Shepherds's Watching Their Flocks

I have so many cute Christmas pictures, that I need to just start posting so that you can see some of them. This picture was taken at our ward Christmas party, where we dressed up and had dinner at a market place in Bethlehem. It is so fun, because everyone dresses up and we sit on the floor and eat. Jackie's boys were so cute as shepherds!

The Children Were Snug in Their Beds!?!

Well, maybe it wasn't THEIR beds. The critters and the kids have had a hard time deciding whose bed they wanted to be snugged in. Mushu somhow prefers a hard basket to her soft bed. What can I say, she is a cat. Kayden, however, loves the dog bed and has since he was little. I just finally caught him in it. I would love it if Riley would get in there with him, but since the dog is not fond of sharing his bed, it probably won't happen. Hey, at least the boys love their dog-dog.

Thanksgiving

We had our first ever Glasmann Thanksgiving in our new kitchen this year. In the past we have joined with my extended family for Thanksgiving. This is a carry over from all the years of Christmas Tree harvest that was always in full swing during the Thanksgiving holiday. This year, with all my children but Josh close at hand, we decided to have our own Thanksgiving. We were joined by Zach's brother, Jace who is an honorary member of our family, and Megan join us. The house was full and we had a GREAT time. My dad and Maxine also joined us, with Maxine furnishing the great pumpkin pie. It was fun to cook the WHOLE dinner, unlike previous years where you just do a part. We spent the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, making rolls and pies and had a lot of fun working all together. The roll recipe needed tweeking and by batch 5 we had it down perfect.

Kayden even snuggled with Grandma in her chair, not something he does very often. Then daddy showed the boys how to do a headstand. First Keegan tried it, then Kayden joined the fun. I laughed so hard watching the boys try it

Then we had our own brand of excitement as Jayme and Virginia had a scare. Virginia almost bled to death, after hemmoraghing on the way home from Astoria. The Dr.'s had a hard time stopping the bleeding and we spent the night not knowing if she would have to have a hysterectomy. Grandma and Grandpa took Katie for the night and next day and then had Jayme and Virginia come to our house for the next couple of days before heading home to manage on their own. Grandpa got some much loved snuggle time with Katie. We are so thankful that everything is fine now and that Mom is recovering and finally beginning to get her energy back.

We have much to be thankful for!! Can't wait for everyone to arrive for Christmas!

Mindless Ramblings

It's kind of a lonely week with Reed out of town. I have had plenty to keep me busy and I find that I feel guilty if I just sit for a few minutes, unless of course I am watching TV, but then I am trying to crochet. Is there something wrong with me? Meals are the loneliest. Either I don't want to cook for just one, or I am not particularly hungry. I can't think of anything good to eat, but I don't want to drive into town to get something to eat either. Reed has been making me jealous by describing all of the good food that he is eating on his business trip. Of course I wouldn't like it since it has either been Thai food or Jamacain. Both of which are spicey and/or involve curry. Not my cup of tea. But I am eating pot pies and left over spaghetti. Thrillsville!!

I am looking forward to next week when everyone starts arriving. Jackie and the boys will come down on Monday. Jessica and Megan will come sometime on Wednesday along with Zach and Jace. My dad and his wife will come Thanksgiving Day. Jayme and Virginia will be with her family but will join us on Friday and/or Saturday. Saturday will find us all around the TV rooting for our Beavers. I have decided that we are quite the Beaver family. During the game, Josh calls either for an update or to celebrate. Jackie and Zach text or send pictures of their kids in Beaver apparel, cheering!! Jessica checks in along with Jayme. It is getting exciting as we watch the Beavers see if they can make it to the Rose Bowl!!!

Here is a Wordless Wednesday picture that has popped up when my computer goes to screen saver!!

The Perfect Weekend

We just had the most incredibly perfect weekend. We ended up with all the kids minus Josh down and together. Poor Jess came down to visit the Dr. to get cold meds and ended up with a sinus infection. Jayme and Virginia only spent one evening with us due to baby Katie getting sick, but the rest of us enjoyed incredible weather.

First we worked!


Then we played. We carved pumpkins and played on the swing set and took a beautiful walk around the farm. Keegan got to dress up in his cowboy outfit for Halloween to "try it out"! Kayden had fun trying to do whatever his big brother was doing. He tried the swings, the cowboy hat and did a LOT of walking. Mom even tried on the hat to see what kind of cowgirl she was.

We had a great Stake conference, even with the kids climbing all over us. Then Zach got sick. Monday we topped it all off with celebrating 6 months since knee surgery and hiked up Mary's Peak. We even took the dog and I let him ride in the back of the Mustang. Can you believe it? I even have pictures to prove it. We had the top down and it was a great day! In fact it was a great weekend!!

Wordless Wednesday

This pictures is especially for Melinda. It was taken in the labor and delivery room. I will leave it to you to figure out why he did this. (Other than the fact that he is so weird!!)

The Newest Baby on the Block

Our newest little granddaughter has arrived. Little Katarina was born on Oct. 10. She weighed in at 6lb. 13 3/4 oz. She was about 3 weeks early, but Virginia was induced due to pre-eclampsia. Things were pretty bad for Virginia, but she was a real sport about it and there were many miracles associated with the labor and delivery. We don't know why all of it happened, but Mom and baby are doing really good. Katie is showing all the signs of being early, but she has responded well this last week or so. I am waiting now for an update. Reed and I were so blessed to be included and to witness her arrival into the world. It is something to behold to witness the birth of a child. I have never been on the witnessing end unless I was the mother delivering, so this was a special moment and I am grateful that Jayme and Virginia let us be a part of it.

Jayme has been a wonderful dad and father. It is kind of fun to watch a son come into this role. Virginia is a natural and seems so comfortable as a mom. Even in the middle of the night when she got frustrated, it was so calm. I was impressed. I loved being there and being able to help what little I could after they came home. Holding this tiny little one is such a sweet feeling. I love being a grandma. I just love all my sweet little ones - even though some of them are getting quite old.

Thanks to Norma for having Josh up for a visit. I am so glad that there is someone close for him to connect with that is family. It sure helps - me especially.

I am still trying to get into a routine. With the birth of the baby and subbing at the school this last week was pretty tiring and now the computer is on the fritz. I am so grateful for family and grateful for all those little young uns!!

Escapades of the Empty Nesters

I know it has been forever since I posted, so most of you probably don't even check me anymore, but I will try to be better. As you can see from the title, we are officially empty nesters. August through September has been a jumble of activity and moving. Mostly moving. Not me, just ALL my kids. Jayme and Virginia started the trend by moving home in June and out in July just before we left on vacation. Thank you Jayme and Virginia for doing it before. Because after ( like 5 days) returning home from vacation we packed up Josh and dropped him off at BYU. Returning home from that we packed Jackie up again and moved them into a house they are renting. Then came Jessica who moved to start her masters program. Wow!! In the midst of all this we jointly canned about 180 lbs. of peaches, betweeen 65-70 quarts of tomatoes and today I just picked up the tuna to can. It feels good to have all this done and to see the pantry filling up with full jars. The kids are thrilled and we all loved the new kitchen when it came time for canning.

But the real reason for the post is that when that was all done, Reed and I decided to play!!!!! Reed's sister and her husband visited us from the east coast, so we showed them the sites. We picked them up at the airport with the camper and tents and sleeping bags and headed for our coast. We started around Seaside and went the whole length of Oregon. We started in fog and ended in beautiful sunshine. We saw PODS of whales. Up close. You could even see the barnacles on their backs. I have never seen so many spouts and so many whales! We ended up in Northern CA at the redwoods, then headed inland to Crater Lake. We nearly froze out toushes off when the temp dropped to 26 the night we camped at Crater Lake, but the next morning was clear and fantastic. After returning home we sent Jill and Buz on their way up north to see Mt. St. Helen's and to end up in Vancouver BC with another sister. We had so much fun together we are planning future trips. We miss them, but we had such a good time.

We were only home about a week, when we decided to take off again. We made a trip to St. George Utah via Reno and Provo. We visited some old friends in Reno, then saw Josh in Provo before heading down to St. George. There we watched Zach and his siblings compete in the marathon. I am always really moved to watch marathon runners. That is such a grueling, hard thing. I know that I only see the very tip top of the iceberg as they have trained for months to be able to run for 26 miles. All did very well despite the pouring rain. From there we headed back up to Idaho Falls to spend a couple of days with Zach's family. I know, it is really weird, but we get along so well with Zach's parents, that we are also planning a trip with them. This is just way too much fun!!

For right now we are staying close to home. Jayme and Virginia could be having the baby a little sooner than planned - but that is another post. We also plan to work - someday. We are waiting for samples to show up. But for now we have had a ton of fun and the kids think we are crazy!!!

Sad News

Today I kind of have a heavy heart. Two people that I dearly love have passed on. It's kind of weird, but one of these ladies I have never met, but I know her daughter and she has talked of her mom often and so I feel like I know her. Sherri lost her mom this last week. I know that age wise it was time and she has been in poor health, but still it is a loss. I know what it is like to have your mom pass away and that is a hole that is never filled in your heart. I know that it the plan and I know where they are and that all will be reunited again, but the loss here is hard. So Sherri, I am so sorry. This year has been tough with the loss of both of your parents. Know that we love you and our thoughts and prayers are with you.

The other lady was one of the funnest and most vivacious woman you could ever know. Beverly brought a smile to anyone she talked to. I loved her way of expressing herself. No one could make you laugh like Bev could. Beverly was diagnosed with cancer a few months ago. She fought valiantly and was an example to all who had contact with her. Her passing will leave an empty spot for all of us. My heart goes out to her entire family, all of whom I have had an opportunity to know, especially the 3 younger ones. May the Lord comfort you in your time of need and may you all be blessed as you travel the rest of your time here on earth. To kind of complete this circle of thought, Bev was my mom's visiting teacher for a while. I smile when I think of my mom interacting with Bev before she passed away. I think she probably made my mom smile a lot.

To both of these families who have suffered this loss I would like to share a saying that was recently given to my sister and neice after the death of their baby. I think the saying was like this: You have a part of heaven in your home when you have a part of home in heaven.

These Are A Few of My Favorite Things

One of my favorite things is to get telephone calls from my grandkids. What a thrill to hear their little voices on the phone. Keegan can get so excited and talks so fast that often I need an interpreter to get the whole conversation.

The other day I got a call that just made my day. Norma's oldest daughter, Morgan recently turned 11. Wow! I can remember that first week of walking the floor with her as she adjusted to life in the big world. I came home from my initiation into grandmotherhood just exhausted. Well, for the girls birthdays this year I sent them cute swimsuits with matching swim shorts. In the middle of the afternoon, I got a call from Morgan! She was so excited because she had come home to a package from Grandma Peggy!! She told me all about the end of the school year and the parties she had been invited to. One happened to be a pool party and now she had a new swimsuit to wear! It was so fun to talk to her and hear her enthusiasm as she told me all about her plans. She was so happy to have shorts to wear over the swimsuit because she hates just wearing a swim suit by itself. How I know how that feels! Morgan is growing up!

The best part of the call for me was that it was just her. As far as I know, Mom was at work. What a thrill to have your grandchild call you all on her own and to visit with me one on one. We are trying to arrange a visit with just Morgan this summer. The other girls have been promised their own one on one with Grandma when they are old enough. What fun! Anyway, Happy Birthday Morgan. We love you!

Look What the Cat Dragged In

Oh how I wish I had a picture to go with this, but Reed was so efficient that I didn't get a picture in time. It happened a couple of weeks ago. Jackie and family were down for the weekend. Realize that when she comes, the whole house changes. I mean we are talking 2 boys that are about to turn 4 and 1. So obviously noise level, chaos and general bedlam increases. I am not complaining mind you, just trying to get you to picture this in your mind. Well, we have a cat. She is a small, mostly black, flat faced persian. By small, I mean she weighs in at a whopping 8 pounds. Now, add 2 boys and a dog and you begin to see what the cat feels like. Mushu (the cat) tolerates the boys, but she in not fond of children. I don't know if she was trying to bring a peace offering or was letting everyone know just how tough she was, but we walked outside and here she sits with a small rabbit. Now before you get all Bambi on me, you must know that for the sake of tender hearts I will not call them bunnies. But around here, these rabbits are destructive and not loved. They eat the tender new shoots on our trees and do major damage. Being rabbits, they constantly are repopulating around here. At this point in time we need a few evenings of spotlight hunting. I am hoping that the men will take the opportunity as everyone descends on us this weekend, to enjoy some time out in the back of the truck with their shotguns!! Anyway, here sits the cat with a little rabbit. Mushu, only weighing 8 pounds had brought home a rabbit that had to have weighed about 4 or 5 pounds. I don't know where she caught it, but I was impressed. Nice gift to find on your doorstep in the morning! In contrast, as Reed and I mowed down at the cabin, Riley, the 75 pound dog was trying to impress us with his mousing skills. He would chase and catch field mice as Reed was mowing down the grass and weeds. Gross, but funny to watch a 75 pound dog pounce and catch a mouse.

Coulda Woulda Shoulda

I have been really bad about updating this blog. Do you ever have times that you create blogs posts in your mind? Somehow mine are not getting from my mind onto the computer. So here it is 2:30am and my mind won't shut off, so I will start a series of blogs that I intended to post, but somehow never got around to doing it. Maybe then I can go to sleep! Realize that by the time you read this, you will have been through some of my posts since everything gets posted that way!

I've Been Tagged X2

Okay, okay. I have been tagged twice so I guess I better respond! Here goes the one for Megan: Ato Z
A: Attached or Single: Happily attached for 31 years!!
B: Best Friend: Reed
C: Cake or Pie: Oh, that is a toss up. Cake if it is chocolate and pie if it is chocolate chip!
D: Day of Week. All depends on the week, but mostly Saturday
E: Essential item: Make up. Gotta have it!
F: Favorite color: Pink, blue and lavender
G: Greatest Accomplishment: Being a mom - and all that that entails!
H: Hometown: Corvallis
I: Indulgences: Chocolate peanut butter ice cream. Shopping for me!
J: January or July: It's a toss up because I love snow, but probably July, I love the beach.
K: Kids: 4 of my own, plus a foster daughter
L: Life is incomplete without: what else - my family
M: Marriage date: March 19th ( yes Reed, not the 22nd or 25th)
N: Number of siblings: 5 all sisters
O: Oranges or Apples: definitely apples
P: Phobias: My head under the water
Q: Quotes: There are so many: "That is a movie too much" (for A Bridge to Far), Are you taking me out? (usually directed to my husband at various times throughout the month!), and "That is so gross" (again usually directed towards my husband!)
R: Reason to smile: Reed, grandkids, sunshine, I can lift my leg!
S: Season: Christmas and summer
T: Tag five friends: Do I have five friends? Jayme (Ha, see if you do it), Jodie, Jessica, Katie, and Ollie (no recipes!)
U: Unknown fact about me: I am really very shy! I have a healthy fear of the water
V: Very Favorite Store: Which ever one has the clothes I like!
W: Worst Habit: Ummm, I don't know!
X: Xray or Ultra sound: Probably ultra sound, but it's a toss up
Y: Your favorite food: Ice cream, specifically Tillamook chocolate peanut butter
Z: Zodiac: Capricorn

There you have it, more than you ever wanted to know about me.

The New Metal Me!!

I know that it has been a while since I have posted. I have had my surgery and am now recovering. It is a slow process, but I am coming along nicely. A HUGE thank you to my family for being such a big help and keeping me going.

I had surgery on the 14th of April to replace my right knee. It is now a titanium knee with a special plastic insert instead of cartlidge. The surgery lasted about 2 hours and I was not put completely under. I was heavily sedated and given the amnesia drug so I don't remember much of anything. I was awake into the operating room and awake when I left. That way they were able to administer pain medication that kept me going until I was awake enough to swallow new pain medication. I have a about 6 inch incision on my knee and then a drain tube was on the side of my knee. An interesting thing they did was to take the blood that was draining from my knee and filter it and infuse it back to me. That meant I was getting my own blood and did not need a transfusion. Very interesting. After 24 hours that was removed. I don't have stitches or staples. I was glued back together. This will hopefully minimize the scar. By Tuesday they had me standing up and was able to use the bathroom on my own.
By Wednesday afternoon the Dr. told me I could go home if I wanted, but I didn't feel ready. So we stayed until Thursday morning. Since the nurses weren't ready to release me Wednesday afternoon, I am glad I stayed. It would have been late by the time they got everything ready for me and Thursday was exhausting enough. I have graduated from using a walker, to crutches to a cane. I walk around the house pretty much by myself. I am VERY slow.
I have twice weekly visits to the physical therapist. I will be in therapy until July, but as much as it hurts, I know it helps. I have had weekly visits to the family doctor to have my blood levels checked. I am on coumadin for about 1 month. My levels are currently doing really good, so I get to stretch that appointment out to 2 weeks. I got to go to Costco the other day with Reed and Jessica. I rode around on one of those carts, but I was so exhausted by the time that I got home that I immediately went to sleep!!
I worked really hard for 2 weeks just the raise my leg off the bed. Now they make me do leg raises everyday. I also was able to accomplish getting me leg to do a full revolution on the stationary bike. All this was accomplished with great pain. But as Jessica says to me (all the time)"no pain, no gain"!! I have threatened to get a little doll and make it a voodoo doll of Jess and start sticking it with pins. But since she has command of my legs, I don't think I would get far. But actually Jess has been wonderful. She takes care of the meals, the cleaning, the washing as well as supervising my exercises. She is quite accomplished at this after taking care of her grandfather 2 different times for knee replacement surgeries over the last 6 months. Her pay off finally came as she recieved her acceptance to grad school at PSU. We are so excited for her!!
I will try to get some pictures up later, but for now, this gives you an update on me!

Lovin' It

Here are the latest pictures. We have mostly moved in. I am still getting used to using a kitchen again. I find that I keep thinking that I need to conserve my dishes and use paper plates, cups and plastic silverware. I keep thinking of things to eat that are made in a crock pot or microwave, so I am slow to really USE the kitchen. Besides, last week I worked at the High School scheduling 260 parents for parent/teacher conferences. That might not seem like much, but when you think about each student having up to 7 different classes, that is quite a feat. But between sessions of conference, I have cleaned and tried to organize and get things put away. I absolutely love it so far. I love the openess that carries into the living room. I love the blending and coordinating of colors. I am just excited to be done.

I wish I could say the same for the upcoming surgery. I find that I am waking in the middle of the night. I don't know if it is pain or anxiety, but I am awake for a couple of hours. It is getting old. I also ran out of some medication that I have been on for years to help with PMS. Now granted I don't suffer from periods anymore, but I still have ovaries, so I still have problems. Well, insurance wouldn't refill my meds without me seeing the regular Dr. So after 2 weeks of no mood helpers, I find that I am an absolute bawl baby. I have cried over everything and anything. Thank goodness I have just started taking them again, but it may take a while to get back on track. It doesn't help that Jessica keeps laughing at me!!

Next week is Dr. appointments every day, plus they finish the remodel (hopefully) and we have the walk through. Just in time for surgery. Fun, fun, fun!!!D

Lessons to Learn

This whole remodel business has been a learning experience for me. One of the main things I learned is that things will go wrong. I realized that up front and we had our share of problems. Next, I learned that just when you think it will turn out okay, something else will come up. Nothing is perfect. Then I learned a huge lesson for me. Even though you know there are problems, stay away and let them solve them. I learned that I don't need to stress the things that are going on. They have to be fixed, let them do their job and don't worry about the fact that it went wrong. Just get it fixed. I think this applies to life as well. I need to quit worrying about what goes wrong and just move forward and get it fixed! Last was an interesting one for me. I guess that I am a pleaser. Or I don't want to rock the boat. Whatever! When I didn't like what they had done with the plugs above the cabinets (they showed)I was willing to live with it. I would try to decorate around it. Finally, Reed pointed out to me that we were paying good money for this and they should do it the way I wanted. I do not need to make do, just because I don't want to be a pain or because I don't want to get people mad at me. Hence, the kitchen is NOT done yet. We still are missing 2 cabinet doors, and a shelf. All the plugs are being moved. Those that are at the counter top level were too low. The backsplash hit all the covers, so they have to be moved. The ones above the cabinets have to be lowered, so they are not visible. Consequently, there are holes in my walls. All this need to be patched and repaired and painted. The hard part is that all the cabinets are in! At least I don't have to do it. It is their error, so they have to fix it.
I LOVE my counter tops! I find that I am always rubbing my hands across them. I love the color and an so excited to have it all done.
This weekend we were able to begin moving in. The refridgerator is in along with the stove and dishwasher. The stove and dishwasher are not completely in, but we are able to use them. We are celebrating with brownies tonight!!! I do have to clear everything off the counters tonight and cover them with paper again. Oh the joy of having workers in your home all the time!
Here are a couple of pictures to get you excited!

Remodel Madness

Sometimes I love how people can just type the way they talk. I am thinking that maybe this is a blond thing. Take Jackie, for instance, part of what is fun about her blogs is that she rambles on paper ( albeit electronic paper)just like she talks. It is random and goes 20 different places at once. It makes me laugh, because she talks JUST like that. Ollie is another one. Tracy is also quite good at it, and then it dawned on me. They are all blond. Do you think that is it? Laugh girls, I am old and senile and allowed to be this way!!

Well we got hit with MAJOR remodel madness over the last couple of weeks. First it was the floor. My lovely tile, that we put in about 5 or 6 years ago is just what I love. The plan was to cut out as little as possible and just replace what was needed. NOT! Tile doesn't stay in fashion that long. First problem was too much tile ended up being destroyed (Okay, they warned us about that one). Problem 2: after finishing our great paint job, they called to say they could not find any matching tile. I had just finished painting colors that expressly matched my tile. Worse news! Our tile happened to be "Italian" tile. Don't get too excited, it was the rage a few years ago until we americans got caught up in tile making, now we make "American" tile. Low and behold, we have different measuring systems (ie, metric versus inches). So while American tile is constructed on 12 or 13 inch tiles, Italian or European tile is done differently. Hence mine is about 12 1/2 inch squares. No matchy!. We were depressed and had actually resigned ourselves to having to rip out the entire floor and start all over again costing us thousands of dollars. But Reed would not be daunted. He went to work on the internet and entered the series name and color of our tile. He found some, but before you get real excited, it was from a catalog and web site that had not been updated since 2001. But we were blessed and they had only one color from the series still at their warehouse and low and behold, it was our color. The floor was saved!

Major problem #2: The appliances arrived and they started to unpack them. The refrigerator was not like I remembered it. Realize that it was months ago that I picked all this stuff out. Then it hit me. There was no water and ice accessable from the door. This may sound trivial, but you must realize that I am going through 3 bags of ice per week during the remodel. Besides, I am old and I want what I want! Okay, so maybe it wasn't MAJOR, but still.

Biggest Major #3: The cabinets are starting to be installed when we notice that there is a BIG space between cabinets and island. Too Big! Somebody measured wrong and the electrical cords and lights in the ceiling are 2 FEET to far into the dining room. That means that the table and bar stools would back into each other, not good. Add on top of this that I have already finished painting and they hinged one of the cabinet doors on the wrong side after I had expressly said which side I wanted it on.

So today they tore up the floor again. Thank goodness they have not done the tile yet. They moved electrical wires in the floor for the island. The ceiling is still to be conquered. The only good news is that I have been told, that I don't have to fix the painting errors and that all costs will be covered by the construction company - not me!!
Here are some updated pictures!

Wordless? Wednesday

Here are a few pictures of painting. I am off to a substitute job, so these will have to suffice!

Funny Friday

I know it is Saturday, but the thought was there!

Any way, I thought I would share some funny stories with the remodel. They are just quick little stories that will create cute pictures in your mind.

It is interesting at times when you go to your bathroom to use it for what it was intended to be used for (you know, going to the bathroom)! You have second thoughts when you find a pile of clean dishes on the floor by the toilet. Hmmmmm.

Then there are the times that you find unusual things in your bathroom. Poor Lily, who is only 4 years old, was sent to the bathroom by her mom who assured her she could go by herself. Can you imagine what must have gone through her mind when she finds a big butcher knife on the little stool by the bathtub? "But Mom the bathroom is scary!!"

My favorite is when you are sitting on the stool or edge of the bathtub doing the dishes when the dog comes in and promptly jumps into the bathtub. He is usually a little dirty and tries to drink the dish water. You have to quickly finish and then wash the dog and clean the tub. Oh life is fun!!!!

Wordless Wednesday

Great-Grandpa and Baby Kayden

Here's the pictures!

Kitchen Remodel

For those of you who have been waiting, here is a slide show of the kitchen remodel. Work is going fairly smoothly. We have had only a few minor bumps, most of which were resolved fairly easily. We had one scare where we thought that in order to pass inspection we would have to tear up the downstairs wall to put in a big weight bearing beam, but the inspector was convinced otherwise. The new windows are in and insulation is next. Next Monday they will start the wall board and we will be painting by Sisters Weekend (this is an annual event where my sisters all get together and spend the weekend together). I am this year's service project.

We also had a wonderful long weekend over President's Day. Jayme and Virginia came for a visit since they could not come at Christmas time. We battled cooking for 8 adults and 2 kids with no kitchen. So we ate out a lot. We also went out alot. We spent the day at the coast on Saturday. We then headed for the Harward family cabin Sunday evening. Monday we had a big breakfast and then put up our old kitchen light and cabinet from our house at the cabin. After that we headed for the Oregon Coast Aquarium. It was so much fun!! We came home and ordered GIANT calzones before everyone packed up and headed for their own homes! All in all it was great weekend. Oh yeah, at the start of the weekend, Reed picked up Keegan when he picked up Jayme and Virginia at the airport. Keegan got to come down a day early and have his first real sleepover at Grandma's. He was such a big boy and we had lots of fun together before Mom and Dad showed up. Being a grandma is great!!

I have been struck lately by the numerous little miracles that go on all around us. I know that there is plenty of negative out there if I choose to focus on it, but right now I guess my mind and heart are somewhere else. I marvel that God truly does have a plan for all of us and that most often I do not understand why things happen the way they do and what the purpose is. Maybe I am looking for much too small of a purpose, when the big purpose is "And all these things shall give thee experience and shall be for thy good"!!
Recently a dear friend has been able to get pregnant after years of fasting, prayer, blessings and many, many tears. As she has begun to show, people now realize that she is expecting. She is so cute. As I listened to her and another dear sister who had also endured a similar story, I was struck when she said how much joy she finds in each little thing. She has endured the long, sleepless nights and fussy periods, because well it took so long to get there. I think of Jackie having such joy in a negative test result. There are still no answers, but for now it is not bad news. I think of others who were complaining about time lost to diagnosis or fretting about one thing or another and I thought about Leman and Lemuel. Am I like them sometimes? Do I want all my answers now? Do I wish that I had never gone to the Dr. about my knee? Maybe it is because I was helping another sister in YW as she prepared for an activity. I shared that she might want the girls to learn the "as if" principle. It is found most clearly in Jarom 1:11. Basically the scripture talks about how the Nephites were taught to live their lives "AS IF" Christ had already come. It is a marvelous principle when we apply it to our lives. If there is something that we know we want or ought to do, you live "as if" you are already there. So, young men can learn to become and be prepared to be better missionaries, by living "as if" they are already a missionary. Well, this dear sister was thrilled by this principle and how she could apply it. Then as we talked, she turned it back on me. She told me that maybe I needed to quit debating whether I should have surgery on my knee and just live "as if" I had already decided. I have had such peace since then. I guess it is my own little miracle. Who knows why I have to go through this NOW. Who knows why I have endured what I have, but it is okay. It is pretty doubtful that they will open up my knee and say, "No, this isn't that bad. She doesn't need to have this done." And wake me up. Isn't that silly that that is my fear? Silly me!!

(Not so) Wordless Wednesday

Watch both of these little clips. Keegan wanted to learn to play Grandpa's bugle. Then Dad had to see if he could do it. Which one do you think did it better?

The Demolition Begins

Even though construction doesn't begin for another week and half, Reed can't stand the wait. As Jessica was preparing to BEGIN packing up, Reed starts tearing cupboards out. Poor Jackie and her family had not even left after spending the weekend here. I was away at a presidency meeting and came home to find out that Reed has unloaded the cupboard above the fridge and ripped it out of the wall. To this day, it is still sitting on the floor of his lab!!

I had a plan as to how I was going to pack and move the kitchen over this week, but Reed had a different plan. You know how they say that doing a remodel is hard on a marriage - I am beginning to understand. Communication is THE most important thing. Then comes the realization that what may seem the logical way to proceed for you, is not necessarily the way your spouse sees it. I am trying to learn to stay flexible and be willing to change my plans. It is a work in progress. If I can just contain Reed and his desire to start ripping things out!! It must be a male thing.

Tonight I am resting as it is snowing outside. School will be on a 2 hour delay due to the weather. It is nice to know the night before. How ever Reed is restless and wants to continue to move stuff out. I just need a break! We continue to try to figure out how to set up temporary DSL access and what our temporary kitchen will look like. Enjoy the before and during pictures.

Reflections on the Week

Well, this week I have been a working woman. I have subbed full time in the office at the high school. Thanks to Jessica, who has held down the fort at home and taken care of the shopping, the cleaning and getting things ready for dinner. We planned out menues over the weekend and then I did the shopping list and she has kept it together for me.

It has been nice to be in the work force on a temporary basis to realize that I have the skills to work out there if I need to. I have enjoyed working through some things on my own and figuring them out. I guess that at my age, it is nice to know I could do if I wanted to!! They even gave me a school shirt to wear this Friday!

Next week we will begin the big clean out and pack up of the kitchen. Should keep us all busy! Plus I need to finish end of the year reports, quarterly reports and setting up files for the new year. Never a dull moment around here!

Winter Damage

Here are some pictures of the winter damage down at our cabin. At least it will be more firewood.