It's Been A Great Day

Today is my birthday. I'm 53. Once in a while I feel 53, but most of the time I don't. Especially in my mind. I still feel young. I wondered about how my parents feel in their 70's. Do they still feel young too? What is young anyway?

I got a lot done today. All of which made me happy. I started the day with a good prayer. Thanking Heavenly Father for my life, my body, my opportunity to come to earth. I hope I'm doing a good enough job on my journey here.

I changed sheets on beds. I washed them, and blankets too.

I worked in the garden and repotted some ferns that had desperately outgrown their little pots. I added new soil to some of my geranium pots. I watered. Snail baited.

Cleaned out the laundry room WELL. Got all the stray things put where they 'go'. That seems to be my place where everything gets stowed quickly until I have the time to put it away. Cleaned up the dining room from Mother's Day. Gosh it feels good to be on top of that.

Worked on visiting teaching. It's a never ending entity. Living, breathing, ever-changing.

Duff came in and told me to sit down, relax, go and take a nap. It was my birthday! But all the things I was doing made me smile. I took phone calls from well-wishers in between chores.

We had dinner and I didn't cook. Nice. And then we all went over to Mike and Adrianne's for cake and icecream. She made my favorite cake for my birthday: German Chocolate. I always thought it was from Germany. Not so. I found out that a Mr. German developed the recipe for it and it is named after him! I didn't know that. Oh it is sooo good. She also made an angel food for those who don't like the coconut and nuts in the frosting. The guys were watching the Lakers game. Close finish, but they lost. Mike was not a happy fan. We gals visited and caught up. It's only been a few days since the graduation/moving but still catching up to do!

Christine got hit really bad at lacrosse practice today. In the right thigh while in the goalie box. High school boys were coaching her and a couple forgot their strength. She can hardly walk and it is already bruised. You can see the imprint of the ball marks. We got ice on it right away, but it's gonna hurt for several days.

Here is a sweet email I got from my parents this afternoon:

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY
TO YOU
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
TO YOU
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
DEAR CINDY
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
TO YOU
What a special day that was for me and daddy. When I was in labor I really didn't know it . I thought it was the banana I ate. But at that time I was in labor and you were telling me that you were ready to come into this world and into the world you came. A sweet pink little 5 lb 10 oz girl. We brought you home the next day and put a heating pad in your bassinet to keep you warm as you lost some weight and could not stay warm. We had to put a pink ribbon across the doorway when people came to see you, as Dr. Krems did not want people to come close to you and contaminate you in any way as you were so little. He was the best doctor ever.
Now you are a mother yourself 53 years later. And what a great mother you are. You have been a wonderful and loving daughter. May you be blessed with good health and a long life here on the earth. May Heavenly Father always be with you Sweetheart.
We love you very much.
All our love,
Mom and Dad"

All in all, it was a nice birthday. Thanks and love to everyone who made my day so wonderful.

I Think This Says It All

Christine made a yellow cake with chocolate frosting. It kept disappearing. She figured out who the 'pickers' were. Not hard. So she left a note. (read l-r, top to bottom)

Any pickers in your families?

My Bag

This is my handwork bag. I first saw it at a temple dedication quite a few years ago. I think it was Nauvoo or Winter Quarters. One of those. I know--it surprised me too. But an older friend of mine had brought it with some handwork in it to quietly do while she waited to get into the stake center chapel before the dedication. I thought that was a smart idea. She also had her scriptures and hankie, etc. in it as well. Then, the next time I went to Utah, I saw that my mother-in-law had one too. She used it for her purse. It was so dang cute. I asked where she got it and boy was I surprised when she told me 'Avon'. That was a name from my past. My mom used to sell Avon! At the time, bags like this were really popular by a company (I can't remember the name right now) that was very expensive in many designer stores. The Avon price was really reasonable so I ordered one.

And I use it for my handwork. I keep embroidery in it and fine crochet projects. Fine crochet is with the very thin cotton crochet thread. Think doilies and tropical bandages. Most of these projects are things I give away. All my sisters and sisters-in-law got a doily one year for their birthdays. Tropical bandages go to the Humanitarian Center. Embroidery pillows for gifts. It is easy to take in the car with me when I run Christine around to various things and have those little snippets of time to wait. You'd be surprised how much you can get done in those small bits of time after a while! I keep my scissors and threads and needles in a cute tin. It makes me happy everytime I get into it.
I love this bag. It's a part of who I am.

Happy Birthday Brandon

Happy Birthday to You

Happy Birthday to You

Happy Birthday Dear Brandon--

Happy Birthday toooooo yooooouuu!

And many more!

We send all our love. You're the best!

The Peeps, The Girls, and The Ladies

Our Arizona trip is never complete without a visit to see Gramma and Grandpa's chickens over at James and Marybeth's. I went over with them to gather the eggs and feed them on Saturday evening. Grandpa with Chatterbox. I named this one. She just clucks and clucks. Like she's having a real conversation with you. She looks you in the face while she talks. I know I shouldn't have, in about 5 years they will kill her and eat her and replace her and the others with a new group to lay eggs. They are so tame and love to be held and petted. Even these animals respond to kindness and love.
Here are the new chicks. They are affectionately known as the Peeps. Most are about 3 weeks old. And there is now a rooster among them! So now they can breed their own chicks. They are the cutest dang things. Still with their downey fuzz. I won't give names to these. I will resist! But I did hold them--couldn't resist that. They are still so young that they fall asleep in your hands. How precious is that?

Next coop. Here are the Girls. They are 6 months old now and laying like crazy. One egg per hen per day, so 14. How about that? A dozen a day! Mom saves all the potato peelings, egg shells, greens in a container in the fridge and takes to them. They LOVE these treats, and it helps them be healthy and produce well.

It is the cutest thing. When my mom and dad come in the gate, my mom calls out, " Girls, Girls! I'm here. How are you today, Girls?" and those chickens just RUN to the end of the pen and cluck away in chorus talking to her as if to say, "Here we are! It's You!" They know her and love her. My dad calls to them and they love him and know him too, but it is amazing how they respond to my mom's voice and know who she is.

The Girls waiting for Gramma to come in and empty their treats into the pan. Dad changed the water, fixed the stuff that keeps their craws clear, and they filled the mud holes with water for them to play in and cool off. I didn't know chickens liked that. I learned something new.

The Ladies. These gals are about 5 years old now. They are on Craig's List to be sold as stewing chickens. They are only laying about 3 eggs now between the 5 of them. The circle of life goes on.

Mom showing the laying boxes for the Girls that my dad made at the end of their coop. The lids stay up, the gals lay, and then they go and gather the eggs through opening this end. Pretty cool, huh?

And last , but not least, the roost that Grandpa built fot the Girls to sleep on at night. All 14 of them make their way to the 4 rungs for the night.

I would love to have some chickens! Too bad I'm not zoned for them! But we do have some friends who have them and boy do we appreciate their generosity with sharing the oh-so-fresh eggs. I did bring home 7 dozen from my parents though in a cooler.

The MOVE Continues

We met Josh and Meredith at their storage unit to help them unload everything. We called it FHE. We were definitely all together!By the time we got there, Mike and Adrianne and Josh and Mere had quite a bit unloaded.
Adrianne is such a cutie! Here she is in her work-out clothes. Mike's old Lakers shirt!

Josh and Robert getting to the end of the truck.

JT handing me a box of plates making sure I remembered to be very careful with them because they could break. (so, so cute)

The Koelliker/Clayton group with their muscles and Quincy for support! Best home teachers ever.

Erik, Chad C. and JT

Erik and Chad worked their little patooties off. Oh youth is a marvelous thing!

Putting on the final touches. All done and all in. Meredith had Mike help her arrange it all so it could fit. He is good at that.

They got everyone a treat at Cold Stone for helping. M & A grabbed some dinner with J & M and brought back the ice cream. I put a peach cobbler in the oven and we watched DWTStars and 24.

I was so tired today I could barely function. We were all kind of that way. I had to fight through being ornery with every little thing. I finally told myself to take the day off and regroup. It helped. When Christine got home from school, she was so tired and ornery and asked me what was wrong with her! She was just going through what we all were. She had a snack and layed down on the couch. After a while she started her homework, s l o w l y.

Tomorrow is another day.

ANNIVERSARY #2

HAPPY 2ND ANNIVERSARY JOSH AND MEREDITH!

You are a great couple. You've conquered a lot already in your 2 years of married life and done it well. We wish you many, many more.

Love you guys!

Dangerous Recipe

[ fyi...we girls decided to try this out when Christine got home from school and it lives up to it's name. It is dangerously good. A generous portion. We drizzled a little caramel over it too and --wow. You can eat it hot right out of the microwave or let it cool. And it really only took 5 minutes total!]

I got this in my email from my good friend/now relative ('cause her brother married my cousin...). I'm definitely going to try this one. It looks and sounds amazing! Thanks, Lisa K. Step 1
Step 2

Step 3

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE

4 tablespoons flour

4 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons cocoa

1 egg

3 tablespoons milk

3 tablespoons oil

3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)

A small splash of vanilla extract

1 large coffee mug (MicroSafe)

Step 1-- Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well.. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again. Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!

Step 2--Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired. EAT !

Step 3-- This can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous.

And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world? Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AARON!

Today is your Birthday, Dear Aaron

Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday to YOU!

We'll sing you a song for your birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY

TO YOU!!

We're sending all our love through the miles.

Have a FANTASTIC day. Love you lots!

Earthquake

We had an earthquake just a bit ago. I DO NOT DO WELL WITH EARTHQUAKES. I think I'd probably do better in hurricane areas. At least you have some warning.

Duff and I were watching a movie in the family room. I was laying on one of the couches. Christine had been doing her best to talk me into making a peach cobbler, but I'm exhausted. Tomorrow for FHE dessert I kept telling her. Then she moved on to chocolate chip cookies. Could Natalie make them while she (Chris) was in the shower so they would be hot when she got out. Okay. But please take a good look at the very clean kitchen. If you and Nats do that, then it needs to be cleaned up just like that by the time you are done. No takers. How does that work? No one wants to clean it up? Well, I don't either!

All of a sudden the couch was really shaking. I thought it was Christine trying to get my attention. Then I realized she was upstairs. That only meant one thing: earthquake! Dang it. I just get that adrenaline rush in your chest-- you know what I mean. Like when you've just avoided a car accident or something. It stopped. The house was silent- but for only a moment. Then Robert runs downstairs, Natalie yells 'earthquake' from the bedroom, Shaun was whooping about it, and Chris runs downstairs in a towel. I sat up and said " Oh, Crap". We put Robert on internet info detail. 5.0 centered a little north of Hawthorne. It must have rumbled pretty good in Torrance, where I grew up.

We didn't feel any aftershocks. C'mon Darla! Weren't you supposed to warn us. I thought dogs had some additional 'sense' about stuff like that. Nope. She slept through it all on the couch next to Duff. She was just too happy to be home.

The DRIVE

Sunday morning. The 'ox was in the mire' so to speak with the timing of graduation and moving. The kids had been counting on having at least a week or two to pack and move after graduation, but the only bar review course Josh could get started at 9am Monday morning. So with graduation on Friday, packing and loading on Saturday, and school first thing Monday, the drive had to be Sunday. Robert and Shaun left first around 6am. Mike and Adrianne left at 7am, and Josh and Meredith and Duff and Christine left at 7:30am. Josh drove and Duff went with him in the moving truck, and Christine went with Meredith and they followed in their car. Natalie and I left at 11 after we got all the beds stripped down for my mom and did some clean up and gathered all the straggling things left at Lisa's and my parents. Tearful good-byes. Grandpa and Gramma and Auntie and Uncle Craig will really miss having the kids so close. They've had a sweet time these last three years together. Auntie couldn't even come to Gramma's house when they left with the truck. It was too hard for her.
Gramma and Grandpa pretty sad and crying. Grandpa just kept repeating: What are we going to do now, what are we going to do now? They miss all of their family sooo much! Lots of LOVE going on here! It was hard to go with them like this.

Josh and Duff walking to the truck.

Turning the corner with Mere and Christine following.

Good-bye Arizona! :( :( :(

The trip for everyone leaving at staggered times was pretty smooth and uneventful. Natalie and I ended up only being 30 minutes behind the moving bunch with them only able to go 70mph.

I had a big decision to make. As I've gotten older, I've lost some of my 'nerve'. High overpasses freak me out. There are 2 in particular both involving the 91 fwy. One at the 10 interchange, and the other at the 15 interchange going from the 15 north to the 91 west. I've been on that when there is nothing but stop and go traffic and I don't do well being suspended up in the air like that on some concrete pylons!

The new interchange from the 60 west/north to the 91west/beach cities is now open. It is above and is that new almost white strip from the aerial photo I got off the internet. It is about a 5 mile long very high up on concrete pylons interchange. The picture doesn't show the whole thing. And it's higher than it looks in this picture too. I've watched it being built for several years now and have known that at some point I was going to have to address whether or not I would ever travel on it or take the long way around on the 10. As we got closer to the transition, I finally figured out that either way I was going to have to use a high bridge transition! Holy Cow! No way out! So I had two options: the one from the 10 or the one from the 60. I bit the bullet and turned onto the 60. Once on it, there was no turning back. I had to face IT. I had about 20 minutes to talk myself through it before I got there. It was enough time to play it all out in my mind.

I'm happy to say that I did it!!! I made it across without too much problem. There was only one spot that I got a little funny in the tummy with, but besides that, I was calm and didn't even grab the wheel too tightly. I'm really proud of myself. Natalie was high fiving me when we got on solid ground, and she had to call Duff to let him know I'd made it. Does my family know me or what?!

The MOVE

Today was moving day. Duff and Craig got there first and went with Josh to pick up the truck. Craig has a bunch of different kinds of dollies that he uses in his tile business and they sure came in handy. Clint brought over another dolly earlier in the week and between them all it got the job done. The choices were 16' or 24 '. They went with 24' because it was easier to pack and gave them more room. It was only $60 more. Not bad. Did you know that moving companies don't have blankets you can use anymore? Because of disease, bed bugs, and lice, if you want moving blankets you have to buy them at $14.99 a pop. They are brand new and very nice. So now the kids have moving blankets to add to their possessions!
Mere and the girls wrapping the headboard. This wrapping plastice comes on a roll with a handle. It's really cool!

Natalie, Grandpa, and Christine getting their next assignment from Meredith, the 'director' of packing and shipping! Hahaha! She did a good job.

Moving the bed. Go guys, GO!

Meredith workin' and directin'.

The loved and saved for dresser/chest of drawers is first in. It was the heaviest piece and needed to go first.

As each room emptied, Natalie vacuumed. Cute little baby bump. Mere sprayed down the oven in the morning, and I got it all cleaned while Gramma cleaned out the fridge. The last two major things that needed to wait until the very last.

Grandpa and Christine with a dolly load into the truck.

Gwen carrying stuff to the moving van. The kids apartment was on the first floor down that breeze-way to the left in front of the pool. They loved it because it sure stayed cool and never got direct sun during those hot Arizona summers, and I think we all agreed that it really made moving in 2 years ago and moving out today a lot easier than it could have been!

Shaun and Robert loading.

Grandpa and Robert. We kept telling Grandpa to slow down but he would have no part of taking it easy. He was determined to help the kids and be a part of it.

The next door neighbors patio. They won't be missing this!

Craig worked tirelessly. He caulked every single nail/screw hole in every room and smoothed them out with his sponges. That place was spic 'n span and immaculate thanks in large part to his handyman skills. Here he is out on their patio stripping and scraping the paint splatters and drips from when Meredith refinished their furniture.

All done. All empty. All cleaned. One last picture right after they closed and locked the door of their very first home together. On to a new chapter!

We all met up back at Auntie's for pizza and leftovers for dinner and more swimming and relaxing in the pool. Mere, Adrianne, and Christine went and got a massage at the massage school. They had coupons for buy one get one free. We were all pooped. I fell asleep sitting up on the couch next to Lisa at one point. Between their friends and the fam, the apartment was emptied and loaded into the truck and all cleaned in just over 2 hours. Thanks to Mere's previous work, and the cleaning we did earlier in the week it went pretty fast and we all needed the afternoon and evening to regroup.