MY IDAHO CHRISTMAS

I felt the cold winter in Idaho for Christmas!! But it sure was fun!!

Congrautulations to Jennifer on her completion and graduation from BYU-I with a major in Biology and a minor in Chemistry. The Lambertson's were also there and we celebrated together. Trent still has one more semester.

I stayed with Dave and Lesley throughout the next week as we celebrated Christmas together. It was wonderful. We stayed so busy there wasn't enough time to do everything we wanted to do. We worked out at World Gym every day, went snowmobiling with Kirk up at Island Park, made a snowman, finished our Christmas shopping and prepared for Christmas in every traditional way. Here are just a few pictures to share.

I visited with Barrie and KathyKay Brewer on my way through town. I always love to see the family and they treat me like family.

It's hard for me to go to the cemetery and see Jon's name on the marker! I know he is not there. Because I feel him with me so very often, it's a sober reminder his body lies beneath the ground.

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. I love seeing your Christmas blogs!

NEW CHAPTER: HOMELESS

I've been at Kaylinn's a few weeks now and have finally downloaded my pictures to their PC so I could share in my blog. My PC is not hooked up to internet and we couldn't figure out how to utilize the wireless feature.

I just wanted you to see the actual move from 2 weeks ago since it will never happen again in my lifetime. Mark and Kaylinn got all the boxes down from the rafters in the garage and it was a huge pile of . . . well, "stuff". It took me literally 18 hours to go through it all, organize it and box it up.





There were 22 men from the ward who came to help. It was a huge honor to have so many show up and I feel it was showing their respect to Jon. They had that house emptied in 3 hours. Val Toland brought his 8x10 trailer and I rented a 16' truck. We loaded them both twice and then unloaded them at the storage unit in Antioch. There were also 2 full-size work trucks loaded.








Now everything I own is in the storage unit. It is so frustrating to know I have something and need it but no way I can get to it. One storage unit is 10' X 25', the largest they had. It is stacked from wall to wall, floor to ceiling and I ran out of room. So I rented another unit 10' X 10' and it's full as well.

Just a few pictures of the empty house. It's really a final touch to see it empty and I knew you kids would appreciate the final picture.

I had a chance to go back a week later to pick up some mail the new owner had collected. No problem, right? I'll stop by after work. I turned onto Regency and I suddenly experienced a shortness of breath. Drove on up the hill hoping I could go back to the house and be alright with it all. Got to the house, drove into the driveway and just sat there. I couldn't make myself go up to the door because I didn't want to accidently glance inside and see someone else living there. So I didn't; I left and had Mark go by and pick up my mail.

Oh, by the way, our street is FINALLY getting repaved. Yep, lived there 22 years and never had the street repaired until the week after I leave. Must suck for those people who have to park 2 blocks away and walk to their house!


One side effect of this whole move is that my second wedding band was bent pretty bad and started cutting into my finger. It was swollen and infected so I had to have it cut off. Now, due to no choice of my own, I am not wearing a wedding ring and I miss it. I guess it was the only way I would take it off. I plan to join both my rings and design another ring, like maybe a heart, with the remaining diamonds and maybe a ruby to always wear in memory of my love for Jon.

FULL-TIME BABYSITTER

Spent about 10 days at Tessa's watching Macade and Braxton while Mom and Dad were away. That was a wonderful experience. I started out the week fresh and ready to go on new adventures every day, but by the end of the week, I was pretty tired of the constant routine. Just going anywhere was a major event getting in and out of the car. I was surprised how exhausted I was by the end of the day.








Sunday the kids were getting used to having me around. The Ross' came over about noon and we watched the afternoon session of conference together. I figures they were hungry so we all pitched in to create a dinner of spaghetti, beans and toasted french bread, which I burned!

Monday we went to the Seattle Science Fair. The highlight was the butterfly cage where you actually walked among hundreds of butterflies and they would even land on you. BUT the flip side of the day was locking myself out of Tessa's car at the museum. Cindy Ross, who actually drove over to share the day with us, was kind enough to drive all the way back to the Ross home, climb through the kitchen window and get the second set of keys, all while the boys and I were enjoying the museum.

Tuesday Braxton and I went for a run around the Steilacoom Park while Macade was at preschool. We feasted on lots of fresh blackberries. Later we drove to the Ruston Way beach trail and enjoyed the beautiful weather.

Wednesday there were some interesting repeats. I couldn't figure out the TV very well, I was already sick of Sponge Bob, Braxton didn't like to wear a bib so I put it on, he'd take it off, on, off, on, off. Oh Boy! Did a shopping at Winco and had Braxton in the basket (not seat), and Macade standing on the front bar. Macade slips and falls off cart and I run into him. Big ouch, cry, and get him in the seat. A few minutes later I turn to look at something on the shelf and Braxton wants in the front seat with Macade and is climbing up on his own! A nearby lady comes to his rescue. A few minutes later, Braxton is standing inside the cart and falls . . . and cries. Okay, let's put Braxton in the seat and Macade in the cart. I think I finally have everything on my list (10 items an hour later) and Macade says, "My mom always gets me a doughnut." U-u-m-mm not Grandma! I'm so done with this.

Took the kids to Pump It Up and they had a blast. Braxton was almost too small but he's strong and managed along okay. They were certainly ready for naps. Building a fort out of blankets was a big hit. Braxton had a tendency to wreck everything so I was on full-time for maintenance and repair.

Macade to preschool by 9:00 Thursday morning and I just had a few little errands to run, or so I thought. First of all I didn't know where anything was. When I found Best Buy for my battery recharger, they didn't have what I needed and told me to go somewhere else. While I was putting Braxton in his car seat, he got hold of my keys and set off the car alarm. I can't figure out how to shut it off so stick the key in the ignition and start the car and the alarm went off. Okay, get Braxton buckled in, close the door, go around to the driver's side and . . . the doors are all locked! Yeah, the car is running and Braxton is inside and my purse on the seat. NOT AGAIN! I'm not too good at this Grandmother life. A kind man came out of Best Buy and was parked next to me. He actually had his 2-year-old with him. I told him my situation, he pulls out his cell phone and calls 911. About 5 minutes later, the Fire Department shows up with the big fire truck and four men jump out to help. They had the car open in less than 30 seconds! Tax dollars at work! I managed to find the battery store and get what I needed even though I was late picking up Macade. What a morning!

I took the kids to the library after dinner. Macade found one CD about Fireman Sam. During the rest of my visit, he watched that over and over and over and over. He even acted out and replayed the locked car situation even though he wasn't even there. I stripped and cleaned the kitchen floor during nap time and waxed it after they were in bed for the night. It looked beautiful!

Went to Home Depot to get some bird seed so we could make a bird feeder. Couldn't find the store and got all turned around BUT I finally got there. Well, then I didn't know how to get home, couldn't get the stupid GPS to work and ended up going the opposite way. The kids were being so patient so I took them to Burger King. They loved the play area more than the chicken nuggets!

I stopped by Red Box to watch Prince of Persia while the kids were sleeping. That was really good and I was rested for the afternoon schedule. We made a great bird feeder.

Then I thought I would just wash the windows really quick. Of course, the kids wanted to play outside where I was. I didn't realize when I closed the slider door it locked itself because of a faulty lock. Yeah, you guessed it, I locked myself out of the house at 4:30pm! After trying every one, I find all the windows and every door was locked and bolted shut. I was ready to break a window but I thought I would call 911 again. I went to a neighbor who was so nice and then neighbors across the street came home and joined in the effort to get in. The husband was trying all the windows and then really muscled the slider to free the door. I was so releived I gave him a big hug! By now it was 6:00, getting dark and the kids cold and hungry. It took me until 7:00 to get some dinner on the table and they were pretty cranky by then. Very nice to get them in bed as fast as I could.

Saturday and Sunday breezed because we just stayed home as it was raining. Lots of football and playing with the kids. Monday we played with the giant bubbles which was a big success.

During the week I had downloaded lots of digital scrapbooking for Tessa and got her all set up, organizing her pictures and everything. Monday I showed her how to create her own pages and I think she's hooked.

It was hard to leave but I was anxious to get home as I knew I had only a few weeks to be out of my house. I spent the first few days just catching up on the pool business, phone calls, orders, bills, etc. It had been over 100 degrees several days while I was gone and even after I got home it was in the 90's. The house was almost buried in leaves so I had several hours worth of yardwork. Now I'm just packing, organizing and taking care of all the details of the move.

34 YEAR WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

Headed off to Monterey where Jon and I often went for our anniversary. The weather was almost perfect. I had tickets to the Monterey Jazz Festival which was being held at the fairgrounds with a hotel room just a block away. I even took my bike for some riding along the coast drive. The ride and scenery were great as always.

After Monterey, I drove just north of Santa Cruz to Big Basin State Park, just taking in deep breaths of the wonderful smell of pine and crisp, cool air. Since it was a Sunday, most of the campers had left and the camp area was nearly deserted. Actually, it was too quiet for me since I was by myself to set up camp and enjoy the evening. I rode my bike all around the park, on every road to every campsite, some group camping and some tent cabins. In all there are six camping areas, general store, park headquarters, campfire area and visitor center/museum. It's all surrounded by groves of redwoods and trails.

I arose early the next morning and decided to go for my usual 4-5 mile jog and chose a trail to go. I never take anything with me at home because I'm only gone one hour. I headed up the hill and decided to take the Berry Falls trail. After about a mile, I came to a warning sign. I thought hard about the warning and decided to go back to the car and get water and food in a day pack and start over. I ran all the way back to the car, packed up crackers, a sandwich, water bottle, sun screen and trail map and headed back up the hill.

The hike was everything beautiful and peaceful with just the sounds of the wind and chattering squirrels. It was a hard hike but well worth the work getting to the falls.

The first set of falls ran over a large rock face which was really unique. Then they continued down, down, splashing until the big fall over a few hundred feet to the bottom of the ravine. The falls were breath-taking. I'm sure in the spring they are more dramatic with more water flowing over the ledges, but even in September, the falls were wonderful and the sound of the splashing water was majestic. I stayed there for some time, ate my little lunch and had a moment with God.

By the time I hiked back, total round trip of 10 miles, my feet were so sore and I was exhausted. The sign said the hike took 6 hours and I did it in 4 with a lot of jogging along the downhill slopes.

Tuesday and time to head home and back to the real world. I left the secluded comfort of the forest slowly in the car, just wishing for the beauty of the redwoods to last in my memory during the days ahead. I know it will!

Happy Anniversary Honey

I miss you!