagon. And the hunt was on. And it just kept going on and it would seem like we were close to catching him and then he would elude us again. It was frustrating that with all of our power and intelligence, we still could not catch this man. And we finally did it and as I sit here and watch the news, I am so happy and it is so great to watch people celebrating in the streets and chanting, "USA" over and over again. How grateful I am to the men and women who serve our country and especially to those who gave their lives in THIS cause. It may cause more attacks on our country as I am sure we have angered his people and other people who hate the United States, but for now, I would love to be with those other people in the streets and celebrate this victory for the United States. "USA...USA...USA."

THAN'S HALF MARATHON AND THE PARK

2011-04-25T16:06:00.000-07:00

Than has taken an interest in running and biking and swimming. He has participated in triathalons, half marathons, and a 26.2 marathon in Memphis, Tennessee. He ran that one with Shauna. I am glad that he is doing this. I think it is fun for him and I think that it helps him to stay in shape. I think anyone who does a marathon is stupid though....just my opinion. He says that he enjoys the triathalons the most because of the variation between the swimming, biking, and running. I am in awe of anyone who can run or swim, or bike that long. Pretty much I am in awe of anyone in shape, because I am not. Self control, determination, perseverance, and motivation are not my strong suits. So I am in awe of those who are athletic. He ran this half marathon in Chico in March and we went along to watch since it was so close. Here he is getting ready.

He is going to kill me for this one because it shows his hairy stomach. He took off the undershirt because he didn't want to get too hot.
There he is in the crowd giving a thumbs up as they wait for the start. It seemed like it took forever for the race to begin.
Scotty with his really long hair and Pacen waiting at the start. Angelee met up with Erica in the park and hung out and when she saw Scotty's hair, she said to me, "The seventeen hundreds called and they want their hair cut back." Scotty wants his hair long and I don't, so we are trying to compromise. This was at its longest and I just hadn't gotten around to cutting it.
And they are off!! What did we do before iPods? I remember people running carrying those cd disc players in one of their hands. IPods are so much easier.
Erica and Gentry waiting for the race to begin and waiting to go to Caper Acres.
Little Missy who never lets me take her picture and will not let me call her "Sunshine Girl." She immediately says, "I not you Sunshine Girl. I mommy's Sunshine Girl." There you have it.
I had to sneak this picture in at Caper Acres.
The two rascals on top of the dragon.
My handsome grandson.
Scotty loves, loves, loves Claira and Gentry. He said on the way to Walnut Creek the other day, "Mom you know who I really love? I love Gentry and Claira. I love Pacen and Camry too, but I really love those two sweet babies." He can be so sweet at times.
Here he is at the finish line high fiving as he runs by. He doesn't even look that tired. He should have pushed himself harder....just kidding Than. He hadn't run much since the December marathon and so he said he would be happy to just make it under two hours. And....
He did it!! Good job Than. It was fun watching him and watching the others too. There is a certain excitement in the air at these races and even though I am not a runner, you can still feel it. After the race we headed to La Comida in Oroville where kids eat free on Saturdays, so Than and Erica love it because they can feed their whole family on under nine dollars. And Walt and I love it because we are just in general cheap people.
And this is just to document that the seventeen hundreds did call and I gave them their haircut back. It is still longer than I like but a good compromise for both of us.

TOBAGO

2011-04-20T15:52:00.000-07:00

The last day of our trip was on the island of Tobago. It is located about twenty miles off the coast of Venezuela. It was just as beautiful as the other islands. We were all tired after four days of island hopping and here we are waiting for everyone to get ready to leave the ship for the day. Tom was a great cruise director and I would never want to go on a cruise without him. He makes it easy for us. We are just like sheep. He tells us where to go and we just follow him. I think there were a few times when some of the group wanted to tell him where to go..just kidding....but not really. He is great and we really don't know what we would do without his organizational skills.

Here are Pam and Susan and Kathy Andoe. Still waiting.
I love this picture of the island girls....and Terry perched in the window.
And we finally made if off the ship to a town called Scarborough. Tobago was a beautiful island and it would be hard for me to choose my favorite island. At every island we asked what the minimum wage was and how much a gallon of gas cost. Most minimum wages were around two dollars an hour and most gas cost about six dollars a gallon. That seems really high but I figure they don't have to drive that far since they live on very small islands, so it probably lasts them a while. However on this island, the gas was under a dollar a gallon. Remember...it is about twenty miles off the coast of Venezuela. They also drill their own oil right off the island.
I tried to get a picture of these beautiful orange trees all over the island but it was hard to get a good picture from the inside of the bus. I loved this tour of the island though.
We ended up driving to the other side of the island to a place called Englishmen's Bay. It is a beautiful secluded beach with this little store on it....well secluded until forty of us showed up!! This little store/restaurant was the only thing around so I am sure they were glad that we showed up. I bought several pieces of jewelry made out of coconut shells from this store. I love them. The are multi colored and they make a really neat sound when I walk or move. Because I am a new woman now, I have started wearing jewelry again so I bought a few things on the islands...not expensive things like some of the cruisers...just cheap "island" things. But I am glad that i bought them now because I will never go back and it reminds me of the cruise every time I wear them. I also love my new pillows that I bought on the island of St. Kitts. Every time I walk in my house, I love seeing them on my couch. They are bright colors and painted batik style. They make me happy just to look at them.
I took a picture of this random dog because I swear this same dog was everywhere on every island. They all looked the same. They are almost all this size and shape, just a different color. Where are the purebreds???
I loved this bay. It was picture postcard perfect.
I wish that I lived closer to an island like this. I would be at the beach every day.
What a handsome guy getting ready to snorkel. Like I mentioned in the previous blogs, the weather was a little rainy...not bad, but enough to make it hard to see anything when you snorkeled. But he still tried on every island and still had fun. I never snorkeled but had a great time playing in the water. Well, until this island. I was the first one out in the water and I was just enjoying playing in the waves when suddenly this huge wave hit me from behind and sent me flying up on the beach. When I tried to stand up there was quite an undertow and it took the sand right out from under my feet and me with it. I was sucked back out and then I was almost upright when another wave sent me flying right back on the beach. I was laughing really hard because it was so funny but at the same time, I kept thinking....what if this takes me right back out and I can't get back in? Every time I tried to stand up, another wave would hit me from behind and send me flying. It didn't help that I was laughing. FINALLY, Walt came out to help me up...but not really. He came out and said, "Ummmm, I thought that I had better tell you that your boobs are hanging out of your bathing suit. You might want to take care of that." So the twins had escaped and I have to say, it was the first day that I had gone without a t-shirt over my suit...nice day to start doing that!! Well then I really started laughing and was just hoping that nobody had their video cameras going....thank goodness, they didn't. But most of them saw the whole thing and the first thing Chris said when I got back on the beach was, "I saw your boobs." And I said, "Well it was payback time for the time you mooned me." The whole thing was funny, and a little scary. I am not sure if I would have been able to get out of there had Walt not come out....finally. He said he got a little worried because the waves were so high and they were just slamming me. So needless to say, I didn't get back in for the day. The snorkeling was bad, but everyone enjoyed body surfing because there were some huge old waves.
Dee....the poser.
The Stutzneggers and Delpha.
Isn't this just the cutest picture of Annette???? I love it.
Carolyn doing the "Kathy" pose.
This was at the end of the bay.
Englishmen's Bay from above.
Another random beach.
I took this picture to illustrate how colorful all the houses are. It was so funny to see the bright colors on most of the houses, but it seemed just perfect for the islands. It made me wish that we could be a little more colorful here, instead of everything being done in neutrals and earth tones.
Back in town at the market place. Notice the bright colored building again.
Nice to see a little bit of America so far away.
Another market.
When we got back to do some shopping I expected something different than this...different meaning better...I guess. Because it was where the ships docked, you usually see more touristy things like t-shirts, wind chimes, souvenir type things. But not so on Tobago. This market place was where the locals shopped and it had the stuff that they would buy daily. So it was interesting to shop there and realize that I am a lucky girl to have Walmarts and Targets and malls to shop in .... places that have air conditioning and are clean and have real floors and walls. These shops were just board walls with pallets for floors or just dirt depending on the shop. They were dark, dingy, and smelly....especially in the heat. Truthfully I was glad that I had Walt to walk around with me because it was a little scary looking.
Another shop.
This must have been the underwear store because that is what it mainly sold.
Walt standing next to one of the mannequins with this fishnet body suit on that he was trying to get me to buy. I reminded him of what the comedian had said a few nights before on the ship..."Just because they make it in your size, doesn't mean you should buy it."
Chickens. There were chickens everywhere on this island and lots of them at the market place. I wondered why there were so many chickens with so many nasty dogs running around.
This darling little island girl sitting in the doorway of her mother's shop.
A group of the girls on formal night. Aren't we a good looking bunch? This was that night after seeing Tobago. It was a fun day. For some reason I was sadder that this cruise was ending than any of the others. I am not sure why. I just wanted to go back to these islands. I am so grateful that we got to go, in spite of the expense and all of the complaining that I do. It was so much fun and it just made me really appreciate all that we have in this land and all that Walt and I have as a couple. We are wealthy compared to most on these islands and I do not appreciate it enough. They are happy, even with their limited incomes and standard of living. So that was the end of our cruise. We spent the entire next day sailing back to Puerto Rico. We pretty much just sat by the hamburger stand and snacked and played Nertz all day long. It was a great trip with even greater memories. I am so thankful that we were able to go and share it with such good friends.

GRENADA

2011-04-14T17:14:00.000-07:00

Man, I am forgetting about this vacation and my memories will be gone before long so I have to get this finished. My goal is to chronicle this island tonight and then finish up over the weekend. I have all of next week off....yea!! I love islands. It is just something unexplainable until you have been to one. I love the foliage. These first pictures are Grenada. The only thing that I knew about Grenada was from when I was a lot younger and our government stepped in there because the Cubans had taken over their government and they were holding American students hostage. That was in the early eighties. Before the cruise I learned that it is the "Spice Island." It was beautiful and the smell on this island was amazing.

We stopped at this little store type thing and watched this "friend" of the bus driver do a demo with all of the spices. We bought spice necklaces which I put up in my kitchen and can never smell. Isn't this an awful picture...but hey, what can you do...that is what we look like!!
This is a view from the ship. It rained a lot that day but the rain didn't deter us. We did a tour of the island and then went to the beach.
We had to be tendered in because the tide was too high because of the weather. Here are two cute chicks waiting at the boat dock.
More cute chicks.
Just a random picture to show how pretty the island was.
This was the demo guy at the little store. They sold a lot of boxed spices here and it smelled great.
The flowers are absolutely the prettiest I have ever seen.
There was a guy at this little store who was walking around with this really tall fruit hat on his head and wanted everyone to take his picture and then charged you two bucks for it. He actually followed you around and kept asking you to take his picture. It was really annoying. I got bored and went back to the bus to wait for the group and while I was in the bus, I took this picture of the little shack so I could remember it. If you look very, very closely you can maybe make out the guy with the fruit on his head. When he saw me take the picture, he ran over to the window of the bus and DEMANDED that I pay for the picture that I had taken of him. I told him that I wasn't taking his picture and that I was just taking a picture of the shack. Again, he demanded that I pay him. I told him NO....very firmly. He walked off after calling me some name that I am sure meant "sexy lady." Isn't this just the cutest little building though?
This was a picture of a waterfall that we stopped at. They had some divers who would climb to the top of it and then dive in. It was pretty impressive. It is much bigger than this picture shows it to be.
I loved this building. The bus driver told us that the people of Grenada are very thankful to Americans for liberating them in the eighties. It is nice to be appreciated somewhere!! This wasn't the only sign that we saw thanking America.
This was the beach that we went to. I loved this tree. It quickly became our clothes hanger. As I said before, the weather was not great which made the snorkeling not great because the water was too stirred up. The water was still warm though and I immediately got right in. I love warm ocean water and not even the weather can deter me from enjoying it.
Just some random beach beauties.
A picture of our church. It was fun to see our church on the different islands and it was kind of cool that the bus drivers were good about taking us by them and cool that they even knew where they were.
Back on the tender and heading back to the ship, I got one last picture of Grenada. I loved that place.

ST. CROIX AND ST. KITTS

2011-03-13T11:35:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned before that I LOVE cruising? I could do this every day if the rest of my family were on board and I didn't need an income. This is a picture of our ship, the Summit, when it was docked in St. Croix. St. Croix was the first island that we visited. We woke up Sunday morning and there we were...docked in St. Croix. The ship sails mostly at night and then you just wake up to a new destination. I love sleeping on the ship. The rocking motion is fantastic and puts you to sleep just like a baby. It was a smaller ship which means that you feel the rocking motion more, while you sleep and when you are awake and trying to navigate around the boat. I love the feeling and luckily, neither Walt nor I, get seasick.

This is the island of St. Croix and the view that we woke up to. I love islands and wonder why I don't live on one. It is something that I have been fascinated with even when I was a kid and I feel very, very fortunate that I have been able to visit some of the islands in the Caribbean. I still want to make it Hawaii someday though....I know....I sound really greedy.
We didn't book a shore excursion in St. Croix and instead, just decided to wing it on our own. We spent the morning just looking around at the nearby shops and just enjoying the sights and smells of the island. There is a definite smell to the islands. It is a blend of the spices, the vegetation, and the surroundings, including the people. It is a good smell and it is compounded by the heat in the air. It was hot and muggy here. There was some big celebration in the middle of the island and so most of the vendors were there so the shopping was very limited, but still enjoyable. One of the things that became apparent as we shopped and talked with locals is that liquor is very cheap on the islands. Unfortunately one of the vendors said that it makes for a lot of alcoholics...especially men and some of them just sit around and talk and drink and waste their lives. We bought a few things, mainly cheap jewelry and then headed to the beach.
We hung out with this motley crew in St. Croix. Many of our group took a bus over to the other side of the island where the shopping was supposed to be great. We decided to stay behind and just hang out. It turned out that they were disappointed in the other side of the island....at least for shopping. It was a Sunday and most of the shops were either closed or they had gone to the celebration in the middle of the island too.
And here is a picture of this fat couple. Who are they anyway???
And look at this cute couple. Look how cute Annette is. There she is trying to be all sexy. After looking around for a few hours, we went back to the ship and ate some lunch and then headed to a nearby beach. It was a fun, relaxing afternoon. The beach was a little rocky but the water was so fun to play in. My friends, Joann and Dave, had never snorkeled and Dennis took Joann out in the water and worked with her for the entire time, teaching her how to do it. She loved it even though she is a non-swimmer. Thanks Dennis. I ended up just full of sand though...but so worth it.
We sailed to St. Kitts that night and this is the view when we woke up. It was actually a double rainbow which is hard to see in this picture. I loved St. Kitts.
When we got off the boat, this is the little "town" that we walked into. It was so cute.
We all gathered waiting for our tour guide to come. We were waiting to go on an island tour. We actually did this on all of the islands except St. Croix and I wish that we would have done that there too. It was fun to drive around each of the islands and see what they really look like away from the docks. I was surprised at how poor most of the people live. I guess in my mind, you have to be rich to live on an island, but the vast majority, I think, are very poor. Minimum wage on most of these islands was two dollars an hour and for all of the islands except Tobago, the gas was around six dollars per gallon. Now I realize that you don't have very far to drive on an island, but that is still a lot of money.
We finally met our tour guide and got ready to jump on these open air buses. I loved it. Driving around was so fun and like I said, the smell of these islands was fantastic so I was glad that we were in an open air bus. This was Big Bob's Banana Bus....or Big somebody.
Just a glimpse of one of the houses on the islands.
Beautiful views. I was surprised in talking with one of the tour guides that locals don't frequent the beaches that much. They said that since they grew up with a beach surrounding them, they don't get all that excited about it. That seems hard to believe. I would love to go to the beach everyday, especially a warm Caribbean one.
The water in the Caribbean is the most magnificent turquoise blue color. After touring this island, we again headed to the beach. We made a few stops along the way and visited the tour guides "friends", vendors who wanted us to buy everything from jewelry to coconut bird feeders, to spices, to t-shirts, etc. The interesting thing is that they all said, "This is unique to our island. It was made by a man that lives up the road. You won't find it anywhere else." And lo and behold, we found the same stuff on all of the islands. I did love all of the things that were made from coconuts though. I bought several pieces of jewelry that were made from coconuts and I love them and wish that I had bought more. It was on this island where we all tasted freshly cut sugar cane (which I loved...no big surprise) and coconut milk, straight from the coconut....nasty. I think it was also this island where there were monkeys everywhere and they said that there are three monkeys for every person on the island, and they are quite a nuisance to the islanders.
At the end of the day, we headed back into the little "town" and shopped. The shopping there was fun but everything started to look the same in each shop. We got Walt another Hawaiian shirt and I got a St. Kitt's dress that I hopefully won't look too awful in this summer. I loved St. Kitts and wouldn't mind visiting there again sometime.

CARIBBEAN CRUISE 2011

2011-03-06T09:35:00.000-08:00

Let me warn anyone who is going to read this...it is going to be long and probably boring. We just came back from a cruise to the Caribbean and I want to document it as detailed as possible. I don't want to ever forget how much fun we had and with my brain, those memories are already beginning to fade. I love to cruise....LOVE TO CRUISE. I am so glad that we took that big step in 2005 and decided to give it a try. Our original cruise started with 14 people and I think that on this cruise there were 42 people. Anyone who says that they don't like cruising have either not been on one, or they are flat out crazy. What is not to like about being pampered, eating like kings and queens, fun entertainment, exciting and fun adventures, seeing parts of the world I have earlier only dreamed about, night time dancing, hanging out with friends, and did I mention eating really good food???? I LOVE creme brulee, lobster, steak, new york cheesecake, crab, scallops, really most seafoods. This first picture is on here because when I asked him to let me take a picture of him to make sure the sim card was working the night before the cruise, this is his pose....so typical. I just noticed the commercial on the tv in the background though....hmmmmm.

After a three hour long bus ride to San Francisco, we finally arrived at the airport. We were tired but excited. Most of us had worked Friday and we were ready for the vacation. We usually take a red eye to the cruise port because we are all too cheap to fly there a day early and get a motel. So we suffer with the red eye....but it works.
We were excited that this year some of the Palermo staff decided to join us. Here we have three administrators and a teacher...Kathy, Andee, Carol, and Marlene. At first I thought it might be awkward traveling with my boss, but no worries, it was great.
Here we are all boarded for the first leg of our journey. We flew from S.F. to Charlotte, North Carolina. I hate to fly but I managed it well, but I have to say that I like flying with a lot of friends much better than alone, because I figure that if we go down, at least we will all go down together. I wanted to sit by Dennis and Keith since they are in the stake presidency. I figure if anyone on the plane would be safe, it would be them. If the plane did go down, I figure that some of us could end up on an island like in Lost, so I wanted to be next to the ones I figured might be spared. But fortunately, we were all safe and we never ended up on a deserted, unknown island with a scary smoke monster on it.
We were right across the aisle from Keith and the Jagodas.
Who is this, you might ask? This is the cute obgyn doctor who helped Maree. No, she did not deliver a baby. She merely passed out and she was sitting right next to me. Everyone was asleep and I looked over and she was hanging over the arm rest. At first I thought she was looking for something on the floor and then we hit a little turbulence and her body bounced up and then straight back down and I realized that something was wrong. I tried to get her to wake up but to no avail. She was OUT. I kept shaking her and trying to pull her back upright in her seat, but she woudn't wake up and now I know what the expression, "dead weight" means. I started calling to Keith across the aisle but he was sound asleep. I kept thinking, "Where are the stewardesses? Am I the only one who notices that she is hanging out in the aisle, totally out of it?" I kept calling for Keith and he finally woke up and just stared at me all confused. Finally he realized what was happening and helped me push her upright. Her head hit the headrest and her mouth dropped open. We continued to shake her, but she wouldn't wake up. We put some air on her and she finally started to stir. She was as white as a ghost. The stewardesses came and called for a doctor and this cute guy showed up. There was also a nurse on board who helped. She was still kind of out of it until the stewardesses started talking about turning the plane around and heading back for land and a hospital, since we had just started out over the ocean. This plane was filled to the max with people and I would imagine that most of them were headed to San Juan for the same reason we were....the cruise. Maree, even in her state of "stupor" was able to realize that heading back would make a lot of people just a little bit upset. So she rallied enough to convince the stewardesses and the doctor that she was okay and we continued on....thus saving Maree's life from the wrath of the cruisers.
Maree..... right after the color returned to her face and after convincing everyone that she really was okay. The funny thing is, right after it happened she commented that she didn't want anyone to really know about it. Well Louie had already texted Angelee and we were sure that someone had already posted pictures of it on facebook. We saw a t-shirt on St. Croix that I wish we had gotten Maree. It said, "What happens on St. Croix, stays on Facebook." And now here I am, blogging about it!! Technology....no secret is ever safe for even a minute!
We finally made it to the ship and we were all ready for it. Some of us ate some lunch and some of just explored the ship and some of us just relaxed while we waited for our luggage to arrive in our rooms. We were so thankful for that. We had been in the same clothes since Friday morning, had flown all night Friday night, and now it was Saturday evening. We were so thankful to shower and change. Here are the school people again plus Heather's friend, Darcy. She was so much fun. She reminded me a lot of Walt's cousin, Kathy. She was just fun and outgoing and friendly and kind.
Another fun addition to the cruise were these two. I grew up with Joann in Orland and they decided to come with us. We don't hang out much anymore so it was fun re-connecting with her and Dave. I hope they will come again and that now we can start hanging out more with them.
The first night's dinner....the first of seven nights of stuffing ourselves with unreal amounts of really rich food. The menu on this boat had a left side and a right side. The left side stayed the same every night and the right side changed each night. The left side included things like creme brulee (that's right, I had it every night), and a really good New York steak, and New York cheesecake (I had a few bites of it almost every night too), some salads, salmon and escargot...which I am sure is probably not spelled right. Who would eat that every night? I can't even try them because I see them on my back porch every night of the summer and think they are disgusting. The other side of the menu was different each night and provided a variety of food. Tom and I were talking about the food and we almost think that the food was "above" our taste buds. Some of it just sounded plain gross. I was almost going to get this baked potato soup one night. Sounds good right? Then I read that it has frog legs and squid in it. What a way to ruin a good thing. I did try frog legs when Walt had them one night and I have to say, I was not impressed. They were too slimy after you got through the breading on the outside. They didn't taste that bad, the texture was just gross and really....why eat a frog's legs? So I didn't try them again.
We love to dance and this cruise was great for that. We haven't had very good luck with dancing since our first cruise but this cruise made up for that. The band was fantastic and could play and sing everything from island music, to 50's, to 60's, and disco (Walt was a happy boy), and up through fairly current songs. They were fun and played fast dances, as well as slow. We loved them. The girl was a great singer and seemed to love what she was doing. Their name was Fusion.
Tom and Annette ... the real swingers in the crowd.
I was pleasantly surprised about these two. We have lived in the ward for 27 years and we don't really know Val and Angie that well. This was a fun time to get to know them. I didn't know that they danced. They were there almost every night. I have always admired Angie from afar because she reminds me of my sister, so it was great to spend a little time with them. She is so pretty.
Pat and Martin were another fun addition to the group. They danced a lot and I think a couple of nights they even closed down the place. They were so much fun. Martin was always willing to loan me money when we were on the islands if I had run out I or couldn't find Walt.
Crazy Keith and Susan. She just gets more and more wild the more tired she gets, and Keith is just always crazy.
Pam and Dennis. Dennis hates to dance but is always (well not always, but most of the time), willing to do it because Pam enjoys it. Dennis took some crazy pictures on the cruise...he would just make stupid faces, even when the professional people were taking the pictures. I am glad that I have a few, like this one, where he is just looking normal.
So that was the beginning of our cruise. I will post more, in fact, a lot more. I am so thankful that we were able to go on this. I am grateful for the fun and for the memories. I do love cruising.

WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE??

2011-02-13T18:51:00.001-08:00

How do these bloggers that blog every day or so do it? It has been at least six weeks since I have blogged and I had to force myself to do it. I just need to get better at this. The month of January was a busy one. We spent a rather boring New Years here at the house alone just hanging out and watching football. It was Walt's birthday on the ninth and Grandma and Grandpa came for the weekend and took him to this Chinese buffet that he loves in Yuba City. It was fun to have them here. We have had a couple of "getting ready for the cruise" get-togethers at the Stutzneggers and anytime we hang out with our friends, it is fun. I taught a Homemaking lesson at Relief Society on "Eleven in Eleven" and it was all about setting achievable goals. But by far, the best thing that happened in January was Kaylee coming for about four days. She brought her mother-in-law with her and it was so fun getting to know Chris' mother, Deanne. How nice of her to come clear from Blackfoot, Idaho to support Kaylee. She was such an easy guest to have in our home. I worried about the house not being good enough, clean enough, quiet enough, organized enough, etc. I worry about what she will think about me...I am fat, a little on the mouthy side, a little on the insensitive side, a little abrupt, maybe a tad bit outspoken. But she was great. If she thought any of that, she didn't show it. She made herself at home...which I loved because I forget to be a good hostess. If I am not thirsty or hungry, I forget that others may be. She was perfect and within minutes after meeting her, I was not worried at all. This is a picture of her...the one looking at the green outfit. And next to her are two Gridley people. Cindy is on the right. I have known her forever. She used to be my roommate in Chico and here she is at my grandson's baby shower. Since Kaylee was here we decided to throw her a baby shower. We were shocked at the turnout since it was on a Saturday, but there were tons of people here.

Olive was with her dad for part of the time, but since we were having a shower for Kaylee, she got to spend part of Saturday with us. Kaylee is going to hate all of these pictures but I think she looks so pretty in them. She had lots of help opening gifts from Olive and two of Olive's friends from Gridley.I tried to get Olive to smile for the picture, but what a surprise, she wouldn't. Still so cute though.
This is Olive explaining something to Kaylee and Kaylee being a good mom and acting interested. The little one in the background is Olive's friend.
Some of Kaylee's friends....and mine.
Becca was the recorder of the gifts and she did a great job with the help of Candy. I was so thankful to my girls....all of them. I don't like doing things like this and I hate to entertain and I am not creative at all. Erica did such cute decorations and made up a game all about famous Georges and bought the cutest plates and cups all in Kaylee's colors of aqua and brown and lime green. It all looked so cute. Candy was the best at helping with all the food, cutting it up, getting it ready and making it look cute on the table. And she made George such a cute quilt. Becca helped with the food and the kids and was the best gift recorder ever. Than and Sam were great to take all of the kids to the school to play while the shower was going on. So the shower was a great whole family effort. Also a great big thank you and shout out to Annette Robertson who came over early in the morning and made ALL of the crepes. She is an amazing friend who is always there when I need her and it usually involves cooking. Thanks Annette. The crepes were delicious. And not to forget Lisa....she made such a cute flower decoration for the table....three peas in a pod with George's name coming down the middle. It was amazing, like all the things that she does. Notice that Becca still writes like a kindergartner.
More friends and great-grandma to George. I am glad that I got a picture of her and I was so thankful that they made a second trip to Oroville in one month....that is a supportive grandma to Kaylee.
I love that Sylvia Brock came to the shower. We still miss her and wish that she hadn't moved to Gridley. I am also thankful that my office work friends came. What great friends they are. We have so much fun together in the office. We seriously laugh all day. It is a great place to work if you have to work.
The two posers. I wonder how many pictures there are out there of these two. I love that people from around here stay close. I am so grateful that so many people came to the shower, not just to show Kaylee support, but so I had the chance to see them. I am so excited that Kaylee is having another baby. It has been almost four years. She is a lucky girl...who is going to have her hands full with two three year olds and a newborn.
And what would a blog post be without a picture of this handsome guys? He got this suit from someone in the ward and he LOVES it. He sometimes wears the jacket with his jeans when we go shopping. He thinks that he looks like a spy....not a general authority or a missionary...a spy.
Here he is all dressed up for scouts. The dreaded scouts. I hate having to do THAT all over again, but I guess I signed up for the whole package when I adopted him. But he loves it and he loves his uniform and is so proud when he wears it. He has just been diagnosed with ADHD which I am sure will come as no surprise to anyone. He is on a very low dose of Adderol and he is doing much better. His teacher says it is a miracle and he is a changed boy. He still has his times and I wonder if the pill is working, but the doctor said it is to be expected to have bad days. So we are excited to get him some help for school. His behavior is much better at home too. If he has too many bad days, then the doctor said we will adjust his medicine a little. He asked why he has to take the pill and I tell him to help him be happier. When people say anything to him now, he usually says, "I take a pill now. It makes me happier and nicer."
The rest of the month passed quickly. The only other thing I did was speak at stake conference. I don't mind speaking but I hate the preparation and writing it out. But it went okay and I am glad that I did it. The other news is that we have a new foster girl living with us. She is sixteen, from Oroville, and her name is Amanda. We are not sure how long this will be, but so far, so good. She is nice and kind and puts up with Scotty ..... well, most of the time. The rest of the month has been spent getting ready for the cruise. Yep, that's right. In five days I will be in the Caribbean. Walt has been packing for weeks. He can tell you in hours, how much time until we leave. And he walks around singing, "All my bags are packed, and I'm ready to go"....constantly. He is a happy camper. But I have to say, I am even getting a little excited, well except for that plane trip to Puerto Rico. Not too thrilled about that!! It was fun at church today seeing our friends.....the anticipation was in the air. Anyway, I am going to enjoy every minute of the time. I am pretty much loving life right now. I have so much to be thankful for.

CHRISTMAS 2010

2010-12-29T12:20:00.001-08:00

Christmas is over. I am so sad. I love Christmas. I love the feeling that is in the air, the carols, the buying and giving, the shopping, the crowds, and everything about this season. I love to be in the crowds at the store and watch everyone. For the most part, people are happy and kind and excited. I love to think about what to get people and wonder if they will like it. I LOVE Christmas Eve because I think that the anticipation of Christmas is almost as good as the actual day. I love to think about the Savior more...believe it or not. I love to work at the school and listen to the kids as they get excited about the approaching event. I love vacation during Christmas. This picture was the beginning of our season when Kaylee came with the kids the week before Christmas. We don't get to see Olive much so this is the only picture that I got with her in it. The kids love to get on Papa and play horse. This one ended like most of them end, with someone getting hurt. This time it was Olive. But luckily she was okay.

I love the kids' Christmas programs. Scotty performed this year and he did a great job. I loved listening to him sing and seeing his expressions of pride and happiness as he looked at us.
Will and Kaylee were there for it and this was at the end of the program when Will ran to Scotty and jumped in his arms. They are so cute with each other.
This was at the end of the program. Look how grown up he looks.
Santa's helper on Christmas eve. He was not only Santa's helper, but my helper as well. He totally did all of the decorating and a lot of the wrapping. I got to do the shopping. I love online shopping almost as much as I enjoy the real thing.
We had a quiet Christmas Eve and Christmas. The only ones here on Christmas Eve were Becca and Kyle and Sammy. Joe and Candy came earlier in the day and we had a nice visit with them. Joe shot the beebee gun with Scotty in the backyard...a holiday tradition apparently. That night we had Charlies for dinner and it was delicious. I stewed and stewed over what to fix and then I decided that I was putting too much effort into it and I would just get Charlies. We all love it and I didn't have to cook it. It was a win win. I ordered an extra Mongolion beef for Than for the next day too. I thought about my Shauna and Ben as I ate the Sesame chicken. So not only was the food good, it evoked great family memories. After dinner there was a lot of smack talk about who was going to win the game of Risk. I am not even sure who won (I think it was Sam) but it was fun listening to them rag on each other. I was wondering if Kyle and Becca were going to end up in a divorce over it though!!! Louie and I played cards on one end of the table while they played Risk on the other. Becca is playing with her new phone, one of her presents to herself.
Here is the tree with most of the gifts. I love our Santa. We were all spoiled. Walt got me a Kindle. We got Joe and Candy a Kindle. Walt and I got each other matching computer chairs...if you had seen our other ones, you would realize that this was a need, not a want. I don't think that our others would have lasted more than another day or so. There were gift cards given, blue ray players, garmins, dog beds, season passes to Six Flags, clothes, BYU apparel, a golf club, a beautiful handmade quilt from Candy, home decor, cruise money, a scrapbook of Scotty, and dvds.....lots of dvds. I love presents....what can I say??
Sam playing with his phone. What did we do before cell phones???? We got to talk to Dennis and Everett on Christmas day. They are both doing well and seem to be enjoying their missions.

Than and Erica came late Christmas afternoon. We opened gifts with them and then had our dinner of snacks and treats. I love just snacking on fun things that I have never tried before. On Sunday I actually cooked a real meal. I made a roast and mashed potatoes, corn, fruit salad and fruit with dip. We ate after church and then just hung out. Later the kids got in the hot tub with Than and Erica. It was a windy, rainy weekend but the storm finally broke enough to get in the hot tub.
I love this picture with all the goggles....so cute. The only one missing was baby Gentry.
There she is...not the best picture but I wanted to put it up because we all loved holding this little one so much.
Gentry and Papa.
I was so glad when some grandkids finally got here for Christmas. She is just the cutest thing in the world. I am hoping that at some point, we can someday get all of our kids home for Christmas. That is seeming less and less likely though. I just have to remind myself to enjoy the ones that come. I am so glad that I will get to see this little one more often now that they live a little closer.
I found out via Facebook that Than had planned a party here on Sunday night. A lot of his friends came over to hang out and it was fun seeing his high school buddies....and Erica's. Walt and I said hello to them and then retired to the bedroom and watched a movie. The kids enjoyed playing Wii. Scotty got this new hunting game and he and Walt love it and sometimes fight over who gets to play it. Overall it was a great Christmas. We are blessed people. I love my family. I love this little girl.
As I said before, I am so sad that this time of year is over. I wish that I could keep this feeling year round. Now I will have to just look forward to summertime.

THANKFUL

2010-11-29T18:17:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving is over and I didn't take any pictures that day. I don't know if it was because I was on my feet cooking all day or because I was looking at all the Black Friday ads all day, but either way, I didn't take pictures. I was sad when I realized that, so I thought I would still do a post about what I was thankful for. I enjoyed the day even though it was different than past Thanksgivings. It was small and quiet. It was also Joe's birthday. Joe and Candy, Sam, and Kyle and Becca were our only guests. Except for Becca, those are all of my quieter kids. There were also no grandchildren here. That was sad. I made our usual dinner and I had TONS of leftovers. The two couples both had other dinners to go to so I don't think they ate too much. Dennis and Everett were not here. That made a big difference in the food consumption. Either way, I want to do things differently next year. The menu included ham, a turkey roast that was delicious (I will probably do that again), stuffing (not so good), green bean casserole, fruit salad, rolls, mashed red potatoes (always good), chips and dip (well sort of...Kyle didn't bring them out of the car), and pumpkin cheesecake and turtle cake. I enjoyed the day visiting with Candy. I don't get to do that often enough. Joe and Sam and Kyle were good sports and went outside with Scotty to shoot his beebee gun. Joe made up a game sort of like horse with the gun. One person made a shot and then the others had to do that same shot. They also tried trick shots with the gun, including shooting behind themselves with a mirror....why they are teaching Scotty things like that are beyond me. We also spent some time skyping with Kaylee and Chris and Shauna and Ben. Kyle won the award for good uncle when he spent probably an hour playing hide and seek on skype with Daisy, Kaylee, and Heidi. How many places can you hide and still be in the view of the computer??? But they loved it and I am sure they will love Kyle forever for doing that. He acted surprised every time he found them too. Becca had to work and so she wasn't around for the fun. She was able to come for dinner though. Sam watched a lot of sports over the few days he was here....big surprise. Everyone left early to get to their other dinners so Walt and I went to Chico and shopped at Old Navy. Then I came home and got online to get all of the important Black Friday items that I wanted. I love the crowds, but I don't love standing in line for things that I really, really want, so I just get them online before the sales start. I got everything I wanted. Then at midnight Walt and I went to Walmart. What a madhouse, but I still loved it. I was able to get everything there that I wanted too and we got home just before two. Then at seven we went to Chico and had fun there. All in all, it was a super weekend. But this blog was really supposed to be about all that I am thankful for so let me begin. First of all, I hate to do blogs without pictures so here are some random pictures. I am so thankful for my beautiful grandchildren. Look at how cute she is...even with the air force jets streaming across her forehead. I am grateful that Than and Erica live close enough that we can see them more often. What fun that has been. I am grateful that we were able to go to her blessing and I pretty much got to hold Gentry the entire day on Saturday.

I am so thankful for my children...all of them. I have three grown sons who are all good honorable men. I have three beautiful daughters who are faithful and strong and good wives and mothers and homemakers. They go above and beyond to make their homes havens. I just love this picture of Claira...she is gorgeous and she cracks me up.
I am thankful for the gospel in my life. I really don't know what I would do or where I would be without it. What a strength it has been in my life. It has been an anchor for me in times of turmoil and in times of craziness. It centers me and brings me back to reality. I love the boundaries that it gives me. I love the peace I feel when I am truly living it. I love the fact that I have a home that is so much better than the one that I grew up in .... still not perfect, but so much better. I look around at my home and my family and I just think....I am a lucky girl. Who would have thought fifty years ago, when I was a scared, lonely five year old girl that I would end up with all of this. How blessed I am. Just look at my posterity.
I am thankful for all of the "things" that we have. We have a lot of things and I hope I never take them for granted. Not having much of anything growing up has probably made me a little more worldly than I should be, but I never take it for granted. I am always appreciative of our things.
This guy. He makes me laugh, he makes me cry. But boy oh boy, do I ever love him. I have never worked harder at parenting a child. I have never done more homework, more reading, more spelling tests, more discipline, more prayer than I have with this guy. Sometimes I lay in bed and wonder..."Now what were we thinking seven years ago????" Seven years ago on Thanksgiving he came into our lives and I will never forget that day. He threw up all over me...ALL OVER ME....and it didn't even bother me and I knew that I could love him. We are so blessed to have him in our home during our golden or silver years or whatever you call these old years.
I just thought this was a cute picture. We didn't have bathing suit for William so he wore Scotty's speedo. How cute is he?? I am so thankful that Kaylee's life is so much better this year than it was last year at this time. What a difference.... a new husband, a new son, and another son on the way. I am so thankful for that.
I am thankful that all of my married children married great people. I am thankful that I truly love all of my in-law kids. What a good group they are. I am thankful that even though Kaylee lives so far away I get to see her once a month. And isn't she beautiful and so cute pregnant??
I am thankful for Walt. It is true that some times he exasperates me. I want to tear my hair out or run screaming down the street..... and some times I actually do. But I am thankful for him. He puts up with me. He hangs out with me. He has been such a help around the house since the twins left. We did all of that shopping on Thursday and Friday and I told him that on Saturday I just wanted to relax around the house. Well first thing Saturday morning he came in the bedroom and said, "Hey let's go shopping today. Let's go to Chico or Roseville." How many husbands are like that? When we shop, he rarely makes me feel guilty about the money I spend. In fact, sometimes when I can't decide what to get a person....like between a sweater or a shirt....he will often say, "Get them both." And I don't argue with him about that decision because he is after all the priesthood leader in our home! He decorated almost the entire house for Christmas by himself. He put up two trees because he loves Christmas. I think that he loves Christmas as much as I do. We are a perfect match when it comes to Christmas. He put up garland and decorations around the house. And.....when we came home on Friday night from shopping, he sat and watched TV and wrapped all of the gifts that we had bought. All of them. He has never helped me wrap before and I really appreciate it. I sat and shopped online and he sat and wrapped. It doesn't get any better than that.
Look at this kid's dirty face. What a character. I am so thankful for my job. I work with a bunch of characters. They are crazy and funny and I really laugh all day long...all day. I love them and I love working with the kids at the school. I love to help these little kids who have hard lives. I have to discipline them, but I also get to show them love. And I only have to walk next door to work. How lucky is that?
I am grateful for the hard times that I have had in my life and times when I have felt like Claira looks. Those hard times have made me the person I am. I made it through them and I am a stronger person for it. I am grateful for my friends and family who have stuck by me through thick and thin. My friends are great. I love that we go out to eat with them every Friday night and then we play cards. It is a great way to end my work week and begin my weekend.
What a great life I have. So thankful.....

2010-11-11T06:31:00.000-08:00

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SEPTEMBER HAPPENINGS

2010-11-07T18:01:00.000-08:00

Seriously, I am the worst blogger. Where did September go? It is November and September passed like a blur. It was a busy month for our family. It began with a Labor day weekend of fun at Than and Erica's....without Than and Erica. They chose to go Utah for the weekend so we chose to go to their house since we didn't have Fort Bragg reservations. We took Louie with us and we went to Santa Cruz for a day and hung out at the beach. Then that night Tom and Annette joined us at the Hancock hotel and we spent the night playing games and then we spent the entire next day playing games and had a nice dinner. It was a fun, different Labor Day. Then after that relaxation, the whirlwind began. Dennis and Everett went to the temple for their endowments. What a wonderful evening with friends and family. Thanks to all who supported them that night. The next day we took them to Monterey to watch Than do a triathalon and to celebrate their 19th birthdays. We actually really enjoyed watching the triathalon. It is weird to think that in December we will have two children running an actual marathon. Anyway, we had a nice dinner on Friday night and then the next day all of the men (and I use that term loosely), went to an A's game. Dennis could not stop talking about it. It was so cute.

Then the end of the month came and that brought the end of an era for us. Dennis and Everett were set apart for their missions on September 28. They spoke in church on Sunday and did a really good job. It was a bittersweet day for all of us. The interesting thing was that the stake president couldn't be there so his two counselors set the twins apart. Interestingly enough, their names are Dennis and Everett (Keith is Keith's middle name and Everett is his first name and he hates it...but who doesn't hate that name?). So we had Dennis set apart Dennis and "Everett" Keith set apart Everett. How cool is that?

We felt very fortunate to have these two men set the boys apart. These two men have been a very big part of our lives and we can honestly say that we love them. They are our very, very good friends and such an influence for good on our family and in these boy's lives.
Thanks to all of the men who came to support the boys at their setting apart. What good men these guys are. We had a very emotional and spiritual night that night. And now they are gone serving the Lord. How grateful we are that we had these two in our home for over six years. We have been blessed incredibly. And surprisingly enough, we miss them....certainly glad that they are gone, but we miss them just the same. But we are amazed at how clean the house stays, how quiet it is, how little food we have to buy, and how empty our trash cans are.
Look at this handsome guy. Anyone want to marry him? How about date him??? He doesn't read my blog so I can really say anything I want about him.
And look at how beautiful this daughter-in-law is!! Erica would say that I am privileged to have two beautiful daughter-in-laws!! And she is right. Gorgeous.
The other excitement in September was that Scotty got baptized. That in itself was an interesting experience. We have learned that everything with this boy is an adventure....even a baptism. I held my breath every time somebody at the baptism asked him a question because you never know what he will say. This is him with his other Grandma. This is Louie's mother and Scotty loves her and does not realize that she is not his grandma. I am so glad that she has been in his life.
Father and son.
What a cute boy.
During his interview with the bishop, he was told that now that he is eight Heavenly Father and Jesus would be watching him and that he needed to be careful not to disappoint them. Then Scotty said, "Yeah and there is someone else who is watching me and that is Santa. I have to be good for him too." So he is not the most spiritual kid on the planet!!!
Scotty with G-ma and G-pa. What a good example they have been for him about service and enduring to the end. We are so grateful that they supported him and the twins in September.
Since Than and Erica couldn't come for the baptism since it was so close to her due date, they sent the two rugrats. What cute grandchildren I have.
Proud dad with his last child to baptize....hopefully his last!!
And then during the month of September our Saturdays have been revolving around soccer. Scotty is on the Rams this year. He enjoys soccer and sometimes we enjoy watching him. We love it when he actually plays because he is good... when he plays. Sometimes he chooses to play and sometimes he chooses to be a stuntman and run and jump and do incredible falls and slides and flips and cartwheels.
Waiting for the game to begin.
And there he goes. It was hard for me to go back to doing soccer and sports and all of that when we decided to adopt Scotty. Sometimes I wish we didn't have to do it, but sometimes it is fun. This past weekend he played awesome. He was "on" and scored three goals and we loved watching him. So September was fun and busy and I am so very thankful that it is over.

BEACH DAY WITH THE FAM

2010-10-09T18:32:00.001-07:00

So, I didn't get caught up with my blog like I wanted to...I am still over a month behind on it. However, I did get everything else finished that I wanted to do. My house is clean, some drawers are cleaned out, I spent some time with Becca and Kyle yesterday going to lunch and a movie, and I made TEN..that's right, I said TEN nativity scenes at Enrichment meeting this morning. Becca did help me...thanks Scoobs. So back to the blog. After we went to Pier 39, we decided to go to the beach the next day. We love Santa Cruz. We stopped at Raleys and got some of their delicious sandwiches....I got the Santa Cruz since that is where we were going. Then we made one other stop at a florist. It was Kaylee's 26th birthday and Chris ordered her this edible bouquet, which she was more than generous to share with us and her carload of kids. So Happy Birthday Kakes.

We also celebrated this guy's birthday since nobody would be around for his real birthday. I don't think that there is anyone who likes the beach more than him. I am so thankful that we live close enough to the beach that we can at least get there a few times a year. I would be sad if we couldn't ever get there. I wish that we lived closer but that would mean leaving Oroville and I love where we live.
Kaylee was more than willing to share her birthday with Scotty. I think she is growing up!! Here she is opening her gifts and cards. We were so lucky to get to be with her on her birthday since she lives in Washington.
And here is Scotty opening one of his gifts...the one that caused a lot of problems later on. He loves ANY kind of gun and Sammy knows just what to get him. You can never go wrong with a gun with this kid.
Chris spent a lot of time carving a lounge chair into the sand for Kaylee so that she could relax on the beach. It turned out really nice and exact....meaning it was perfectly dug out. It was amazing. He couldn't stand to see her so comfortable, so he piled on top of her.
Here she is just chillin' in her chair.
And look how pretty this almost ready to pop lady is. She is a trooper. Her pregnancies never stop her from doing what she wants to do...NEVER. So here she is with Gentry still keeping her company.
Part of the gang. This is what I love to do at the beach....just sit in a chair and smell the air, watch the waves, and feel the sun....love it.
I love this picture of Pacen. I am not sure what he is saying to Scotty, but he looks so cute.
Here is Than being a good sport and keeping an eye on all the kids down by the water. The two that worried him the most and kept him the busiest were of course, Scotty and William.
I love this boy.
And this girl.
And this boy.
And of course, this beautiful baby.
One thing that I don't get about kids is how can they stand just laying in the sand like this. I hate the sand on my feet, let alone my entire body. Kids seem to love it though. I wish there was a way to go the beach where as soon as you were ready to go, the sand would just magically disappear off your body and not feel so gross on your body or get in your car.
Another sand monster.
Becca explaining something really important to Will.
Look at that disgusting, sand-covered body.
The boys all wanted to play football and it was so fun to watch them.
Here is Sammy saying something really important to Claira...or more than likely, teasing her, or asking her who her favorite uncle is.
This is what Kaylee loves to do at the beach.....just lay in the warm sand and snuggle with her niece and nephew.
Kyle and Becca got Taco Bell for their lunch and I thought it was just funny that William just picked up one of their tacos and started eating it. He didn't ask....he just knew that he was welcome to whatever he wanted. I love kids.
Such a great weekend. I wish that I could post all of the pictures. I wish Olive could have joined us. I love that we get to see most of the family more often now and I look forward to more fun times with all of them.

Weekend in San Francisco

2010-10-05T12:00:00.000-07:00

I have this week off from school so I have a lot of things I want to accomplish. The first thing was to go help Than and Erica while she had the baby. I wasn't that much help because I could only be down there for three days because Walt had to be out of town all week and I didn't have anyone who could watch Scotty. But the time I did spend was good. I have a new grand daughter...Gentry Anne. I love her name, Gentry, which is after Erica's grandpa and the Anne is for me...thanks Than and Erica. I may now have a new favorite grandchild!! I enjoyed my time there too in getting to know their kids better. I LOVE that Camry likes me and wants to sit on my lap and snuggle. She even fell asleep there for about two hours and even though my legs were cramping up, there is no way that I was going to move her. Pacen is shy with me but will now give me a hug upon request and even came and sat on my lap for about five minutes without me even asking him to. Claira is so cute and fun too. I love the way she says, "No.", and "PayPay", and "Daddy." She is just adorable. Anyway, back to things I want to accomplish. I wanted to cut Scotty's hair...I did that yesterday. I wanted to clean my house well...did that yesterday...including Dennis and Everett's bathroom. It is bleached and sanitized and completely clean so now, when we have guests, they are going to use that bathroom and stay out of ours. I wanted to get Dennis and Everett written and I actually have written them twice in two days, one email and one snail mail, in case they haven't accessed their email account (which is probably true with Everett.) Scotty and I tore his room apart and cleaned it yesterday and when I moved his bed out, I am surprised that the rats have not carried him away in the middle of the night....disgusting!! I want to get Shauna's kids' pictures up but when I went to Walmart to get frames, they don't have any black 5 x7 frames so that will have to wait. I got a few drawers cleaned out, not many but it is a start. The last thing that I really wanted to get done is to try to get current with this blog. I am about six weeks behind in posting things so I am hoping to do one a day until I catch up to this weeks date. So this post is from way back in August. It is Kaylee's birthday weekend and they came for the weekend for Olive's visit with Zach. It is sad that on those weekends, we don't get to see her because she is with her dad, but at least we get to see everyone else. We hung out at Than and Erica's and decided to go to Pier 39. Kaylee knew of some cheap parking....cheap being $15 for the day. The last time we went to the Pier, it cost us $28 for three hours so we were excited to find this place. This first picture is one of Sam in front of Ghirardelli Square. We went there and got some chocolate milkshake drink that was sooo good...thanks Sammy.

This is on Pier 39 where we bought these mini donuts and wandered around for awhile. Walt thought they were great and when we returned to Oroville, he immediately got online to see how much a donut machine would cost. He was also intrigued by this crepe place that charged eight dollars for a crepe with Nutella and a banana on it. They were cranking them out by the dozens and I could see dollar signs in his eyes. I was thinking that the crepe dream just might take the place of his hot dog dream. I think that Walt may have missed his calling as a carnie food vendor!! Kaylee was cold the entire day and by the end of the day had on her sweater and coat and Chris' coat. She looked like a homeless person who wears all of their clothing on their backs...especially with the hat.
Claira loves Sambo and he is so cute with her. They both tease each other and it is so cute to watch. Here he is winning her over with candy.
While on the wharf we watched some swimmers swimming in the bay. Than remarked that he should come down there and swim since he was training for a Triathalon in Monterey soon. Kaylee said, "Hey maybe I should do it with you." His response, "Can you do that in your condition." It was dead silent. I didn't think too much about it because he is always teasing her about being pregnant, but with the silence, I knew something was up. He could have totally covered himself by just laughing it off but instead he said, "What? Doesn't everyone already know?" and then Kaylee compounded it by saying, "Yeah, I could still swim in the ocean." So I guess Walt and I were the only ones who didn't know and we found out they are expecting a baby in March...that's right March....nine months and three days after they got married. And to think that she had to be on fertility drugs the last time. This is a picture of the two pregnant ladies showing their tummies.

And another picture of Than with a completely moronic face. I should make a post with just pictures of him with his stupid faces.
The boys.
Kyle and Becca were able to come with us. The only ones who were missing were Joe and Candy and the Taylor family. I love having more of the kids close by.
So cute. We ate at Fisherman's Grotto Number Nine (I think). We got fish and chips and just sat on benches and ate. These seagulls literally called all of their friends and we were immediately surrounded by them. I set my basket of food on the bench to do something and within five seconds a seagull had jumped up and stolen a piece of my fish. I couldn't believe it.
Claira loved Chris. I think that he looks enough like Than and Sam that she just figured he belonged and she knew him. She won't come to me like that yet...but I am working on it.
The kids loved this huge stuffed crab.
Back home that night. Everyone was tired and sacked out on the love sac...even the dog. I love the fact that kids just think they are welcome and even though Chris was there first, they just piled on around him and on him.
I should have guessed that Kaylee was pregnant because every time she got comfortable, she fell asleep.
This was such a fun weekend and day. I am so glad that the kids live close enough to spend more time with them. I am hoping to get together once a month with all the Californians and spend more time together. We had called Joe and Candy but they were unable to make it. Hopefully next time they will be able to join us too. Thanks for a great weekend everyone. I will post the next day...beach day...in a few days.

ALL SCOTTY...BIRTHDAY AND BACK TO SCHOOL

2010-09-19T17:09:00.001-07:00

This is just a random post to catch up a little bit. The pictures are backwards timewise but oh well. Scotty turned eight this year and we are hoping for a big year. He will get baptized this Saturday....if he passes his interview. Scotty is not the easiest child in the world. He does not like to sit still and unfortunately, in this life there are a lot of things you HAVE to sit still still for, school being one of them. He is smart, very smart but we held him back this year in second grade to see if it would help some of his behaviors. He will NOT do his classwork during school and to get him to do his homework is an everyday all out battle. He NEVER wins that battle. Generally when I tell him it is time to do his homework, he drops to the ground screaming and kicking. He will kick and hit anything in his way...including the walls, floor, and furniture. We now have a specific time out place for him and surprisingly enough, he stays there. It is in the middle of the dining room floor so that he is away from the furniture and walls and they won't be damaged. Anyway, most of his fits last anywhere from thirty minutes to an hour and a half. After they are done, he has to sit quietly in timeout for ten to fifteen minutes depending on the severity of the fit. Then he does his homework. We never give in to his fits. He ALWAYS has to end up doing his homework and so I cannot figure out why he throws them. Anyway, three weeks ago on Monday, he threw his biggest fit ever. I think it scared him and concerned Walt and I. We go into a different room and don't talk to him during his fits. It was terrible. He raged at the world about homework and reading. He screamed, and yelled, and kicked, and hit the floor for over an hour and a half. We were pretty worried about him. I am not sure what happened, but that has been the last major fit he has had. He went from one of those almost every day to only two....two minute fits in three weeks. He is kinder. He does his homework without even a complaint. He hasn't gotten into any trouble at school. In fact he has gotten two "cooperation" awards from Mrs. Deane. He is like a different boy and we are loving it. He goes to bed without a fit, brushes his teeth without a fit, gets dressed without a fit and I have had three Sunday mornings in a row without a continual argument. I am not sure if Mrs. Deane has cast a spell on him (just kidding MC) or if that last fit scared him...like it did us. I love this boy in his place. It has been heaven at our house. Anyway, I just wanted to record that. I am not holding my breath that he is forever changed but this has been so wonderful and I want it recorded. It also shows me that he can be good at school and at home. I also wonder if holding him back made a difference. I love it though. We still spend a lot of time doing homework and reading but I can live with that. These pictures are before the fits stopped. This first one is his real birthday, a nice quiet Sunday afternoon of opening gifts. Note to self....don't have him wear a red shirt against this red couch. It is a little like "Where's Waldo". And the reds clash a little. We got him a motorcycle magazine hoping he would enjoy some form of reading or merely looking at anything that has pages.

The twins got him Super Mario Brothers. He was not very appreciative of it and I was a little mad at him.
And then came this. He wanted some motorcycles and instead we saw this Nerf bow and arrow and got it for him. As you can see, he was not happy. "This? You got me this? I wanted the motorcycles." I was so annoyed with him. The boy gets almost anything he wants, except a real dirt bike, guns and knives, and matches and explosives. So I took the Nerf bow and arrow and the Mario game and put them in the closet. It has been four weeks exactly and he still has not gotten them back. I want gratitude and appreciation for gifts....not this! To my adult children, this is why I want a list from you...so I don't end up with this. Just kidding. However, to my adult children....I NEVER will feel badly if you take something back from me. I do not know all of your tastes and let's face it, I have old lady's tastes. So if you don't like it, feel free to take it back and get something different.
This is when I informed him that he didn't get the bow and arrow after all. Fun birthday. I am hoping he becomes a more gracious gift opener.
No year would be right without "first day of school" pictures. Here is the chosen backpack this year. For some reason he is obsessed with Toy Story this year. In past years, he hasn't really cared that much for it. So he chose this backpack. For his birthday, he also got Woody and that Astro boy guy...who I can never think of his real name....oh it's Buzz Lightyear. Becca got him the movies.

This is the last picture of his teeth with the missing tooth. It is finally coming in. I was worried that he was missing that tooth because he lost both of them within the same week and the other one has been in for over six months.
This is the boy I love, love, love and I am seeing more often lately.

CAMPING NEXT YEAR ANYONE???

2010-09-13T16:30:00.001-07:00

I am about a month behind on my blog. I just can't keep current for some reason...it just takes me a long time between posts. I wish I could be more like Erica or Shauna, but unfortunately, I am more like Kaylee...only better. Change your blog Kaylee!! These pictures are from Florence, Oregon, my favorite place on our trip down the coast. I have heard about Florence from a few friends at work who go there every year with their ATVs. Florence is beautiful and full of huge sand dunes that make it popular for anyone with man toys. This is a little lake there at one of the campsites. Dad and I thought that this would make a fun camping place for our extended family to go to someday. It has this lake but it is on the ocean too. The lake has an area where you can rent kayaks and I think paddle boats. It also has this cute dock. This picture was taken from on top of one of the dunes.

Just another picture of the lake. It really was just a beautiful area.
And this is the dunes from another angle. Scotty loved this. I am not sure how high the dunes actually are, but pretty high. It is a long walk to the top. Walt and I found a place to sit about midway in some shade and just watched Scotty play. We rented this sand board for him. It actually looks just like a snowboard. We wanted him to start out safer with a sled but there was no talking him into a sled. He wanted to do what the big boys do...big surprise. You have to wax these boards after about every two or three runs. This is him coming down. The funny thing with Scotty is that he doesn't do anything halfway. The very first thing he did after he got the board up to the top was try to do a 180. He is just so funny. It took a few minutes to get the hang of the board but he finally did and LOVED it. The board only cost ten dollars for 24 hours which I didn't think was too bad.
I love this picture because it just shows how he does everything. He got to the bottom, picked up his board, and RAN as fast as he could back up to the top of the dune. I would have been exhausted. I was tired just watching him and he was a very tired boy that night.
He just loved this and was so cute to watch.
This is the ocean at Florence...so pretty.
We really did just love this area because it had everything and was just gorgeous. We are hoping that someday we can talk all of the kids into going there for a week. My friend at work rents a house every year. I don't know if we could afford that but we could camp.
This is just a random picture of a cute house that we drove by when we moved inland to go home. I just thought it was so cute. Oregon is just a pretty place.
So how about it guys...we need to plan a trip for next year as a family. It doesn't have to be Florence. It can be closer, but I think it is time for another family reunion. Think about it. I may not be alive for too many more years and then you would all be sorry.

Traveling

2010-09-01T18:55:00.000-07:00

It takes me a while to post things. I am not fast like the younger kids. Every time I post a blog, I have to remember how to do it all over again. That is not fun. I will be glad when computers get easier for me if that time ever comes. After we visited Kaylee and Chris we went west to Seattle and then headed down the coast toward home. The Washington, Oregon coast is beautiful and a trip worth taking. These pictures are out of order though. We drove through Washington and into Portland where we decided to spend the night. One of the things I wanted to see there was the Portland temple. We couldn't find it that night and spent some time looking for it the next morning to no avail and then as we were leaving Portland, there it was off the freeway so we quickly got off the freeway and went to look at it. What a beautiful temple. It reminds me of Andrea Collins because she was married there and always talks about it....like it's the most beautiful temple in the world...and it is very beautiful. We couldn't get up close to it though because they were working on the grounds or something and it was all fenced off.

Like every temple I have seen, the landscaping is gorgeous.
Then we headed down the coast for some more beach pictures. I love ocean pictures. I like this kind with woods and I love sandy barren beaches.
This was a little further inland. I decided after driving through Oregon, that I could live there. It is just pretty with all kinds of scenery. I wish I liked rain more though.
This was a little pathway to one of the beaches.
I tried to get a picture of this beach because it was so pretty but my camera was so slow, this is what it got. But really it about summed up the trip. The coastal route is beautiful but a lot of it is a windy road.
Going to the ocean is one of my favorite things to do. There is something about just sitting on the beach and watching the waves. I don't even have to walk along it or get in the waves. I am completely content just watching the waves and smelling the ocean air. I feel like my summer is never complete unless I make it to the ocean at least one time. We went with Than and Erica and Kaylee and Chris, and Sammy, and Becca and Kyle a few weeks ago and it was heaven. We are going to try to make it back to Santa Cruz this weekend for Labor day.

TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY

2010-08-15T13:39:00.000-07:00

Today has been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. Most Sunday mornings are for me. When Joe got home from his mission he told me that my letters were too long and he very rarely read them all the way through. Last week I was told that my blog posts are long. So then I thought that maybe I should shorten them but I decided that this really is my journal and it is mainly just for me and if I want them long, so be it. This summer I went back and re-read some of my posts from last year and really enjoyed it and I was happy that I had them to look back on and remember the things I had done. So as a preface, this is going to be long. Back to my title. Sundays are hard for me. Walt is in meetings and I have to get everyone up and going alone which I have had to do most of my life. You would think it would be easier now with only two adult children living here and Scotty....not so. He hates Sundays and because of that, I think he sets out as a goal to make me hate Sundays. He is almost achieving it. When I wake him up he starts out by groaning and moaning and telling me (in a very LOUD voice) to leave him alone. So I just said, "Your clothes are all ironed and on the bed. Take a shower and get dressed." And then I hope for the best. Surprisingly, today he got out of bed after a few minutes and I breathed a sigh of relief....maybe today would be an "easy" day...not so. After his shower and haranguing him to get dressed I went out to get his breakfast. When I got back the tv was on which is not allowed on Sunday mornings. When I turned it off, the fighting and yelling began. He yells at me. He doesn't hardly ever do it to Walt.....only me. We finally got to church and he had to do some math work because he had been sent to the office on Friday for throwing rocks. All through church he was stubborn, obstinate, loud, grouchy and defiant. After slamming his hand down on the book right after the sacrament, I took him home. He SCREAMED the whole way home and for about an hour after that. When we got home he had to sit on a chair in the middle of the dining room. I kept him there for three hours (the hours of church), then he got to get up and eat dinner, and now he is back on the chair until I think he has earned the right to get down. I am at a loss as to what to do with this child. He is supposed to get baptized this month. I am worried about that. I try not to let him affect me but he does. I was proud of myself today though because after he screamed the entire way home, I just picked him up and set him in the chair. I didn't spank him or even slam him down in the chair like I really would have liked to do. And the entire time he was screaming for the next hour, I just sat in the other room away from him and cried.... and waited for the McOmbers to come over to see if I was torturing him. So today was awful. And none of this has anything to do with my post. I am just frustrated and I thought writing about it would help me. I am at a complete loss as to what to do with this child. I even looked up children's boot camps on the internet ... really, I did. So now my post. This is one of the three bridges in Kennewick and I loved how it looked.

This is a picture of some of the scenery outside of Kennewick as we drove across Washington after our stay at Kaylee and Chris's house. Washington is a very beautiful state.....who knew??
We noticed as we drove that the weather began to change and cool down quite a bit the further west we drove. We turned this corner and we saw this huge fog bank nestled down in the valley between these mountains. It was so pretty. Most of the drive west was covered in mountains and forests.
And then we got to Everett, Washington. Because Dennis will serve his mission there and we were so close by, we decided to go see it. It is all trees, and a lot of fog. There were some areas that weren't foggy at that moment but there was a lot of mist.
This is right outside his mission home. We stepped out of the car at noon and realized how cold it was. It was 58 degress at noon on a "hot" summer day. But the beauty of that area is astounding.
We put his mission home into the gps and this is where it took us. His mission home is really just the back portion of a church building. I guess this is what the church is doing a lot now to save money. We did go inside and meet some of the staff. The mission president was not there however, but his secretary visited with us for about 45 minutes. I was glad that we got to see the area he will serve in. It is absolutely beautiful in that area.
Everett Washington is right above Seattle. Dennis will not serve in Seattle but he may get to go to the temple there. The new mission president has not decided on that yet. This is downtown Seattle....crowded and busy.
We took this picture for Dennis because we knew he would get a kick out of it. He did.
The whole reason we went to Seattle was because Walt wanted to see Pike Place Fish. He saw it on some travel channel and HAD to see it. So after we found parking that wouldn't cost an entire month's mortgage, we went to see it. The draw to this place is that they throw fish back and forth to each other.....big fish. I got one picture of it but the fish was just a blur in the picture. There were so many people standing there just watching for them to throw a fish. It was kind of funny.
Whenever we go anywhere on the coast we try to have some of their clam chowder because who doesn't like clam chowder? Even Scotty likes it. I have to say, theirs was good!
We wandered all over the market place and just enjoyed the sights and some of the smells. It really was fun to look around and so colorful.
Another busy Seattle street.
The Puget Sound. Dennis' mission includes a large portion of the Puget Sound and several islands between the U.S. coast and the coast of British Columbia. The mission secretary said that only the most obedient missionaries get sent to the islands because they only send two per island and they are cut off from the rest of the mission while they are there.
I loved all of the colors at the marketplace. This was a little outdoor restaurant overlooking the street below.
And of course Scotty had to have his picture taken with this pirate because he thought it was so cool. Seattle was a fun place and somewhere that I would like to take more time exploring. I really wish we had had more time and could have taken the ferry over to British Columbia. Maybe next time.
As I look at these pictures of this boy, I really do love him and I am so thankful that we have him in our home....but man, WHAT A CHALLENGE!!!

Kennewick

2010-08-10T09:23:00.001-07:00

This is going to be a long post with a lot of pictures so if you aren't into that, stop reading now. I still don't know how to arrange my pictures side by side like Erica does. The next time she comes, I am going to ask her how to do it and it won't make the post seem so long. We went to Kennewick as my last big fling before school and work start. I wanted Walt to see it and I wanted to see my grandkids. So we loaded up in the car and headed north. Again, I was amazed at the beauty of the ride and Walt enjoyed it too. When we got there it was so fun to have Olive come running out and jump into our arms....and then run straight to Scotty and hug him and then take his hand as they walked into the house. Even Will jumped into the action and seemed excited to see Scotty...not so much Mimi and Papa...but it was a start with Scotty. We had a great time visiting with them. We watched a few movies at home, went to see Despicable Me, went to Red Lobster, went to a few parks, and just hung out. I love these next two pictures. It seems that if an adult lays on the floor, that just says, "Jump on me" to the kids. Every time Walt got on the floor the kids got on him. They had a ball. We are definitely feeling our age though!!

Will got more comfortable with us as the days progressed and seemed totally comfortable jumping on with the other two. He even jumped into Walt's lap on the last day and shoved his foot right up his face, banged on his chest, and wanted Walt to play "Big toe, little toe" with him. It was really cute. He is a snuggler and I even got him to sit on my lap and cuddle a few times, and I was the official bridge builder with bristle blocks to make the bridge from the couch to the chair for him. What a fun time getting to know him. I think that he will remember us the next time he sees us now.
We went to a few parks while we were there. This one was along the Columbia River and here they are sitting on the banks of it watching the boats, and ski jets, and watching the kids throw rocks into the river. Chris was trying to convince Will that he really didn't need his shoes off to get in the water. It was a hard sale...he wasn't going for it.
A boy and his dad.
Another boy and his dad.
Olive loved throwing rocks into the river and looking for Scully feathers along the banks. She still would not let me get a decent picture of her the entire time.
I love this picture of Will. This is him trying to see if he can get away with taking his shoes off to get in the river and feeling frustrated because Chris and Kaylee are telling him no.
The Columbia River is so pretty flowing through their town. There are three different bridges that cross the river.
Scotty climbed up this rock wall at the park and was all upset because another boy who was about 12 called him a wimp. That doesn't happen very often with him. It was actually pretty high and he ended up just jumping off of it rather than trying to figure out how to get back down. I am so afraid that he is going to break one or both of his legs one of these times when he jumps off of things. He jumps off our roof too and that just scares me to death.
I love this girl even if she won't let me take her picture.
The park had a really cool play structure that had all kinds of things to swing on, jump on, spin on, slide on, etc. They also had a zip line for the kids to ride on.
Scotty waiting patiently for his turn on this thing....not really....he was whining the whole time that it was his turn.
Chris took us on a drive around the town and out to his workplace. This is where he works. We couldn't get close because it is all locked up and you have to have security clearance to get in. I took a picture and Chris said, "I don't think that you are really supposed to do that." So if I disappear sometime, it is because the CIA or FBI have taken me. Nuclear power plants are not pretty to look at. It is sort of out in the middle of nowhere, which I guess is a good thing in case of terrorism. It is also near the Hanford Site which is where the Manhattan Project took place. The Manhattan Project was the building of the first atomic bomb. That occurred right there in Kennewick. The whole thing kind of scared me. I would never want to work at a nuclear power plant.
Walt and Chris played the bean bag toss game for awhile while the kids swam in Olive and Will's pool. We also ate a lot of ice cream sandwiches and drumsticks while we were there.
Even though this pool was small, the kids had fun, even Scotty. Olive wasn't too keen on getting splashed though and the boys loved to splash.
Look at the difference in their skin color here, and for some reason, Scotty looks mad. We had probably just told him to stop splashing Olive or us.
We went to another park one day and they have built a duck pond and park. I guess it is to keep the duck mess in one area and not all over the Columbia river. It seems to work. This place is full of ducks and geese and the pond is full of poop. People come and feed them all the time and they just swarm them for bread or in our case, chips.
They have this splash park on the outside of another cool park and the kids were ready for it by the end of their play time. It was hot. Who knows what is in this water Scotty is drinking or where it is recycled to or from. But they all loved to drink it.
Finally, she is smiling because she didn't realize I was taking the picture.
I love the look on Olive's face in this picture. We are still at the duck park and she was so cute about all of them. She is just like her Mama...an animal nut. We loved our visit to Kennewick. It was great getting to know Will and Chris a little better and always fun to see Olive and Kaylee. I am glad that we have a new place to visit. I wish it were a little closer but at least it isn't Tennessee.

I Love These Kids

2010-08-07T09:07:00.000-07:00

This is pretty much a grandma/mom post with random pictures in it. I posted this picture of Scotty at our 24th of July celebration. I wanted the moms to see it and how cute this face painted batman was and really how easy it was to do. Scotty loved it. The 24th of July is really done up right in Gridley. They had bounce houses, water bounce houses, carnival games, snow cones, cotton candy, a "store" for the kids to buy things in, and corn dogs, hot dogs, chicken nuggets (the best I have ever tasted) and macaroni and cheese for the kids. The adults got tri tip, chicken and pork, with excellent german potato salad, green salad and then ice cream bars for dessert. It is really a fun activity and for some reason our stake puts the money into it. It is fun to just sit there and relax and visit with friends and play nertz. And as a side note, I am beginning to wonder if Scotty is missing a permanent tooth in the front. He lost both of his top teeth within days of each other. His one tooth came in right away about six months ago, but the one next to it shows NO sign of coming in. He looks so funny because that one tooth is ginormous and then he is missing the one next to it. All of my pictures of him look funny to me because of it.

And I love this guy. I love the fact that they live closer to us. This is Than at his baseball game in Walnut Creek. I love the fact that the very weekend they moved in, he played baseball with his new ward. I love the fact that he gets involved immediately and goes out of his way to make friends. I love the fact that he calls me and talks to me about his life and asks me about mine. I love what a good husband and father he is.
And I love this girl. Look at this face....how can you NOT love her? That is her mean pitching face. Here she is winding up for the pitch....like mother like daughter. They start their kids young!
And I even love this guy. He drives me crazy a lot and sometimes I could strangle him but he is a good guy...and a handsome guy.
And I love this guy. Like his dad, he drives me crazy at times and I could strangle him also, but he makes me laugh and he tells me he loves me about five or ten times a day.
And I love this girl. Look how funny she is. Something was making her laugh. I love the fact that she likes me. Most of the other grandkids like Papa, but Camry....she likes me. I will always secretly love her the most of my grandchildren because of that.....just kidding everyone!!
And I love this guy. Who doesn't love Pacen? He is sweet and cute and handsome and kind and funny. I love his obsession with sports. I love how he laughs at EVERYTHING that Scotty says. I love that he is a little bit shy and hope that living closer to us will help with that. I love that Than and Erica have moved closer. They invited us to go camping with them this weekend at Santa Cruz and even though we couldn't go, it was great to be invited and to realize that they live close enough to include us in their lives.
And again, I love this little girl. Here she is in her "Pioneer dress". This was one of my girl's blessing dresses. I had all of these vintage (or just old) clothes that my kids wore as kids and I was going through them and decided to let the kids have them if they wanted them. They actually ended up taking them all. I guess dressing your kids "vintage" is in, but it is cool that their kids will wear the clothes that they wore as children. I don't think Than ever wore this however...maybe though! Occasionally, when I skype with Shauna, I see Daisy wearing the very overalls that all three of my girls wore as toddlers and it is so cute.
What a lucky person I am!!

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY

2010-07-20T10:08:00.000-07:00

Like last year, we again spent the fourth in Utah with Than and Erica. He bought us tickets to Stadium of Fire in exchange for helping him pack, clean, and move. It was amazing and so fun to be there. They obviously have a fantastic fireworks display, better than any I have seen. Dennis, of course, has seen better in Oroville, but I am not sure where????!!! There is just something so wonderful about fireworks. It is not just the noise or how spectacular they look. It is the feeling that you get when you watch them. I cannot help but feel patriotic and so proud to live in this country and so grateful for those who have given their lives so that my life can be lived in freedom. It was impossible to get a good picture of them and this doesn't even do the display justice.

Last year we saw Jonas Brothers and loved it. This year we got to see Carrie Underwood. Again, not a good picture. I had to take it off the marquis and it was as good as I could get. She was fabulous. I have always loved her even when she first tried out for American Idol. But I love country music. Walt is not a fan of country...at all, but even he loved this show. I loved looking around at the people and watching them sing along....Than, Erica, Kathy, Jeremy, Evan, Bridgett, Jessi and myself. It was just fun to be there.
She started the show by singing the Star Spangled Banner and then came out later and did another performance. It was so fun.
I took this picture as we were waiting for the performance to start. What beautiful country Utah is and as I sat there, I thought about the pioneers who first settled there and realized how grateful I am to them for the sacrifices that they made to establish a place for the Saints to gather. I wonder what they think of it now?? I love the Utah valley and how it is surrounded by the Wasatch mountains. They remind me of my grandmother. She came across the plains from Sweden when she was just a young girl and settled in Murray. She loved those mountains.
The three amigos. The three stooges. An uncle with his niece and nephew. For the most part these three get along, but like most threesomes, it can sometimes triangulate and then the fighting begins. But for the most part, they love each other. Scotty loves having a boy around his age to play with.
As you know, Than and Erica like BYU just a little bit. One of the things we had to do before we left Utah was go to the bookstore to get some last minute BYU clothing. So Scotty saw this jersey and just HAD to have it. We suckered in and bought it for him. He was so proud of it. I am making him save it for school though. Pacen and Than have rubbed off on him. He loves anything BYU, so much that he even stole Pacen's new hat when we left Walnut Creek. SCOTTY!!! We returned it the next weekend. He said that he forgot that it was on his head when he left and I didn't even think about it at the time.
Scotty loves, loves, loves Kathy. But come on, who doesn't???
The theme of Stadium of Fire this year was Eagle Scouts. They had a ceremony for about 250 boys there making them Eagle scouts that night. How memorable for them. They also had the oldest living Eagle scout say a few words. I think he was about 100...he was really old and I found myself saying a little prayer for him as he spoke that he would be able to remember what he was supposed to say and be able to do it. This picture was in the middle of the program and they had everyone who was an Eagle scout stand up with this in front of them. Evan and Than were both able to stand.
This little girl is adorable. I tried all night to get a really cute picture of her and she was just not feeling it for me. She avoided my camera like the plague. Look at her gorgeous eyes! She is so dang cute. She has these huge blue eyes and these really big teeth and together they make up the cutest little thing ever. She could be an Osmond with those teeth. And speaking of the Osmonds, the Osmond Second Generation also performed. There were eight boys..all of them Merrill's and they have the same beautiful sound that the older guys did. I can admit it....I loved Donny. Walt and I used to watch the Donny and Marie show when we were first married and loved it.
I love the way she looks even when she cries. She avoided my camera that night but I feel one triumphant step happened in Walnut Creek last weekend. When she woke up at six, I was the only one up and so she put her arms up to me and came right into my arms and snuggled for a few minutes. Then she got down and looked for her mother. But for a few minutes, she liked me.
And look at how handsome this guy is. One of my kids asked me one time if I still thought Dad was handsome and I answered, "Of course I do." Who wouldn't?? I love this picture of him. Today he got up at four in the morning and I asked him why he was up so early when he didn't have to be to work until later. His answer, "I want to get to work early today so I can get home before it gets too hot to take my boy golfing." His boy is Scotty and golfing means going up to LP or Helen Wilcox and hitting some balls with him. I think it also means Walt doing the hitting and Scotty doing the chasing....a win, win for both of them. What a good dad!!
Why can't he ever take a picture without making a stupid face????
Than bought all of the kids these little flags to wave during the performance. I am glad that they got tired of them early because I think the people in front of us and in back of us were getting really annoyed. But I loved this picture. Look how old he is looking with his big gaps and new ginormous teeth!!
Earlier in the day we had a barbecue at Kathy's house and this is her posing with her friend Jeremy who is trying to imitate her. He doesn't quite have the hip swagger enough though.
The barbecue was excellent..the perfect way to start the Fourth of July celebration. Great food, great friends and family, great weather. This was the big football game....father and son against father and son. It was really cute. The defense getting ready.
The offense planning their strategy.
And what fourth would be complete without a picture of Than and Erica's family in their matching Old Navy shirts??? Or without Penny in the picture????
So that was our fourth. I wonder if we will ever celebrate it in Utah again?? I hope so. I love how patriotic that state is. Again I am so grateful to live in the United States of America and have all of the blessings that that brings into my life.

GOOD BYE UTAH

2010-07-11T18:32:00.000-07:00

So several months ago Than called and told us that if we would come out to Utah to help he and Erica move, he would pay for us to go to the Stadium of Fire for the fourth of July. They had been talking about moving for some time, but I really didn't think that they meant it. Erica and Than are total Utah people and I say that in a good way. They love Utah. They "fit" in Utah. Erica has the Utah woman's haircut. They are OBSESSED with BYU. Erica is all crafty and had such a cute house with church things all over. They have season passes to BYU football games. They love having all the LDS things close at hand. They go next door to their neighbors on Sunday nights and have brownies. The kids have tons of BYU clothes...jersys, sweatshirts, hats, pajamas, etc. They hate the dirty UTES....or at least Pacen does. They participate in every sport that they can. Than has been a scout master there forever. But his job asked him to move to the bay area and they decided to do it. I really thought they wouldn't go. Right up until the week before we went back there to help them move, I thought they wouldn't go. I have to say, Erica is a champ, an amazing champ. She had tons of friends there and hung out with Jana pretty much on a daily basis. Their babies are due on the same day and they are both having girls. Their kids are best friends. They enjoy all of the same things. But Erica just said, "Okay, I'll go". I have to say, if it would have been me, Walt would have had to take me out of there kicking and screaming. But not Erica. I really am amazed by her. I know that she will be fine. They really do bloom where they are planted. But I have to say as we drove away, I was crying because I was sad for her. This is the final picture taken after they gave the keys to their renters.

This is a close up of their house. It really is a cute house and I am glad that they are just renting it out....just in case.
This is the truck that hauled away all of their belongings. We were amazed that it fit everything from their house into one truck. They had a fairly large house. It is strange to think that all of your earthly possessions can be contained in one truck. Why do we need such big houses then?
Than kept reminding us that this wasn't a vacation. We were there to work. But this is how I felt some of the time. I wished that I could have been like Claira and just curled up on their Love Sac and taken a nap. I am too old and fat to move and I hope I never have to move. My body ached from scrubbing tubs and floors and walls and baseboards. If I ever have to do that again, I need to go on a diet first!
Like I said, Than said that we were there to work, not play...but can you imagine our family going back to Utah and NOT going to Lagoon????? We just couldn't do it so we went on Monday and got it out of the way. We LOVE Lagoon. We went on rides in the morning and then hit Laguna beach all afternoon and I have to say, if I lived there I would definitely buy a season pass. We all gave up on trying to keep up with Scotty or even keep track of him. He took one of those big tubes and he was off. Occasionally he would run by us and shout out a quick "hello", but most of the time he was running to get in line for the next water slide. His legs must have ached that night. Walt is just as bad though. He said that he felt like he had had a workout on a stair stepper all afternoon. This picture is blurry but I love the look on Claira's face. Pure happiness.
The boys wore their matching outfits and I love how they have almost matching expressions in this picture. Pacen is about a quarter of an inch shorter than Scotty and this is the first year that they could go on the BIG rides. They both loved it. Some of the carnies wouldn't let Pacen on because he really was just a tad bit short, but most of them did and he had a ball. They are great buddies and it will be nice having them closer to us.
This picture of Than going on Puff the Magic Dragon reminded me of the movie Big. I think he went on that all by himself just because he wanted to....just kidding, I think Camry was in there with him.
This was the first ride of the day....the Dinosaur Egg Drop. They both love this ride and went on it several times.
So thank you Than and Erica for the sort of fun trip to Utah. We are so happy that you will be closer to us..... exactly 2 hours and 7 minutes. We look forward to many happy times with you and the kids. Welcome back to Cali!!

GROWING UP

2010-07-07T16:31:00.000-07:00

Here they are, all grown up.

It is hard to believe that six years have gone by...six years since they came to live with us. I can still remember the day vividly. Patty from Children's Hope called and asked if we would take twin boys who had just turned thirteen the day before. My response was, "I don't do teenage boys." She pleaded with me to give it a try because they were from a family of seven and they were desperate to place these final two. She asked me to give it two weeks and I finally said that I would. I was home by myself and really didn't know what to expect. I worried about tattoos, piercings, and other awful teenage fads. When they walked up to the house, Everett came and peered into the window. I opened the door and Dennis immediately shook my hand and said, "Hi, I am Dennis. I wet the bed every night." I was a little surprised at his openness about it, but I just said, "Okay, we will deal with that." As a side note, Dennis quit wetting the bed in just a few nights. Turns out, he was afraid of the dark and getting up in the middle of the night. We got him a night light and the problem was solved. He also gave up the night light shortly after that. They walked in the house and Everett said, "Dennis, we have hit the jackpot!" It was so funny. Everett was dressed in his dad's old holey T-shirt that came down past his knees and Dennis was in girl's pants and a holey shirt as well. They had court the next day and so I took them to Walmart to get them some new clothes. They were in seventh grade and they picked out Spiderman shirts. That two weeks has turned into six years. They graduated this year from LP and we are very proud of them. When they first came here, both of them had below a 1. grade point average. Now they both get good grades and here they are in their cap and gowns.

It was different having two of them graduate on the same night. Although they are twins, they really couldn't be more different. They don't look alike and they certainly don't act alike. Everett is talkative (way talkative), a video gameaholic, enjoys joining clubs (I couldn't even tell you how many he was a member of at LP), friendly, kind, loves TV (especially cartoons), loves hot dogs, is sort of a nerd and can be nice to Scotty. Dennis is quiet and kind, gets bored with video games and TV easily, and enjoyed playing sports at LP. He is occasionally grumpy...okay, more than occasionally, he gets easily annoyed with Scotty, loves cold cereal and loves to text. They are both good boys and although they can be annoying (name me a teenager who isn't annoying some of the time) we have enjoyed them in our home. They help out a lot and most of the time without too much grumbling and complaining. They joined the church when they were fourteen and for the most part, try hard to keep the commandments.

This is Kim Hickman, their social worker. They used to have Mary Anderson as their social worker but then she got a different job and Kim became their worker. We loved Mary and she went through a lot with these boys. She was here for them every week and listened to me whine whenever I was frustrated. We were so sad when she left Children's Hope. But I think it was divine intervention that Kim became their worker. She is a member of the church from Chico. Her husband is a bishop over there and she is a driven woman. Every week they worked on things to prepare them to live on their own and to prepare them for their missions. She cooked with them, read the Book of Mormon with them, helped them fill out their papers for their missions and was all in all a task master. She was amazing and I don't know what we would have done without her. Thanks Kim and Mary for all of your amazing work with these two boys. And since we are on the subject of missions, both boys received their calls the exact same day. This was a first for us, to receive two on the same day.

Dennis checked the mail one afternoon and came RUNNING back with two envelopes in his hand. He was grinning from ear to ear.
He was so excited to open his call. Everett was away at scout camp and Dennis was too anxious to wait for him to get home so they opened them separately.
Imagine his surprise when he read that he would be going to the Washington Everett mission. His first response was, "Man I can't get away from that guy!!" It was really kind of funny. He has already befriended a boy from Provo, Utah who is going to the same mission on the same day. The mission looks absolutely beautiful. It is just north of Seattle and right on the Puget Sound. It goes all the way up to the border of Canada and includes several small islands between Washington and British Columbia. It is where all those vampire movies were filmed. We got him a raincoat and we are hoping that he likes the rain....because it rains there...a lot!
Finally Everett arrived home from scout camp all sunburned and anxious to open his call.
Everett is going to the Idaho Pocatello mission and I hope he learns to pronounce it before he goes there. He also has a beautiful mission and it includes Yellowstone and parts of Wyoming, including Jackson Hole, Wyoming. It doesn't rain as much there but he will be much colder than Dennis. He has had several people tell him about friends or relatives that live in that area and so I am sure that he will be watched over. I am grateful that both boys have chosen to serve missions and that they are both worthy to go. We feel strongly that there is a reason for each of them to serve in their various locations. They both enter the MTC on September 29th. I am glad that they get to travel together. I think it will make it easier on them to fly and catch the MTC shuttle at the airport. I think it will be interesting when they enter the MTC and introduce themselves and say, "Hi, I am Elder Raschka and this is my brother Elder Raschka." Sort of like the old Bob Newhart show with "This is my brother Darrell and this is my other brother Darrell." That certainly dates me!! Anyway, I just want them to know how proud we are of both of them. I have to say thank you to the adults in our ward who have helped with their progress on this journey. They would not be where they are without your guidance and modeling. So Dennis and Everett, this post is for you. "You have come a long way Baby!!"

Washington, Weddings, Will, and Olive

2010-06-25T11:07:00.001-07:00

So my last post on Memorial Day spotlighted Kaylee with her new boyfriend, Chris and his son Will. Well, shortly after that post Kaylee and Chris decided to get married. They married along the banks of the Columbia River on June 10, 2010 at sunset. I wish that I could figure out how to steal pictures off of Facebook, because their pictures were beautiful. They decided to go to Victoria, Canada for a few days and I was recruited to babysit. I knew that I could not do it alone...Scotty is hard enough, let alone adding Olive and Will. So I begged Becca to go along with me and we road tripped it to Kennewick, Washington. What a beautiful drive. I loved it and I am sure that I will be making that trip often in the future. This is Mount Shasta. It was so pretty to drive along with that as your view.

This is some volcano looking thing in Oregon and with the cloud and fog cover above it, we thought it looked like a volcano erupting. The drive up there was one of the prettiest that I have ever been on. The only frustrating thing about it was that the speed limit in ALL of Oregon, except I-5 I think (and we don't take that road), is 55. And there was NO reason for it to be that low. I seriously think Oregon is a very "green" state with all of its environmentalists and hippies and that's why they keep it so low. But I was afraid that if I did speed I would be a target for a ticket...a red prius from California. I am sure that all of the many highway patrol officers that we saw along the way would have loved to have given me a ticket. On another note, I only had to fill up once coming and going because my car got between 53 and 56 miles to the gallon on the trip. How's that for "green" Oregon???? But Becca and I loved Oregon. It was so beautiful.
Kennewick is beautiful too. It is such a clean city and sits along the Columbia River. That was so beautiful too. A funny thing happened when we arrived, my cell phone died with all of the numbers that I needed to contact the lady who had the kids. Chris's house is brand new and so it didn't register in the Garmin and Becca and I kept driving all over and could not find it. We thought if we found the house, we could plug in my phone and get the lady's phone number out of it. When that didn't work, we stopped at a yard sale and asked to borrow their phone to call Walt to get Kaylee's phone number to get the other number. Well he couldn't figure out how to talk on the phone to me and use his phone contact list at the same time! Finally Becca remembered her number. We called them and they gave us directions to the house and we picked up the kids. It was interesting though because when we explained what happened and what we were doing to the lady at the yard sale, she ended up being LDS. Becca had told her that Chris and Kaylee had met on LDS singles.com. She said that the church is great up there and growing like crazy. This is at one of the parks along the Columbia River.
I LOVE this picture of Oliver. She looks so proud of herself as she looks down at the ground.
Will was a climber, a crazy, scary climber like Scotty. He reminds me of Scotty when he was little at the park. Nothing was too scary or dangerous. He was constantly on the move and with the river RIGHT there, we had to keep a close watch on him. After about an hour to an hour and a half, I was a nervous wreck and wanted to go home. This is the cutest picture though.
Just hanging from the bars.
More hangin'.
It was hard to get a picture of Olive. She avoids it like crazy and if you even suggest getting a picture, she is not a happy camper. So I took what I could get.
The gang watching TV. Thank goodness for TV and popcorn after a hard day at the park and baths.
We stayed one extra day after Kaylee and Chris got back from Canada. We wanted to hang out with them a little. Kaylee took us to this really cool wood park that also had this water area in front of it. In spite of the fact that it was a little cool, the kids loved it. I love that Olive is always a "girl". She looks like she is striking a ballet pose.
We got shaved ice there and the kids came running. Kaylee is such a good mommy.
Kaylee took me on a little drive around Kennewick and I got to see the Columbia River temple. It was so pretty. We also drove up to the top of a hill that overlooks Kennewick and that was such a pretty view. I have to say, I loved Kennewick. If the winters were not so cold, and they really aren't that bad I guess, I think it would be a great place to live. They have every store and restaurant that you could want.
The Smith's new home. They live at the end of a cul-de-sac so the kids won't have to worry so much about traffic. Their house is so cute inside and perfect for their family. I can hardly wait to see it decorated and look at the final result. I loved my trip up their and plan to go up again some time this summer to spend a little more time looking around and visiting and getting to know Chris and Will. I am so happy for this new start for both of them.

MEMORIAL WEEKEND

2010-06-01T20:26:00.001-07:00

Memorial weekend was an exciting one for our family. We always plan a Monday barbecue and pretty much invite anyone who wants to come. We look forward to it every year and it is Walt's baby. He loves to get the yard ready and get the barbecue fired up and the pool clean for the kick off of the summer. I love it because it means that school is winding down and I am almost unemployed for the summer. This year we looked forward to it for another reason.....

We enjoyed meeting Chris and his son Will. Scotty enjoyed having Will around. For the first day he pretty much babied him and tried to carry him around everywhere. He was actually pretty good with him.
Chris and Will right before they were getting ready to leave for Washington.
Kaylee tried to make perfect chocolate chip cookies. She didn't think that they turned out that well but I thought they were great....as did everyone else. They didn't last very long. I thought it was interesting to watch them cook together. He spent some of the time closing the cupboards behind her....get used to it Chris.
Chris trying to convince Olive that she really did want to share the cheetos with Will. Get used to it Chris!!
My new living room furniture. Walt hates it and asked, "Why does our living room have to look like a Barnum and Bailey circus?" I love the colors and in spite of pretty much EVERYONE trying to convince me NOT to go with the red, including the sales lady, I did it and I am so happy with it. I forgot to post a picture of the best part, the chair. It is so cute and comfortable.
Scotty entertaining the kids. He pulled them around for such a long time and was pretty patient with them. I love how Olive is sitting on the motorcycle in the wagon. Somehow she ended up in Scotty's clothes and Will ended up with no clothing on him.
They loved watching Little Einsteins and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. When I was too tired to chase them and keep a close eye on them, this was a great babysitter.
The fam in the conversation pit....that is what I like to call it.
The ladies before and after Nertz. It was so much fun playing cards almost all day. We missed Pam and Annette....thanks guys for not coming. I can tell who my true friends are.
It is almost impossible to get a picture of Olive. She hates having her picture taken.
More friends.
I love this weekend. I love summer and time off. I love my friends. I love fresh starts and new beginnings. I love my family.

THE NEW FAMILY ROOM

2010-05-23T19:02:00.001-07:00

Picture the dirty, stinky, dark Americana room with pictures of dead presidents hanging all over the wall and Declarations of Independence and flags and flags and did I say flags???? Well this is the new look. It is not that we are any less patriotic Walt, I just needed a new look. I still love America and flags and patriotism and yes, even Ronald Reagan, but I wanted something bright and fun and clean. So down went the dark burgundy wall and up came the navy blue carpet and the Americana rug. Out went Dennis and Everett to the shed, their new bachelor's hangout. And we opened the room up into one large room that will hopefully be filled with grandchildren....and I guess their parents. Walt and I are still debating about what will hang on the walls. He wants to bring back the presidents. I say we gave them honor long enough and I want something new. So our walls are blank until we make a decision. I actually found a painting that I loved at Costco but it was $239 and never in my life have I ever spent that much money on a painting. I think even George Washington was only $150. So we are at an impasse but until then, I am just enjoying blank walls. We put in the same floor that we have everywhere else. I really debated carpet but I just love laminate floors if you have kids or pets. They are much easier to keep clean. This couch is the BEST couch for that room. It is so comfortable and snuggly. This picture shows the most true color of the yellow walls. The other pictures in the post are all too bright.

This is the rug that I got from Costco and I love it too. It is so plush. The walls were a little darker than I expected but I really like them now too. The top half is not beige like it looks in the pictures. It is country white.
In this picture the walls look really bright. I have to say though, the walls change color throughout the day depending on the light. Some people thought I should throw out the bookcases but to me a bookcase is a bookcase and I had to have something to put the books on. So we just used some Old English on them and I think they are fine. I am thinking about painting the small ones with the pictures of them. I was thinking about painting them the color of the curtains.
This is the front side of the room where everyone can see that door that was hidden behind the entertainment center for years and years.
These are my new curtains. I love the color. Initially I was planning on orange but I saw these and couldn't resist them. This corner will house Walt's computer as soon as Comcast comes and sets up the internet. I think that I need to get a liner for the curtains though to help the glare on the TV.
And did I say TV??? Well this is Walt's new baby. As you can see, we don't have anything to set it on yet so the file cabinets will have to do. But we want an electric fireplace eventually. The tv is not centered because unbeknown to us, the electricity in Dennis and Everett's room has not worked in years and so there is only one outlet and the cords were not long enough to have the TV centered. So it looks ugly but it works great. It is a 55 inch Vizio with built in wi-fi. I think that we have overbought for two technologically challenged old people but it is done. Today Becca was watching Blindside while she was posting on facebook through the tv. Amazing. If you will notice, there is not one speck of red in the room. That was my goal and I did it. I love the citrus colors though. So if anyone has any ideas for wall decor let me know. I love going in my new room and I enjoy sitting in there and just feeling happy.

TENNESSEE TRAVELS

2010-05-09T20:16:00.000-07:00

March was a month to remember. Shauna was having her c-section on March 18, one day after my birthday. I was hoping that she would have him on my birthday because then I got to name him and I was going to name him Breckan and call him Brecky, after me. I didn't get my wish. But I did get out of my comfort zone. I flew to Nashville on the 23rd....by MYSELF. I was brave. Now it is true that I was physically sick for two days before with diarrhea. I had myself so worked up I felt like I was going to die. The night before, I cried, all evening and night. I finally had Walt give me a blessing to calm my nerves and then I cried and wanted Tom Robertson to come on the trip with me and be my guide. I didn't sleep much that night and then when I got to the airport and Walt was helping check me in, I really started crying and so they let him go with me and put me on the plane and they gave me priority boarding because I think they thought I was crazy. But I made it and I told the people that I was sitting with that I was scared to death and they were so nice and helpful. Every time the plane would hit a bump they would pat my arm and tell me that was just normal. I was never so glad to touch down in Nashville. I did it though....an airplane ride by myself and I even had to change planes in Las Vegas. And I have to say, it was all worth it and I would do it again for him. This is Blake, not Brecky, just Blake.

This is him about fifteen minutes before I left all wrapped up like a papoose...I hope that word is politically correct and if it isn't I don't care.
A photo shot with Shauna right before I left. I love her hair like this.
The girls got this picnic table and enjoyed eating outside a few times. Heidi was afraid of the bees out there though so I think they have since moved it inside. This is such a cute picture of Kaylee who doesn't like to smile for the camera.
I got to drive Heidi to school every day and pick her up. On Thursdays I went to school to eat with her. On the first Thursday I went with the girls without Shauna. Heidi said, "You know Grammy, you don't have to bring food from home. Some parents bring their kids food from McDonalds." So the next Thursday we took McDonalds. Heidi is the funniest, sort of nerdy girl....well pretty much she is a nerd but that is what makes her adorable.
Most of the vacation was centered around two things....changing Blake's poopy diapers and eating. Seriously, that kid can poop. I think that I changed more diapers for him in that ten days then I changed in all of my kids combined....maybe not quite that much, but close. We also ate a lot of southern food. We ate at Captain D's twice. It is a fish and chips place and it is really good. I think Walt was jealous that we went there because he LOVED it when we were there a few years ago. Even the kids enjoyed it. This picture is a picture of the onion rings and fried pickles that we ate at Gus's fried chicken. I love fried pickles. In fact, I pretty much like anything fried ..... and I wonder why I am so fat. Shauna cooked a southern meal of barbecue pork, sweet potato casserole and fried pickles. Hers were even better than Gus's were. I would love for Scotty and Becca to try fried pickles since they love pickles so much.
Ben loves this place and the chicken was good.
The week that I was there the movie Blindside came out. It is a true story about a white family from Memphis that take in a black homeless teenager....an excellent movie if you haven't seen it. Sandra Bullock is great in it and I think her real life husband is stupid for having an affair on her while she was filming the movie. I am glad that she is divorcing him and adopting a black baby. I have always wanted to adopt a black baby, but instead, I got a white street smart skater baby. But anyway, this is a picture of the real school that the boy attended when the Touey (not sure about the spelling and Shauna you can correct this if you want to) family found Michael...the boy in the movie. We couldn't get up to the school itself because it was gated. I spent the time in Memphis when we were out and about looking for the real Mrs. Touey because I wanted to talk to her. They own about 80 Taco Bells and we went by a few of them and I looked to see if I could see her there. I wanted to look her up on the internet and go to her house but Ben, of course, thought I was an idiot. But I am glad that I got to see the school from afar. It was funny though because the movie was sold out in most of the stores on the first day because it happened in Memphis.
This is a picture of Benji's school. Only one more year for him and then he will be done. I can hardly wait because then I get to get my glasses for cost and I can have more than one pair. Someone said that there is about a four hundred percent markup on frames....what a rip off. I am also hoping that it means they will move further west.
This is the old Mississipp....which is what we southerners like to call it. We had a picnic here one afternoon on the banks of the old Mississipp.
We took the kids to this lady's house for an easter egg hunt when Blake was like a week old. Shauna was crazy about doing too much. We went shopping the day after I got there and Blake was five days old. I tired out before Shauna did. She was an excellent hostess in spite of her surgery.
This is Daisy on Shauna's bed watching The Little Mermaid. This was her routine every day. She loves Ariel. Each day she would come with a movie behind her back and ask us to guess what it was.....big surprise....Ariel. She was so cute. For all of you who don't let your kids watch much TV, don't judge me. It helped us get the kids ready and Heidi to school and things picked up for the day without her interference. She is a cutie though.
This is just a cute picture of the girls in their matching dresses. I have cute grand daughters.
And again, the reason for my trip. My trip home was just as scary and Ben was a trooper and asked the lady at the front desk if he could go up with me to get me on the plane. I was again crying, and they were worried that I was some sort of psycho and were concerned about even letting me on the plane. But Ben took charge and I got to go on priority seating again. On the way home I sat by a really funny Muslim guy who made a lot of jokes about his nationality and I have to admit I worried about him having a bomb in his backpack. He was saying that he had a really hard time getting a concealed weapon's permit because of his nationality and then I said, "You didn't happen to bring that on board with you , did you???" He made the time pass quickly and was very friendly and kept trying to get me to play games with him on his i-phone and I have to admit Kathy.....I think he was secretly in love with me.
Thanks Taylors for a wonderful stay and my four wonderful grandchildren. Love you guys!!

IT WASN'T DISNEYLAND BUT.....

2010-04-11T15:34:00.000-07:00

I LEFT MY HEART IN SAN FRANCISCO!!

During my February break we had planned on taking Scotty to Disneyland. The weather was supposed to be great, the lines would be short, the perfect setup for a trip to the Magic Kingdom. The Thursday before break started, Scotty came home from school with a 102 temperature and started throwing up right and left. He was so sick. He stayed home Friday and seemed better by that afternoon so we figured that the trip was still on. That night we went down to Roseville to Cheesecake Factory for dinner with our kids because Than was in S.F. for work and it was a chance to see him and Erica and the kids, and Joe and Candy and Kaylee. The drive down there was pleasant with Scotty sleeping soundly in the back seat. That should have been our first clue. We parked and he got out of the car and threw up everywhere. Walt still wanted to go to dinner (throw up isn't enough to dampen his appetite), so we went inside and met everyone. I spent the entire evening in the bathroom with Scotty while everyone else had dinner. I finally insisted that we get him home and we decided that if he wasn't better by the next day, our trip to Disneyland would have to be postponed. He was still sick on Saturday and finally a little better on Sunday. So we decided that it was too far to go to Disneyland because Walt had to work on Thursday, so we brainstormed for another vacation spot. We settled on San Francisco and Monterey. It ended up being so much fun for a spur of the moment trip. This is Alcatraz. We didn't do the tour...I can't remember why though.

One of the fun parts of the trip was that Becca was off for a few days too and she decided to come along with us. It was just like old times. She is fun to have along and she is good with Scotty. Kyle had to work so he had to stay home, but she wasn't about to let that spoil her fun.
Scotty loves it when Becca comes along because she is great company in the back seat. We love it because it is one extra helping hand with him and she entertains him in the back seat. This is at Pier 39. We looked at all the shops and then ate at Bubba Gump's restaurant. Walt loves that restaurant. The food was okay but has jumped in price since the last time we ate there.
We did something that we have never done before with our kids in San Francisco. We rode the cable cars. It too, cost more than I thought that it should, but it was fun and Scotty had a blast. This is just one of the pictures that I took from the cable cars. Hard to believe that Sammy lives here!
This was Scotty swinging on the cable cars. He would swing his legs way out like in gymnastics. We kept telling him to stop...of course he didn't listen, ..... and finally he got in trouble by the creepy looking cable car guy.
The next day it was "Free grand slam day at Denny's". Wild horses couldn't have kept Walt away. If there is free food, the Hancocks are IN. It was a fun way to begin our next day and then we were off for our next day of adventure.
We went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. This was another thing that we have never done with our kids because of the expense. But since we only have to pay for one now, we decided to give it a try and we LOVED it. It was so much fun and so interesting. I told Erica that if they do end up living in the bay area, we need to take the kids there. This is a picture of the jellyfish display. They were so beautiful to watch.
They have a whole area dedicated to sea horses too. They were so interesting to look at. I didn't realize there were so many variations. I liked this picture of the kids too.
When we first got there, they were just getting ready to feed the sharks and we got front row seating. There were all kinds of sharks in the tank and they were really close to you.
They had one tank that was completely filled with fish that looked like they had come straight from the cast of Finding Nemo. I even got pictures of Nemo and Dora. This one was just pretty with that pink square right in the middle of its body.
They have several "Hands on" areas for kids. Scotty loved them. He wasn't sure that he loved picking up the star fish in this exhibit though. He was shivering and got the funniest expression on his face. They have another area where they can race little boats down tunnels. He loved that.
It wasn't Disneyland, but we had so much fun. It was a trip that I would do again. I am glad that Becca got to go along too. The parking was outrageous everywhere we went. What a rip off. We paid $28.00 to park down at the wharf...and it was for only a few hours. We are hoping with Sammy being down there, we will learn cheaper, and better ways to see the city. So now we are trying for Disneyland in October...if we can plan it around Erica and Than's baby. So hopefully the baby will cooperate with those plans!!

FOUR LADIES AND A LITTLE MAN

2010-04-04T21:37:00.000-07:00

I finally downloaded some pictures from way back in December. It took me all night to do it because I couldn't remember how to do it. I decided that I am not going to go all the way back there to blog about. I would like to do a blog about Becca's wedding and I still may do that but that will have to come at another time. I was terrible about taking pictures back then. Shauna and the girls were out to help with wedding stuff and I only took these few pictures of them. Then we had our family Christmas the day after Becca's wedding and I didn't take any pictures of that. I think I was frazzled by then. I didn't even think about pictures. I was just glad to have the wedding over and I couldn't even bring myself to think about Christmas. But when I looked back at the pictures there were a few that I wanted to remember. I wish that Erica's kids had been here so they could have been included. Scotty is well aware that he is all of the grandkids' uncle. When he speaks of them, he always refers to them as his nieces and nephew. I love the relationship he has with them though. This is Heidi and Scotty on a slumber party night. They get along great...sometimes a little too great!! Even though Heidi is a girl, they love to play together and have always been great friends.

This is Scotty and Kaylee. I love this picture of Kaylee. It is one of my favorites. Scotty and Kaylee don't get along as well as Scotty and Heidi. I think because Heidi and Scotty don't include Kaylee much when they are all together. Kaylee is quick to point out all of Scotty's flaws and I love that. While in Tennessee, she told me a few times the things she didn't like about Scotty. It was sort of funny. Sometimes I wonder if they are too much alike!
Scotty and Daisy. Daisy is a little young to be taken in by Scotty. I would imagine though that there will come a time when they will butt heads. Daisy is a force to be reckoned with to say the least.
I love this picture of Olive and Scotty. What is Olive thinking.....???? I love the relationship that they have together. Olive pretty much idolizes Scotty and Scotty, for the most part, is tender and kind to her. They do fight some, mainly about toys. They are both pretty territorial about their toys. But Scotty is usually gentle with her and very protective. Sometimes when Olive is crying, Scotty is the only one who can comfort her. And boy, does he make her laugh. He can do anything and it cracks her up. They love to play in the backyard together, ride in Scotty's jeep, watch movies, play in the hot tub, watch Little Einsteins, and play video games....Scotty plays them while Olive lays on the bed and watches him.
This is Heidi and Scotty watching a movie together. I love it when kids watch movies together and they all pile in the same spot. Scotty also get along great with Pacen, Camry and Claira. Than always thinks it is funny that the kids all laugh at ANYTHING Scotty does....especially Pacen. Scotty and Pacen are good buddies. With only girls in the family, six of them to be exact, the two boys stick together. They love to play sports things together. The funniest thing is to watch them play football together in slow motion. They can do that for hours. They also like to play cars, jump off my dresser onto our bed, play Star Wars, ride in the jeep, and hang in the hot tub. They are all boy when they are together. I think they feel like they have to overdose on boy things to make up for all the "girl things" they have to do when all of the nieces are here. I love to watch the two of them play. Camry holds her own with Scotty, as she does with anyone she meets. Sometimes it is hard for her because the boys don't include her like they should...well mainly Scotty. For the most part though, they also get along well. She giggles at everything he does. Claira, like Daisy, is pretty much oblivious to Uncle Scotty. But I know that there will come a time that she too, will be a force to be reckoned with for Scotty. It is interesting to have a child the same age as my grandchildren but so far, it seems to work.
This last picture is just our Christmas tree on Christmas Eve. There is not much there because we had already had Christmas with Than and Erica, and Shauna and her kids. But I love pictures of Christmas and I love the fact that Clancy is investigating the loot.

THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY OR LAUGH

2010-03-17T07:03:00.000-07:00

I loved Erica's post. I love the fact that she updates her blog a lot. The prize goes to her for the best blogger in the family. I got to thinking about the things that make me happy and I thought that I would post about them. My kids make me happy. They are funny, bright, successful humans...who would have thought??? I love their spouses. They were brave to marry my kids. I really cannot imagine quiet little Candy (who is not all that quiet and very sarcastic once you get to know her) married to Joe. He has the funniest sense of humor and often she is the butt of his jokes, but she takes it like a champ and loves him anyway. Joe makes me laugh. I wish that we hung out more. I love the fact that Than calls me almost every day on his way home from work. I love that little bit of checking in that he does. Erica has to put up with him...sometimes he can be quite the perfectionist....where would he get that from... I wonder????? I love that Shauna keeps me in check and makes me be a better person. She isn't afraid to tell me to lose weight, keep my house cleaner, be a better person....and the list goes on. She is a bit of an eccentric and Ben just puts up with it. I love that Kaylee is quirky and sort of a throwback to the sixties. I love that she has just picked herself up after such a hard year and become an independent woman and a wonderful mother. Olive is a lucky girl who takes after her mother. She is my hippy grand daughter. Sam is just Sam.. I don't hear from him much and I just have to accept that. He is funny and gospel centered. He also has a brand new apartment in San Fran that is completely furnished with all brand new furniture and a HUGE TV. Does anyone know of any single girls out there???? Becca is loud, opinionated, and kind. She tells it like it is...most of the time to me. But she also tells me that she loves me and I think it is funny. And Kyle just loves her. Scotty always makes me laugh and cry. He tells me that I am too fat to fit on the toilet, and never lets me get too big of head. But he also tells me that I look pretty and that I don't look fat in that outfit and he tells me that he loves me at least ten times a day. So I love my kids. They make me happy. I love my grand kids and I love the parents that my kids have turned out to be. It is amazing to watch your children parent their children.

Most of the time I love Walt but I have to say that he drives me crazy too. But he is good hearted and most of the time will do anything that I ask of him.

I love my job and the people I work with. I go to work everyday and just laugh all day long. And I get paid to do it. I have the best co-workers ever. I love working with them and I love working with the kids. I love my car. It is so great to get into it every day and not have to wonder if I will break down on the way to Walmart. I love going into my room and seeing my bed made...I usually have to make it...but I love seeing it made. I love getting into it at night and snuggling in for the night. I love waking up with a song that I like in my head. Unfortunately that song is usually replaced by "Beat It" by the time I go to school and I always end up singing THAT the entire time I am out on morning yard duty. For some reason Scotty is obsessed with Michael Jackson and can do that whole song with the sound effects and everything. He sings it almost every morning in the shower. I love our hot tub on cold winter nights. I love Old Navy clothes for Scotty and for me. I love little boys in plaid shorts. I even love men in plaid shorts. I love, love, love this weather. I love Olive in pigtails. She looks like a cocker spaniel and it makes me laugh. I love going out to eat. I am not that picky...most anywhere will do. I love watching Biggest Loser. That is usually accomplished while I eat some kind of dessert. Why do I do that???? I love that my daughters and my daughters-in-laws are all great homemakers. Their houses are decorated so cute and they all like to cook. I love watching Baby Einstein with Olive and having her yell at me because I am not patting my knees when I am supposed to. I love walking into my house when it is clean and smells good. Thank goodness for Airwicks. I love it when I can remember where I put things to keep them safe. I LOVE it when Scotty wakes up in the morning and his bed is NOT wet. I also love it when he wakes up happy...that is a rare happening. I love it when things go well in the morning and I have time to read the paper online and do my morning chores. I love walking into work each morning and being greeted by Carla, Stephanie and Carol. They make me feel like they are really glad to see me. I love Friday nights and going out to dinner with our friends. I love it that it is warm enough that I can wear sandals now. I love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. If I had to pick only one food that I could eat for the rest of my life, I think it would be that. I never get sick of them. I LOVE Chinese food. I love desserts of any kind. I love to find a book to read that I can hardly put down. I love going to the movies and eating popcorn. I love going for drives up on Table Mountain during this time of year. I love lemon meringue pie, although Walt makes a better one than any store bought one. I love that I can call Louie on Sunday afternoon and she will make me a treat. I love looking up things on the internet. I love hearing from friends via the internet. I LOVE reading my kids' blogs and their friends blogs. I love Thursday evenings knowing that the next day is Friday. I love getting off a little early on Fridays. I love listening to piano music. I love the ocean and the beach. Last summer's vacation of beach hopping was the best. We had no destination. We just traveled up and down the coast stopping at different beaches with Walt, Scotty, Louie and I. I love seafood. I love Scotty's toothless smile right now. I love cruising and if you haven't tried it, you should. I love the Caribbean and wonder why I don't live there. I love the things that Scotty says. I have to hold my breath about it sometimes (especially in public), but most of the time, he just makes me laugh. I guess that is enough for today. Thanks again Erica for making me think of the things that make me happy. I am sure that there are plenty more. Oh, and I LOVE that I am 55 and STILL ALIVE.

I SUCK AT A LOT OF THINGS...BLOGGING INCLUDED

2010-03-03T06:48:00.000-08:00

So, I have realized in the past month that there are really not many things that I am REALLY good at. Monday, Scotty brought home a behavior report, one that he gets every week. There are three spots that can be checked....Needs improvement, Satisfactory, or Excellent. Well, I will let you guess which boxes get checked the most often. This one, however, had excellent checked and we were so excited. We put if up on the refrigerator and did a lot of high fives and hugs. Oh, I was a happy mom. Then Scotty asked what the other two boxes meant. So I sat down and told him what "needs improvement" means and what "satisfactory" means. I told him that while we were thrilled that he got an excellent, satisfactory is pretty darn good too, especially for him. Then I started thinking about my life and wondering if there is anything that I do that would earn me an "Excellent" in the box. I have been thinking about it for a few days and I am not sure that I can come up with anything. I used to be an EXCELLENT housekeeper. Shauna will attest that that has gone by the wayside. I used to be an EXCELLENT dog owner. Riley was brushed and groomed every day. She went with me most places in the car, she slept with me, and I even had a basket put on my bike so that she could accompany me on bike rides. Since Scotty came along, she is lucky if she gets a bath twice a month and I take her to the groomers and have her shaved so that I don't have to brush her. While I have never been an excellent cook, I used to make sure that my kids always had a well balanced dinner with each food group represented. Now I am just happy if sometime during the week Scotty gets something from each food group...and the sad thing is, I count on the school lunches to provide most of that balance. Who likes cafeteria food???? I used to be an EXCELLENT reader and enjoyed reading almost anything and everything. Now I feel like I just don't have time. I used to be an EXCELLENT speller. I can still remember the word that I missed in the spelling bee in fourth grade..."invitation". Back in the day, we couldn't write the words down and I got all nervous and left out the "it". I can still spell pretty well and I get frustrated with those who can't. I will NOT buy anything from Craigslist that has been spelled wrong, I don't care how good a deal it is. I hate yard sale signs, fruit vendor signs, or any other kind of sign where the spelling is incorrect. "Mandrainges for sale"...who would buy that? Is that a cross between Hydrangeas (which may or may not be spelled right) and mandarins??? Who knows. So, while I used to be EXCELLENT at a few things, I am not so great at them now. The one thing that I feel like I am still EXCELLENT at is Christmas shopping. I LOVE to Christmas shop and while my fat body wears out much more quickly than it used to I have found other avenues for shopping...mainly online. I stayed up until almost one on the Thursday before Black Friday and shopped online because most places wouldn't allow you to purchase until after midnight. Then I went to bed an got up at three thirty to get over to Chico and begin the real life shopping. I did a great job. I am still EXCELLENT at Christmas shopping. But that only happens one time a year and pretty much for most of the year my talents are mediocre at best. So I have decided that I am just a SATISFACTORY kind of person. I don't do anything really well, but I do some things okay. And some things that I thought I was pretty good at, I have been told by some people, "You suck at that". So now I have realized, I must change. Shauna made me set some goals in every area of my life at Christmastime. I was doing great at them until this month. I set a goal to work out at least four times a week...check, that was happening. I set a goal to have the Book of Mormon read by my birthday...check, I was in the middle of Alma. I set a goal to read at least 12 books during the year...not serial killer type books, but uplifting books....check, I had read about four of them. I set a goal to invite my friend Stephanie out at least four times during the year....check, she came with me to homemaking. I set a goal to keep myself in control with Scotty....check, he is still alive isn't he???? I was doing EXCELLENT in all of my goals...and THEN February hit and it has been a tough month on me. I feel terrible about myself. I quit reading, books and the Book of Mormon. I stopped exercising and began eating a lot especially in the sweets department...never a good combo. As disgusting as it sounds, I ate a whole can of frosting. In defense of myself, it was over about a five day time period. Who just eats frosting? So now I have to start all over and pull myself up by my bootstraps and get going. Because for the entire month of February I have not only not been EXCELLENT, I have not been SATISFACTORY. I have completely been in the NEEDS IMPROVEMENT bracket. That is going to change. I may not ever be EXCELLENT in anything, but I certainly want to be SATISFACTORY in some things. So February is gone...I have always hated that month anyway. Bring on March and SATISFACTORY. For right now, like I told Scotty, that is pretty darn good too.

THANKSGIVING VACATION

2010-01-03T16:49:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving vacation was a busy, busy week. It was filled with errands, wedding preparations and doctors appointments and of course, Thanksgiving. It began on Monday with an ear appointment for Scotty. We FINALLY changed doctors. After four sets of tubes, and many, many visits with a no bed-side manner doctor, we finally switched to a man with a sense of humor and social skills. Why didn't I do that years ago? The last straw was when I took Scotty to the doctor because his ear was hurting and the doctor just said, "Yes the tube has come out and is just sitting in there." Then, without warning, he just dug it out and Scotty yelled. And I mean he yelled..."What the heck is wrong with you??? Why would you do that to me??? I am just a little boy!! You are a mean, mean man!!" As he is screaming this, the doctor just walked out of the room to his office next door and didn't say a word. Scotty continued to rant about him....VERY LOUDLY. Scotty is a tough kid. He can stand pain, in fact, I think he thrives on it. But he was not a happy boy. The doctor never said one word to him and that was the last straw. We have not gone back. So we now see his partner who is just as old but he laughs with Scotty and teases Scotty and spins him around in the chair. So that was the beginning of the doctor visits. Then I had the old pap smear. It has been a long time, in fact, so long that I was not in their computer. I am thinking about ten plus years. So I saw Holly who is always good for a laugh even in the worst of circumstances (and lets face it, getting THAT exam is the worst of circumstances). I am trying to be careful with my wording because Shauna frequently edits my posts and says that I shouldn't say certain things. Next on the agenda came a mammogram. That wasn't so bad although you certainly feel as if you have no dignity left when you have those two tests done. It had been many, many years since I had last had a mammo also. Walt is always on my case to get mammograms done. I would love to see a man get the same kind of test done on his you know what. Let's put Walt in a vice and see how often he goes back to have it done again. But it actually wasn't too bad. Then Kaylee had noticed a spot on my ear back in September so I went to the dermatologist too. He was a very funny, nice guy. He took a nick out of my ear to test it for cancer. Kaylee liked to tease me that I would be marked like a pig with a chunk out of my ear. (Nice supportive daughter Kakes!) The chunk closed over and I have not heard from that doctor and my ear hasn't fallen off so I am assuming that it was not cancerous. After all of the doctor's appointments, we squeezed in a shower for Becca. Or I should say that Shannon and Annette squeezed in a shower for her. So after all of the above entertaining reading, here are some of the pictures from the shower. The first one is a picture of me and two of my beautiful daughters. It is like looking at a weed between two roses!!

Shannon and Becca. Shannon was an amazing, and I mean amazing maid of honor for Becca. I don't know what Becca would have done without her. She not only organized this shower, she shopped for shoes, did her hair, helped her in every aspect of her wedding day. I love Shannon so don't get me wrong when I say this, but she surprised me with her maturity and kindness and love for Becca. She is usually sort of a very lovable dingbat but there was NO evidence of that during all of the wedding hoopla. What an amazing friend!
All of Becca's friends. She has such good supportive friends. She has been married two weeks and I think several of them have already spent the night with Kyle and her.
Shannon explaining one of the games.
The whole crowd. Thanks to everyone who has supported Becca in this through kindness, and help, and gifts, etc. She is a lucky girl to be blessed with such good friends.
Becca doing the cotton game. It was harder than it looked.
And what shower is complete without Scotty. He also did the cotton game. I am not sure which one did the best job. He is sad that Becca has moved out but happy when he sees her. He got to spend the night there last night.
The three of my kids who were at the shower all in one picture.
After the shower came Thanksgiving. Joe, Candy, Kaylee, Olive, Sammy, Becca, Kyle, Scotty, Dennis, and Everett were there. We missed the noise and frivolity that the rest of the gang brings and we really missed the grandchildren. Thanksgiving was definitely a quiet one this year. We did do our Thanksgiving tradition and replaced our entire floor a week before Thanksgiving. What a mess!! It really has become a Thanksgiving tradition though...four different floors during four different Thanksgivings!! Friday was the big shopping day. The only ones brave enough to accompany us were Becca and Kyle. We left at three thirty and headed to Chico. We were lucky enough to get almost everything that we wanted from the ads. I LOVE the hustle and bustle of that day. I LOVE being out in the crowds early in the morning and shopping with other people. I DON'T love the rain though. It poured for a good part of the day and that was not fun. Our cartload of gifts were drenched by the time we got them loaded in the car. But it was worth it and we enjoyed the day with Becca and Kyle. So that was my Thanksgiving week in one boring nutshell. I am thankful for many things but I think that I am the most thankful for my family, especially my kids.