The little things are really the big things!

It was so fun last night to talk to Weston over the computer with our web cams. He was so cute. He was blowing me kisses and kissing the computer screen. It's great to be able to see him with being so far away. When he stood up on the chair, it seemed like he has really grown since I saw him last. I need to visit again soon. I just love his smile and the twinkle in his eyes. I am such a lucky grandmother. This technology is just awesome too! It reminded me of watching the Jetson cartoons when I was a child.....

Margaret Mitchell says...............

"Life's under no obligation to give us what we expect. We take what we get and are thankful it's no worse than it is."

She wrote "Gone with the Wind" while she lived in the house below which is in Atlanta on Peach Street. She was born November 8, 1900. The house is now a museum open for tours. She died at the age of 49 after being hit by a speeding drunk driver while crossing Peach Street at 13th Street.


Margaret Mitchell won the Pulitzer Prize in 1937 for her novel "Gone With the Wind." She wrote this novel while being bedridden with a broken ankle. After she read all the historical books from the library, her (2nd) husband suggested she write her own story which she did. She used what she learned from the library books, the encyclopedia on "civil war" and included characters from her own life. The character of Rhett appears to be modeled after her first husband, a bootlegger and abusive alcoholic. There is no mention of her having children.

Tonight was a First! Thanks Ashley and Jason!

I just had family home evening with Ashley, Jason and Paisley tonite. It was so fun to do it via web cam on our computers. Paisley is so entertaining! She did great at folding her arms for prayer. Ashley gave the lesson on being of good cheer. It was a message that I really needed as I was a bit down from my day. Just talking to them and hearing the message boosted my spirits greatly. Thanks Jason and Ashley for the invitation and making my day very special!

I stopped at Yo-cream on my way home from work so I had root beer float and chocolate with cherry frozen yogurt. That was my refreshment for FHE. I just had it before rather than after the lesson! (In case anyone is counting calories for me, I only had 1/2 of the small size so I had portion control!)

My activity for tonite will be mowing my yard so I need to get on that right away!

I'm not sure what refreshments will be served in Folsom but I'm sure it will be yummy! I think playing with the dancing, talking Elmo was the activity there and I was able to observe that!

I'm looking forward to having FHE with them again - it was GREAT!!!

The article that Ashley used for the lesson is by President Monson at the last general conference. You can find it on the Internet at the link below:

http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=1b6b230bac7f0210VgnVCM100000176f620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD

A gift to myself.......... (2009)

Don't my teeth look great? Perfect smile? Adalei accidentally took this picture of me and as I was going to delete it, I realized that it shows my teeth. For those of you that don't know, I've had braces on my teeth for the last 30 weeks. I wasn't sure whether I should get the braces on or not. Now that I'm finishing treatment, I am so glad that I did it. It was worth every cent it cost. And the time went really fast. First of all, I want to thank my excellent dentist, Dr. Tanner that suggested I get braces before a mouth guard (for grinding my teeth). And secondly for referring me to an orthodontist that gave me a very nice discount.

I had braces when I was 18 yrs old and after my retainer broke my teeth moved forward some. Back in those days, the orthodontists didn't think you needed to wear a retainer long term so my teeth did gradually move.

I was really uncomfortable with my teeth because I would get food stuck between my teeth when I ate meals. I always felt like I had food hanging out from between my teeth after eating and before brushing. This especially bothered me at work after lunch. Once in awhile someone would tell me that I had food stuck and I would attend to it. The other embarrassing issue with my teeth was that people often told me I had something black between my front teeth. There wasn't anything between my front teeth except air that looked black from looking into my mouth. The orthodontist called this a black diamond. As you age, your gums recede and it causes these black diamonds.

I am so thrilled to have my teeth straightened and the black diamonds eliminated. It's even easy to floss now! I love my teeth once again! I'm hoping that with my mouth guard, I will be able to keep my teeth straight for the next 50 years!!! Thanks Nate - I am so happy! I appreciate consulting with you! You are a dentist that I trust 100%.

Mother's day weekend - 2009

I was so excited to have Charity come for the weekend. We had a great time together. Before she left, she cleaned my house. That was so wonderful to have it all clean. Charity - you did super! I managed to get a couple of pictures. As you can tell for sure in the last picture, Charity really didn't want me taking pictures.
I am so blessed to have a wonderful daughter that loves me and cares about me so much. She even took two days off work to come help me. It was the best mother's day weekend to have her and Nate & family here.

Post-surgery recovery with Nate & family (May 2009)

Nate and Misty had arranged a family vacation before my surgery was scheduled so they were only here a couple of days during my time off work for my recovery. I did manage to get a couple of pictures while they were here. Misty even brought pizza one night for our dinner. It was so good - thanks Misty!
I wasn't able to get Nate in the picture below but you can see Misty is expecting #3. The baby is a boy! We are so excited and just heard that weekend. He will be born near the beginning of October! I am so happy to have another grandson on the way. Adalei was the one that made the announcement! She seems to be very happy also.
This is my favorite picture of Brielle. She is quite the climber. We were having angel food cake, fresh strawberries, ice cream, and whipped cream. It was delicious and you can see that Brielle was enjoying it very much. (see below) Nate got her right away so I had to hurry and get this picture of the moment!
Misty and Adalei.............. I was so blessed to have everyone sit on the floor in the family room while I rested on the couch. There is nothing that makes me more happy than to have my family around me.
Jenna and Weston overlapped with Nate and Misty for a couple of days so they were able to see each other. Weston had a great time playing with Nate. The two girls and Weston were running around and laughing while Nate was playing with them. Weston loved to have his uncle Nate chase him. (The picture below shows a little bit..............)
Adalei is the reader and she was so good to let me read to her. She was really still so she didn't hurt my healing tummy. Misty did a great job of taking this picture below.
This picture of Brielle below is just so cute. Don't you just want to pick her up and hug her? That's what I want to do. I love her hugs. She is getting cuter all the time.
Another picture to show this little climber...... I just hope she won't decide to be a rock climber when she grows up! What a cutie!!!
I really enjoyed Nate's family visit and it was sad to have them leave again after just being home a couple of days. I sure missed them while they were gone.

Comfort Food and Recovery (April / May 2009)

Before my surgery, I never realized how much it meant to have a meal brought in. After my surgery, I had no energy to prepare a meal. Most leftovers were eaten cold because I just didn't have the energy or desire to heat them up. I am so grateful for all my friends and family that brought me food over the first three weeks. It really meant a lot to me and it also cheered me up to see each one of you.

In the beginning, I wasn't taking pictures of anything. After Ashley came, I did take pictures of Paisley but that was all. By the time Jenna came I was feeling better and took pictures of Weston and some of the delicious meals that we had. By the time Charity came, I was overdoing it and didn't feel well again - as a result, there are no pictures of Charity's cooking.

I'm sorry that I don't have an assortment of pictures from all the yummy meals that I had. Misty made me a week's worth of meals that she put in my freezer. Those were great and I especially enjoyed my favorite Japanese pancakes. Misty knows what I like!

Unbeknown to me, Ashley wasn't feeling well when she came because she was in the early months of her pregnancy. I was so impressed that she managed to make delicious meals anyhow. She took really good care of me. My favorites from her menu were the chicken enchiladas, the pizza, and the talapia. I wish I had pictures to show you. Your mouth would water if you could see them.

Even Charity made a delicious mother's day meal of lasagna, garlic bread, salad, and dessert. It was wonderful and we all enjoyed it very much. She was so thoughtful to be prepared so we didn't have peanut butter sandwich instead.

Well, Jenna is a great cook also so I greatly enjoyed her meals and captured a few pictures to give you an idea of how blessed I was during those 3 weeks.

This picture below is a breakfast dish - it was scrumptious!!! Fantastic presentation too!
Jenna and I both like to celebrate the holidays. Ashley and I went to Who Song & Larry's when she was here but I had to go again with Jenna for Cinco de Mayo! We really enjoyed our celebration meal very much. It is also Casey's favorite restaurant in Vancouver so we were especially wishing that he was with us. Those corn cakes are my very favorite. One of these days I'm going to find the recipe and make some myself.
This pasta was just heavenly (see below). We'd have to ask Jenna what it was called as my memory is failing me at the moment. I loved it when she fixed it and I enjoyed the leftovers just the same.
I never thought I really liked pork chops until I ate this one below. Jenna has a great recipe and now I know I love pork chops. It was fantastic.
And then, last of all, I have a picture of my waffle - coconut waffles - they were heavenly! Oh, my belly wasn't big enough to hold all I wanted to eat. It was like having dessert for breakfast. Coconut waffles with chocolate syrup and whipped cream. Jenna knows how much I love coconut so she made this special recipe for me. I have the recipe if anyone is interested. Charity was really lucky to get a bit of leftovers from this one.
So, bottom line, through the recovery period after my surgery, I learned how much it helps a sick person to receive meals while they are recovering. I need to do a lot of paying it forward because so many friends and family were so good to me. I am so grateful! Thanks everyone!

Post-surgery recovery with Jenna and Weston (week 3)

I was so very excited to have Jenna and Weston come stay with me for the week. I loved their company and appreciated all Jenna's help to aid me in my recovery.
This is a picture of Weston (above) venturing off to check out the Columbia River......

Isn't that a beautiful picture with Jenna, Weston, the Columbia River, and the Interstate Bridge between Washington and Oregon? Jenna had a great idea that having dinner at "Who Song & Larry's" (Mexican restaurant) would be the perfect place to celebrate Cinco de Mayo
and get me out of the house for an hour!
I really enjoyed seeing the river while we enjoyed our dinner and the festive atmosphere.

Jenna is such a great mother!

Don't you just love this picture above? Weston's expression is so, so cute! (or should I say handsome?) He really enjoyed my stairs and managed them quite well with no falls.

I just had to capture some of these adorable moments with Weston. After having three wonderful granddaughters, it has been really fun to have this special little boy. There is such a difference between the little boys and little girls. I think I had forgotten about that. Weston was after the pine cones and didn't take long to get this one right in his mouth (above)!

Here he is running and having a great time!

Here's my little explorer on the deck and looking at the steps below. After he checked out the situation in this position, he turned around and quickly went down all the steps with his feet first! He is one fast little boy and I enjoyed just watching him.

I absolutely adore this expression. He was waiting so patiently for his dinner and did great at the restaurant. Of course, the waiter noticed how cute and fun he was.
Also, some of the people at the tables around us enjoyed watching him also.
I felt so fortunate to be the grandmother of this little guy!

I just couldn't believe how quickly he found this drawer and didn't waste any time at all before climbing right in checking out the new view (above)
before settling in to check out the drawer contents (below).

I was impressed how well Weston sat in this booster seat (above). He sat still amazingly while he ate his meals and waited patiently to be put down after finishing with his eating.
It was also amazing to see him eat without a bib and you can see he was almost done eating at this point and hadn't gotten any food on himself.
(Spray 'n Wash isn't making any money off of this little boy - at least not from his eating!)

Weston enjoyed my little chairs (that I have thanks to his great-uncle Randy).
His pajama shirt says "Handsome just like my daddy!" Isn't that so true?

Weston loves balls! He was happy when he had one in each hand.
It was fun to watch him throw and then run to pick them up.

This is such a priceless shot above where he is using sign language to say "more."
He's one smart little boy and knows what he wants!

I love his smile! It made me smile just to see how happy he was!

In the picture above, I was a little nervous when he would stand up on the chairs.
You can see how close his foot was to the edge of the seat. He'd quickly stand up, look around, and then quickly sit down when Jenna would ask him to.
It makes me happy right now just thinking about how cute he was!

This is the million dollar grin that I just love!

(Above) I just couldn't resist including this picture! Now, how impressive is that?
He's a strong little guy flexing his muscles! I wonder where he learned that?

Weston loved the strawberries and we had lots of them! I loved watching him eat them!

What a serious little face above with as many strawberries as would fit!

He sure kept my mind off of how I was feeling at that time.

And - look at the juice dripping above!

My little buddy was just so cute (see above) when it was nap time or bedtime.
He'd go off to sleep without any tears. We wouldn't hear anything until he woke up.
Even then he was so quiet that Jenna was usually the only one that heard him.
Neither Paisley nor Weston woke me up ever during their visits! I was impressed by that!

This picture above is so cute - we walked to the neighborhood park and
Weston was exploring once again.....

Weston loves being outside!
He looks so cute standing in my backyard with the lilac bushes behind.

Picking grandma's favorite flowers in her back yard - California poppies!
I had lots so he was free to pick as many as he wanted.

Picking more flowers and wanting some company in the backyard!
It was so sad to see Jenna and Weston leave.............. The time just went so fast!
Thanks Jenna and Weston for a wonderful week!
You brought smiles to my face and joy to my heart! I am grateful for your visit.

Smile Every Day!

During the past year, the Church's Young Women general presidency has issued a simple challenge to youths worldwide: Read the scriptures every day, pray every day and smile every day.

They promise that if a person does these things every day, 100 percent of the time, it will change the world. "From small and simple things great things will come to pass," said Sister Elaine S. Dalton, Young Women general president.

And while the youths may feel like reading the scriptures and praying every day are hard things to do, Sister Dalton says the most challenging part of the formula may also be simplest: smiling.

Who knows if a smile can change the world, but research shows that it certainly can improve a person's life. A recent study found that a habit of genuine smiling may contribute to happiness and better adjustment in life.

Researchers in the study looked through 141 photos in a Mills College (Oakland, Calif.) yearbook and separated out genuine smilers from inauthentic ones. The smilers were contacted at age 27, 43 and 52 and asked about the status of their marriage and life satisfaction.

The women with the genuine smiles were more likely to be married and stay married. They were also more likely to experience greater sense of personal well-being. These results were found to be consistent in a 30-year follow up ("A Genuine Smile Goes a 'Long Way,'" Vijai P. Sharma, www.mindpub.com).

For many years the conventional wisdom has been that people are happy because they are successful. But additional researchers, who analyzed 225 studies involving 275,000 people, found the truth might be just the opposite — that people are successful because they are happy.

Happy people are easier to work with, more highly motivated and more willing to tackle difficult projects. Thus they are more likely to be successful, found a 2005 study published by the American Psychological Association.

And a 2008 study shows that people who don't smile have a negative impact on their friends, and even people they don't know.

Each happy friend a person has boosts their chances of happiness by 9 percent. Having grumpy friends decreases it by about 7 percent, found researchers in a paper published last December in a British medical journal ("Smile! Study says being happy can be contagious," Deseret News, Dec. 5, 2008).

It might also be interesting to note that the researchers found that money cannot buy happiness. According to the research, extra money increased a person's odds of being happy only marginally — notably less than the odds of being happier if you have a happy friend.

So, during this time of economic doom and gloom, Church members should find things to smile about.

"Be happy," said President Gordon B. Hinckley in a 1978 Church Educational System fireside address. "Let that happiness shine through your face and speak through your testimonies."

President Hinckley noted that he met many people "who constantly complain about the burden of their responsibilities."

"Of course," he said, "the pressures are great. There is much, too much, to do. There are financial burdens to add to all of these pressures, and with all of this we are prone to complain, frequently at home, often in public. Turn your thinking around. The gospel is good news. Man is that he might have joy."

President Hinckley said he enjoyed the words of Jenkins Lloyd Jones written in a June 12, 1973, Deseret News column: "Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he's been robbed.

"Most putts don't drop. Most beef is tough. Most children grow up to be just people. Most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration. Most jobs are more often dull than otherwise.

"Life is like an old-time rail journey — delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride."

Abraham Lincoln put it another way: "Most folks," he said, "are about as happy as they make their minds up to be".

Church members, said Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin of the Quorum of the Twelve, "have so much to smile about, be happy about, yes, even to laugh about."

Yet, often, he said, many of us wait to show our smile. "Don't wait for tomorrow. Don't wait for the right job, the right house, the right salary, the right dress size. Be happy today. Be happy now. (Joseph B. Wirthlin, "Lessons Learned in the Journey of Life," Ensign, December 2000, 7).

So read your scriptures, and pray every day, 100 percent of the time. But in the process, don't forget to smile. If you do, you might just change the world. (Church News publication 5/23/09)

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It took me all week to do this post because I hated to cover up all Paisley's cute pictures. However, when I read this article on smiling, I thought it had a good message and wanted to share it. I guess I need to smile more since I'm not married! (Just kidding!)

Post-surgery recovery with Ashley and Paisley (week 2)

Ashley and Paisley came a week after I was home from the hospital. I had a wonderful week with them. I spent most of the time on the couch. Paisley stayed near by so I was able to get quite a few good shots of her with my camera.

Ashley cooked me delicious meals - her chicken enchiladas and pizza were awesome! Paisley especially loved the pizza too.

Paisley loved raisins. She kept some in each hand and her mouth full!

I just love her hair and she reminds me of Pebbles on "The Flintstones."

Paisley knows it's time for a nap because she just got her pacifier. That little girl goes to bed without crying. It is amazing!

Isn't she just adorable?

Paisley makes me happy! Thanks Paisley for coming to entertain me while I was recovering.

Having snack at the little table...... Paisley loved these little chairs. She constantly climbed up and down from them. She also liked that she could push and pull them around. If we didn't watch her, she'd be crawling up on the table too.

That little Paisley just loved this Book of Mormon. She was carrying it around a lot. She'd lay on the floor and pretend like she was reading it.

We asked Paisley where Jesus was and she knew. Maybe it was a lucky guess but she was fast to show us. See she still has the little Book of Mormon....

Cute princess Paisley in her darling nightgown - just calling her daddy to say "good nite!"

She was so cute - always checking out what was on the table. She loved these nutri-grain bars a lot! (Don't you just love her hair!)

I'm not sure if Paisley was offering to share with me or if she wanted me to unwrap it for her to eat. Most likely the later.....

She liked sitting on the booster seat but unfortunately didn't sit still long enough for her to eat her meals there!

Paisley was so cute - after the diaper change, she folded up the changing pad and gave it to Ashley to put back in the diaper bag! She has that responsibility down great!

My purse was heavy and I was amazed that she could carry it around for so long.

Downtown Vancouver with Ashley, Paisley and the turtles.

Paisley is so happy after her bath.

What a beautiful smile!

Having breakfast with her mom - a banana - just like her dad's breakfast! Like father, like daughter!

On the last day here, Paisley climbed in the toy box and was having some fun there.

Paisley has a beautiful smile and just looks adorable in this darling dress. It was so hard to not pick her up. After a few days she'd climb up on the couch and give me a little, quick hug. Those were my favorite moments!

Ashley and Paisley with the Columbia River in the background. I just had to get out of the house for an hour!

Paisley clapping..................

Another day with the heavy purse. It was so fun to have Ashley and Paisley here. Ashley was so sweet to clean the house and put everything in order before she left. It was wonderful to have them come and spend 5 days with me. Ashley was so good to get whatever I needed and insisted on helping me when I'd forget and start to get up for something. I love her meals. I loved playing with Paisley. I also really enjoyed watching TV and a couple of movies with Ashley. We found we liked many of the same TV shows. What great memories from my recovery! The last day just came way too fast for me. I wish they were here still.