We wish each of you a very warm and peaceful Christmas season and very Happy New Year. We have been blessed to have each of our married daughters and families visit us during the holiday season. Amanda and Lance were here for a 10 day visit with their two little boys, Gavin and Jackson. What a joy that was - they were here long enough to do almost everything we wanted. Kim and Dallas were able to come for a few days while Amanda and her family were here. The cousins had fun playing and the sisters and husbands enjoyed being with each other. Nicole and her family come after Christmas so we've yet to report on that.




Nicole and her husband John live in Folsom, CA (near Sacramento). They have 3 children - Katie, 6 years, and twins Anna and Grace, age 17 months. We spent some time with them at Thanksgiving and they will arrive in San Diego the day after Christmas for a visit. John works for Intel and Nicole keeps pretty busy caring for her twins and Katie. We are happy to have them back in California after two years in Boston.





Amanda and her husband Lance, moved from San Diego to South Jordan, Utah in February. They have two little boys, Gavin, 3 years next month and Jackson, 18 months. Lance is finishing his degree at University of Utah. They used to live 5 minutes away here in San Diego and we miss having them close by. They were here for 10 days at Christmas time and we had a great time. Luckily we get to visit them in Utah during the year, also. We all went to Seaport Village, a great shopping place here in San Diego on the bay, and rode the carousel with the grandkids.




Kim and her husband Dallas live in Gilroy, CA (near San Jose). They have two children - Aaliyah (prounounced Uh-lee-ya) 2 years and Zander, 6 months. They visited in December just before Christmas and we had a great time with them. The cousins love to play with each other!



We tried to capture some fall colors in this photo but fall colors are hard to find in San Diego. It isn't until about December that the sycamore trees turn color and this photo was taken in November... Keldon, our youngest at 17 years, is a senior in high school this year and will graduate in June. He plays on an elite premier club soccer team but had surgery this past year for a torn meniscus and he was out for nearly a year healing. Not fun for him at all! He is very glad to be back playing and is looking forward to college in the fall. He is interested in mechanical engineering. He is awaiting is college acceptance letters and has almost completed his Eagle Scout project. Ethan, 20 years, has been living on his own in San Diego since January. He has a great job with Zerorez (carpet cleaning) and fits in some college classes between work and play/surfing.



Here I am with my newest grandchild, Zander, son of Kim and Dallas. They had quite a scare with him when in June at 3 weeks of age he contracted meningitis and he and Kim were hospitalized for three weeks. It was was a very difficult time for their family and lots of prayer and fasting were performed on their behalf. As you can see, he is happy and healthy now!

A new grandson! (and other stuff)

I have to do some catching up! Grandchild #7 arrived on June 11 this year. Son of Kim and Dallas Jensen, his name is Zander. Isn't he precious? I was there to help the first week which was a privilege.




When Zander was 3 weeks old, he contracted meningitis and was hospitalized for three weeks. That meant Kim was hospitalized for 3 weeks also. It was a tough, scary time for them and us, but he is fine now. He was blessed by his daddy on August 10 and we were able to go to Gilroy for that. I made his little blessing outfit, which looked absolutely darling on him!







I had also been working on smocked dresses for Anna and Grace, Nicole's twins. I got them done and they wore them to Zander's Blessing.

4th of July

Happy 4th of July! I love celebrating our country's birthday. Flags, flags and more flags - that's my motto! I hope you are able to have fun with family and friends, enjoy a bbq, go to the beach (if that's feasible) and watch some good fireworks. Please enjoy some of the patriotic music I've added to my playlist and turn up the volume!

Goodbye to The Van

We said goodbye to our 1994 Chevy Astro Van this week. There are so many memories associated with that van! It was our first new car. It was the first vehicle we had that fit our family (we used to have to drive two vehicles wherever we went!). The first year we had it, a deer "hit" us - yes, the deer jumped out onto the road in Utah by Moon Lake and hit us. Keldon was only four years old (now 16 1/2) and he still remembers how hard the impact made him jerk in his car seat. Two years ago I got a Toyota Highlander (love it) and Ethan started driving the van. Then Keldon started driving the van when Ethan bought his own car. Recently, the van did not pass smog, so we had to take it to the next level of smog check, and when Brad went to pick it up at the shop, it just didn't drive well. Just too old and too many miles (note the odometer!) We donated it to Father Joe's, a charity here in San Diego. Brad and Keldon were there to say farewell and to capture the event on camera. The Astro van was a great car and served our family well. Kind of sad to see it go...

That's a LOT of miles...

Memorial Day 2008

My flag is flying in front of my house - is yours? It makes me sad that people are not that patriotic anymore. My flag is the only one on my street. Brad and I watched a great movie last night - "Flags of our Fathers" (the edited version). We liked it and thought it very appropriate to watch on Memorial Day weekend. I am thankful for the service my own father provided in WWII and the Korean War. I am grateful for our military personnel today that sacrifice for our freedom. I am so grateful to those who have given their lives in service to our great nation.

Brad and I rode our bikes to the waterfalls this morning. These waterfalls are in the canyon preserve that is next to our house. The waterfalls had plenty of water since we've had rain recently. The canyon is so, so pretty. Green (and some gold and brown!), the cacti are blooming, lots of birds and a lot of people enjoying it - walking, jogging and riding bikes like us. On our ride back we stopped at a place called Carson's Crossing by the creek and there is a beautiful grove of oak trees there. Brad shot some photos, including his favorite tree. It was good to be out in God's beautiful world.

Here is a picture of Brad's favorite tree


Here is a picture of me at the creek


A picture of the creek in the canyon



The cacti beginning to bloom

Rainbows

We have had some rain in the past few days. Not unusual in May for San Diego, actually. Kimberlee's birthday is May 22 and I can remember several of her birthday parties that were planned for outside that we had to bring inside because of rain. It poured rain on Friday - I couldn't believe it! Yesterday, it started raining late in the afternoon. I saw that the sun was shining, so I went outside to find the rainbow. It wasn't showing when I first went outside, but after a few minutes, a beautiful rainbow showed up. I always marvel at rainbows. I consider a rainbow a magnificent gift from God. I just sit and look at a rainbow in awe and wonder how people can be atheists. I was thinking - how many rainbows do you think you've seen in your life? Not that many, I'm guessing. I wish I had counted. I just hope I can see many more...

Quick Trip to Utah, May 2008

Brad and I made a quick trip to Utah May 8-12. Mainly to see Amanda and her family, but we also had a nephew getting married in the Mt. Timpanogas Temple. We left on a Thursday, drove to Mesquite, Nevada. We stayed in a great hotel there, Falcon Ridge. Ate lunch at Thanksgiving Point - so many beautiful flowers blooming! Got to Amanda's around 3:30pm. Gavin gave me a 5 minute hug!!! That felt so good. It was so good to see them. It took Jackson about 15 minutes to figure out who we were, but he eventually figured it out. Gavin is talking so well and Jackson is taking steps by himself (he's now walking since we left). They live in such a beautiful area and the weather was nice while we were there. Saturday Brad and I went to our nephew's wedding, while Amanda and Lance went to her BYU roommate's wedding in Salt Lake Temple. She had to get a babysitter for her boys for the first time - THAT was interesting. Gavin discovered that coloring on the upholstered rocking chair was fun! Little stinker (but still cute!). Sunday we went to church and then over to Brad's sister Sherryl's house. His other sister Jeanne and her husband Kent and son Jeremy came for a short visit. We had dinner at our niece Jennifer's house. We had a great time. Jennifer has 4 boys (one a newborn) and Gavin had fun playing with them. One cousin, Luke (4 yrs) met us at the door and the first thing he said was, "I don't want Gavin messing up our fort!" They had built a 20 blanket fort downstairs, but Gavin wasn't even interested in it - so there! The day passed all too quickly. When we got home and the boys were in bed, Amanda and I worked on a baby blanket for her friend Trish - nice mother and daughter time. All too soon it was Monday morning and time for us to drive home to San Diego. We said our goodbyes and were on our way. An hour and a half later, it started snowing! We could hardly believe it! You can see our photos above. We went through snow, rain, thick fog and heat, from 32 degrees to 93 degrees during our trip home. The reason we didn't stay any longer was that I am taking a class on web design and had a class on Tuesday, but the teacher ended up getting sick and the class was cancelled all week - darn! We could have stayed longer. It was a wonderful weekend.

Little by little...

Do you like my new blog header? I really want to design my own blog and am changing things little by little. This coming week I am taking a Dreamweaver class and hope to learn all sorts of new goodies. Perhaps when I get done with the advanced class in three weeks I will be able to make all the changes I want! Yay - then I won't have to use the boring templates that are offered.

The Demise of Kite Boy

"Mom, where are my keys?" They're by Kite Boy. "Does anyone know where I put that letter?" Its by Kite Boy. "I can't find my..." Its by Kite Boy. Do you have your own "Kite Boy"? Our Kite Boy was a darling little painted wood figurine - a boy with his dog and kite. For years I have had it at the end of a long counter in my kitchen. A counter that everyone walked by to get to the family room or the kitchen. A catch-all spot. You know the one! Everyone has a spot like that. A spot that is a magnet to all that "stuff" a family generates. But it was always a good landmark in our house. If I ever saw something that I knew was out of place that someone was surely going to be looking for later, I put it by Kite Boy. Then when the inevitable question came, "Mom do you know where (fill in the blank) is?" I would answer, "By Kite Boy". I was looking at Kite Boy the other day and thought I really need to get rid of this and moved him out to my laundry room. Today I was straightening up the laundry room and came across Kite Boy. There are a lot of memories wrapped up with him. Kind of hard to get rid of him. But no, I decided I really had outgrown him. So, I took a picture of him and decided to write this little post in honor of him. Thank you, Kite Boy, for always being there for all of us. You were a constant in our lives. You were always fun to look at and brought an element of "cute" to the spot you occupied. You always reminded me of fun times of the past - little boys flying kites and playing with their dogs. The time has come to pass you on to someone else who will enjoy you as I have. Good by, Kite Boy! He is now in the DI bag and will find a new home.

Time With Friends...

Today some friends and I met for lunch to celebrate Cynda Northcutt's birthday. We all worked together in Stake Young Women's and really became good friends. Even though we are all in different wards, we still get together and catch up on each other's lives. Cynda and her husband (who is our stake president) have been called to preside over the Argentina North Mission and will leave in June. We will all miss her and her husband so much. What a great presence they are in our stake. We had a fun lunch together. Friends are great!

Catching Up

Life has been pretty darn busy the past month plus. Keldon had meniscus cartilage repair surgery on his left knee on March 20 and it has been a whirlwind since then. He got a blood clot in his leg 8 days later, which just complicated his recovery. We seem to have things under control now. He is getting off his pain medication (only two pills a day), going back to school and church, still doing blood draws a few times a week, physical therapy sessions, icing and elevating his leg, exercises at home, and coumadin therapy. He has advanced to using just one crutch and is putting more and more weight on his leg. His club soccer team played this weekend in State Cup Nationals and sorely missed his presence. He missed being there playing even more. He can start running late July and will be back to soccer in September, after he is off the coumadin. He is counting the days!

Kimberlee and Aaliyah came for a weekend visit mid-April. You can see from the photos that we went on a ferry ride from San Diego to Coronado, which was a lot of fun. It was so nice to have them here. Aaliyah loved watching the bunnies that frequent our yard. She was such a good poser for all of Grandpa's photos! Next time I see Kim, she will have had her baby boy - hard to believe.

We planted some tomato plants this weekend. I took a tomato class at our local nursery and learned some new things and hope to have a great crop of red, juicy, ripe tomatoes from June until December. Brad worked hard to make our garden secure so that the bunnies could not get in. Yesterday he saw one of them in the yard and went out to see if it could get in, and sure enough, as soon as Brad showed up, the rabbit ran like the dickens right through the fence holes into the garden! But, Brad had closed up the holes that the rabbits used to get out of our yard on that particular side and he said it was so funny as that poor, scared rabbit tried to get out. He said it jumped three feet several times trying to get out and eventually had to run back out of the garden to get away. That gave Brad a good laugh.

We had a heat wave this weekend - whew! It was 93 degrees on Sunday at 10:00am when we left for church. Not normal for San Diego. We had to turn the A/C on! In April!! It is a bit cooler today, thank goodness.

Keldon After Knee Surgery

Conference Sunday

General Conference was so inspiring! We took two comfy chairs up to the bonus room so Keldon didn't have to move very far and we watched conference up there. We even had breakfast up there this morning while we watched conference - fun!

I finally had some time to put some pictures up. Amanda, I will get some up of Gavin and Jackson next. I am working on a slide show of Keldon, but it is not cooperating... hmmmpf!

I never intended to have so much time between my posts - really. I mean, I still have Christmas music playing on my blog - good grief! Life just gets in the way. Right after Christmas, Keldon was hurt in the semifinals of The Nautical Cup (soccer). He was hit by two players on his left knee and went down, tried to get up and went down again. I knew right then it was bad. He had to be carried out of the stadium (Rancho Buena Vista High). Brad and I took him to Urgent Care and his knee was x-rayed, nothing broken. I took him in to see the sports orthopedist, Dr. John Fellow, and he said it was a bad sprain, 6-8 weeks recovery. I told him I wanted an MRI and he said that there was no reason to do that. So, now, ten weeks later they finally do the MRI (cause darn! it just wasn't healing) and find that he has a torn meniscus - lovely! He did not get to play any league games in high school and will now miss three club tournaments and Nationals State Cup with his club team. He has surgery on March 20th, so keep him in your prayers, please.

I had my first colonoscopy in January, 2008 - what a lovely thing, everyone should have one! If you've participated, you know it is the preparation that is the part you'd like to leave out of the whole procedure. This was done in conjunction with a spontaneous retro-peritoneal hemorrhage I had back on Oct 21, 2007 (the days the fires started in San Diego). My colon was healthy and they could see nothing associated with the hemorrhage. The doctors still do not know what caused the hemorrhaging. I also had minor surgery in January and was recuperating for 3 weeks (okay, it was for a hemorrhoid, if you have to know, so there!). All those health issues just slowed me down for a while.

Amanda, Lance, Gavin and Jackson moved to Utah on February 8 and that just about ripped my heart out! It is really hard when you get used to seeing family often and then to have them move - especially the grandbabies. It is so fun to watch them grow up. They have settled in South Jordan and Lance is going to finish his degree at U of U.

I just returned this week from an 8 day trip to northern California to celebrate my mom's 83rd birthday. Nicole and Kimberlee and their families came on March 8th to Grandma Parker's house in Modesto to celebrate and it was great fun. It was so nice to see my daughters, their spouses and my granddaughters - four of them! We had a great day together. The following day after church with my mom, I drove up to spend two days with Nicole and her family in Folsom.

My mom and I didn't do much cooking while I was there. We had lunch out most every day with a different friend or just us two. We had lunch at Uno's with Pauline Halliday, lunch at The Village Bakery, (our favorite turkey, cream cheese and cranberry sandwiches!), lunch with Marilyn Heiner at a Thai restaurant (I still don't like Thai food that much). Then for dinner we either had soup at home, take out Chinese, or we ate at Tahoe Joe's (prime rib - yum!) or at a great Mediterranean place called Skewers - they have the best shish-ka-bob I've tasted.
I have been home now for three days and have had a terrible head cold since last Sunday. We have Brad's sister Debbie and her family coming tomorrow for a three day visit. We're excited to have them. Brad and Keldon spent Saturday painting the upstairs main bathroom, so it would be nice and fresh for our guests - looks good!

Brad, Ethan and Keldon fixed a belated birthday dinner for me today. It was very good. Brad even bought a no-sugar-added berry pie from Marie Callendar's. How sweet was that?!!