Random thought for the day...

So I have decided... Every Monday should be followed by a Tuesday flight to Hawaii! I can't believe it is finally here! We have been so busy we haven't had much time to get excited about it, but it is here! We leave in the morning. It isn't convenient, but it is when we are going, so we will have a great time! Hopefully I wont forget my camera so I will have lots of pictures to post. (if I can ever figure out how to load pictures again)

Scotty's Birthday

On this my only son's 9th birthday, I lay in bed hundreds of miles away and love him for his kindness. I asked him how he felt about me going to help his Grammy, my mom, over his birthday. He really thought about it and said that he would like to share his birthday with his Grammy. I am blessed. Blessed to have this son, and blessed to spend this week in the service of my parents, especially my mom. I am truly blessed to be surroundd by great family and friends that helped me pull it off. Maybe there was a reason Scotty and Grammy were both born in the month of thankfulness and gratitude. I love you my son for being willing to share! Happy 9th birthday from Grammy's house!

Grandma J's Funeral

Corry's Grandma (Ila Jorgensen) was one of the most wonderful people I knew.  She always had this beautiful smile on her face and you always knew you were loved.  I loved her laugh and the way she made me feel.  She will truly be missed.

The day of her funeral we all gathered in Gunnison to say goodbye.

My beautiful Alli

We had LOTS of babies to hold and it was so much fun to have most of the family together (we were just missing Krista, her kids, and Dewey).  We especially loved meeting this little guy, Ben.  He has the softest little head!  

My family - too bad it is snowing and the curl completely came out of my hair on the 1.5 hour drive!

I love these crazies!

Fuzzy had a great time hanging out with Camrie and Ryley

The funeral was nice and the interment was cold, but it was still a lovely day to spend with family.

All the Cloward kids - except Liz - she had to leave after the interment

Love these weirdoes!

This is the first time in they can't remember how long that all the cousins got together.  That is pretty great that they all made the trip to be in Gunnison!

Back row: Tyler, Ben, Linda, Steve, Corry, Bryan, Angalee
Middle Row: Jeannie, Lisa, Jaylene, Amie, Sheri, Lori, Molly, Michelle, Lori
Front Row: Leanne, Tammy, Jana, Maren, Rob, Paul

Corry had to speak at the funeral and share his brothers and sisters memories of their grandma.  Here is most of what he said:

Grandma J's funeral

You guys at the funeral home are amazing. I never would have believed you could get a heart that big to fit into a box that small.

Grandma set the standard for grandmothers, nobody in the world could ever top her. When you went to her house, you knew you were loved.  

Grandma was a quilter. She always had a quilt on and every one of us learned to tie quilts in her living room and then down at the Senior Citizens Center. She made beautiful quilts.  Rob still has the quilt she gave him for his 8th birthday. But the most beautiful quilt she ever made is the tapestry of memories she tied around all of our hearts. 

Grandma was always the life of the party.  Just being around her was fun. She was always happy and had a smile and a laugh.  Her life was a celebration  She never threw wild parties with loud music. In fact, the only music she ever seemed to listen to were KMTI Radio and the Lawrence Welk Show. Not exactly toe tapping stuff. Grandma's parties were far better than that. 

When you went to Grandma's, the first thing you learned was that there was a toy closet. As a toddler you learned the joys of the little plastic dog you got to put together, the shape ball, and the phone with the eyes that went up and down. As you grew, you learned the thrill of the two little ball toss baskets. We'd hit the bottoms of those things and the little ball would go shooting across the room.  She never seemed to grow tired of getting up on a chair to get the ball out of the light fixture, though I'm sure this game must have been a key part of the decision to finally change that fixture out eventually.   We always loved to play "store" at Grandma's house. We would take all the money from the Payday game and set up shop on the footrest of grandpa's recliner.  We were all budding entrepreneurs and Grandma had an endless supply of merchandise for us to sell at the little store on the chair.  We Would also draw and play school on the  chalkboard in the kitchen.   Tinkertoys were invented specifically for Grandma's house. 

Of course being kids we couldn't always just play quietly. I'm sure we drove her nuts playing with the dimmer switch. We didn't have one of those at home and it was a pretty cool device. Its still hard to believe we learned about technology at Grandma's house  We loved to climb up the door frame between the living room and the kitchen. And we lays hid between the front door and the screen door.  We would go out on the swing and have contests to see who could swing highest.  Grandma would inevitably come out and say, "you be careful, you kids!". 

As the number of grand kids grew, Grandma would sometimes get confused. Tyler and Ben would get into mischief and Grandma would start the roll call, "Corry, Rob, Brian, ...whoever you are, you kids get down from there!". It must be a genetic trait because mom does it too. 

The quieter times were always wonderful. The coveted spot in the house was sitting in front of the living room vent. We often had to fight King the cat for that spot. Grandma would often read to us. The little engine that could, the three little pigs, and of course the three little kittens were staples of our childhood.   We always craved pie after she would read that one. 

Speaking of pie, grandma was a culinary genius. Her apple pipe with homemade apple sauce and red hots is the stuff of legends. Her meals were never elaborate, but they were always fabulous.  Gram burger patties, mashed potatoes and creamed cabbage is still the best meal in the world.  And who will ever forget Carmel dumplings with whipped cream!  Grandma's kitchen was the center of the universe. She was always in there. The cookie jar was always full of ginger snaps or some other bit of chewy goodness. Her rolls and bread were in never ending supply. And the push button toaster will live in our hearts forever. Grandma always kept her spoons in a little cup in the middle of the table.  Most of us grew up thinking that the only purpose a melon baller had was for eating ice cream. And there was always ice cream. Ice cream sandwiches, push ups, and vanilla cones were always in the freezer in the west room. The Schwann man definitely knew to stop at grandmas!

Every once in a while, Grandma would cook something a little different. There was that one time we went fishing and Lisa caught a freshwater clam. We brought it to grandma's and Lisa just knew she would make it into clam chowder for her.  Sure enough, we had clam chowder. Fortunately that stinky little clam never made it into the pot.

Miracles happened in Grandma's kitchen. It remains the only place on earth where kids would fight over who got to stand on the little wood stool and wash dishes.

Grandma was always helping people and we learned to serve with her.  Mrs Duffin was a sweet, somewhat plump lady that lived across the street.  I'm sure a good deal of her plumpness was due to grandma constantly taking things to her. We never missed out on those visits with her. 

Sleepovers at Grandma's was always a treat. The girls would always get to pick a nightgown from Grandma's pajama drawer. We would sleep in the lumpy old couch bed and listen to the old clock. That thing had the loudest tick and it would chime every hour. And in the morning we would always get ebelskievers. There's not a single one of us that can spell that, but we all love those little pancake balls dipped in sugar.   

Sometimes a bath was part of the routine. Grandma's tub was where we all discovered the magic of the pee cup. It was a little plastic cup with a little hole melted in the side. We would fill it up and let it pee on us. It s a weird memory but one that every single one of us treasures. 

We loved things like riding in the old green car and getting the little roll of life savers from the bank, visiting her at the grocery store and later at the hospital where she worked - though it was always hard to keep quiet at the hospital.

Other great memories include:
- Sitting by her on the front of the houseboat as we cruised down the channel at Lake Powell 
- the rose on her nose after a trip to the dermatologist.  She wore that like a queen.
- The trip to Hawaii where she wore a plastic bag on her head all day because she didn't want to mess up her hairdo in the huge rainstorm.  That night we went to a Japanese restaurant and we all looked like drowned rats, except Grandma whose hair looked perfect.  We also learned to hula with her at the Polynesian cultural center.  Grandma can really shake it. 
- riding snowmobiles at Dalley's farm. grandma is a bit of a speed demon!
- riding four wheelers at the reunion up in Hannah
- she always watched the ten o'clock news until the weather was over.  Maren was in high school when she learned there was more news after the weather.
- she always pulled the shades down in the living room every night and they were right back up in the morning. 
- picking asparagus by the irrigation ditches. 
- grandma gave me my very first golf lesson. How cool is that?
- Jana and Maren got chicken pox and got to stay with Grandma while everyone else went to Lake Powell. She took such good care of them and they never felt like they missed out. 
- hanging laundry outside and running to get it in if the rainier wind picked up. 
- rhubarb and sunflowers in her garden
- I still don't know what an old scalawag is, but I know I am one and it must be a good thing because it came from Grandma. 

No matter what, you always felt loved. 

Her greatest gift to us was raising our parents in the church. 

Probably the greatest memory is that she would always stand on her porch as we drove away and wave until we were out of sight.  We knew we were loved. So grandma, today we wave goodbye to you. Keep the pie warm and the oven light on until we get to see you again.  We love you. 

November Birthdays

What started out as a quiet birthday dinner for Scotty and Maren (Chad had to work and it was her actual birthday) turned into a family dinner with everyone coming in town for Grandma J's funeral.

Scotty couldn't wait to show his erector set to his cousins

Scotty, Chase and Mason

Happy Birthday to Maren!  (with Jack and Ryan)

Let the chaos begin...  Scotty wanted smoked turkey, rice (it turned out yucky), salad, Rhodes rolls dipped in butter and seasonings (can you believe I couldn't find Rhodes rolls or any knock offs so Missy made bread instead).  Matt likes broccoli and it was his b-day 2 days before Scotty's, so we made some broccoli.

Scotty wanted rootbeer floats for his dessert, Maren brought a DELICIOUS banana bread cake, and Lori brought brownies for Matt.  Happy Birthday to Maren, Matt and Scotty! We then sang the world's WORST rendition I have ever heard of Happy Birthday.  Now I have to let you know that we ALWAYS sing happy birthday bad, but this one was the WORST by far.  

I love to see the cousins having so much fun together!

It was a houseful (made me want that 7000 square foot house again) but I loved the memories made that night.  Sadly my sis and her family couldn't make it, then we would have had another birthday to celebrate!

Scotty's Happy Un-Birthday

Since Scotty gave up me being home on his birthday, we celebrated a week early.  

Here is my handsome 9 year old!

Opening the presents - no breakfast because it was fast Sunday.  We did that the next day - it was the birthday that never ended!

Corry and I gave him an erector set this year and he was so excited.  he LOVES to build and loves that there were real tools and he could make robotic things with it too.  Way to go dad!  Great gift idea!

Nine things that describe Scotty:

1. Good Friend - I hear that from his friends over and over again
2. Hassler - he LOVES to hassle his family (probably Missy in particular)
3. Story Teller - He LOVES to tell you a story and he gets so animated when he does - Love it!
4. Builder - this was a perfect gift for Scotty because he LOVES to build things with whatever is around
5. Hard-worker - at least when it comes to something he really cares about
6. Funny - he loves to tell jokes and laugh
7. Thinker - I love to see how his mind works.  He really thinks about things we tell him and tries to understand
8. Loving - Most of the time he is kind and loving to the family - he has developed a little temper that we are working on overcoming, but I love when he comes and sits on my lap and just holds tight
9. Tender - Scotty LOVES babies and little kids. He loves to make them laugh and play with them. A quality not all boys have.  In fact one way his temper comes out is when the girls steal the attention of the little ones.  He just loves being around them.  He will make a great daddy one day!

I love you my Scotty!  Happy almost 9th birthday!

Pioneer Legacy

The day after Halloween we had a much needed distraction.  Missy found out she didn't make the school musical - so sad.  She REALLY wanted to be in it.  I was heart broken for her too.  Just thinking about it brings tears to my eyes again.  Corry's sweet Grandmother also passed away.  We really needed to go and participate in this show.  

I love this show (Pioneer Legacy) because it tells of a real family's journey to Utah and the loss of their baby along the way, their struggles and finally their finding joy again.  I guess I just really relate to the story.  Sometimes life is really HARD.  Sometimes I struggle with internal turmoil that affects my family, but eventually I come back to the peace my religion (I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) brings me.  

All the kids got to be in it this year and I didn't have to!  HURRAY!  I am more of a teacher, backstage type person than performer.  

Scotty and Fuzzy were part of a family and ended up being on stage most of the show.

Missy was in backstage most of the time doing homework, but I think this was a great distraction for her.   Especially spending time with these cuties!  Plus she got a text from a cute friend of hers that really helped her deal with things.  WHen you feel like you need to tell someone you love them or that they are of great worth, even when the world seems to put them down, TELL THEM!  Love you McKenna for loving my daughter enough to tell her!

Again - I actually am at things and here is a photo to prove it this time!

Love these girlies of mine!

Cloward Family Halloween Party

Mrn and Chad hosted the party this year and did a FANTASTIC job!  They may have earned themselves hosting privileges forever!

Fuzzy with Emily

Chad the "cereal killer"  LOL!  Great costume Chad!

They had all the kids start out by making ghosts (my kids now use them to swing around and hit each other)

Then we headed outside to play a game of mummy wrap

I love this time my kids have to spend time with their cousins

Donut on a string is always a MUST!!!

Scotty the BYU football player holding Emily the BYU football!

Small group this year and we missed all the cousins that weren't there 

12 living cousins weren't there :( 

Maren and Chad are also master pumpkin carvers

And then there was dinner.  They went ALL OUT!!!

worms in the ice cubes

skull ice

This Frankenstein was my FAVORITE thing of the day.  So stinkin' cute!

All the fixin's for great sandwhiches

Lots of happy monsters

Then Maren had all these bags ready of gross things for the kids to feel... ewwwww

I really was there - and at one point dressed up

After that it was the annual draw for Christmas names.  I got to be the play by play announcer to Sta on the phone.  Loads of fun!  

You know this is what it is all about.  We don't always agree or get along.  Sometimes there are hurt feelings, but family is where it is at!  I love building memories and boy do my kids have memories of these parties!

Thanks Mrn and Chad for hosting a GREAT Halloween party.  You guys are awesome!