Eat Your Heart Out

What can I say. . .its corn on the cob at Christiansen's. . .it doesn't get much better than this!

Kim - Brian - Eric

It has been a very difficult week. It has been amazing to see the outpouring of love from the entire community. I can't help but share some of the wisdom and comfort that came from family members of these three good men. "If the Lord is going to take three such fine men in the prime of their lives, there must be something BIG going on up there and you and I had better watch out and get our lives in order!" "My dad could best be described as being, slow to anger, and I gave him plenty to be angry about.!" " The scriptures teach us that when we die we go home to that God who made us, to a place of rest and peace, where there is no sadness and no sorrow. I know that Eric and Kim and Brian could not be happy, could not be at peace, could not rest having left their families behind unless He who made them, somehow gave them them understanding and insight to His plan. It is the plan of happiness and it is a perfect plan. It is not "our" plan for happiness, but his plan and I know it is perfect."

Date Night ... or Make Hay While The Sun Shines

Dr. Black has now worked for the Health District for one year. In appreciation to the employees who have been so welcoming to him, he hosted an afternoon movie at the San Juan Theater. (Jackie, they have NEW seats with cup holders even!) Dad and I took advantage of the chance to have an afternoon date - doesn't happen very often! Cathy kept an eye on grandma and we went to the movie.

KUNG-FU PANDA!!! I normally don't care for Pixar type movies, but I did enjoy this. I thought it was a fun family movie. I especially enjoyed "Po" - they did such a good job of capturing his character and and his facial expressions were superb. We got free drink and popcorn and were banned from sitting on the back row! (They didn't trust us!) The popcorn was OUTSTANDING, the lemonade was refreshing, the movie was good and my date was HOT!

Good-Bye Bus Barn

Jeremy's last day at the San Juan School District Bus Barn was Thursday. In token of his great appreciation for all the staff, he decided to "bake them a cake."

The master cake creator is off and running!

Some things take precision work!

Two heads are better than one!

Voila!

Grandma Toys

Grandma's house just can't be boring. Today the San Juan Bronco Football Team had their annual Yard Sale. I stopped to see what I could find. As Grandma's house just doesn't have any cool toys any more I decided I'd better get something to "lure" my grandchildren to come. I've never really been much of a yard sale shopper, but I had a blast today, rummaging through stuff with the best of them. I just got a great deal! Remote control CAT, Sponge-Bob magic erase book, Little Tike tunnel and tracks, and a bucket full of Lego Blocks. Now, I feel like an uptown Grandma!

My Glad Game

Anybody a fan of Polyanna? I always have been. She had a game called the glad game, no matter how hard something was or difficult, one could always find something to be glad about. I guess over the years I've developed my own "glad game." When I was much younger I found myself being unhappy and discontent about "things." After going to visit family members in their beautiful homes I would come back to my home and be very unhappy. Their homes "matched," their furniture "matched," their decor "matched". I would look around my home and imagine how I could make my home "match." It would always end the same way - I wasn't in a position to afford to make my home "match." My basement remained unfinished and would for many years, my furniture did not match - and still does not for the most part. I made myself miserable. One day as I was wallowing in my woes, I came to the realization that I could spend my entire life being miserable for what I did not have and what I could not do. Did I really want to do that? Would I wake up one day resenting those people that I loved the most because I did not have or could not do the things they did? I took stock of what I had. I had a husband who loved me dearly, he worked hard and was very good at his job. I was a stay at home mom who was blessed to "be there" for my seven children. My home was comfortable and provided for what we really needed. I had food on the table and my children did not go hungry. Most importantly I had my membership in the church and the gospel of Jesus Christ. How could I pine for "things" I did not have. And so came about my glad game - if I could not have something or if I could not do something - I certainly could be glad for those who did. It was an amazing turning point in my life. Oddly enough, the glad game has brought me immeasurable joy. I would never have believed that being glad for the accomplishments, the activities, the possessions of others could make me so happy and so content. I have been eternally grateful for the day that I made the conscious decision to be "glad" for others.

Run Away!

So, we ran away for just a day and look who we found who wanted to play!

Two men and a baby!

Bentley and "her" baby go walking with Grandma.

Grandma is in 7th Heaven

Grandpa love his BIG boy!

Grandma always has to count the toes....

Precious!

Bauer - just too cute!