Grandkids!

It really is great being a Grandma. It's like having two handfuls of kids that I never got to have. They are all such good kids and I have lots of fun with them. I am lucky to have such great step kids. They are great parents. I am so proud of them and the families they are raising. These are the pictures we took this weekend.

Happy Birthday Shaylee!

Last Friday my baby turned 6! Where have the years gone? Her day started out with of course, "Breakfast in Bed". I was room-Mom for school and we brought all her class treats. Then we came home and I made her work so hard for her birthday cleaning the house. Her and Kayson were such great helpers that day. Then she had dance. We once again took treats to her class. Then when we got home, Jason and Julie and the family were there. (They were staying the night) I was also lucky enough to get to watch Joe and Amber's 4 kids for the evening. They all had so much fun playing night games with the BIG KID "Jason". It was a fun evening. At around 10:pm, Kayson went grocery shopping with me. He stayed up until 1:30am baking her cupcakes. (He had to get lab points by cooking at home for his FACS class in school). He did such a great job and the cupcakes were yummy!

Then on Saturday the REAL party started. We were up early to get the gang all ready for her party. I wasn't quite sure just how many were coming. See, Shaylee kept inviting anyone she knew at school, soccer, church...you name it she invited them. Yes, we had our talk about that, but by this time it was too late. Everyone was invited. Lucky I made just enough thank you bags and had just enough balloons for each of the kids. She has been so excited to have a party and turn 6 you just don't know. We were lucky to have great weather this year and had a HUGE party at the local park. She had 22 friends (which included cousins and her nieces & nephews). I think the only thing she REALLY wanted to do at the party was have a pinata. That was all she talked about for weeks. We played a couple of games, decorated cupcake and broke the pinata. Fun was had by all.

We continued the day sharing it with my step-son and step-daughter and their families at the house. I think Shaylee, Claire and Kinzy had a blast with all the make-up and fun presents Shay received. Risa stayed Saturday night with us. It was so much fun to have the family all together. Thanks you guys! We sure love all of you!

Shay in her Hannah Montana hair piece. Super Star!

Thanks to all who came and celebrated her special day. Even those who continued to drop by over the weekend. It was a fun filled three days for her!

Update

So things have been busy the last few weeks. Mom is doing much better. I am feeling better about her recovery. Before she returned home from the hospital I was able to get all the peaches bottled. Yes, it was my first time ever canning anything. It all turned out great and they taste yummy!

Shay attended a "BRATZ" birthday party for one of her new friends at school. They dolled them up and let them go shopping for nail polish, lip stuff, jewelry and gave them a purse to put it all in. Sounds like a cute party and they had lots of fun. Shay turns 6 this Friday and yes, I better get working on her party and get the invites out.

Shay is playing soccer this year. Since I am the Parks & Recreation Director I was able to stack her team with all her friends. She has three friends from church and her "boyfriend" that she has had the past couple of years. They have had so much fun! Perfect game for her because she only knows how to run. She gets out there and dances around the ball and it is pretty funny.

Kayson is doing great in school. It is much harder in Middle School but he gets up in the morning and seems to be liking it and is getting all A's. I am proud of him. I just wish they didn't give the parents so much homework. It seems like they pile so much on the kids that the parents have to be there guiding them every night for hours. Too many projects at once. He is still liking piano and doing great at that.

Both kids are not ready for the cold weather, but Shay and I have already decided on my Friday's off we are heading to the mountain to ski together. I might have to take some Friday's to myself. I think I will like having every other Friday off!

Delia was blessed on September 7th. She looked beautiful. Her Grandma Doreen made her dress and it was so pretty. She is lucky to have a Grandma with lots of talent. I was lucky enough to hold her all through church. She was so cozy. She is such a darling baby. I just love seeing her. She is already growing too fast.

That's our update for this week. Hugs to all!

Prayers, Faith & Family

Monday night was the worst night of my life. I went to bed at 9:30pm with the kids and around 10:50pm my Mother called me from her phone upstairs and asked me to come up there. I asked her if she was ok and she said no. I ran and got her blood tester and her sugar level was 298 which wasn't so bad that she should be feeling like she was so I went and grabbed her insulin. She just kept telling me she felt like she was going to pass out and that she had just woke up on the floor before she called me. Just as I handed it to her she rolled her eyes back and went into convulsions. Seizure I guess. I quickly dialed 911. She came back and before the paramedics came she had gone into 3 seizures. I thought I lost her on the last one. By the time they arrived her blood sugar level was over 400. Her heart was only beating 20 bpm and it should be around 70-80 bpm. Brian had just left that morning for a horseback camping trip deep into the Uintas's with his brother. Only the kids and I were there. Living in the middle of the block they had a hard time finding the house and woke up our neighbor which is in the bishopric of our ward and came down as soon as they arrived to help. As they arrived I called my brother that lived the closest and he came as they were taking her to the hospital. My sister and two of my brothers and my Sis-in-law came to the hospital. The upper part of her heart was not working. They put in a temporary pacer and during that process we lost her. They did CPR for 40 minutes and were able to bring her back. Around 3:00am they life-flighted her to SLC. The Logan Doctor did not give us much hope that she would survive. They even called the Social Worker (which I knew and was glad she was there for us) and they don't do that unless they think they won't make it. By the time she arrived in SLC her sugar level was over 700. Her protein and potassium was extremely high also. My Mother is faithful about taking her meds and is good with her diet so we have no idea what set this off. This is day two at the hospital in CCU. Yesterday after a blessing and many prayers her heart was working on it's own and when we left last night she was breathing on her own with minimal help. Today they have removed both the pacer and breathing tube. Finally she can talk. The only pain she is having is her chest where they beat the hell out of her saving her life. Thank heaven they did! All tests came back negative and they can't explain what happened, but they say it is a miracle she has recovered as quickly as she has. She will continue to be in the hospital in CCU for a couple more days.

I am so thankful she had her phone by her and that I was there. She never would have made it otherwise. Most of you know how much I love my Mother and know I don't know what I would do if I lost her. She is the best Mother and Grandmother. Keep her and our family in your prayers. I am glad we as a family could all be there for her and each other. That meant a lot to her.

Labor Day 2008

I can't believe Labor Day is here and gone. Summer just shouldn't be over yet. I had a 4 day weekend and boy did I need it!

Friday was my first Friday off work with our new work schedule. I spent part of the day at a funeral of a dear childhood friend Tyler Gunnell. This is the second friend I have lost that I grew up with that was dear to me. It was a sad week leading up to the funeral. I truly cherish the friendships I have had in my life. It's never easy loosing them to death, especially at such a young age. Love you Tyler. May you and Randall rejoice in seeing each other again.

We were lucky to spend the weekend with Lorenzo and Claire, two of the Grandkids. We headed to Jason's & Julie's to pick them up Friday night. They spent the last three days with us.

We finally got to meet Delia. Shaylee just loved holding her. She couldn't wait. Kayson was excited too. She is a cuddle bug and I didn't want to let her go.

I can't wait to see her this next weekend when she is blessed. Oh...I just loved holding her. I will always miss the baby stage. This was their first time staying with us without parents. Saturday I spent 11 1/2 hours working at the Chevron so Brian got to play Grandpa. He even took them to the park. We lucked out having good weather until about 7:00pm Sunday. Then the wind picked up and it started raining. The kids put their swimsuits on and played on the tramp in the rain. They had a good time. This morning I took the kids to the parade in Wellsville. This is a fun tradition other than it was raining and COLD this year. The kids still had a blast chasing after the candy. Claire cuddled me. She was too cold. Of course the sun came out as we were walking to the car.

Thanks for the fun weekend kids. Come again real soon!