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.