Playing with Grandchildren

Today Neil and I spent a wondeful day with Benjamin, Aisha, and Keeley. We picked them up and showed them all the geese at Snake River Landing. Then we went to our usual duck-feeding spot by the falls. Mallard ducks with the green heads, geese, and seagulls were all happy to eat the sack of bread we brought. Then we moved on to people-feeding and had lunch (kid's meals) at Arctic Circle. They have indoor slides, monkey bars, and a rock-climbing wall that is perfect for when it is freezing outside, and you have grandkids who want to slide and chase! Keeley just watched and studied everything with her big blue eyes--she will be joining the motion crowd soon. At home the kids played with dolls and trucks, Keeley emptied drawers and praticed standing up next to Natalie's big panda. I let the grandkids pick the dinner menu. We had mac and cheese, cheese slices, apples with peanut butter, and blueberry bagels with strawberry topping--a little strange but actually kind of an interesting dinner! It's funny when you have children you love them so much; then when you have grandchildren your heart just grows to love so many more wonderful little people. I have my second eye surgery on Monday, so I probably won't be posting for a few weeks. I hope it goes well. My new lens is wonderful that Dr. Wallace put in two weeks ago.

To See or Not to See....

I had eye surgery on Monday. Dr. Gary Wallace (a wonderful eye surgeon!) removed my damaged lens and put in a new one. He also made two incisions to try to help with my astigmatism. I knew I had not been seeing well, but now I can actually see, the difference is amazing. Try looking through crumply waxed paper, and you will have an idea of my previous vision in the left eye. I have research papers to grade while this is healing, which should be interesting. I have surgery again in two weeks before Thanksgiving Break for some non-working muscles. Hopefully, by Christmas I'll be finished with the latest in my bionic projects. There is so much beauty in the world to see, I'm grateful for modern technology to keep me seeing it.

Keeley's One Year Birthday Party November 3rd

I am finally up to November--yeah! Keeley turned a year old on the third. She was not sure what the celebration was about, but she knew she was the star!

She is a sweet, beautiful little girl who loves to "dance" to music.

Halloween 2009

Halloween was on a Saturday this year. We celebrated Ashley's birthday (really Oct. 27) with an afternoon pizza party. Then Ryan and Ashley brought the kids over to trick-or-treat. Ryan was a robot; Ashley was a witch; Benjamin was a soldier; Aisha was a princess, and Keeley was a pumpkin. Aisha would run up to the house first and get candy and then go through with the group of kids. Her bag had much candy! Keeley stayed in with grandma and grandpa most of the night. We both enjoyed that.

Aisha's September Birthday Party

Aisha turned three on September 25th. She was a lovely princess, and Ashley made her a princess cake.

Kids and Grandkids in Island Park

Some Island Park Pictures

More Home Pictures for Mom

Gone for a Long Time

I have not blogged for a long time. I am hoping to post several blogs that will catch this up.

I'll start with the summer of 2009. We camped quite a bit at Island Park, mom lived with us and recuperated from two foot surgeries, I learned how to be an online instructor. I'm attaching some pictures from the summer of 2009, including some of mom's beautiful yard and the boots that prevented her from working in it.

Mid-July

I have been doing homework for five hours straight, and I am not even half done. Our instructor for this online course tried to cheer us up by posting that after this week we would be half done. I hope I can live through the second half. My brain is getting tired. My mom is living with us for a couple of months. She had foot surgery on the 6th and will have the other foot operated on the 27th. The first week was tough because she a bad reaction to the pain medicine and was very ill. It has been nice having her here although our busy house is more crazy than her little Garden of Eden. Natalie was off today, so she painted her nails a pretty pink. Usually mom is cleaning or gardening, so her hands take a beating. She commented that they were getting soft and now well-manicured! I thought I would have a little more R and R this summer, but it has been pretty busy. We are going to try to take mom up to Island Park and relax some this week if I can ever get this unit on feedback finished. Last night we had this storm that was like a nature sky light show--it entertained us all for an hour.

Natalie in the Parade

We had a nice 4th of July. Natalie helped design and was on a float for Vogue. She looked really cute. We had a barbecue at our house afterwards. Brent came from Salt Lake and our friend Duane came from Island Park and stayed the night. The fireworks at the river were fabulous. Afterwards we went to Ryan and Ashley's for little fireworks. Ben and Aisha had so much fun. Ben liked his tank best. Aisha loved sparklers. The 4th is Natalie's favorite holiday.

4th of July Parade

These are some general parade pictures from the 4th. I really like the horses.

Neil's Birthday/Week of June 29th

We came home from Island Park Monday afternoon. I made a quick trip to the store for barbecue supplies and baked two cakes for Neil's birthday. He turned 55 this year. The picture is Aisha giving her Papa a birthday kiss. The love of grandchildren is one major compensation for all the other negatives of aging. We love our children Ryan, Ashley (through marriage), Tyson, and Natalie, and grandchildren Benjamin, Aisha, and Keeley. Amazing things happen when two people fall in love! We had a nice family party; it was great to be able to visit with family. I went to lunch with mom, and we did some shopping. She has her foot surgery on Monday the 6th. Tomorrow I need to buckle down and do homework for my online class. Our friend Duane is coming to stay with us on the 4th, which will be fun. We've enjoyed spending time with him and Rudy (his dog child) at his cabin. We drove up to the top of Sawtelle Peak with him last weekend. It is absolutely beautiful there. Lindsey and Klay came over for some editing advice. I edited a cover letter and resume and then got to hold their little baby Boston Jay--he is almost two weeks--perfect in every way! I got him a little outfit, but he will definitely have to grow to fit into it. They told me he is happy baby, and Avery is not even jealous--yeah!

Time with Aisha and Ben

One of the best parts about being a teacher is having some time off in the summer. Ashley has had a hurt neck/arm, so I had Benjanin and Aisha come over Monday and Tuesday. We went to McD's and did the Happy Meal routine. Next, we went shopping and bought some new sleepover pajamas. Aisha chose a princess nightgown complete with magic wand; Benjamin picked out some x-box pajamas. He was happy to show them to Tyson, but definitely wanted to take them home today. Aisha said she wanted to leave her attire at "Gamas"--probably because I let her live in it for two days. The last weeks I've changed from Ama to Gama! We read books, watched Disney movies, played crouquet [no RAIN today], built with Legos and did the usual sleepover fun stuff. They are really sweet kids--so happy Neil and I can spend time with them. I gave Keeley loves and fed her a jar of sweet potatoes when we delivered her siblings. I unintentionally decorated her with these also...face, hands etc. She is really growing. Ryan says she has just really started to notice when one of her parents leaves the room--does not make her happy. She has the cutest little baby-doll face. I need to get a current picture and post. Tonight I've worked for four hours on my online class assignments. It's 1:00...time to head to bed and finish in the morning. This homework stuff is not part of summer relaxation, but I am started to feel more confident about facilitating an online class--lots to learn. A power-steering unit broke on our truck, so we are getting it fixed, lawn mowing, grocery shopping, and then heading up to our "pretend cabin" for a few days. Duane called and send he was heading to his "real cabin" today. It will be nice to spend some time visiting with him. Natalie said her neck has been bothering her the last week...when we started this blog we had the shoulder contagion..now it has moved to necks! Hopefully, everyone will get better this week. I know neck pain is NO fun!! :(