Ma Faulring's gallery

Pictures of Scott and I... Part 1

2010-06-07T04:12:00.000-06:00

Last year we had pictures done, of Scott and I. It was the most frustrating experience, ever! We went to Walmart... and I should have known better when the girl mentioned she was kind of new, and was left by herself there that day.... To make matter worse..... The equipment for the back drops was broken.

Now everything inside of me screamed.... "Run!!!! Forget it today!!!! It won;t work!!!!" But I was stubborn and wanted to get some pictures of us to send to Scott's mom.... So.... we stayed. I was disgusted with the results... needless to say...

I found that a friend of ours had started taking photos, and from the work I had seen of hers... I was greatly impressed! Especially since she was beginning... Her photos she had taken of my niece and other people were absolutely amazing... so I called Amy to do pictures for Scott and I.

Late April we met Amy at her house, and she and her sister Annette helped style my hair a bit, and Amy put makeup on me... I looked pretty good, I think.... compared to how I usually look, hair pulled up and back out of my face, maybe a little bit of mascara....

We followed Amy to a park in Pleasant Grove. It was pretty there... it had a little park area, and a little stream and the trees were blossoming. Quite a pretty scene. We had a couple pictures taken sitting on a large rock near the stream then went to see if we could cross the stream and Amy take pictures of us on the other side. We went across the bridge but it didn't cross the stream! It went parallel to it. I tried to step on a large rock to cross the stream first, then help Scott over, however, the first step I took.... down I went,.... banging my knee on the large rock and then falling into the stream. Scott came tumbling down on top of me...

Well, with my pant left totally soaking, I was laughing pretty hard, though my leg hurt a bit. That adding to the cool water, and laughing so hard, I had to find an open bathroom...... After a quick trip to the rest room, we took a few more pictures, making sure to "hide" the wet leg as much as I could.

After a few minutes we left to go to another little park area that had a large duck pond..... This time we did not fall into the water!

Unfortunately as it was pretty early in the day, and the sun was so bright, some of the pictures did not turn out. The ones that did turn out, are pretty good.... Here is what we have.......

This one I was telling Scott if he didnt act nice I was going to bite him, but it looks a little seductive... lol

This one turned out pretty cute... this is the first picture... before I fell into the stream.

This was taken by the duck pond..... It turned out cute too.

Pictures of Jon and Bri's family

2010-06-07T02:57:00.003-06:00

I like to play with my camera lately and try to improve my picture taking skills. I decided to try to take pictures of my grand-kids. So far I have gotten Jon's family, and still need to get the others..... Soon..... Here are the results of the ones I did with Jon and Bri and the kids.....

This is Addy... or Adelyn Grayce. She is just over a year old.

I decided to get Addy first since she was ready, and to get her quickly while she seemed happy.

Addy did pretty well, the pictures turned out pretty cute, too!

Uh oh, gotta do this quick... lol

I was quite pleased with how these turned out!

Now to get all the girls at once...... This turned out pretty cute..... Kaitlyn, Addy and Kaisa. They are wearing the Easter outfits I got them. They look so cute!

LOL I love Addy's grin!

Kaitlyn is quite photogenic.....

Last one of all the girls together......

Kaisa....... Kaisa is 4 now.

This is a real cute picture of Kaisa.

That is an impish grin if I have ever seen one! lol What a cutie!

A snuggly bunny!

Now pictures of Kaitlyn.... Kaitlyn is 7 now. She is getting so big!

What a pretty girl!

Kaitlyn and Kaisa.......

Now... my little, big man.... Kaleb. Kaleb is such a sweetie! I wish we could see him more often... He is now 7!

Kaleb has his dad's mild disposition

Another cutie!

And.... Gage. Gage just turned 3 a little bit ago.

Gage was a little harder to get to sit still, lol....

Poor kid... he is in that clumsy state as you can tell by the bruise on his forehead... lol

And.... FINALLY.... a cute one of Gage!

Now the challenge.... All the kids at once! well.... not too bad, but let's try again, shall we?

Now this one is cute.... let's try another one.....

Okay, I think the other one was better.... I think we are done.... That's a wrap!

Mid-March Snow fall

2010-06-07T02:37:00.000-06:00

Just when it starts to warm a little, Mother Nature throws us a curve ball! This snow was pretty wet and heavy..... Oh.... Where are you Spring?

This is actually taken from Tiffany's hospital room, a block from our house.

Another view of the snow covered mountains

Kaydance sure loves to play in the snow.

She loves to build her snowmen, too

poor little bird house.... no one home

The heavy snow on the pine tree branches, just over my car.....

We got about 6 inches... looks pretty heavy.... and Cold!!

That's better.... knocking the snow off the branches so they don't break from the weight of the heavy snow.

Abby and Ariel love to play in the snow

Heidi thinks she is as tough as the bigger dogs.... she gets half way buried in the snow!~

Poor Heidi is ready to go back in... the snow was up to her tummy or more, so she had little snow balls stuck in her fur.

Tiffany's surgery

2010-06-07T02:25:00.000-06:00

Tiffany has been having quite the time of it with her stomach. She had her gall bladder taken out in Dec. 2009, and then in March, they found she had an adhesion that had attached to her appendectomy scar on one end, and then wrapped itself around her small intestine, causing a partial blockage, and attaching to the intestine.

She had gone in to the ER and they decided to keep her overnight as they suspected she would need surgery. I was with her in the ER for a good part of the night, and left around 3 am, after they had put a nasal-gastric tube down through her nasal into her stomach. She was not happy with that at all as they are pretty painful to put in and are uncomfortable. '

Dr. Pugh, the surgeon on call, came in to see Tiffany the next morning. He seemed like an arrogant jerk at first and gave Tiffany a hard time. He accused her of "Dr shopping" though he had not taken the time to hear her history with her pain and the bowels, not to mention the D & C she had to have when she miscarried back in October.

When I came back into see her and see what was going on, he acted a little nicer. I was concerned as Tiffany was in tears and pretty upset. The Dr said he was going to check with the surgeon that had taken her gall bladder out in Dec. and see if that Dr noticed anything curious. When he left the room, Tiffany told me how he had talked to her and the way he had acted. I was furious. The Nurse with Tiffany said he was pretty rude.

When he came back, I told him he had no right treating her the way he did, especially when he doesn't have all the facts and know her history. I told him it was an arrogant Dr like him back in 2000, that nearly cost Tiffany her life because of an obstruction that was not seen on the x-rays or CT scans. He changed his tune a bit, and was now acting nice. They took Tiffany down for surgery a couple of hours later.

When the operation was completed, Dr Pugh came out and told me that he had found an adhesion band that had attached and wrapped itself around the intestine causing a partial blockage. He also stated that the area where she had the previous obstruction was a little inflamed and starting to constrict. And if the pain didn't go away with the removal of the adhesion band, she needed to come back within the month and have that area resectioned.

Tiffany came home the next day, and seemed a little better for a couple days, but then the pain was back... and it is still a continuous problem getting someone to agree to go in and fix what Dr Pugh should have fixed while he was in there!

This

This is Tiffany after her surgery, feeling pretty good with the pain meds they gave her. She was pretty funny.... out of the blue she gives me this look and says... "Tatonto" It is from Dancing with Wolves, and means Buffalo.... I have no idea where it came from, but it was pretty funny.

LOL,.... she is going to kill me for posting these!

"You are getting sleeeeeepy!"

"When I count to 3, you will be asleep.... One,.... Two..... Three!"

She kept grabbing her cell phone and talking to people that were not there as well.... quite entertaining!

Scott's long walk home

2010-06-07T02:04:00.001-06:00

Some time mid Feb, 2010, Scott had been acting a little off. I watched him for a bit in the morning, and then went to a meeting for work. I was only gone an hour. When I got back, Tiffany said that "dad" kept asking where Kaydee was. When Tiff told him she was at school, he replied, "She is just a baby, she can't go to school yet!" This conversation apparently had been repeated quite a few times within a short period of time. He seemed a little confused and off balance as well.

I got home and Tiffany had told me what had happened, so I decided to take Scott to Utah Valley to get checked. It seems that he may have had some mini strokes. He was having a hard time standing up without losing his balance, and his left side of his face seemed to be a little droopy.

We were at Utah Valley for about 4 hours when Scott lost his patience and was tired of waiting for the results. He was irritated as he could see a couple orderlies sitting at the nurse's station, just talking and he was hungry, and wanted to go home. He threatened that he was going to just walk out.

I went out to find a nurse, and told her that Scott was getting antsy, and since his strokes previously, he was hard to reason with. I asked if they could give him Adivan or something to help calm him down. I never saw the nurse again....

About 15 minutes later, Scott gets up and walks out of the room. I went out and found another nurse and explained what had occurred. By then they had the results of his MRI. It appeared there was no new signs that showed up at that time, however, I did notice and learn that there are silver bodies in the dura matter of his brain, and is indicative of Pick's Disease. I had never heard of that before. It is a degenerative disease like Alzheimer's, with no known cure... Life expectency is between 4 - 10 years. It is a form of Dimentia.

Well, I left the ER area, and expected to see Scott sitting in the waiting area for me, but nope, he wasn't there. I was getting frustrated...

Oh by the way, I was on crutches because I had bruised my knee bone a few days before and was supposed to stay off my leg! Yeah, right!

So I hobbled out to the parking lot, and of course it had been full, so we were parked in pergatory, near the road. When I got to the car, no Scott! I tossed the crutches into the back seat of the car and shut the door, and hobbled back to the ER. I had them check to make sure he hadn't just walked out of the room, and was circling the ER area. Of course, he wasn't there. Someone said they had seen him out by the helipad. That sounded like Scott!

I was panicking now. I had no idea where to start looking for him! I went out to the car, and drove past the parking area with the helipad, then down around the parking areas of the hospital.

I called my daughter next. I was so panicked! I told her, "I need you now!" Poor Tiffany got upset and said, "What happened? Did Dad die?" "No!" I said.... "If he had, at least I would know where he is!" I then told her what had happened. She called my sons, and then got in her car to come down and help look for him.

I know he still has his sense of direction, and knows where he is, but I was afraid he might get hit by a car from not paying attention, or get mugged. It is hard to rationalize and think logically when we are dealing with Scott!

We called the Provo Police, and they came to the hospital and did a report. This way they could keep a look out for him, and if he did anything stupid, they would know he is not right in the mind.

Tiffany, Jon and Bri with kids, and Spence and Renee with kids appeared and we each took an area to search. Tiff had also called my parents, who also joined in the man hunt. After two long hours of not finding anything, we decided to go home to wait and see if he would show up. There was nothing more we could do!

Mom and Dad came over a few minutes after I got home. I had looked up "Pick's Disease" and sure enough, a lot of the symptoms sounds exactly like Scott. Hoo Boy, it is going to get even more crazy!

We were sitting in the Living Room when the door opens, and in walks Scott..... No coat on, mid Feb. and still a bit chilly, and with the IV needle still in his arm! He had walked all the way home from Provo to Orem, which is about a 10 mile walk! He stopped along the way at Shopko so he could warm up a little bit. But he had walked the back way, and I don't know why, and it had occurred to me to check that way, but I didn't.

His first words out of his mouth when he walked in were "Well, ya got any plans for dinner?" I couldn't believe it! I told him, "Well, ya moron.... You could have eaten a few hours ago, if everyone wasn't out looking for your sorry butt!" I was glad to see him safe, but oh .... so mad at him!

Mom looked at me and had noticed what I noticed when Scott spoke... I don't know why it didn't show, but Scott's mouth still drooped a little on the left side.

I got him fed, after we took the IV needle out of his arm, and then he decided he was pretty worn out from his adventures.... and he slept all night and most of the next day. He complained the next day when he got up that his hips hurt from all that walking....

After a few days, he seemed to be a bit better and not as confused. I think it was a mini stroke... but unfortunately they don't always show up till a couple days after the fact.

I tell ya, he is going to be the death of me yet!

Christmas 2009.

2010-06-07T01:18:00.003-06:00

"Twas the Night before Christmas and all through our house,
The dogs did not stir, nor did my spouse!" He he.....

Our Christmas tradition when our kids were growing up was to wake them up shortly after Midnight to open their gifts. This way we didn't have to keep yelling at them to get back into bed, like my parents did with us, and they could play until they got tired and went to bed. We would watch the kids open their gifts and play for a bit, then went back to bed and let them play. It was nice to be able to sleep in. It also made the day more relaxed and we could then spend the day visiting with family or spend time with each other. It separated the "Santa" part of Christmas from the true purpose as well.

Some of my kids keep this tradition with their own kids. We got pictures of Kaydance after waking her up to open her gifts. It took her a while to get to sleep as she was so excited. As Tiffany and Kaydance were living with us, it was easier to get pictures of her opening her presents.

Santa brought Kaydance a Large wooden doll house that she absolutely loved! Her daddy helped put it together for her.

Later that day we went over to see Jon and Bri and the kids. This is Gage. We gave him a hobby horse that when you pushed a button the horse neighed. He thought it was pretty cool. Unfortunately, Kaitlyn was with her dad and we did not get to see her open her gifts, and Kaleb was down for Thanksgiving. We sent his Christmas gifts with him when he came down for Thanksgiving.

Adelyn Grayce, opening her gift from us.

Kaisa looking at the Princess little tent we got for her.

We also got Gage a Basketball shoot game he could play with his daddy.

Bri helping Addy open her other gift from us. Ha ha, I can't remember what it was!

Kaisa opening her other gift from us. It was a cute little doll that sings "I'm a little teapot."

After we were done at Jon and Bri's, we went to see Renee and Spencer and their kids. This is Pyper. I got all the older girls a Snow White DVD. I have started getting them the Disney Classics each year a new movie comes out to build their Collection. This is Pyper with her Snow White. She was pretty thrilled with this.

Pyper is also into computer games and Wii games. She does pretty well with them too. She has good coordination with a lot of these games. I found a game that hooked up to the t.v. and had 50 different games in the cartridge.

For our big Thanksgiving dinner we had met at a Church. The kids got some toys they were playing with in the gym where we set up to have our dinner. One of the things they got out was a shopping cart. Jordan had a blast with it, so I got him one for Christmas. He was just tickled with it.

Pyp

Pyper and Kaydance were just as excited about Jordan's gift and were trying to help him get it out of the box.

We also got Hordan a tonka set that had a helicopter and police car and firetruck. And of course, like any good grandparent does, we made sure it made noise!

My little buddy, Ashton. I think this is a soft stuffed dog....

We also got him nesting cups, the stacking rings, and a shape ball for eye-hand coordination.

Ashton playing with the stacking cups.

Jordan playing with his fire truck.

After a long day, back at home, trying to relax. Kaydee played with Abby for a bit, poor Abby!

December 13, 2000, Finally decorated for Chirstmas

2010-06-07T00:34:00.001-06:00

I finally decorated for Christmas about the 13th of December. This is pretty late for me as I usually put my tree up on my birthday, the end of November. I started to set my tree up, and part of the plugs for the lights were missing so I found a new nice artificial tree that was on sale. I love it more than the tree I had as it looks more full. After setting up the tree, I started to get into the season. I put up my little village on top of the fireplace, and started wrapping up presents I had gotten earlier.

My snowmen by the fireplace (above) My Christmas Tree (right)

My little Christmas Village

My Snow people

Tigger laying under the tree, his favorite hiding place.

Playing with the camera, some decorations. The tree globe and the Church change colors.

Two of my favorite decorations.

Iridescent Snowflakes.

I liked the white and gold on my tree. It looked elegant.

Close up of my little village

Someone is a little anxious for Christmas and opening gifts.

Nice and cozy ambiance feeling

Tigger, just being lazy

Blue Eyes, peering from the tree. I love how this picture turned out.

Another one of Blue eyes. Boy my cats love the tree!

Dog Day afternoon! Ariel taking a nap.

Ariel and Heidi.

Heidi, what a cute face!

Close up of Heidi's face

Marley, Joseph's cat. Marley and Tigger look a lot alike, but Tigger is a little fatter and has a fluffier, though shorter tail. Marley is sleek.

Snow on the Mountains... Beginning to look like Christmas!

Nov. 28, 2010 ~ Celebrating Kaisa and my birthday

2010-05-20T02:29:00.000-06:00

Bri had called us and told us to come to breakfast to celebrate Kaisa and my birthday. She made pancakes, in which the kids used cookie cutters to cut shapes out of their pancakes. They enjoyed that. We had sausage links as well with the pancakes. The Birthday Breakfast was pretty fun.

Pyper and Gage

Kaitlyn cutting a shape from her pancake. (above) Kaitlyn, Kaydance and Kaleb having fun cutting shapes

Adelyn

Brianne

Scott, boy he needs a hair cut!

Kaisa and I

Pyper

Kaleb. Kaleb was able to come for Thanksgiving break.

Opening gifts

A Barbie Doll

A baby doll

Playing with playdough and the toys

More playdough toys

Halloween 2010

2010-05-20T01:57:00.001-06:00

For Halloween this year, Renee and Tiffany decided to dress the kids in costumes from the Wizard of Oz. They really looked cute.

Pyper as the Witch, Kaydance as Dorothy, and Jordan as the cowardly Lion.

Kaydance

Pyper and Jordan

Jordan is excited about his lion head.

Looking at Grama's Halloween Globe.

Jon, Bri and the kids. Jon was Schrek from Christmas Schrek, Bri was, hmmmm I don't remember, a mad Dr I think, Kaisa was Ms. Blueberry from Strawberry Shortcake, and Gage was a horse. And Adelyn was a leopard. Kaitlyn was with her dad.

Jon

Kaisa

Gage

Kaisa and Gage.

Addy

At work we celebrated Halloween the day before since Halloween fell on Saturday. I wanted to dress up for work, but couldn't figure out what to dress up as. A little before I needed to leave for work, I decided to go as a Turkey. I ran to Walmart and found a men's brown shirt, and brown stretch pants, and got some poster board in different colors. I quickly cut out feathers from the poster board and stapled them to the back of the shirt. I next cut out turkey feet and stapled them to the tongue of my sneakers. Next I cut one leg off girls red stockings and cut out a beak and stapled the beak to a part of the red stockings. I got the shirt and pants on, and stuffed a pillow in the shirt... well, who likes a skinny turkey? I slipped the stocking over my head with my face sticking out the cut out leg area, and the other leg hanging down from my chin as my gobbler, and pulled the beak in place. I was laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes.... my kids thought I was nuts, (what else is new!) but were laughing pretty hard too.

The tricky part was to try and get in the car with the dang feathers, and the big feet. I didn't thnk of that! I finally got to work, and the phone agents were still on the phones. When I walked it made a weird flip flop noise, so the agents had turned to see what the noise was.... and busted laughing out loud... they of course had to explain to their poor customers they were on the phones with why they were laughing.

I felt pretty silly, but it was fun to make the agents laugh, and put a little fun in at work. My Operations Manager thought the costume was so cool that they used it for a turkey shoot with a nurf gun for Thanksgiving games the day before Thanksgiving at work. I also went out during our family Thanksgiving meal and changed into it and came running in. I went up to my poor Aunt Dorothy and surprised her.... I squealed and feigned disgust at her eating turkey... She was a little shocked at first, but then realized and laughed. The little kids thought it was great, but again, my kids were embarrassed and my brother and sister were just shaking their heads... I had fun with it!

Side note: The neighbor across from us told me that she and the kids had fun watching me try to get into my car in that costume, and were sitting there in the window laughing.

Changing color in the mountains.

2010-05-20T01:07:00.000-06:00

I love to watch the leaves change colors. It is my favorite time of year, because of the beauty all around, and the beginning of football season. I used to love driving down the freeway back in New York as there were trees between the lanes on divided highways. It was absolutely gorgeous to see. I miss the vast number of trees and the lush green, but the mountains are quite majestic and give me the same feeling of awe when the trees in the mountains start to change colors.

I decided to go up near Bridal Veil Falls one day to catch some of the beauty on my camera. I am quite pleased with the results....

Thanksgiving Point ~ September 2009

2010-05-18T11:42:00.003-06:00

We took the kids to the petting zoo at Thanksgiving Point. The kids had a lot of fun. It was fun to have a mini zoo that wasn't crowded or that far from us.

On our way in the girls wanted their picture taken together..... Pyper (standing) Kaitlyn and Kaydance. Jordan joins the fun

Petting the cows....

Ashton wasn't too impressed yet.

Until the cow tried to stretch its neck further to see Ashton

Jordan trying to get closer to pet the cow

The girls with a pony

Jordan just wanted to pet everything...

A Llama

The cow finally got close enough for Jordan to pet... he kept going back to this cow

It stuck his head out pretty good for all the kids to pet him

The baby finally comes over for some lovin

Ashton is just kicking back enjoying his ride and drink

Kaitlyn on her pony ride...

Pyper isnt so sure about this yet

Kaydance has already been on a horse a few times and still loves it.

Renee walking along side of Jordan. I think Renee was trying to watch where she stepped... lol

Ashton learned to like the ride pretty quickly. He was curious about the Horse.

Taking a waggon ride. Renee and Ashton.

Kaydance, Kaitlyn and Spencer

Kaitlyn, Pyper, Jordan and Spencer. Jordan loved the ride.

Ashton and I. Ashton was bouncing up and down on my lap and I couldn't get him to sit still... it was making me laugh

Some pretty scenery along our ride.

Looking back at the farm

Jordan winding down, lol

Back at the farm.... We found a little room that had cards where you planted the seeds, harvested them, and put them on a conveyer belt. They even had trees with cards of fruits you picked. The kids had a blast and it was a nice break from the heat.

Ashton having fun playing with the cards.

Kaitlyn putting cards back on the tree.

Jordan had a blast playing in this area.

The 3 Amigas in jail.... Kaydance, Pyper and Kaitlyn

In the Wild West there are a lot of little territorial jails....In the Wild West there are a lot of little territorial jails....

Jordan likes the jail...

The duck pond

The Pig pen... This guy must have reall been hungry to be laying in his food.....

Taking a break in the shade...

The Chicken coop

The Peacocks

On our way out Jordan found a toy farm to play with.

The grape vines at the entrance/exit.

A bunch of grapes... oooh they look good!

Sitting in the shade waiting for the air to cool the cars.

Grandparents' Day

2010-05-16T19:08:00.002-06:00

In September the school had grandparents day where we could go and spend the day with our grandchild(ren). I went to spend the day with Kaydance. She had to introduce me and say what she likes to do with me, and where I live. Kaydee said she liked to sit with me and read, or used to like it when I rocked her as a baby, and well it was easy for her to tell where I live since she lives with me.

We watched as they took a timed math test, and then as they had story time. After that was lunch time. I went with her as she bought her lunch, and I brought my lunch since I was trying a new diet. We went outside and sat on the side walk to eat. Kaydee's friend came and ate with us.

After we ate, Kaydee went and joined the running club. They had a card with their name on it and they got a star for each time they ran around the field. Once they got so many points they could trade them in for prizes. It was to promote healthy living and exercising. Kaydee ran twice around the field. She is quite the runner!

Off for another lap.....

The leaves on the trees in the mountains starting to change color.

2010-05-16T12:22:00.000-06:00

We went up to Bountiful for Bailey's birthday party. They met at her grama's house first for pizza, and then we went bowling.

Kaydance, deciding she is full already

Bailey

Bailey gets a Strike her first turn.

Tiffany's turn

Kaydance trying to handle the ball, a little heavy! lol

UGH, What a face!

Heather and Bailey

I loved how the shoes and laces blended into the glowing carpet!~ lol

Bailey, Kaydance, and Bailey's friends

Blowing out the candles

Opening gifts

Swimming at Jon's ~ July 2009

2010-05-16T12:00:00.000-06:00

We went over to Jon and Bri's for a little bit for swimming, or to watch them swim. It was fun watching the kids having fun in the pool. It took a little bit to get all the kids ready to go and their wings on them.

Kaleb and Kaisa (Rt.) Gage waiting to go in (above)

Bri and Kaisa

Kaleb.

Kaisa

Gage

Kaitlyn

Adelyn

Kaleb jumping in, a little blurry

What a cutie!

Jon boy

Scott having fun watching the kids, trying to stay dry.

Scott: "Put the camera away" Me: "Sure thing, got all the pictures I need anyway!" he he

Jordan's 3rd Birthday ~ 2009

2010-05-15T22:45:00.000-06:00

We went to the Scera park for Jordan's birthday barbeque. It was fun.... Kaleb was spending a couple weeks with Jon and Bri so it was fun to have him there too. The kids loved playing on the swing and gym sets for a while before we got them to come and eat.
Jordan on the slide

Kaleb

Kaisa

Ashton chewing on a piece of straw.

Kaitlyn

Pyper

Kaydance

Gage

Adelyn Grayce

It's a girl thing....

Kaisa loves to climb on things....

Just hanging around and having fun.,....

Pyper is so funny with her facial expressions! She was collecting pine cones and wanting to take them home.

Kaydance

The older grandkids

Jon, Renee, Grama and Grampa Great

Tired baby

Jordan gets a bike for his birthday.

Spencer trying to teach Jordan how to peddle his bike.

Kaitlyn's Ladybug that landed on her hand.

Spencer, Tiffany and Joey actually talking and not arguing! Wow.... a true Kodak moment! lol

Jon and Kaleb throwing the football.

Time for cake!

Starting from left to right, and youngest to oldest... Joseph, Tiffany, Spencer and Jon.

I never realized how much taller than me my boys are, but I am still taller than Tiffany.... I think soon most of my grandkids will be taller than Tiffany. She is about 4'9"! lol

4th of July at the park and Fireworks ~ 2009

2010-05-15T21:56:00.000-06:00

We have a great place to watch the fireworks from the Stadium of Fire without having to fight the traffic leaving BYU stadium. We park near mom and dad's and walk down the road to the park. It is also nice as the kids can run and play, and get out extra energy, and we can relax, and then the fireworks are almost at eye level and we dont have to kink our necks watching the fireworks. It also only takes about 10 minutes to get home at the end of the show.

I actually got Jordan to sit still long enough to get some cute pictures of him! He had fun just running and playing.

Pyper playing in the sand box.

Spencer and Ashton.

Jordan and Ashton.

View of the park and the mountains in the back ground.

A close up of Y- Mountain in the distance.

I kept watching to see if we were going to get rained out, but the weather held out until a bit after the fireworks.

Renee, Spencer and Jordan.

Pyper and her sparkler. She burned a finger on a sparkler a little after this and we told her to put ice on her finger. She got an ice cube from the cooler, and then would drag the cooler with her and keep her finger in it. It was pretty funny watching her drag the cooler around when she wanted to go somewhere.

Ashton was pretty intrigued with all the sparklers and fireworks people were lighting.

Jordan had fun playing with Grama Great's cane.

The Apache fly by

A little to the left of the Y on the mountain, there are 2 Apaches.

Ashton starting to get into the Fireworks.

Ashton's Birthday ~ July 4, 2009.

2010-05-15T21:14:00.000-06:00

Hard to believe that Ashton is a year old already! He is still a bit small for his age, but he quite the mover. He has been walking for 2 1/2 months already. His actual birthday is on July 4th. We met together at the park to celebrate his birthday and have his party. We all brought a picnic lunch and I brough some huge cupcakes. A bit later that day Jon and Bri and their kids, and Tiffany and Kaydance went to the Stadium of Fire for the show and the fireworks.

Having a picnic lunch

Jordan playing with a truck

Jon and Gage

Kaitlyn

Kaisa

Pyper, Jordan and Renee

Kaydance

Spencer

Renee and Ashton

Brianne and Adelyn

Jordan

From left to right.... Jordan, Gage, Kaisa, Pyper, Kaitlyn and Kaydance

Ashton

Tiffany and Spencer

Tiffany and Pyper

Joseph

Ashton enjoying his huge cupcake.

Frosting on the face.

Kaydance's Birthday party ~ June 2009.

2010-05-15T17:20:00.002-06:00

We had Kaydee's party at the Bonneville park near our house. Jon, Bri and their kids, Spence, Renee and their kids, and Ray and his kids were there to help celebrate. We had gotten Pizza, and drinks for the kids to enjoy, and to help neutralize the sugar of the cake.

Kaydee turned 7 years old.

Brianne and Addy

Jon, Gage, Kaitlyn and Tiffany

Kaydee and Ray up in the tree

Ray's boys up a bit further in the tree.

Kaitlyn playing on the slide.

Kaisa and Gage

Kaisa

Kaitlyn and Pyper.

Gage

Kaitlyn

Pyper

Kaitlyn, Pyper, Tasha, Kaydance, and Gage.

Kaydance

Kaisa

Jordan... He is hard to get pictures of as he doesnt stand still

Renee and Spencer

Tiffany, Kaydee's mommy

Abby, Kaydee's dog

Kaydee got a bike for her birthday. She loved riding it in the park. She also got a horn and helmet for her bike.

Opening up gifts.

Jordan looking to see what was in the bag.

And more gifts

Scott's heart problem ~ June 2009

2010-05-14T04:28:00.000-06:00

So I left girls camp the night before the rest of the group were leaving so I could go home and check on Scott. When I got home, he was sitting in the recliner, watching a movie and snacking on something. I checked his sugar and it was 45! Why he was okay then but needed the paramedics the night before baffled me, but I made him something to eat to raise his sugar a little and then kept an eye on him.

A week to the day he had been watching tv all day with our granddaughter, Kaydee. My parents had stopped by to visit about 4:30 for a few minutes and Scott decided to take a shower and then lay down until dinner was done. I started to make dinner about 5 PM after mom and dad had left, and about 5:45 I went to wake Scott up to eat before I had to leave for work. When I went in to wake him, he was rigid... I thought he was playing his dumb dead hamster trick again, until I heard him making a funny noise like he was trying to breathe.

I rolled him over to see him better and he was in the middle of a seizure. I took the pillow out from under his head to open his air wave better and then checked his sugar. I could not get a reading it was so low, but I was confused as he had been eating all day! I gave him only half his Insulin dose though his sugar had been in the high 300s earlier, because I was afraid it would go low. I yelled for Tiffany to call the paramedics while I tried to talk to Scott and get some kind of response. I was terrified beyond anything I had felt before.

The paramedics came and put an IV line into him and gave him pure glucose to get his sugar up. His sugar read 29! I couldnt believe it... how could that be when he had eaten all day... and I mean all day! His heart rate though was down to 34!~ I at first thougth of a heart attack as he was so cold and clammy to the touch, and he was sweating buckets!

A couple minutes later Scott responded and when he saw all the paramedics on the bed he says, "Hey, I remember you guys, you were here last week, too!" I had to laugh.... I couldnt hold it back, it was a nervous laugh like the ones that slip out and you can't control, but it was a typical Scott response.

Because his heart rate was still pretty low, they packed him up onto the ambulance, and I rode in front, and we took him in to the main hospital. Tiffany called Jon and Spence to let them know, and then called my parents. A little bit later my parents came back into the emergency room, my moral support..... They wondered what had happened as they had just left not too long before than and he was fine!

We were there for about 4 hours, they checked his sugar readings and monitored his heart, and took blood tests. We just stayed by his side and waited for the test results. After about an hour he was starting to feel a bit better. He kept pestering us to get a news paper as Michael Jackson had died that day and he wanted to read the paper. It didn't make it into the papers yet, but we couldnt get him to understand that, so finally we watched the news.

A little after our oldest son, Jon, and my dad had given Scott a blessing, he started to improved. The cold drenching sweat had stopped, his sugar leveled, and his coloring got better. Problem is, the enzyme they check for a heart attack doesnt generally show up in the blood tests until about 4 or 5 hours after the fact, and at 4 hours they were sending us home!

About a couple months later we took him to see a Cardiologist and had some tests done. We found he has a leak in one of his valves but it isnt too alarming yet. Note worthy to keep and eye on, though.

It was quite a scary experience, and one I hope not to experience again for quite a long time. You are never really prepared to have to go through an experience like that.... I still to this day, and have since his strokes, check to make sure he is still breathing when he is asleep. If he is awake enough he gets upset with me and says... "Yes, I am still alive, and breathing! Stop that!" And I always thought I was being sneaky with it and didnt want him to know what I was doing.

We have not had any episodes since, and hope not to for a very, very long time!

Girl's Camp ~ June 2009

2010-05-13T12:29:00.003-06:00

I had been wanting to go to girls camp for quite some time. I had gone back in 1998, 99, 2000 and 2001. I love the beauty surrounding the camp, and the serenity. I also love being with the girls and watching them have fun and learn. I finally got to go this year, as the camp for our ward. I was in heaven. I needed a break from work, and from taking care of Scott.

It was hard work being the camp chef even though the girls helped. I was on my feet most of the day. It seemed as soon as we got a meal done and cleaned up we were getting another one ready. But I loved it.

What I didn't love was the cold! It was so bitter cold and rainy most of the time. There was snow still on the one mountain top near us. The girls still had fun through all the cold and rain, and we really didnt hear any complaints! I kept hot water going for them to make hot chocolate or hot apple cider to help warm them up on the inside.

Shelley had a lot of crafts and activities to keep the girls busy when it was raining hard and we weren't able to do things inside. And the girls liked being able to just hang out with their friends and talk or play games.

I have some herniated discs in my lower back so I usually take my big air mattress.... yeah I am a baby about sleeping on the floor..... I used to be okay but with the cold, my back, and not to forget my Fibromyalgia, I was hurting..... But I was envied by a lot of the girls... and leaders, ha ha.

Our color this year was yellow, and the Stake theme was "Bloom where you are planted." We chose the sunflower as our flower and the theme "Follow the Son".

Of course the Stake had activities for the girls to do as well. We usually have a humanitarian project we do that benefits someone, or a service project. As it has been almost a year since camp, I can't for the life of me remember what the project was! But I know they also made little bracelets for themselves.

Maegan talking to Kelly Hill.

Kelsey, Alicia and Beckah around the camp fire. Kelsey and Alicia licking the chocolate off the cover of the Brownies, lol.

Our first night for dinner we had Sloppy Joes, delicious macaroni salad, (made by Judy Flack and sent up with us), Chips, cut veggies, and Brownies from the BYU bakery... oh yeah, the good ones... some with the mint frosting! YUMMMMMM..... In this picture is Shelley, (or the back of her, Rochelle Warner, Kensey Deadmond, and Katie Gubler.

The next day we went down by the lake for our activities. The first one we were at the pavillion and Bishop Warner and Bishop Anderson joined us. We played 2 Truths and a Lie. I thought I was going to stump the girls as many didnt know me well, but they guessed the lie.

Bishop Anderson videoing the activity. It was so good to see Bishop Anderson there and doing so well. In July of 2006 he had fallen off a roof while helping someone reshingle their home, and fell onto the cement. He ended up having to have quite a few surgeries to remove blood clots from his brain. At first for the first few days we didn't know if he would live, but he was strong... then against all odds, he pushed himself in physical therapy to get the strength back in his legs to walk again! He is amazing! He has some memory deficits, but has worked hard to be where he is now... With his hard work and his faith, the faith of his family and prayers of the ward members he is overcome a lot!

After this activity, we headed down to the lake for our canoeing activity. It still was pretty cold but we warmed up by rowing! It was still fun.

Above: Kelsey Warner, Brookelyn Hill and Rochelle Warner. Left: Shaila Hill, Shirley Hayward and Alicia Kallunki.

Kristine Webb, Anaka, and Bishop Warner. Bishop got in trouble for splashing the girls with his oar... ha ha ha.

Erin Liljenquist and I. Yeah, I even got in and gave it a whirl... I do pretty good actually! But boy my arms hurt the next day!!

Sadly our time on the lake went by very quickly, and we headed back up into the wilderness area, leaving the lake to another group of girls to enjoy. I am always amazed at how quick time seems to fly at camp, whether it is the group of activities we participate in, or the fun in watching the girls find imaginitive things to do while there, or just the calming influence being surrounded by the beauty and God's creations, I can't put a finger on it yet, but hope to be able to go back often to experience it again and again! It may also be due to the company of the girls and the other leaders.... Just maybe a combination of all these things! I just wish it didnt go by so quickly as I am usually not ready to go when it is time to leave, but I know I must return to reality, and my family, home, work and all my responsibilities and let others have the experiences of being in this piece of heaven too!

After our dinner of Hawaiian Haystacks, tossed salad and s'mores, we all met together at the pavillion to do ward skits. Each ward put a few items, just random items into a bag, along with two random words, and the bags were passed out. a skit to present for skit night. Each ward was to come up with a skit to present for skit night. Our bag had a Witches hat, a pink boa and I can't remember the rest, but the girls did a fantastic job planning a skit. They used the theme of Harry Potter, using the witches hat as the sorting hat. It was a blast, and I think the best of the night!

Thursday we had the canoe races. We had a quick meeting with just all the leaders, and it was raining, or course, but Diane Avery and I had gone down to the little town to the store to grab a few things, and on our way back it was hailing pretty hard. It was headed our way up at camp. We informed the Stake leaders and they discussed it and decided to go ahead with the races. Brrrrr!

It started out okay with the weather, but it changed quickly and rained, then hailed, and we had thunder added on to that. We got the girls off the lake as quickly as possible.

I think Kristine Webb (above) was either having too much fun, or they won the race, or she couldn't believe it had started to hail!

Kelsey and Beckah look mighty cold!

The wooded area behind our camp spot. Just a little after we got the girls back to our camp area, it stopped raining, and hailing, and started to get nice outside ! finally! The girls had fun being able to play their games in a large circle near our site. After dinner, we were able to get all the girls from our Stake together in the woods behind our camp area to do "Singing in the Trees." The songs were beautiful. It is hard to get all the girls to stand there quietly, and wait their turn to sing our ward song. But the feeling of reverence, and awe was so overpowering for me as I listened to each song, and then singing our song, I was overcome and in tears.

After our song, our Bishop who had come up to bring his daughter back up from a previous commitment, came up and told me that Tiffany had to call an ambulance for Scott. When she had gone in to our room to wake him for dinner, he was unresponsive at first and then confused. He didn't know who she was. Apparently his sugar was down to about 45, so the paramedics had come and had given him sugar through an IV line, and then he was fine. That really made the tears come. I was torn, should I go home to check on Scott, or stay and finish my obligation. No one would fault me if I needed to leave early, but I decided since he seemed okay at the moment, and we had been through this with him before and he is okay for a while, that I would stay and leave after our Testimony meeting after dinner tomorrow night. I knew that he was in good hands, and Bishop Warner, or Bishop Avery would be watching out for him and would come get me if anything else occurred. We dont get phone reception up in the mountains, so it was hard to make that decision.

Friday the sun was up and there was no rain, YAY!!!!! While the girls were taking their hikes, I picked up around the camp site and started to pack some things that we weren't going to need for dinner that night. I actually got this little guy to come close to my feet to grab some crumbs that had fallen on the ground. I had seen him running around looking for food, so I grabbed my camera and stood still to see how close he would come... I only wish I could have gotten his face more! I thought this was pretty cool....

After the girls had returned we had some water heated for them to wash their hair if they wanted. A little later we had a little talent (?) show.... This is Shirley Hayward, Rebecca Greenland, and Alicia Segrue (sp?) doing a sprinkler?

They made Shelley and I get up and do the chicken dance with Erin. We just followed what Erin was doing, we had no idea what we were doing, but it was funny.

They also redid the skit of Harry Potter. Shayla (sp?) ws Dumbledore... I loved how creative they were in pulling her long hair to the front to make the beard! The skit was pretty creative and funny.... even the second time without the original props!

The sorting of the First year girls into their perspective houses! lol

A glorious game of Quidditch

"Watch out Harry Potter!" Good triumps over evil... again!.... We started to pack the things together and clean and put stuff together that would need to be packed onto the trailer so we didn't have to try and do so much in the dark or early the next morning. We had an easy meal planned. We made Dutch Oven Peach Cobbler, and Dutch Oven Upside Down cake. The Bishopric brought up pizza for dinner and we had made a tossed salad. The girls liked having the pizza. The Cobbler and Upside Down cake were a hit, especially topped with the vanilla ice cream Bishop also brought up.

Thus ends another year at camp... a very cold but successful week. Good friendships were made closer and new friendships made.

Home again, home again, jiggity jig.....

2010-05-13T02:43:00.000-06:00

We left some time in the early morning to head home. I wished I could have staid there a few more days, as I really enjoyed the warm weather, the palm trees, and getting a break from work and home.... But... return I must. Before leaving I did catch a pretty sun rise....

On the way I got some shots of the cactus plants... I love the tall cactus plants with the arms..... it is hard to get pictures from a moving car!

A different kind of beauty!

We stopped on the way at the Dam again to take a break, rest our legs and let Kaydance and Abby walk around and go potty.

Kaydance trying to climb on the display to see it better.

Tiffany giving Abby some water from a water bottle.

Crazy dog! But when you are thirsty,.... you do what ya gotta do!

Thus the end of the pictures and the rest of the trip went off without difficulty.... it just ended too quickly!

Tiffany's Graduation~ May 2009 from Pima

2010-05-13T02:23:00.001-06:00

Despite all the challenges Tiffany faced, health problems with her back and her stomach, Kaydance being in the hospital for a bit with a bronchial infection, and her divorce and all that came with that, Tiffany was still able to complete her work and externship and able to graduate with high grades. It was worth driving down to see her graduation ceremony. My first to graduate with a degree. It was comical to see Tiffany (all of 4'9") in line with all the other graduates.

Tiffany's friend, Jen, Jen's daughter Ali, and Tiffany. Worthy of notice.... Jen's daughter Ali, 4 years old here, has a tracheotomy, and is on oxygen. She has some tumors and as of Mar, 2010, is expected to pass away at anytime. Kaydance and Ali are best friends.

Tiffany standing in line waiting to go up to get her diploma. Tiffany is the short one, standing.

Tiffany getting her diploma.

Proud of her diploma, and rightly so! Congratulations, Tiffany!

Tiffany and Kaydance. Kaydance wanted to wear the cap.

Tiffany, Kaydance and Beau. Below, Tiffany and her bestie... Erin. Erin graduated the semester previous.

Tiffany, Kaydee and I. I was amazed how burned I was!

Tiffany and Kaydance.

The next day Erin had a graduation party at her house for Tiffany. They combined it with a going away party. Some of Tiffy's friends from school were there as well as Erin's family. It was fun meeting them. We had a lot of good food there.

Tiffany and her friend, Jara Hicks.

Tiffany and her friend, Cammie, showing thier scissor mafia sign! lol

And more swimming.... Kaydee and her friends playing in the pool.

Erin's husband, Dan, or as they call him... Dan the Man! Look at all that good food!

Erin and her younger brother, Cody.

Erin's other brother, Joe (or Bubba!). He was pretty funny.

Kaydance and Claire. Claire is Cammie's daughter.

Beau and one of Jara's sons.

Jara's husband, and Dan. And me in the back ground with the bright white legs!

For some reason the kids like playing in the dog's pen. Inside the pen was Kaydee, Beau, and one of Jara's boys.

Swimming at Tiffany's friend, Erin's house.

2010-05-13T01:19:00.000-06:00

So we spent the day at Erin's house, swimming in their pool and spending time with them. I am tempted to move down here as almost all the houses have a built in pool! We had fun getting to know Erin and her family and playing in the pool. I was dumb enough though to forget how strong the sun is down there and thinking I wanted to get some sun and a little tan, actually became quite red! I should have known!

Tiffany and Erin playing a game where you try to knock the other person off the log.

Erin, Kaydee and Beau. Beau is Kaydee's boyfriend.

Erin has a tortoise that is huge. He lives in their back yard and lets you pet him. I was quite amused with this. I actually wish we had one. It wasn't bothered by their big dog, too.

Tiffany petting the tortoise.

Kaydance feeding the tortoise.

On the way to Phoenix for Tiffany's graduation! May 2009

2010-05-13T00:53:00.001-06:00

So for Memorial Day weekend, I left for Phoenix. Scott decided at the last moment that he didn't want to go. All because he could not find his power adapter that plugged into the cigarette lighter so he could use his lap top. So I left at 4 am and went to pick up Trina to go with me. She was going to help Tiffany drive back home as Tiffany can't drive the whole way herself yet.

Tiffany was waiting till she graduated to move back up to Utah since her divorce. Trina and I had a fun trip down. We came across an accident that blocked the road for quite a while so we ended up in a caravan, turning around and taking a turn down a dirt road to bypass the accident and get back on track.

Trina taking a walk into the desert to see if she could find interesting things to take pictures of.

A whole lot of nothing! Pretty in its own way, though

We even stopped at the dam and took some dam pictures... but to Trina's disappointment they didn't have much at the dam gift shop. Sorry once again for the dam jokes.

Glen Canyon Dam. What a view!

Trina taking the Dam Quiz

Another look toward Lake Powell.

The back side of the Visitor's Center at the Dam

The front of the Visitor's Center

So after a little break at the Dam we got back on the road. We noticed the temperatures getting warmer as we got closer. On the way we stopped to take a few pictures of the Grand Canyon.

A quick stop and on our way again. The rest of the trip down was pretty uneventful. We even got there without getting lost or taking a wrong turn! We got there about 4 or 5 in the afternoon, a nice leisurely trip down. It was a nice trip, and unstressful. When we got there we called Tiffany who gave us directions to their house. After we got things out of the car, we cleaned their pool a little and had a nice, cool and relaxing swim with Kaydance.

Kaydance in their pool. Kaydee was almost 7 and able to swim in the pool by herself, under supervision, of course, but no wings or any thing to help her.

Brad cleaning the pool.

Kaydance and I swimming, with Abby

Trina just sitting and watching us play in the water.

Tiffany just chilling, and watching us swim. Aw, Tiffany, put out that cigarette!

After a long swim to cool down and relax, we just sat and chilled for a while before crashing for the night. Of course, Trina and I had to log on to our lap tops and harvest our crops on FarmTown! ha ha.

Easter Egg Hunt - April 2009

2010-05-12T23:44:00.000-06:00

We had an egg hunt with Pyper and Jordan. I hid the eggs and then had Renee and Spencer bring the kids over after they were hid. It didnt take long for Jordan to figure out he was supposed to find the eggs, but he wanted to eat the candy in the egg and then find another egg! I love Pyper's hat!

Jordan didnt take long to figure out what he was supposed to do but wanted to eat all the candy first.

"I found one, Grama!"

Jordan finds an egg on the fence

Even Heidi wanted to find the eggs!

Pyper and Jordan were very happy with the eggs they found and seemed to have a lot of fun.

Adelyn's Blessing

2010-05-12T17:14:00.012-06:00

Adelyn's baby blessing. They were sealed in the Temple
yesterday and Addy blessed today, so we had the party
today after Church. This is Addy in her beautiful baby
blessing dress.

Grampa Sykes, Gage and Kaisa.

Kaisa in her new dress. Brianne made all the girls dresses,
here skirt, Gage's vest and tie, and Jon's tie.

Kaitlyn in her new dress

Adelyn Grayce in her new dress

My sister, Sandy (married to Bryan), Michelle, and Heidi

Uncle Bryan, Brandon, and Grama Sykes

Brianne's sister, Kaili

Brett and Mia Phillips and their 2 daughters

Brianne's dad, sister and friend, and Kaisa.

Jon and Bri at the Temple.

2010-05-12T16:56:00.010-06:00

Well, Jon and Brianne and the family finally made it to the Timpanogas Temple to be sealed as a family in May 2009. We are so proud of them for taking this big step and commitment. The weather was a little cloudy, but didn't dampen their spirits at all.

Scott shaking hands with Brett Phillips, one of Jon's best buddies growing up.

The Temple grounds are always so gorgeous with all the flowers and kept up so nicely.

I love this picture! I thought the mountains were framed so beautifully in the background with all the Tulips in the foreground.

Jon and Gage

Brianne and Adelyn Grayce

The whole happy family

Brianne's family and friends, Jon and Bri with family, Mom, Dad, Scott, Joey and I, and Brett Phillips

Joseph's Hospital Stay ~ April 2009

2010-05-12T01:27:00.016-06:00

So Joey had been sick for a few days, in a lot of pain and not able to keep anything down. His friend had come over that afternoon to see him and told Joe he was taking him down the block to the hospital. Joe did look bad. I was a little upset with him for not telling me he was that sick and in that much pain. He was in the ER all that afternoon and early evening they moved him to an observation room. When I got off work about 1 AM I went over to check on him. By late morning, they had moved upstairs into a room. The room was huge!

This is Timpanogas Hospital, which is a block away from us.

Looking out the window down towards our street.

Joe was pretty out of it. They gave him some Golightly he was supposed to drink all of for a Colonoscopy the next day. They suspected Joe's intestines were telescoping inside themselves. The dumb male nurse on duty that night told Joe he didnt have to drink all the solution for he test, that he just needed to drink a couple ounces.... Well when they went to do the test it was a bust as his intestines were not cleaned out enough to go in and see a thing... Poor Joe had to repeat the test the next day, meaning he had to drink the horrible stuff again, but double the amount!

This is a view of Joe's large private room. He was out of it for quite a while when they brought him back up from the failed test. He was sound asleep for quite a while, and when he is out... he is out!

Joe was irritated he had to drink more of this horrible tasting stuff, and double the amount from before. He got it done this time. I had to go to work, but the nurse that night kept checking on him to make sure he was drinking it. He got it finished this time.

He was again pretty out of it when they returned him from the test. Unfortunately they didn't find what the cause of his pain and vomiting was.

I put a smile face on him before I went to work, just so he would know I was there!

Taking his IV pole for a walk, anxious for the Dr to come and release him.

Joe antsy to go home, actually he is anxious to leave so he can have a cigarette! It had been about 5 days since his last one... terrible how addictions control our lives!

Mid-April snow storm

2010-05-12T01:16:00.002-06:00

This snow storm was pretty heavy and wet. It was frustrating to enjoy a few days of nice warm weather and then get this heavy snow. And it looked like there was more to come, which did come.

2010-05-12T01:15:00.001-06:00

The branches that had broken off.

2010-05-12T01:12:00.001-06:00

Just around the corner and down the street from us a neighbor lost part of his beautiful willow tree. This was really sad.

2010-05-12T01:09:00.001-06:00

Mid April snow storm... This is the tree of the neighbor across the street from us... poor tree was just getting so pretty, too!

David Archuleta Concert

2010-05-11T16:56:00.023-06:00

So in January, I got a message on my cell phone that I needed to call Sandy back right away. I just knew from her voice it had to do with David Archuleta. So we ended up getting the tickets to the concert in Boise, ID. Mom and Dad went with us and we all stayed with our friends, the Richardsons. Sandy was so funny, all we heard the whole way up was about David and news reports, and his music, and of course listening to his CD. It was a fun trip though, and very much needed for me!

On our way to our Hotel we stayed at for the concert, we passed the Boise, ID Temple. Not a bad shot taken through the window of the van! It sure is pretty!

This is David Archuleta's bus... this was so funny! Sandy drove up, and the whole way we were subjected to David Archuleta's CD, and she kept saying how cool it would be if we were staying at the same Hotel as him. Well as we drove around the side of the Hotel to park, we saw this busm and when I looked it was David on the sidewalk heading into the Hotel... I said "Hey, look, it's him!" and Sandy started to scream and tears came down her face. Kathy and I were laughing so hard we had to cross our legs! What are the chances? Of course Sandy had to get a picture of her standing near his bus!

The cool design going down the side of the Hotel.

The Hotel we stayed at.

A nice sitting area near the gym. It was a pretty good sized area, just outside the pool. Unfortunately we didnt have the chance to check out the pool, or go swimming in it.

Checking out the Hotel, and the pool and gym area.... Actually Sandy was hoping to bump into David Archuleta!

Our Hotel room. It was a pretty nice Hotel, and the room was pretty nice as well. I was fortunate to get the bed to myself since I am the oldest... but they said it is because I snore! Well, I caught Sandy snoring, too! he he

Sandy and Kathy primping up for the concert. These two are sooooo funny like that! We are always waiting on them, and this has not changed from when we were younger, either! lol.... some things never change!

Kathy and Sandy sitting at the table in the VIP lounge area. I have no idea what Sandy was looking at, she always has a snide or funny comment to make!

Me sitting in the VIP lounge, waiting to be able to get onto the floor and in front. It was quite a wait. Poor Kathy had ordered some fries and a burger about half hour before they were going to let us on the floor, and finally about half hour after the concert had started they were finally done, they came to find her, but she would have to miss part of the concert and go out and eat and then come back in... Not cool, at all!

I was right behind Sandy. Thus the close up... waiting for David Archuleta to come on stage. Sandy was so excited she could hardly contain her excitement! lol

The band that played before David was good too. I can't remember the name of it, but Sandy was teasing the drummer and was pretending to be drumming along with him. At the end he tossed a drum stick to her and it hit me smack middle of the forehead and bounced in front of me and Sandy was able to grab it.

Kathy near the front of the stage waiting for the concert to start. We kept getting pushed closer or nudged to the side from people that were let in after us trying to nudge in the front.

Boise, ID trip

2010-05-11T11:27:00.022-06:00

We decided to go to Boise, ID for a weekend. Actually we went to go to the David Archuleta concert with Sandy, but seeing and staying with the Richardsons was an added bonus! This is mom, dad, Kathy and Sandy.

I hadn't seen the Richardsons since mom and dad's 50th anniversary party last Oct. and it had been about 30 years previous to that.

We used to go camping with their family a lot as we were growing up. We have fond memories of spending time with that family. When we were in our early teens and were camping we had placed our tent and noticed it was near a trail. Bob Richardson was teasing us that it was a Bear trail. Well, at dinner, here comes a momma bear and her 3 babies to our site. Mom ran and locked herself in the car. We just backed up and watched, but dad stayed sitting at the table eating. He was not giving up his dinner. We shooed them off and finished our meal.

Later that night, mom heard a noise, we unzipped the tent window to look out and pointed our flash light to see if it was a racoon or bear, but what it was was a different kind of bear! Poor Bob slept in the nude and had gotten up to quickly take a pee, thinking all were asleep he just slipped out of his tent, but got caught in the light! We still laugh at that and his nickname became "Running Bear" and has stayed with him since with our family.

I really enjoyed our visit with them, and reminescing of old times. By the time we left that Sunday my jaw was sore from laughing so much. There were some special quiet and thougt provoking moments as well.

Sandy and I laughing at Kathy and her dressings

Kathy was so funny, she couldn't make up her mind which salad dressing she wanted so they brought her 3 different kinds to try! Kath, would you like some salad with your dressings? lol

Mom, Dad, Kathy and Bob Richardson enjoying breakfast. It was so nice to listen to Bob tell his stories again. He is so funny, yet very spiritual some times. It was great spending time with them.

Sandy and Norma Richardson shooting the breeze.

Hmmmm, can't remember why I took this picture, but I think there was a dove in the tree, or maybe another squirrel.... Terrible when the mind goes blank... but it is a pretty picture anyway!

The Richardson's yard was so nice and peaceful. The one thing I miss the most about our area is having the squirrels around! I don't know if it is because of fond memories of being in my Nana's back yard and feeding the squirrels or what.... I think it is.... but they always bring me a fun and peaceful feeling. I know that probably sounds nuts?

This was their dog. I can't remember her name, but she was a gorgeous dog. She reminded me of Nikki that I used to have.

Kathy, Sandy and I by John and Wendy's home. Wow, I don't remember what we were laughing at, but what a face I have!

John and Wendy. It was so neat that they all live within walking distance of each other.

This is Kim and her daugher. We had a lot of fun and a lot of laughs with them.

Eric and his wife..... we had a real nice and fun visit with them the night before we left. It was a short stay and we need to go back again some time. It was fun getting reacquainted. I hadnt seen Eric in over 30 years!

Bob took us all out to breakfast at the Golden Corral there in Napa. It was quite the breakfast!

Saying bye at Church and on our way back home. It was such a nice visit. From left to right... Dad, Norma Richardson, Bob Richardson, Mom, Eric Richardson, Kim Richardson and her daughter.

Tigger's Tale, or should I say, Tail!

2010-05-11T05:18:00.004-06:00

Tigger somehow had gotten the tip of his tail dipped into the Scentsy wickless candle and had wax harden on his tail. For the life of me I didn't know what to do to get the wax off his tail... try holding him down and use a hair dryer to make it warm and plyable? I don't think so... he is declawed in front, but still has pretty sharp claws in back... I know as I was gouged a few times while trying to tape a bandaid all down his tail.

The wax was on a week before he started gnawing the wax off, problem is... he didn't stop at the wax. I don't know if it burned him or was itching, but he kept gnawing at his tail until he had gnawed down to the bone. I would hear him growling at his tail. I can't count the number of times I had wrapped his tail in gauze and tape to keep him from gnawing, but he had somehow gotten it off.

After a couple of days it got so bad that he was down to the bone. I took him to the vet to have a look at it. He had to have a good 4 inches amputed from his tail. The vet said they get a lot of tail amputations, but this was their first one because of wax! The next day, and $250.00 later, I was able to bring him back home. He did not like the long tape on his tail. He kept trying to get it off, but the tape was on there good. It actually took him a whole week to get the thing off his tail.

On his check up, he had gotten the bandaid off the day before, it looked to be healing pretty well. The vet retaped it and said his fur on his tail will fill in nicely (which a year later, it has and looks okay!) The bandaid needed to stay on at least another week.

He has healed fine, and can still swak ya with his tail in the face or across your arm, depending on where he is sitting. It actually hurts more since it is a little thicker!

A closer look at the end of Tigger's Tail. Pretty weird looking, huh?

So Tigger's tail is getting better here. It looked kind of silly at the time, and tookTigger a bit to get used to it. He still glares at it as if it is a foreign object, or growls at it occasionally, but at least it is healing well. And that is the end of the Tale.....