Kayty's Got Wheels

Yep...warning Will Robinson, danger approaching! Kayty bought a car. It was Friday, but she has had to work so much that I haven't gotten a picture of her and her new wheels. So, I decided to just leave it to the imagination now. She still needs to get her license, and so we practice, practice, practice. Dad has lost a few hairs on the round about with her, and I told her that if she ever again ASSUMES that someone is going to turn just because they have their indicator on, I am going to get some rosary beads...never hurts to have Mormon and Catholic help when you are near death...right? Anyway, keep us in your prayers...no matter what denomination you belong to...ALL are appreciated!

The Simple Woman's Day Book

The Simple Woman's Day Book
FOR TODAY, June 30th, 2009 ...

* Outside My Window...It is just lovely. I see our wonderful pool, the grass just watered a few hours ago, and just a very slight breeze. You would never, ever know from the view that it was 88 degrees at 3:00 A.M. and now it is probably in the mid 90's!

* I am thinking...about the things I have to do today. Yesterday got kind of messed up...Kayty got called into work early and I had to reschedule her bloodwork appointment. Cleaning got put off/not done. It's a new day, and maybe I can get things done.

* I am thankful for...the opportunity we have of having a new temple built so close to our home. I just get tingles when I think that it will be so close to us. I never ever would have dreamed such a thing would ever happen.
*

* From the kitchen...I am thinking about going to the food bank for a purchase tomorrow, so I busily cooked up a bunch of french toast, individually wrapped servings, and then will put it in the freezer for later use. It smells sooooo good in there!

* I am wearing...I am still in my workout clothes and my good running shoes...seeing if wearing better shoes helps my hip to feel better.

* creating...I want to make a cute star pot in the entryway for 4th of July, but I don't have the star shapes...have plenty of scrapbook paper, etc. So, maybe when the guys go to the lake tonight. Note to self: must not play Bejeweled on Facebook!

* I am going...to get to go to Trader Joes and buy yummy sunflower seeds after Kayty's blood tests. It is so out of the way that I have been saving for this trip!

* I am reading...I haven't been reading as much as I should. I read the Book of Mormon when I wait for Kayty, or when I am in the Thursday Food Bank Line.

* I am hoping...I can start on my Christmas ornaments. I am not making as many this year...postage is just not in the budget...but I have the one I want. Our theme: gingerbread men!

* I am hearing...Morgan...getting ready for work...eating some French toast.

* Around the house...One last load of laundry has to go to the dryer, kitchen needs attention after French Toast Marathon, kids' bath is the goal to superclean today.

* One of my favorite things...I just love my grandbabies. Ethan and Cam visited them this weekend and I just loved the pics...Adam got a neat nerf gun...and I could just imagine him and Daddy having a blast with it. And then they got Grace a Cinderella Barbie doll...her face was just full of excitement as she was opening it. It may be silly, but those kiddos, and the hope to one day hold my little Charles again, brings me such happiness. So, even though we are miles, or more, apart, they are in my heart and mind always.

* A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week..I want to go to the food bank tomorrow for a box purchase. I also want to hike tomorrow and Friday, and especially Saturday. July 4th is my birthday and it is just my favorite thing to go hiking early that day. Somehow, even though I have aged, if I can make it up that mountain, I am not so old. We are having the missionaries to dinner on Thursday....more of Dee's superb pulled pork.

Falcon Football Party

We had a great night...Nathan's football team came over for a party: swimming, volleyball, foosball, Dad's great pulled pork, and Grandma's wonderful brownies. It came out just great...parents sent chips and salads, one of Nate's teammmate's parents stayed and we had a great visit... though we do need to find a way to get more guys out here...five couldn't get here (school is ten miles from our house). When they got here, the temps were in the 108 degree range, and those crazy guys were...you guessed it...playing football. We parents found it odd, until we realized that they were playing for FUN! During the week, they have WORK football.
I would have loved to show you some pics, but Nathan refuses to let me photograph the team or the party, so just imagine the fun, and heat!

Writer's Workshop: Write a Poem to the Little Boy In Your Life

Grandson
Everyone wants to be first…that is, until you are
The first grandson…the first nephew…the first.
You are loved beyond measure, sometimes too much!
Too many wet kisses, too many games to play, too many things to do.
Everyone wants to be with you.
Come play with me Grandson. Come read to me Grandson.
Never is there time to just sit, and snuggle, and talk.
So much to do, when visits happen, and so soon till they all have to leave.
First, you have to be patient.
With your family…with Grammy’s and Papas and Uncles and Great Grannies
Who just want to do all with you.
With sisters and Mommys and Daddys who want the best for you.
You are the example, the leader…ever level headed and responsible
Hang in there, sweet Grandson
Our first love, the one that made us who we are.
We treasure you…first
Grandson

Something I Need To Remember!

I am a control freak...bad thing for our life and circumstances. I often can stay in control...for awhile...but then I lose it. I saw this today, and I thought it was so wonderful, at least for me, that I had to share! I am printing this up, and hanging it on my cabinet over the washing machine, and by the pantry, and on my mirror, and...well, you get the picture!

Respond with purpose

What upsets you is not what happens.
What upsets you is your response to what happens.
Just as easily as you respond in a negative way,
you can easily and naturally respond in a
positive, empowering, uplifting way.
The biggest problems are often caused by
what you choose to do about the smallest problems.
Most of those big, painful problems are so unnecessary.
Keep reminding yourself that you are in control of you.
You are in control and you can decide
exactly how you wish to feel at any point.
Imagine the power of remaining calm and focused
and resourceful when some totally unexpected,
disappointing development interrupts your day.
Truly, you can make the disappointments not disappointing at all.
Respond on purpose, with purpose.
Feel the power and the joy as every moment gives you a way to move forward.

Ralph Marston

For My Husband, The Father of My Children

This has been, by far, the most difficult to write. It is not that it is hard to find wonderful things to say about this wonderful man. My thoughts, however, bring such emotion, such tears to my eyes, that I find it hard to type, to think, to remember without wanting to immediately drop to my knees and express my gratitude to my Heavenly Father for this wonderful, this precious blessing that He has so richly blessed me with.

My sweet husband has always wanted to be a Daddy. From the early moments of our relationship, he expressed a sweet love for children and a great desire to have a large family. As we held hands across the temple altar, when we were sealed for Time and All Eternity, Brother Vance urged me to look at those hands, for they were the hands that would work to provide a home and a life for my family. They would be laid on the heads of each of us, at one time or another, to bless us when we might be ill, to give strength through a trial, to help through life. And all that has come to pass. Those hands, those wonderful hands...

Those hands held mine through each and every labor and delivery. They were there to wipe my brow, to hold me up, and even to cut the cord on the last baby we would bring to the earth. Those hands lovingly held those babies for the first time. With Allison, he was sooo ill, but just looked in awe at this beauty...this wonderful blessing. With Ethan, he stayed by this baby's side as they were concerned for his health, and he had dreamed a dream that concerned him as well. All was fine, and he carefully held him, and handed him a new football. With Doran, there was great happiness, for this was the child that would carry his father's name. With Morgan, the labor was especially difficult, and he was there, as I looked and worried, holding my hand in his, reassuring me. He begged for another baby, and a few years later, those hands first called Allison when she finally had a sister, and then held Katelyn close to his heart. And, when Nathan came, he was right there by Dr. Matson and was able to cut the cord...to take him from the Dr. and be the first one to hold and share love.

Over the years, those hands have done many things for these wonderful children. They have thrown baseballs, built swingsets and teeter-totters, cleaned cuts and scrapes, baited hook after hook after hook, repaired bikes, built science projects, made the best Chinese food, guided tball teams, constructed kitchens and 4 story Barbie doll houses, held the head of a little one getting stitched, put up tents, read books, rowed boats and canoes, set apart, baptized, blessed, repaired transmissions, designed playgrounds, poured cement, held while swimming in a pool, drove everywhere: Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, Bartlett Lake, Camp Geronimo, Utah, Monterrey Bay Aquarium, Pismo Beach, San Diego, Black River, Woods Canyon Lake, and Las Vegas. Those hands, scarred from being a machinist, from working around the yard and doing it all himself, and recently, from cuttng wood for me, show how much he loves, how much he cares, how much he wants for his children, and now his grandchildren. Those hands...they love us.

Thank you, my sweet wonderful hubby, for making my longest dream of being a mother come true. Thank you for helping me to be a good Grammy. Thank you for putting up, for saying the things that Need to be said, for being willing to be unpopular, and for sometimes feeling very unloved, and then waking up the next morning, and willingly doing it all again. Happy Fathers' Day!

My Son In Law: What a Dad!

Moms worry about lots of things: what their kids will learn while riding on the kindergarten school bus, what their kids will say about them to their teachers, parent teacher conferences, if they will make it to their destination alive the fist time they drive alone, high school finals, track meet results, whether they will have fun at the prom, and...where, and to whom they will marry. Well, my sweet wonderful Allison sure made a choice that I have never had to have a worry about... my sweet son in law, Mike. I knew he loved her when she had her wisdom teeth pulled, and I awoke to find him sitting by her side, caring for her. I knew he loved her as he gazed at her across an altar in the temple and married her for time and for all eternity. I knew he loved her when she had miscarried, and, through his grief, he carried a huge mattress down from the upstairs of their condo to the bottom floor so she could rest comfortably. I knew he loved her when he held her hand through days of labor, and then the news that their baby would be delivered by C-section early, and there were worries about his lungs. And then, I knew he loved her, and his new son, when I saw him walking down that hospital hallway, carrying what I first thought was a pile of blankets, but, as he drew nearer, saw that it was our perfectly wonderful Adam. He was a Dad in the truest sense of the word. And, Mike still is today.

Mike is such a wonderful Daddy. He sets such a good example for Adam and Grace. He works training others for gainful work and careers at Deseret Industries in Vegas. He does not get paid all he is worth, but the lessons he shares with my grandbabies are priceless treasures! They help with treats to take to his fellow workers. They have helped straighten things in the store. They get to share Thanksgiving with the most special group of people, and they learn that it is not how much you have, but how much you give that is important! It is hard to have family away. It is hard to have to be so far when your car doesn't, and you feel awful, and the kids are needing, and yet Mike never lets anyone know when things may get overwhelming. He just does his very best, and then prays for help when he just can't do more. He is a spiritual man. He was there in Flagstaff when Kayty was in intensive care, being treated for diabetic ketoacidosis, when we didn't even know she was diabetic, to help give her a priesthood blessing. He was there when we needed help on dances and he and Allison became our second dj system. He is there for our family, every time, and will do everything he can to help.

Mike is a fantastic Daddy. He is the one who flies kites with my grandbabies. He is the one that sleds with them. He is the one that feeds them not so good things to eat. He is the one that holds them when they are sick, that teaches them to play Lego Star Wars and other xbox games that have boats racing on them. He takes them bowling. He takes them to the park. He is just the best Daddy, and I never worry that he will not do all in his power to make sure that little family has everything it needs, both temporally and spiritually!

Thank you Mike. You are a dream son in law. You are the best Daddy. Thank you for loving Adam, and Grace, and my sweet baby, Allison. You have been an answer to prayer from the first time we heard of you. You have endured much torment from your brothers in law...thank you for sticking it out, and for being the Greatest! Happy Fathers' Day!