Whew!!!

Not only have we had visitors of the human variety, but yes, the bears are back. FYI that is a quarter next to the "gift" which was found in the middle of the driveway. We knew something was up when the dogs were raising such a ruckus during the night. The paw print was found later by Sammy and was only 10 feet away from the dog run. No wonder they were barking.






We had a nice trip to Lagoon July 1st. Becky was not going to take Sariah in, thinking she would be sort of a pain. She relented and we all found that the only crying Sariah did was when the rides were over and she had to get out of the car. . . .There was nothing she went on that scared her. Which is more than I can say for some of us:)




We even found a few dinosaur skeletons on BYU campus to "WOW" the children. This shot is a little blurry but you get the idea. A nice small area, easy to keep track of curious children in and free!!

For years we have been thinking a COX CAMP for all the grandkids would be great. Well this year we nearly pulled it off. 16 of the 17 were in town and at our place for a couple of days. The weather was terrific; the addition of three dogs to our two complicated things a little but all in all it was fun to see the grandkids get to know each other and play so well together. A BIG THANKS to Katie as she was the activities director for the games portion of the camp. Red Rover Red Rover. . . . . . BullDog. . . . .AddOn. . . . . .and let's not forget Duck, Duck Goose. Leigh and I are thinking it should get a little easier as they grow a little more. Lots of little ones this year.

Wow, It has been a while.

We had a two week cross-country trip in May. Here we are in Chicago at the park by Lake Michigan (It probably has a name, but it escapes me.) Kimberly and Austin and his brother and sister in law joined us. We took the comuter train in to Chicago and spent the day in the windy city. The weather was jus right for quick walking. We went to the Museum, Garret's Popcorn , Giordano's Deep Dish Pizza place, and the Navy Pier.

The next weekend we went to Nauvoo and spent three wonderful days enjoying the kindness of the tour guides, the entertainment of all the productions they freely gave us and the beautiful spirit that was brought to us by the stories tenderly shared about a people trying to establish Zion in that land. Here you see Kimberly operating the printintg press they have on display. We also enjoyed a wagon ride, four musical productions and lots of walking tour sites. We also got over to Carthage.

Here you see Kimberly and her dad at the Carthage Jail Memorial. Following our visit there, we parted ways with Kim and Austin. They went back to Indiana and we went over the Adam Ondi Ahman in northern Missouri. I met up with a boy (now a man and his wife who operate a B & B Marydale near Gallatin, MO.) who graduated a year ahead of me in Blackfoot, Idaho. His father was my Algebra teacher in 9th grade and I had a crush on his older brother. His sister married one of Leigh's best friends from Snake River High. What a crazy small world we live in.

We returned to find our newest Grandaughter, Avery Elizabeth, who arrived a month early!! There were weight concerns early on but everything is going well now. Isn't she beautiful?

We head up to Utah next week for Tommy and Jill's wedding. I will try to do better at updating.

Finally Retired

Since moving here Leigh has been collecting change in a five-gallon water bottle with the oft repeated phrase, "When it gets full, THEN I can retire." So, although he hasn't been at the hospital for a few years, he recently achieved "retirement" by the filling of the water bottle with coins. It got to be a little annoying, waiting for it to get full because he would always whine if I ever paid for anything with coins. . . .he would insist that I give them currency and obediently put my change in HIS bottle. Not a great plan because I sort of like my own stash of quarters. . .anyway. . .last month it got full and he began the BIG sort. Sammy was right there helping. I even got into the act by trying to find the 50-Quarter state set thingy. If any of you have quarters from Hawaii OR Alaska. . . .we only found 1 Alaska and 0 from Hawaii!! (We were trying to get 8 sets in all).

Hey Mother Dearest

I was finally able to upload the song Justin did for my party. Go to Youtube.com and search for zialanelady. It is the only video that will come up. Uploading it wasn't necessarily hard. . . .it just took forever. .

Happy B-day to ME.

Okay, I realize it wasn't really my actual birthday. . . . so I'm not really 60 . . . yet. However, can I just say we had the best party last Friday night? My long time friend (I've known her since Jr. High!!) Lucy Frost surprised me by coming!! You can sort of tell by my crazy face. All the kids but Troy were able to make it. Kimmy flew in from Indiana unexpectedly (No thanks to Shell Bell). There were special songs and dances and lots of laughing. We found out that 40 is about all the living room will comfortably hold! Thanks again to all who attended. I am STILL smiling!!

I may post a comedy/song that Justin did on facebook. I waited and waited for it to upload here but it would not. If you are related it will be worth all 7 minutes. . . let me know what you think!

We love our Grandkids!

Grandpa's getting pretty brave in his old age. . .He NEVER lets me give him a shave. I think he is trying to "bond" with Sammy.







We had an impromtu sleepover last night when Jared (these three's baby brother) wound up in the hospital overnight because of his oxygen levels. Once again Grandpa is the man as he helped them build the tent and got the movie all set up. He even slept upstairs with them. I, on the other hand stayed up way too late attempting to better my wordtwist score.

We often wish that ALL of our grandkids lived in town. We are so thankful we get to see them all as often as we do.

We hope all of you have a wonderful Spring Break. . . . .we will be breaking later.

A few shots from the last couple of weeks.

Yeah for Uncle Randy and his ride in the Semi. . . we all squeezed in . . .all 9 of us.

I didn't know I raised a cowboy, either. . . but he wasn't going to post this photo so I did. His business partners and staff donned the cowboy get-ups to participate in the POLAR BEAR plunge to raise money for Special Olympics. . .It was FREEZING that day.





Proof that SOMEBODY loves Kim and Austin since they moved to Indiana. . .Leigh and Randy spent a night with them on the cross country trip. (I want to go too.)




Man does not live by bread alone but. . . having a house filled with that sweet smell can certainly calm the troubled beast. Good Job, Heidi.