My Favorite Things

Throughout my married life (34 years), I have acquired a lot of THINGS. Here are a few pictures of my favorites:

Big Red $$,$$$

The Camp Trailer $$$$

Truck and Car $$,$$$

Washer and Dryer (with handcrafted pedestal!) $$$$

And my Most FAVORITE of ALL. . . . .

My husband - Gary Lee. (the builder of my handcrafted pedestal!)

PRICELESS!!

Finally! it is time to party!

Wow, this past school year flew by. We have already been on our first camping trip. I didn't take any pictures but Angela did so I am sure she will post a few. We went up on Caliente summit and campled out at the trail head for the uhv trails. It's a good thing we camped there because there was a bathroom. We did take our trailer, but, we had a few problems. The sink tap broke so Gary went to Caliente and bought a new one. He came back and we both had to work at getting it to go on, finally we had success. We turned on the pump and yeah the faucet worked, but I could hear some water running somewhere so I went into the bathroom and water was spraying out of the back of the toilet onto the wall. We immediately turned off the pump and yes, another trip to caliente. They didn't have the part to fix the toilet there so we bought some waterproof putty. We got back to camp and Gary proceeded to knead the putty and then applied it. We let it sit for 1/2 hour and then turned on the pump. It seemed to be holding but we didn't want to press our luck so we did not use the bathroom. I know now why I really like having a self contained camp trailer. I do not like getting up at 2 in the morning and trudging to the potty. Anyway, Sunday morning rolls along and Ang and Aaron and boys came up to join us. They put up their tent and we proceeded to camp. We went riding on the four wheelers and the Honda big red side by side (it is really fun, by the way) There are fantastic trails all over up there. We were later just hanging out when Ang noticed that the carpet was very wet by our bed. We know that the dogs can't pee that much so we determined it was coming from somewhere else, Guess what? The toilet job did not hold well so we made sure we never left the pump on so that it reduced any pressure on the leak. All in all we had fun. We are in the process of getting the toilet fixed, the part is on the way. We will be back in business in no time and ready to head out for another adventure. I have been busy pulling weeds this week. I was going to pay a kid to come and pull them and then I decided I would just pay myself. I have decided I am very generous. Anyway I still have more to go but I have a good start on them. Gary says that he is cutting back on hours at the ranch (I will believe it when I see it) He has been training a new hire on how to use the equipment and to irrigate. I would rather he would just quit altogether but it is in his blood so he will still go up there some. Well, I am sure I am going to take a nap soon (involuntary of course because I took hayfever meds) so that is all I have to write about for now.

Now, don't fall off your chair!! Yes I am posting a blog for the first time in a long, long, time. I have a few minutes to myself so I decided to use it this way. I have been to Pioche this morning for jury duty, so I am not in school today. I can't believe that this school year is about over. We really are just waiting for the fat lady to sing. I have been testing every student in the school for their MAPS tests. None of the other teachers really want to do it, so I get to. As most of you know we have had an up and down year this year. We got the girls last May, and really wanted to have them be ours. We tried to give them what they needed for a year (mostly in the form of a normal family life), but they needed more than that. They really needed some serious counseling, which is not available where we live, so I took them and escorted them back to CO a couple of weeks ago. I have talked to Emma and she is doing well, They are getting lined out with the counseling they need and hopefully they will get the proper help. They have many issues that we do not have the skills to address. We are really looking forward to a lot of camping this year. I would go for the summer, but I don't think that is possible. We are looking at another surgery for Gary, as if he hasn't been through enough of them in the past couple of years. We go to the spine surgeon tomorrow to hopefully get things scheduled so that he can have some relief from his tremendous pain. He has had a clean bill of health so far from the heart doctor and from the cancer doctor. He has to go back to them both for checks about every 6 months to make sure nothing has returned. On a lighter note, (not really, because she is huge), we have had a new puppy at our house since December. She is Gracie and she is a Purebred Golden Retriever who is huge but thinks she is a little lap dog because thats what our other dogs are. If you sit on the couch she jumps right up and tries to take her place just like a lap dog would do only she takes up the whole couch. We love her death. She loves to eat pillows, garden hoses, firewood, and anything else she can get in her mouth. We also bought a new toy for camping. We bought a Honda Big Red side by side. Gary has wanted one for a few years and I kept discouraging it, but finally I gave in. I love it!!! It is so much fun to load all the grandkids and dogs into the back and head out for a little ride. We kept the 4 wheelers because we like to go on trails that the big red is too big for. We are literally going to have a train to go camping. We will have the truck, camptrailer, and flatbed trailer all hooked together, cause we can't leave the toys home. Well, that is essentially it in a nutshell except for the fact that I HATE THE WIND!!! I wish it would quit blowing already!!!. One more thing, Angela and I attended the temple in LV last Saturday and it was the most interesting session I have ever done. We got there and in our seat to hit the 7 a.m. session and noticed that there were a lot of hispanics among us and you guessed it we were in the spanish speaking session. We stayed with it and had to wear headsets so that we could understand what was being said. It was great. Now we know that 7 a.m. every Sat. morning in LV at the temple is spanish speaking. It was a great experience.

Hi remember me?

I know that it has been forever since I have posted on this blog. I spend quite a bit of time reading things on facebook (even though I don't comment very ofter I like to read what everyone else says). Anyway, I am sitting up in the hospital watching Gary sleep, very restful I might add, and so I decided to post on my blog. I think I am in for a long night. I didn't want to leave Gary tonight so I am probably going to be very tired tomorrow because I am not planning on getting a lot of sleep tonight. Gary went into surgery at around 4:30 this afternoon and Dr. Stucki came out and talked to me at around 7:30 after it was all over with. He said that Gary did very well. They were able to get all of the cancer and his heart and breathing and bleeding all came through with flying colors. He is just very tired and VERY VERY hungry. According to the Dr. he won't be able to eat for some time except for ice chips. I feel bad for him because he won't even be able to have a pepsi. We feel very blessed and fortunate and thankful that everything went so well. Emma and Elli have been staying at Grandma's this week while we are here for the surgery. I have talked to them daily and they are anxious to get back home to Alamo. Grandma will be bringing them to St. George on Thursday and we will get them home somehow. Either Angela will take them or I will run them home and then come back to be with Gary. School starts next week and I will be glad because then maybe I can quit having nightmares about the way things go at school. Every summer I have horrible dreams about not being ready for school to start and I hate that. I think I have everything ready for the most part for both mine and Gary's classrooms. Gary thinks he will be attending school on the first day but I highly doubt it. Well, I am going to try and get some sleep (just little catnaps, I am sure) I will try to do better about blogging. Bye for now.

monthly news

I can't believe it has been a month (actually a little more than that) since I have posted on my blog. It is probably because I am a little overwhelmed with all the activity in the late summer - early autumn of my life. I am finding out how much energy I don't have with trying to keep up with two girls. On the average there are usually 7 - 8 children at my house on a daily basis. I am learning to just let them run circles and as long as no one is getting killed it is ok. I just don't have the energy to keep up with them. This week there have been only 4 or 5 at my house at any given time because Angela and Aaron and the kids are on vacation but guess what it is still just as active around here. We put up the pool outside and put portable corrals around it for the protective fence and the kids want to be in it all the time. It is a great cooling off activity for them and they have learned that as long as they follow the rules it is good. So far we haven't had much of a problem except they want to jump in off of the ladder and it just isn't deep enough for that. We are excited that we are getting a trip to the temple on the 11th to see Jason, Leslie, Brock and Jaylee all sealed. I can hardly wait. It is so exciting !!!! I think it will just be Gary and I and grandma earlene and Jeremy and Andrea there with them from our side of the family and then whoever is there from Leslie's side. It will be a wonderful day. We are going to travel to Richfield on Friday the tenth, Gary will be in the truck pulling the camp trailer and I will be in the car. We will stay at grandmas on Friday night and leave the girls there with Cathy and Vicki while we go up to Bountiful for the sealing. We are going to go back to Richfield Saturday and spend the night at grandma's again and then get up on Sunday morning and head for the hills to camp for a week. I am really looking forward to the camping because we have not been at all yet this year. The girls are looking forward to it also. I am not sure if they are good campers but we will find out.
Changing the subject, Gary had an MRI last week on his kidney and they called him today and said that they need to get the biopsy done as soon as possible, so we will be going to St. George on July 6th. We have to be at the hospital at 9:30 a.m. for the procedure. I think it is just an outpatient thing so we won't be staying in St. George overnight. Andrea has graciously agreed to watch the girls for me. I am so glad she is willing to do that for me. I know it would not be easy to haul them over there and have them just sit all day with nothing to do.
Well, I hope everyone has a wonderful 4th of July celebration. It is always dear to my heart because I was able to give birth to my oldest son, Michael, on that day 32 years ago. I wish I could see him for his birthday and give him a big momma hug but that isn't going to happen. Anyway, I love him and wish him a happy birthday.

Finally!!!!

Well, it finally happened! We now have Emma and Elli living with us. We went to Grand Junction this weekend and picked them up. They seem to be doing ok. They have certainly had to deal with a lot in their young lives. They are happy to be here and had their first church experience today.
We had a lot of time spent in the car the last couple of days. We left on Thursday at noon and headed to Richfield and spent the night then we got up early and headed to Grand Junction on Friday, not knowing for sure if we were going to get to bring them home with us, but the judge came through and signed the court order Friday morning. We then headed back to Richfield with the girls and our car loaded to the max. We had some family time with grandma and vicki and cath and kids and spent the night in Richfield. We got up and went to decorate the graves of Gordon (Gary's dad) and Maxine (my mom) and then we went to Michaels and Tonias and spent time with the grandkids ( I got lots of loves). Kaia was not sure about us but she warmed up to us kind of and let me hold her. Michael came home from work and barbecued us hamburgers and hot dogs and then we headed home. Four and a half hours later we finally made it back to Alamo. I am so glad to be home.
We so appreciate all of the help we are getting from the family as far as the girls are concerned. Everyone has stepped up to the plate to help make this as easy as possible for them to make the adjustment. We have the best kids in the world to be so helpful to us.
I will post pictures of them later.

Hello again

Wow, I think it has been a month since I last posted on my blog. I would like to say it was because I was so busy having so much fun tooling around the world in my private jet, but you know, that isn't true. Quite a few little changes are taking place around here.
School is almost over for the year. We only have a couple of weeks left and they are really mostly down time as far as the classroom is concerned. We have some fun days planned and field trips so the teaching is really over with now and we are just babysitting til the end of the year.
I had to take a quick little jaunt to the hospital last week. The dr. here thought I might be haveing appendicitis so he sent me over to St. George. As it turned out, it was colitis. Everything is fine now.
Gary was thinking ahead for the summer the other day and decided he couldn't get through it without his ice so since the ice machine on our fridge was not working (it leaked too much and was ruinging our floor so we had to disconnect it) he bought a new fridge and dishwasher (mine wasn't cleaning at all anymore) and with the wonderful help of Aaron (we don't know what we would do without him) he got those changed out last night. It was wonderful. Angela and I have been washing all the dishes by hand for months and already I have run 2 loads through the dishwasher and they were clean!!!
Speaking of Aaron, what a sweetie, he always steps up to help us out. He is very willing to mow the lawn, pull weeds, or do whatever else needs to be done. You can't believe how thankful we are to him for all he does for us.
All of the grandkids are great. I actually am going to be sad to not have Tyson in my class anymore. I love seeing him so much every day and he is a great kid and a wonderful, smart student. I know that in a couple of years we will get to repeat the process when Ryan is in 5th grade. I am looking forward to that because he is a math smartie. He already knows a lot of his times tables.
We finally got the phone call we have been waiting for for so long. The girls are coming!!! We have a meeting with them and their therapist on May 22 and I think we get to bring them back at that time. Yeah!! I know it is going to be a long, hard road, but I know these girls are worth it and I can't wait to get them here.
Well summer weather is finally on it's way and I love it. I love to sit out on the deck and rock little Kaden and sing to him. He is so cute but getting big fast. Also he was blessed last weekend and we had fun seeing Brock and Jaylee and Jason, and Leslie. We were really excited to have Tonia, Jercie, Blze, and Kaia here but they decided with the flu raging they better not come so that sweet little Kaia didn't get sick again. We are going to stop and see them when we go to Colorado. I have to get Blazes' birthday present ready for Jeremy and Andrea to take to St. George tomorrow when they meet up with Tonia. All of my grandkids are getting so big. I want to just hold them and squeeze them and kiss them a lot but some of them are to big to like that anymore.
Well, I better stop for now because I have to get ready to take Gary to the Dr. today. I hope everyone is doing great.