First comes love...

Okay, I have waited long enough...

THERESA IS GOING TO HAVE A BABY!

What more can I say? We are so excited. She has been pretty sick, but oh well, that's what most of us go through. Now, she's finding quite an appetite. Due date is June 13th.

She has a wonderful husband, a beautiful new home, and now a little one on the way. Life is good.

Movin' on up to the East Side!

Saturday was spent helping Theresa and Rich move into their new home. They bought a very nice place just across the road from their place, on the East side of the road this time!

Everyone was sure a big help to her. In the morning we had Bryan and Ali and Ryder. Ryder who was told he had to put down his toys and carry things in! Tera and Tenlee drove up, Valene, Zak and Karlee came over, and Frank and myself were there. Rich's son Brian showed up as well.

What a good group of helpers we had going. Valene and I started putting away her kitchen stuff and then Valene emptied about 30 more boxes and had her storage area and laundry room all done. Tera cleaned out her old fridge and was a trouper hauling stuff. Having Bryan around to help is always good because he will tear into setting beds up and putting furniture together after it's been moved. With Ali's help they had her master bedroom put together and looking very nice. Zak, Frank and Rich were busy the whole time carrying stuff into the "blue" room! We had the spare bedroom, living room, and family room all whipped into shape in no time with all of this good help.

The second shift showed up in time to feed us and take over. Rich's mom and sister Sandra brought Papa Murphy pizza's! About the time we left Sam (Sandra's son) and his wife came over. Kendra then went to work and put together her office and sewing room and then tackled the blue room. By that night everything was put away with no boxes in sight.

Oh, Theresa was not feeling well so she just sat and gave orders!

Zak Attack and the Cat Fight!

Last night we went down to the Holt Arena in Poky to watch Zak's team in the State HS playoff's. It's the first time in 27 years that his school has made it to State!

We got there just as the school buses arrived carrying the band and students. Boy, were they all excited and everyone was sporting some sort of red/black, even me! The band actually played very well throughout the night and had the chance to play their school song several times; after every touch down!

It was sure a "cat fight" with the Cougars playing the Snake River Panthers. South Fremont only lost two conference games and SR was one of them. Our boys did very well during the first half and scored 31 to 14! Zak had his name mentioned 3 times during that time! He plays center and was doing a good job with his blocks. (I think that's what it's called.) The second half was a lot tougher and they came down to a nail-biter at the end with SR at 28 points and a couple of minutes to go! Luckily they couldn't seem to make it happen and their quarterback was sacked with 10 seconds left on the 10 yard line! Zak did play both offensive and defensive at times and so I'm sure he was dang tired by the end of the 2 1/2 hours of playing! They now move up the bracket and play again next weekend.

Way to go Zak and the South Fremont Cougars! I was one proud grandma!

Whose job is it?

On Sunday after Church, Frank always goes in and changes his clothes immediately. The suit and everything goes on the bed. Usually in a heap... He must think he has miracle clothes because by the time he goes into to bed at night the clothes are gone and hanging in the closet.

This past Sunday I went in and hung up the miracle suit but somehow his tie ended up on the floor by his side of the bed. He picked it up off the floor and put it on the end of the bed that night and said, "You forgot to hang up my tie." Oh wow!

Monday morning I made the bed and put the tie on it. Monday night, the same thing, "You haven't hung up my tie." Oh WOW!

Tuesday morning I made the bed and put the tie on it. Tuesday night I come home and look what I found! I couldn't stop laughing. Like I told him, he could have hung the dang tie up quicker than finding the paper and pen to write his note!

Yes. I did hang it up. He wouldn't have put it in the right place anyway...

Cabbage, cabbage, and more cabbage

The Gardners' (Theresa and Rich) have proven they can be real gardeners. They have grown a very nice garden this year had cabbage coming out of their ears! The cabbage was coming up so thick they transplanted a bunch of plants, thinking they probably wouldn't grow - but they did!

On Monday night Theresa drove down and brought about 15 heads of cabbage with her. We proceeded to grind it up and make a frozen cabbage salad. Coleslaw is what I call it. Again Frank was quite the helper in the kitchen. He sure comes in handy chopping onions and veggies but I worry that my plastic Pampered Chef chopper isn't going to last too long the way he pounds on it! He said his hand is sore now....

If you want the recipe for this, check out my Sharing Recipes blog.

Challenge and Canning

Jana and I have a challenge for each other. It started with her telling me that she read an idea for scrapbooking where you take one picture a day and make a scrapbook book page around it. I told her we need to do that but do a blog page... So, here I go...

My picture was actually from Saturday. Theresa shared a great recipe for making homemade soup to can so I decided that I would do it. I haven't canned for quite a few years! So, I went with Frank out to the farm sites on Saturday morning and then we stopped and bought the fresh veggies we needed to make the soup.

He actually helped by chopping all of the veggies for me! We had it all ready and cooking within a half and hour. The recipe is on my "Sharing Recipes" blog and on my eHow page. It turned out so well that we are going to make another batch next weekend!

Another year down...

Well, I was fortunate enough to make it one more year! At my age, you just don't know for sure! I had a very nice birthday on Sunday. 59 if you are wondering... My kids have all had to ask.

Val and Layne invited us all up to their home for a very nice dinner. Everyone made it except Jana and Dave, living in Texas and always missing out - Brandi, I guess she was traveling - and Caleb who was at Guard duty. So we had the Terry family, Bryan, Ali, Ryder, Tiffany and Bryler, Theresa and Rich, Tera, Brendon, and Tenlee. And, everyone got along wonderfully - Tanner did bug Tera a little...

I am so lucky to have such a good relationship with Val and Layne. We couldn't have asked for a better woman to enter our lives. What a difference she has made.

Theresa and Rich just got back from a week in Washington DC and had some very interesting stories about their trip.

It was just a very nice way to spend my birthday. Good food (and I didn't cook one thing) and good company!

Hannah Montana was at our house!

Saturday night was a busy one around our house. We had four of the grandkids! Karlee came down to stay for the weekend and of course Tenlee had to be with Karlee. Tiffany needed a babysitter for Byler while she was working because Caleb was gone to the Guard and Byan and Ali dropped off Ryder for a few hours.

I rented the Hannah Montana movie - cute show! It was so fun to watch with the girls. They both knew every song and sang at the top of the voices, couldn't hear Miley Cyrus at all, but they were just as good! They also had to get up and dance for every song. Bryler also had to be in on the action. He's just 10 months old but he's walking and such a smart little guy. He was holding onto the back of the couch and just bouncing and shaking his head whenever the music was on. He would try to walk and dance at the same time but that didn't work!

Having a little blonde and a little brunette, I felt like I had Hannah Montana staying with me!

As the leaves change...

Fall time brings probably the most beautiful time of year. I love all of the warm earthy colors as the leaves change.

Fall reminds me... Of combining and trying to get the harvest finished before it gets cold. Of driving across the Saskatchewan River near Elk Point and the breathtaking beauty of the trees as the leaves turn orange and red. Of going up hunting in the mountains, setting up the tents and spending hours on horses hoping to see that big bull elk! Of kids back in school and football season. Of canning all of the bounties from our garden and everything I could buy so our shelves were stocked with bottles of food for the family. Of making a dozen apple pies a day to freeze for a nice winter treat. Of birthdays in the family, including my own! Of making zucchini bread. Of thinking that Christmas is just around the corner...

Down memory lane...

This past week we had food safety classes in Santa Maria California. This is the area that we lived in off and on for about five years when I was younger. We originally moved to Oceano in my 5th grade year. We lived just a block from the beach, which I loved. We moved to Nevada and then back again in my 6th grade year, again to Oceano for awhile.

We then moved to Lompoc for my 7th, 8th, 9th and most of my 10th grade years. During that time we lived in 5 different houses. One of which burned down, but that's another story. While living in that home, about 5 miles from town, I met my best friend, Gloria Valla. We were total opposites but totally clicked with each other! She was beautiful, cared about her looks, and much more mature. I was such a tomboy who really didn't care about boys or what my hair looked like! We had so much fun together exploring the hills and goofing off. This past week I was finally able to see her once again and once again, we clicked! We hadn't seen each other for close to 40 years! Yes, we have both aged... Her husband, Steve Bridge, was a really nice guy and just smiled as we traveled down memory lane. Gloria had an album of old pictures of us which were pretty hilarious.

The place where we lived is now a golf course. I did find one house on South M street we lived in but didn't have my camera! So sad. I found my junior high school and the elementary school in Oceano. I also found the church I attended in Lompoc after I was baptized.

While we were in California we traveled to Solvang, a Danish settlement, visited Fess Parker's (Daniel Boone tv series actor) and the Firestone (Firestone tire guy) wineries, the La Purisima Mission(we lived across from it but the house is no longer there), and stayed in a hotel on Pismo Beach. All places from my memories (expect the wineries).

Unfortunately, the two days we were at Pismo were foggy and chilly. But, we did see some dolphins swimming and walked around old downtown a lot. I was so disappointed that we couldn't go swimming. There were many brave surfers out but they were wearing their wet suits.

Throughout the days we spent, I had a hard time because I kept thinking about my mom and wanting to ask her questions or to tell her something I had seen or remembered. We also toured many different fruit and vegetable farms and generally just had a wonderful time.

Doin' Good

Well, we have three weeks under our belts (which we can see now) with our healthy new lifestyle. We are actually doing quite well. Frank has lost over 15 pounds and I'm pushing 10! We have been pretty darn faithful in eating better. No more "fat" snacks after dinner. Smaller portions without all of the butter, sour cream, etc is really helping. We haven't had the hunger and cravings so I guess this TAIslim is working for us.

Another huge plus is our blood pressure has really dropped! I was 98/75 and Frank has been 112/72!!! I guess we will prolong our lives doing this this.

We have been going on walks and riding our bikes. It's a mile up the hill to the stop sign and so that's a walk we take quite a bit. It's been kinda fun to walk and talk in the evenings. It also makes us feel better. Tera and Tenlee have been over quite a bit and goes with us. Poor little Tenlee's legs go twice as fast as ours to keep up but she does it. Her little mouth is also going about that fast the whole time.

We leave for California this weekend and so we will see how we maintain while we are gone - with all of the temptations and eating out for every meal. But, we will have aswimming pool and the beach so should be okay.

A very traumatic event has happened to Tera this week. Tenlee started kindergarten! It sounds like she was pretty excited because she woke up at 4:30 am to get ready to go. When I talked to her before they left for school she described everything she was wearing and told me how "poofy" and curly her hair was. On Monday they just went for an hour and a parent was supposed to go with them.

This morning she caught the bus. Tera called just crying. Again Tenlee was excited about going and woke Tera up at 6:30. I did tell Tera that she couldn't show Tenlee how sad she is because she will quit wanting to go to school.

Last Saturday Tera asked me to hem up several pair of Tenlee's jeans. After we measured them, Tera started asking if they would look just the same and to make sure I didn't hem them too short, etc. Finally, Tenlee said, "Mom, grandma knows what she's doing." Thanks, Tenlee!!!

Lots of Stuff

Okay - update on the "diet"... Frank has lost 6 pounds and I have lost 3! And, we are losing inches as well. Feel very good at this point.

Caleb had his appendix out on Sunday! He had a horrible stomach ache that morning and finally went into to the emergency room and they did emergency surgery. He went home on Monday and thinks he will start his new job at Jiffy Lube tomorrow! Kids - they sure heal fast.

We went for a wonderful float down the river on Saturday with Theresa and Rich. We put in at the Island Park Dam and floated to Last Chance. It was only about an hour but the perfect day for floating the river! I'm glad we were in a rubber boat though. The water was pretty cold!

We had two people come for a second look on our house this week! The one family loves it but they have to sell their house in Missouri first. They are living in a hotel right now with two teenage boys so I would think they would love just about anything! Let's keep our fingers crossed!

Frank is progressing

It hasn't been bad. We have been eating very healthy and haven't really missed all of the butter, sour cream, bread, etc. Frank has actually enjoyed our healthy meals and it's paying off. He stepped on the scales this morning and has lost 4 pounds! I haven't weighted yet... will wait until Monday. Hopefully I do as well.

I sliced a zucchini and a yellow squash in 1/4 inch slices and laid them on a grill I have for our BBQ. Sprinkled them with onion salt and seasoning salt and then grilled them. Very tasty! Another thing I did this week that Frank loved was made a salad out of tomatoes, red peppers, purple onion, cucumber and cilantro. Frank wasn't sure he could eat it without his ranch dressing but he actually loved it! So, it's all good.

If this bombs, you will be my witness!

Frank and I have decided that it's time for us to get serious about getting into shape. Well, at least to lose some of our poundage! Our goal for right now is to lose 30 pounds each. By writing this goal down and broadcasting it, we are obligated to do it. I remember when I used to say something like, "I think I will make cinnamon rolls today" and then I HAD to do it because Frank and the kids expected it to be done. That's how this is going to be... "I think I will lose 30 pounds this year."

I think everyone needs some kind of catalyst to help them do something like this. We have signed up to try TAIslim and follow that program. I have heard some really good things about this product and the other health products that they have and so that's why we are going to follow it. I will keep everyone informed of our progress weekly.

So, wish us luck..... And if you want to know more about the product, let me know!

Thrift Shops and Service

A couple of Saturdays ago I was looking for a cooking pot and Frank and I were passing a thrift shop and I suggested that we stop in and see if they had what I wanted. We browsed around for a few minutes and the owner of the shop suggested another shop that might have the item. So, we went over there and again no luck so we went to WalMart and bought a new one. I have never really shopped at thrift shops or garage sales and so this was a very different experience for us but walking in those shops took me back to 1963! I was about thirteen years old...

I was taking accordion lessons (don't laugh, they were quite popular back then) and my lessons didn't quite work with my parents work schedule so I often had to wait an hour or so for someone to pick me up. After an hour of lessons I sure didn't want to hang around the studio and listen to other kids murder their songs! There was a little thrift shop next door to the studio and so I would often wander in there looking at their stuff.

After a couple of weeks of going in there, I got to know the ladies that ran the shop. As I remember, it was a fundraiser for a local church. Anyway, I started offering to help sort through the items that were brought in. Some items needed to be cleaned, mended, ironed, folded, etc. I remember one job was to cut off all of the buttons from shirts that weren't good enough to re-sale and then making bags of rags. One week they needed help setting up a new window display and I soon found that I loved arranging items for the window display. I couldn't wait to change the displays each week. It became very important to me to be there for "work" and was a good experience for me.

I enjoyed doing my little volunteer project and helping out. I had been taught by experts to give service - my parents. This was one of my first opportunities to really do something productive to help others. Sometimes we get so caught up in our lives that we forget that giving even an hour or two a week can help others. I think I need to do that again.

An Extraodinary Event

Last night I left work a little late. My boss, Keith is trying to get everything ready for a trip to Ghana, Africa and so I've been swamped this week. Anyway, when I called Frank to tell him I was on my way he told me that he had dinner already started!

Okay, this is the first time in over 42 years of marriage that this has happened! He actually made us some tinfoil dinners and put them on the BBQ to cook. They were very good. He cut up red potatoes, carrots, onions, celery, frozen meatballs (innovative idea), and added some bacon and cream of mushroom soup. We had them last week and he helped me put them together so he decided he could do it all by himself.

I was told this morning not to expect dinner tonight when I got home...

Past Friends

At the end of June we traveled to Alberta to attend the wedding of Don and Paulette Mudryk. Frank worked for Don on his water well drilling rig when we lived up there. At the time he was married to Sharon, who was a good friend of mine. After their divorce, Don and Paulette stopped to see visit us a few years ago and even though we were sad about Don and Sharon we really liked Paulette. We became even better friends through emails and phone calls. So, when the invitation came in to attend their wedding on June 27, Frank's birthday, we decided that we would take a long weekend at drive up there.

We had a great visit as we were able to see friends we haven't seen in years. Many of them were Don's family. We also went out to visit with Henry and Doris Gancer, who lived a few miles from us in Elk Point. They were a little older than us and really took us under their wing when we moved up there. They were also wonderful to my grandparents, who continued to go up there to go fishing after we moved.

In the slideshow is a photo of our old homestead. As we were driving out to see the Gancer's we saw a bear a mile away from our farm! We never saw one during the seven years we lived up there.

Last weekend Don and Paulette made a trip down here to buy a tree planting spade. While they were here they bought us all tickets to the Glenn Beck show at the IF Civic Auditorium. They are also big fans of Glenn. It was a great show and we really enjoyed it. On Sunday we took a drive up through Yellowstone Park. Just as we got out to watch Old Faithful, it roared into life! It too was a fun day.

Don and I used to really cross horns on just about everything and now, I guess age has changed us all as we seem to be on the same page about many things. Life takes us in many different directions but it's always nice to go back down the road and revisit those places and people we used to enjoy!

Crazy lady driving down Sunnyside

Theresa said I better write my little story down............

Friday morning, June 12, it was raining like crazy when I stopped at Walker Two to pick up the paperwork. One of my daily duties. After a weekend of rain there were huge puddles of water all over.

When I came out of the building it was raining and I was trying to run to my car so I wouldn't get too wet. I always just pull up and park and run into the building but I couldn't pull into the driveway so I parked parallel to the road. I got to my car, opened the back door, put the box in the back seat and then opened the front door to get in. Right then a little red Honda drove by, going very fast, and totally blasted me with water. I was soaked! The inside of my car got it all over - even the stuff in the back seat got wet. I didn't swear but I was MAD!

So I started down the road and could see the car up ahead a few cars. There's construction going on so they had to wait in line. On past the construction I could still see them going down Sunnyside so I started driving a little faster than usual, weaving in and out of traffic, to catch up with them. I didn't run any red lights though! Finally, I caught up to them just past the hospital so I started honking my horn at them. Needless to say, I pretty well did that all the way to Yellowstone Ave. By then they fell behind me. They probably didn't want that crazy old lady following them any more.

I could still see their car on Yellowstone headed towards my office. There was a fender bender and I was tempted to stop and tell the cop what had happened. But, then I couldn't decide what the charge would be. Negligence with water? Performing a splashing criminal act? Failure to control splashing?

When I arrived at my office and got out of the car my clothes were soaked and my hair was completely wet on the one side. I finally dried off and calmed down but I still have my eye out for that little red Honda. I have their license plate number...

While Jana was Home

Jana flew home for a week on May 30 until June 6th. We sure packed in a lot of fun stuff while she was here... along with a lot of food! We went down on Friday night and spent the night in SLC to pick her up on Saturday. On Sunday she went to church with us and came in our primary class and made friends with our kids. Everyone came over for Sunday dinner. It was such a nice day! Bryler was crawling all over the place!

Tuesday night was the start of a BAD addiction for many of us... I made arrangements for the "girls" to come over to make the new fashion trend, Bumble watches! Nikki Robison and Lynette Green, friends and co-workers came over and showed us how to make them. We had a blast and now every penny is being spent on making them! But, we sure are fashionable now!

During the week we had the chance to have lunch with Dad and Merlene on day. On another lunch time it was Theresa, Jana and I. And then Layne was working on Sunday so he brought Karlee, Tanner, and Val down for another lunch! On Thursday it was Caleb's birthday so we all met at Applebee's for dinner! Jana also had lunch with a few friends in Poky one day and on Friday! So it was pretty well, eat, eat, eat... But it was so fun to have her around for the week. She just lives too darn far away.

Honoring Those We Love

It's been a year as of May 13th since Karla passed away. It's hard to believe that she's been gone that long. They set her new headstone this week so that it would be there for Memorial Day. Nyla and Cindi did a nice job of choosing one that suited her so well.

It's also been 20 years since my mom, Marie, died on June 2nd. It seems like yesterday... We still miss her so much. I feel bad that my younger kids have not had the chance to know what a wonderful lady she was.

Helping Theresa and Rich plant their garden.

Cute Pictures

Jana at Disney World getting ready for the day.

Ryder, Ali and Bryan on Easter Sunday

Ryder (Bryan and Ali's), Tenlee (Tera's), and great-grandson Bryler (Caleb and Tiffany's)