Pre-Christmas

a nightly occurrence

Having fun with Stella and Sterling

Their first bath in their new home

Meeting Santa

I had to say Hi too

Stella helping Mommy

Andy helping Sterling

A trip to South Carolina wouldn't be the same without

seeing this woman!

Grace at her Kindergarten program

Christmas is always a fun time of year. this year I felt a little

less prepared, probably because of the 2 months I'd spent

in Arizona with my Mom. I kind of feel like I'm playing

catch-up all the time. But even though I wasn't totally

prepared, and I'd missed my time to go see Melissa during

my usual October trip, I decided to go on out and see

my daughter and family in their new home. Melissa

moved into their first home on Dec. 4 (Saturday) and I

arrived on Monday. What fun to see everyone. I got to

stay for a week and got a little aquainted with their new

city. We also went to visit some friends from Lexington

too. I used to stay with Karen Rozmus and family because

there really wasn't much room for me in Melissa's apartment.

So it was nice to have a place for me this time.

Then after I got home I went to see Grace perform in her

school Christmas program. it was really sweet to see her

sing her special song and all the others too. It's so nice to live

close enough to do that.

Giving Thanks

julie...meet jarom

Isn't he a cutie

Grace and Sam are having fun being with julie again

Jarom

Macy

We took the Varner's Christmas picture while they were

here.

Macy showing us her clappin

With a new grandson recently added to our family, we

had every reason to be feeling Thankful at this time

of year. We had Julie home from college, Michelle

and Clark and Macy were able to come from Utah,

Tyler and Anna and kids came over, and Anna's mom

Linda too. Mel's sister ReNae and her hubby Ron here,

along with their daughter Courtney and family. It was a

lovely group. We had Turkey and the fixings. Ham

too. We just had a great day relaxing and visiting.

While Julie was visiting, she couldn't wait to get

over and see Grace, Sam and meet Jarom. She really

misses them.

A new grandson, Jarom

Grace and Sam seeing their brother for the first time.

The new bigger family

Grace was enjoying her big sister role

Grandma getting her turn

Grandpa holding Jarom with his eyes wide open

I am back tracking since I have been lax in my blogging.

We had the arrival of our 6th grandchild November 18th.

Tyler and Anna welcomed their 3rd child, Jarom. He

is beautiful, and his older sister and older brother were

excited to welcome him to their family. Grace understood

what was going on, but Sam was a little leery at first.

Anna's mom Linda and I were able to get there before they

wheeled Anna off to deliver the baby. We waited what

felt like forever before Tyler came out to tell us that their

son had been born, and that everything went well. Mel

came down with the kids just a little while later, and we

all got to get our first looks at the darling new baby boy.

Welcome to our family Jarom! We love you already.

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!!!