Merry Christmas

Dear Family and Friends,

I can't believe how fast this year is drawing to a close. Before we know it, it will be 2009 and another year will have slipped quietly away. We are thankful for the many blessings that have been ours and for those of you who have touched our lives in one way or another and made us better this past year. We will be ever grateful.

Brooke and Kade are doing very well. They are planning a trip to the temple this winter and we are all excited about that. They have such an adorable little family. Treyson started kindergarten this year and at parent-teacher conference a week ago all his teacher could say was how lucky she was to have him in her class. She complimented Brooke on how very respectful he is and how good he is at helping others in his class. It's always nice to get reports like that. He is also wrestling again this year and is taking after his dad, a high school state champion wrestler. He loves to take them down and pin'em to the mat. Kennedy is three and started dance this past fall. She is loving all the pink feathers and frills that come with that and is quite the little ballerina. She is such a beautiful little girl, the very image of her mother. I love the big hugs and little kisses I get everytime they visit. Brooke does a lot of substitute teaching and I love the days she gets to spend with me. I enjoy her so much. Kade is a great dad and is active in all of the sports Treyson plays. He and Treyson enjoy many fishing trips together and they just got back from Salmon where they did some steelhead fishing. They had a great time and have lots of good fish tales to tell. We love their little family so much and are blessed to have them living close by.

Cyndi and Jamon are still in Blackfoot and doing great. Their little family is growing up so fast. Griffen is into everything as little boys should be and loves to follow his daddy everywhere. He is such a happy little boy and such a joy to have around. He loves his Papa Bob and gets so excited every time he sees him. Camryn is as grown up as ever for all of her three (four next month) years, and what a cutie. She steals your heart with her blond hair and blue eyes. She too is dancing and was the star of her recital calling out to all of us but especially Kennedy, "Hay Kenndedy, we dancin'!" She is also attending pre-school this year and loves it. She just can't wait to tell you everything she did there. She is definity a sweetheart. Lauren is seven and as beautiful as ever. When I look at her it makes me wonder where the time has gone. She is an awesome young lady and grandma's best friend. She is also involved in dance and is an incredible little dancer. She played softball this past summer on a team that her Aunt Amy coached. She loved playing ball and we loved watching her. Jamon will graduate from ISU this spring with a double major. We are proud of him and all his hard work. Cyndi is such a good mom. She is loving being back at the Villa doing nails. Her clients love her and are so good to her. She does an amazing job and has got so good and so fast that she only has to work three days a week. We love her and her family and all that they bring to our family.

Adam and Brittany are still living in Salt Lake where Adam is attending the Art Institute of Salt Lake City. He is majoring in Industrial and Interior Design and is so good at what he does, his professor has adopted him and has him present to the class on a regular basis. They have had an exciting addition to their family this year. Little Andie Mae was born on July 14th and is the most beautiful baby you have ever seen. Honest, no lie, she is! Her mother's blond hair and her daddy's blue eyes make for a future beauty queen. She is such a good baby and so happy all the time. She even smiles for her crazy Grandma Dori. She is such a sweet addition to our family. We just love her. Brittany is now able to stay home with Andie as Adam, as well as going to school, has a good job with A.T.&T Mobile. She still will work at the Dental Office when they need her. Then Adam gets to babysit. It's a nice break for both of them and Adam absolutley loves spending time with little Andie. If does our hearts good to watch him with her. He is so loving and patient, he's a great little dad. Brittany's an amazing little mommy and takes such good care of both Andie and Adam. We are grateful to have her in our family. We love them so much and are glad we get to see them as often as we do.

Amy is doing well. She and Alie are living with us again and we love having them. Little Alie has struggled with many ear infections and after having her adenoids removed and then her tonsils, the doctor removed the tubes and low and behold, her infections cleared up. Apparently she had been having a reaction to the material that the tubes were made of and so thankfully she has remained, for the most part, infection free for the past six months. We had to have her cochlear turned way back down so she is starting all over again. It's a slow process but with patience she should get to where she can hear. We are all very hopeful. She doesn't much like it though. She will go in the other room, take it off and hide it so Amy can't put it back on her. The only way we find it is that it beeps when it's not attached to her head. She keeps us on our toes and is so sweet, she is the light of all of our lives. Her signing is amazing! I love to watch her little hands as they talk and help her communicate what she wants. Amy's signing is coming along nicely and it's great to watch her communicate with Alie. Mine is slow but I keep working on it. Amy is so good with her. I am proud of the mom she has become, she is so caring and thoughtful of Alie's needs. It's hard to be a single parent and Amy struggles every day with missing Shay. I don't think she will ever get over loosing him. He was so good to her and Alie. We all miss him very much. Alie will turn three next month on Grandpa Bob's birthday and will start attending a special pre-school at the Elementary school. It will be hard for Amy to put her on that little bus but I know she can do it. She amazes me everyday with the things that she can do. We sure love her and Alie and are glad they are able to be with us.

Bob and I are doing great. Bob is still at the site and as busy as ever. He helped move his parents to Utah this past summer where they bought a home close to his sister Shirley. We miss having them just up the road but I know they are enjoying Utah's milder climate and all the BYU sports! as well as being close to Shirley. I'm still teaching 6th grade at the Blackfoot 6th Grade School and loving what I do. It can be challenging at times but the rewards far out-weigh the challenges. We love keeping busy and our grandkids help us do just that. We love them all so much.

At this holiday season we feel blessed to have you, our friends and family, in our lives and want you all to know how much we love and appreciate you and your examples. We pray that this Christmas season will be joyous and your New Year filled with love and peace. We hope our paths will cross somewhere, sometime in 2009. Happy Holidays!

Much Love, Bob & Dori

It Really Is About Time!

I know, what can I say? It's been almost three weeks since I wrote anything and then it was only a promise to write something. So here I am, I have lots of pictures to post and plenty of catching up to do. I'll try to get it all done today.

Adam and Brittany's little Andie is growing like a weed and getting more beautiful by the day. Adam and Brittany left her with Janell, Brittany's mom, while they went to a Bengals/Cowboys football game in Dallas with Cheyenne and Lisa. They had an amazingly good time, even though Adam's Bengals lost terribly. Andie survived, I think even better than her mom and dad did, and I'm sure Gramma Janell had a great time. Adam is doing really well in work at AT&T. Brittany is still getting out every once in awhile to work a morning or an afternoon.

It's About Time . . .

Well, I don't even have a good excuse, I've just been so busy enjoying my family and getting back into school that I haven't written for a long time. I try to keep up on my lap band blog because I hope someday I'll be able to read and feel some satisfaction.

. . . and now our little Andie Mae!

I promised pictures weeks ago and have been a very negligent grandma. Now, to introduce you to our newest granddaughter, little Andie Mae.

I've already told you when she was born, on July14th, and that she weighed 6 lbs. 10 oz. and that she's the cutest thing you could imagine but now I've got pictures to prove it.

This is one very proud papa . . . he just can't get enough of her. It's so fun to watch him with her and she seems to love just laying and sleeping on his chest. He's also a very good papa!

He gave Andie her very first bath and he was amazing. Of course Andie was pretty awesome in her own right. The nurse was great, just stood back and let Adam do it all himself. I guess that's how you learn, aye?

Long time . . . no excuse!

It's been a while since I've blogged anything, and so much has happened in the last two or three weeks. Last Sunday was the anniversary of Shay's death. It wasn't fun to relive that whole weekend ordeal. I'm grateful for the love and support that our family shows to each other. The weekend would have been much harder without it. We love you Shay and remember you always.

That in itself has been cause enough to have a bad week, but to add to that Shay's little sister, Lucie, was killed in a terrible car accident just two days before that on Friday. She was born two days before Shay and died two days before him. She was a beautiful, young (just fifteen years old) and talented girl and we will miss her so much.

Amy has had a rough time with the whole thing. She was really close to Lucie and had just taken her shopping the week before the accident. Alie loved Lucie so much. I don't know if she even understands what has happened but she will miss her immensely.

Shellie and Zane picked Alie up this morning and are taking her with them to fly to Denver tomorrow. It was good of Amy to let her go, I just hope she doesn't get too homesick for her. She's going to be gone until Thursday which is a pretty long time. Amy said that Zane and Shellie need Alie and she has to think of them right now.

I know she's right but Amy has been needing Alie this past week too. I thought that was really understanding and unselfish of Amy. I'm proud of the way she has dealt with the whole thing. I know it has been hard on her. She has been through so much herself in her young life.

I don't know how you deal with loosing two children just one year apart. Shellie and Zane are going to have a really hard time with this. They are strong people and we love them and their family so much. I wish there was something that we could do for them but everyone says that only time will heal the holes left in their hearts. Our prayers are with them.

Too Sad To Even Talk About!

So much has happened that I don't even know where to start. Last Sunday was the anniversary of Shay's death and it was more than a hard week. Just two days before that his sister, Lucie, was in a horrible car accident which took her young, fifteen year old life. She was born just two days before Shay and died just two days before Shay did. She was a beautiful, young lady with so much of life ahead of her. We will miss her and her sweet smile.

My heart goes out to Shellie and Zane, her parents. I don't know how you deal with loosing two children just a year apart. They are strong, I think stronger than they even think. We love you guys.

"Thirty-Onederful" Years!

Today's the day, my thirty-first wedding anniversary and I just want to say that it has been an amazing and joyful ride. I have been blessed to have lived these past thirty-one years with my best and dearest friend Bob.

He is my soul mate, my sun and my moon, my day and my night; and I will love him forever, thankfully yes forever and ever.

Little Andie Mae

What can I say, I'm the luckiest grandma in the world. I have seven, yes - count them, seven beautiful grandchildren. Little Andie Mae, born July 14th, makes seven! (pictures and more to come.)

Here Comes the 4th of July!

Hey, I can't believe it's July already and the 4th is just around the corner. This year Bob and I are going to spend it in Utah seeing that his dad's birthday is on Saturday and we can celebrate it with him on the 4th.

It will be good to see grandma and grandpa again. We miss them being just up the road. It's weird driving past their house and not seeing grandpa on the mower or grandma's clothes hanging on the line. I hope they are doing well in Utah. We're excited to visit with Shirley and Keith too this weekend. Maybe with mom and dad and Adam and Brittany down there now we'll get to see Keith and Shirley more often. We alway enjoy their company and have such a great time when we're there.

Cyndi Lynne's birthday is Sunday so we will come home on Saturday to celebrate her birthday with her.
(Finally, a new pic!) Cyndi is such a sweetheart, my life is blessed because of her. She is such a hard worker and tries so hard to make everybody happy. We had the opportunity to watch her kids on Friday and Saturday last weekend and it was such a pleasure. Jamon had gone to Boston with his mom and brother so Cyndi stayed with us for a couple of nights. It was great fun! The kids were so good and considerate to each other. Even little Camryn was sweet and caring to her baby brother. Sometimes a little too much so. Lauren was such a help and pretty much takes care of herself. Cyndi is a great little mom and works hard to help support their family. Jamon is a great dad and the kids love him so much. It will be nice when he's finished with school, it's been a long, hard road for him. They are such a sweet little family and I am grateful to have them in my life!

(Picture is from summer of 07; I know, I need a new one?) Brooke and I got to spend some time together shopping just before I went to McCall, what a time we had. Kade kept the kids so it was just her and me. We got our shopping done and enjoyed each other's company so much. She is such a sweetheart, so caring and giving and so, so talented. I wish I could say that she gets it from me but I'm afraid she has come by it in her own right! Kade is so good to his little family. I appreciate him and his hard work. Treyson is so sweet and watches out for his little sister so well. He shares with Lauren even when he's not asked to, it's just his sweet nature, I enjoy having him around. Kennedy had her third birthday last week. I can't believe she's actually that old. She never leaves but she runs to find me and give me a hug and a kiss. I just love them all so much.

(Fairly recent pic!) Amy is doing great. She's happy and it's so good to see her happy after such a long time. I miss her every day. I don't think she even knows how much I miss her. She doesn't think that I miss her and Alie that much but she's wrong. I love them both so much. Stetson has been a blessing in Amy's life. He treats her so good and takes such good care of her. Alie loves him too which is always a good sign. She runs to him whenever he's in the room. It was so good to have Alie and Amy here on Sunday even though it was only for a short time.

(As you can see, old pic again! I've definitely got to upload some new photos to this computer.) I wish Adam and Brittany lived closer. I miss them so much, it's just not fair. Now with a new baby on the way, I'm going to miss them all the more. I can't wait for her to arrive. Adam is doing very well in school and is working two jobs to help make ends meet. I know it never seems like you make ends meet but I think they are doing alright. Brittany is still working, for a few more days at least. She's been good for Adam and taught him some valuable lessons. He's learning the value of saving and having something for a rainy day. Adam too has been good for Brittany. He's teaching her how to relax and enjoy life as it comes. Together they make a great team and I'm excited to see them both this weekend.

(Finally, not so old pic.) I guess I've blogged about everyone now except my Bob. What can I say, he is my best friend, my confidant, and my soul mate. I don't know what I'd do without him keeping me on the right track. I've teased him these past few weeks about being the food police to my lapband diet but he always takes good care of me, probably better than I deserve. It would be sad to spend these (I refuse to say "golden") years with someone you didn't like. I love him with all my heart and love spending time with him.

A Great Week in McCall

I just got back last Thursday night from my annual trip to McCall with my teacher friends. We always have such a great time! This year we rented a cabin right on the Payette River, it was a brand new "cabin" and was the nicest one we've stayed in yet. This was hardly a cabin though, it was probably worth somewhere around $500,000.00 and everything still smelled brand new.

We didn't rent a pontoon boat this year because "Cheap Thrills" doesn't bring their boats up to where we were staying which was about 15 miles from McCall but it was fun anyways. The mosquitoes were pretty bad so we didn't spend a lot of time outside but we still made our annual trip to the ceramic shop in McCall to paint our pieces. I enjoy this part of our trip but I know it stresses some of the ladies out just a little bit, right Jeannie?

We played some Cranium which was hilarious and watched more than our share of movies. We read books and took naps and just had a real relaxing time. Jeannie brought a puzzle with her this year, a really hard one at that but several of them worked on that. I'm not a puzzle person, in fact they drive me insane! I just don't have the patience.

Instead of renting the pontoon boat we took the money we would have spent on it and went to a really nice restaurant called The Mill. Since I was just barely to be starting on pureed foods I only had a baked potato and some sauteed mushrooms. I thought that the mushrooms would be sliced and just a few on the side but no, there was a huge plate of whole sauteed mushrooms. It was way more than I could eat so I shared them with everyone at the table. My bill only came to around ten bucks which I thought was incredibly inexpensive for the meal and the atmosphere we enjoyed there. We just sat around and laughed. It was great!

Some of the girls fished from the dock behind our cabin. Jennifer mostly caught trash fish that she threw back but Jeannie caught a nice little trout and some really ugly catfish which she let take her line after it got caught in the trees. Poor thing, she probably scared it to death with all that screaming. They sure are ugly!

We went and ate at Homestead when we got back to Blackfoot and visited one last time before going home to face the real world again. Everyone is supposed to send me their pictures so that I can add them to our ProShow presentation. I'll just keep adding more and more from year after year. Then after Jeannie has picked up our ceramic pieces we'll get together for a back yard bar-b-que and watch a presentation of all of the pictures from all of our great summer retreats.

It's a fun week and it really helps build great friendships. This in turn makes us better teachers and easier to work with when we get back to school. It's fun to get to know little bits about each other every year. It helps us to appreciate each other more and more.

Gotta get to bed . . .

It doesn't seem as though I've been on here in a long time but I've been going back adding pictures and videos to my last posts and now I look at the clock and it's already almost 1:00 a.m. Time really does fly! I'm off to bed so I'll try to catch up more tomorrow. Goodnight!

Busy, busy weekend . . .

Glad that's over . . .

It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, the sleep study that is. I slept great once I fell asleep. They won't have any results for me for a week to ten days. I've waited this long, I guess I can wait a few more days.

Griffen's First Birthday . . .

Last weekend was Griffen's first birthday and we had a blast. He's the cutest bugger and such a good baby. I don't know what Cyndi did but whatever she did it gave her the right to have perfect little babies! We blew up the Jump-a -Roo in Cyndi and Jaman's back yard and the kids had a ball.




Recital time . . .

It was also Lauren and Camryn's dance recital this weekend. They were so great. The pictures speak for themselves. The girls were awesome and right on their marks. Lauren lead her group out and lead them the whole way through their dance. She's turning into quite a little lady and loved the flowers grandma and grandpa brought her.





Camryn was not going to disappoint us! First of all, as you'll notice in the video clip, all the girls in Camryn's class have long hair and have their hair pulled up into pony tails with a matching bow in their hair. Well, two weeks before the recital Camryn decided to cut her own long, curly hair. Cyndi was horrified and took her to Dayna at the salon where Dayna proceeded to cut it into a short little bob. It was cute enough, what Camryn? not cute? anyway time passes and about two days before the recital she decides she needs another haircut and went straight up the back with the scissors. This time Dayna had no choice but to cut it all off while Cyndi whimpered in the background. Thus, no ponytail, only matching bow on headband! (That's okay Camryn, we all love your spikey look.)

Back to the recital, she walked out on the floor, found her star to stand on and then looked up at us. We were sitting on the bottom two rows of the bleechers right in front of her. She didn't know that Brooke and Kennedy were coming so when she first saw them she was so excited she waved and yelled to the whole audience, "Kenndedee, look! we dancin'." Needless to say the crowd chuckled but then just as the music was ready to start and it was soooo quiet, she got excited again when she saw Adam and Brittany and did the same thing, "Adam, Britnee I dancin'." This time the audience really laughed. It was great fun. I got most of Camryn's dance on video and hopefully it will upload so you can get a chuckle as well. As you can see she was glad that she was finally old enough to get her "dancin' flowrs" as she calls them from grandma and grandpa.





Adam and Brittany did come home for the weekend, with it being Mother's Day and all. It was great to have them here even if we have to share them with Pocatello. Her brother was making his annual Missionary Mother's Day call. Those were always great Sundays.

Brittany's is looking a little bit pregnant and Adam was looking a little bit tired. He told his dad that this "responsibility thing really sucks!" I'm really proud of him though. I knew he would step up. We can't wait to welcome their new baby girl in mid July. For Brittany's sake we'll hope for early July. She looks great, healthy and happy and we love them both so much.
(Photo actually taken in June with 6 wks to due date)

Tonight's the Night . . .

Well, I guess it's finally here. My sleep study is tonight and I am a little bit nervous about it. I know I can fall asleep anywhere so I'm not worried about that but I just hate not sleeping in my own bed.

I have been so emotional these past few days. I don't know if it's Amy moving out or what. I was on my way to school yesterday morning and noticed that the pond has water in it. That's exciting news around here because by the end of July it's usually gone. I sat there for a minute looking at the water and at the park and cried. Yeah, I know! I don't know if I was crying because it means that spring is finally here and summer will come, or if it was just time to have a beautiful sunny day and the stillness of the water made me feel nostalgic, or just what. I felt something though, something kind of heavy hearted. I don't know, maybe I'm just over my head. After all, I am entitled! I've earned this nervous condition. My doctor, Doug, asked if I needed anything to help get me through it and I told him no, that it's hard to tell Amy not to take anything for what she's going through if I'm taking something just because I'm loosing my grip on life. I'll get through it, I know. It will just take time, lots of sleep and some alone time to figure things out. Just sitting and thinking helps. It's just that there's hardly ever anywhere to sit alone at my house right now, but that's all going to change this weekend. Amy moves on Friday so we'll see how all of that goes. I'm sure I'll have more to add later. This saga just never ends!

Finally, some answers!

Well after not writing at all last week, I have plenty to write about this week. Last Wednesday at school just around 11:00 in the morning I had a little bit of an episode where I blacked out for a second and kind of fell asleep. When I came to I was babbling some kind of gibberish and not making any sense at all. It kind of scared me, not to mention scaring my class, so I went down stairs to the office and JoAnn, our secretary, insisted on driving me to the clinic, which she did. I got right in to see Doug and he ran some blood tests which showed nothing abnormal so he sent me to the hospital for a CT scan of my head. I was a little concerned because of the mini strokes that my mom has from time to time. I was concerned that I was headed in that direction. The CT scan looked normal but Doug told me that it was probably my stress level that was causing the episodes. He said what I was doing was zoning out to the point that I would become almost comotose before regaining my senses again. I told him I knew I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown and he told me that no, in fact, I was there. He told me to relieve as much of the stress in my life that I can, yeah right!, and scheduled me for a sleep study. I've known and Bob has been telling me that I don't sleep well and that he's sure I have sleep apneia. That sleep study is scheduled for Wednesday the 14th so we'll see how that goes. Bob says that I stop breathing numerous times every hour and maybe this is why I snore too. I guess we'll just have to see.

Amy has found an apartment to rent and has decided that it is time she move on with her life. She wants to show that she is a responsible person and can deal with whatever comes at her. I know, no stress right? Well, I fought her on this for a few days and finally decided she has to do her own thing and make her own mistakes and learn her own lessons. I don't worry about Amy so much as I do Alie. I will miss that little girl so much. I can't even fathom waking up without her by my side anymore. I will miss that! I just hope all goes well for both of them and they are okay. Amy assures me they will be so I guess I just have to step back and let her grow up some time, as much as I hate to. What Amy doesn't understand is that she is still my baby and that will never change.

So sleepy . . .

Holy crap! I am so sleepy today. I don't really know why, I went to bed pretty early. I've taken two stay awake pills this morning but they don't seem to be working. It's such a yucky day outside that we've had to keep the door closed to the computer lab while we're ISAT testing. That makes it oh, so hot in here with all the computers running, and you know, hot means sleeeeepy! I'm going to do better though. Just wait and see. Amy has to be in court at 1:30 this afternoon so I'm going to sneak away, actually Brian said I could) and run over there for a few minutes. I don't think it's going to take very long anyways. We'll see.

I bought the movie "27 Dresses" day before yesterday and Amy and I watched it together. It was pretty funny. I really liked it and I think it'll be a great movie for McCall. Speaking of McCall, we gave Jennifer her basket full of goodies last night after the 5th Grade Open House. It was so cool. She just kept saying, "Don't be nice to me!" She says that's when she cries is when people are nice to her. Any way we all kinda had a good cry, it was as good a Halmark moment as I've ever had. I hope she knows that we will be here. She can ask us to do anything. We'll all do our best to keep her busy and productive. She's a strong woman, she'll be fine.

Well, it's almost 1:00 so I'd better get going. I still want to write more about my family. I promise to do that as soon as I have more minutes.

Can't seem to get with it . . .

This is alot harder than I thought it might be. I just never seem to find the time to write anything down and with the weather warming up so nicely I don't want to be cooped in doors. Like Alie, I too would much rather be outside. I finally finished her word book with all the signs in it. It turned out great and Alie loves to look at the pictures of her and her cousins and practice the signs that go with them. She has learned to spell her name so when I ask in sign language, "What's your name?" she will sign, "A L I E". It's so cute and she usually gets so excited that she can't get clear to the end before she starts turning inside out. She is such a sweetie!

We started ISAT testing this morning. If everything goes as planned we should finish up on Friday. I hope so any way. My feet hurt! and it's only noon. School is going good, only 27 more days. I think I can hold out that long. A teacher here at school and a good friend of mine, Jennifer, just got notice a week ago that her husband, Jon, has been called up to go to Iraq and leaves on June 8th. Not a lot of time but she's doing pretty well. I admire her so much for doing this. She is a strong woman but this would be hard. No doubt about it. It's like the early days of the church when they would call newly married men to leave their little wife and serve a mission for two years over seas or somewhere far away. I don't know that I could do that. It would be tough. To help Jennifer out a bit I've been calling around asking local businesses to help make these few weeks memorable for their family. Destinations Inn, a theme hotel in Idaho Falls, has donated a free night in their Congo suite for Jon and Jennifer. That alone is worth $200 so things are going well. Johnny Carino's donated a dinner for two, Olive Garden donated something (I'm not sure quite what yet) they said they would put something together and have it ready for me to pick up. Bowl-ero bowling alley has donated thirty free games with shoes for their family to enjoy now and after Jon's gone. Subway has donated five foot long sandwich meals, Papa Kelsey's donated two large pizzas, and the list goes on and on. I'm excited about it. It will be from our little group of ladies that goes to McCall every summer, the Yo-Yo Sisters, and I hope their family will enjoy it. We're going to all donate some money for some movie passes since it takes six weeks to process the request for a donation through their corporate office. Jon will be gone by then so I'll take care of that. I also want to contact Carnations Intimate Apparel and ask if they would donate some fun (and rather naughty) games or something like that for Jon and Jennifer. I know they would love it. I've got to get it all put together quickly though so I guess I'm going to have to go to Idaho Falls tonight to pick up stuff. Hopefully I can do it all in one trip. I watched Oprah's Big Give and decided that there are plenty of things I could be doing for those around me who need some help, even if it's just a cheering up or a show of support. Jennifer does so much, it's nice to be able to do something for her and her family.

Lunch time is almost over and another session of ISAT's is going to start. I want to spend some time talking about my little sisters so hopefully I will be able to get back on here sooner than I did the last time. Any way, I guess we just keep going. The alternative to that is not very appealing!

Better late than never . . .

It seems I'm getting farther and father behind here. Not only here though but everywhere. I didn't get anything graded at school today because we were getting ready for ISAT testing and review, review, review! I've got about two hours of correcting to do but I feel like I haven't written anything for so long that I'd rather do this now and go in to school early in the morning to get the other stuff done. This past weekend was amazing. The weather was incredible and we had the grandkids all here to play in the back yard. We set up the Jump-a-Roo castle that we bought them for Christmas and they had a blast. I had pictures and I will post some so you can see them. They were so darn cute. Then of course they had to swing. All Kennedy and Camryn would say was "push me harder." Lauren and Treyson had so much fun playing in the dirt and gathering dandelions. We got the Dora Jeep out and Lauren took Alie for ride after ride. Lauren is such a good girl and so considerate of other people's feelings. She has been taught well.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

And Now, Last but Hardly Least,
My Sister Julie . . .


What can I say, Julie is amazing. She is the second youngest of all my sisters and growing up I was probably closest to her as I was to anyone. She came along when I was about eleven or twelve, right when a young girl is in the babysitting stage and all I ever wanted to do was hold her and take care of her. It was great.

I remember when she wouldn't go to sleep I would lie down with her on my arm and sing her to sleep. Her sleeping on my arm is as vivid a memory as I had of anything. I remember being in my parents bed and her sleeping on my arm. I don't think I slept but I didn't move either until she woke up. She was such a beautiful little girl. It was hard not to love her with her blond hair and blue eyes, she was a doll.



She always got a long with Pam and Cherri and the three of them played so well together. As I got older and out of the babysitting age I think I got more interested in driving licenses and boys than I did my little sisters. But about the time Julie graduated from high school we became very close again.

Julie came to Ricks College, the same as all the Cameron's before her and would visit us on weekends every now and then. I was expecting Amy at the time, and we were getting ready to go home for Christmas. Julie caught a ride from Rexburg to Idaho Falls to meet us with a guy from Idaho Falls who worked at Pizza Hut. His name was Doug Rydalch. He was sure a friendly guy and the walked up to us in the mall hand in hand. I had never met him or for that matter ever even heard Julie mention him so I was a little apprehensive. He seemed nice enough and walked around the mall with us while we finished some Christmas shopping and then walked Julie right to our car and tucked her safely inside. Then he told us to drive careful because we had some very important cargo. Excuse me? I don't even know this guy and he's giving us driving instructions. Well, Julie talked about him the whole time, he called her in Canada all week long and the rest is history. To think she had only met him that day. His roommate heard that Julie needed a ride to Idaho Falls and told her his roommate was going home there that night. The Lord works in mysterious ways to say the least.

The next summer they were engaged and got married on January 11th. They are perfect together and I couldn't imagine either of them with anyone else. After they got married, Doug's boss transferred him to manage the Blackfoot store so they lived over on Clark Road in some people's house who were on a mission. It was less than a mile away from us so it was perfect. We spend a lot of time together and our relationship grew stronger every day.



They later moved to American Falls, and then back to Idaho Falls where Doug took over as General Area Manager for Pizza Hut. They built a new house up on RimRock and have been there ever since. Doug was laid off from his job when Pizza Hut down sized but quickly went to work for a friend in the construction business. Julie got her CNA one summer and has worked part time as a nursing assistant at an assisted living center and full time during the school year as a ParaPro with Jr. high school students. She's amazing at her jobs. Doug lost his job again when the economy dropped and building houses slowed down so now he takes care of the house, the family, and is going back to school to learn a new trade. I'm so proud of their family, they haven't let any of this get them down. They have three children, Brad who is serving a mission in New Jersey, Derek who is serving a mission in California, Blake who is in High School and Kourtnie who is in Jr. High. What an awesome family.

For years while our kids were all young we would go to Idaho Falls on Sundays or they would come down here for dinner and to play cards. We had so much fun and each one of my children remember Sundays fondly because of it.



When Julie was about thirty-six years old she got some bad news at her routine yearly check-up. The doctor found a cancer in her breast and seeing as how my mother had been a survivor of breast cancer, we know it was serious. She went in for the biopsy and sure enough, there it was. Julie underwent a mastectomy and reconstructive surgery which is nothing short of incredibly amazing. Then she went through hours and hours of chemotherapy and radiation, loosing her precious, beautiful, blond hair. If it hadn't been for Doug who physically had to carry her into the doctors office some days for more chemo, I think she would have opted out of it. She was so brave and for her kids sake, she hung in there. Now she's cancer free and her hair has grown back.



She cuts her hair every year for wigs for cancer patients. They don't know how lucky they are to have her gorgeous hair. It was a hard time of life for her but she came through it with shining colors. I'm so proud of her and love her so much.

Though we don't get together every Sunday anymore, we remain extremely close. Julie will always hold a special place in my heart. I learn from her continually and her love and generosity never cease to amaze me. I love you Jules, I'm proud to call you my sister and my friend.

Such a long time

It's been a long time since I posted anything. Spring break came and went without so much as a whimper and now here I am back sitting at my desk just waiting for the next eight weeks to crawl by. I can't believe we're only eight weeks to summer vacation. It always comes and goes so quickly. I've decided that I have hurried much of my life away. I hurry to the weekend so I can get caught up on things at home, and then I hurry through the next week from one thing to the next. Now I'm at that point in my life when I wish things would slow down and let me enjoy it but none the less, it speeds on by. I remember when I was a kid summers seemed soooo long and growing up in Canada we only had about eight or nine weeks of summer. Not May, June, July and most of August like we do now.

Easter was great! It's always fun to have little ones in the house for the Easter Bunny to harrass. The kids loved the annual Easter Egg Hunt at grandma's house. Alie caught on really quickly and gave Camryn a run for her colored eggs. I like to buy the all-ready decorated plastic eggs that are all-ready filled with candy. They were bright and not very easy to hide but oh what fun!

Then we spent some of the day outside in the blowing wind and not so sun shiney afternoon. The kids love the swing set and the cold didn't hold them back at all. We also had to get out the Dora Jeep and take a leisure afternoon drive in it. Camryn was a little afraid to ride inside but Alie was glad to take her turns too as Lauren puttered around the yet brown lawn. I'm so ready for green grass I could cry. Patience, I know, is a virtue.

Finally feeling better . . .
Alie has finally started feeling better but because we spoiled her so badly while she was sick we are now paying the consequences. She wants her own way all of the time and if she doesn't get it she will continue to cry and whine until you get up and take her where ever it is she wants to go and give her whatever it is she's looking for. She's really into playing on the swing set outside and she doesn't care if it's freezing cold or the wind is blowing so hard it goes right through you and chills you to the bone. She just smiles and keeps on swinging. I know, I know, I'm the adult here but I guess I just never learned how to say "No" very well.