Marshmallow Pictures and Giant Water Slide Party

On Monday July 18, our family met at the Heritage Park in Cedar Hills  (beautiful place) for family pictures--Katie was our great photographer! It was such a stressful day--with traffic jams, a wardrobe malfunction (I couldn't get my new earrings in my pierced ears), complaints from the guys that they felt like a BAG OF MARSHMALLOWS in their new white shirts, WIND and RAIN--which made some people think we should cancel (perish the thought after all the stress of geting there!), but Katie was able to take some pictures that we are excited to see. I appreciate her patience. We discovered that Daxton likes to pose and be photographed. Sarabeth said she thought it was helpful that it was a cute girl taking the pictures!

It was great to have a "girl" get-together on Tuesday July 19 at the Trellis Cafe at Thanksgiving Point--love the tomato basil soup (but mother doesn't). I'll post some pictures, but some didn't turn out very well so I apologize that not everyone is included. It was so fun to see Julie who was here for a short time from Arizona. We enjoyed the visit, food and fun together--wish we could do it more often!

Sunday the 24th we went to the Pleasant Grove Concert in the Park--the group that played was called "The Sixth Ward Funeral Potatoes". Mother enjoyed their music--they played violins, banjo, cello and sang.

Sunday was also David's 38th birthday. We celebrated on Monday with a giant double water-slide in our back yard. Thanks to everyone who came--it was so much fun and David is already talking about next year's party! Mother really enjoyed the day--sat in the shade, watched the kids slide and play in the water, visited with family and neighbors. Loved the food--the salads and desserts were fabulous--thanks for donating!  After that full day, I thought Mother would be ready for a day of resting, but Tuesday morning when she got up she said, "Let's go out for breakfast!" So we went to Mimi's in Orem--great muffins! Tuesday afternoon she went with me to run some errands--isn't she fabulous! Here's a few pictures of the water-slide party--I didn't take very many and most of the ones I did take weren't very good.

Mother so enjoyed the visit and dinner out on Friday night with Danna Lee and Adam--she said, "They were so nice to me!" Art and I were gone for the evening and I'm always happy to know that mother had visitors!

As you can tell, mother is doing quite well--not everything she would like to do, but I think she's amazing! What a great example she is to us--endure to the end! She loves the visits with family whenever possible so drop by if you get a minute in your busy schedule--or even a phone call is great!

Grandma sends her love to all!

It's Good to Remember When the Sprinklers Are Scheduled to Turn On!

Last week was kind of uneventful--we didn't have birthdays or holidays to celebrate! I guess the highlight of the week was taking Sarabeth's kids on a "Garden Tour" Saturday evening. Sarabeth comes every week to work in our garden in exchange for produce--good deal for us, huh? Daxton usually works along with her--at least for a while--and so he has taken quite an interest in how the garden is growing. They came Saturday evening just for a visit and Daxton asked if I could show him the garden--of course Aydia wanted to come too! I showed them the little baby cucumbers and the corn that is as tall as Daxton now, the carrots and green beans that have blossoms; we went looked at the rhubarb and onions--I was so enjoying having them in the garden with me. Suddenly, our peaceful tour was shattered when the sprinklers came on and we all got drenched! Daxton laughed and thought it was delightful--Aydia screamed and didn't think it was fun or funny! Art, Sarabeth and mother were laughing at us from the safety of the deck!

We weren't sure we should go to the Concert in the Park on Monday--it looked like rain, but we decided we wanted to get out of the house so we went to Paradise Cafe and got sandwiches, then to the concert. There were not very many attending but we only had a few little drops of rain and were glad we went. The performers were a barbershop chorus and another quartet--enjoyed the quartet more than the chorus. We did a little shopping on Tuesday--Mother said she just wanted to ride along, but at Costco I convinced her  to go in with us--the wheelchair makes that possible and with Amy pushing the grocery cart, it was a good outing.

There is a sister in the ward that used to be mother's visiting teacher and she was so sad when her visiting teaching district was changed and no longer included mother. (Mother and I were so sad too!)She told me that she was going to come and visit every month anyway and she has been faithful about doing that. She is so sweet and always brightens mother's day--she brings a message or story or something. Seems like she's always inspired to come at a time when I'm going to be gone--she came this week on the day I had a doctor appointment. She's a blessing in mother's life.

Thanks to Buffy for sending a sweet card--mother enjoys getting mail from family. It was great to talk to Kent when he called--I believe it was Thursday evening. So sorry to hear that he and Sheila have been sick. Also talked to Nyla on Skype Sunday evening--mother always loves visiting with her.

Saturday Heather came and we went to "scout" a place for family pictures. Mother enjoyed the beautiful park we found near us--it was nice because it has a paved bicycle path so it was easy for mother to enjoy the scenery from her wheelchair. Katie is taking family pictures for us tonight--appreciate having a photographer in the family!

Yesterday mother went to Sacrament Meeting--always so glad when she can come with us. We enjoyed a Concert in the Park in Pleasant Grove Sunday evening--an amazing family with five children who all play string instruments--violin, cello, and one played the piano. They played some wonderful classical music.

That's pretty much it for this week. Have a great week!

4th of July Week

This past week I think mother felt pretty good as we continue to celebrate every chance we get! Most of our July 4th celebrations happened on the weekend and we spent a rather quiet day on the 4th. Amy and I went to the Stadium of Fire with Heather's family on Saturday. Sarabeth came that night and did fireworks with those left at home-- Art, David and Mother. 

Sunday night our family came to do fireworks in our backyard we had homemade raspberry ice cream. Mother enjoyed the show, but was too tired to go to the park with us where Spencer shot off his "aerial" fireworks--previously illegal--he was so excited.

On Monday, the 4th, we took lunch to Art's parents. Enjoyed visitng with them--Art's dad is quite frail and as we sat around their table together, I couldn't help but feel so blessed to have this "season" to enjoy our wonderful parents.

Tuesday was the Concert in the Park for this week--American Fork Symphony. Enjoyed that evening.

Heather came on Thursday--I was gone for the morning to a Relief Society meeting and she went through some mail and paper-work. When I got home from my meeting, we all went out to lunch at Paradise Bakery.  Love those chicken-walnut sandwiches!

The rest of the week, we enjoyed the back yard, sitting on the deck and the sweet summer life with a few rainy days sprinkled in.

Here are some pictures from mother's birthday party back in April, 2011. I know there's a lot, but I tried to be selective and it was hard to choose--I took a LOT of pictures that day!

Have a great week! Mother sends her love to all!

Party On...

The month of May begins a flurry of celebrations at our house--we have lots of summer birthdays, the holidays (and weddings this year!) that all require parties and fun times together. Here are some pictures from some of those celebrations.

Karen's Birthday--Early May and even though the weather
was still quite cold, we had a good day on my birthday so
we went to a park after watching Seth's ballgame.

Mother and her dear friend, Lorna.

Taken in Logan the day of Kirrah's wedding.

Notice mother's house in the background.

Here are some pictures from Kirrah's wedding reception.

July 3--fireworks in the back yard--here are all the girls in the family watching the show--sorry you can't see the fireworks.

Mother seems to be enjoying the summer months and celebrations with us. She is fairly healthy but has ups and downs--some days she is so sad--it's heart wrenching. I always try to be cheerful and hope it helps. One of the things our parents taught their children was how to work hard and be ambitious--no laziness allowed when we were growing up on the farm! So I know it's hard for her to feel like she can't do much. She thinks she's being lazy, but of course she's not! One day she said, "I wish I was ambitious like you." I told her that she is an ambitious person, she just can't do all she used to. 

Have a great week!

A Concert and A Wedding

Originally I planned on posting every Sunday--sorry it didn't work out last Sunday--I'm not even sure why. So, I'll try to remember and catch up before next Sunday.

Last week was busy and eventful. We went to the Concert in the Park in American Fork. It is one of our favorite things to do in the summertime--great local talent, beautiful surroundings and it's free! Last Monday was a special treat--Jenny Oaks Baker. She is an accomplished violinist and the daughter of Dallin Oaks. After seeing her in concert last summer, we have become fans! She plays a lot of hymns and inspirational music. I was grateful for a good neighbor and friend who picked up David and Amy and went to the amphitheater early to save a place--then I went later with mother so she didn't have to wait so long for the concert to begin. The Timpanogos Symphony Orchestra also performed--an amazing group of local musicians who have only been together for a short period of time. The director, Mr. Peugh, told us that he had been talking with a friend a while ago who mentioned that he has always wanted to direct an orchestra playing the William Tell Overture. Mr. Peugh thought that would be a fun piece to play so the orchestra started rehearsing it. Then he asked his friend to be the guest conductor for the piece--his friend was Glade Jorgenson. He said Mr. Jorgenson graduated from BYU with a degree in music in 1939, then, because of the war, joined the air force--became a pilot and spent the rest of his life working in aviation, never using his music degree. He came up on stage and conducted the William Tell Overture--he is 95 years old. It was a highlight of the concert. I think mother really enjoyed it.

I had planned on taking my camera to get some pictures, but forgot. There was a lady sitting next to me with a camera taking a lot of picture--we actually squeezed together so she could sit there so I asked if she would be willing to take a picture of my mother and email it to me. She was very gracious and emailed these pictures that very night--

After I got them, I emailed her and told her about this blog so she emailed these pictures that she had taken of Jenny Oaks Baker and the guest conductor:

Jenny Oaks Baker and the Timpanogos Orchestra Conductor

95-year old Guest Conductor

I thought it was nice of her to send the pictures.

Saturday morning we got up and drove to Logan for Kirrah's wedding luncheon and sealing ceremony in the Logan Temple. Mother really wanted to go and she felt fairly good so we decided to try it. We enjoyed the luncheon at noon, then went to visit Lorna Wanlass, mother's next-door neighbor in North Logan. She told us she had knee surgery just five weeks ago--she seemed to be recovering nicely. It was a good visit--sat on her beautiful back lawn.

Tyler and Lacey Faddis, the renters in mother's house were out in their yard--they have planted a little garden in back so we visited with them for a few minutes. They are such nice people and seem to be caring for mother's house very well.  I introduced him to mother--she's met him before, but needed a reminder. When I told her who he was, he said, "We're the lucky ones who live in your house." I think they understand how fortunate they are to be able to live in that beautiful home. I really wanted to take some pictures with them to post on the blog--got my camera out and turned it on--no picture on the viewer. Then I realized I had taken the battery out to charge it and forgot to put it back in. Tyler took a couple of pictures on his camera and said he would email to me--haven't seen them yet.

After the visit, we went to the temple--beautiful sealing--beautiful bride and handsome groom. How speical that mother could attend her great-granddaughter's wedding.

After the wedding, mother was very tired but really wanted to visit her good friend, Barbara Berger. We stopped by her house for a few minutes, then started on our way home. Mother was exhausted and we considered staying in Logan in a motel for the night. I wasn't sure that she would be able to rest in a motel and it was only 5:00 p.m.--didn't know what we'd do for the whole evening and night. So, mother laid down on the back seat and I drove home. She was very tired and couldn't go to church the next day, but by Monday she seemed pretty good. I've decided if we travel to Logan again, we need to plan on it being a two-day trip.

That's pretty much the week! Thanks for your love and prayers.