Halloween is just Around the Corner.

I love October. Especially when the weather changes. But mostly because it is the month of Halloween!!! Yeah!!! Can a whole month have gone the wayside since I last visited this page? Apparently so! I would post pictures of our great trip to Colorado but alas, they are still safely secure in the camera. They are pretty boring anyway but when I do get them onto the computer, I may post some of the more scenic ones. We had a fabulous time, covering Zion National Park, up through Utah to Salt Lake and on over to Durango. Perfect weather most of the way, even through the desert. We left around 5:30 am and came back around 10:30 pm and it was cool both ways. Time has flown since returning home. Between grandkids, projects, volunteer stuff, and an elderly parent, I seem to wear myself out every day and have no problem sleeping the late evening away on the couch. I haven't even taken time to read a book this month!! How did that happen??! I am now in the throws of working out details for "Grama's Halloweenie SleepOver", scheduled for next Friday night. I am looking forward to it! These pictures are from the 2nd year Sleepover, when we just had 4 little girls here and then the 3rd year (last year) when we had a few more. (I guess I lost the 1st year pictures when the computer crashed!) This year the guest list will remain the same. When you are in Kindergarten, then you get to come. So next year there shall be NINE! But for now only 7 will partake of the festivities!!! So Fun!!

Hospitals

I am grateful for modern medicine. I am grateful for a place to go when pain is so excruciating that a grown man weeps. But THIS hospital???? It does leave a lot to be desired. Tom is home now and improving daily. It was a long week. And so out of the blue to end up there last weekend. He has been so healthy lately. He went in with acute pancreatitis and came out with some bad bacteria that now requires this horrible antibiotic that makes him weird. I could go on and on about the negatives in this hospital but suffice it to say that if and when he gets another attack, we have decided to head to the ER at Scripps. We are sure he will be admitted and on pain medicine and the road to recovery before he can get out of the ER here. I do appreciate the kind nurses. We had a couple of them and though they lacked some skill, they were caring and somewhat attentive. We are looking forward to his full recovery so we can get on with our ride. We were supposed to leave this Monday but looks like we will have to postpone for a little while until he gets strong enough to hold up the motorcycle. I am crazy for the fall colors up north so am looking forward.

Dog Days

I can definitely feel the end of summer coming, the days known to me since childhood as the "Dog Days of Summer"! I have no idea where the phrase came from other than my mother has lots of those little tidbits she has taught me over the years. Last week we had an especially exciting day involving an actual dog, a dog named Tobee, my dog to be precise. The boys, Buddy, Tiny, and Lino were playing with me and Tobee and 3 hoses. Now Tobee's favorite thing to do is play in the water. We were having a great time spraying her, watching her jump and do flips, biting the water. She is crazy. We played for quite some time and then moved on to making boats and castles. I noticed as we sat to eat popcicles that Tobee was acting a little funny, walking crooked and just not moving normally. I called her to me and she was barely breathing. I thought she must be having a heat stroke so I took her quickly to the sink and hosed the dirt off of her. She felt cool, her nose and ears were cool to the touch. But her breathing was becoming more and more labored. So I put her down and she went right into her kennel. I called the vet, described her symptoms and she said to bring her right in. But I had 3 little boys, covered in mud. What to do. Tom was out to lunch. So I yelled at them, they were still out in the mud, and told them to come quickly and get in the car. No questions, just run fast. They did and I dropped them at Lino's house, mud and all, no lunch, on the door step. The nanny came to the door, she doesn't speak English well and I shoved the boys into the house and told her my dog was sick and I had to go. I have no idea what she thought but I felt bad about the mess the boys were in. Anyway, I raced to the vet and just knew my dog was going to die in my arms before I got there. They took her right in, gave her some oxygen and stabalized her. To make a really long story shorter, she basicly had inhaled the water to her lungs and was suffering from fluid in her lungs. We had basicly about drowned her. She also was over heated, and had gulped so much air her stomach was 3 times bigger that it should have been. They put her on IV fluids and medicing to take the fluid out of her lungs and tissues. She came home for the night because they had no one to watch her and then I took her back in the morning for another 8 hours. She's back to normal now, barking and annoying Tom to no end, but it was scary. Anyone who knows me knows how attached I am to my dog. So this week when the boys come to play with Grama, Tobee is restricted to the house and from the hose. I would have taken pictures of our fun in the sun but Tom had "the camera" somewhere.... I am saving to buy my own! I guess I should just get batteries for the old one and use it until I get the new one.

Camp and Then

First there was camp and then there wasn't. It seemed to come fast and leave even faster! I had a great time at Camp Zion and will hold all those memories dear to my heart but I can't say that I am much melancholy over the end of it all. I will miss working with all those fun ladies I have grown to love though, most of all. And I will miss getting to know different YCL's each year. And I will miss, ok wait, now I am a little bit sad so I won't go on about that!!! Here are a couple of pictures from this year. We laughed and laughed as usual and cried some too. That's camp. The funny story of the year was... the quilt or should I say quilts. The wards all made quilts as a service project and I wanted the stake leaders to give one to Sonnet as a surprise. So Renae, our quilting guru and I selected and cut the fabric and then I sewed it up. I was so excited to present it to her. Unknownst to me, she had decided they should do one for me and so we each had a quilt to give the other. Surpise!!!! We came home a day earlier that usual because of the 4th of July and I think everyone was pretty happy about that. I slept most of my birthday away, worn out and coming down with the flu. I spent the following week in bed, recuperating. Then we took off to Hawaii, the Big Island. Tom and I had a splendid time, laying around, sipping Pina Coladas and reading. The island was a little dissapointing, all covered in lava as it was, but never the less, it was Hawaii so how bad could it be, right? We rented a boat so we could see the coastline but Tom got sea sick so that was a bummer. We saw lots of lava flows and some rain forest. Tom turned into this camera nazi and I didn't take very many pictures. Bobby got a new camera for New Zealand and Tom really liked it so he went and got the same one. But he doesn't like it when I use it I guess cuz he won't take it off his belt. I think I will have to get one of my own. We did get a couple of shots but he took almost all of them himself. Which is hilarious because we have been married 40 years and he had never been the one to take pictures. Funny man!! So now we are home agin, home again, jiggiety jig!!! We will see what the lovely month of August holds in store for us!

Best Day

You know how most days you get up with a plan in hand. And most days it unfolds differently than designed? Well, today was one of those days. And it was the best day!! Of course I have no pictures as I left the camera on the counter. I was invited by Jade to come to her awards ceremony in her class room this morning. When I got there I found out that Kaylie was having her 6th grade graduation. So after Jade's class was done, I ran to the graduation just in time to see Kaylie get her diploma. Then I ran back to Mallory's to watch her get her awards and then over to Malaya's room. I didn't make it for all of her awards but was there for one. So then I decided we should all go to lunch so I went to Sydney's class and kidnapped her and then we all set out for Triple P. After stuffing ourselves we headed over to the 99Cent store where we killed a few dollars and an hour. We had so much fun! I loved the last day of school when I was a child and today I was happy to experience the fun with 5 of the most beautiful granddaughters in the world. They keep me young at heart. Today was my BEST DAY!

Family

Sunday Jared blessed our new granddaughter, Alexis Reign Lemmon. It was a wonderful blessing and I felt blessed to have been there. She is our 13th grandchild. My cup is full to overflowing! This picture is of some but not all of the family. Grandpa had a Bishopric meeting, and Zulema was home with sick children. Tanya Thompson happend to be walking by and I snagged her to take this shot. I love it. Sabra had to chase down Maverick and he was no way going to get his picture taken. And I especially love the look on Lino's face. And we call Naomi the poser. Every time I take her picture, she poses. She will probably grow up to model one day!! We all had some laughs, especially when Tanya showed us our family picture that she carries in her scriptures. We were all amazed that she would have it, for one thing, and then we laughed about how funny we all looked in it. It was taken around 1989 or 1990. Jason referred to it as the Cardigan picture. The boys all had sweaters on. Funny!! And Jared is leaning into the picture like he was just some kid who walked by and wanted to be part of it. One of the kids said they could't believe we paid for that picture. It is the only professional family photo we ever had taken. We do have one other and it was actually taken in the produce department at El Rancho Market in 1982! Now that one is hilarious. I always love how families get together every year for an annual picture. For some reason, I just never made that happen. I think it's because I have never liked one picture of myself, ever! I have great pictures of the boys and Ashley and even a couple of Tom. But I just can't get one of me that makes me glad I had it taken! I am not what you call photogenic. I need to be Photoshopped!!! Anyway, the day was wonderful and in the evening, most everyone came over. We missed Aaron's family but the rest of us had some laughs and watched the cousins play. I am so blessed!!

April Showers Bring May Flowers

Sorry to say we have had no April showers to speak of but the flowers seem to be blooming quite nicely in the yard!



When I was a little girl we used to celebrate May Day. I would decorate baskets, sometimes the little ones strawberries came in, weaving ribbon in and out to make them pretty, or making whem out of paper, into little cones with ribbon. Then I would go pick dandelions to fill them and hang them on the neighbors door, ring the bell and run. Such fun! Where have all the flowers gone!! And the traditions and fun of a simple life? Well, no matter. Happy May Day. And here is a bouquet for anyone who reads the ramblings of a nostalgic granni!!