Oh no, look who broke his leg!

Poor Robbie! 
He broke his leg last night when he wrecked his bike. 
Ohhhh I hurt for him...
I don't know how getting his tonsils out is going to fit into this plan.
Or kindergarten.  How does one go to school with a leg like that?


We have news to share soon about his Mom and his Aunt (Kim and Kris).  

Something exciting is happening but I can't share it for a few more days.  As soon as I get the go ahead, I will!

Dr. Laura

This call is from a young married woman who is thinking about leaving the LDS church.

The Story of Stuff

Mrs. Spring Sun, the teacher at our Retirement class, surprised us.
I don't know how old she is, but she is very cute and stylish looking.  So I was surprised when she said she buys ALL her clothing at Goodwill and Salvation Army.  Her husband is a physician, so it's not like she can't afford to buy elsewhere.

A friend asked her once,  "Don't you think you are worth more than that?"   
She was stunned and didn't know quite how to respond.  
She explained to us that her worth is not in relation to how much money she spends on clothes!  

She was excited to tell us that there is always
50% off on Saturdays at Salvation Army, and
50% off on Wednesdays at AM VETS.
(I'm assuming this is only local, but I don't know.)


Which brings me to our homework assignment. Mrs. Sun asked us all to watch the video below. 
It's 20 minutes long, so just go to 10:14, and you will see how interesting this is.




I'm more of a Yard Sale person myself.
Has anyone had luck finding good items or clothing at a Salvation Army type place?

How do I keep the twins off my table?

I'm looking for some advice.  I know there must be an answer somewhere.

So is there a solution?  It use to be as long as I had the chairs pushed in, they couldn't get on them.  But not anymore!
They just push those chairs away, and within seconds they are on top of my table.
If safety weren't a factor, I'd let them live on top my table!

This little girl is like a whirlwind dynamo! She is NON STOP BUSY. 

And while nurturing may not come naturally to her brother...


And he may not look good in a dress...

And he undoes his velcro straps because he prefers criss cross.  
He does this himself!

And while cooking may not be his forté.
He does listen better than his sister! 

And the cuteness?  As far as this Grandma's concerned, it's a toss up!

I wonder if there is such a thing as an elastic stretchy rope that would fit around the back of all those chairs?

What I learned at Trader Joes





Just was we paying for our groceries tonight, the checker told us,
"If you have a small job to do, or a large job to do, it will take all day."  

I asked,  "Really?  Why is that?"

She said it's Parkinsons Law.  I googled it and sure enough, here it is:

"WORK EXPANDS SO AS TO FILL THE TIME AVAILABLE FOR ITS COMPLETION." 

I told the checker I would have to think about this theory for awhile before I decide if I agree with it or not.  
She said,  "Oh no, it's not a theory.  It's a LAW." 

So does this make sense to you? 




I love Marjorie Hinckley

And I Love this!
Someone, I'm sorry I can't remember who, had this quote on their blog not too long ago.

Who could not love that face?


"The family is eternal.  Love must be nurtured.  It must be spoken.  We must put away our pride, our haughtiness, our shyness, our misunderstandings, and with humility say, "I love you.  Is there something I can do to help you?" You can never be completely happy under any other circumstances."
-Marjorie Pay Hinckley 

To prove how old I am

I want to tell you about last Thursday night.

We got home about 9:30 from our 2nd retirement class with Mrs. Sun,  to find these 2 sitting on our couch.
 But they weren't this dressed up.
No bouquet either.
Other than that, they looked just as cute.

 We had a cozy chat about life with teenagers (they have 2 now), and what goes on in the schools at that age.
Oh the drama I remembered when I was in middle school, only we called it Jr High.

 After we said goodnight, we all went to bed.  In other words, they went home, and we tried to go to sleep.  But what is often the case for women my age (or so it seems from what my friends tell me), I could not sleep.  I was tired, but just couldn't. I think those 2 1/2 hours sitting in class, my body thought it was all rested up.

So I got out of bed about 1am, still thinking of the drama of middle school, and I went in our closet and in the dark pulled out one of my many journals from back then.

I took it out into the family room and just started reading about my life in 1969.  I also ate one of these. 
  They are the best!

So about 1/4 way through this journal I turned it to look at the cover.  And saw the date.  Take a look.
 It was exactly 41 years ago.
(Excuse my rudeness on the cover, I was 15.) 

It was filled with page after page pointing out what was wrong with every one else.
But I did have one paragraph where there was a peek of hope to sweetness.
 I sure hope I did something nice for her back then.  In 1969, she had 8 children at home, ages 4-17! 


I thought this next entry was interesting too, because.....

Just 4 days before reading this, Shelley (the 7 year old I mentioned in this entry), put this picture of herself and her 2 sisters on her blog.  The very little girls I was mentioning in my journal 41 years ago!


Back to our retirement class, Mrs. Sun told us to go HERE to watch the National Debt grow.  She said, "Sit back and go into a trance."
Really, take a look.

Hailey's 3 aunts

Or should I say 3 of my nieces.
Or my niece Robin's 3 sisters.
Whitney, Lindsay, Natalie
with their "significant others" as you will soon see. 




See the one on the far left in the green shirt?  That's Natalie's boyfriend, Brian.  Yep, I finally have a picture of him.  And Lindsay and her boyfriend Gard are across the table from him...and of course you know Whitney and Bret because they have been married forever...3 years I think, right?




They were all at Gard's family's beach house.


I thought at first it was Bret and Whitney lost out there in the ocean, but no, it's Lindsay and Gard!

Lindsay and Gard....Cute, huh?
Love his curls!
Well there you have it.
No longer a mystery. 
So what do you think so far?

What's really important?

I don't want to forget what I learned at church today, so here it is:
(This was given in Young Womens, from a talk President Monson gave in 2008:)



"In the 1960s, during the Vietnam War, Church member Jay Hess, an airman, was shot down over North Vietnam. For two years his family had no idea whether he was dead or alive. His captors in Hanoi eventually allowed him to write home but limited his message to less than 25 words. What would you and I say to our families if we were in the same situation—not having seen them for over two years and not knowing if we would ever see them again? Wanting to provide something his family could recognize as having come from him and also wanting to give them valuable counsel, Brother Hess wrote—and I quote: 

“These things are important: 
temple 
marriage, 
mission,
college. 
Press on, 
set goals, 
write history, 
take pictures twice a year.”




I keep thinking of this list written by that POW.  He had 2 years to think about it.  He was given less than 25 words to tell his family.  And those were the words he so carefully chose.

I also, have been thinking of another line from President Monson's talk:
"Let us relish life as we live it, find joy in the journey, and share our love with friends and family.  
One day each of us will run out of tomorrows."

Here's a picture of Jay Hess all these years later.
He's the one in the middle.

Flipped

Has anyone seen this movie? 
Did you like it?



Dennis and I saw it today (love furlough Fridays!!), and even he liked it.
Well he said it was "okay" but I could tell he enjoyed it.


To me, it was about not always trusting our judgments of people.  Sometimes we think we know what they are all about when really we don't.
It was about being honest: "Sometimes a little pain in the beginning, can save a whole lot of pain in the long run."
And about the blessings of grandparents, and what an influence they can have on us, even influencing who we fall in love with.


The best part was the music from the 1950s and 60s...playing all through it.  
It was done in a Wonder Years sort of style.  Remember that show from the 80s and 90s?  I loved it!


There were a few words I could have done without...I don't know why even the good movies have to do that.  And it didn't get great reviews.  I think it's only been in this town for a couple weeks, and it looks  like it's leaving soon because we are down to 1 showing a day, in 1 theater!  I heard this movie took off more in Utah. 
Anyone know if that's true?

Personally, I liked sharing the theater with just 5 other people.

The ending song left Den and I in a trance.
After the other 5 left, we just sat there until the popcorn sweepers came in.

Or maybe I was the only one in a trance.  I think he was just trying to be the good husband, waiting for me to tell him when it was time to go home.
BYU football puts him in a trance.  Which explains why we went to the movies today, and not tomorrow.

Press the title of the song, not the little arrow.

Elora gets this everyday!

I promise it was just coincidence this song was on when Elora came out of her classroom. Cam and I had been waiting about 20 minutes in the car, so we had been listening to showtunes. 
In other words, I was not using this song for drama affect :)  although I do like it!

And yes, Cami always gets this excited when her sister comes home.



After she got all settled into the car, Elora asked me where we were going.
When I told her we were going to my house, she said,  "Oh good, because I'm getting a little tired of the angles at my house."

So of course I asked,  "The angles, what angles are you talking about?

"Well you know, the kitchen is at an angle and the family room is at a different angle.  I just need a change."

I guess we could all use a change of angles at times, right?

Phone message from 1993

We use to have a message machine on our phone that if we did not pick up the phone soon enough, it would tape our entire conversation.

So after you hear Tyler give the greeting message, you will hear Logan's friend Megan Grubel leaving him a message, then you will hear Brock talking to his friend Pete Maskovich.

Tyler was only about 8...and he sounds it!
When I first heard it last night, I said to Dennis,  "Oooooo that's my baby boy!"  He is 24 now! 

This was 17 years ago.
May not mean anything to anyone but me the Mom, but here it is.

(remember, this was back in the day before cell phones and facebook and texting.
This was back when parents knew who was calling their kids because they had to use the family phone.)




Tyler, about the age of his 'Happy Easter message', at his grandparents' house.
Little cousin Lauren in the background looks so cold you can almost see her knees shaking!

I think they love their Dad




The video below shows why Logan has to wait til the very last minute to say goodbye to the babies.
This happens every time he goes to work.
Can you believe they are 17 months old today!



And of course they absolutely adore their Mom. Not too long ago Jonas woke up in the middle of the night calling,  "Ma ma ma ma."  When Amy didn't come right away, then he started saying,  "Maymie  Maymie" which is his way of saying Amy! 

Den and I are back at school!

I had been excited all day just thinking about going to school with Dennis.
I love sitting side by side as students.

So we are taking an 8 week class on Retirement, all the phases of it.  And at the end of the 8 weeks we are suppose to walk away with a legal will. 

The teacher...by the way her name is Spring Sun and she is from Paradise, Ca.   Yes, she said that's her real name.
She begins the class by talking about the oldest person on record.  She was a little French lady named Jeanne Calment.
She lived to 122 years and 164 days old! 
She outlived her only child, and her grandchildren.  Mrs. Sun, our teacher, explained that this woman lived capably on her own til she was about 113, and then she entered a nursing home til she died at 122.  


At this point, Den leaned over and said to me,  
"There was a guy who was interested in her, but he was only 110, and she considered him too immature." 

Now this may not seem very funny to you, and I don't know why it did to me, but I could not stop laughing.  Dennis has this affect on me often.  But in class, it made me feel like I was back in 8th grade, talking and laughing on the back row.  

 Oh, and here's something that doesn't make any sense at all.  
She smoked until she was 117!
She started at age 21, and she claimed it was just 2 cigarettes a day,  but still. 
That's 96 years of smoking!


Here are some other things we learned at our first class:


1.  Just as we are "The Baby Boomer Generation", our parents were called "The Silent Generation."  (I had never heard this phrase...'the silent generation', so I asked the teacher what exactly that meant and she didn't know either....Do you know?)


2.  Of all the things that start a mid-life crisis, retirement is #3. (Who am I to say, but isn't retirement age a bit too old for a mid-life crisis?)


3.  For the 1st time, in the year 2007, the number of people over 65 exceeded the number of people under 16.  (She didn't have the stats since 2007 but it's expected to be about the same...The baby boomers have taken over.)


4.  Retirement is the time to INCREASE your social network.  She suggested using Facebook to connect with others.  


5.  "When you retire, you switch bosses from the one who hired you to the one who married you."  Gene Perret


We were suppose to write down what we consider a "good retirement."  Of course I looked over at Den's paper. He had 5 goals written, but my favorite he wrote was,  "Doing Honey Dos." 


Can't wait til next Thursday!
And, can I just say, Den is the best student I have ever sat next to in class. 

McKay's Amazing Update

You know how I just did not feel right about McKay being treated with steroids and antibiotics for his swollen glands (on his neck and under his tongue) because no one seemed to know what was causing it?  Urgent Care, the BYU health center, and the NP at Utah Valley Medical, could not diagnosis it.

So McKenna's aunt explains his symptoms a few days ago to her ENT neighbor, who has been out of the country.  He said he was 95% sure what McKay's problem is.  He said it is not that common but he usually sees it in males about his age.  He thought he had a "salivary gland stone."...similar to a kidney stone, but in his gland under his tongue.  95% sure, he said, just by listening to his symptoms.  He said he may need surgery to have it removed.

So early this morning when their alarm went off, McKay noticed a hard stone in his mouth that had obviously come out while he was sleeping.
He said it's about the size of 1/2 a peanut!

We are waiting now to see if his symptoms go away...if this is the only stone there.
But I think it is wonderful that now we know what is going on!

Strange, huh?

PS  written with permission

Look at this email we got from Kim

"Hi Jill and Dad,
Good and bad news...

Bad news first -- Robbie missed his 2nd day of Kindergarten because his temp got up to 105. I felt so bad for him. He has been sick all weekend but is now on antibiotics and is doing a ton better.

Good news -- We are scheduling an appointment tomorrow to have his tonsils out.  They're as big as golf balls as the dr. put it on Saturday morning when we took him in.  He gets fevers quite often and his tonsils are usually the culprit, so it's time to take them out.

Worrisome news -- I hate the thought of him going through that surgery, but it will be the best thing for him.  And although they let parents watch by video, I don't think I'll be bringing the popcorn. ;)

Here are a few pics from his first (and only) day of Kindergarten. And like a worry-wort, over-protective mother, I followed the school bus all the way to school. :)  Matt says, "Mom, that's called being a stalker."  I said, "Matt, I prefer to call it being an "over-protective-my-last-child-is-off-to-kindergarten-and-I-will-follow-the-bus-if-I-want-to" mom.  Ha!

Love you both...
Kim"
Oooooo such Good Lookin' brothers. 
Robbie and Matt


Also their cousin Rachel started preschool this week.
Is she stylin' or what!
Can you tell she's been posing since birth?
Don't forget, Kim and Kris start their 2nd season on The DIY Dish on September 13th!  

(And they let the parents watch the surgery through video?  
Are you kidding me Kim??! What's the point of that?)

All because she wanted a sewing machine!!

A little background.
This is by a young mom who really wanted to win a Serger Sewing Machine that was offered on another blog.  Along with her husband, they both wrote this song.  Her husband composed the music. She is not a professional singer but LOVE her VOICE.  And the song...it is so SWEET, so beautiful.


I keep coming back to listen to it AGAIN, and I don't even know this woman.  


What talent.  How sweet that she brought it forward.


All because she was trying to win a sewing machine!  And SHE DID by the way. 



If you want to read more about her, you can visit her blog Here.


I wonder if she had seen this video, and perhaps she was inspired by it?

Update on McKay

Okay, so it turns out McKay goes to the BYU health center, after all, this morning.  From there he was sent to Utah Valley Medical where he was suppose to be seeing an ENT.  Instead, he saw a nurse practioner.  She (or was it a he) does not know what is wrong with him either except to say it may be an infection in his salivary gland.  How does one get an infection there?

So he was put on antibiotics and steroids. 

Blood tests were run and it shows there is no infection.  So McKay asks the NP,  "Why then am I being given an antibiotic if I don't have an infection?"  She told him that not all infections show up in the blood.  That's news to me.

Blood normal, no fever, localized swelling.  What do I know, but it sounds like it could be an allergic reaction of some kind.

P.S.   I wish, that as our kids become adults, the worry section of the Mom's brain would automatically shut off.

All is not well with the Mcs

McKay and McKenna have been blissfully married 3 months now.
But like my mother use to say,  "Into every life some rain must fall."

They are still blissful.
However, McKay is in lots of pain with what I think is an unusual problem. 

He has a very noticeably swollen gland on the side of his neck, plus it is swollen under his tongue.  Has anyone ever heard of that?  I've had swollen painful glands, but never under my tongue, so I can't relate.

McKenna took him to Urgent Care yesterday but the Dr there didn't seem to know what it was.  She just said he needs to see an ENT Dr "asap"....well how does one do that over a holiday weekend?  He was given some Prednisone (steroids), but like his RN brother Logan said, "they were just throwing medicine at him" and he advised him not to take it.  I didn't want him taking the steroids either.  They don't even know what they are treating, and if he has an infection it could even make it worse.

Of course I wanted him to go to ER today, but McKay opted to wait until tomorrow so he can go to the BYU health center.  Hopefully someone will take some blood at least.  Nothing was done for him at Urgent Care.  Crazy.  And frustrating.

Meanwhile, I'm sure he is getting hungry because it is too painful to eat.  McKenna, being the sweetheart she is, has kept him going with liquids. 

So why am I writing about it here?  For 2 reasons.
#1 to see if anyone else has had similar symptoms and what they did  it about...
and #2 so we will have written history of this should it happen again. 

If you have any clues, please leave a comment.

Oh and I have a #3 reason....this is an excuse to show 2 pictures of the Mcs, taken last time they were here, in July.

While the photographer, Stephanie Ryan, was taking these pictures, I pointed to McKay and McKenna and said,  "They are newlyweds."  And she answered,  "I can tell."  It's obvious they are in a world of their own.   The one above isn't posed either. :)

Blog to Book??

I've been working on this lately....choosing some of my posts to put in a book for family history's sake.  So I am asking,  
Have any of you done this?  If so, what company did you go with? 

There are several out there so I don't know which one to choose.  I would rather go with one I know someone has been pleased with.  If you have put your blog into book form, please leave me a comment.

Also, another question:  Does it matter what size your pictures are in your blog book?  I'm trying to decide if I should make my pictures all smaller for the book, or if keeping my larger pictures will work as well in book form? Any other advice you can offer, I would SO appreciate.

Thank you!

Look at my grape picking family!

Every year, the week before Labor Day, the grape picking happens at our church welfare farm.
Today, the first time ever, I actually have pictures, THANKS TO ALLYSON MCKINNEY.
What a surprise to find these photos today in my email!

That's our grandson Austin, working away!


See my son Logan inside that vine?
I think this picture describes his personality well. He's never been afraid of hard work.  


Austin laying the grapes to be dried in the sun.


There's Austin, and Allyson's son Joel, headed for home, or rather the car.

 I wrote the following 2 years ago:
"I tried to explain to Elora, my 5 1/2 year old granddaughter, why her parents were picking grapes last Saturday. It is our welfare farm for our church. We (as a church) produce the grapes for raisins, and the proceeds help with expenses for the needy. Well I just gave her the simplified answer of, "Mommy and Daddy are picking grapes to help the poor people." Her response was, "Aren't the poor people going to get tired of eating all those grapes?"

Actually I learned today off Allyson's blog that our welfare farm produces ALL the raisins for ALL the bishop's storehouses in the United States. Well this IS the raisin capital of the world, so it shouldn't surprise me. But it does, because that is A LOT of grapes.

I also found a Hailey memory

Still cleaning out drawers around here. I tend to put special things away and then find them later, like this one:



This reminds me of a conversation Hailey and I had last Monday while she was visiting here.
We were in the kitchen together while I was cleaning the sink:

Hailey:  "Why are you scrubbing the sink?'
Me:  "Because it's Monday. I always scrub my sink on Monday."
Hailey:  "Every Monday??"
Me:  "Yes, that's the plan."
Hailey:  "Oh, so you plan to, but it doesn't always happen."
Me:  "Uh, okay, yes... I guess you're right."

I felt like I was talking to another adult and she is barely in the 1st grade!

Here's another wonderful memory. 
The last time I was in Rocklin, Hailey showed me this in her bedroom.

School started in Logan, too.

First Day of School Pictures of our Utah Grandchildren: 

Now a word from Rachel, the little sister
who is not too sad about all of this.





Wish I had a picture of little Robbie. 
                                                    (He just started kindergarten TODAY.)

Banana Almond Butter Popsicles

Just watch this and see if you don't feel like making these!
I love the passion.  I just recently discovered her website.




We aren't into popsicles but this is what we like:  Frozen banana chunks, a little non dairy milk, and ice whirled up in a blender.
(Our grandchildren LOVE it!)
Dennis likes to have this every night before going to bed now.  He also adds flax seed and protein powder to his.   
He gave up his nightly Lucky Charms and feels so much better.
This Weelicious lady is the one who gave me the idea of adding almond or peanut butter.

Look what happened last night

  Just a little pre-graduating gathering for our DIL Amy.... Not everyday a Mom of 7 and a Grandma of 7, graduates from college. It was not ...