Thankful!!

I am thankful for a lot of things in my life, but today I am especially thankful for my body.

I think that getting older is the hardest when it comes to the aches and pains that come with it, but I am overwhelmed at the blessing I have had of good health.

The reason I am thinking so much about this today is that I had one of those aches and pains skyrocket. I went to a funeral on Saturday, well actually two funerals. There wasn't enough time between the funerals to go anywhere, so I just waited for the second one and it turned out I sat for about five hours with very little getting up and down. When I finally got up to go home I felt a little twinge in my hip. My good hip of all things. I have always had twinges in the other one. That is just part of life. Later that evening, I had changed the sheets on my bed and was putting on fresh ones. As I lifted the mattress to put the fittted sheet on, I twisted a little. WOW. The pain was unbelievable. It felt like my nerve was being pinched off and was sending off alarms all over the place. Rocky massaged it and it seemed to be a little better. I took some ibuprofen and went to bed. The next morning seemed to be somewhat better. Sore but livable. I went to church, taught my class, and everything was okay. Then later in the evening it hit again. No known reason. I called my son the doctor, Shawn. He said to have Rocky pull on the leg and then to ice it. We did that. I took more ibuprofen and went to bed. Well, morning didn't look to promising. Still painful. Rocky took the day off and was prepared to take me somewhere to get some help. But whatever backup plan my body has built in kicked in as I took my shower. I felt like I can go ahead. It will heal. I need to watch what I do to not aggravate whatever it is, but I can heal. My body will heal. Bodies are wonderful things. I am THANKFUL for mine.

What am I Doing?

My question today for myself is what am I doing with my life? Am I being productive? Or am I just existing? And what determines whether I am being productive and useful?
And then I remembered a Primary lesson I gave last week which taught the kids that they are all CHOICE spirits. We are all important to our Heavenly Father. We all have something we are here on earth to do. I KNOW that I came here to be the mother of FIVE of the most fantastic kids in the whole world. I think I did a pretty good job with raising them and doing my job despite the fact that I certainly made some mistakes. So is my job done? I mean I still have to be there for Ryan for a few more years as he completes his growing years and becomes an adult with a purpose and a family of his own. But then what? Am I done? Do I have anything more to contribute? I guess I already know the answer to that. No, I can still do a lot of good with my family. Being a support to them, and being a grandmother to their children. I guess my problem with that is that it isn't something I can get up every morning and know I have a job to do. It is sporadic really. So now my thoughts turn to what else I may be expected to do with my life. And then I remember other lessons I have taught. I need to reach out to those in my community, my neighbors, anyone I come in contact with. This is something I can do on a daily basis. So, I guess I will get up every morning and look for something productive and useful to do for someone. And I also know that some days that may be just being the best wife I can be. I can do that.

Welcome to Whitlee Jane!!

I just found out the other day that my 13th grandchild will be a girl. Now coming from a family, (my kids) of only one out of five kids being a girl, it seems a little strange that 8 out of 13 grandchildren are girls. But Hey, I'm not complaining. I like girls. I Love girls. I'm just saying.... But this time I think the plan is just right. Since there are two grandchildren born this year it is only fitting that they are both girls. I think that helps them have a really good chance of having a pretty good friend their age. However, having said that, Dalley absolutely LOVEs L.E. who is his age. AND he loves Ira too. So it works out either way. BUT in this case, I think it is just right. So her name will be Whitlee Jane. So Whitlee and Arvella, get ready to be good friends!!

And Here She Is

Here she is.

A beautiful baby girl.

Arvella Jean

Named for her great-great grandmother (Arvella) and her grandmother (Jean).

I have spent about six days with her.

Wonderful days.

What a sweet, sweet spirit.

What a good baby.

Some unique things about her:

1. She gets the hiccups every single day, sometimes more than once.

2. She makes noises 24 hours a day, waking or sleeping, little tiny noises that are just so cute.

3. She hardly ever cries, for very long anyway.

4. She hates riding in the car and will break all of the above characteristics when she has to do it.

5. Her mad cry is unique. She cries so hard and uses all of her breath so that she is basically just gasping for air within the cries.

6. She already has all kinds of patience with her brother who is learning to be a brother and is quite awkward at it at times.

7. Her temperament reminds me of her father when he was a baby.

AND

8. She is my favorite newborn in the whole wide world.

I had an awesome time in Vancouver with Arvella and her brother Ira. Oh, and with their parents, too. Ira and I have become good friends. He loves to play baseball off and on throughout the whole day and I was ready any time he was. He loves books. He loves puzzles. All of those I did with him whenever there was a chance, over and over and over. What a fun kid. He is smart. He is very coordinated. He is beautiful in so many ways.

I can't wait until March when I get to see them again. Along with all of my other equally beautiful grandchildren AND a son I haven't seen for TWO years. March is my favorite month this year of 2011.

Well, I am On My Way

In the morning I am headed for Vancouver. I get to see my newest, precious granddaugher. I am so excited to see her. It is always a special treat to hold a newborn. They are so fresh from the presence of our Heavenly Father. I think they talk to angels.
We will leave Hiko at about noon tomorrow. We will get to the airport sometime around 2:00. My flight leaves at 4:25. And I arrive in Portland at 6:48. Shawn will be picking me up on his way home from work. Then we will drive over the river to Vancouver to see his new daughter.
I am going to take some pictures. Lots of pictures. I think I will post some on here and maybe on Facebook. We'll see.
By the way, I am also excited to see a little boy that just got a new sister. This little boy has my heart already. He is a precious kid, too. In fact, I plan on spending as much time with him as I can. These opportunites are far apart and you have to take advantage of them to the fullest. So, Ira, get ready. Grandma is coming!!!

A New Start

I took all of my old posts and put them in a book. I thought I would wait for the new year to begin again. So now here we are in 2011 and I am starting over. I am so excited for this year. There are so many blessings coming our way. They are:

1. Grandchild #12. She appeared today in fact. Shawn and Stina had a baby girl born this morning at about 7:00. She is 7 1b. 12 oz.

2. Ryan will come home from his mission. I have missed him so much but at the same time have throughly enjoyed sharing this time and experience with him.

3. Grandchild #13 should make an appearance in May or June.

4. We are planning a trip to Colorado to meet the good people Ryan grew to know and love and to see the areas that he served in. We will probably go in April or the first of May.

5. We are going on another trip in June to Wyoming to Martin's Cove, Jackson Hole, and we are going to stop and see the Tabernacle Choir perform live on the way back. During this trip we will celebrate our 38th wedding anniversary. (By the way, I am more in love with this man I married than I ever have been. He just gets better and better.)

Okay, that is the first half of the year and I am sure there are more things to come. It is going to be awesome!!!