Work, work, work!!

Don't you just love those pig tails?

Reed is piled high with work. Jayme is currently employed full time just in the lab. I help out when I can and where I can in the lab. I do all the books and have named myself CFO. It sounds so professional don't you think? What it means is that I pay the bills, balance the checkbook and deposit the checks. I do all the book work and have finally started learning to do the taxes. I am helping with the point counts of slides of thin sections of rock from wells that have been drilled - yes by oil companies. Hey I don't complain, it pays the bills and we are currently swamped with work. I am also trying to pick up the slack at home. I am on a HUGE organizational kick and have helped Jackie set up her financial records and recently helped Virginia set up a plan for organizing and planning menus. I am also planning menus now as I try to eat more healthy and lose weight. Today I had a big helper as I worked around the house. Katarina (Jayme and Virginia's 20 month old) got to spend the day with Grandma and Grandpa. Mommy and Daddy went to the temple to celebrate their 5th anniversary. I picked Katarina up after my morning walk and she happily waved goodbye to mom and dad. We then got to spend the morning wiping down the bathroom, putting on makeup, sweeping the floors, and vacuuming. We even did a couple of loads of laundry. Then we got to help Grandpa who is ripping off the siding from the house by picking up nails. We ate a good lunch and took a nap and when she got up, the sun was shining and we could swing on the swings and go down the slide. In fact we had so much fun that when Mommy and Daddy came home we didn't want to stop to give them hugs and kisses cuz we were having so much fun! What a great day!!

Results of Yard Work

Here are some photos of what we got accomplished!!

Happy Mother's Day

This year for Mother's Day, the kids gave me a day of yard work. It was so much fun. Most of them showed up in time for a big Glasmann Family style breakfast with cheese eggs, bacon and Aunt Jemima Coffee Cake. Then we went outside and planted flowers, rototilled some areas, dug up and replanted 3 different bushes. We burned some brush, roasted hotdogs over our outdoor fire place, and played on the swing set. We rewarded them by taking them all out to dinner at our favorite Japanese Steak House with a Tepanyaki table. It was a great weekend topped off with a call from Josh. What more could a mother ask for???

His Hands

So the last month has been really tough. On March 19, 2010 we lost Reed's dad due to complications from a massive stroke. He had suffered a smaller stroke on March 1st. Reed went out and I followed a few days later and stayed for about a week. It was a great time to be of service to him, Reed's brother's family and be the sounding board for everyone. You become the eyes and ears of those that cannot be there to keep them updated and coping with what is happening. I recognized that the first stroke took him a big step down from where he was. It affected mostly the cognitive function and so it was like his Alzheimer's had just become worse. Just a few days after I left, Jay suffered another stroke, this one massive. Reed and I immediately packed up and headed back to Utah that very day, arriving in the middle of the night to spell his brother. We are so thankful that everyone got there before his passing was a part of helping to implement Jay's wishes for how he wanted to die. Please, if you have not done so, do an Advanced Directive/Living Will and be specific. The doctors and nurses at the hospital praised his clarity and his defining what quality of life meant to him. We were all in agreement to move him to a beautiful hospice center in Salt Lake City that provided in residence care. Thirty-six hours after having him transferred there he passed away. He was 85 years old and he went the way he wanted. All of his children and his wife were with him. This is the second time in less than 6 months that I have lost a loved one and been able to be there with them as they return to their Heavenly Father. Jay has the most characteristic hands. Those hands were misshapened by arthritis but those hands came to mean so much. Those hands were famous with the grandkids for the "dreaded knee clamp"! It was nothing more than those hands grabbing the child's knees. Of course it was accompanied by a terrific roar and by screaming and sqeals of giggling as the kids ran away only to return and see if they could escape before those hands got them again. Those hands were boxer hands. He never lost a fight during his boxing career in the Navy. They were gentle hands that cradled kids, grandkids and great-grandkids as he sang sweetly to them. Those hands were wise hands that became a prominent tax lawyer in Washington DC. As we held 2 different memorial services in Utah and Maryland we learned so much about the man that belonged to those hands. Those hands loved tennis and would help you to learn only long enough to beat you with his wicked slices. Those hands played football with kids, adults, even the Kennedy brothers once upon a time. Yet those hands chose not to go into political life because his family was too important to him. Those hands expected you to be honest and true to yourself. He lived his life by that motto. He wasn't perfect, but he was gentle and full of love. He counseled with you, asked questions that became ever more probing as he wanted to be sure that you were truly being true to yourself. Those hands in later life carried a cane. That cane became his extension as moving became more difficult and was often used to snag a grandchild or great grandchild by the hook and upend them as he played with them. Those hands would weild a mighty plastic sword while he was dressed in his armour and he fought off knights, dragons and any bad guys that were thought up by the kids. Keegan, his oldest great-grandchild quickly learned that it was better to be grandpa's guard than to battle him, because somehow he always won!!

Those hands reached out and helped so many. When he gave a sizeable contribution to a university, they wanted to use it build a building and name it after him. He refused and said that he wasn't interested in bricks and mortar, but in helping people. Instead he began a literacy program that was aimed at underprivelaged parents and their kids and taught them to read to their children. Those hands reached out to families that he befriended and lifted them to a differnt station in life and changed the course of events for their children. Those hands would carry his friend who had been crippled by polio and refused to let him wallow in his pain and grief. He encouraged is friend to go out and live life to it's fullest and those 2 families became inseparable over the years. Those hands counseled and loved and made bets that always benefitted someone else if they would live up to their side of the wager.

Those hands loved dogs. And they always loved him back!!

Those hands have come to mean so much to me. They have changed me. They have changed my family.
Jay leaves behind a legacy of family first. He chose not to let his children become involved in extra curricular sports because he figured there was enough of them (6 kids) to form their own teams and that way they could all participate together. He chose to give most of his Saturday's to his children and to grand adventures hiking, and playing at things they all did together. He chose to analyze everything on his yellow legal pad and write it all out.

Those hands will be greatly missed, but he will always be remembered. It was put best by someone at the Memorial Service when he said: "Jay was not much for religon. He was a self proclaimed agnostic. But he was the most Christian man I ever knew." We love you Jay. We will miss you. We can't wait to see you again and be reunited with you! Your hands will live on through us as we try to emulate what those hands have done!

Life's Little Twists and Turns

Life never provides a dull moment. Just when you think things are on an even keel, you are thrown for all life's little twists and turns. I am currently writing this from Utah. I came out on short notice to help with Reed's dad who suffered a moderate stroke last week. I am also here to help Tommy's (Reed's brother) family as they have a young family and this is where Jay is staying. I have the day duty, Tommy, bless his heart has night duty. While Jay was in the hospital they found that he had pretty severe sleep apnea. Monday night he went in for the test and he most definitely has that problem. However, he could not handle the big pressure mask. Jay suffers from Alzhimers and is blind, so all this presents different problems. We have managed to get him to wear oxygen most of the time at night, but not always. Meanwhile, Jay's wife is trying to take care of her mother, who is in her 90's and is not doing so good. Unfortunately, Jay's wife ended up in the hospital with chest pains. She is feeling much better now and we are waiting to hear if she was sent home. We are also waiting to hear if her mother is all right.
So, I am in Utah trying to help however I can. I have been soundly beat by a 5 year old at Wii Mario Bros. I have helped the 8 year old make some crafts and practice her reading. I helped the 13 year old with her Spanish homework and stayed up with the 15 year old whole she finished her biology project. I've been to the track to watch the 2 older kids throw javeline and discus. I have tried to hold down the fort while mom and dad shuttle kids to practices, lessons and schools. Don't you just love that time when you have 4 kids in 4 different schools? I've tried to be the peacemaker and to help others see the other side of the picture and played fireman in hot debates, trying to put out fires and keep things calm.
Jay is doing pretty good. He has listened to lots of Lous L'Amore books and had LOTS of phone calls. It has been pretty to see a little bit of winter since it seems to have skipped us in Oregon. But, alas, while I am gone it has turned cold with snow/hail/sleet and rain!! I will be home soon, ready to walk again (I hope!) and spend some time with my hubby before I return to Utah again for Sara's baptism!
Life keeps me hopping!!

El Nino Spring

Now that I am finally getting around to posting this, of course it has turned rainy and cold!! While most of the country is still in the throes of winter, we have been having incredible spring like weather. My daffodils are up and blooming. I have some tulips that have begun to come up and I have already mowed the grass for the first time since last fall!

The other day, Jessica called and said that she only had to be at her internship for a few hours and that she was in need of some outdoor, sunshine time. She wanted to go to the coast and wanted me to go with her! I changed my plans and we bundled up and took the mustang with the top down and headed to the coast. After a late lunch we took about a 5 mile walk on the beach. We watched a guy who had a big sail that was strapped to him and he had a skateboard type board and was sailing on the beach. It was so fun to watch him. Another guy had 3 kites up in the air at once. The weather was incredible and we just talked and talked. Thank you Jessica for inviting your mom to spend the afternoon with you!!

The next day, Jayme and Virginia called and asked us to join them up at the sheep barns with Katarina. Our timing was perfect and we witnessed the birth of a baby lamb. Reed and I hung around to watch as within just a few minutes the little lamb struggled to it's feet much to the delight of all the people and young families that were there.

I have been on a huge self improvement kick! This time I feel like I am actually making some progress! I started first with deciding to be regular with walking and exercise. I am aiming for walking in a 1/2 marathon in September. I go walking 5 days a week with a couple of friends. Our short walks are between 3 and 4 miles. We did a long one that was about 7 this week. I have come a long way since a knee replacement 2 years ago and ankle/foot being rebuilt last year! I am also getting up and reading every morning. I have just finished reading the entire conference issue of the Ensign from last November. It has been so uplifting to me. I have really been on a cleaning and organizing kick. Poor Reed. He doesn't always like these kicks, but so far I have done pretty good. I am loving the flowers that are starting to pop up. I love all the wonders of this world. I love life right now! Here is hoping it continues. Maybe it is El Nino, which we will pay for later with not enough water. Maybe it is just that for the first time in 4 years I am not having a surgery!!! Whatever, I will enjoy it while it lasts!

Missing In Action!?!

I have been missing in action for the last little while. Let me give you a run down of what I have been doing!

The day after Thanksgiving, Reed and I headed up to Jackie and Zach's to help them move AGAIN!! This is the 3rd time since they arrived here 3 years ago. And this all happened 3 days before the arrival of:

KYLER JAY! Kyler weighed in at 8lb. 4oz. This is HUGE for Jackie. Her other 2 boys were only 6lb. He has a head of hair and is putting on the chub! He has been lovingly nicknamed "Bubba Jay", being born on Grandpa Jay's 85th birthday!!

Then Reed and I traveled back east for the wedding of his neice!

I returned to Jackie's and when school was out for Keegan we packed up for my house!

Somehow we managed to get ready for Christmas. We made a Gingerbread House with Aunt Jessica!

We decorated the tree and wrapped presents. We had a traditional Christmas Eve party with loved friends whose children have grown and had children of their own and we now total over 25. We were missing 2 married couples and 2 missionaries, but we have grown and this was the biggest get together yet! Santa arrived and Reed and I thoroughly enjoyed watching Christmas through the eyes of our grandchildren!!

There were Wii tournaments!

Feeding the dog!

And spending time with the new baby!!

Missing? Maybe from the blogging world! In Action? Most definitely, but having lots of fun! Now it is off to more adventures and whole new year to do them in!!