She Figured It Out

While talking to my sister on the phone last night, I spent a good deal of time trying to retrieve a DVD from Mike's laptop and finally had to actually start it up and Eject that drive in order to get the drive door open for getting access to the DVD. TJei had figured out she could put DVDs into Grandpa's computer and that's just what she did. She never did get it playing, it actually wasn't flat in the drive, it was misaligned, but she sure gave it a try and it took forever for me to get that drive door open and retrieve the disk.

Just a bit ago I hear, "It's working Grandma. It's working on Grandpa's computer!" squeal coming from the living room and when I go in there, sure enough, she has the Bambi DVD loaded up and playing in the computer, full screen no less!

NY Philharmonic

Never in my lifetime would I have imagined seeing and hearing the New York Philharmonic Orchestra performing in North Korea! Yet sure enough, there they are! I am watching a live performance in Pyongyang, North Korea and am fascinated by every sight and sound being broadcast!

Broadcast? That alone is just amazing - journalists, news media and broadcast media being allowed into that nation. It is just stunning to see.

I am captivated by the faces throughout the audience, too. As the music plays and the camera pans, it is more and more evident how closed off that society has been over all these decades. It has been more than 50 years their nation has isolated itself from the rest of the world. Faces are stoic. there is no emotion. There are no smiles, no sense of familiarity of the music (classics) although, it is also being reported the NK national orchestra will visit Britain in September and Eric Clapton will visit NK next year. Just imagine, Rock
'n Roll in North Korea!

Just a short while back, Quentin and I had talked about the state of affairs between the US and Korea. Just after he returned from his mission things were really testy between our two nations with North Korea threatening nuclear expansion, and worse. The situation was really looking dire. And now, here we are today with the philharmonic playing in that nation/ I am so grateful diplomatic efforts and concessions have worked and that we are no longer facing a crisis standoff with that nation.

Another Special Birthday

Today would have been Jason's 25th birthday. Mike and I went to the cemetary before returning to SJ this past weekend. The tears still come so easily, my arms still ache to hold him close.

TJei was with us when we visited the cemetary. She normally does really well with the relationship thing - in fact, I've been impressed on many occassions that she seems to make the associations so readily. She knows, for example, her mom is my daughter. Her Tio Quentin is my son and her mom's brother. She knows Baylee is her cousin and Mia is her sister. For Jason, she isn't yet able to associate the name with a person. She sees the little etched outline of a young child on his headstone. She thinks that outline of a child is my son.

When we went across to Scotty and Billie's gravesite, TJei wandered off and ended up quite a distance away. As we tried to call her back and did the typical "okay, we're going without you" routine, she got quite upset. As I coaxed her back and tried to figure out why she was still crying hard as she got nearer and nearer to us it finally dawned on me what she was saying and what her thoughts were. We had told TJei we were going to great-grandpa's grave. The last she had known, great-grandpa was in his "box" (coffin) there at the cemetary. She was happily running around looking for great-grandpa's box!

After showing TJei the outline of the soil, still showing signs of fresh digging, and explaining that great-grandpa's box was buried in the ground and reminding her that he was in heaven, with Jesus, and it was just his body in the box, she was okay with that. I was really impressed with how eager she had been to find her great-grandpa's box as she ran down the row, further and further away from Mike and I with no hesitation at all. She had held that vision of his funeral and knew what his box would look like.

Snow Again Today

We had snow on the ground again this morning. It looks like most of it has melted off right now but it sure had a good covering on the ground to start the day. Seeing the snow made missing the lunar eclipse a bit more bearable. (I love the night sky!) Jacob called last night and reminded me to go and look. I'd spent some time standing out in the yard, freezing my tail off because I hadn't put a coat on, and strained to see any glimpe of the eclipse. It wasn't to be ... there was high cloud coverage over most of the sky. I did enjoy the early morning glisten of the snow though!

Grateful

I am so grateful for the many blessings that touch my life on a daily basis and for the friends, family and even strangers who make each day special and unique. I'm grateful that my family has been able to travel, trip after trip, year after year, and arrive safely at their destinations. I am grateful for my husband and the love and security he has given me and our family over the years. I'm grateful for my brothers and their committment to their families. I am especially grateful for my sisters and the way we can bridge years and miles through simple words. I am grateful for my children and the time we are able to share and I'm consumed with love for the blessings of my little grandchildren.

I am grateful to Heavenly Father for the generous gifts He has given me directly and through His Son, Jesus Christ. I am grateful for the atonement and the love and opportunity Christ bestowed through His sacrfice.

I am grateful for this day, for this moment.

Heather's Special Day

Happy Birthday, Heather!

Wishing you all the best on your special day. I hope you're able to get a bit of time just for you along with time spent with your two little ones. I love you, sugar. xoxoxox

Caught My Breath

Now that I've caught my breath, I can say wow. Wow.

Jacob and Maria probably caught everyone by surprise, but most certainly me, when they posted an announcement that Maria is pregnant on their blog. And what stinkers! Kelly and I (and Baylee, too) had dinner with them Tuesday evening and there wasn't a hint of their news. Then, on Thursday they post the announcement to their blog page. Stinkers.

I know what it is ... they think they can avoid the hugs and the tears. I am such a sap and get happy tears so easily. They're mistaken though. They have only succeeded in forestalling the hugs and tears, not avoiding them altogether.

Too funny too ... while at the restaurant and waiting on dinner, Baylee was indeed the center of attention. I had kidded Jacob and Maria that they needed a half dozen or so of those little ones. Ack! I can't believe they didn't tell! LOL

I am sooooo happy for them! Happy for all of us ...

Bustling Baylee

I spent a couple days in Queen Creek with Baylee, and John and Kelly, too. It was wonderful to spend one on one time with Baylee and get to know her even better. It is just amazing - that bouncy, bubbly presence is part of her personality the entire day long ... not just for special moments of coaxing a smile from her. I had spread out a blanket for her but she had other ideas and worked her way to the edge of the blanket so she could chew on the corner.

Baylee had fun sitting in her exersaucer and chewing on the different toys attached to the play center. After mommy returned home, Baylee had a good time chewing on her toes while on mommy's lap. Isn't she sweet? Baylee is adorable, too!

Baylee had a good reason to be doing all that chewing. She has just cut her first tooth!!! Yippee ... Grandma was the one to discover the new tooth! Yep, that's right, I discovered Baylee had a new tooth on her lower left gum. She may have waited just for my visit - Kelly said she'd checked a few days earlier and none of the teeth had made it through yet. Well, it's there now and I'm sure it won't be alone for long ... not at the rate she is chewing on things! :-)

Investor Club

I've talked about it for years ... all my kids probably remember we were going to do something like this even when they were youngsters. I want to start an investor club. Not something outrageous, something along the lines of $25 - $50 a month and maybe 20 people participating. I don't know whether anyone reading my blog may be interested in doing something like this but I sure wanted to make sure those reading my blog - nearest and dearest and all that jazz - know up front about the opportunity to join in if they're interested. Let me know if you'd be interested in learning more about investment clubs or if you would be interested in joining an investment club.

Wednesday Visitors

Wednesday brought many visitors to SJ. Robert Lewis and his friend Morning Star stopped by to visit and see how Philip is doing. Robert has been in touch regularly and has tried to be supportive of Philip. Robert was in SJ for a hearing on his young kids, he has been working hard to increase visitation and time with his youngsters and be reunited with his young daughter who is now living in Texas. He's making progress and we're wishing him well!


Our precious little 3 month old Mia came up for a visit along with her Mommy. They arrived late Wednesday afternoon and stayed until Friday afternoon. It was great to see her and spend some time cuddling and playing with her ... good to see Jodie, too. :) TJei went home with her mom and sister when they left. :(


Quentin came up late Wednesday evening. He stayed in SJ just overnight and returned to Pima after a long day of snowboarding fun at Sunrise with Tom Tanner all day Thursday. It does look like they had a lot of fun playing in the snow!

Zero Degrees Fahrenheit

It is a cold morning! Even now, it is only two degrees. Earlier this morning when I checked the weather it was zero degrees. brrrr There is still snow on the ground from earlier in the week.

The sun is coming up and it is looking like this will be a bright and clear day. Sadly, there have been terrible storms in the southeast area of our nation. Currently there are 47 confirmed dead and hundreds injured by tornadoes that have moved through that area. I'll take the cold any day.

Congrats Diane!

Last Saturday, while TJei and I were at Princess Wishes, Mike went to watch Diane compete in state cheer finals at Jobing Arena in the west valley.

Diane and her teammates took first place (5A!!!) in the competition and it's easy to see why when Diane's elevated "Scorpion" stand is part of the performance. Awesome job, Diane ... and a repeat performance, too. Her team took first in state finals last year also. Rah! Rah! Rah!

Happy Birthday Gib!

Gilberto you are such a special little boy! We love you bunches and we had so much fun visiting with you when we went to Fort Myers. Thank you for showing us all the fun places to play in the water and walk along the beach.

You are the best GREAT nephew ever. I am so glad you are part of our family and I hope you have the best birthday ever! Hugs and kisses!!!!

Toboggan Hill

We'd gone to Show Low earlier in the week and picked up a pair of snow boots for TJei. She is quite pleased because she can put the boots on herself and has been marching around in her boots over the last couple days. TJei has taken advantage of every little bit of snow she can find. The tiny patch of snow in the shaded are between the two trucks held just enough snow for her to drop backwards and create a snow angel for us. It was so cute that she had done that!

Since Mike had the day off Friday, we decided to head on up the mountain and visit Toboggan Hill and introduce her to snow tubing. TJei was more than ready - she has been so anxious to play in the snow!

With all the kids gone and a complete absence of snow on New Year's for several years running, we haven't really visited Toboggan Hill much in recent years. It used to be a favorite place for outings with family and friends. It was an especially fun outing on New Year's Day when family would travel up from the valley and Cottonwood and friends would travel over from New Mexico. Everyone would get up early on New Year's Day and get wrapped and bundled for a day of tubung and sledding. We'd take along firewood and start a campfire to keep warm and to heat water for our cocoa. For lunch we'd devour baked potatoes, prepared in advance and wrapped in foil then transported in a lined ice chest to keep them hot. With a jar of melted cheddar cheese and a jar of chili to top off the hand-held baked potatoes, most everyone was always warmed from the inside out after a filling lunch.

I miss those large group outings to the snow and look forward to having a return of snowfall earlier in the winter to again enjoy Toboggan Hill over New Year's. For now, we'll cherish the chance to visit the winter recreation area with TJei ... only, we had to do some real looking around to locate a snow toy for her! Ack! The stores already have Easter toys out - not a hint of winter toys. After going to several stores looking for a small saucer type sled, or any other sled, Mike stopped at a tire shop in Alpine, Arizona and purchased a TJei sized inner tube.

What a shock when we got to Toboggan Hill! It has been a long time ... now there are restrooms and even a picnic ramada with grill for cooking. I've no idea when all those features were installed - they weren't there last time we were there! :-)

TJei did have fun, not the kind of fun we would have hoped for but fun all the same. There was too much powder (fresh, light snow) on the hills. She wasn't quite heavy enough to pack it down and make it work for her. There was just too much drag. Grandpa gave it a good effort to try getting some traction for her but it just wasn't working. The wind was blowing too - does that surprise anyone?

It was so much fun watching TJei play in the snow and try marching around in her snow boots. She really enjoyed a snowman that earlier visitors to the hill had left. There was still one surprise left for us. When we returned to town and turned the corner heading home, a large gaggle of geese (couldn't get them all into one picture) had settled into Jimmy Heap's pasture. They were a nice compliment to the especially large herd of antelope we'd seen just outside town on that day we went to Show Low. :-)