"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.

Another Rough Day

First day of spring break and guess where we spent it? That's right, at the hospital with Alie. She woke us up this morning at 8:30 with a fever of 104.7 degrees. That's the highest fever that I have seen in any of my kids or anybody else's kids for that matter. We spent the morning trying to get her fever down and trying to figure out why she's been running one off and on for the last three weeks. Dr. Gelwix was great and talked to the ENT doctor on call at Primary's but all they came up with was to do another series of rocefin shots by intravenous therapy every day for the next three days and see if all of that will kick start her immune system. It's great though, they left the IV needle in her arm and it's bugging her already. We have two more days of this, like I've said before, patience is a virtue!

(The sign for owie-rotate index fingers back and forth in opposite directions touch tips of fingers.)

SUNDAY, AUGUST 23,2009
Now, something about Pam . . .

Pamela Jean was born on November 26, 1963 and is the oldest of the younger three sisters. I remember when our mother brought her home from the hospital, we had dinner all ready for them and I had even set a place for Pam. I know, but I was only six when Pam was born and I was just looking out for my new baby sister. My mother took me aside, so as not to embarrass me in front of my siblings, and told me that our new little baby didn't have any teeth yet and so she couldn't eat the same food we did. I quietly removed Pam's plate from the table and no one ever knew about it. That was one thing my mother always did was go out of her way not to let any of us be embarrassed in front of each other. It helped us to show respect to each other and we never belittled each other to make ourselves look better. We had a very close knit family and the ties that bound us then are even stronger today.

Pam is the daughter that is the most like my mom, only Pam has the most beautiful long, thick, dark head of hair you will ever see. When she was little my mom used to always put it up in those soft, pink sponge rollers that you could sleep in. Pam had to leave them in over night because her hair was so thick that it wouldn't dry in a regular amount of time so her hair always had to be put up over night.

When she was about ten years old she started getting migraine headaches. It was so not fun for her. I remember back then the Dr. would make house calls and Dr. Larsen and Dr. Hollingsworth were regular visitors to our home to treat Pam for headaches. Mom or dad would take her to Lynne Beazer who was a chiropractor and he would work her over but a lot of times it was to no good. She suffered terrible while she was younger. Finally one day, someone asked my mom if she had considered that maybe Pam's hair was so heavy that it was pulling on her head and causing her headaches.

Pam wasn't terrible excited about cutting her hair but agreed that if it would stop the headaches she would give it a shot. My mom braided her hair into two braids and then took her to the beauty shop to have them cut off and her hair shaped and styled. Each of her braids weighed in at over a quarter of a pound and after she was cut and styled it looked pretty cute. It took Pam a while to get used to it but guess what? No more headaches. It was such a blessing to Pam and altho she loved her long hair she learned to love her new style too.

During the time that Pam had to deal with all the headaches there was one time when she decided to treat herself and took a whole bottle of children's aspirin. By the time my parents found her sleeping beside the empty bottle and rushed her to the hospital to have her stomach pumped it was too late to pump her stomach. We just had to wait it out and hope for the best. In those days, it was not uncommon for children to die from an overdose of aspirin and I remember how worried my parents were. My dad gave her a blessing and then they set out to wait out the long night ahead. They nearly lost Pam that night and I know that it was only through the power of the Priesthood that my father bore that took her through the night. Now, that wasn't the only time that we almost lost Pam.

I was married and Kendall was on his mission in Taiwan when this incident happened. My dad was the bishop and the young men and young women had gone sledding out in the countryside around Cardston. It was a perfect winter for sledding with lots and lots of snow. Pam was going done the hill on a toboggan with a couple of other kids. Pam, being the smallest, was in the front, and the heaviest kid was in the back. Now if you know anything about toboggans you know that the more weight in the back you have, the faster you will go. They set off down the hill and had a great run except that they didn't stop where they had been stopping before and continued on for several yards past everyone else. They ran right straight on into a barbed wire fence and with Pam being in the front, she broke the way for the other kids. However, the barbed wire hit her right at her throat and severely cut her, so bad that it almost took her head off. It took several stitches, a Priesthood blessing, a ward fast and the prayers of all who knew and loved her but her life was spared once again.

We all know that Pam is here on Earth for a reason, that is very apparent to us and we know and have witnessed many great things that she has been a part of and accomplished so far in her life. Pam has worked hard all of her life. She has a beautiful family as you can see . . .

Pam has always been a good example to me and all those who come in contact with her. She has a strong testimony of the gospel and a very personal relationship with her Heavenly Father. I can remember when she was in high school she was a cheerleader and very popular. Some of her friends were in our ward and would often sneak out the back of the chapel to go down town for a snack. Pam would never go with them. She always stayed in church, even when they would drive by her walking home and call out things that were not so nice to her. She was never afraid to stand up for what she believed in to her friends and classmates. I really admire her for that.

Pam is truly amazing! She's great at what ever undertakes. She has always been an example to me and now she is a great influence to my kids as well. My kids just love her, they look up to her and admire the way she accomplishes her goals and her attitude on life.

What more can I say? She's a sweetheart! I'm so proud of her and proud to say she's my sis, I love ya Pam.

Soooo tired!

I have been so tired today. I didn't write at all over the weekend and now it's 10:30 and past my bedtime. Amy laid down with Alie tonight instead of me and this time she fell asleep with her. I can't wait to give her a hard time like she does me. She went down with Alie at 8:00, so she ought to feel pretty good in the morning. Alie isn't feeling very good though. Her ears are draining like crazy causing her so much pain and pressure that all she does is cry. I feel so bad for her. Her chiropractor appointment is tomorrow at 3:00 and Amy said she would go with us. I took Alie by myself last week and had noone that she would let hold her while I had my appointment so I missed my treatment and oh my gosh! I've missed it. I have been so sore that I'm definately a believer in this kind of therapy. It's amazing and I can't wait until tomorrow! I'll even tell you more about my little sisters next time. We used to call them the three little girls but they're not so little anymore.

Alie's Turn

It's been a long day for all of us, rather exhausting I think but nonetheless a good day. I had lots of computer problems to deal with at school today. With the quarter ending next week and everyone trying to get their grades in it's been a little crazy. One teacher thought she lost all of her grades but she rebooted her computer and wha-laa, there they were. I've been working on hooking up my printer and the Samsung LazerJet printer in our room to Pam's computer. She has put in hours of looking, deleting, re-installing and looking again and hasn't been able to find them anywhere on the network. The crazy thing is - they were just there a week ago. So although I had tried it a time or two myself with no success I decided to tackle it again during fourth hour while our kids were at the choir concert. I had to give up seeing the concert but hey, that's what they pay me the big bucks for right? Yeah right! Finally, frustrated and well into lunch time I called Eric, our district technology specialist, and he told me it was perfectly normal. A few weeks ago they decided to start enforcing a "No-Printer-Sharing" policy the district has had forever but not enforced so no matter how hard we tried we would never get it to print. Wish I'd called a few weeks ago. Anyway, he said he would come over this afternooon or Monday morning and take care of it for us. He is a really good sport and takes good care of us. Especially considering the airhead in our building he has to work with. (That would be me!)

I got home after school just in time for Shellie to pick up Alie Kae. Alie wasn't very happy I guess and was crying pretty hard which in turn made Shellie feel bad and cry too. I told her they would be just fine and Alie will warm up to them again if they just spent some time with her. They haven't been able to take her overnight since she first got sick and had the new tubes put in her ears. It was just the unfamiliarity of the whole thing. I called Zane later tonight and he said Shellie had taken her to a Relief Society thing with her and she was doing super good now. I knew she would. She loves Shellie and Zane and Lucie and Chic. I hope Shellie doesn't have trouble putting her to sleep tonight, Alie tends to make it rough sometimes.

When Shellie brought her back last time she had on a new pair of boots. They are Strawberry Shortcake and alot like Camryn's and Lauren's boots and so of course Alie loves them. When she gets them on she won't take them off. Last night I was getting her ready for bed and after I had taken her out of the bath she spotted her boots in the basket and just had to have them on! I put a diaper on her and then her boots and let her go while I went to get her some pajamas. Then it was a game of catch me if you can! As you can see, she loves those boots.

Amy went up to Rigby to spend some time with Kent and his family tonight. He spent the day with her because she told him she gets go lonely and bored during the day. He's such a nice guy and he treats Amy and Alie so good. We really enjoy spending time with him. I guess I'd better go get ready for bed. Bob took me out to dinner tonight seeing as how it was just me and him for a change. It was so nice to be out together, I could pretend I wasn't so old and that I could walk without any pain in my knees. Life was good, not that it isn't now though. I wouldn't change a thing about my life.

Poor Baby . . .

Hey, it's late so I probably won't last long but I had the most amazing day with Alie today. I had my chiropractor appointment after school today and last time I was there I made an appointment for Alie too but Amy wasn't feeling too good this afternoon so I just took Alie with me. Ya, I know pretty guttsy to take her by myself for that kind of an appointment. When I got home to pick her up she was looking awful, flushed and a little fevered. She was sitting in Amy's lap and wouldn't let anyone else touch her or even come near her. It wasn't easy taking her from her mommy but I did and buckled her into the car and took off. She fell asleep somewhere around the Rose exit but she slept all the way there. When we got there, however, she woke up and was so cranky. She was mad because I took her coat off, she was mad because I sat her on the counter while I filed out the paper work, she was mad when I took her into the play corner because I kept dropping her blanket, she was just plain mad and didn't care who knew it or who heard her screaming. I knew I was in for a treat! They took us back to a room and I tried to get her interested in a book or the things out the window or something to stop her from crying and disturbing the other patients. When Dr. Nelson came in he started to sign to her a little. He had taken the time and the effort to learn a few signs so she wouldn't be so afraid of him.

He had me sit on the table and hold her which wasn't a problem because she wouldn't let me go. She burried her face in my shoulder and screamed every time he touched her. He felt up and down her spine and wiggled her hips a little. Then he felt up around her ears and around her neck and said he was amazed at how swollen and blocked things were in there. He had given her one of his little hammer thumper things to hold and play with and he showed her how it works and that it was soft and wouldn't hurt her. Then he turned it on and thumped up and down her back and you know what? She shut right up! She let him move it all over her back and use it to adjust between her shoulders, her middle back and lower back. I couldn't believe that she had stopped crying that fast. Then he showed her the round vibrating attachment and ran it up and down her back. She kept her head burried but she stopped crying immediately. I was in shock. She went from screaming one minute to total silence the next. He had me move her to the other shoulder and he did the same thing all over again. She loved it but what's not to love right? He moved the hammer adjuster up to her neck and moved it around a little. Then he told me to lay her on the table on her back. He said this might be hard because she may scream again but I said I didn't care as long as it would make her feel better. He took her head in his hands and moved and minipulated it until he had it where he wanted it and then he gave it a quick flick. She stopped crying for a minute and just lay there. Then he signed to her that he was going to give her a bear hug. She was crying again but he went ahead and position her on the table just right and then folded her arms across her body and moved her hips alittle. Then he made an adjustment there and boy did it pop! He asked me if she had balance issues and I explained to him that she didn't walk yet and yes, she definately has balance issues. He moved to the other side of the table and repeated the same thing. Then he told me that her balance should improve immensly with that adjustment. Her hips were totally out of alignment as was her back and shoulders. He said that was enough for today but we should notice a huge change in her. Boy was he ever right! She didn't cry again while we were there. She still wouldn't let me put her down so I had to reschedule my appointment but she was happy and blowing them kisses and waving bye when we left. He also told me as we were leaving not to be surprised if she had big poops today and tomorrow because her tummy had been all tangled up but she should feel better now. It was amazing!

She was sweet and happy all the way home and when we got home she played with Camryn and Griffen so cute. Amy played with her - making her stand up by herself, which she has never done for more than a couple of seconds before, but she did it tonight. Not for really long periods of time but a lot longer than she ever has before. In fact Amy said that she just always sits down becuase she didn't trust herself. Tonight she was reaching for the ceiling while Amy let go and then clapping as she would sit down after standing all by herself. She knew what she was doing and she was loving it. I think even Amy was impressed. I know I'm a believer. I can't wait to take her again on Tuesday but this time I told Amy she had to come so I don't miss my appointment again. He has done so much for my knees. I can walk so much easier now. I felt like I was eighty years old before I started seeing Aaron and I think if I keep doing my exercises and continue with his therapy, I'll be so much better I will be able to wait a few years before having to have knee replacements. That's my goal anyway. I would love to not have to have them done at all but we'll play it by ear and see what happens. It was a great day!