Ryker is Eight

Rylan was baptized earlier this month and now Ryker will get to have his special day in Feb. Our boys are keeping us busy and I can't wait to see him all in white. Ryker wanted Mac & Cheese (of course) for his birthday dinner, so Grumpy and I headed to Jeff and Jade's with casserole and cake in hand. Ryker is one of the grandkids who has adopted the cake in milk tradition, so we had to have a chocolate cake. It was a fun evening and I am sure he ate his fill. I know I did. (Sadly) His Grandma Kay was there and we had a nice dinner. We all ended up watching "The Dark Knight" after dinner and saw Batman do the right thing for Gotham City once more. It was a relaxing evening and fun to be there for his birthday dinner. (One of them).





Those handsome boys! And they do love their picture taken. Now it's off to the bookstore for his spinner CTR ring.



He successfully blew out all eight, so I hope he gets his wish. I love you Ryker.

Emmy Is One!

It doesn't seem possible she is a year old. I love the way she is walking all over now thinking she is such hot stuff. I love her personality and her cute little grins. And her chins. All of them. Happy Birthday Emersyn Rae. You are a delight and a joy.

Love you.

August is Here!

In spite of the heat, the summer seems to have flown by. Not that we don't still have some summer heat left to get through. With school starting in August now instead of September at least there is some relief from the boredom doldrums of the kids. I find myself thinking about Christmas and wondering what to do about that this year. I try not to procrastinate EVERYTHING in my life after all. August is full of birthdays, an anniversary and events that will keep us busy. G.I. Joe is coming out, woooo hooooo. I hope it's good. Emersyn has her first birthday, and Kaitlin and Daron are back from their mom's. I'm sure everyone is enjoying their long anticipated beach trip to San Clemente (which Grumpy and I are missing due to circumstances beyond our control). It will be quite a crowd with Tawna, Nathan, Faith and Chance, Taya, Kevin, Kaitlin, Daron, and Madison, Richard, Stacie, Megan, Austin, Rylan and Carson, Jade, Jeff, Jaxon, Ryker and Aden. They will all meet up with John and Francis, Rachel and her two little cuties for some fun in the ocean. I hope they take lots of pictures so we can at least enjoy it vicariously.

We have a boatload of birthdays this month besides Emmy. Nathan, Daron, Chance, Jeff, Nana, Lacy, Jacque, and Sydney will all turn another year older. Daniel and Chelsey will celebrate their anniversary and of course the mighty cheer and rejoicing of school starting will inspire many a mommy luncheon. I know we are planning a lunch out on the first day of school. Two more of my girls will finally have all their kids in school full time. I remember what a milestone that was for me.

Peaches are coming in mid-August and I can't wait to get some into jars. I love peaches and I love canning. Tomatoes too. This harvest season coming up is just what I need to kick start me into getting ready for the holidays. So much to do, so little time. Today we are finally doing Summer's fried chicken birthday dinner. Typical of my lazy ways in the summertime, it takes me a while to get around to stuff. It's just easier and cooler to do as little as possible. I'll be making aprons this week too for our RS homemaking (ooops, I mean Enrichment) night coming up in September. If I actually get them done I'll post pictures of them. I got the pattern a couple of years ago with the intent of making all the moms and daughters in the family a matching set. Maybe next year.

I'm glad August is here. It means cooler weather really is on it's way soon. Thankfully.

Paint Time!

Ahhh. The choices are varied and many. How to choose, how to choose? It was funny (and a little scary) to watch the choice process. I took the four 8-10 year old girls to As You Wish to pick something to paint for their birthdays this year. The girls went in groups of two so I could keep up with them as they painted.

Megan and Rylee chose to paint another plate. They both chose the monkey plate on display, with a few changes of their own. It was really fun to sort of teach them about keeping it simple, etc. and watch them have fun with their imaginations. It took a good 2 hours + to get the plates ready to put on the shelves for firing. It's always an education to see the finished colors after the firing process. It all looks so pale before that.





Faith and Madison each chose something different. Faith wanted to paint a pencil holder Electric Guitar piece, and Madison picked what she termed as a really cute baby vampire. I explained it was not really a vampire, but a little baby bat. She was still okay with that, so off they went to choose colors. They learned some interesting things about the colors and making polka dots with pencil erasers, the ends of brushes and even the tips of their fingers. We managed to get their projects ready to place on the ready to fire shelves in about 2 1/2 hours.





Of course we can never do anything without involving food somehow. Megan and Rylee ended up at Taco Bell on the way home at lunchtime. Madison and Faith went to Cold Stone for a little treat in the afternoon.



All four girls did a great job on their projects. I love the pics of the process and watching their faces as they paint. I always learn a lot about these kids when we go paint. The finished pieces are really nice and I hope they enjoy them for years to come.






I will especially enjoy the good memories made, and the little insights that help me know them a little better. I will have to get the little boys that turned 5 this year to go and do their first plate. I might take the respective Mom's with me for that experience.

Jade the Blade

I don't know why we call her that sometimes. Probably something Grumpy made up that stuck. We were living on the island of Okinawa, Japan while Grumpy was serving in the Air Force. He was an intelligence officer for SAC unit based at Kadena. During the first part of our tour there, I went AWOL to have R.B. in the states and get over whatever ailed me. After having R.B. at home in the states, I went back to Grumpy and Okinawa for the remainder of our tour of duty. Things were much better in many ways. We were in a different house; one that was a tiny bit more like home. We had a breeze most of time in this location which helped with the dense humidity. I wasn't pregnant, the hormones settled down, but mostly I think it helped that I knew ahead of time what to expect. The picture below is one I got off the internet and shows what the Okinawan island looks like. There are some really beautiful beaches too.



I became involved with our church service branch there, and you couldn't find better people anywhere. The sisters there had already helped me start breast feeding R.B. when he was about 2 months old. It turned out he was allergic to all the formulas, so I had to re-lactate in order to feed him. I learned a lot during that little trial. The ladies in the branch were so supportive. We settled into our lives and things were pretty normal. The Officer's Wives Club was a great organization for the newbee wives like me and they had a nice little gift shop on base. I got to know the places to shop off base and of course there was always the Commissary and the Base Exchange. I sewed for myself and my girls, and was busy as Relief Society something or other. After a while the church leaders made a change in meeting places and we didn't have to drive clear up to Camp Hansen Marine Base for Church anymore. We shared a building with an Okinawan branch that was a huge improvement for travel time. There was no block plan in place then and driving to the other tip of the island twice a day with little kids was not my favorite thing to do. We were on a waiting list for a house on base and anxiously awaiting the time we would be on either Kadena AFB or Camp Kuwae Naval Base. There was a big hospital at Camp Kuwae.

I eventually planned a trip to the Phillipines  with several of the ladies in our branch. We had saved some money and I was on a furniture buying mission to get some nice rattan pieces for our home. Meanwhile, we got a call from the base housing office that we could move into a house on Camp Kuwae. Of course our move-in dates were the same as my trip Phillipines. My sweet husband told me to just go and he would take care of the move by himself. I was only too happy to comply. So I went ahead with my plans. I made arrangements for a lady in our branch to nurse R.B. while I was gone as I had nursed her baby while she had a minor surgery a few weeks earlier. Grumpy took some leave time to stay with the kids, and was getting ready to move all our stuff into the new place while I was gone. That is definitely a whole other story. I was excited that I would be coming back to a new (to me) house on base. Our little group put our names on the space available list and waited for a flight out to Clark AFB in the Phillipines. All the other ladies got out on a flight except me. Bummer. I waited for another flight and went alone. It hadn't sounded like such a bad idea at Kadena, but now I was by myself and couldn't get on base to stay. I was concerned. A lone American woman, not bilingual, and I  had to find a hotel off base. I was pretty scared. I managed to find a hotel, and I went to sleep with one eye open. I lived through the night and immediately went to Clark AFB in the morning to see if I could find my travel companions. (This was all before cell phones.) When we got back together and ventured out to shop I bought two sofas, two princess chairs, a 60" round table with six chairs, and a boat load of baskets in all shapes and sizes. The grand total was about $750.00 and the furniture would be ready in a few weeks. Some of the pilots Grumpy briefed everyday would put it all on one of the cargo planes on a return trip to Kadena for us. Life was good. 

I really liked living on the Naval Base. Looking out from my front door I could see the highway that ran pretty much the length of the island. I could also see the ocean. We only had 1 car, so eventually Grumpy bought a moped to commute to Kadena on. (Tracy later nicknamed him Sparky when he would ride the little moped here.) He has always been good to give up his own creature comforts for the good of his family. I love that about him. We got acquainted with several of the young men in our branch who were there without their wives. They opted for the shorter tour of duty, but that meant their families didn't get to come with them. They were in the barracks on base, and some were in the officer's BOQ's, but needless to say they were lonely. The activities (beer busts and loud parties) on the weekends were not easy for them, so we would find our living room couch and floor occupied on the weekends more often than not. They missed their families so much. We would sometimes catch a movie on base and one or more would stay with our kids. It was nice and we were glad they could spend time with us. 

This is what our life was like when we found out we were expecting baby number 5. 

I made my first appointment with the base OBGYN who was really by training NOT an OBGYN. He had all the charisma of an insect and I was not too sure about his medical acumen. I was not looking forward to having him deliver my baby. There was a couple of other Dr's that were easier to deal with. The other thing that made me really mad was at this stage of pregnancy the policy in the military at that time was to let you know you have “choices” about having a baby. I told them I had made my choice just fine when I chose to have a family so not to bother me with their lame policies any more. Things went okay and I learned that during typhoon season anyone within 6 weeks of delivery had to go to the hospital during a typhoon. Something about when the barometric pressure dropped during a typhoon, sometimes labor would start. You can't really be out driving around during a typhoon, so it was just easier to have all the ladies come to the hospital when the typhoon warning came out. I made two or three trips to the hospital in those weeks. Once during my last trimester a sweet lady in our branch told me she wanted to give me a day to pamper myself. She planned to come to our house and take care of all our kids and I was to go to her house and sleep, read, or do whatever I wanted. She even made lunch for me and put it in the fridge. I have often thought of her and so wish I could remember her name. What a sweet thing to do.

I was taking a silk flower making class, and when I was leaving the instructor's house one night I stumbled and fell. Straight down forward onto my very pregnant belly. I was so worried that I had done some damage to my baby, I went home and Grumpy took me to the emergency room. I was having some contractions and so they monitored me (and the baby) for several hours and finally told me they couldn't detect any damage. Baby's heart beat and movements were normal and I shouldn't worry. Of course I did worry. 

Finally, a few weeks later the real contractions started and I went to Camp Kuwae to deliver. Naturally, the charming Dr. Insect was on duty. He was as wonderful as ever, and I was about to refuse to allow him to deliver my baby when his shift was up and he left. Whew! The Dr. coming on duty was so much better, and I felt he was infinitely more qualified. It went well, but Grumpy still didn't get to be in the room with me as that was against policy. Up to now he had effectively missed the delivery of all our babies. I felt so bad for him and even worse for me. I would have loved to have him there for all of it. Jade was born and was so very sweet. She was 7lbs. 5 1/2 ozs. I loved to just sit and hold her. She was very mellow and didn't cry much. I was starting out nursing her and felt I had learned much through the trial of R.B.'s baby diet trauma. All was going well until just a few hours after her birth when the after-pains started. I couldn't believe how hard they were hitting. This was seriously wrong. I still had an I.V. in and asked of the nurses why. I was informed that hospital “policy” (there's that stupid policy thing again) was that all new mothers were to be given 8 hours of Pitocin (which is a drug to induce labor) following child birth. Yes, even the mothers that were nursing. Nursing a baby triggers your body to “cramp” so your uterus contracts and you will not bleed to death. So with the drug I was getting some majorly painful contractions. It was like having labor again. So wrong. At the 8 hour mark I marched myself to the nurses station and told them to take out the I.V. NOW, or I was going to do it myself. As a side note here I have to mention my dilemma with the nurses. After delivery somewhere in the haze of all the pain from the Pitocin a kid that looked all of 18 comes in and says he is going to “check” me for bleeding, stitches etc. I look at this very young man and I say, no, you are not. You go find me a female that is out of her teens. It was probably not very nice of me, but there was NO WAY that boy was coming anywhere near my stitches or anything else. I had the nicest Okinawan lady nurses tend to me. They couldn't speak much English, but I was much more comfortable with them. Once the I.V. was gone and I could relax a little, the kids and Grumpy could come and meet their little sister. R.B. didn't get to come because he had a bad ear infection and his ear-drum had just burst. He never even ran a fever with it. Chuck Andrews and his wife Suzy were taking care of him. I can't remember who had the twins and Summer.  The girls were properly impressed with Jade and I was really looking forward to going home. Grumpy had received his “get back to the states” orders and we starting the process of really going HOME. We wanted to get home in time to get the twins into Kindergarten (yay), so I was going stateside before Grumpy. He had to wait until October before he could report to his next assignment. I was planning to go as soon as I could get clearance. More policy. I had to wait until Jade was 6 weeks old before I could make the 18-20 hour flight home. That policy made pretty good sense. Meanwhile we decided what to keep and what to sell or give away and scheduled the movers to come pack us up. 

On the day were leaving Kadena AFB, the Officer in charge of boarding/passengers found out I was traveling alone with 5 children. He chose a young marine to be my helper and I thought maybe this trip wouldn't be horrendous. Our plane landed at another American base in Japan before actually starting the trip back stateside. When our wheels left the ground from that base a mighty cheer went up from all these young marines that knew they were going home. I started to cry as I realized how much America really does mean to me, and obviously to all these soldiers. We don't realize day to day how blessed we are. 

Now back to the helper Marine. I think he was an only child or had been raised by wolves. He had no idea how to help with children. I finally thanked him for his very genuine efforts and told him I thought we would be fine. He was no doubt relieved to be off the hook as I know he was completely out of his element. The kids were really pretty good for me. We landed in Alaska and then on to California. We made our flight there for Phoenix and came home to our family here. Nana had just had knee surgery and was still in a wheelchair. She and Papa had started building their new home that will always be as old as Jade. 

We chose Jade for your name because it is a beautiful stone that comes from the far east. Since you were born in the far east and were beautiful it seemed to make sense. We named you Vernae for your two great grandmothers Opal LaVerne and Verna Rhea. Opal also had a beautiful stone in her name. We love you so much and are proud of the woman you have become. We appreciate your talents and your willingness to share them and serve those around you so well. Your little family is blessed to have you as are we. Happy Birthday, you're only 29 once for real!

Our Summer Girl

Thirty-Three years ago it was something like this:
Grumpy was still attending B.Y.U. and we were both working. I was preparing to finish up my last few classes in the coming fall semester after taking incomplete's for the semester before due to having Tawna and Taya a bit early. We had moved from our first apartment in Provo to Armstrong Manor Apartments, in Orem, Utah. I had been to Arizona a couple of times with the twins to visit and we were having a good summer. I can't remember to save my life just how the next scenario developed, but somehow Papa and Nana knew a couple in Mesa that had a home in Orem that they were wanting to use as a rental. It had a full basement, but was not finished at all downstairs. Somehow it was decided that Grumpy and I would move into the upstairs and eventually manage the rental. In exchange for rent, Papa and Grumpy would do the framing, sheetrocking, etc. to finish the basement. When the basement was finished we would find renters for the rooms downstairs. This couple would meantime find a manager for the service station they owned and go back to their house in Arizona. Papa said he would fly up to help us frame and we were excited to do all this. What were we thinking?

About the time all these decisions were being made, I felt a familiar little flutter one day and stopped dead in my tracks. I remember thinking, “No, it couldn't be that!” To say I was surprised to realize I had another baby coming would be an understatement. Tawna and Taya were only 7 months old and lo and behold, another baby was on the way. Well, I always said I wanted my kids close together so they would all grow up together. I got my wish with this one.

Well, we moved in. Me, Grumpy, Tawna, Taya and Tracy, who was staying with us while she attended BYU. We moved into just 2 of the bedrooms, because this couple hadn't moved out yet. We were assured they would be moving soon, right? Papa came up on some weekends and we got the basement framed and sheetrocked, ready for the tape, texture and finishing processes. Through the weeks that it took to do all this, the couple still had not moved out. To make matters worse, the phone was in our name and they would make long distance calls to their son in Mesa and not pay us for them. We paid the utilities, bought the food and Grumpy was still working another job. Me too. We sort of had a Master Schedule for taking care of the twins. Grumpy, me or Tracy was always with them. I don't know what we would have done without Tracy, she was a lifesaver, and very patient with them. The closer it got to getting the basement finished, the more we realized this couple had no intention moving out. This woman was really evil. I felt kind of sorry for her husband, but after all he did put up with her bad behavior. Papa and Grumpy were just the cheapest way they could get their basement finished and we could not live them them any longer. You live, you learn. (Sometimes we don't learn very fast, or remember it nearly long enough.) At any rate, we all determined this was a bad situation and we needed to get out of Dodge. Tracy found a place to stay with our cousin Cara and Grumpy found somewhere to stay to finish up the semester. Me, my big belly and the twins went home with Papa and Nana for the rest of the semester (about 2 months I think).

Grumpy came to Mesa for the summer break and found a job framing for Ross Farnsworth at Sunland Village. We moved into an apartment on Broadway in Mesa with a pool right outside our front door. That was a little scary with 2 toddlers. Grumpy got up well before dawn and went to work until about 3:30 or 4:00 in the afternoon. Needless to say, he got a great “farmer” tan as he was outside all day in the heat of the summer sun. I spent about $25.00 a week on food and hamburger helper was a big part of the grocery list. We ate at Nana and Papa's at least once a week and usually had Sunday dinner with them or Gramma & Papa H. (Interesting note here, years later Tawna and Nathan lived at this same apartment building as newlyweds.)

The fourth of July came and went. No baby. On the morning of the 19th I woke up not feeling very well. My water was trying to break, but was just sort of leaking, so I called Nana to tell her it was time. I called Papa H. to please go and find Grumpy at whatever job site he was at that day. No cell phones in those days. I don't remember who actually took me to the hospital, but I was there when Grumpy got there. I was given some demerol (which I learned later in life, really does take the edge off), and was waiting for the Dr. to come and give me my epidural. The contractions were getting pretty hard and still no Dr. The nurses would check me from time to time and I would ask if anyone had called the Dr. yet. One nurse said they would call him in plenty of time, so not to worry. O.K. Whatever. I tried to explain that the last time I had a baby(s) it went pretty darn fast, but of course I was ignored. I had just been checked and told I was just reaching 5 centimeters when the contractions really started hurting. I, of course had decided on an epidural and wasn't happy about all this pain. Some more time went by and I apparently complained enough that they came to check me again and that got everyone in a panic. Baby was on it's way out. NOW the nurse went to call the Dr.! They wheeled me into the delivery room and the next thing I heard was a call for any doctor in the house over the intercom. I don't remember the name of the Dr. who actually delivered me, but he was nice enough to let Grumpy into the room just barely AFTER the baby was born. There were lots of stitches with this one since no one was there for the proper incisions, etc. I'm glad I don't remember the nurse's name, I would have made a VooDoo doll for her. The Dr. was quite upset that he had not been called and I'm sure she was reprimanded. We had a beautiful little daughter who did not at all look like the “Natalie” name we had decided on. She was blond and very fair and just looked like “Summer” to me. So Summer she was. I was determined to try to breastfeed this baby, but was having problems with knowing how to be very successful with it. It's not as simple as it should be for some of us. Nana didn't have anything good to say about nursing and neither did Gramma H. After trying for a couple of weeks with many tears and a lot of pain, I gave up. I wish I had known then who to call for help. Summer did okay on formula so all was well. Now I had three little girls to keep me on my toes. Grumpy had one more semester at BYU and would be graduating in December. (He did and with honors). Tracy was engaged to Kevin and getting married in November, so was not returning to BYU. At the end of the summer I moved back in with Nana and Papa until Grumpy could graduate. Moving all of us to Utah, finding an apartment for just a semester and all the costs associated just didn't make any sense for 3 1/2 months. He went off to finish school, I went to work helping Nana with Tracy's wedding and I knew the time would go fast. Grumpy was in the R.O.T.C. program and we would be going who knew where in just a few short months. (We went to Denver, CO. for training in the intelligence niche of the Air Force, but that's another story.)

Summer because she looked like the summer time to me. Joy for Gramma H. as it is her middle name. Summer you are a joy and we love you so very much. You have grown into quite a woman and a good mom too. Here you are with your Jamie right before you got married in November. We love you both.

Our Baby

All families have a baby. The last child born. Our's is Robert. In keeping with trying to get a little history down, here is what was going on in our lives when Robert came to us.

We were moving into our very first home. The first one with a mortgage of our own on it anyway. We moved in during September/October and were so thrilled to be in our own place at last. Jade was three, R.B. was starting first grade that year, Summer was getting baptized in the coming July, and Tawna and Taya were turning 10. I was getting close to having all the kids in school and that seemed like a dream to me. I got us somewhat moved in and immediately started sewing for the many crafts I was making for the seasonal boutique we had at Nana and Papa's every fall for about 5 years. I know I made lots of different things and whatever I sold was what we bought extras and even Christmas for the kids with. As the boutique time approached I started feeling pretty rocky and thought I was having a terrible time with the flu. Tracy was expecting Kamber and she was born in Nov. About that time I realized I didn't have the flu. I figured this new baby would be coming in July…in good company with Summer and Jade. Not so fun for me as July is hotter than hades, but what are you gonna do, right? Also, getting the kids all in school was gonna be a few more years away. Life sure had some curve balls coming up for us.

Grumpy was working for a solar heating company and his boss assured us he had insurance for all his employees. We thought everything was fine. Before I could even make my first appointment with my Dr., we got the shocking news one day that authorities had shown up at the solar heating company and arrested the owner for tax fraud. Wow. The company folded and Grumpy went to work doing several things that brought enough money in to survive for awhile, but was having a rough time finding something that was a promising career builder. We put the house up for sale in a market much like this one. It wasn't selling. We found out we did not have any medical insurance, his former boss had been less than honest about many things. We just weren't having a great year.

We prayed about our situation a lot and not too many weeks later, Grumpy got a call from a job he had applied for months earlier. He had been calling this company every month for almost a year to be on top of the follow up, and finally his tenacity paid off. This was a good company that his Uncle Harold had worked for for many years. Southern Pacific Pipelines. We knew there was some upward mobility and lots of opportunity to grow with them, so we were thrilled. However, the company insurance had a waiting period, and of course would not cover any pre-existing conditions, so still no insurance for this baby.

After a lot of prayer and soul searching, I felt good about a decision I was making. We talked about it and decided to have our baby at home. We didn't have money for the hospital expenses. I had experienced pretty normal childbirth with no complications four previous times and so was comforted that the Lord would help us through this. I didn't want to incur more debt in our current house dilemma, and I knew things would be alright. I found an excellent midwife and started reading about home birth. I studied up on herbs and got a lot of help from the midwife on things I could do to prepare for a good experience at home.

Things progressed and the months passed by and soon it was July. I so wanted to have a 4th of July baby, but alas, the baby had other ideas. We were of course disagreeing on names but had finally come up with Ivy Elizabeth if a girl, and Robert Sterling if a boy. Finally, late at night I began some serious labor. I called the midwife, and she came over and brought a birthing chair. We set it up in our bedroom and began the long wait through the night. The labor was not bad until about 3 hours before birth. I remember thinking that “what do you know, that demerol really did help!” Now that I didn't have any, I could appreciate it. Very early on July 12th Grumpy put down the video camera (I'll explain that sometime) long enough to catch his son as he came into this world. He had never experienced anything like that before and was appropriately awed. Robert was here in all his 8 lb. 2 oz. glory. Nana was there to help me through this experience and was a comfort. She was in the room and watched it all. She was there and was watching the other kids so I could be taken to a Dr. that would do my stitches. Back then midwives were not allowed to stitch. That took awhile. Once home and resting in my bed I got a phone call from a long time friend of my parents. She was a realtor and wanted to know if she could bring some people by to see the house. I told her that was fine with me, but not to expect much as I had no idea what needed doing to make it presentable for clients to look at. I explained I had just given birth a few hours before, at home, so they could come if they wanted to, but I would be sleeping. They didn't come. (Whew!)

We sold our house in the next few weeks - another prayer answered. I was very sad about only being able to stay nine months in our first home, but we had a new baby in that same amount of time that was mine forever. We were able to rent a house just one street north of Nana and Papa, but had about a month between being out of ours and into that one. We moved our stuff into the atrium at Nana and Papa's and stayed in the basement until the house was available to move in. I experienced my first of several breast infections in the basement. So very painful. I got one every month for 6 months before I finally gave up and put Robert on a bottle. I had been so determined to start him off with the best, but it was not to be breast milk for him. He did adapt to formula well, and so we moved on. He was a joy to all of us. Summer just loved to help take care of him and was such a good little mother. He still remembers her being very much like a mommy to him in his early years. He was the only child I ever had that would let me sit and rock him. He would cuddle and was content to just be near me. All the other kids were always so busy with everything. Me too most of the time. Robert was a night owl like me and would stay up late. Gentle of spirit and slow to anger. Loyal and inherently kind. Some of the things I like most about him.

I hope you had a happy 25th this year. You are finally old enough to get married. LOL. We love you and pray always that you will succeed in your worthy endeavors and learn quickly the things you are being tried to learn. Most of all, we wish for you the happiness of a life well lived and well loved.

Robert for your momma's daddy, Sterling for your momma's paternal granddaddy. It's a good name.



Here with sweetie and fiancee, Jennifer. Good times, bad times, you'll experience them all. You guys hang in there - Life is Good.

Movie Day/Birthday Day

The second in our Summer Movie Series was “Nim's Island”. I was pleasantly surprised and really enjoyed the story. Jody Foster is a good actress and I haven't seen anything Gerard Butler has been in that I didn't like. He was excellent in “Phantom of the Opera” and is basically just good to look at. Once again the 14 kids we had with us were happy to be there, happy to eat popcorn and various kinds of sugar, and happy for the sodas. The 6 adults along for crowd control had a really good time and I am now looking forward to next week's “Horton Hears A Who”. I generally love Dr. Suess, so I hope it does him justice. I have since gone online to see the trailer for “New Moon” coming up in November - it looks like it will be really good. Can't wait for that.

I think the kids went to “free lunch” at one of the local elementary schools and somehow fit swim lessons in somewhere. Then they all went to open swimming at the pool and splashed around until around 4:00. Then home for some quiet time. The boys went to do boy things with Grumpy, R.B., Jeff and Robert and the girls went to Megan's Birthday Girls Night.





She chose T.G.I.Fridays for the restaurant and so off we went for a fun dinner out with the girls. Then on to yet another movie - “Up”. Not quite what I was expecting, but enjoyed it. The storyline, and general subject matter was a little more adult in context than I thought it would be. The girls liked it, but there were some tears.




By the end of the movie everyone was tired, Faith was coming down with a cold and didn't feel good and Rylee came home with me to wait for Jamie to come pick her up to take her home. I stayed up and read for awhile and finally made it to bed about 12:30 am. A pretty good day all things considered. I hope Megan's birthday was as fun for her as it was for the rest of us. Happy Birthday Megan and thanks for choosing a girls night. It was the best.

A Boy was Born

Thirty-one years ago. Doesn't seem so long ago, yet sometimes feels like forever. Grumpy and I were in Okinawa, Japan while he served a 3 year tour of duty with the Air Force. We were living in a little house outside the base and the whole island was on water rationing. We had water every other day. It was a pretty awful little house, and I have to say I was suffering big time from culture shock. Of course messed up hormones weren't helping as I was expecting our fourth child. I turned 25 soon after we moved there, and life was very different from anything I had yet experienced. Whether from state of mind, circumstances, physical conditions, or a combination of everything, I was soon clinically depressed and physically ill. After visiting the Dr., Grumpy and I made the decision to send me stateside to have the baby. This was not an easy decision, as it would mean at least a 6 month absence from each other. That seemed like an impossibly long time. I was so sick, we decided to make the sacrifice and be apart for that length of time. The Dr. gave me a verbal clearance to board a plane on Okinawa along with Tawna, Taya and Summer. I only had enough time to throw a few things in a bag and go, Grumpy would send more of our things later. I was very sad as I boarded the plane and knew that I could be bumped off anywhere along the route home if there were active duty personnel that needed our seats. I wasn't worried that Grumpy would be okay, but I knew he would miss us terribly as we would him. On arriving in California, I called Nan and Pop to please come and get us from the airport when my connecting flight landed in Phoenix. They only had that one hour notice that I was coming. They were there to pick us up, and that's when I found out Nana was supposed to be at Tracy's baby shower. Tracy was expecting their first baby in a few weeks. She was sure surprised when Nana brought me in, and I don't remember anything else about that night.

It took me awhile to recover from whatever was wrong with me physically. My depression was awhile getting better too, but eventually I was feeling better. The months went by and I remember doing some random projects. I did some interior design work including painting for the small terminal at Falcon Field. I did some similar work for Dr. Farnsworth's OB-GYN offices and made a couple of huge macrame hangings for the new house Nana and Papa were planning to build. Then, it was May and I was ready for my baby to come. Nothing too dramatic about the delivery. I was in the hospital overnight as I was contracting enough to stay, but not really doing much until the Dr. came in to check me in the morning and then things moved pretty fast. I remember being so pleased that we had a boy, and knew that Grumpy was looking forward to having a son. I do remember holding him for the first time and the thought came to me that I should breast feed this sweet baby. I hadn't had a very good experience with that, so kind of blew it off and stuck with the decision to bottle feed. Wow, would I come to regret ignoring the spirit trying to tell me what I needed to know. That is a whole other story.

I called Grumpy to let him know he had a 8lb. 3oz. son and he was very excited about it. He was coming to some kind of training or something in California in a few weeks and got permission to come and see us in Arizona before he had to return to Okinawa. He came, we got permission to have R.B. blessed in Nana and Papa's home before he had to go back. It was hard to see him go. After a few more weeks Grumpy called me and said it was time to come home. I knew it was, but it was very hard to leave Arizona to go back to Okinawa. That trip is also another story. I returned to Grumpy with 4 children and many misgivings about what was in store for us on this tiny island. R.B. spent a lot of time in a baby-pack wrapped around me, but seemed content while I tried to get everything moved into our new (and better) house in a section of the island called Awase. The best thing about it was that we were all together again and that was the best. We were happy to have this little boy in our home, and of course things would never be the same again. So glad that R.B.'s birthday is usually so close to mother's day. I truly appreciate his spirit, his crazy personality and all the things that make him R.B. I love you son, and am ever grateful you came to us. Happy Birthday. (even if you are the oldest 31 year-old you know.) I wish I had pictures to post of all these things, but sadly, must not have had a camera as I have very few pictures of these times. The ones I do have I haven't scanned yet, so I guess I have a goal to get those done. We'll have to settle for this one of you taken at Austin's baptism. Someday I'll find the one of you with your two-year-old almost chubby body in your superman underwear. Now that was a good pic.

Good Bye to April…Hello May!

April has been a long month somehow. Not my favorite month this year, although lots of great things happened. Tawna and Nathan celebrated their 15th Anniversary, and managed a cruise to mark the event. They had a great time but I have yet to hear much about it as I haven't had a good talk with Tawna since they got back. Taya and Kevin celebrated their 4th year together. They have had eventful years so I am hoping their lives will calm a bit and they can have a little more peace. We had Easter, birthdays, baptisms, ball games, spring sings and parties. Jamie and Summer have begun a new business, R.B. and his partners are starting a new subsidiary in their business and Robert is striving to do more and more with his. There were the everyday things too. The memory of Nana's last time with us. As I was over at Tracy's learning to make strawberry jam we talked a little bit about our last weeks and months with our Mom. While it is true that if we had known then, what we know now we would have made different decisions, there are no real regrets about the decisions we did make. There is some comfort in knowing we always try to do our best for our families. The time we spend with each other is precious and we need to remember that when we make those everyday choices and endeavor to keep a good balance. Making the jam was a fun day spent with Tracy. I so enjoyed the conversation, and the help to learn how to do such delicious jam. I secretly call Tracy a domestic goddess now as she has learned to do even more wonderful things in the kitchen. I think we are all domestic goddesses as we learn how to do things that will help our families live better, healthier lives. I was so inspired I made even more jam a week later. We may never run out of strawberry jam. I hope she will post her process on Nana's blog so we will have it in the eventual book. Below is one jar of many, and I can't wait to help any of my girls that want to learn. Jade made beautiful bread yesterday, so homemade bread with fresh canned strawberry jam is our treat this week.



April has been both happy and sad and I am glad to bid it farewell. Here's looking forward to May and the many things that will bring for sure. Anyone up for making some jam?

Eight Is Great…again!

Madison is now a baptized member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. She made the decision to take that step and we are so very proud of her. We are also happy her dad baptized her, what a special day it was for her. Taya and Kevin planned a lunch before her baptism so relatives could come and have some angel hair with alfredo sauce, salad, garlic bread and dessert. It was fun to see everyone and so fun to see Madison in her font outfit and then her dress afterward. She is too sweet. I hope she remembers all the love in that room for her, and the wonderful feeling I know she had coming out of the water with a clean slate. I really hope she always remembers to listen to the spirit that will guide her in her life and not forget to stay worthy to hear that still, small voice. We all struggle with that from time to time, and so attending a baptism is a perfect way to remember the covenants we made and renew our efforts to live them more fully.

Everyone helped make Madison's day special for her. Aunt Tawna brought a delicious salad, I made alfredo sauce (for the first time) with Jade's coaching. Kevin cooked a ton of angel hair pasta and Grumpy and Papa K. brought dessert from Sam's Club. Kaitlin buttered the garlic bread and so it all came together for a memorable meal. (or two).




Bob was on hand to help with Emersyn, she was such a good girl for it all. It was a great day, and I hope Madison writes about her feelings on her blog so she won't forget them. Madison had lots of family there to support her and show her how much they care about her. It was nice to see the room full of people there for her. She is loved by many.




We love you Madison, now your next special white dress will be for Time and Eternity if you stay the sweet girl you are.

Faith is Eight!

She is eight, she is great and she is now baptized. What a wonderful day we had with Faith at her Stake baptism and then at Sweet Tomatoes. Her Aunt Stephanie sang for her, and did it well. There was a talk on what it means to be baptized and then one on the Holy Ghost. I made her a cute bubble top she wore with white leggings so she could have a little memento of her ordinance in the font. She had a sweet white eyelet dress to put on after she was dry to be confirmed in. Her daddy confirmed her and gave her a thoughtful and heartfelt blessing that I hope she will remember from time to time. Her mommy worked very hard to insure she had a memorable, pleasant day. The Mower family came from California to be with her here, and it was so very nice to see them and spend a little time with them. (That includes the Morales' too).

Faith was long awaited by her parents. She was prayed here by the faith of her Mom and Dad as well as our entire extended family. Her name is appropriate for the faith that was demonstrated for her to come to us. The Lord blessed us with her sweet nature, laid back personality, and yes, even her drama once in a while. She loves her family and we are forever thankful for her. She was born in the morning without too much ado. A good baby and easy to take care of. I remember Tawna was doing medical transcription at the time, and Faith would watch T.V. for a couple of hours even when she was so little and let Tawna do her job. She loves to play, dress and imagine with her dolls. This makes me so happy. I loved my dolls when I was her age and would dress them, and pretend all sorts of scenarios with them. I was the oldest in my family too and was used to playing on my own. I still treasure those dolls and hope she will love hers for a while to come. She is a source of joy and happiness to her family and I hope she knows how much we all love her.






Lots of family came to be a part of Faith's special day. Friends came as well and it was a very nice program.



Off to Sweet Tomatoes for lunch with all those who wanted to come. It was quite a group. Thanks Faith, you chose a good place to eat! We all love you so very much. You will be eight and great all year!

Happy Birthday Jamie!

Jamie. He just had a birthday and hopefully a good one. We've known Jamie about a year now. He and Summer started dating last May, but we didn't meet him for a couple of weeks. When you meet someone for the first time and he is there helping you move, he must be a pretty okay guy. Jamie was there to help us cart, carry, lift, and hang all the stuff that came from our house to Pop's. He has been so fun to get to know. He has done many kind and thoughtful things for all of us, and demonstrates the patience of Job. Seriously. (You know Rylee, right?) He and Summer exchanged their vows atop South Mountain in November. It was cold, and a little breezy, the boys were handsome in the tuxedos, the girls beautiful in their fancy dresses. Not unlike the Brady Bunch, they are blending their family now, and doing a great job. He and Summer just returned from a cruise to the Mexican Riviera and had a wonderful time. He has been with us to the dunes, and enjoyed the sand along with the craziest of us. He cooks, and even helps clean up! All the cousins love it when they can be around Jamie. Most of them think he is their best friend. So cute. Even though we have only known him for a year, he has become a great addition to our family. We have seen a real difference not only in Summer, but in Taylor, Jordyn and Rylee. We are still trying to get to know J.T. and Jake better, and I hope they know how lucky they are to have such a great Dad.

Thanks for being part of our family Jamie. It is a real pleasure to enjoy your company and hope you will feel the love we have for you and your family.

A Year of Birthdays

Last year about this time I posted our first of many birthday posts. Appropriately for our first kids, Tawna and Taya. It is their birthday again, but instead of the pics and favorite things about them I want to do something different this year for birthdays. I want to post a little bit about how our kids came into our lives.

When we became parents long ago (not meant as a dig) we were still in college and struggling to get our lives figured out. Richard had just begun his junior year, and I was just finishing my junior year. My due date for our first baby was May 11. I was planning on taking my finals and then having our first child with the summer to recover before my senior year commenced in the fall. In the latter part of March Richard went to a conclave in Kentucky for R.O.T.C., leaving me alone in Provo for a week. He left on a Sunday morning, and I lost all nerve to stay by myself. I called my Dad to see if he could fly up and get me so I could stay with them for the week. (Yes, I am spoiled and blessed with awesome parents). His friend had a Cessna 210 my Dad could borrow from time to time. He said he could, and by noon that day my friend Nancy (with her newborn) and I were on our way home for a week. We planned to drive back to Provo the following Sunday in a car she was picking up in Chandler. I was still six weeks away from my due date, so no problem, right? This picture was taken a month before I delivered. I was huge.



It was nice to be home. My Mom (as always) had wedding receptions to do as she was still in the catering business. She had two on the calendar on the following Saturday. There was also a baptism to attend in between decorating for the receptions, and going back to work at them that evening. A very good friend of my sister's was being baptized, so of course we were all going. We went and decorated for the reception (the other booking was for a cake only) Saturday morning. It was at a bank facility on Main Street in Mesa, and happened to be downstairs in this building. Wow. Everything had to go downstairs, and that was a lot of trucking up and down. I of course was not lifting and carrying, just doing the lighter stuff. We got everything under control and returned home to get ready for the baptism. I decided I was too tired to go, so I laid down to rest while the rest of my family went to the church. After a while, I got up to go to the bathroom, and when I came back to get back on the bed, my water broke. I didn't know quite what to do, so I went back to the bathroom and just sat on the toilet. Meanwhile, my Mom was at the baptism and somehow knew something was amiss. She turned to my Dad and said, “I think we need to go home.” They did. When she saw that my water had broken, she got on the phone to her Dr. and he agreed to meet us at one of the local hospitals. She had to go finish the wedding cakes and get them delivered, so she couldn't take me. My Dad was the transport and boy, was he nervous. My brother's birth was really, really fast, and my Dad was not wanting to deliver a baby in the car. I had a very fast ride to the hospital and I don't blame him a bit for wanting me there quickly.

Dr. Elliott came in to check out the progress and upon touching my belly made the comment, “Well, we have at least two babies in there, and maybe three since they are very small and I can't feel through to the back.” I remember thinking that I would be okay if there were two, but I didn't know how I would handle three. For months I had been asking my Dr. in Provo if it were possible that I could be having two. His answer was always, “Everyone always thinks they are having two.” Funny, some of us actually DO have two! This was before sonograms. (I'm that old). Next thing I knew, I was in the delivery room, getting an epidural that barely had time to kick in before the show was in full swing. I remember watching the delivery in the mirror above the bed and marveling at how tiny these babies were. Dr. Elliott told me he had named my babies for me. He said they were “Baby A, and Baby B!” Baby A was born at 6:10 (or something like that) and Baby B was 5 minutes later. She was very high and the Dr. had to literally go up and get her. He was concerned that she needed to come as quickly as possible as they were small and may need extra attention. (Her head was that really hard lump I had been feeling for months, right under my rib cage. I would go for my check ups and the Provo Dr. would always say the head was down. I would ask what that hard thing was up so high. He would just say probably the placenta. I don't think he was a very good Dr.) I was very upset that Richard was not there, but things were moving pretty fast and there was no way to contact him. (no cell phones yet either!) We had joked that he would go on this trip to Kentucky and I would have our baby while he was gone. Little did we know.

The babies went immediately into incubators. Their lungs were okay, all their systems seemed to be okay, but they could not maintain body temp, so had to be warm. Baby A was 4 pounds and Baby B, 3 pounds, 13 ounces. So little. My Mom got to the hospital just after the babies were born. From my arrival, until the births, it had only been about 3 hours. I went to my room, my body got the shakes (pretty normal) and I threw up. After that, I felt pretty good. Mom had to go and handle the reception, and I'm sure Tracy and Bob were helping with that. Papa was very glad he didn't have to deliver babies, and we still joke about the wild ride to the hospital.

I called my friend Nancy, and explained I wouldn't be riding back to Provo with her. She came to see the babies and we had a good laugh about the whole thing. I called Richard's parents and told them I wouldn't be there for dinner, and they of course were very surprised and came right away. My sister-in-law, Jacque was due any time, and was in fact going into labor about now. She had Ali the next day making her parents grandparents of 3 in a very short time. I had “frosted” my hair the night before I delivered, and it was really a mess. It took me hours to comb out all the tangles. Funny, the things you remember.

Still no contact with Richard. He was due back in Provo on Sunday, so I knew I wouldn't be able to talk to him until then. When Sunday came, I called home every few minutes until he finally answered. I knew he wouldn't believe me if I told him I was in the hospital and had just had twins, so I gave it to him slow. (This, because of all the joking about it ahead of time). I finally convinced him I was indeed in the hospital. I did in fact have our baby. Okay, time for the shock of it all…we actually had two babies. Now he was convinced I was kidding, so I said I would give him awhile to think about it, and call him back. We hung up and he immediately called his parents. They said, yep, it was true. He called me at the hospital to make sure all was well, and we discussed names. I told him I wanted to name them Tawna Lynn, and Taya Lee. Tawna, (the name of a friend's older sister), and Taya after a friend I had when we lived in Germany. Lynn, after me and Lee after my Dad and sister. He agreed. No more Baby A and Baby B. He made plans to take a bus to come see us in a few days. I went home to my parents house, but not the babies. I could hold them to feed them, but then they went back into the incubators. They were so very small. We called them our spider monkeys. I would go to the hospital for a few hours everyday and was so sad my babies were not at home with me. It took 10 days to have Tawna released to me (now back at 4 pounds) and 2 weeks for Taya to come home, now at almost 4 pounds. Babies always lose a little weight right after birth, and they wanted them back at birth weight to come home. They were eating every 2 hours around the clock, so we had a master schedule that I got a lot of help with from Mom and Tracy. I could never have handled this on my own. Richard made plans to drive down and pick us up after about 6 weeks. That's a whole other story. This picture was taken on their blessing day, right before we returned to Provo with our little, little babies. (Whoa, we were such babies ourselves. And so skinny!)



I will take this opportunity to wish Happy Birthday to Ali too. I have always loved that you girls came so close together. You must have been close before this world to get to come to us all within hours of each other.



The above picture was taken at Easter, on the Temple grounds a year later. One of the few I have of Nana with the twins.

I have always been grateful for the circumstances (blessings) surrounding their birth. The Lord was watching out for us and we had a great Dr. that knew I had twins coming and all was well. We have always been so thankful for Tawna and Taya and their sweet spirits, unique talents, considerable abilities and willingness to serve their families, us, and others. They have brought joy, worry, experience and blessings to us and we are better for them. I have always been so appreciative of the help I received with them. My Mom, and my sister Tracy were such life-savers while they were babies. Everyone helped us, and watched out for us. Countless hours of service. I missed my finals that year, took incompletes in all my classes, but oh well. I had healthy babies, 6 weeks early and that was the most important thing.

Happy Birthday to our twiners. We love you so very much.

February Babies…

We celebrate a mother and son this month, the happiest of birthday wishes to you! Stacie's big day is coming up fast, so thought I better get her pic and post up here. Stacie has been part of our family for 11 years, give or take a few months and we love her so much. She is our resident pie maker, dessert queen, and a dune mama. She rides a quad like she knows what she's doing, and is always willing to share her trailer with family and friends. She is a wonderful mother and loves her kids more than life. Family traditions are important to her, and tries to keep it balanced between all of us. That is no small feat when you consider the many functions and family members to please. This year I have enjoyed canning with her, going to movies, to the dunes, eating many a meal, moving (both of us) and just hanging out. I learn many things from Stacie that help me improve my personality and my outlook on things. I hope your day is fun and memorable, after all being thirtysomething has it's merits.



Carson, Carson. He can be sunshine embodied. He has a quirky, funny and pragmatic personality. I love his happy smile and the look on his face that tells me he is genuinely happy to see us when we visit. He so loves to play at the dunes, ride his quad (still learning, so we watch pretty close), and help with whatever you are doing. He really loves to be in the kitchen. He is all about helping create and then eating the creations. I love that he is such a big boy about getting on his little bus to go to “school”. I miss living next door and visiting back and forth so much. He is a precious boy. I love you buddy. Have a good birthday.

Now Belated Birthdays

In keeping with procrastinating pretty much everything this month, I am just now posting more birthdays for January. I'm off to a great start this year - it can only get better I hope.


Jake turned 14 on our dune trip this month. We are just getting to know him and are loving it. He is a very patient young man, and always willing to help. It was obvious he loves the dunes and can't get enough riding time in. He was ready to go anytime and could be found on the hills, at the Wall, over at Comp Hill and just a ways off camp. He even stayed behind for an extra day with us after Summer and Jamie left for home. Easy to get along with, fun to talk to and as you can see, a handsome dude too. We are so happy Jake is a part of our family now and are looking forward to more time with him. Hope you had a happy day at the dunes.


Kevin is another year older and wiser too. He is looking dapper in this pic that was taken at Summer and Jamie's wedding. I have so few pictures of him to choose from, probably because 1) I don't remember to actually take pictures so much of the time, and 2) he is usually playing with the kids somewhere or cooking something at our family functions. Kevin has such a generous nature and I love that he is always up for a party. He has many varied and unique talents and I know how very much he loves Taya and all his children. He strives to be a good husband and father and I hear he is now over one of the scout age groups. He will be great at that. I know by Taya's blog he had a great birthday, and even didn't mind turning a year older so much this year.


Gramma Harmon was traveling on her big day this year. Off to California to visit Harold and Gloria. She is such a wonderful lady, and Grumpy and I got to raid her cookie stash before they left on their trip. Gramma loves to bake, visit, help with dinner, cook you dinner, get her nails done, (hair day is almost sacred) and many other fun and crazy things that make her who she is. I think there are frequent trips to Baskin Robbins involved on some level, because if you ask her, she can tell you where they all are. I know she had a great time in California with her brother and sister-in-law because she looks forward to seeing them as much as she can.


Ryker, or should I say Rykee-Dog? He loves nick names and they change from day to day. Ryker is such a character. Grumpy took him for breakfast at The Waffle House and for his first plane ride Saturday. He wanted to fly the plane all by himself. He was having a great time and it lasted for a whole 15 minutes. He had achieved his maximum fun in the plane at that point and wanted to go back. Back they came for the date with the Waffle house. He ordered eggs, hash browns and toast. No waffle? Oh well, he ate the toast anyway. Too funny. He and his party entourage unloaded on Chuckie Cheese's to celebrate officially. Wow. You have to be deaf or very laid back to work there! Ryker had so much fun running around like his hair was on fire. Pizza, Pizza, Pizza. Play, Play, Play. What could be better? Oh yes, the delicious cake his Mommy made him. Chocolate of course. Love you Ryker, glad you are 6.