Never a dull day

Ryan was talking to dad tonight on the phone , and he was wondering if we get board...

 

hmmm, not really, life is good for us, I told Ryan 20 years ago I didn't have much free time with doing 6 trips a day to schools, piano lessons, young women's, scouts, school open houses, doctor appts,  church callings, visit teaching..

 

shopping and feeding a family of 6 kids!  trying to keep the laundry up, and working at Dad's office about twice a week... hmm back there I was never board, well maybe because some of what I did was routine!

 

now my life is great!

I love that I don't have to do anything if I don't want too.... sound selfish, well a little, but what I love now is that I have freedom. whoo hoo.. and of course the freedom to try and always do good things, Every night in my prayers I ask Heavenly Father to help me to find someone who might need my help , I love that I can do genealogy stuff, I love that I can help a neighbor who needs dishes washed or laundry done, I love that I can drive someone who needs me to take them, I love that I can help my daughters when they are overwhelmed,

I love that I can volunteer at the temple. I feel blessed that I have good health.

 

so life is good, even though we do miss our kiddies.

 

tomorrow I"m going with dad to his dr's appt.  Tuesday I'm going to baby sit for Taryn while she takes Macy to her dentist appt. Wed. I'm going out to lunch with a   friend!   Thursday I"m getting my nails and toenails done.. Friday I work at the temple..  Yep, Not much , but it's great, and of course if I want I get a 30 mins power nap ( I LOVE THOSE)

I water my tomatoes and  get excited to see them growing , my house improvements will be done and that will be nice.

well, nope we aren't board,  Life is good,

mom

 

my next genealogy project is maybe doing Grandpa Lo's life , if not I'll think of something, I want to learn and do.

oh the possibilities.

A quick trip to Arizona

Since our family celebrated Easter a week earlier I flew down to Arizona to help out Melissa and Candice for a few days.It's always good to be in AZ, I love that place! I love the smell of orange blossoms this time of year.
It was a busy week for me one of these days my girls are going to have to realize that I"m getting older and can't do as much as I ( they) would like!

It's good to see the grand kids, they are growing up so fast, especially Jackson, he just turned 6 months old and he's crawling!  He's such a happy kid to, so fun. Lyla loves for me to be there, she's with me every minute and even took to wanting to sleep by me in the twin blow up bed!  Funny  thing I guess my snoring bothered her becasue she told me I was "too loud"  ha ha

I'm getting anxious for Jeff and Carolee to move to Utah. It has been a long very difficult road to become a doctor, but they have done well. He is going to be a spine surgeon in Ogden Utah with two other doctors in a clinic there. We are very proud of the both of them!

Jake is going to Brazil on his mission June 12th. wow, wasn't he just a little boy? and Trevor went on his first date.

Bill started shaking a little on his right hand so we went back to the Dr. and he upped the "juice " in his battery which stopped the shaking, He says he feels a little unbalanced in his walk but it's a better trade off than his shaking. He still feel so grateful for everything.

I've planted my garden and sure look forward to those fresh tomatoes! 

I love spring, I'm really enjoying life!  I feel very blessed

Brain Surgery

Yes February 27th was when Bill went to UCI hospital and had Deep Brain Stimulation surgery.
We were nervous but anxious to have this procedure done. Bill has been shaking more and more with his Parkinson's disease. We however feel that we were blessed to find two wonderful , smart neurosurgeons willing to help him in this endeavor. Dr. Frank Hsu is wonderful!
the night before surgery Ryan came over and gave Bill the most beautiful blessing ever. It gave us so much peace and hope for a good future. Thank you Ryan!
The morning of surgery we had to be at the hospital at 5:15 am. for 7:15 surgery. As we walked in to the waiting room there we were met by Bill's childhood friend Scott Grove. Oh,  how we love Scott, just his surprise visit and him being there lifted our spirits so much. He waited with us the two hours, he kept us laughing about old times with Bill as a teenager. ( he was a character)  Joy also came early  to see her Dad off.
so sweet to have her there with me, it  helped to pass the time so much easier.
Each one of our kids have been so concerned for thier Dad, it is so sweet to have them call us and tell of thier love and prayers for him and me.
Many friends and ward members were also praying for Bill's successful surgery, We appreciate it so much, and believe me we have felt those prayers.

Originally the surgery would have lasted about 4 1/2 hours, well, 7 hours later Bill was still in surgery! Whew, worry time, but I did feel he was in good hands and that they were just trying to be extra careful and exact. He was a guinea pig in that normally they do this surgery in two procedures but they wanted to do it in ONE.  After nine hours I was able to see him and he had a smile on his face when I saw him, he felt wonderful, thank goodness for good drugs! 

I however was spent! nine hours of waiting did me in, I stayed with him for a couple of hours and then I went across the street to the Ayres Hotel and crashed! 
Unfortunately during the night Bill got very nauseated and threw up and was miserable.  I wouldn't have been able to stay with him because he was in an  ICU ward.
I got back to the hospital at 8:00 am and he was still sick to his stomach, ( not much pain in his head though)  after he threw up they gave him a shot for nausea and he fell asleep, then he was able to eat and started feeling better.
We left the hospital around 3:00 pm and we were both so happy to be home.
Bill has been so strong to go through all of this, We feel very blessed that we got the surgery and that he doesn't seem to have any effects from surgery other than nausea and some pain from his chest where they inserted the battery pack,
here are some pictures from this day,
by the way, Bill was soooo happy they didn't shave him bald.

the last picture is of us LEAVING for home

A little time in Arizona

I got to spend five days in Arizona to visit with Candice and Melissa's families.  They divide MY time in half so everyone gets an equal share of ME.  I enjoy being with them, it's great to do dishes, fold laundry, clean bathrooms, fix meals, make goodies and of course the best to be with the grand kiddies.

I love helping them and I remember well how much I appreciated my mom and mother in law  helping me out in my early days of marriage and having young kids. Moms just need a break every now and then.  Bill is so good to let me go but it's hard to leave him.

Before I went to Arizona I helped Kristen with babysitting her kids while her and Todd got a couple of days away, AND Joy also had me babysit Adam and Julia. WE sure had a lot of fun being together.
here are some random pictures  from these past couple of weeks

Okay what is a peacock doing here?  Well my daughter Melissa has a peacock in her back yard. I think it's so beautiful and each morning I would go out and feed it bread .  It really is a fantastic creature! 
and then of course, can a young man get any more handsome then this?  My Trenton is getting baptized shortly and this is his picture. He is the most well behaved young man.
I'm a very lucky grandma. ALL of my grand children are simply the BEST. Not a dud in the bunch!
Life is Good!

Challenges Ahead

Bill and I actually found out September 18th 2012 that the cause of his hand and arm shaking was because he has Parkinson's Disease. Wow, it's a tough thing to take, but in a sense we know we can deal with this and it's not a death sentence.  I feel badly for him, he had taken such good care of his health all these years. He has faithfully excercised, eaten healthy and tired to stay fit.  We are blessed to have great doctors. Recently we met with the neurosurgeon about "deep Brain stimulation"  It has about a 75 percent success rate. We can only hope and pray that all will go well . I know for certain there isn't anyone on earth more deserving of blessings as Bill.  I will keep you all posted.

Nice to be at home

These past couple of months I've been traveling.  It's always a good thing to be able to visit your kids.
In September I visited Carolee in Texas. It was great seeing her new place and seeing the kids again. Then I came home for a while and then flew to Arizona to see my newest grandson. Candice and Troy had a baby boy on October 4th. I got to stay with them for 10 days and help out with Lyla. Whew, she is busy!  I cooked, babysat, cleaned and got to hold little Jackson. It's always fun to play Grandpa and feel it a priviledge to help out. We also got to be with Bridget who was baptized. She is such a sweet little gal. She helps her mom so much with her two  younger sisters. She is a real sweetheart.
 I was home a few weeks and then Bill and I flew back to Texas to stay with Carolee and kids.  We actually got to babysit the three kids while Jeff and Carolee flew to Cleveland for some health checkups ( I"m happy to report all is well)  We had a good time with the kids, and then when Jeff and Carolee got home we did a bit of exploring aroudn Ft. Worth and Dallas.  One of the fun days was going to the Dallas temple. About 18 years ago Bill's mom and Dad were the Temple president and Matron there. We had never been able to go and visit while they were there so it was so fun to see where they had been. The temple is beautiful and we felt so happy to be there.

Yes, that is a REAL Texas Longhorn and I surprised Bill by getting on the HUGE thing,

Jackson's blessing day. Candice is a beautiful mama

oops, sorry about the sideways, but this picture is of Bridget wearing MY special  baptism dress, Each grand daughter gets to wear it when they get baptised.

Christmas is already upon us, we look forward to being with family. This year has been a blessing, We had three new grand babies born, All of our kids and grandkids are healthy and doing well, We feel so blessed.

So Terrible Sad for our country

So , if you don't like things political you better not read this post, but after all these are my thoughts and I can say what I want right?

First all of this presidential election had me glued to the news and everything. I was in such hopes that our country could elect a man that was really a "good man"  not just a political machine led by others.

I loved what Mitt Romney stood for, and I loved his wife Ann. I was so proud of both of them. When he lost I was so devastated, I felt so betrayed by the big media cooperation's who really sided with the other side. People bought what they were saying. So sad for America! 

I'm just sickened by the "socialistic" ways of King Obama. He truly scares me. People we are on our way of loosing our precious freedoms, so sad and so scary. I've been so depressed and sad and worried.

Here's to another 4 years of awfulness and how much money will our country be in debt by then? 
He will not be my president, I can't ever watch him speak, he lies, he's deceitful, he betrays our country.

so that is my state of mind on the subject.
America better wake up,

At least millions of American's now know and understand that Mormons are not a cult, we are good people! and many more know this because of YOU Mitt Romney.