I'm never going to get the hang of this - Steve and Glenna

I thought I was going to post in order so Hailey's game picture was first and then Ellie and then on to news of Steve and Glenna. I'll get it...I'm just not sure in what lifetime! Anyway, So those of you who remember Karen and Glen Jensen's daughter, Glenna and her husband, Steve will appreciate the update. Just before Christmas they were here visiting Karen and Glen and while here Steve suffered a massive stroke. It left him with no vision in his right eye, and no use of his left leg and arm. He could talk but was a little muddled. Anyway, now he has spent five weeks at Utah Valley and is being released to just stay at his sister's and do PT five days a week. He still can't see or use his left arm. HOWEVER, he is walking, using his legs really well! He has maintained his sense of humor and had us laughing at his stories of catheters, falling out of bed, and giving us some insight into learning to walk again. He said he has to concentrated a bunch to get his left leg to work. As he walks along, thinking he's doing a great job, the PT asks him what 2x2 is and Steve says "4" and then falls over. The PT asks "what color is that ladies hair?" Steve says "Red" and falls to the ground. All the time he is talking he has that big smile on his face and there isn't a trace of self pity at all. What a couple! It was fun to see them and see Steve doing so well.

Also, remember Roy and Mary Ann Oviatt? Nicki's mom and dad? Roy had a stroke about a week after Steve and he is coming home this week to do PT here in Price. This is his second stroke so that is a little scary but he is doing well, getting most of his problems behind him and we are all praying for him as well. To visit at Utah Valley you have to have a "password or pin number" or they wont let you in. So, we didn't get to see Roy. I'll try to keep you posted. In the meantime Jen, if you know how to contact Nicki she'd probably love to hear a friendly voice.
And, I have a SS lesson to finish up so I'm closing this. Have I told you how much I love you and appreciate you? You are the best family in the world. No wonder the Lord thought I could be here w/o your dad. He knew I would be spoiled like always. Thank you. You are so amazing; every last one of you!

This past week - Jan 09

That is Ellie SUE, Sam and Trin's newest addition. She is so beautiful and I want to tell you all about her but first, maybe I will start with today and work backwards. perhaps the webs of my memory will have less dust on them that way.
TOday, Hailey had a basketball game. She is one little scrapper! I loved watching her play. They didn't win but that didn't keep Hailey from playing really well! Above is a picture of the game.

And, if you missed it, take a look at Jessica's post. SHE has learned to post herself and can update her news on the blog. I for one am looking forward to the rest of you learning so you can post stuff from your little families too! Can you believe the precision of her team?

Jen called last week to tell me about Meinkina's latest choices. She has decided her mom is way too old fashion to choose clothes for her and so she will be making her own fashion choices from now on. (Oh, I am sorry but revenge really IS sweet!- thank you grandkids!) And so Meinkina decided to wear her pink sweatshirt with snowflakes on it, with a skirt with polka dots. I think it was pink and purple but I may be making that up. Anyway, the pinks go together don't they? So, I think Jen was ok with that till it was time to pick Jax up from preschool and Meinkina could only find one of her favorite pink shoes. Jen thought she had talked her into just wearing her boots till they were going out the door, late, and she looked down and sure, you know the rest. One pink shoe, one pink boot! I LOVE it! I only wish her mom had taken a picture and would post it here!

Now, to Ellie, last Sunday Trin and Sam had a baby girl. I drove up with Dot and they started Trin early afternoon. Lyns was there to rub her feet as labor got going. Jealous girls? Ummm..a foot rub sounds wonderful anytime but while in early labor it sounds devine! Trin said it was better than that. Anyway, lots of loved ones to surround them. Dot and Ben, Trin's parents, her brother and his wife and cutest little boy. Lyns, Emilie and John (Em's friend) AND, Lynsie and Allen's little girl, Samantha who is a doll! So cute. I had a great time getting to know her. Trin was a trooper even at the last when she was tired; she was wonderful. And, little Ellie SUE was here with three pushes and had our hearts with the first breath. Amazing. Birth is such a miracle. I never get tired of being a part of that process. And, I am so honored to have her wearing my name.

This is my form of bragging :)

Update from jessica... so cheer has been going great as pama already informed you :). It's a lot of fun, and I loooove it. We've done two competitions so far (got 1st and 2nd) and we're going to nationals the end of february in Las Vegas! I'm really excited and until then were practicing like crazy! Anyways... My family is doing great! Nothing really new here. Steph seems like she's doing good up in Idaho but it's FREEZING!! today it was -22 degrees there! we just hope she survives :)
And heres a few pictures from my competition 2 weeks ago...
The squad before competing

warming up...

Standing back tucks

jumps

cheer

dance
the end
me and a few of the girls


us and our first place trophy!!

Jessica wont brag

SOOOO you KNOW the grandma will! Jessi's cheer team took 1st place last week at their competition and this week at a different competition took second place! WoW! Jess, congratulations and if you have any pictures please post them!

Bob's card trick

OK, OK you men, I get it! I sent an email to you guys asking for help with a "card trick" that was driving me crazy and you all wrote back to explain, in very detailed, (and I'm pretty sure condescending)terms how it was done. I'm so lucky to have you! And, I loved that you came to my rescue!
Love you tons,
Mom

Kayla's game

I went to MaKayla's basketball game today. You might want to know that she is the star player! Well, I guess the whole team did well. They beat Helper by about 15 points and led by 20 till the very last. MaKayla made fourteen of them and at least one three pointer, maybe two! She really is very good and it was fun to watch her play. At half time Brynlee and I ran out to the car for some cash and back for "slurpies" (snow cones) and popcorn. She played so cute with a little boy about her size. He brought tractors and horses and cowboys and she was very content to play with him; even shared her suckers with him. Quite the kid!

Jim and I are teaching a basic EMT class on Wed and Thur nights in CD. It is fun, I enjoy teaching and it feels good to feel like doing it!

Jen and Greg

Whew! The days don't seem to slow down! Jen and Greg celebrated their wedding anniversary on the 17th of January. ELEVEN years! They made their annual trip to Mesquite. Linda and Reese, Jeff and Kim, and I tended the little ones and they were so fun. Chase would have liked to have gone swimming cuz he has only been one time to the new pool in FOUR years! I'm not sure how that works out when they just opened the pool last year but oh well. As old as I am he really thinks I can handle four little ones at the pool! Not bad, huh? Just let him keep thinking it,k? We had mac and cheese and ramen noodles for dinner and eggs "over easy" for breakfast one day - they were really impressed that I could cook an egg w/o breaking the yolk. Magic grandma! And the next morning we had Chocolate syrup and biscuits. Yeah, I know, you are all jealous. We read stories, watched movies, had friends over and snuggled. They are SO good to snuggle with me. I griped some because I was trying to keep the house clean for Jen and Greg but they were forgiving and helped me out. We all slept all over the mom and dad's bedroom. Meinkina is such a night owl but she hasn't been feeling very good so she went to sleep early, slept late and napped in the afternoon. And, the rest of the time she was grandma's princess. Such fun.

Update on my face - I have had little sensations for a couple of week in my face. Nothing painful, just like twitches. Then brushing my teeth at Jen's I got a shock. Not very painful but scared the crud out of me! I was tearful and prayerful all day but it never did come back. I called Dr. Aphlebaum's office and they said it happens sometimes and said I should get some Tegretal to have on hand (the anti-seizure drug that makes you fall asleep while jogging!) and to come back in if it gets bad. I told her it wasn't going to get bad. I would be back for surgery before I had to go through that again. Anyway, I had a couple of stressful days, worrying but still nothing and I'm ready to believe it was just a fluke. Heavenly Father has been so incredibly good to me that I hate asking for more but I do beg him to keep blessing me to keep my TN at bay.

We have a brand new member of the Church!

It's been forever since I posted but wanted to make sure everyone knew about Ashlynne's baptism. It was on Jan. 10th. Ashlynne and Chase share birthdays. Chase turned 10 and it was Ashlynne's 8th so she was baptised on her birthday! Her cousins, Breanne and Cedar spoke. She was baptised and confirmed by her daddy and we had a great day!Ashlynne was beautiful and so poised. Cedar sat down after her talk and teared up as she felt the spirit of the day. Kim made the most delicious quiche and others brought rolls. Misha brought rolls that made a hit with everyone EXCEPT her brother, Jeff. He said, after eating 10 or 12 of them, that he didn't think they were his favorite anymore! Sorry Misha; the rest of us loved them! We sang Happy Birthday to both birthday kids and they opened presents and we had birthday cake. What a wonderful day! Grandma forgot her camera so the pictures have to wait till one of you others post them, so get busy!

Jennifer!

Make sure you click on the "comments" under "FUNNY" and read Jen's comments. JEN! YOU are a brat! You are suppose to be the responsible slash adult slash aunt slash mom by now! At least pretend! (Sorry, I had to use the tamn slashes)
You are TOo funny.
mom

FUNNY!

If you haven't seen this yet (it came out by a different lady a year or so ago) it is hilarious! Dot sent it and suggested I put it on our RS blog. I thought you moms might enjoy it too.
northlandchurch.net/webstream_worship/index.html You may have to type it into your address bar, I can't get it to paste for some reason...Jase?
Stephanie called and sounded wonderful! Phyllis and I were going out the door to do VT so I didn't get to talk to her as long as I would have liked to. Her first day of classes were good. She thinks she is going to really like it. Her "fourth" room mate isn't coming so for now there are just the three of them. She says the new girl...oh DARN, I was going to remember her name...and it's gone...is nice. They are playing games already and making "apartment rules", oh my goodness do you older ones remember those days?
Love you muchly!
Don't forget your prayers,
Mom

The First Sunday of the New Year 2009!

What a week, what a new year! Steph is off to Idaho. Misha, Chuck and Jessi drove her up and settled her in last Thursday. Chuck said it was a good thing it was a four hour drive home because Mish and Jess cried half of the ride! Personally I can't believe she is already in college!

My goodness, is it time to settle in to a brand new year already? Everyone seems to have taken down their tree except me. Jeff says maybe they will come over tomorrow night, for family home evening, and help take it down. BUT, it is conditional on my not being called to work. Hmmm. I'm hating the idea of Christmas being over. Why do I do this every year? 

Everyone's churches changed times for the New Year except Elmo. I went at 9, same as usual and got my meetings in, then went to Orangeville for Jen's RS. When she took this new calling in RS I told her I would help anyway I could. I really had in mind ideas for decorating or menu ideas but she asked if I would teach HER lesson this week. It was fun, you know how I love that sort of thing. I taught from the same sources I spoke from in Sacrament meeting in December and about the Savior's life BEFORE coming to this earth. It was fun and I enjoyed studying it again.  I was sorry I wasn't there for all their meetings because CHASE BORE HIS TESTIMONY! Cedar was going to but decided too late and the bishop ended the meeting before she could get up there. I went to their house after church and noticed my front tire was almost flat when I got there. Greg, of course, teased and teased me, putting off helping me, until I told him I thought I'd just spend the night and then he had my tire fixed in about 10 minutes! Silly man. Meinkina was running around feeling great but looked so sick! Her little face was red and her eyes are running a steady stream of green goo. Poor little thing. Does anyone think this family has had our share of illnesses this winter? We NEVER get sick! It's tradition! What's going on? 

Looking forward to two more birthdays this week! Saturday brings Chase to a big 10 years old. AND, Ashlynne will be 8! Saturday morning at 9:30 Ashlynne will be baptised. We are having a brunch afterward as well as Birthday Cake and hope everyone can be there. She is so excited. She got her baptism clothes at church today and trying them on wondered if it was ok for Bryn to touch them. Cute, Cute.

Playing catch up with the Elmo news. Roy Oviatt and Steve Sumsion both had strokes in the last couple of weeks. Roy's is apparently not as bad as Steve's but I  haven't had any real conversations with their families to be sure. Phyllis Jensen is in a sling after injuring her left arm and it doesn't seem to be getting a lot (or even a little) better. Shirley Coyne is still wearing a soft cervical collar after being tail ended before Thanksgiving. Maybe it's not just our family; we seem to be just a part of a bunch of hurt and hurting! Prayers appreciated.

Kayla, check out the comments on you getting your license!

Ok, I'm off for the night. I love you more than life. Don't forget your prayers and be my best kids!

Stephanie is going to Idaho?

Stephanie got the idea she wanted to go to BYU Idaho for school and we are all still in shock that she is old enough to leave home! Darn life goes by way too fast and these kids grow up before we get a chance to blink! I have lived and relived taking her mom to Cedar City and leaving her there for college. Such a mix of emotions. So proud, so sad, so pleased and thrilled, so terrified. It's tough for moms to have to grow up! Well, it was for this one. We had a little lunch party at the Cheesecake Factory for Steph and then yesterday Misha and Chuck and Jessica drove her up to Idaho and moved her in!

MaKayla turns 15!!!

This top picture is MaKayla holding her Driver's Permit! WoW!


MaKayla turned 15 right after Christmas! We had a little family party and though she didn't want her picture taken, her dad helped us out.

More Christmas Pictures 2008

MaKayla turns 15!

Christmas 2008

The Christmas season was WONDERFUL! Busy, so busy but so much fun and such an abundance of things/people to be grateful for! We had a family party early in the month. More people can be here for it if we do it early. Christmas Eve brought a multitude of family. McKenna helped grandma cook and we baked a birthday cake for Jesus. She added a whole 3oz bottle of red food coloring and we had the brightest birthday cake ever!  We opened the traditional Christmas Eve gifts and had lots to eat. Christmas day began early. Jason and Breck and the Jones kids stayed here and Santa knew just where to find them. As everyone trickled in and out all day we spent it opening gifts, recieving the best hugs and kisses and eating all we could hold. We had ham and salmon, grandma's fruit salad and all the regular fixins. Uncle Ron came to celebrate with us and we heard via email from Rosanda, Aunt Vi's family, and Barbara. Only one tiny downside to the day...it is over. You know how I HATE saying goodbye to this season. I'm trying to talk myself into getting the tree down before it's time to put valentines on it but it is hard.

One more try at that old car

Here is a better picture of that old car. Dot tells me it has been over there for years. Probably even when daddy was alive. It just changes fields occasionally, was once covered by some sore of bradish but has always been the same car. She is going to ask Ben about it.