Grandma Honey

The post I did yesterday about Logan and his family,
reminded me of this.  I could never forget this story.
It still makes me shudder.

First I have to explain something.
This was back in 1989. For some reason my boys loved to eat raw carrots but only if they were very icy cold.  So I was in the habit of putting carrots on our dinner table packed in ice.

On this particular evening I was busy in the bedroom helping Brock pack for camp.  He would be leaving very early the next morning.  We had cleared the dinner dishes off the table but the rest of the carrots were still sitting there.  The ice was gone and now they were floating in water. 

I had gone back in the kitchen to get something and noticed McKay, age 5, and Tyler, 3, had climbed onto the top of the table and were soaking their bare feet in the water, complete with carrots floating all around their toes.  They were so happy, and it kept them entertained.  Back in those days this meant a few moments of peace.

So I went back to th…

Logan and Macie

Logan has great memories of going to 6th grade camp with his own Dad many moons ago.

So of course he wanted to do all he could to take Chandler this year, as he did Austin a few years back. 
Grandpa with Chandler This year, however, the rules have changed.  Parents can no longer just go free as chaperons.  They have to pay just like the kids. 

So they figured out he and Chandler needed to sell 700 candy bars to earn their way to camp.  Logan got all the kids involved and spent 4 different days with them sitting outside grocery stores.  One of his sisters didn't want to sell them and Logan told her, "You will be blessed for doing this.  When you want to go to camp, you will have your brothers and sisters helping you sell the candy bars."
Laurynn and Macie
Den and I were just about to start eating dinner one night, when we learned they were selling the candy at Savemart, which is just down the street from us.  I told Den, and he said in typical Dennis style,�…

Den and I were at Trader Joes the other night.

While I was checking out the new pepper shakers,
Den suddenly said,

"Look, there's McKay and McKenna."
(my 3rd son and his girlfriend)

"Huh??..... Where?"

"Right there! Look up."

So I did.It's a stretch, but okay.

I wish I had turned the camera on the clerk watching Den take this picture. She looked completely baffled so Den said, "They look like our son and his girlfriend." Like that explains everything.

I heard this Dr. Laura call the other day, and then shared it with Dennis this morning. We had quite the discussion about it.






Can't say I related to this specific problem.
I remember my sons praying for more babies.
But I do relate to the anger...it's a part of life.

I think I tried to interject too much positive, rather than allowing them to come to that conclusion themselves. I did believe in letting them "own their own feelings" as I learned in my college speech class. But I wish I had stayed quiet, and listened more.

What do you think?
Do you think this approach works?
Would it work on you?

Just so happened while Den was in Utah, his daughter Kris was on KSL Studio 5. So he got to go with her to the studio. Den was just about 10 feet off on the side from their interview.

The last few times it's been Kim on this program so this is a first for Kris and I think she did great!! Those 2 girls are naturals.


Her husband and Dad looking on from back stage.
Katie and Jessica
Not sure if they are watching their Mom,
or just looking at the stage before the show.

With Grandpa
Take a look.
Even though the video is longer,
Kris is just on the first half of it or so.

Whew. It's been a long 5 days.
Dennis had to go to Utah for his nephew's funeral.
He gave the eulogy.
I'm always sad when I can't go with him.

I especially missed him at night.
Our bed seemed way too big.
I practically got lost in it without him.



But now he is home, and so are his little trails:


He unpacks in the playroom, thanks to our friend Jo Rhodus.
She says we should never bring our suitcase into our bedroom.
Does he put his shoes away in our closet? No of course not.
He likes them right here by this garbage can in his office.

He likes to keep his coat draped right here over this chair.

He likes the bathroom down the hall better than ours.


I'd recognize those feet anywhere.
Welcome home Honey.
I missed you terribly.

Look what he brought home for me.
I can't wait to listen to it today.
Sung by my very favorite choir!

If your picture is not here, it's not because I don't love you enough. It's probably because you look better in person than in my pictures.

Wow, what a gorgeous cake!
Mr. and Mrs. Nef
No, this picture just does not do my niece Carly justice, but she is always a good sport and was trying so hard to cooperate with me.

My niece Julie, and Clara.
Julie is even prettier than this picture shows but I so rarely get to see her since they live in Denver now. And this is the first time I've seen Clara in person. She's a little doll baby.
I guess I'm focusing on nieces because next comes Whitney with Bret. I worried about them last night since they drove all the way home to SF after the reception.
(btw, doesn't Bret look like Nate Berkus?)
Two of my sisters in law, Kim and Suzanne.
Oh, and I had to include this since I've never seen one of these at a wedding before. It was the "Children's Room." Set up just for them, complete with coloring books, crayon…

Don't you just love her gown?
Her hair was so pretty, too. Perfect.
Thanks Erin for taking these.
More pictures after the reception tonight.

I've been watching that website that I posted about yesterday, for weeks now. It has been fine except for maybe one picture I saw a ways back.

Well we could have done without today's picture.... sorry.

About 2 weeks ago, Den and I took care of the twins while their parents went out to dinner. No crying this time. No separation anxiety. Since we were in their own home, the babies probably just thought their parents were in the next room.

Here is a short clip of a race they had. They have perfected their army crawl and now they can go all over the house. Amy says they will head down the hallway together!


I have to tell you about Miss Téa's mishap!

Téa is at the stage where she will pull herself to a standing position in her crib but then doesn't know how to get back down. So 2 nights ago Amy was having a very busy evening caring for 2 additional kids plus her own. It came time to put the babies to bed for the night.

About 20 minutes later she realized she had forgotten to turn on the intercom. She immediately did and heard Téa wailing. So Amy went right into the babies' room and saw the poor little thing standing there holding on to the crib rail. She figured she was probab…

Have you ever tried to do things differently in your family and it actually worked?

We had this experience yesterday.
My 2 oldest sons, Brock and Logan, along with their children and their Arizona grandparents came for dinner. That's 17 people.

My 7 year old granddaughter Elora made place tags for everyone. Even the twins.

So right after we had prayer, I explained that we are going to do things a little differently now. I explained that their grandparents were our "honorary guests" so they would be first in the buffet line. Then the mothers, Erin and Amy, followed by the girls, and then the boys. Den and I since we were the "hosts", we would go last.

At first I heard someone say, "Why do the girls get to go first?" I explained "Because boys want to protect the girls and take care of them, so the boys want to make sure the girls get their food first."

Growing up I thought my mother was the best person on the face of this earth. But I also sa…