A Memorable Weekend

We have had one of those wonderful 3-day weekends where I am already looking back and am amazed at the variety of events that were crammed into 36 hours. Even better, we have been able to spend it with loved ones from afar. Life is good!

Friday night Pam and Kelly arrived from Portland. It was late enough that we visited for just a short time and then all went to bed. The morning started early with granola and Swiss porridge for breakfast, and then Keven and Kelly aerated the front and back lawns. Pam and I enjoyed catching up (I know, such hard, hard work....). Kris joined us on a fun trip to Old Mesilla, which included a stop along the way at the Stahmann Farms gift shop for yummy nuts and chocolates (thanks for treating, Kelly - I owe you!). We enjoyed walking around the plaza and looking in the different shops, and then eating at the Double Eagle Restaurant. The weather, conversation and company were oh, so delightful!

We finished the day by going to see Ironman 2. I believe Kris enjoyed it the most, but we all had a good time.

Sunday morning Keven treated us to his fabulous waffles, and they were perfection. Following church Scott and Mary Louise came over for fajitas, queso, salads, berry shortcake, and more good visiting. We had time to all go together to take flowers to Aunt Joy's gravesite before taking the Oregonians to the airport. Such a short trip - but such a very meaningful one.
Boo hoo, we were so busy talking that we did not take a single picture.

Monday morning I ran 4 miles, and for the 1st time in several weeks had no pain! I was thrilled even though it was still HARD. I was distracted, though, by the many beautiful hot air balloons I could watch the entire time, thanks to the KLAQ Balloon Fest. At one time I counted 17: two bumblebees, several bright solid-colored ones, and the rest beautiful bright pied and checkered patterns. Two of them crossed right over me as I ran, probably about 200 feet overhead, and I could tell that one was descending into the newly sprouting cotton field right next to me. Immediately the chase crew came zooming along and pulled up almost at the same instant the balloon touched down, just a few feet away! It was very impressive - and then, as I was almost parallel, it ascended again and kept going, at the same speed I was running (not very fast at all); and so we ran along together about 1/2 mile before I turned onto another path. The balloon touched down in the field right behind our home, and as I ran past Marie's home she came out and we went over to the edge of the field to watch. They called us to come over, so of course we did. It was quite interesting to look up into the balloon, which had to be kept inflated until the chase crew arrived. Marie and I went out to Westside Road to show the crew which dirt road to use to get to the balloon. They were so friendly, and let me help them get the balloon folded up and into the bag. It was so much easier than breaking down a tent and getting it into a bag, truly. And I have an invitation to go up with them at the Albuquerque festival! Who knows, maybe it will happen....

After all that excitement we got to go pick up Ayrel at the airport for a 4-day visit. Am I spoiled, or what??! We grilled up some yummy steaks and some sweet potato fries and had a fabulous dinner - we didn't even need dessert. And then we played a full game of Mexican Train - Keven stayed in for the whole thing, wow!

Now, if Ayrel and I can get all the things done on the to-do list we have created....is it possible we will have time to make lemon meringue pies, pressure can two kinds of salsa, work on some sewing projects she brought, take the dogs to the vet, and shop for her running shoes and a few other things? In addition to the time she has planned to spend with Ben's family and some friends? Hmmm, sure hope so!

It's time for bed, but I can't end without stating how grateful I am to be an American citizen, and how very grateful I am for the men and women who have and who are currently sacrificing their very lives and the comforts of family and home to preserve and protect my freedoms. I hope that I never take for granted what it means to have these blessings.

Border Issues

I've long thought that if I could do it over again I would try a different approach to puppy training - one where the end result is a dog contributing to the upkeep of the homestead. For the amount of time our dogs spend in the back yard it would be really nice if they could do something productive like rake up the pine needles, pull weeds, or at least clean up after themselves. Heck, I'd be happy if they would just fetch all the branches that fall from our pecan trees during a wind storm and stack them nicely in the wood pile.

So of course I was pleased when an opportunity for Theo and Jack to become working members of society presented itself. We are so proud!

Don't you just love a dog in uniform??

I can't post a picture of Jack as he is working undercover.

P.S. - Tofi headed back to Ohio today; he got out of Dodge just in time!

I WON!!!

I don't enter very many contests because I never win anything. The last time I won something was 30 years ago when a small local department store in Estacada, Oregon changed owners and wanted the community to choose a new name for the store. My suggestion was one of three that were chosen for final consideration, and I was given a $25 gift certificate to the store! (No, I can't remember what I suggested, and it wasn't the one ultimately chosen.)

I sure spent a lot of time trying to decide how to spend that money. We had four little kids and lots of ways to use it. Our oldest son was just getting ready to start 1st grade, and I ended up getting him a much-needed pair of shoes and some Star Wars Underoos. He was pretty jazzed about it. (check back later in case I find the great picture of him showing off his new stuff.) I was even interviewed for the local paper, and they published what my purchases were. That's small-town journalism for you! Just so you know, we loved living in Estacada. The kids and I walked everywhere - to the library, the post office, the grocery store, the playground....once in a while when I was feeling particularly brave, we would walk to the river so the boys could throw rocks.

But I digress.....I learned today that once again I have won something!!!  The owners of the gym I am going to put up a big chart a few months ago where we could write in our guesses for the arrival date, time and weight for their firstborn. I was very thoughtful about my choice: I picked a day a few days ahead of the one I thought was their due date because our firstborn came a few days early. And then I put in the same time of day he was born and his birth weight. By golly, I had the day right and was within 2 hours of his time of arrival! I was about a pound off on the weight too.  I won a nice gift certificate to a wonderful restaurant, The Greenery.  So I can go to the gym double-time for a week after we eat there. Oh, and I think I won babysitting privileges too!

Harboring a Secret

After one of our many trips to the emergency room for (choose one): concussion, broken bone, stitches, asthma attack, Henoch-Schönlein purpura, smashed toes, etc., etc., my husband commented that he was a little concerned that maybe our children weren't....well....quite normal, since we seemed to spend so much time visiting doctors. I was very quick to assure him that what wasn't normal was having a houseful of 3 ACTIVE BOYS who never once had to make a trip to see a doctor because of illness, let alone visit an emergency room. Yes, that would be his home growing up.

Love is blind, but I'm not so sure he really has not noticed that he is married to a super klutz. He's pretty good at looking the other way when I do something ridiculous. Kris, on the other hand, is quick to break out in loud guffaws.

This is my list for just this past week:

• 3 broken water glasses (no, I wasn't throwing things)
• 1 banged up shin from hitting it against the bike pedal two or three times
• 1 banged up shin from banging it against a bleacher (OK, that was really a few weeks ago, but it's still ugly)
• 2 skinned palms, a skinned knee, and a skinned elbow from falling while running
• Various bruises on my legs and arms that I cannot explain, but I bump into things like door knobs and table corners a lot

Please don't tell my kids that I know the origin of their klutz genes....

p.s - the good news is that I haven't fallen up the stairs once since we remodeled - that odd-sized bottom step really was my undoing.

A Bloomin' Mother's Day

Look at the bee-you-tee-ful flowers my sweet children sent me for Mother's Day! Plus my husband spoiled me with one of his grilled-to-perfection steaks. They sure know the way to my heart!

I ♥ having roses blooming outside my door and all these beautiful blooms inside!

In England, the day is known as "Mothering Day" ~
Happy Mothering Day to all the wonderful women I know who nuture and mother!

Baby Sister

This beautiful face did battle with a big wave on a beach in Puerto Rico last week. Unfortunately, the wave won. My little sister suffered a concussion, broken cheek bones, and damage to her right eye. I learned about the accident the day after when my nephew Louis posted this account on Facebook: "Only one at the hospital from the 12' waves today"; and then, "Mom's waiting for surgery. Check out the picture I just posted!"

After spending a day at the hospital and not feeling terribly enthused about the options there Janis decided to wait until she could be back home to have anything done. So she snorkeled and enjoyed the rest of the vacation as much as she could. Not being able to eat some of her favorite foods was her greatest disappointment. Yup, she's tough!

Today - 10 days after the accident - she had surgery. The doctor did the 'simple' version where he went in through a small incision behind her ear and pushed the bones back into place. It will take 2 weeks to know if it's going to work; if not, plan B will be a much more drastic procedure. Heal well, sweet baby sister!

The baby of the family always gets spoiled – and – the baby of the family always gets picked on. I believe there is a correlation, but I know I picked on Janis a lot more than she deserved. She was a blonde cutie-patootie who would entertain herself forever in her tiny playroom under the basement stairs. Being six years older, I think I was more jealous of the fact that she was still a little girl who could play with her Easy Bake oven and her Chatty Cathy doll, while I had to be a responsible teenager. And I knew she was mom and dad's favorite because she was the baby.

She endured a lot of grief from her four older siblings. It’s obvious to me now that we get some of the credit for how amazingly tough and tenacious she is!

Janis has overcome the trauma of her youth quite well. More than once, one or two of us would spider-climb up the walls of the hallway to the ceiling and then call Janis. She would come around the corner all innocent and cute, and we would drop down and scare her.

When playing in our backyard at about the age of five she was hit in the back with an arrow – the teenage boy next door was shooting arrows straight up into the air. We all knew she was really lucky that it wasn’t more serious.

Janis loves action and adventure. She has her fair share of the gypsy blood that runs through our veins. In her college years she and a friend traveled to Africa (among other places) to visit the friend’s boyfriend. They actually walked into a pretty scary situation – the tribe tried to keep them there and force them both into marriage!

When we were in Bolivia visiting our brother and his family a few years ago we were warned not to ride in certain taxis because of the risk of extortion and kidnapping. One day, all four sisters ventured out on our own to do some shopping in La Paz, with promises that we would only take the legal taxis to get home.

But alas, we could not hail a single one. And then Janis called out that she had one. We could see it wasn’t a legal one and resisted, but she kept saying, “It will be OK,” and silly geese that we are we climbed into the very back row of a minivan so we could all sit together. With each stop more people climbed in, extra seats were put down, and I soon realized that we were trapped. There was no way we could get out if we had to or wanted to. It was one of those horrifying, claustrophobic moments where I was breathing deeply and saying silent prayers; so was Diane and Sandy, but I think Janis just loved it! Obviously, we made it back safely, but we didn’t say anything to Gene and Wilma about it.

Diane, Sandy & Janis - Janis is gloating because she duped us all into riding in the illegal taxi.

Janis is married to a wonderful guy. Jerry is full of fun and adventure too, and they have four terrific kids - six if you count the marrieds. It’s always a hoot to hang out with them, and you never know when you’re going to be the brunt of a joke. Their home is open to anyone, especially if you stay up all night and play Mexican Rummy (or go skiing or waterskiing or golfing with them). I lub, lub, lub my baby sister and her family!

Simply Pleasure

In the past several days I have enjoyed these simple pleasures:

Seeing the Angel of Montoya while running errands

Sitting on the balcony with a good book, talking to my bud Seymore on a beautiful spring day

The beautiful GREEN desert around me

Catching up with President Holt and President & Sister Higham at a mini-mission reunion during the Gila Valley Temple Open House

An evening bike ride along the Rio Grande with these beautiful young ladies