Dogs everywhere

I am not sure what happened to my pictures, but I guess it is different.  Anyway, Mauna got 2 dogs so we took our dog over to play.  The girls call the dogs their aunt Missy and uncle Gus and Ray calls them his brother and sister, I am surrounded by crazy people!!  

Gma Tiny bday

Fall Festival 2013 at BYUI

Waiting so patiently? She was nervous and then had to wait longer than normal before she could start. We finally just walked in instead of waiting for the judge, because we had waiting long enough. I thought she did an excellent job, at least what I could hear through the door. Then I took pictures through the window in the door.  Her final score was 98 out of 100 and I think that is really good, much better than I could do. Then when we were done we went shopping at the college bookstore, which I love and so did Kinlee.

 

Aunt Zenda's funeral

This was actually after Aunt Zenda's funeral.  The cemetery where she was being buried is the same one where my sister Jalyn is buried. We decided that since we were all there (except Merrill) we took a picture by Jalyn's grave. I am not one to really take pictures at funerals or at the cemetary, but I decided we could do this one. We have been coming to this cemetery since we were all very small and I think this was the first time in years we were all able to be here together.

 

I have the most amazing parents in the world!!  I know I have said that many times, but it so true that it needs to be repeated for the whole world to know. I never realized until recently how hard losing a child could be as I read one of my friend's nieces blogs about losing her daughter. I have so much respect for my parents and the very hard things they went through in their young married lives.

For those of you who read my blog and didn't know I had an older sister, her name was Jalyn and she was 2 when my parents were driving from Rexburg to Pocatello where they lived and were hit by a drunk driver. Blake was a baby and not hurt, but my parents were injured and Jalyn flew from the window and hit her head on the pavement and was killed instantly.  Dad had to attend her funeral on a gurnie, which I cannot imagine either. They have had some hard times in their lives, but it seems like they just keep on plugging along and now they are so amazing to help all of us whenever necessary. It is such a blessing to have such amazing examples in my life and it is my goal to be more like them every day. 

 

This is dad's sister Verla.  She was always my favorite aunt when I was younger. She lived in Boise, but I loved going to see her and loved it when she came here also.

 

 

 Grandma and Lydia.  I don't think I got a picture of Daxton.  They were such troopers during the funeral and at the cemetery.  It ended up being kind of a long day.  The funeral was really nice and short, but it took awhile to get to the cemetary and by the time we got to the church for the luncheon it was 2:30.

 

I know they are a little out of order, but this is Uncle Bob, mom, Aunt Verla and dad.  I just love my uncle Bob too, he is such a kind of loving person.  My cousin Brenda (aunt Verla's daughter) and her husband Joe were also able to come from Boise.  And my cousin Tanya come from Utah and it was really nice to see all of them.

 

Dad really doesn't like his picture taken, but since he got his phone he has been taking more pictures too, with lots of help from the rest of us.

Its all about attitude

    This is AWESOME ... something we should all remember.
      A 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud man, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with his hair fashionably combed and shaved perfectly, even though he is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today.

    His wife of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, he smiled sweetly when told his room was ready.
 
    As he maneuvered his walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of his tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on his window.
 
    I love it,' he stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.

      Mr. Jones, you haven't seen the room; just wait..'

      'That doesn't have anything to do with it,' he replied.

      Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time.
 
      Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is  arranged .. it's how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it.
 
    'It's a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice;

      I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful  for the ones that do.

      Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open, I'll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I've stored away.. Just for this time in my life..
 
    Old age is like a bank account. You withdraw from what you've put in.
 
    So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories!

      Thank you for your part in filling my Memory Bank.
 
    I am still depositing.

      'Remember the five simple rules to be happy:
 
    1. Free your heart from hatred.
 
    2. Free your mind from worries.
 
    3. Live simply.
 
    4. Give more.
 
    5. Expect less. 

Jerika & the Smarties

Some days lately I feel like I have been focusing way too much on the negative things happenings in our lives and not taking time to enjoy the little things.  So, here is a story Jerika shared with me the other day.  A few weeks ago in one of Jerika’s classes one of the boys that sits by her asked her if she wanted some Smarties.  She said she didn’t want him to feel bad, so she told him yes and put them in her back pack.  After he gave them to her he said “don’t tell anyone” but she said she really didn’t think much about it but was not going to eat them. 

Jump forward to this week on Tuesday and in her government class they started a mock trial.  And incidentally she was called as a juror in this mock trial.  She said she was asked by one of the attorneys if anyone had given her smarties and she said she had totally forgotten about the smarties, so she said no.  After school that day and after listening to other questions posed by the attorneys, she realized that maybe she should say something.  So, she went to her teacher and told her someone had given her smaties but it was a while ago.  The teacher asked her the name of the person that gave them to her and come to find out, he was involved in the mock trial.  So, the teacher told her that she had to tell the judge the next morning that she had lied.  She said it was so embarrassing the next day, she had to do the “walk of shame” out of the courtroom.  But, I think she learned a very valuable lesson, even though I think she should have been born a blonde, maybe she will think things through a little more.  However, she was very glad after the walk of shame that she didn’t have to be on the jury.

Amanda aka birthday girl also

Amanda's birthday was the week after Allisa'a and we decided the boys could come to dinner with us. So we went to Red Robin and had a blast!! I love these people and there is never a dull moment when we are all together.

Isn't she cute with her balloon ears?  She was such a trooper. 

 

 

The boys look super blurry!! But out of the pictures we took this was the best one of me, and I guess what, its my blog so I pick the pictures. And it is all about me, right? Maybe it would help if I started taking my camera with me instead of using my phone.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMANDA!!!  We love you!!

Allisa aka Birthday girl

We did some serious over-celebrating for Allisa's birthday this year, but she was worth it and so was the fun!!  We went out with our husbands on the weekend and then went to Famous Dave's on her actual birthday.  I sure do love these woman and am very blessed to have them in my life.!!

 

 

 

Halloween 2013 - My kids are too old!!!

And I love that they are old this time of year!!  I really dislike Halloween and coming up with costumes. Just one more example of how I qualify for mother of the year. Jerika and I had matching t-shirts and so did Ray but he was on the road so he didn't get in the picture with us. Ray wouldn't let Kinlee trick or treat this year, but she dressed up anyway.

Funeral

Sadly this is the only picture I took at Aunt Afton's funeral.  Mom took some, so maybe I will hijack some of those. 

This is all of my aunt Afton's grandkids, except for one.  It was really nice to see all of them but under better circumstances it would have been even nicer.  Its really weird, because only one of them is older than me and 2 of them are grandmas.  Crazy.  The funeral was really nice even though I had to lead the two congregational hymns and the lady that played the organ was the slowest person in the world.  And it didn't help that Gaven was waving at me from the back of the chapel.

Happy family