Welcome Home Grandpa M

On November 1st my Grandpa passed away and was finally reunited with my Grandma. The last 20 years or so of his life hasn't been the easiest. He has withered away to nearly nothing. His brain could no longer remember anyone and he laid in a bed unrecognizable.

There are a lot of memories I have that are so good with my Grandpa. He was such a great man. So respectable. Everyone that knew him loved him. He served every where he went. I am so grateful that he was a man that I knew in my life.

I remember as a young girl going to grandma and grandpas on Sunday to eat dinner and Grandpa helped us find bullfrogs after dinner. He would get old bread bags to put them in. We tried to sneak them home, but those dang bullfrogs wouldn't be quiet. He would laugh when my mom would learn what we had hid in the car. I remember helping him burn garbage in the drum by the swing set. I remember helping him feed the cows, I remember hanging out in his shop with him. He would give us a hand full of screws and nuts and who knows what to organize while he worked on things. I remember watching him check his bees hive. I remember helping him light the fireplace by putting crumpled up newspaper inside. I remember helping him haul coal in for the fireplace. I remember helping him grind flour for his famous sourdough pancakes. I remember him paying us to comb his bald head. I remember tickle backs as a very young kid. I remember Christmas' and the big white christmas tree. I remember sitting on the steps petting one of the cats. I remember him helping us with that first boost to get into the big maple tree so we could climb as high as we could. He would stand below and tell us what branch was more sturdy. I remember watching him mow the front yard and him getting after us for playing under the pinetrees. I remember helping reload shells in his gun room in the basement. I remember camping trips, and his bear stories. I remember thinking that he was either a really good story teller. I remember so much about him that thinking of the last 20 years and his struggles hurt.

I am so grateful to have had him in my life. I am so happy for him and Grandma and that they are finally together. That he is no longer stuck in his shell of a body. How I will miss him when I was younger. I can't wait for the sweet day that I will be able to give him a hug and not have it be strange. I will miss you Grandpa!

Halloween

After carving pumpkins this morning, the kids went to another homeschool families house to play some halloween games before it was time to get dressed up. They came home got dressed up, we went to a strip mall for local business trick or treating, then we went to our friend Misty's trunk or treat, that was a mad house. Then we went to the mall and let the kids collect there, then we came home and saw our local light show, click the link to watch the show Steel Productions

and then the trick or treated our neighborhood. It was fun.

Bridger was the Amazing SpiderMan. I learned something new this year as we procrastinated make-up buying. I learned that tempura paint works better than halloween make-up. It doesn't smear, and it washes off much easier. We went to the strip mall and let the kids collect candy from local businesses. There they got to meet a camel. I thought it was so funny that Bridger was once again loved on by an animal. I guess a camel is no exception. It mauled his face. He moved to the other side of EmberLee after it hugged his face. But I loved that all animals love him. Even camels.

Theron was an Army Guy. When we did a trunk or treat, one gentleman that was in the army stood up and saluted Theron. It brought tears to my eyes. When I took the picture he had already sat down, but it was so cool to see the respect from an adult to a small little boy.

EmberLee was a belly dancer. She had a lot of fun being like her mommy, her grandma, and her aunt she got an entire bag of candy to the top. She made a hauling this year for sure.

At the mall when we went, one of the cops dressed up. I wanted to do this for halloween too, but it's ok. She did it justice.She even posed for me :)

Chopped

After having shoulder surgery, I've learned that I can't take care of my hair. When I mentioned cutting it off, Jake agreed, and EmberLee freaked out. She decided that if she learned to french braid to get it out of my way that it would keep me from cutting it. She learned to french braid in less the 24 hours. My appointment was friday afternoon. When she learned I was doing it still, she cried. What she didn't realize was that it was me that had to deal with it in the shower. It felt impossible to deal with. Yes I know my back side is huge, yes I know that there's writing on the mirror, it's our self talk.

When Misty my girlfriend here in Pocatello cut it, she cut off 15 inches. I got home and still can't put my make-up on, because having my arms up that long is too painful on my shoulder, here is a crappy view of my new hair cut. I've done this cut before and I loved it last time and remember it being way easy to do.

This morning washing it was amazingly easy. I'm glad I cut it, I am more proud that I didn't do a pixie cut instead :).

Big teddy

We went to Costco a few days ago and found the biggest teddy bear ever. I couldn't resist taking a picture. I'm not sure who would actually by it, but it was funny to compare sizes.

Poor puppy

Austin got a puppy for his birthday back in April. She was so stink'n cute when we got her. She's now 9 months old. She has been breaking out in these weird sores. At first we thought she might be allergic to the dog food. It seemed no matter what we did it wasn't working. We left for the weekend to my brother and came back to her doing a lot worse and she looked horrible. She was no longer being a puppy, she was loosing her hair and she had multiple open wounds. So we took her in. The options after being there for a while was a few things. They thought she had mites, or that she had some skin allergy, and the easy solution that also was thought to be the problem was puppy strangles. She was prescribed an antibiotic that happened to be the same one that I was on from my shoulder surgery and a steroid. Instantly the next morning she had bounced back. Her open wounds were no longer oozing. She wasn't moping around anymore. So she is still on the medication and sees the doctor at the end of the week. It seems that we have figured it out.

Ol Red 1974 Custom Ford F100

A few weeks ago we brought Jakes Dad's truck to Anthony's to repair it. It was given to Austin, with the understanding that he would take care of it and repair it. So far Jake and I have dumped money into it, not Austin. The deal will be that Austin will be paying us back and when he has his license, he will have a truck to drive. Jake drove this truck as a teenager. So to have it passed on to Austin is something pretty neat. I took a video of it being backed out of the garage after being broken down for awhile. Remember Anthony and his bag of tricks. So awesome that Anthony is so knowledgeable about engines. The oil was changed, Things were repaired and It is running. It still needs a few things done to it before its all done, but it's close to being ready. It's new Idaho Plates will read "OL RED"

Shoulder surgery

After the night of being stranded, I woke up at 5:30am, showered and got ready to go to the surgery center. When I came in to get dressed, EB was still sleeping under the pile of blankets. It was pretty funny to see her trying to sleep even though we were up and moving around. She's usually up and ready to be awake when one of us wakes up.

For those that don't know about the accident a year ago, I'll have to do a blog about the accident. The surgery was done on my right shoulder. It was to repair problems that we've tried to take care of over the last year.

We got to the surgery center and filled papers out and I went into surgery at 7:15 Monday morning October 20th. I came out in pain and was extremely groggy. We, meaning Jake signed papers to leave at 10.

I slept on Jakes recliner till we left for Utah Friday morning. I made arrangements to sleep on dads recliner. The second night we had Jakes parents couch's that we gave Anthony and Christina. So I slept on the hide-a-bed. I propped up with the cushions. When I got home Sunday night I slept in my bed with lots of pillows.

A week later I met with my Doctor and had stitches taken out. I start Physical Therapy again, for 6 more weeks. Hopefully this is the end of the repair on my shoulder. Only time will tell, but it's suppose to be looking better after this.

Anthony's bag of magic tricks

After dropping my favorite nieces off in Malad and finding out I was overheating, Anthony pulled out his bag of magic tricks, aka Anthony's a diesel mechanic and knows everything that has anything to do with wheels and gears. He did what he thought would work. I got on the free way with Bridger and I instantly learned it's more than just lack of antifreeze. I overheated and pulled off the freeway. I limped it to Downy, Idaho and parked it at the truck stop off the highway. I called Jake the night before surgery and he came to my rescue. I got home in time to eat dinner and get ready for bed. A week later we went down to Pleasant Grove, Utah to bring back some things that Jakes mom gave us (another blog).

We headed back to Idaho and stopped off to put a thermostat in.....the bag of tricks Anthony carry's with him where ever he goes came with him. When we pulled off the freeway Jake noticed the passenger window was gone (so we thought) as we pulled up I noticed that it wasn't really gone, Bridger never rolled it up. But it had rained over the weekend and the wind had blown the rain in and across the seats and there was water marks on the steering wheel and the drivers side door. Wow, the wind was pretty strong. Then when we lifted the hood, we found a little friend had made a home on top of the engine. Probably when it was still warm. It wasn't there when we lifted it though. Anthony literally pulled his bag of tricks out, had all these gadgets and replaced the thermostat, tested it to make sure it had sealed and we were on our way home.

Cousin weekend

The morning of October 17 I met my brother Anthony in Malad, Idaho. I brought these little princesses back to Pocatello for the weekend. We had so much fun with them. We made playdough, It was lots of fun making it and watching their imaginations go wild. It kept them busy for hours.
They played on EmberLee's keyboard. They played out back with Benelli, Austin's Dog. They had a lot of fun.

We spent time at the park on Saturday. They played in the sand, on the swings, the slide, and chased each other everywhere. Sunday morning we got ready for church. They came with us. It was so funny listening to them and having them with us at church. They are the cutest nieces I have ever had. They are certainly my favorite 3 and 5 year old EVER! 

I got to learn about their silly eating habits. We took them to Costco for samples. Something my kids love to do. They rarely turn anything down. Well these silly girls wouldn't try anything. They only ate the hamburgers that were a sample. I would imagine that's all they eat for a regular meal. They hardly eat anything. It makes me wonder how they grow at all. Stevie will only eat hotdogs if they're cold. Odd little child. She will eat apples all day long if you let her. She doesn't just take a bite or two out of the apple, she devours the whole thing, seeds and all. Charlee like eggs but won't eat the yolk. I was actually amazed at how much food they don't eat. But it was so much fun having them with us again for a few days.

After church was over, we brought them home, fed them the only things they would eat, cold hot-dogs and eggs and off we went to Malad to meet my brother. When we got their a new adventure started. But this one ended. So blessed to have a relationship with my nieces and my Brother and his wife. I'm truly grateful for their trust in us. I love having them with us. 

The Couch

When we moved from Alaska to Pocatello we found this couch through a friend I had growing up. We hauled this couch from Ogden, Utah to Pocatello. This couch is pretty comfortable and the kids love to make forts out of it. It is ENORMOUS. The huge problem with this couch is that my kids can't leave it looking nice. They have to constantly tear it apart to play on, in, and around it. I have posted it online to sell. I have had so many hits on it. It's actually really shocking that it hasn't sold yet. It's been a fun couch to have. I wanted to make sure it was documented somewhere, because it has been one of my most favorite couches. The plan is that it will be gone this Weds, October 29th. If it does actually leave our home the plan is that our new black leather sectional will come upstairs and the downstairs living room will be the school room, with desks, the TV, a reading corner and everything. It will be fun I think. I will miss this couch. I'm pretty sure the kids will miss it too. No more fort building out of this couch. No more cushions feeling the landing area and blocking the stairs. No more huts in the corner. It has certainly made memories in our family.