As Time Goes By

Dear Brother, the strong man Universal Studio's 1979. We all love and miss you.

Father, Mother Big Sister and Big Brother. Please don't smile this is a somber moment. See kids we were young once. How time flies, seems like yesterday. I remember how sick little Tommy was the day we took this picture, and Cindee just knew if she smiled Step Grandpa Bob would bite her. He was a pretty gruff old guy. Grandma Velma was quite the shutter bug and she knew just what poses she wanted for her photos. I wish I knew where all her pictures were, someone has a family treasure.

Little Sister, and Little Brother and their dog Ginger. Times were good and cares were few.

We love our pets, just ask Big Sister Little Sister and Little Brother with old dog Bingo and cat Sukie.

Western Dress Day at Elementary Schoor Little Brother and Little Sister look pretty sharp!

Those crazy family camping trips, with Uncle Curly and Aunt Nez, this one ended up at Pinedale Wyoming. We always had a great time Grandpa and Grandma and Aunt Ella were along on this one and it was a blast...

Babies Rule

Anni in her little Snow Bunny outfit

I am not the greatest photographer, but I just had to take this picture of Anni in her little outfit grandpa and I found while snooping through the baby department on Base. I got to snap this picture just as she was slipping out of Blaike's little rocking chair grandma has saved for him since he was a baby himself. We put it out every year at Christmas along with his old Teddy Bear. From what I have been told all the kids will be coming sometime during the Christmas holiday, and that is the best present ever. I love seeing the little ones open their presents; the joy on their little faces. Our kids mostly pick their own presents out themselves so it is hard to come up with a surprise for them but the little ones are so much fun. Grandpa and I have so much fun with Anni, and we really look forward to the days she comes to stay. Grandpa is getting over his fear of babies and will pick her up and play with her and she is all smiles when she sees him. Yesterday I told him if for some strange reason Ryan winds up in SLC this summer and we get to watch Addi, we will have to get a twin bed so she will have a place to nap, he said; "Oh, we will get her a little tent and her own Sleeping bag." this is Grandpa's thinking, make it fun. We are so fortunate to be Great Grandparents and still have the health and ability to spent this precious time with our little ones, not many are so blessed. I watched my mother do it and wondered what are they thinking, but now I know, this is why her health was good for so many years. She was happy, doing the things that meant the most to her.

Snow For Christmas

Today it snowed and blowed and it is cold. Natalie took a vacation day and she was coming to my house so we could make some candy and cookies. She called early and said she had to go to the office and do payroll then she would be here. The Storm steadily got worst, so I called Sarah to see if Kelly was working, she had no power and had called Kelly to see if he would be home early. Natalie was just going to pick up her dogs and go home; (the dogs go to doggie day care) and the lady that run the kennel was not there so she couldn't pick the dogs up until after 2 P.M.
Sarah called and said Kelly wouldn't be home for a couple of hours so she was going to bring the baby. I told her Natalie and I would come and get the baby as we have 4 wheel drive. Natalie drove, we picked Anni up and come home and made some of the most delicious Fudge. Natalie took that batch home and I made another one after she left. Kelly didn't get here until almost 4:30 and he said the freeways were bad between here and Salt Lake. He said there were slide offs everywhere. Snow is pretty and it is nice to have a white Christmas, but everything that goes along with it is not so fun after all, like shoveling.

OUR RACE HORSE "ROCKET"

The other day Natalie was telling me that our horse trainer's son Dee let his little 2 year old ride Rocket our race horse. I was flabbergasted, I thought this guy must be nuts. Race horses are usually high strung, and not the best natured creatures in the world. Rocket was running on the track this past summer. Below he was the fastest qualifier in the up coming Derby. He ran fifth in the Derby, the horse next to him acted up in the starting gate and that affected him, or he could have won easy. He ran 400 yards in 20:22 seconds, and today he is giving a ride to 2 year old amazing.

Rockets win picture in Idaho in September. A kiss and thanks for the ride, Rocket is loving it.

Hang on tight little buddy

Rocket has become a gentle giant and he is for Sale!

You could of fooled me I have never see a race horse so trust worthy, and if you look at his ears you can tell he is paying attention to the little rider on his back.

Anna and Me

Grandpa Tom and Anna, I wonder what tall tales
he is telling Now one would think this is a moment of bliss at Great Grandma's house, but to tell the truth it is probably only a cat nap. I do believe she did make it an hour or so.

Little Anna and I are buddies we share everything, including the sniffles, she came down with on Wednesday and I am feeling sort of crummy today. We share breakfast, and lunch, she eats and a few minutes later she share s with me. I know she doesn't want her Grammy to feel slighted.

We coo, rock, sing, and play together. It is amazing how much time you have for the little ones when you get old. Grandpa is wondering how she is every day she is not here, and if I called Sarah as much as he would like me to she would go nuts. He is finally adjusting to Ryan, Megan and Addi, not being here, and Kelly calls now and again so that is ok with him. He is always asking about Blaike, and I just have to explain the kids are busy and don't have time to be checking in all the time. Tho, it wouldn't hurt once in a while.

Well the Holidays are upon us, and I hope everyone has a great one. So if we don't hear from you stray birds, know that we love you, and are wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving. We see our Natalie everyday and it is always nice to know what is going on with her family. We also see Kelly or Sarah when they leave our little buddy Anna, whom we love dearly.

Tag Your It.

This is a picture of my Granddaughter Meg. Holding my
Great Granddaughter Addi, on a trip to Disney Land.
Here Addi is meeting the wicked Queen, in Snow White
and the Seven Dwarfs. I sort of borrowed this from Megan's Blog





I was tagged by my Granddaughter Sarah to

1. Go to my pictures and post.

2. The 4th picture from the 4th folder.

3. Explain what the picture is and who it is of.

4. So let's update those blogs!

I tag Megan and Cindee.

Borrring

Well it has been a while and there has been nothing much to blog about. Let's see what have I been doing. Last week I painted the shed on the carport, would be nice to have a garage, but those days have passed. I need to buy some new doors, that will be the next project. Hoping I can get Steve or Kelly to hang them. I have been doing some baby sitting for Sarah, little Anni is so sweet I miss her on the days she is not here, and this is one of those days. I was glad to hear of all the kids Halloween adventures, and loved seeing the pictures of their costumes. I sent cards to the little ones and Abigail was so happy, she had to call me and tell me to come to her house. When I told her it was to far away she said she would come and get me. She had money, poor Sarah Amy that is probably all she heard all day, "Let's go get Grandma, " I am sure she had no idea which Grandma she has so many.

Tomorrow will be a good day the elections will end, I am getting so sick of it all. You listen to Obama and McCain and wonder which is the biggest lair. I will go vote just to say I did, Grandpa has been hounding me all week to vote early. He got me to go get a flu shot and I had to do that to shut him up. Right now I am bored stiff and I guess all who read this will be too.

Oh by the way did Addi get her card?

Record Snow

Just a FYI. West Haven and Roy got the record snowfall 11 inches. I measured 10 at our house and it snowed for a couple of hours after that. This was on Sunday it its now Tuesday and there is still snow on the ground. It has settled and now melting but there is 2 to 3 inches on the ground. Hard to believe it is still mid October. As you all know we live out by the Lake not in the Mountain or Foot Hill area. We are about 9 miles south of Cindee & Steve and she said they only got about 3 or 4 inches. Utah weather crazy eh!

October Snow Storm

It is snowing giant flakes, but hard to see with the camera!

My poor plants, you can see the amount of snow piled on the chairs.

I could have got a better picture if I had been willing to get my feet wet

Today is the 12th day of October, and Mother Nature is giving us a taste of the days ahead Winter! Say it is not true, it was in the 80's last week. This morning we woke up to about 3.5" of snow and it is still snowing hard. We should have known something was up as we snuggled to keep warm under our light weight summer bedding. My beautiful potted plants I tenderly tended all summer are buried, they too are probably wondering what happened. Tom was just saying it was warmer in Anchorage AK yesterday than it was here. Sarah, you will probably have a fun time in the garden center today.

These pictures were taken about an hour ago and it is still snowing hard. Guess we better get out the hats and gloves and plan on shoveling.

THRILLER

Last week Natalie called me and asked if I would like to go see Thriller by the Odyssey Dance Theatre. I immediately said no with out even thinking. I had seen clips of it on TV and wasn't impressed. She talked it up to me saying she heard it was very good, so as usual I caved and agreed to go. She said it would be a girls day out that Christa and Steph were going too. Well Saturday rolled around and we all set out for Weber State University for the Matinee. The seats were great, the show I would recommend to anyone. It was creative, funny, and a bit scary at times.
Megan, Ryan all I could do was think of you two, as the Gould's roamed through the audience before the show, knowing how you two love Halloween. I jokingly said to Natalie as we were entering the Browning Center, "Don't they know they could give an old Lady a heart attack" Just then one of them stuck her head out from behind a column about an inch from my face and hissed. I almost had the big one, I didn't see her until she was there!
Needless to say I am glad I didn't pass up the opportunity to go. Now I am in the twilight of my life I need to experience it all, even Thriller.

Derby Trials

Pictures from the Derby Trials in Idaho Falls. The finish line!!

Danger, Danger, Danger

Every Tuesday when my son-in -law Mark is off work he walks the dogs. Today was a little different, while on his walk he spied a big old Rattle Snake just laying on a rock sunning it's self.

So Mark being the sharing fellow he is went home and got his camera and walked back to get a picture to share with all. Guess he thought no one would believe how big that snake was, I would have just run the other way espically with the dogs. Now he has shown eveyone his find, I hope he finds another route for his walk.

The Forgotten One

I just got a phone call from my Grandson Blaike, who informed me he had just read my blog, and he didn't find anything about him just everyone else. Well Blaike this Blog is for you. From what you tell me you are staying in a Condo on the Shores of Beautiful Bear Lake. You stopped at a store where the clerk I think you said "Mickey" told you by your last name you are a decent of King James. I think you said she did a lot of genealogy. It may be true because you Grandpa always said he was a blue blood and most Hendry men certainly think they are Royal. Excuse my pun but I think this Mickey just had a big mouth.

Seriously, Blaike is going to play in the World Softball Tournament in Phoenix, Az. Good luck and safe travel. Blaike has promised pictures, story to be continued after the Tournament.

***************************************

To continue this story, the news wasn't what we had hoped for Blaike said their team played horrible, they couldn't hit worth a darn. He never did say where they finished out of about 100 teams, just that the weather in Phoenix was hot (102). Better luck next time grandson, I know you are good at your passions.

Derby Trials

Well we did it we won our Derby Trial handily, at least over a full length. Now if we came come back and win the Derby in 2 weeks that will be great. This is not the best picture of Rocket he had such a pretty head, in fact he is just a good looking horse and a crowd favorite.

Idaho Falls is a interesting place, very disorganized, they were about a hour late starting the races. They played the National Anthem without posting the colors, which made me angry. I guess this is America now, we don't need to post Old Glory. My husband spent 26 years serving his country and we are very patriotic. I have been to a lot of horse races in my day and never seen such a thing happen. The track photographer said this was the first day of racing and they were not organized. This was a poor excuse, but maybe we better get used to it, no telling what this country will be in another 20 or 30 years, that will be beyond my time but I worry about my grandchildren and great grandchildren. I hope this doesn't happen there when we go back in 2 weeks, or I will surely fine someone to complain to, this is one of the worst oversights I have ever seen at a sporting event.

Blogging Again

Well here it is about 11:00PM and I am sitting here blogging again. Dad is snoring so loud who could sleep but him, it is like laying next to an old bear. So, I get up and check out everyone's blog. Tomorrow we are headed to Idaho for our hopefully next to last horse race. Our last race is the big one and will be on the 27th of Sept. Thought I should get a good nights sleep but that is a joke. Bet I can get Mark to stop at McDonalds for coffee, lots of coffee.......

My little buddy Annika comes and stays with me 3 ro 4 days a week, while mommy works. She is a lot of fun all tho I think Great Granny may be spoiling her. She pukes on me a lot but I don't care, people probably just think that old lady needs a bath. Sarah and I have decided that is our new brand of perfume Baby Spitup.

I hope to be thur with work the end of this month, what was supposed to May or maybe July has turned into a long stretch. Nat says they are never going to let me go, they will find something else for me to do, but I don't think so. The other day one of the ladies brought me a dozen farm fresh eggs. They were sitting on my desk, and the boss saw them "Working for eggs now?" he said. I replied if that was all I was getting I bet I could lay that many eggs, by the time I quit squawking. I told him not to be getting any ideas of e-mailing the GM and telling him we better keep this old gal, she works for eggs. We all had a good laugh, I guess that is part of the fun of working, being with people you enjoy. Beats the Senior Citizen Center.

Hey Meg did you get instruction for the strip quilt? If not let me know, the lady I work with came up with that one. I will have her get you step by step instructions.

Guess I better go the bed, I am doing a lot of fat finger typing.

Good night all and SWEET DREAMS!!

Another Blog in the Life of a Fool

The trip to Twin was pleasant, and it was great to see the kids, all tho there were a bazillion people at Kelly's house. So it was hard to visit with everyone. Little Josh is so cute, I think he will be Kelly's basket ball player. Sarah Jean posted some pictures on her blog so you can compare the size of Josh to Annika. Annika is very petite, I don't think she is going to be very tall all tho you never can tell.

Darin and Brittany blessed their baby Hudson last Sunday as well. Hudson has not been gaining weight and has been at Primary Children's Hospital for tests. So, far all is well and his tests have came back OK, so I guess it is just a watch and see thing, it is pretty scary, he was born in June and is probably only about 9 lbs now.

Well there is not much to blog about, just babies and things. I should be done working the end of this month. I hope so, I am getting a little tired of going, tho it is only 3 days a week. It is getting time to be at home, I have a ton to things to get done here, I just don't want to get to be a couch potato and a procrastinator like my hubby. At least going to work gives me something I have to do.

Babies

Well the baby sitting job is going well, just as I suspected. Little Anni is a doll. She has her fussy times but for the most party she is a good baby. My hat goes off to young parents, I had forgotten how time consuming a little one can be.

FYI this was a shock to me, Grandma Cindee sent picture of little Josh, I think he will be a line backer when he grows up. We will get to see him tomorrow, look out Abbi, you have a hard time keeping up with little brother.

Baby Annika

Well today is my first day to watch baby Anni, and I must admit I am just a little nervous. It has been along time since I was in charge of such a wee one. I am sure the old instinct will take over and all will be fine. Gramp's has the house warmed up to a frightful 80 some degrees. So, she won't be chilled, he is the one who is cold all the time.

Sunday we are going to Idaho for Kelly Ross and Sarah Amy's little Joshua's blessing. Cindee had some pictures on her phone of him. I can't believe how he has grown since I last saw him, Kelly told me when he called the other night I wouldn't recognize him and I believe it.

I came up here to see what Tropical storm Hannah was doing as a usual I got side tracked. Got to check it out so I know if Ryan, Megan and Addi are OK!

The Visit

We finally got to see the Duke kids this past weekend. Meg and Addie got here Friday and we all did lunch; Meg, Addie, Cindee, Sarah, Anni and myself. Ryan got in Saturday evening so we all flocked to Cindee and Steve house to see him. Ry and Meg looked pretty much the same, but Addison, is she ever growing, and what a cutie. It took her a while to warm up to us, I think there was just to much noise and to many people. She liked it better when you would take her in another room and just be with her one on one. Megan said she is not fond of crowds. she liked playing the piano and loved the Cuckoo Clock. We would twist the dial so the little bird would come out of it house and the music box would play. She thought that was pretty fun, you would have to lift her up so she could take it all in.

They left for a family reunion in Idaho Sunday, but promised to stop for a few days on their way back to North Carolina, so hopefully we will get to see them again, Addison may be 2 or 3 years old before we get to see them again.

Grandpa's 75th Birthday Events

Mark, we see you don't be camera shy, oh you are just checking out the calendar of events.





Sarah what are we doing here with all these old fogies. Maybe we kind of like their company!






Not fair Natalie, hiding your pretty face behind your camera.






That is what we like to see: " Happy Birthday Pa!"






Sarah's famous belly shot, check out the mirror. Little Annika was born the next day. A surprise to all of us.






Happy 75th Birthday Grandpa!

Well here we are again at Snow Basin again enjoying another great day and honoring Grandpa Tom for his 75th mile stone. Hard to believe we are in the twilight of our lives, which we have mostly spent together. Seems just yesterday our children were little and now we are welcoming our Great Grand Children. July was a great month for that, Addison turned one, little Joshua and Annika were born. We will be celebrating 4 birthdays in one week, we may get a little tired of Birthday Cake...

To add to Grandpa's Birthday fun, Tommy and Cheri who could not be with us a Snow Basin, took us to Iggy's Sports Bar & Grill for dinner, then we all we to the Pioneer Days Ogden Rodeo. It was hot early on but cooled down after the sun went down. The Bulls really put on a show, I believe there was only one or two riders the rode the full 8 seconds. Dad really enjoyed this as he rode bulls himself in his early years, then marriage and children got in the way, and his exciting challenge ended.

Our children gave him the best Birthday of all, their time!

Happy Birthday Addison

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

One Fun WeeK

Well this last week was a great week. Tuesday Cindee and I drove to Idaho to see baby Joshua, and his is a cute one. It was so much fun to hold him and just watch him sleep. We took Abigail to the park, and I swear she never winds down. She was on the slides and in the swings; just a busy little bee. The park was part of a college campus and very pretty place, except for a good crop of thistles growing in the lawn. They were small and the same color as the grass so you had to be careful where you stepped or you might get a good poke. There was a beautiful Rose Garden there, and Fountains and Lilly Ponds. Abigail just knew all the Princesses and Fairy's lived there. It was a good half miles hike from the play ground and Kelly thought Abigail would surely take a well deserved nap after that hike, but that was wishful thinking on his part. She was not about to give up so easily, so Cindee and I decided to leave, to come home so they could get things back to normal. It was good seeing all of them.
Saturday we had Sarah Jean's baby shower at Natalie's. We had a good time and got to visit with family, she got a lot of nice gifts; I will let her blog about those things. She thinks she is huge but she is just a nice size. I am sure the heat is killing her, that is one thing I have never forgotten about being pregnant all summer, even after all the years.

A Chat With Addison

Sunday evening I decided to check in on our grand kid's in NC. After a chat with Ry of all the normal "How are Ya's, and how's School." we said our goodbyes. About a half hour later my cell phone start ringing. By the time I located it the ring had stopped, but I noticed the missed call was from Ryan. I called him back only to hear "Sorry Grandma Addison got my phone and called you." I am thinking someone hit the redial button, so I talked to her. She would say Hi, Hi, and some jabber. She is quite the baby for a 11 month old , and her call was a real thrill. I miss them so much we didn't see a lot of them when they were in SLC but we knew we could see them anytime we wanted.

The Great grand kids are so much fun, I had play tea with Abigail the last time they were here. Not much time to visit with Kelly and Sarah Amy, but I loved the time with Abigail. She would ask me if I wanted Tea them she would go in her little play house and cook for Grandpa and I; and the fun thing about it is all tho she has not spent much time around us, she knows who we are and is not shy around us.

The Winter Blahs

Well here it is June 11th and we are waiting to replant our garden. The temps Saturday night, froze all our tomatoes cukes and squash. So much for the last frost in May. We were going to replant today, but they are predicting the temps to be in the high 30's tonight, so we will wait a day or two. This has been one weird spring, soon summer. The kids are sweltering back east and we are still running our furnace to keep warm. It is time to put the ski's away and get out the golf clubs, go to the ball park, and take a hike at the Basin; so go away winter you have had your day.

The Nest

I don't know why I couldn't get this to post, but here it is.

Excuse me there are four babies.

The Robin Nest

Oh Robin Redbreast where did you build your nest. Last February Nat and I went to Tai Pan Trading and bought these little heart shaped wreaths. After several months of hanging out doors in the harsh winter weather mine was looking pretty shabby. I mentioned to Tom one day that I should take that wreath down, you can't he replied a bird had built a nest there. I looked and sure enough there is was, some little birds happy little home. Now should I be the heartless property owner and evict them and destroy the nest, or should I be kind and see what happens. Well the soft part of my heart took over, and we have watched as the little momma Robin sat on her nest. She is now the proud momma of three, and we quietly watch as their little heads peek out of the nest waiting for her to return with food. You know, sometimes shabby can be beautiful.

Saturday Ho Hum

Well, today was a bust; they called me in to do inventory at work. Bummer for a Saturday, but a bargain for them since I only work 18 hrs a week no overtime pay for me. It wasn't so bad, we were done by noon so I came home and did some yard work. I make another little flower garden which I will have to go see Sarah and get some more flowers to plant. It is next to the one I planted on Ryan Birthday, which I call Ryan's garden this year. All is well here on the home front, I am going to get Cindee to download the pictures Tommy took from the birthday/farewell party, on a flash drive so I can post some of them. Tommy is very good at capturing just the right moment. We haven't talked to him since Ry and Meg left so he is unaware of all their adventures. Some family eh, you would think we were miles apart with no communication. Well I am surviving on one piece of toast and a donut and I can hear father stirring so I think it may be time to go and get some dinner.. Later everyone!!

Panic, Worry, and Relief

Now everyone who knows me knows I am a worrier. I fret about everything, so my kids choose not to tell me much, because my mind immediately go into overdrive. But, I must say Meg, Ry, and Addie's trip across country about put me over the edge. I was never so happy in my life to get that phone call saying they were there, and I believe Cindee knew she had better keep me in the loop. All I could think was little Addie's poor little bottom must be numb, straped in that car seat for hours. It is crazy the things that go through your mind. I spent hours on the computer tracking the weather, which was pretty dicey everywhere they were. All is well that ends well, and we are so happy they made it in one piece. We miss them but they are following their dream, and this is what young people must do, they will be home sick, and it will be tough, but the time will go quickly, and they will have a great life ahead of them.

FYI everybody that old camper that has occupied my drive way for 20 years, left home today. One of the guy's at work took pity on me and came and hauled it away, it was so joyful to see it going up the street on his trailer . Of course I hope it made the trip to his farm, miles from here, I would feel a little guilty if there were any problems.

Mother, Grandmother, Great Grandmother

Where does the time go? I remember a house; that now seems cold and empty; full of children. Those long summer day when you would think " I can't wait for school to start." Now those are the days I long for. The trips to the grocery store with four little kids running in every direction and begging for every sweet sugar coated cereal on the shelf. The camping and fishing trips, when dad would come home tired and say lets go to Willard Bay fishing. So, it would be sandwiches for dinner, with fishing poles, bait, and kids in tow we were off for an night of relaxation. The came the teenagers, the graduations and the weddings, and before you could realize it the children were no longer there; and you find yourself wanting a do over. Now, God has a way of comforting you because along come the Grandchildren, and I was truly blessed because my grandchildren live close by and I had the opportunity to tend them, spoil them, and just plain love them, and that part never changes no matter how old they get. I got to go to their little league games, and have many precious memories of them. Each one such an individual soul, but they grow up as well, and they find their mates, and life goes on. But, not without being blessed with the Great Grandchildren, My two little great granddaughters mean every thing to me; and we will soon have a great grandson, and another great granddaughter, whom I am flattered to say I have been asked to tend her while her mom is working. So I guess we do get our (do overs) maybe not exactly the same way, but by extending a helping hand.

How could I forget my little Grand doggies, The little ball of fur that curled up next to me, on the spare bed; and how I listen and watched for it's every move, because I was the one in charge while my daughter had surgery. I knew how much that puppy meant to her; it was in a way her child, so I guarded it with my life, that was several years ago and the dog still gets excited when I walk into the same room, I guess we bonded. So, life can come at you in many ways, but there is something good in everything that happens to you. You just have to look for it.

Graduation

Make a Smilebox free ecard

Congratulation Ryan

See you all tomorrow!!!

Slackers

Meg you are right we are a bunch of slackers. especially you know who! The one who was so excited about blogging, why she even set me up. Then there is the one the one who loves to read the blogs but will not blog herself. Everyone has something interesting to say, and when Meg and Ryan move this blog will be a life line. Now I may have made some of you angry but, I for one love blogging, and for those of you who are not interested so be it, the rest of us will enjoy.



Congratulations to my Grandson Ryan, goes to show hard work pays off. Who knows maybe you will be a Supreme Court Justice someday. Alway dream big!! I am proud of all my grandchildren each one; like your children ; has their own special niche. Some how I don't see Sarah giving up on her masters, she was just to close not to complete her dream. Maybe it will be when her family is raised, it is never to late to go back. I see great things for all of you; it may be just a Grandmother dream, but I love all of you so much and my little Great Grandchildren are God Greatest gift to me.

Family Bolgs

I guess these family blogs are not so much fun any more; the only one who keeps us posted is Megan and Ryan.

Thanks Megan, keep up the good work, love reading your posts. I do check daily you know, and grandpa is always reading over my shoulder.

Sarah I forget about your Baby Blog, I know you post there, didn't mean to leave you out. Look forward to the post about your new apartment.

I love you all!!!

Woe is Me

I have not been blogging much lately because when I so bravely installed that blind by myself. I think I twisted something in my back or arm and suffer greatly with tendinitis. There is something to be said about being a martyr; PAIN! I have been going to work but even the computer mouse screams Pain... I hate the word Doctor but if it doesn't soon start feeling better I guess I will have to break down and pay them a visit. Now typing this isn't very much fun so I will bid you all adieu, until better days.

Two Old Fogy's and The Window Blind

Saturday Nat and I went shopping. I wanted to get a rug for my office/bedroom. I wound up getting a blind in stead. Well Sunday Tom and I decided to install it, shouldn't be to hard just take the old mounts down and install the new ones. Ha!didn't work that way, it needed to have new holes drilled. Talk about a Laurel and Hardy show, it was a joke. He is sitting in the chair telling me to push harder on the drill. Then he tries it and swears it is hitting metal. Neither of us have the strength to get the screw in the hole. I am saying lets forget it, I'll call Blaike, or Kelly P. he is saying no we can do it, but most of the time he is sitting in the chair giving instructions to you know who. Happily it was soon time to leave for Easter dinner at Nat's, and we had one bracket up and the other one started. When we got home I slipped up stairs, and quietly got the other bracket and center brace installed. I hung the blind which will probably fall on my head in a few days, but the window is covered. Old people should forget the mind over matter attitude, because it is truly a "matter over mind thing"; no matter how hard you try you just can't get it done. The solution, find a young un and pay them.

Well it is another day and I need to figure out how to shorten this blind, the others I have puchased were custom made. Nat said it is easy we'll see, danger, danger, this is probably when it will fall on my head.

Don't you love this large type. " I can read it!!!!"

Hummm, Retirement!!

Our neighbors Dave and Jill hooked up their trailer and headed south last fall, and we haven't seen them since. Yesterday we stopped and talked to the guy who is taking care of their place, and he said they were coming home around the first of April. He said they headed out for Mesquite, and just kept going south as the weather got colder. They ended up in Yuma, AZ. I am thinking maybe down where Cindee and Steve went. He said they bought a bigger trailer, and are thinking about selling there home here and just traveling, they have met a lot of new people and have loved every minute of their long vacation. We'll see what they have to say when they come home. I can't see myself living in a trailer for 6 months, no matter how big and nice it was, and did I mention they also took the dog.

Wonderful Weekend!!

Last weekend was one we will be talking about for a while. The kids came to Grandma and Grandpa's for Abigails birthday party. This is the first time I had to seen her since last August, and Natalie hadn't seen her since Sarah's wedding, so we were pretty excited. Poor Grandpa had the sniffles, and since Abi spent a week in the hospital with RSV, he chose to stay at home. Natalie took a lot of cute pictures he got to see her by proxy.

She is a hat girl and we snapped these pictures of her in dad's hunting hat just before the party. They are my favorites. Great Grandpa dubbed the one of her peaking over the chair as "Kilroy Was Here." for those of you who remember the old WWII slogan. It was a popular slogan the soldiers used to show they had been there.

Now the party didn't end here. Ryan, Meg, Addi, Kelly & Sarah Jean met us for breakfast Sunday morning. G-grandpa got to see Addi, because she had the sniffle too so, no harm done. She is the sweetest baby, she was so good during breakfast, she would just smile and clap her little hands. I just feel so lucky to have these little great grand babies, I am sad to think Ryan, Megan and Addison, will soon be moving away. So, we need to see them all we can before they go. They are so busy this is almost a impossible task, but where ever they are they will always know how much we love them all.

The new babies coming will be a welcome addition; I can hardly wait, this is going to be a great summer......

Family News

Sarah Jean just called with baby news, and I wouldn't dream of spoiling her news by telling what I know. So, if you are curious now, I would be checking her blog because I am sure she will be posting. She also told me that Grandma Doris said Kelly and Sarah would be making their announcement this weekend.
Kelly and Sarah, Sarah and Kelly it's babies; and with Ryan and Megan it is what school are they going to, where are the going to be. Curiosity could kill the cat! I guess I am just plain nosey.

Working World

Yesterday I was having second thoughts about the joys of returning to work. It was a day from hell, and a Monday to boot. It all started with a call from Accounting. The system they use for receiving is not user friendly, and someone screwed up probably me. Anyway I spent an hour on the phone with them trying to find the bug, and finally they just decided to use a new Purchase Order and void the old one out, which would have be nice if they would have done this in the first place. My six hour day turned into seven with no lunch; good I had my Cheerios and snack crackers. It took the extra hour to cover all my bases, and I will probably walk into a mess on Thursday. It seems if Mondays go bad the week follows suit. Today my neck and back are very sore so I must have really been tensed up. Oh well a couple of days to rest up, and things are not all that bad just what you make of them. If I feel I am to old to do this, I will be, and I plan on dieing with my boots on. So, what will be, will be.

Happy Birthday yesterday, to our little Abigail now 2.
Happy Birthday today, to Blaike his 25th.

FYI

Yesterday my old job at Cerrowire called me and asked if I would like to come back to work part time. I jumped at the chance, to me being retired is not all it is cracked up to be. You can only putter and clean so much and TV gets old real quick. Grandpa seems to be content to read his newspaper in the AM and watch TV the rest of the day; not me I go nutso. To bad I am so darn old I could work another 10 years. Seriously I loved the people I worked with at Cerro, and today was a great break. I will be entering Home Depot orders and doing some of my old job. This is temporary and will only last until July or August. I will be working Monday, Thursday, and Friday, 6 hours a day. For all of you who are wishing for retirement, be careful what you wish for.

Private, So Don't Give Up on Me

I thought I would follow Megan's suggestion and go private. It is kind of a pain so I will probably not have many readers. It makes me sad that the world is such a perverted place any more, and everyone is trying to protect us from ourselves. Oh don't get me started on the past when we were young. Grandpa and I were just talking about all the stupid things that come up for legislation. Example, stores are not to sell cold beer, what a joke. Maybe they could charge more for chilling it, the savings would encourage drinkers to buy warm beer and chill it themselves. I don't know, I believe we have to do everything we can to protect our privacy; and I certainly wouldn't want some weirdo looking at the pictures of my little grand babies. Nat doesn't even want to have a blog, because she worries about these things, so it would be great if Google would give us a friends and families thing only, so we could get our cherished pictures, and good and bad news from those we love the most.

I will still be reading your blogs; I love them because it seems I never see you anymore!

Painting the Spare Room

Well Blaike finally got the Spare Room painted Friday, When we got to Home Depot to get the paint on Monday he decided the color we had chosen on the computer was to light, so picked a darker color. Tom said it looks like baby poop, but is on the walls and is staying this way. I am not about to repaint and Blaike says don't ASK! I am going to have to completely redecorate. Nothing I had in here matches. The horrible Green rug on the floor is even more bazar now, and the green wicker furniture has to go. After going to the Antique Show today, I have been toying with the idea of bring up the old Murphy Bed of Granny Baughs out of the basement and cleaning it up. I have been to several Antique Shows and never see a Murphy Bed, and the one we have is just sitting in the basement with junk piled on it, so that is a possibility. Tom's family tells they story of how grandmother Hendry used to hide inside the bed when she was small; and the indians would come to the house to beg. The family always called it the folding bed. Our kid use to like to sleep in it when they were small. I guess it was an adventure to them. On the paint I may do some faux painting to tone it down but not until the spring, if spring ever comes. When I get the blind back up and get rid of this horrible green; the color might be great, it is really not that bad, and I don't think Blaike will be hanging around any time soon after putting up with Grandma for about 5 days; although I must say he did enjoy breakfast every morning.

Winter Winter GO AWAY.....

Check out the angle on the icicle

This is about a 3 foot drift in front of the house.

Where did this storm come from? They were saying it would snow yesterday, but they didn't say the wind would howl with fury. The storm blew in yesterday afternoon; it started with a few sprinkles but quickly turn into a raging white out. I was thinking this will blow through quickly and not be so bad for the commute; after all it was only about 2 P.M. it raged on for hours. The wet sticky stuff glues itself to the windows, and soon we could not even see out. The wind raged on all night, the news stated there were road closed down South and students were stranded on school buses and at school, some for the night. One of the employees where Natalie works had to drive home from Orem and never got to his house in Hooper until 1 A.M. Once again I am glad to be retired this winter it has been one to remember. Oh, by the way today we are seening some sunshine, but the wind is still blowing like crazy; and it is COLD!!

I Thought Shoveling Snow Was Bad

It was Thrusday morning and Blaike called and said he was bored and would be coming to see us. It was another snowy day so he needed to amuse himself. He asked if I needed any chores done, while he was here, I told him lots and lots. Well , we decided to tear off the wallpaper in my office/bedroom. Holy Cow! I had forgot what it was like to work with a 24 year old. My tounge was hanging out my muscle were screaming, it was total pain. He returned Friday morning and we scrubbed the paste off the walls, and he painted the ceiling, before heading out to play Softball in Mesquite Neveda (he must be getting tired of skiing). Thanks goodness for a change in the weather, he will have to go to work; not that I don't appreicate him helping me. I just need a few day to rest my sore muscles and re-coop. He said he will be back to paint the walls, so I guess I had better make some color choices and get the paint bought.

The Shoveling Blues

High as poor Gus or Cloe's head.

Look at the snow next to the fence.

Awe do we have to go out there!

Mark at the end of the driveway.

Well I just was thinking about posting some pictures Natalie sent of their place. Crying about how sore I am from shoveling and glad it is done for today when low and behold I looked out side and it is snowing again. Uncle! can you hear Mother Nature; enough is enough.

Here are some of Nat's picture she sent this morning. The snow at the end of the drive is piled up to Marks shoulders. She said they are running out of places to put it. Look at the poor dogs, they have to shovel a place and path for them to go potty.

A Bad Gene

I was just reading Cindee's blog, and was so sorry to hear little Abigail has Asthma. So many people in my family suffered from asthma, it make's one feel sad to think they could have passed along a bad gene to those we love so deeply. I think of our children, Cindee had the most problems with asthma , even to the point when she was about 5 years old we had to hospitalize her. It is a very scary thing when one of your small children is fighting for every breath they take. Tommy had hay fever and was allergic to grasses. We would take him to the doctor and he would get a annual shot in the spring of the year. This would help until fall then he would have to suffer until winter set in, with Cindee she would have her hard times everytime she caught a cold, then it would be bronchitis along with asthma, or I should mention everytime her dad would take he to a local horse barn to look at horses. I always knew where they had been when she would come home wheezing. She loved horses so he would take his chances. I am sure they have much better treatments now as medicine has came along way since the 60's. Just so you know if this is ever suspect in one of your children. The family histroy on my side of the house is; my maternalgrandfather had sever asthma, my Aunt Mary on my fathers side could not run and play as a child because her asthma was so bad. My mother had asthma in her senior years. So let your doctors know for your little ones sake.

Grandpa Gets Brave.

Oooh, she is so little!


Oh Boy! I got her now, just need to relax a little!



Not really asleep just looking for Addi's reaction!





I am always trying to think of something interest to blog about; and sometime to no avail. Natalie sent me these Christmas pictures and it dawned on me this jaw dropping moment. You would have to know Great Grandpa Tom, to get the entire affect. Now G'Grandpa dearly loves children no matter whose they are, but is more comfortable with them when the walk and talk. So on Christmas day when he ask if he could hold Addison it was a jaw dropper. This is something he has never done, even seldom with his own children when they were small. You must remember he is of a different generation, and has just never traded his spots. He marvels over the little ones about how cute they are and may tickle a tummy or tweak a cheek but only when someone else is doing the holding. So, if you think Grandpa is indifferent to your little ones, he is not really, with him thinking and doing are two different things. He is really just an old softy.

Naming The Baby

What pit falls do we fall into when we have to choose a name for our brand newlittle baby. My sister tells me they had two names picked out for me when I was born, and so they drew straws and Sonia won. Darn the other name was Sondra, would I have rather been a Sondra, maybe not. I have been called Sondra, Sonjah, Soni Balonie, Sonya Piss on Ya ( I loved that one.) and Sonia Begonia not bad a Begonia is a pretty flower. So I guess what ever you name someone there are those clowns out there who will shorten, add to, and embellish your name.
I wanted to name my last son Patrick Michael, but my mom said,"Oh no they will call him Patty Cake!" She was the Sondra inventor. So, our sweet little son was named Troy, a name chosen the day he was blessed.
When I was young I called all my paper dolls Cindee, so there you go Cindee, I hope you are enjoying the ride.
Thomas was Tom's idea, an old family tradition. Now he whines when he gets his mail and phone calls; and there are way to many Tom's in the family.
Natalie, we just liked that name and to me it fits; hope she likes it too. We all call her Nat.
So, no matter what you choose, don't let people influence you; follow you heart, because you know, someone, somewhere, is going to find a nickname for them.

Abigail's Babies

A little girls dream!



Today we received a Thank you from Kelly and Sarah for their Christmas gifts. They sent pictures of Abigail and the Christmas babies we sent, Sarah say they were a hit; she spends all day playing with them. I didn't realize that box contained so much stuff. I am sure she will be mothers little helper when her new brother or sister arrives.