Memorial Day

During the week of Memorial Day, I get very melancholy, just thinking about the loved ones I have lost. My Mom, especially, my Dad, uncles, aunts, brother-in-law, grandmother and those who have given the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms, the soldiers. I'm so glad we have this time to think back on our memories of family members and relate these stories to our families. If they didn't know them well, they can at least, get an idea of "who they were". I am so grateful to my mom and dad, for their generosity, not only with the money it took to raise 5 kids, but, their time and knowledge. I have learned so much from them and tried to carry that "parenting" on to my own 4 children. Now, I can help by including some of that with my grandchildren. I miss them so much and wish they could have been around more to know my children. Their examples will always stay in my mind. I remember when I lied about something when I was very young. Instead of taking out a belt and hitting me with it, my dad taught me in such a loving way, so that I have never forgotten the lesson. I also remember making muffins when I was in Jr. high school and forgot to put in the baking powder. My dad reminded me if you don't put everything in the mix, they won't turn out right. I think that lesson goes for your own life. If you don't include all things good, your life may end up in turmoil and you will never "rise" to the occasion. The other family members taught me a lot as well. My grandma always had her grandkids take turns staying overnight at her home. She would ask us what we wanted to eat for supper. We would always say "chicken pot pies" because she had a knack for making them so delicious! I learned how to be a grandma from her. She was only on Social Security, but found enough money to treat us to a movie and candy bars when we got home to eat when we watched, Lawrence Welk, Perry Mason and Gunsmoke. It was all so much fun and you never doubted that she loved you. I'm so glad that I asked her to sign my Senior Yearbook. She was really surprised I even asked her to do it. She thought I only wanted "friends" to sign it, but she meant so much more to me than my friends did. I love everyone else who has come and gone in my life and have learned so many things from them. I will never forget them and on Memorial Day each year, I try to remember little things about each person. Maybe that's why I get sad a few days before the actual day. I really miss them all. The most important thing my Mom taught me was to "Remember who you are". I have passed that on to my kids and know that the way she meant would keep us remembering how you need to earn and keep the respect of others around you and never let your name get dragged in the mud.

My Granddaughter, Phoenix

I am always amazed at my granddaughter. When she comes over, she runs to me with open arms and I always feel so special when she comes to visit. I am so happy for her spirit and for her love for life. She gets excited over the smallest little things. I've learned over the years, that even though children are small, you can learn to respect them for their cute little ideas and teach them you think they are great ideas. Then, as they grow, they develop respect for you as a "teacher" and listen to things you say to them that are encouraging. They learn to grow with these ideas. Their new thoughts include those you may have put into their heads. I am so excited for Phoenix to graduate from Pre-school. I know it was only a couple of years ago Jakob, my grandson in Chicago, graduated from pre-school. It was such an exciting time for him. I even traveled to Chicago for the event. I was proud; just as I am proud of Phoenix in her little sweet accomplishments she has made in the past year. She shows me everything she has learned, sings the songs and tells me about the alphabet she has learned. Writing is one her best talents. We will sit and talk and she comes out with the most sweet spirited comments, that it can bring me to tears. Those are the memories I take with me each day. She is very special to me and I know that through her life, we will always be close. When she says certain things, I listen. She tells me things I would never hear from her parents, nor do I hear them at Church or with other adults. It's just special things that come to her mind. I listen intently, because I know there's a special message in it for me. I love you Phoenix and am proud you are graduating from Pre-school. It may seem small to many people, but such an accomplishment for her and she is proud of herself. I am proud of her too.

Mother's Day

I had a great Mom's Day. It started with going to Church. Then Joe and the girls came over and we all piled in his new car and went to eat Asian Buffet. Nummy num. I couldn't believe how much Ave ate. I made her a plate but she still kept eating food I had on my own plate. I think I went back three times to get her more food. It was amazing. We came back and visited and Joe helped Kay get a boulder out of the truck that he had gotten while down in Bryce Canyon this past week. We placed in in the front yard. Joe bought me the "Benjamin Button" movie, so we went downstairs and watched it. What a great movie! Shortly afterwards, Teri, Eric, Todd and his new girlfriend, Dodie came over and visited. We had such a nice visit. It always includes laughs and fun. I missed having my other kids here, but they all called. I talked to Christopher first, Adam, Joanne and the boys, and Lesli called in the early afternoon, since we are 4 hours difference from Hawaii. It all was good and I enjoyed the day so much! Thank you to everyone for "Making my Day"...

A DAY FOR PRINCESSES.....

The girls came over on Friday and we spent 3 hours playing, doing crafts, blowing bubbles and playing hide and seek. It was so much fun! The girls were so happy and I was especially happy the weather permitted us to be outside for a change. They were both princesses the whole time they were here......

FUNNY MOTHER'S DAY THOUGHTS.....

She was in the bathroom, putting on her makeup, under the watchful eyes of her young granddaughter, as she'd done many times before. After she applied her lipstick and started to leave, the little one said, "But Gramma, you forgot to kiss the toilet paper good-bye!". I will probably never put lipstick on again without thinking about kissing the toilet paper good-bye.....Phoenix - 5

My six-year old grandson was asked where his grandma lived. "Oh," he said, "she lives at the airport, and when we want her, we just go get her. Then, when we're done having her visit, we take her back to the airport." Jakob T.

Someone else's grandkid:
When my grandson asked me how old I was, I teasingly replied "I'm not sure." "Look in your underwear, Grandpa", he advised, "mine says I'm 4 to 6".

And another:
A second grader came home from school and said to her grandmother, "Grandma, guess what? We learned how to make babies today." The grandmother, more than a little surprised, tried to keep her cool. "That's interesting." she said. "How do you make babies?" It's simple," replied the granddaughter. "You just change "y" to "i" and add "es"."

MOTHER'S DAY, 2009

I love Mother's Day. Every day I think of each of my kids and wonder what they are doing at that moment of thought. I worry about each one of them, their spouse and their children. I visualize on each of their birthdays the accounts of their births. Each one holds a special memory for me. I always know how lucky I was to be chosen by our Heavenly Father to be their mom. I have made many mistakes with parenting; but I did the best I could do with the example my mom showed me in her days of raising me. As each of my kids grow older, however, I realize they are on their own "adventure" in parenting. I can only hope and pray that any example I was as a mom, they will remember the good ways I handled things and not the errors of my ways. They each have made me a very proud mother, and it really does seem that I talk to others totally about my kids and grandkids, each time a conversation begins. Therefore, because I am a proud mom, I am posting a picture of my kids. They each turned out "tall" on accomplishments and "big" on heart. I can't forget my own mom at this time; I never would. In fact, one part of me is so sad on Mother's Day....partly because my mom has passed and the other part is that I don't have three of my four kids around on that day. I do have Joseph, and that's my saving grace. So, this tribute is to mostly my own mom and for the years she spent raising me; and secondly for my privilege and opportunity of being the mom of four beautiful spirits, my children.

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately, about how I live my life. I guess I should just be grateful that I wake up in the morning. I check the obituaries every morning, first thing, and am glad to see I'm not in them. When I woke up yesterday morning and saw all the snow, I just got soooo angry and only wondered when the snow and cold were going to stop. I should have looked at it from another perspective. I should have been grateful that we got the snow for summer use; I should have been glad that it was soooo beautiful. I even went outside at 5:30 and took pictures of how beautiful it looked. I guess I was thinking negatively, and wanted to show everyone else how bad it was. I need to get a different mindset on how I look at things. Summer will surely be here soon, and then I know many will be complaining of the heat. I won't. I love summer. Sarah and the girls went to Arizona this week and sent pictures of the girls swimming. I was just happy they got that opportunity, because they would have been building snowmen here. I have a couple of really cute pictures for you of their fun. I miss them and hope they get home safely.

Easter Sunday and the week ahead,,,,,,,

Easter Sunday began with going to Church and being inspired by those who spoke. It's been a long time since I truly remembered the reason we celebrate Easter. I've thought about it, but didn't realize the importance of it because of other things on my mind (just being honest). Then, when I came home from Church, Joe, Sarah and the girls came over and we had a Lasagna Lunch. Afterwards, we had an Easter egg hunt, finding the Easter eggs Papa hid for the girls. We had 15 plastic eggs filled with fun candy, and about 15 hard boiled eggs. For some reason, Ave seemed to find all the hard boiled eggs and Phoenix found the plastic ones. When Ave would find another egg, she would drop the basket, run to the egg, and then come back and "throw" it in the basket. Most of the hard boiled eggs were cracked after her "gentle" placing in the basket. We had such good weather for the hunt. Joe and Sarah had fun eating the "sizzle" candy that was in the girls eggs. They marveled at the feeling in your mouth and joked about the orange, purple and blue tongues they got. This next week is a busy one for their family. Joe is headed to San Francisco and the northern coast of California, then he will drive down to San Diego for the remainder of his two week business trip. Sarah and the girls will leave on today as well and drive down with Hannah to go and visit her sister in Arizona. They will be gone for a week. I will miss all of them. My week will be filled with quilting, reading, registering the motorcycle and my car, learning how to do the volunteer indexing for geneology, and sending off Christopher's birthday gift. In between, of course, I will clean the house, and take care of Kay, who has now gotten another cold. It was a great day yesterday and I'm so happy Joe and his family came over to help celebrate it. Their smiles brought happiness to my heart. The video of Phoenix singing "Pink" is for her graduation from pre-school. She has to sing it all by herself, and I can't wait for her performance. (Sorry about it being the wrong way....strain your neck, it's worth it!)