My time in Arizona with my Mom

The Cactus in Arizona

Mom and I

After going to Idaho to drop off Julie, then flying home and being

an empty nester for 3 days, I flew off to Arizona to be with my

Mom while she underwent low dose chemo treatments in Phoenix,

Arizona. I had told her that I would stay for 6 weeks, as long as

we could drive to my home every couple of weeks. So we came

home for Grace's primary program, then we drove home for

Grace's 5th birthday. That was nice. My Mom and I went

shopping for Christmas gifts, we tried to find food that

sounded good to her waning appetite, we swam, we visited

with Christine and Andy B. We tried to make the most of

our time in Arizona. My Mom struggled after

a few weeks with the treatment. She felt like it was so harsh.

It even made her lose some of her hair. But every Monday

and Thursday when she got the low dose chemo, she would

get horribly nauseated. So after week 5, she went in and told

them she didn't feel well enough to have another treatment.

It's a good thing, because the next day, she had a slight fever

that then escalated to 102.5 that evening, and was the same

the next day, then the next it was 103.5 and then on Friday,

my Mom seemed really unstable, so I called my Aunt Renae

and told her what was going on, and she told me to get her

into the E.R. immediately. So when my Mom got admitted

to the E.R. her temp was 104.1 and she was in shock and

septic. Oh My Word! Talk about scary. Then they took an

X-ray of her lungs and she had double pnuemonia. The next

day when I went to the hospital to see her, she scared me

even more. She didn't feel like she could catch her breath,

so they almost intubated her. But thankfully, the bipap

machine changed that, and it helped her to feel like she could

get enough oxygen. My Aunt Renae flew down from Utah to

be there with me. We both were glad that each other was

there. We didn't feel like we could do it alone. My Mom got

a priesthood blessing that told her that her body would heal.

Each day after my Aunt got there, I felt like my Mom was

making steady progress, and after one week, she was released

from the hospital. What a great day. Mel drove in that Friday

to help me get things settled with my Mom, and then we left

the next morning to go home. I'm grateful for that time I had

to spend with my Mom. But by golly, it's good to be home!

Julie and her roomies

Hannah, Ashtyn, Syndney and Julie

(The Freshman roomies)

Well, it is official, we are empty nesters. It was hard to leave Julie in

Idaho. In fact, I don't want to think about it. But I have 3 male cousins

that live close by and are there if she needs anything. YAY

Anyway, Julie seems to be very happy with her room mates.

Here they are.

Birthday's, Visits and "Is this my retirement?"

Flowers from Mel for my birthday

A wonderful cake from my visiting teacher Sis. Cawley

Julie was surprised when Marissa, Jenn and Wendy

came to take her out for breakfast.

The Mad Hatter

Pedicure for the birthday girl

Eating at BJ's for dinner

On her way to Katie's party which was on

Julie's birthday

Makenzie singing to Julie

Julie, Makenzie, Marissa, Jenn, Wendy

Getting ready for the jet ski's

Wendy, Julie and Makenzie on the tube

Julie, Jenn and Marissa going for a ride

After the "incident"

Trying the tube with all 5 girls

Time for the Jet Ski's

Perfect way to end the day, Cafe' Rio YAH!!

Visiting Sam and Grace

Grace eating the watermelon from the garden

Sam with yummy watermelon

Fun times

Julie with her niece and nephew

Wendy, Jenn, Marissa, Julie and Katie starting their

photo shoot at the Hangar at Chino Airport

More poses

Fun Pose

Good times

What a cutie

Woo Hoo

Woo Hoo # 2

Friends

Well, with Julie heading off to college, and no more children at home,

am I considered retired? It's a different phase of my life I'm about

to embark on, and it feels a little weird. I'm afraid of leaving her
in Idaho. I don't want to get all sad. I've never done that before,
dropping off a child at college. I'm usually so excited for them.
And I am for Julie too. Idaho just feels a little further away, AND

she's my baby. As soon as I hear that she is having a good time,
I'll feel much better. Basically, as long as my kids are happy,

I'm happy.
On another note, here are some pictures from My birthday and
Julie's 18th birthday party, and a last photo shoot with friends.

The birthday party was quite a blast. Such a good group of

friends Julie has. And who wouldn't like jet skiing and tubing?
We went to Carlsbad Lagoon, where they rented us a boat with

a driver and the tube, and then an hour or so later, they got the

Jet Ski. We had one incident where one of the girls, Makenzie

Curtis, got hurt when she was whipped off the tube and

Julie's shin hit her eye. But that was it.

Anyway, it's late and we are leaving in the morning for Utah.

LONG LIVE MOTHERHOOD!!!

Things we do at the Beach

Michelle, Clark and Macy spending time as a family

Andy, Melissa, Stella and Sterling spending time as a family

Andy and Melissa

Shannon, Julie and Aubrey spending time with cousins

Anna, Tyler, Grace and Sam spending time as a family

Macy and Stella spending time with cousins

Macy with her mommy having fun with the waves

Melissa enjoying the sunshine

Julie being the best Aunt

Sterling eating

Macy biting her tongue

Macy finding "stuff" in the sand

Melissa showing Sterling the crashing waves

Sterling loving the water

Grandma playing with Stella and Macy on the sand

Macy learning about the beach

Sam with the cousins and Uncle Andy, digging in the sand

Cousins Grace and Stella making sand/rock pies

Sam in his water hole

Sam having fun with his Aunt Julie

Here are some of the things that bring us back every year to

the beach. The possibilities are endless, the memories are

wonderful. The family bonding time, priceless.

This year my parents and siblings, nieces, children and

grandchildren all went to the beach at the same time. It

happened to be one of the coldest summers on record. But

that didn't stop us from trying to have a good time. Mel and

I and our kids and grandkids camped with a tent trailer and

two tents. Mel, Me, Julie, Melissa, Stella, Sterling, Michelle and

Macy were the first to arrive on Saturday. Denise and her family

were also there starting on Saturday. Anna, Grace and Sam

came up on Tuesday. Clark and my parents got there Tuesday

night. Tyler arrived by train Thursday evening, and Andy flew

in late Thursday night. The rest of the families stayed at our usual

spot, Motel 6 arriving Tuesday. This made it a little more difficult

to get together, because the state park wouldn't let other cars come

in, unless they paid the 10 dollar fee. So we shuttled people in to our

camp site a couple of days, so we could spend the time together on the

beach. We had dinner at our campspot one night, with a fire,

and roasted marshmallows. My poor Dad sunburned his feet

so bad, that he's still not recovered. We learned a few things

about how we might want to do things next time, but I'm sure

we will remember this trip for a long time.

FAMILY + BEACH = Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh