Car Accident

Grandma and Grandpa were in a pretty bad car accident this morning at 11am. Grandpa pulled out of the Home Depot parking lot and tried to get across 4 lanes of traffic to go into the Wal-Mart parking lot and they were broadsided by a lady going 45 mph. It just missed the driver's door and smashed the passenger door and the wheel well on the driver's side. They spun around and Grandma hit her head on the window and her glasses flew off.

They are not hurt seriously, thank goodness. They are sore and stiff and will have some bruises come tomorrow. They have an appointment in the morning with their family doctor to get all checked out.

Grandpa is more upset and worried about the car. They were told that it would be totaled. He wants to fight that because they just put that brand new engine in it. I don't think the insurance company is going to go for that, but we will see. They were in the tan Camry, which is the old one, not the blue Camry, which is the newer car.

None of us found out until they were home. One of their neighbors recognized them and stopped and stayed with them and brought them home. I asked her why they didn't call anybody else, and Grandma said that their cell phone could only 'hold' 3 phone numbers. That just didn't make any sense to me. I called Meredith who works only 10 minutes from them and she went over. She got there right as Auntie got there. Meredith looked at their phone and programed everyone's numbers in it (Lisa had put a few in a long time ago, but they didn't know how to use it) and then gave them a lesson on how to access their contacts. She even tested them to make sure they knew how to get into it and pull up a number. I feel much better about that now.

I'll let you know more when they get home from the doctor tomorrow.

Happy Birthday, Jules!

Happy birthday, Julie. You are a great sister-in-law. You are a great woman. Thanks for all your love and support. We send our love over the miles and hope you have a really great day! Are you going to Cowboy Grub for dinner?

Happy Birthday to you-

Happy Birthday to you-

Happy Birthday, dear Julie-

Happy Birthday TO YOU!

Sunday Dinner

Woke up to rain. I slept so hard that I didn't even know it had started, nor did I realize it had been predicted. The yard sprinklers were running and I went down to the garage to turn them off. No need if it's raining, right? Josh and Meredith packed and left to go back to AZ. School and work calls bright and early tomorrow morning. Chris was so tired, she was still asleep at 11:15 when I went in to wake her up for stake conference. We were a bit late, but it was a great meeting. Came home and got the rolls shaped and rising and then we went to Mike and Adrianne's for dinner. Darla stretched out on their couch. Yes, she was not to be left out! She was in the car before we were. I was putting the pans of rolls in the back seat area. She decided to jump in there, which she never does--she is a front seat pup on my lap. Christine forgot her book, so she got out and ran back in the house. Darla was beside herself that she had gotten out of the car. Maybe she thought I would leave her. So she jumped from one seat to the other, right on top of the rising rolls! I immediately called her to jump down. She did not like the tone in my voice and started shaking. She is such a pleaser that if she ever gets the slightest reprimand she feels terrible. I wasn't mad at her--how was she to know about rising rolls with a towel on top of them? I was just worried about the rolls! I would fix them once we got to Mike and Adrianne's. I brought her up to the front.

Christine came back to the car. All is well, right? Hmmm....We are driving along singing to her ipod songs making every traffic light. Perfect until...the next light turns yellow and I have two choices. Gun it or slam on the brakes. I was too far away to gun it, so the brakes won. I immediately knew the pan of rolls on the seat was in jeopardy. I said, "Christine. Grab the rolls!" Too late. They flew forward and fell on the other pan of rolls on the floor! These poor rolls. They are taking a beating. At least none of them came off the pan. I didn't want to know what condition they were in at the moment. I'll just fix them once we get there (again).
Christine wanted to take pictures of the table. It was really pretty with the blues, blacks, and the fresh oranges from Adrianne's Gramma Liz's tree! Seashell coasters and candles. Felt just like a spring day beachside.

Mike's peach jam. We were not to touch it! It was a gift from Grandma Sigie. She knows it is his favorite. C'mon, Mike. Just a little?

Good pictures, Christine!

The now famous rolls. Not too bad, considering they were jumped on, slid onto the floor, and had to be re-shaped and re-risen!

Fresh green beans. Sooo good!

...and fresh asparagus. I learned something new from them: they steam their veges in their rice cooker! She fills the pot with about an inch or two of water and then places the basket over it with the vegetables in it. Close the lid and press the button. Check on it once it starts steaming and you have perfectly steamed veges. All the nutrition stays in the vegetable! I'm so going to do that next time!

Delicious roasted chicken. We had mashed potatoes and gravy with it.

We got the kitchen and dishes all cleaned up and then watched Bobby Flay make a steak sandwich and a cake contest and then the Extreme Home Makeover show. It was a great evening. Thanks guys. It was so nice not to have to cook and the company was even better!

Saturday Is A Special Day...

Josh and Mere were up and out for a breakfast date with her sister, Megan, and her boyfriend. OPHouse was the choice and the rest of us were jealous! Those Dutch Babies and 49er Flapjacks were calling out to our palates, but we decided to not 'cut in' on the meeting of the new boyfriend date and stayed home. Mike and Adrianne had Saturday errands and cleaning to do. And we got the garden cleaned out and began preparations to plant soon.

It's a little hard to fathom that we are in the middle of March already! Sometimes the day itself drags on, but when I look at a calendar they fly right on by so very quickly. So the garden beds are weeded and the soil cultivated. It looks and feels good! We will add some manure this next week, till it in, and plant soon. Duff is looking forward to the early peas. We've invested in some new tomato towers and are giving up our rusted cement wire cages that we made umpteen years ago! Happy and sad day on that one. Even though they are just wire, I feel like we are bonded. They helped us grow and enjoy many a tomato over the years. Job well done.

Josh and Mere, Mike, and Christine went back up to Heather's for the afternoon. They got to visit with Scott, her husband. He was grateful for their arrival and took advantage of the time to go and get their grocery shopping done while someone was there to watch after Heather and the kids. Christine got to play with Hannah. Mere entertained Aaron. I was thinking about that on Friday while I was 'observing'.

What would it be like to not be able to do the basic things to care for my family? Here she is watching everyone else take care of and play with her children. She is just fighting with whatever physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual strength she can muster to live. I can't imagine how she feels in those private moments only she knows about to come to terms with those feelings. On some levels it must be a battle between jealousy and gratitude. And yet, I watch her yield to the circumstances God has allowed with kindness and graciousness and civility and patience and she has let it work within her to mold and shape her spirit into one that ends up teaching us. She has every 'right' to be bitter, unhappy, mean, give up, and she doesn't. She chooses to press 'forward' . I watch and help her with those PT exercises. They are grueling for her. But she submits and does them in the hope that maybe, just maybe, it will benefit. It would be sooo easy to just say "forget it"!

Duff and I got our weekly marketing done. The Girl Scouts are out selling their cookies. They sure are cute!

Duff left for Utah to take care of some things for a few days. Josh took him to the airport and I went to Saturday night Stake Conference. It would have been the first time in many years that we could have sat together with him not on the stand. I guess it was okay, since I'm used to it. At first, it felt a little funny to not see him up there, but it doesn't take very long to realize that we all just get up and move a few chairs to the left or the right when it comes to service in the church and where you've been is hardly relevant to where you are currently or where you are going.

Patti and Richard came over after for some dessert and games and to visit with Josh and Meredith before they leave tomorrow. Adrianne and Mike supervised it all and when I walked in the door, Adrianne had a Texas Sheet Cake in the oven and they had the kitchen cleaned up from dinner. Meredith had taken Christine and J.T. to the pool and to get some ice cream for the cake. It is satisfying to see them as adults taking their places in the world and working together. Our family will be seeing quite a few changes this year with the kids and their lives. It is good!

I had a good long visit with Natalie on the phone today. Robert's parents are in town for a concert for Brian. So they are having fun with them. Shaun is gearing up for tests and papers and this semester has gone by really fast. He'll be finishing up and home next month already! He has done well and I'm proud of him.

And so it goes....

Family Day at Heather's

We were on our way to the Chapman's by 11:30am. First stop: SuperMex in Irvine. Heather's appetite is slowly coming back. She has been making herself eat to help get some strength back. Think: 2 weeks of nausea and vomiting, seizure, emergency brain surgery, losing the use of your limbs (predominantly on the left), and then radiation. I wouldn't be very hungry either. But she promised Don if he brought her a chicken burrito she would eat it with him. One condition: lots of guacamole! She LOVES it and Scott doesn't. SuperMex is our favorite place. We picked up enough shredded beef tacos, burritos, chips, salsa, guac, rice and beans for everyone. At first she just wanted to stay in bed and eat, but then decided to come out with everyone. She and Don sat together and ate away. She did a good job and it tasted good to her. Yay! Oh, we laughed and laughed. Told stories about the 'farm' in Logan and laughed some more. Laughter is a good medicine. Meredith and Adrianne with Hannah. She is a cutie patootie! They took the little ones to the park to play when Agnes, the physical therapist, and I worked Heather out in her room. She did really well. The right side is pretty strong and the left side is much improved. The bummer was that Agnes came in the middle of the 'party' so we missed some of it.
Agnes made Heather walk a lot, so when they were finished she ended up in a living room chair to finish visiting. l-r: Adrianne, Mike, Heather, Josh, Meredith, Hannah. She was pretty tired at this point. She said she was okay and wanted to be out with everyone, but I was kind of thinking she should have been in bed for a rest. She is so accomodating. She smiles most of the time and is a gracious hostess in spite of her very serious circumstances. I've never heard her complain. I don't know that I would do so well.

Heidi spends every Friday with Heather and we really enjoyed being with her too. We were hoping Cherise could have been there, but she had to work. Which was probably a good thing because we would have upped the party mode and probably worn dear Heather out even more!

Christine really wanted to go and went back and forth with getting out of school or not, and in the end decided she would stay and take her math quiz 6th period after all and go up tomorrow with the kids again. I think it was the right choice and I'm glad she got there.

I had slept 'wrong' last night and have been suffereing through the day with a tweaked shoulder blade/neck thingy. Mere rubbed it out in the morning, and Adrianne rubbed it out during the afternoon and evening. I got some heat on it tonight and it is doing better.

Kids Here Safely..

Josh and Mere got here safely last night around 11:30pm. I was zonked on the couch and didn't even hear them come in. Duff and Darla greeted them and then they came in and woke me up! Adrianne has work off today, and we are all going over to Heather's to spend the day with her and the fam.

I'll report back later...

Happy Birthday, Denise

You most likely thought I forgot! But I still remember! Have a great day. Drink it all in and enjoy.

Happy Birthday to you--

Happy Birthday to you--

Happy Birthday, Dear Denise--

Happy Birthday TO YOU!

THIS JUST IN: Wow, Josh!

Josh was at school and a classmate walked past him and told him he had an award. Josh was like, "what"?

"Yeah, man. You got an award."

Josh went to find out what he was talking about and sure enough: he received TWO awards. The Willard H. Pedrick Scholar Award for fall semester and for winter semester. Willard H. Pedrick is the founding dean of the college of law at ASU. He earned these awards for being in the top 10% of the whole 3L's class!

CONGRATULATIONS, Josh! (the hoo-jit man!) You've worked really hard and it is paying off. Graduation in 8 more weeks!

Pay It Forward

I got this from Meredith yesterday. It sounds like fun, so let's play!

The Rules:

1. Be one of the first THREE bloggers to leave a comment on this post, which then entitles you to a handmade item from me - something crafty or yummy, who knows?!

2. Winners must post this challenge on their blog, meaning that they will Pay It Forward, creating a handmade gift -anything!- for the first THREE bloggers who leave a comment on their post about this giveaway!

3. The gift that you send to your friends can be from any price range and you have 365 days to make/ship your item. This means you should be willing to maintain your blog at least until you receive your gift and have shipped your gifts. And, remember: It’s the Spirit and the Thought That Counts!

4. When you receive your gift, please feel free to blog about it, sharing appropriate pictures and comments! If you are not one of the Top Three Commenter's on this post, you can still play along. Go ahead and start your own Pay It Forward chain, and encourage your blogging friends to do the same!!

A New Friend!

Adrianne has been telling me about this product, Bar Keepers Friend. She loves it. They had a leak a while back into one of their showers and rust came with it and stained the tub. She used BKF and it took it all out! I decided to give it a try.

WOW!

It is really good. I have a white cast iron enameled kitchen sink and over the years it has a few scratches in it. I've always been a loyal Comet user. I thought, okay, I'll give BKF a try. Every scratch is gone! It does a fine job on my le creuset pans too.

I have a new friend!

Inventory and Impressions

Mike came over late this morning and helped Duff move some boxes of wedding vases and supplies to the storage unit. It's nice to get all those things out of our garages finally. And then we began the food storage inventory. Duff thought it would be an easy, quick task. It didn't turn out that way. It's going to take several days, I think. We are cleaning things out and rearranging and reorganizing and consolidating and taking inventory as we go. When we are done it will be much better. We should have the 'equipment' stuff all together and all the food stuff together and all the canning supplies together. Right now it's all kind of mish-moshed.

We made a lot of progress. Our bodies are a little stiff from all the bending and carrying. We will dive in again tomorrow and get another part done. With the cannery changing the expiration dates on certain items, we are going to open one can of everything and test it just to be sure. I started a section of things we need to add or add to. I gave Mike his 72 hour kit. Now they just have to get one for Adrianne. I'll post pictures when we are done.

Christine had her 'study molds' done today to get ready for her braces. In my day they called them 'impressions'. I just don't do well with having all that thick paste in my mouth. They had me come back with her for them. I was sitting in the chair at the foot of her orthodontic lounge and when the assistant brought it over and put it in her mouth I could smell it and hear it squish and I had to get out of there fast. I didn't want her to take any cues from me, so I walked down the hall and ended up talking to my dentist and one of his assistants. Then went back in and she was all done with both sets and waiting for me to make her next two appointments. She is her father's daughter when it comes to dental work. Absolutely no problem! I'm so glad she got that from him! A week from tomorrow the braces go on. Here we go!

I had a really hard time getting to sleep last night. I finally got up and read a book for a while. I headed back to bed around 2am and then got up at 7. I'm really tired tonight. So I'm off to bed.

Monday--A Good Day of the Week

Oh, Mondays! Interestingly enough, I do love them. I like the sense of getting back to a routine, back on top of 'things'. So laundry of course is at the top of the list. Picking up, straightening up. You know the drill. But it was chilly today and it was a little hard to get going.

I also had to finish the VT report for February. Some months it goes really fast; others not so fast. A lot of phone time! Not necessarily a negative thing--I love the connections and conversations and friendships developed over the last year.

Christine's cell phone bit the dust on Saturday. While she was changing into her costume it landed hard on the Brokaw's garage floor and is now kaput. This is partially due to the very 'inexpensive' one we got her owing to our 'wisdom' we've gained (interject some 'sass' into that) parenting 5 children with her being the youngest. This was bound to happen at some point. Well, she's had to go a few days without one, and I didn't realize what a difference it would be for me. I discovered I really like being able to get a hold of her when I want and need to. I text her during the day at school--sometimes fun things, sometimes reminders, sometimes just 'I luv u'. I fought this texting thing for a long time. But this time around (with my 'baby') I realize that it keeps us bonded and connected. It's part of her generation and I don't want to be left out of it.

Well, she has to help with the cost for it. We got a $50 rebate that they were offering, so it was under $30, but still a good bargaining chip. We have never seen her room and bathroom so CLEAN and TIDY! I must add that my husband is a master at negotiations with her. I must also give her credit where credit is due: she is a good girl and is willing to do her part in just about anything. She is a 'team player'. Oh, don't misunderstand me--she can still be a 'teenager', but she is learning and growing along the way.

She also got this from her sunday school teacher! What do you think it was for? She was very touched by it.

We had tilapia for dinner with some au gratin potatoes and zuchinni. Oh! I love zuchinni! I can't wait to get it growing in our garden! And I love that I can put the fish and the potatoes in the oven at the same time and it's all done together. In the oven and to the table in 40 minutes tops. I tried my hand at a buerre blanc sauce for the baked fish and I have to say it turned out really well. I substitued chicken broth for the white wine and onion powder for the shallots and it was awesome.

A little FHE, DWTStars (already have my faves), and 24 (is Bill really dead? He came back from the dead from last season, right?).