Pumpkin Carving

I'm trying to remember all the things we have done lately. Mother has been doing quite well--has had quite a few "lipstick days". Unfortunately, today wasn't one of them--she didn't go to church and seemed to not be feeling very well.

Here's a picture of Julie and Dan's visit with mother--I should have included it with the previous post, but I didn't.

Art and I went on an overnighter last Friday night with some friends so Sarabeth came and managed everything that was going on at our house. Sure appreciate her willingness to help me out. She was talking with mother for a while on Friday evening and mother told her how much she misses Daddy. She said it's been such a long time and she misses him so much. Made Sarabeth cry--made me cry when she told me.

Saturday night was a little scary--we arrived home around 1:30 in the afternoon and Sarabeth and her family went home--I'm sure she was glad to get back to her own home. She called me about 9:00 p.m. and said she had just gotten out of the shower and her eyes were swollen. I could tell her nose was stuffed up and she sounded horrible. I asked if she was breathing okay or if she thought she should to go the ER. She said no and that she had to take care of her kids and she would call me back if things got worse. In about a minute she called back and said her eyes just keep getting more swollen. At that point, I was on my way to her house and told her I thought she should definitely go the ER. Art went with and stayed with the kids while we went back to the hospital. (Morgan was at work--he always works nights.) Her eyes were so swollen and very painful. Her nose was so stuffy or maybe swollen that she couldn't breathe at all through her nose; it didn't seem to be affecting her mouth or airway. At the hospital they gave her benadryl, prednisone, epinehprine and some eye drops. She started looking a little better and we got back to her house around 1:00 a.m. She's much better today. Obviously, it was an allergic reaction but we're baffled about what she's allergic to and a little nervous about it happening again. I left the house in a hurry and didn't say anything to mother. Just told Amy we were going to help Sarabeth. While we were at the hospital Amy called and asked if she should give mother her medicine and I told her yes, but said not to tell her that we were at the hospital--didn't want to worry her. So she told mother that I was helping Sarabeth and then mother asked if everything was okay. Amy wasn't sure what to say so she just said, "Maybe." I was afraid mother would be awake when we got home and wondering what was going on, but she was asleep and didn't ask me anything about it. Better that she doesn't know, I think.

Thursday, we had a delightful lunch at Katie's beautiful new home--wonderful chicken noodle soup, rolls, salad and pumpkin roll. Loved seeing her new house and visiting with everyone. So nice of her to invite us over. I told mother about it on Wednesday and she looked so forward to the outing. We enjoyed lunch and visiting so much that I forgot to take pictures. Got this one just before we left, but CarrieLyn and Ashely had already gone.

Mother's dear friend, Jeanne Blake, from Logan called and visited with her one day this week. She and mother visited for quite a while on the phone. Jeanne cannot drive because her eyesight is so poor. When she wants to go somewhere, she hires someone to take her. She lives alone--I think that would be hard. Mother said she thinks it's dangerous for her to be alone. Mother would really love to go to Logan for a visit with her friends. I'm hoping we can go sometime this week--if the weather is good and mother feels well enough.

Mother also enjoyed talking with Kent on the phone last week. He hasn't been able to come this way lately for a visit, but mother appreciates the phone call!

She's had a problem with her right arm this week. Seems to be quite weak and she can't use it very well. I think I need to take her to the doctor--if she'll let me.

Remember the pumpkins growing in our garden? Here they are--they have filled the measure of their creation!

Here are some pics of the process...

Daxton had quite a job getting all the "guts" out

of his monster pumpkin!

Silly Grandma and Rachel--just wanted

everyone to know I was there!

Busy crew--see mother in the background?

Obviously a photographer error--

But it's kinda cool!

I think Mother had fun watching the kids. We ate chili and cinnamon rolls. We also dipped caramel apples with the bounty of apples we harvested from our very own trees.

Daxton and Grandma getting ready

to make caramel apples.

Other events include--celebrating Seth's Birthday:

Eleven Years Old!

And a trip to This is the Place Heritage Park for a Halloween activity. It was a beautiful day and I was so glad mother went with us.

The kids wore their costumes--

Aydia is in the stroller--under the witch hat.

There she is--cutest witch you ever saw!

The little goats were fun!

That's the latest from our house. We send our love to all!

Lipstick Days!

There are several barometers that I use to tell how mother is feeling each day. Seems that often mornings are just hard for her--hard to get up and get going and that's often when she's tearful, which makes me so sad. I'm sure a lot of it has to do with not feeling very well and not having much she can do, plus being do dependent on others after such a full and independent life. I'm grateful for the days when she smiles and says "good morning"--that's usually a sign that she's feeling pretty good. But the best way to tell when she feels good is when she puts her lipstick on! Of course she doesn't do that before breakfast but she has put lipstick on quite often lately. If she's not feeling well, she can't be bothered with it even if we're going out or she's having visitors come. Julie and Dan visited last weekend and she so looked forward to their visit. When she got up that morning, I reminded her that today was the day Julie was coming. She said, "Oh, I should have a new dress or new pants!" I told her I'd go get some for her--so I did. (We've mourned the Talbot's store in Provo going out of business, but there is one in Murray--they have wonderful clothes for anyone, but the best thing is that they have petities that fit mother. She can always find something there that she likes. [This is not a commercial--and I've received no endorsement for saying this.]) So I made a trip to Murray got her some nice new clothes. (Oh yeah--I got some things for me too!) So back to Julie's visit--mother wore her new clothes and lipstick! Then today she suggested that we go out to lunch and she put her lipstick on! From now on, I can just say she had a "Lipstick Day" and you'll know that she was feeling pretty good!
Julie and Pam went to Logan on Saturday to see Michelle's new twins and they invited mother to go along. I wasn't sure if she could handle a trip up and back in one day, but she went with and did really well. In fact, the next day she attended the entire block of church meetings! I think it was so good for her to get out. Julie will be sending pictures of mother with the new babies--wow! that's five generations--mother's first great-great grandchildren! I'll post them. I appreciate Julie doing the extra work to take mother along--she was so careful and cute with her. Mother enjoyed the day so much!

We're a little jealous of Carrie Lyn and Jeff getting to go to Malaysia for a visit with Nyla and Garald--hope they have a wonderful trip! Mother and I took some things for them to take to Nyla--a nice outing for mother and thanks to Carrie Lyn and Jeff for taking time for visit with us for a while--I'm sure there was much to be done before she left.

We have enjoyed the beautiful fall weather and I'm grateful for every sunny day--I know sunshine makes a big difference in how mother feels.

Not much other news right now, but hope you have a wonderful week--as always Mother and I send our love to all!

A Good Week

This week has been fairly busy and Mother was able to get out quite a bit. It was fun to have Joe and Andrea come and visit on Sunday--Mother was so happy to have them come. She looks forward to visits from family. Best wishes to Andrea as she begins her service as ward Relief Society president. Mother told her how proud she is of her. Later she said she thought Andrea was quite young to be a RS president, but when I reminded her that Andrea is the same age as David (I think that's right??)and has a 14-year old daughter, she said, "Oh, that's old enough!" We're all still kids to her I think. Andrea will do an awesome job!

Monday was our ward empty-nesters Family Home Evening group. We haven't attended for a while--partly because we've had other things to do and partly because so many of the homes where they are held, have steps which are so difficult for mother. A man from our stake who served in the Navy on a destroyer during WW II spoke to us about some of his experiences. It was very interesting--plus yummy refreshments--I took fresh peach pie!

Tuesday evening we visited Art's parents for his Dad's 91st birthday. We enjoyed a nice visit--his birthday was actually on Wednesday, but we had another activity for Wednesday, which I'll tell you about next. We had a nice visit with the Coxes. When we arrived, the Priest Quorum from the ward was there. We went into another room so as not to disturb them, but it sounded like they had a short lesson, then the Priests sang to them and they had refreshments. As they were leaving we expressed our appreciation to them for coming. One young man said, "Oh, I love coming here!" Mom and Dad told us the Priests come about once a month. Very nice for mom and dad and I'm sure it is a blessing in the lives of those young men.

If you went to the broadcast of Priesthood meeting, you may have recognized Art in the choir. He was one of just 5 men from our ward that were able to be in the choir. It was a great experience. Of course, we couldn't attend the meeting, but on Wednesday they had a dress rehearsal at the Conference Center and families were invited to attend. It was an absolutely beautiful fall day. We left in time to pick Art up at work and went out to dinner at the Garden Cafe in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building--it's one of my favorite places to eat. We were happy that Sarabeth's family was able to join us. We had some time after dinner to stroll through part of Temple Square--enjoyed the beautiful flowers--we were looking for President Uchtdorf's forget-me-nots, but didn't find them. The kids loved all the water features!  The Conference Center is always impressive, but when it's nearly empty, it seems so very large. We loved hearing them practice the beautiful hymns. Brent and Sandi Griffiths' son-in-law was also in the choir. After the rehearsal, we went up to the "Hall of the Presidents" where they have busts of all the presidents of the church. We were fortunate--they had just received President Monson's bust this week. I don't know why, but it was my favorite--very well done and was such a good likeness.

Love this picture of Mother and Daxton with the temple background.

The Priesthood Choir--Can you find Art??

Art is in the second row--see the two

men with white hair? Art is the one on the right.

Mother had a permanent on Thursday--now her hair stays pretty a little longer.

This week was also a week of birthdays--Dad Cox's on Wednesday, Morgan's on Friday and Sarabeth's on Sunday (Also Andrea's--Happy Birthday!). Friday evening Art and I visited Morgan to wish him and happy bday and take a gift--we gave each of them a tree to plant in their yard. Mother was planning to go with us, but just before we left someone called and said they were coming to visit. She couldn't remember who it was that called, but thought she should stay home since she said she would be there. When we got back, she said Brent and Sandi had visited and stayed for about an hour. It's so nice that they pop in once in a while--actually quite frequently.

Mother loved going to lunch with Carrie Lyn on Thursday. She couldn't remember where they went, but said it was new and really good. It was great for me because I had a presidency meeting that day at 11:30. I had asked Amy if she would fix lunch for Mother--she does a good job, but she was happy not to have to worry about it!

Mother had a bad day on Saturday--really didn't feel well and spent most of the day sleeping. The home health nurse came that day and discharged her from home health as her "certification" has run out. The nurse highly recommended that she go on hospice. It was a hard decision to make and I hope this is the right thing to do. I had some concerns that I discussed at length with the nurse and the physical therapist. One of those concerns is that if you are on hospice, you can't go to the hospital. That really disturbed me, but they have a physician who makes visits, a nurse who makes visits (more regularly than home health), plus some of her medications and medical equipment will be paid for. Mother was so unhappy the last time she went to the hospital--I know she doesn't want to do that again and neither do I--so I guess we will go this route and see how it is. We can always "revoke" it if we're not happy with it.

Today mother seemed to be feeling a little better, though not great. She came over and enjoyed both of the conference sessions and dinner with our kids and grandkids. We celebrated Morgan and Sarabeth's birthdays together--that required cheesecake (Aunt Nyla's recipe!) for Sarabeth and Black Forest Cake (also Aunt Nyla's recipe!) for Morgan. I thought conference was so wonderful--love the conference weekend "holiday".

Which do you want--Cheese cake or Chocolate?

Mother chose chocolate--always her favorite!

Have a great week and know of Mother's love for each of you!