I decided to add some links on my blog to a couple of blogs that I am inspired by. Carly has told me that she has been reading this girls Blog [see button "I read Nie Nie"] for a few years now. Her name is Stephanie Nielson and she lives in Mesa, Arizona. To really get a feel for who Stephanie is you need to read her blog from the beginning in 2005. She started her blog because she moved to New Jersey and it was a way to stay connected to her friends and family in Utah. She loves being a mom and a wife. She is crazy about her husband. Reading her blog makes you laugh and cry. It makes you want to be a better mother and wife. No matter what your religious affiliation is, you will enjoy this blog. You can apply her teachings [cause that is what she does is teach thru her blog] to your own life and it will make you want to be a better person. I started reading her blog after she and her husband were in a serious plane crash in Arizona August 16th. To read more about their story click on this link: A Sister Is Held Even Closer
After 2/1/2 months she is just now waking up. After you read the previous story read this follow up story . Her sister Courtney [see link "inspirational blog"] has a wonderful blog in her own right, and has kept bloggers updated on Stephanie and Christian's condition. One of the things you have to love about this family is how they put themselves out there and let you into their lives. I have been inspired and touched by that unselfishness. Now I know that many of you already read their blogs and that is wonderful. I just decided to add the links so it would be easier for me to view them. I am 58 years old, and I am not too old to learn how to be a better person and to enjoy reading the blogs of the very young. I may be old, but I am not dead. There are many of you that are much younger than I, that I really enjoy reading your blogs and gleaning things from them that make me grow. Thanks to my little group of blogger friends for making my life a little brighter, and sharing your lives with me. Check out the new links, they will not disappoint.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Our Heart Weekend...............
So what did DOUG and I do this weekend ????????
Hints:
Room Service
Rest
Room 3114
Home away from Home
People waiting on us
All about the HEART.......
Lest you think we were taking advantage of the specials
at "Snow Bird" this Fall season...
the truth is, we spent the weekend at McKay-Dee Hospital...first in the
Emergency Room and then in Cardiac Unit on the 3rd floor.
Doug gave us all a scare....but all news is not bad news.
When I got home from work on Friday, Doug was just coming in from a very physical day outside, moving bales of Hay around, chopping wood, and digging a trench to remove some old cement ramps in the corral. He started feeling "funny" like a "discomfort" in his upper chest cavity. Then it started spreading to his neck. I asked him if he was "OK" and he said he was not sure. He took a shower and then came back down stairs . After a while, he said he was going to drive up to the Fire Station and have them hook him up and see if they saw anything.....
20 minutes later, I got a call from him that they were taking him down to the EMERGENCY room.
I drove down in the car and after a chest x-ray, and some blood work, they decided "something was irregular" with his heart and decided to admit him. I'm sure the decision was made partially because of his family history.
[His dad had 5 bypasses, his brother died at age 40 from some acute heart ailment, and his younger brother is having heart problems.]
Room 3114 was his room for two days and two nights.
Saturday morning he had an Angiogram in the Cath Lab by
Dr. Ellen Gallant
[a great Cardiac physician].
Indeed they did find he had had a "mini heart attack" .
His coronary arteries were 40-50% blocked with plaque. Not enough to put in a stent, but enough to start aggressive therapy with diet [good bye potatoe chips] and drugs. So they kept him over night so his incision could start to heal and he came home on Sunday afternoon.
Good things came from this:
Room Service
[McKay has the best. Food anytime day or night]
Rest
[for me not him... seriously the nurses came in every 15 min]
Room 3114
was a very busy place with a lot of Doug's Fire District co workers stopping by to make sure he was OK. I think that helped the time pass.
Home away from Home
[Not a better place to be if you have Heart problems. They even gave Doug his own tooth brush, shaver, shaving gel, and special outfit, just like a hotel]
People waiting on us
RN's, CNA's, Room Service, Housekeeping, Dr. Gallant, everyone made Doug and myself feel calm, and cared about. Thanks McKay.
It's all about the HEART.
The good news is that Doug was one of the lucky ones that found out "early "he
has heart disease. Because he did not go into denial, and actually went in to the
ER and had a Cardiac work up, we can look forward to many years of having
him around. He can go back to work and resume normal day to day things in about a week.
We are a LUCKY family.
Love you Doug
We "HEART" you.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Halloween, Birthday, and Congrats...all rolled into one fabulous night.
Last night we had our annual "Pumpkin Carving" party at our house.
Mac was in town to defend his Masters Thesis at BYU [which he did successfully]
plus we always celebrate his Birthday [the BIG 30 this year]
at this fun party. The only thing missing was.......
Priscila, Lili, John, and Samuel......
We really MISSED You!!!
Here is the scoop.......
Halloween Parade starring..........
Lindsey as ...... "Angel"
Farrah as....... "Little Red Riding Hood"
Mason as............. "Big Bad Wolf"
[Mask too scary for parade]
Campbell as............ "Lamb"
Analyn as............ "Pink Lady from Grease"
Luke as.............. "Winnie the Pooh"
Emma as ............... "Devil"
Christian as................. "Pirate"
Here are a few shots from the night:
Here is a slide show of the rest of the night.
She's back...............
Farrah is back home and how I missed her.........
She is always full of surprises.
When we met her and Carly at the Airport she came running down the hall
with a green frog back pack/suitcase trailing behind her yelling...
"Hi Grandma.....Hi Grandma"
Today I caught her in a "little moment".
She had climbed up on the Piano and was singing and pounding the keys
with her own version of the
Barney Song.........
" I Love You.....You Love Me.......We're a Happy Family......."
I Love You to Farrah!
It's the little things............
It is the little things that make being a Grandma so fun.......
Like finding a note on the wipe board in the playroom from Emma and Analyn after the Princess Party....
Or a surprise letter in the mail from Lindsey......
That's is why it is fun to be a Grandma.....the little things......
Saturday, October 11, 2008
IT'S A PRINCESS PARTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This weekend we had a "Princess Party" and sleep over at Grandma's house [ that's me] for the oldest Granddaughter Princess's [We missed you Lili you would have been a Perfect Princess].
Here is how it went down:
First comes the makeup:
The Princess Hair:
Then the "Ball Gowns" , "Crowns", "Jewlery"
Then we made our "Grand Entrance" at the Ball
May I introduce in order of appearance:
Princess Lindsey
Princess Emma
Princess Analyn
Princess Grandma
Yes, these are former dance formals their mothers or Aunts wore and yes this is my wedding dress now turned yellow. You will see my veil in other pictures. We danced to "Simply irresistible" and other 80's hits. Here are some pictures from the ball. The kids took a lot of the pictures and we all had a "Royal" good time.
Yes, Everyone can be a Princess for a night!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And they lived "Happily Ever After"
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Enjoy the journey............The Playroom
The Playroom………….the RED room……………the Only room…..
Here is a picture of the “Playroom”. Scary isn’t it? But is this the before….or the after?
In this case, it is the “Before” picture. Generally, the kids are really good at cleaning this room and having their kids clean up before they leave, but some nights, it is all they can do to just get the kids out the door. So this room, called the "RED" room because of the red carpet, has looked like this for about two weeks. [It‘s OK, I just shut the door.] But I knew if I did not get it cleaned so they could start from scratch, I might not be able to “close” the door after dinner today. So as I am cleaning, I am reflecting on this room and the “much love” it has seen. If only rooms could talk. There was a time when this room was the only bedroom the kids had to sleep in. Before we built on to the house, all five kids slept in this room. Robin and Holly in the bunks, Mac and Nikki on a mattress on the floor, and Carly in a Port-a crib. Later they graduated to two sets of bunks one regular size bunk with a trundle, and one crib mattress size bunk [specially made].
As I am in there reflecting, I look around and can not believe that many beds ever fit in this room. Back then the room was cute with pink checkered wall paper and the wood work was trimmed in green. The walls were made of plaster and were cold. The kids all had to bundle up to stay warm. They were hard times financially, but happy times as well. As I pick up the “little” people, it brings back memories of former “Fisher Price” days, of days when my own children played for hours with these toys. They used to make a whole town out of those Fisher Price toys with two houses, school, an airport, garage, mini mart, etc. As I pick up a block or two, it reminds of the year Doug made all the blocks, and I painted them and the hours and hours of enjoyment my children have gotten from stacking them up to see how high they could get them before they fell. I spy a care bear, the new kind, but none the less a “care bear’ and it reminds me of Nikki and her Care bear collection and how she treasured it and still has it somewhere. As I carefully put the doll clothes and dolls [some porcelain]back in the toy box, I think of Carly and her Porcelain doll collection. The ones in the toy box now were donated by Priscila I think. Many are missing arms or legs as the grandchildren play with them and like to pull off their legs [go figure]. The Mandy doll clothes remind me of Holly who has passed hers on to Analyn who enjoys styling Holly’s Mandy doll’s hair. The Barbie’s also remind me of Carly as she was the “Barbie” girl in the family. She still keeps her Barbie’s in her cedar chest saving them for Farrah someday. I hope she saves them past the “let’s see how many Barbie heads we can pull off” stage. [Another thing the grand kids do I can not figure out…all the Barbie’s have short necks now from having their heads pulled off and put back on.] And then there are the matchbox cars and track that the Christian and Luke like to play with now, they remind me of Mac. [I have the track but none of the original cars as Mac donated them to charity when in High School] As I put the final touches on the Toy Box, I pick up the doll that I had handmade for Robin by some lady. Hope Naylor’s mom had one made for Hope. I look at it and laugh, because Robin was never really attached to it and I know why……that really is an “Ugly doll”. It was like a step down from a Raggedy Ann doll. As I pick up the play clothes, I run across my muu muu from Hawaii, my Otyokwa dress from College, my mother’s wigs, and all of these “old lady” hats I got from the DI. And it makes me smile of an earlier time:
Then I find a little white knit dress that is really a doll dress, but that Lili loves to wear for “dress-up” and I hold it a little closer, shut my eyes, and I can see Lili dancing around in it with the white hat she loved to put on and I am missing her………………
When my children were little, I could not wait for them to grow up. I am task oriented so everything was a task. We had fun times, but I was always looking to the next horizon when they would walk, or be potty trained, or go to school...... and here I am sitting in their bedroom cleaning up their children’s messes and I am missing the “yesterdays”. I listen to see if I can hear the voices of their youth, but all I hear is the “Spoken Word” from the room beyond. But the TB choir is singing about love, and family, and it is perfect for my mood. Last week in Relief Society I gave a lesson on “Leaving your imprint on someone’s Heart”. This is what my children have done for me, and what my grandchildren keep doing for me….leaving an imprint on my heart everyday they enter my life. Please, please, my advice to my children, and to all of you who read this, do as President Monson asked us to do today and “Enjoy the Journey” for " If we live only for tomorrow, we’ll eventually have a lot of empty yesterdays… "
The room is clean now……………………………………………..
The wall paper is gone. The walls need repair. If you look close you can see where the dart board used to be as there are holes in the plaster all around a distinct circle. It is now the place we hang old family pictures that we don’t know what else to do with. It is quiet now, but I would much prefer it being full of laughter, and the sound of children playing school, or house, or cars, or Barbie’s, or anything but the sound of quiet………..but sometimes just sometimes, "quiet" is good too.
Before or the after?……………………….both are pretty great!!
Here is a picture of the “Playroom”. Scary isn’t it? But is this the before….or the after?
In this case, it is the “Before” picture. Generally, the kids are really good at cleaning this room and having their kids clean up before they leave, but some nights, it is all they can do to just get the kids out the door. So this room, called the "RED" room because of the red carpet, has looked like this for about two weeks. [It‘s OK, I just shut the door.] But I knew if I did not get it cleaned so they could start from scratch, I might not be able to “close” the door after dinner today. So as I am cleaning, I am reflecting on this room and the “much love” it has seen. If only rooms could talk. There was a time when this room was the only bedroom the kids had to sleep in. Before we built on to the house, all five kids slept in this room. Robin and Holly in the bunks, Mac and Nikki on a mattress on the floor, and Carly in a Port-a crib. Later they graduated to two sets of bunks one regular size bunk with a trundle, and one crib mattress size bunk [specially made].
As I am in there reflecting, I look around and can not believe that many beds ever fit in this room. Back then the room was cute with pink checkered wall paper and the wood work was trimmed in green. The walls were made of plaster and were cold. The kids all had to bundle up to stay warm. They were hard times financially, but happy times as well. As I pick up the “little” people, it brings back memories of former “Fisher Price” days, of days when my own children played for hours with these toys. They used to make a whole town out of those Fisher Price toys with two houses, school, an airport, garage, mini mart, etc. As I pick up a block or two, it reminds of the year Doug made all the blocks, and I painted them and the hours and hours of enjoyment my children have gotten from stacking them up to see how high they could get them before they fell. I spy a care bear, the new kind, but none the less a “care bear’ and it reminds me of Nikki and her Care bear collection and how she treasured it and still has it somewhere. As I carefully put the doll clothes and dolls [some porcelain]back in the toy box, I think of Carly and her Porcelain doll collection. The ones in the toy box now were donated by Priscila I think. Many are missing arms or legs as the grandchildren play with them and like to pull off their legs [go figure]. The Mandy doll clothes remind me of Holly who has passed hers on to Analyn who enjoys styling Holly’s Mandy doll’s hair. The Barbie’s also remind me of Carly as she was the “Barbie” girl in the family. She still keeps her Barbie’s in her cedar chest saving them for Farrah someday. I hope she saves them past the “let’s see how many Barbie heads we can pull off” stage. [Another thing the grand kids do I can not figure out…all the Barbie’s have short necks now from having their heads pulled off and put back on.] And then there are the matchbox cars and track that the Christian and Luke like to play with now, they remind me of Mac. [I have the track but none of the original cars as Mac donated them to charity when in High School] As I put the final touches on the Toy Box, I pick up the doll that I had handmade for Robin by some lady. Hope Naylor’s mom had one made for Hope. I look at it and laugh, because Robin was never really attached to it and I know why……that really is an “Ugly doll”. It was like a step down from a Raggedy Ann doll. As I pick up the play clothes, I run across my muu muu from Hawaii, my Otyokwa dress from College, my mother’s wigs, and all of these “old lady” hats I got from the DI. And it makes me smile of an earlier time:
Then I find a little white knit dress that is really a doll dress, but that Lili loves to wear for “dress-up” and I hold it a little closer, shut my eyes, and I can see Lili dancing around in it with the white hat she loved to put on and I am missing her………………
When my children were little, I could not wait for them to grow up. I am task oriented so everything was a task. We had fun times, but I was always looking to the next horizon when they would walk, or be potty trained, or go to school...... and here I am sitting in their bedroom cleaning up their children’s messes and I am missing the “yesterdays”. I listen to see if I can hear the voices of their youth, but all I hear is the “Spoken Word” from the room beyond. But the TB choir is singing about love, and family, and it is perfect for my mood. Last week in Relief Society I gave a lesson on “Leaving your imprint on someone’s Heart”. This is what my children have done for me, and what my grandchildren keep doing for me….leaving an imprint on my heart everyday they enter my life. Please, please, my advice to my children, and to all of you who read this, do as President Monson asked us to do today and “Enjoy the Journey” for " If we live only for tomorrow, we’ll eventually have a lot of empty yesterdays… "
The room is clean now……………………………………………..
The wall paper is gone. The walls need repair. If you look close you can see where the dart board used to be as there are holes in the plaster all around a distinct circle. It is now the place we hang old family pictures that we don’t know what else to do with. It is quiet now, but I would much prefer it being full of laughter, and the sound of children playing school, or house, or cars, or Barbie’s, or anything but the sound of quiet………..but sometimes just sometimes, "quiet" is good too.
Before or the after?……………………….both are pretty great!!
Friday, October 3, 2008
i loVE mY hIgH sChooL fRieNdS
This week I had lunch with some of my High School friends. Jacque Jensen Poore was the hostess with the mostest. She cooked a wonderful spread of Island Pork Tenderloin Salad, Brown Rice, Avocado, with Orange slices for ornamentation. Multi grain bread and orange rolls topped off the menu. Presentation was perfect as expected. The dessert was a chocolate mouse/brownie with vanilla ice cream and fresh strawberries. Her house is nestled high on the east bench in SLC just below Mt Olympus. Beautiful!
We all agreed that this time of life is highly "underrated" as we all enjoy our children and grandchildren and "empty nests". We all are enjoying our relationships with our husbands after those "busy" years of raising little ones running here and there and everywhere. As friends we can laugh together, cry together, share together, and some how life comes full circle. Friendships are an important part of life and to be cherished, remembered, and fed. I have been extremely lucky in my life to have great friends. They make my life just that much better. Thanks Jacque for a wonderful lunch, a wonderful day, and wonderful friendships.
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