Back-blogging: Hone Family Reunion

Over Labor Day weekend this year, we went camping with the whole Hone family (except for Wade, who couldn't make it -- we missed you, Wade!). It was a great trip, and we all had a really fun time being together. We got a great group camp site in Southern Idaho, with picnic tables, fire pits, tent sites, an amphitheater and lots of space to roam and play. 

There was lots of sitting around the fire, chatting and catching up...

And the little girls all had a great time playing with costumes from Grandma Karen's dress-up box. They even made up some dances and skits that they practiced and performed for us...

Oh, and actually, Piglet, in the above pic, is little *not* a girl, but he loved the dress-ups, too. ;)

This pic of me at the picnic tables is to remind me to tell about the bees... lots of bees this trip. They would come out every time we pulled the food out for a meal. And they were pretty annoying!! We had three people get stung -- BJ, Grandma Karen, and HP, poor things! We took turns swatting them, spraying repellent, doing battle. No fun!

We had a picnic lunch on Saturday, but we didn't find a very good place to eat it, unfortunately. So we all sat by the side of the road in a tiny piece of shade, kind of funny. But hey, at least there were no bees, eh? ;)

Natalie was our little fashion queen for the picnic. She insisted on wearing her swimming suit around her neck for most of the day, funny girl. The hat and glasses completed the ensemble! ha!

We decided to visit the famous Minnetonka Cave, near Bear Lake. A few of my brothers had been before and recommended it. Here's our group, about to go in...

Waiting for our tour to start...

It was a really impressive cave, actually! Three quarters of a mile long, with some amazing formations -- huge stalactites and stalagmites.

It also had 440 stairs inside the cave, leading to and from each cavern. We walked all the way in and all the way out, which meant we climbed or descended 880 steps! Kinda rough on Natalie, who ended up being carried by Brian lots of the time. My parents opted not to go on that adventure, and they didn't even know about the stairs... We missed them, but maybe it was better for them to save their energy??

After, we stopped at Bear Lake's drive-in restaurant for some delicious fresh raspberry shakes. Mmm.... good!!

Funny thing, the kids seemed more interested in the hammock behind the drive-in, than they were in the shakes. Oh well... more ice cream for me! ha!

Not pictured, right after our shakes, we decided to drive down by the lake, like so many people were doing. And... we got our van stuck in the sand. Badly. Our kids were pretty unnerved, and Brian and I weren't sure what to do. We tried digging out, then tried putting some boards down, then some blankets... Finally Brian just had to go ask some guys with a big monster truck if they could come pull us out. In the meantime, the kids had a BLAST digging in the sand, and Nat got to "use the facilities" in the bushes, which she thought was pretty exciting. Chalk it up to an adventure, I guess? And no more sand cruising for us until we upgrade to an SUV!

Here's Brian, messing with the settings on the camera... and messing with one of the tutus from the dress-up box, I guess? ha!

We had a little church meeting at the amphitheater on Sunday, and later, the kids did a little program for us, with all their songs, dances and skits...

These two seemed to be having a "who can get the dirtiest" contest!! They both deserved blue ribbons!!

Some of the audience, at the amphitheater...

More performers...

One cute thing, Samantha told me all the cousins had formed a "Cousins Club." The oldest cousins were part of the First Council of the Cousins, then the middle-aged cousins (including Sam) formed the Second Council of the Cousins, and the little kids were the Third Council of the Cousins. At one point, Brian and I were picking up a bunch of empty pop cans the kids had left laying around camp. Samantha saw them and said, "Oh! those belonged to the First Council of the Cousins! They should be cleaning those up!" We just thought it was cute that they had their own club. :)

The last day of our trip, it started raining right during breakfast. (And I took it personally, because it was mine and Brian's delicious breakfast-burritos breakfast!! how rude, dumb rain!) We all went running to my parents' trailer... all 25 of us crowding in to eat our breakfast in standing-room-only. Ah... it made a memory, I guess. And... it didn't let up until we were all packed up and ready to head home, with wet tents, wet bags, etc. Oh well!

Grandma Karen was extra nice and let all 15 grandkids stay in the trailer playing games and eating treats while the grown-ups packed up and cleaned the campsite. Fun times, huh?

It really was a fun, memorable, relaxing trip. We all went home happy and filthy, and we can't wait to do it all again next year! :)

Back Blogging: Back to school!

I know everyone else put up their first-day-of-school pictures a month ago. Well, it takes me awhile, but at least we actually did TAKE pictures of our cute kids on their first day. They're at a new school this year -- one with a bilingual curriculum. So, Samantha and Spencer spend half the day learning in English, and the other half of the day is in Spanish. It's been especially fun to hear Spencer come home telling me new words in Spanish -- colors, numbers, animals, etc. He's picking it up really quickly. Samantha is too, though she feels a bit more challenged, since most of the kids in her class started learning in Kindergarten, and she hasn't done any Spanish since preschool.

Anyway, they're both doing really well and they both really enjoy school so far. I just had parent-teacher conferences today, and got good reports about both kids. Spencer's favorite part of school is "making crafts and projects in art time." Samantha's favorite part is "history and geography -- in English." Here are some individual pictures of our cuties in their uniforms...

So, let's hear it for the whole back-to-school routine!! Happy kids = happy mom and dad, right?

Well, if I'm totally honest, the early mornings are about to whip my pregnant bottom., in a I-can-hardly-keep-my-eyes-open-by-2pm way!! Brian said the other day, "I was worried about the kids being really worn out by the long days and early mornings. But really, it's YOU that's getting worn out!" It's true. I still can't talk my body into wanting to get up at 6:45. It's just not natural to me, ya know? I keep thinking, man! I had sooo much more energy when I was expecting Natalie. Well, yes, and I had one preschooler who went to class twice a week at 9:30 a.m. Yeah, this is different -- an adjustment. Oh well. I'll survive, eh? ;)

Again, I say, let's hear it for the whole back-to-school routine! :) :)

Twenty-week scan... halfway to baby!!

So, we had our twenty-week scan of our little baby this week. It was super exciting to see all the movement and wiggling, etc. A few cute pics (that look a lot like all the other ultrasound pics we've had of our other babies, of course...)

And, if you're looking for some more specific anatomy pics... well... we don't have any, because this baby is a SURPRISE! That's right, we have 18-and-a-half more weeks to go before finding out if this little one is a boy or a girl. Are we old fashioned or what?! ;) Actually, this is Brian's special request. We had a surprise with Samantha, and he really, really loved it. So, after two "nonsurprise" babies (Spence and Nat), we are having one more surprise this time. Yes, that means I'll be buying pink AND blue, to resolve the "I have to plan" that every other mother tells me is the reason she could NEVER do a surprise. ;)

But secretly, I'm still thinking it's a boy. I'm not good at spotting things in ultrasounds, so I don't have very reliable information to back me up here. Plus, I really did turn my head and try not to look when the technician told us she was checking "down there." But hey, I might as well think it's one or the other, eh? And if it's a girl, well, then all the more a surprise it will be to me, right? Plus, we'll probably be more likely to agree on a name, if it's a girl, since Brian's very noncommittal about boy names. ha!

Anyway, even though we didn't find out what we're having, it was miraculous to see this little person on the big screen, kicking and wiggling and opening his little fists and pumping all that blood through those beautiful little heart chambers. Amazing!! It's a relief to know he's healthy and strong and growing according to schedule. Can't wait for him/her to get here... then maybe I will feel like I have more of a REASON to be so tired all the time??

My Cute Kids

This past Sunday was our church's primary program, where all the children sing and share scriptures, stories, personal experiences, etc. during the Sacrament Meeting hour. It took a lot of work to get everything organized, but we had a really nice program, and the kids all did a great job. I especially loved seeing MY cute kids be a part of it all. They were so cute and sweet, and said their parts really well. After it was over, I took some pictures of them, all spiffed up in their Sunday best....

Samantha had the idea to take some two-sibling shots, so we did. This one of Spence and Natalie is so cute to me...

And, a cute "sisters" picture...

And, some individual shots. Natalie would not keep her dress down. It's kind of one of her "things" we're working on, sometimes not very successfully. :) Look at that eager smile...

Our little Sammie Sue. She's wearing her baptism dress, even though it's still a couple more months before she will be old enough...

 Spencer, all decked out in his suit. Daddy had to be really persuasive to get him to wear a suit -- it's just not Spencer's thing right now. But I thought he looked so super handsome! We'll see if we can get more than one wearing out of the cute suit while it fits him, eh? ;)

And, of course, the photo shoot ended like this...

Samantha is old enough that she can be baptized by the end of this year -- once she turns 8! Her class consists of five or six little girls, all 7 or 8 years old. They each talked about the importance of baptism, and then they sang a sweet song about baptism, just the five girls, all in their little white dresses. It was really sweet and touching. We had them pose for a picture after, so cute...

That's all there is to share about the primary program, unless you want to hear about me being the lucky "helper" who got to sit my pregnant self right by the podium for the whole meeting, helping each child say his or her part into the microphone. Or, if you want to hear about how I stayed up till 1 a.m. making rice krispie treats for all 80 kids as a "thank you" for participating? Or, if you'd like to hear about how I carefully reformatted the program with bigger print, bold highlighted names, sleeve protectors, etc, so the children could read it more easily -- and then how I FORGOT it at home and had to go screeching back to the house to get it 3 mins before the meeting started? Or how I also got volunteered to lead the music, kinda last minute? Or, how nice it was for Brian's parents to come sit with our kids (and watch the program), since both Brian and I were up on the stand for the whole meeting?? Yep, it's been fun being in the primary! :)

Here's one last picture from last night. Brian and the kids went to visit our neighbor for a few minutes while I was at a meeting, and she took this sweet picture of my cuties and their Daddy. I love them all! :)

Oh, and one other thing I'd like to remember from Sunday... Brian didn't have any early-morning meetings, so he got to be HOME with us for once, all the way until it was time to go to church. It was heavenly! He's only been part of the bishopric for three months now, but it's been long enough for me (and him) to really appreciate a little break for some family time. We had a delicious ham-n-egg breakfast casserole that I had assembled the night before. And we leisurely took our time getting ourselves and the kids ready for our 11 a.m. meeting. It was sooo nice to have Brian home, and have his help getting us all ready and out the door! It didn't even get chaotic until the very end, when I was rushing around doing last-minute program stuff right before we headed out. :) Here's to being grateful for what I used to take for granted! ;) :)

About Not Blogging

"You haven't blogged for a long time," my mom told me the other night as we were talking on the phone. Should I take this as a hint? Or maybe... it's just that she's right, eh?

Well, so, I've been "not blogging" for a long time now, and the sad thing about not blogging is that the longer I "not blog" the less "bloggery" I feel. I know you know what I'm talking about, if you've ever tried to blog, right?

This will not be my most inspired attempt, but at least it's a starting point. I've toyed with the idea of just listing the things that make me not blog. But how boring would that be?

So instead, I will tell you about my last few days/weeks, etc. Might be just about as boring as not blogging, but hey, I'm baby-stepping back into this whole blog business. Cut me some slack, please. (And I write that mainly to myself, because I'm the one who reads back through and sometimes thinks, that was lame, Kam.)

So, starting with today:
I woke up at 5:47 a.m. to a piercing scream from Natalie, who had fallen out of her bed. Brian actually woke up first, and was out of bed and headed to her room by the time I was really stirring, so I let him put her back to bed while I took a trip to the bathroom. (Third trip since midnight, lovely pregnancy stuff.) I rubbed the backs of my legs awhile before coming back to bed, because they just ache in the night in a bad way, worse right before dawn. ouch! Then, of course, I couldn't get back to sleep, so I laid there and listened to Brian also not going back to sleep, until he finally got up around 6 and went into the other room to exercise. Then I eventually managed to get back to sleep for 20 minutes or so before it was 6:50, time to get the kids up for school. We made a deal that we'd start getting up ten minutes earlier, so there wouldn't be such a hectic rush to get out the door by 7:45. It was still hectic, but I managed to get them to school on time this morning, and didn't even yell. Whew! Then Natalie and I went for a walk with my friend, Kathleen and her daughter, Lydia. Nat feels humiliated to have to ride in the stroller with Lydia, but she endures as best she can. After walking, we came back home and Natalie hid with the iPad for a long time, and I let her, since she hasn't watched any PBSkids all week. And I worked on laundry and dishes from last night, and talked on the phone. After lunch I talked with Brian for awhile and worked on more laundry -- going on the 6th or 7th load today. That's basically all I got done all day, and it's still piled around me on the couch waiting for me to finish blogging and get back to work. :) Dinner was fettucine alfredo, with chicken and broccoli, and fresh corn on the cob and tomato slices. The kids trashed their room after dinner. We put up the bunk beds for them last week, and they usually trash the room every evening, playing some kind of "dodge whatever I throw at you off the top bunk" game. I ignore it and hope no one gets hurt, because that seems easier than trying to referee.  I left the mess tonight, figuring it would return first thing tomorrow since it's Saturday anyway, eh? No nap for me today, so I'm tired, crampy and nauseated tonight. But hopefully it will all feel a little better in the morning. Maybe the kids will let me sleep in?? I'm feeling this baby move quite a bit tonight. So fun.

But let's talk about yesterday, because it was more fun:
It was my go-out-and-do-something-fun day. But first it was not so fun, because the kids were draggy and slow in the morning, and I kept having to remind them to do things like put on their socks, put their homework in their bag, brush their teeth, etc. Then Samantha couldn't find her shoe, so we ended up being late. Spencer cried all the way to school and begged me to walk him to his class. So I did, in my just-woke-up clothes and hairdo. Not my best mothering moments there, in all the hysteria of being late. But I guess we all survived, eh? And then Nat and I went walking with our friends before coming home to start the fun part of the day. My sis-in-law Dalana and I planned a fun shopping outing, heading to some good thrift stores. And, we stopped at Kneaders for lunch. The shopping was good, and I came home with some new pregnancy sweaters and pants, as well as some nice kids clothes, including some "comfy shoes" for Natalie (her words, not mine). But the turkey sandwich from Kneaders tops my list of good-things-of-the-day. I could eat a turkey sandwich every day of this pregnancy -- and have, on many days! This one was on rosemary foccacia bread, with bacon, avocado and monterrey jack cheese, oh my! Pretty amazing. I tried their portabella artichoke soup as well, which I'd definitely get again. And, I also picked up a key lime tart as a treat for Brian and he let me have a bite later that night. Also pretty amazing. I love that Kneaders place. mmm! One funny thing about shopping with Dalana -- I went to pick her up, and we were both wearing three-quarter-length neutral color striped shirts, almost looked like matching (minus my belly!) I love when that happens, so funny! After shopping, I raced home to beat the kids off the bus, then got them started on homework while I took a little nap before picking up my nephew, John, to teach the kids piano lessons. Spencer cried about the lessons, for the third or fourth week in a row. So, I said we'll take a piano break for Spence until after the baby comes. Sometimes that's just the way things have to go, eh? We had a late dinner because of piano lessons, but the kids sang my praises anyway because I made mini-meatloaves in the muffin tin, which they adore. And then they had a somewhat rough bedtime, because it was nearly 9, and they were overtired. Brian and I were asleep by 10:30, which is good, for us -- and somewhat unusual.

And Wednesday:
That's the day I finally finished the salsa. I whined about it all day Monday, but the kids were out of school and I just did NOT want to drag out the mess and try to stay focused on it while doing all the kid stuff. Anyone blame me? So I got it started on Tuesday, even though I felt crummy (feverish, headachy, exhausted...). I peeled tomatoes and chopped them from 10:30 a.m. until nearly 3 p.m. (That's four and a half hours, people!! just sitting in a chair, chopping juicy, ripe tomatoes... 30 cups!) My plan was to chop the other stuff after dinner and kids were off to bed. But nope. No energy on Tuesday evening. So I saved it until Wednesday, and chopped all the other stuff all morning (the onions just about killed me, all that crying!) and put in the first pints to process right after I picked up the kids from school. That was my best batch of salsa, of the three batches I've done in the past few weeks. The tomatoes were really ripe and sweet, so it's a gorgeous dark red color. And the texture is thick and chunky, and has a great balance of flavors (though I secretly wish it had a little more zip to it... my kids and Brian don't like spicy, so we stay mild, sad but true). By the end of the day, I had all the canning stuff packed up and sitting on the counter to go out to the garage. Hooray! Ready to be done with canning for this season. It's been fun, but it is sooo time consuming. Now I can maybe get my house in better shape, or go do something fun when I feel like it?

Tuesday:
I already wrote about the canning, so I won't share all that again. But I will share a cute Samantha tidbit. She tried out for a local children's chorus last week, and she made it. yay! So, her first rehearsal was Tuesday evening. I got to go sit and watch her, which was thoroughly enjoyable. She is so enthusiastic and has such a sweet voice. I could pick her out, even with 30 other little girls singing. The teacher drew a staff and treble clef on the board and asked the kids if they knew what it was. Samantha had the right answer. When Mrs. Walker praised her, Samantha shrugged and said, "well, I take piano lessons, so I just know." (We'll work on modesty. ;) It was treat to spend some one-on-one time with her, and to see her doing something she loves. I was proud of myself for just praising and appreciating her, and for refraining from telling her to keep her fingers out of her mouth and other little criticisms that I could have mentioned but didn't. :)

Monday:
Kids were out of school for a teachers in-service day. I wanted to go do something fun with them, but I didn't have a lot of energy, and kept telling myself I was going to start on that salsa. So, instead, we spent a couple of hours completely organizing our upstairs family room/play room. We played a Simon Says game, where I would tell them Simon says to pick up 25 legos and put them in the blue box. They loved it. Funny how they MIND when Simon says... a lot better than when Mom says! ha!

Sunday:
Was a bit of a rough one. I went to bed too late, slept terribly, and woke up feeling very overwhelmed and under-prepared for church. It was one of those days where, if I didn't have responsibilities at church, I would have taken a sick day for sure. But instead, I .... well, I kept asking the kids to do things to get ready (put on shoes, find scriptures, etc.) and they kept doing nothing to get ready. So, when it was time to leave, there were missing shoes and tears and a mad mom who took Spencer's tithing and put it on the fridge because he wasn't minding or listening but was just playing with his money. By the time we got to the parking lot, the tears were mine (and Spencer's too, actually), and it was one of those moments where trying to stop crying only made it worse. Much worse. The kids were like, "why are you crying? And why can't you just stop?" And I was like, "I can't stop. I can't do this. I can't be the Mom today." Not fun. Samantha took Natalie and went to foyer to wait for me and Spence to pull it together. Spence got a grip sooner than I did, so he left me and went in to be with the girls. I let it all out for several minutes before I finally got enough control to apply some superficial mascara and lipstick. And... off we went. Brian was conducting and kept trying to make eye contact with me, to see why I traipsed in 15 minutes after the meeting started. And I avoided eye contact the entire meeting because if I looked at him, I knew I'd break down again, and I didn't have any tissues in my bag, of course. Ah... well, it all got better after that. I didn't relapse, and I was able to do my part to get our primary program in shape (it's this coming Sunday, wish us luck!) Then I went home and made sandwiches for the kids, put them in front of some church movies, and took myself to bed for a long nap. Brian had a long, busy day, and finally made it home for the night after the kids were fast asleep. Some days are like that. I wrote it all here, just to remind myself that it's okay, and it all ended up alright, and crying about it didn't really help anything, but in the long run it also didn't really hurt anything either. Chalk it up to pregnancy, I guess?

I'll stop with the daily journal. Okay? Can you see why I'm not blogging these days? :) I will take some more fun pictures of the kids and put them up here sometime soon, kay? Or I'll back-blog about our trip to Hawaii or our Hone camping reunion over Labor Day. I promise, I'll get back into blogging soon. And I'll make it real, and fun too.

Bye for now!

On Pregnancy, Birthdays, and Blogging

Hello, faithful readers -- all two of you who still lurk around to see if I might come back and write some more here! I'm back, sort of. Actually, I'm pregnant -- and not just sort of. :) so NO WONDER I've not been blogging, right?! That explains a lot, phew!

Well, I've already announced this magical, fourth little miracle to facebook, which means all of you already know our exciting news. But hey, this is the family blog! This kind of news needs to be reported and celebrated on the blog, right?!

Pregnancy details...

So, 13 and a half weeks, and counting. How exciting! Our baby is as big as a jumbo shrimp, or a pea pod, or... what else is slightly larger than a lime, but still smaller than a lemon? Well, that's what we've got, and we're calling this one a "he" because... well, just because. No, I've had no revelation, inspiration or inkling feeling that we're getting a boy this time. But to even the odds, we might as well call him a "he" for the time being, right? Spencer and I are voting blue, our girls are voting pink, and I'll go ahead and cast Brian's vote for one more blue, even though I'm totally putting words in his mouth here. :) Anyone else care to vote??

The details of this pregnancy -- have you been wondering?? Well, you probably don't really want to know too much. But so far it's been my roughest and most nauseating, by far. I've had lots of weeks of not-much-food-staying-down, and can't-keep-my-eyes-open-for-more-than-two-hours-at-a-time, and it's felt kind of overwhelming at times. But I have good help (named Brian!), thoughtful, kind friends and family (Dalana, Mom Bishop, Gina, Ann, Cindy, etc.), and patient kids, which really has helped. I keep teasing that I might write a book called "Parenting from the Couch," since that's what I've been trying to do for the last two months. (It's not very effective, btw, and probably would not be a top seller!)

The good news is, I think I'm getting closer to turning a corner, nausea-wise. So, looking on the bright side... right? :) :) In a few more weeks, maybe I'll be in that middle stretch where I feel pretty "normal" and good. (Fingers crossed!!)

Things I'm not blogging about...

Obviously, since I've been so unwell, the pregnancy has been paramount on my mind. And, the rest of the summer has just sort of "happened" around me. I'm sad that I haven't blogged (or even journaled!) about some really sweet, memorable happenings this summer. But everything has sort of seemed nausea-laced to me, (including the computer), so I haven't felt up to writing about things. But for the record, here's a quick list...
-- I went to Girls Camp as one of our ward leaders for a few days. It was super fun and I was so glad to be there with our girls. I had to leave early, to go to my grandma's funeral. But the time I spent there was really inspiring and was a nice break for me.
-- Brian's parents celebrated their FIFTIETH wedding anniversary this summer! We worked together with all the siblings and Aunt Cindy, and threw a huge open-house reception for them at the end of June. It was beautiful and so sweet to be part of their special time.
-- After the reception, we took a week-long reunion trip with Brian's family, to the Oregon coast. We all stayed in a big house together and planned outings together and had so much fun being with everyone. It was a hard trip for me, but I loved being there even though I felt pretty queasy a lot of the time. We even spent an afternoon at my favorite beach in the world -- Indian Beach, at Ecola State Park... probably my favorite moments of the trips, right there.
-- My kids have spent time at pools, parks and play dates quite often this summer, thanks to my sweet friends who have invited them to join, even when this momma was too sick to do a lot of the traditional summertime outings.
-- We spent a weekend at a remote cabin in the Sawtooth Mountains with some friends. I magically kept food down and felt good for almost two full days. I think it was the gorgeous surroundings, or the distraction of good company. It was a great respite for me, and the kids LOVED roaming free, riding bikes, and wading in the shallow river right in front of our cabin. Super fun!
-- We celebrated two important birthdays in our family -- Brian's and then mine. Brian's was actually while we were in Oregon with his family. I confess, I have not been in a store since the first of June, so his birthday-tlc was scarce, poor guy. :(  But his family made up for my lack of planning and energy, and put up streamers, birthday signs, and made cake for everyone to share. Man I love that guy... I still have birthday ideas for him, though they'll be a month (or more?) late.

Birthday girl

Speaking of birthdays, mine was a sweet one. The kids helped Brian do some shopping and clean up the house for me. Natalie came into my room the night before my birthday and said, "I need to tell you something. We bought you a hot air balloon... But don't tell!" And off she ran, knowing she'd just dropped a secret. ha! The "hot air balloon" turned out to be a big foil balloon that the kids loved for three days until it got stuck in our ceiling fan. :)

In the morning, we went to a Pioneer Day celebration for our church. They had a big pancake breakfast, then the kids got to be in a parade. We all dressed us up like pioneers and took old-time pics, they had face painting, fresh scones, a dunking booth, cupcake walk, snow-cone machine and other pioneer games. It was quite the party. (I think the pioneers would have thought it was pretty fancy!!)

In the afternoon, I took a nice nap while the kids helped Brian wrap presents and bake a cake for me. Then I got to open their sweet gifts -- a jewelry box with family photos in frames all around the sides, a 500-piece puzzle from the dollar store, a little "I love you Mother" plaque, and... a KITCHEN-AID mixer!! I've been wanting one for sooo long, but wow! That was quite the birthday surprise! Can't wait to try it out, hopefully soon. That evening we went to dinner at Olive Garden with Mark and Dalana, while Brian's parents watched our kids. Good food, sweet company, and a nice ending to a good day.

And now, I'm a year older, and feeling VERY conscious of it! Hmm... I had a lot of thoughts I wanted to write about this, but well... not tonight. I'm just very glad to be where I am at this point in life. And that's a good thing, right?  :)

Goodbye for now, blog. I want to write more. Promise. I even have pics of lots of the outings and things I wrote about here. Someday...

My Grandma Fern

My grandma passed away on June 4, 2013. She was 86 years old, and was a wonderful, strong, courageous woman. I am one of her 59 grandchildren -- her first granddaughter. I miss her, and this post is for her.

A couple of weeks before we left on our trip to Boston and New York, my mom called one evening to tell me that her mother, Grandma Fern, was in the hospital after another major heart attack. In the previous few months she had suffered three or four different heart attacks. After this one, the doctors informed her and her children that her heart was operating on less than 17%.

Along with the heart attack, they suspected other problems, including kidney and/or bladder cancer, and internal hemorrhaging. With her heart functioning at such a reduced capacity, they were hesitant to operate, but suggested an initial laparoscopy to locate problem areas. Grandma refused, and told them she did not want any surgical procedures at all. Her children discussed with the doctors -- and with her -- and decided to take her home to their homes, and arrange for hospice care to make sure she was comfortable and not in pain.

She spent her remaining weeks in the care of her sweet daughters and daughters-in-law, in their homes, as she had been for the last few years of her life. On the day she passed away, she spent the afternoon and evening surrounded by almost all of her nine living children and their spouses. They sat around her bedside and sang songs together, told stories, and reminisced with her about some of their favorite memories of her as a mother. She was quite lucid, but at times seemed to drift. She thought it was Christmastime, and kept asking them if it was snowing outside. She asked her daughters to take some money from her purse and buy Christmas presents for all the grandkids.

One sweet incident my mom told, that I don't want to forget... At one point in the afternoon, she asked her youngest son, Rick, if he could get "four $5s" out of her purse for her. He found the money (though her children cared for her, they always made sure she had her "own" money in her purse, as she occasionally liked to give it out to them or to grandkids, for various little gifts and trinkets). Grandma held the $20 in her hand and whispered to Rick that "this is for Karen. Is Karen here?" My mom came to her side and told her, "I'm here, Momma."
"This is for you, Karen. I want you to take this money and buy yourself something really nice."
"Thanks Momma. Maybe I'll go buy some nice perfume or something?"
"I don't know what kind [of perfume]... but buy something nice."
At that point, my mom's younger sister Robin walked into the room and saw my mom taking the $20. She sat down next to her mom and, teasing, said, "Are you giving out money, Momma? Did you just give Karen $20??" Grandma nodded that yes, she had given the money. As when they were children, Robin pretended to protest and said, "Well, how come you're giving Karen money, and not me??"
Grandma was quiet for a moment, then shook her head a little and whispered, "Karen works!"

Everyone laughed out loud at this. It's true, my mom was the oldest of their family of nine children. And she did, indeed, work very hard, right along side her mom for years and years, helping to care for so many younger siblings. I love that she was able to get that time with her mother, and that parting tribute -- one last little gift from Momma.

In the evening one of Grandma's sons gave her a priesthood blessing, releasing her spirit from this life. She passed away just before midnight, with some of her children attending her bedside.

I got to see her one last time before she died, as our family was leaving for Boston. We spent the evening with her at my Aunt Darla's house. She was so sweet and kind, though it was easy to tell she was in pain and was extremely tired. I spent time sitting at the foot of her bed, talking to her and listening to her talk to her son, Rick, and his wife, Janell, who had also come to visit that night. She told me several times, "I'm so glad you came, Kamber. It's so good to see you. You have such a beautiful family." I'm sad to admit, I forgot to take pictures with her that night. But I will not forget how beautiful she looked, with her long red hair and her make-up all fixed up like usual, and a nice light blue blouse and dress pants -- even though she was in her bed much of the time. The last picture I took with her was at our Phelps family Christmas party last December...

We were able to attend her funeral on June 15, in Grantsville, Utah. It was such a sweet, hard experience, but I'm so glad I was able to be there, to grieve with all my family, and to see her one last time. She looked so peaceful and beautiful at her viewing, all dressed in white, like an angel. At the funeral, I played the piano for my mom and her siblings while they sang a song their mother had taught them when they were young -- a ballad about some Mormon missionaries, trying to share the gospel in Illinois. I've always loved hearing them sing; they all have beautiful voices and harmonize with each other beautifully -- something their mother taught them.

I wrote a tribute to Grandma Fern shortly after she passed away, sharing some of my memories of her and what I've learned about her and from her, through all her children's stories and examples. I thought of sharing it here, but it's looong... and some of it may be too personal. But I will say, she had a hard life, and she lived it well. She raised her family to trust in God and believe in, and live, the gospel of Jesus Christ. She lost a baby, her second child, when he was 8 months old. She always remembered him and, I think, his memory changed the way she mothered her family, giving her a great sense of faith and comfort to know that she could see him and be with him again if she lived and taught her children to live righteously. She gave her all for her family, and in return, they took such good care of her in her later life. Their good lives are, to me, her greatest legacy. I am so grateful for her example, her courage, and her faith. Knowing her has made me want to be a better, stronger, more deliberate mother, in memory of Grandma Fern.

I love you, Grandma.

East Coast trip: lovin' life!

So, I will try to resurrect this blog, yet again. And I'm starting where I left off, with our super fun family trip to Boston and New York...

When we moved back to Idaho last fall, Brian and I talked about how it's so hard to keep in touch and stay close with friends and family when we live far away. So, we made a plan to return to The East to visit within the year. And... Southwest obliged with a great ticket sale that corresponded with Brian's brother, Reed's graduation from business school, in Massachusetts. yay!

We left a few days before Samantha was officially out of school. So, her LAST day got to be the day her class took a field trip to the zoo. I got to chaperone, and we had a great "last" time wandering around with her cute friends. Then, they tackled her for group hugs before she left...

 It was a good send off, and I think she felt okay to miss those last couple days of school, even though it was kind of sad...

First day of our trip was REED'S GRADUATION day!! yay for Reed! Luckily for us, the graduation was outside, so our restless bunch had a bit of "wiggle room." (Plus, they had Squinkies to play with, so they were well occupied, most of the time.)...

 The one "wild card" was this little mischief-maker, Miss Natalie! She had already been soooo good on the plane the night before, and again at church that morning. But by the time the graduation was underway, she was really ready to run crazy! Luckily, there was a nearby grassy area, where her dad was able to take her and let her roam free...

The Graduate!!! He did it!

 Way to go, Reed! This has been quite the undertaking for their sweet family!

 Alysa fixed a fun, celebratory dinner for Reed and all of us that evening, and the kids really loved playing with their cute cousins, Aftyn and Bronwyn.

Here's our rowdy bunch, trying to get to sleep on their special pull-out hide-a-bed couch...

After only one night, we learned that the best way to "sleep" people was to put rowdiest Natalie in bed with us until she was out, then move her back over to be with the other two, who magically went to sleep on their own very easily.

While we were in Boston, we took a trip out to Old Sturbridge Village, with Reed and Alysa and with Brian's parents, who were also visiting. (And, oops, I don't think I got a single picture with them! oh no!)...

 Sturbridge Village is kinda like the old-time pioneer village at This is the Place Monument in Salt Lake City. It's set up with a saw mill, a grist mill, a black smith shop, a pottery kiln, and dozens of other "village" buildings with costumed guide and demonstrations of how old-time life used to be. Our kids especially loved the children's dress-up section and hands-on demos. Here's Natalie and Bronwyn, in their pioneer dresses...

 All three of our kids were "riding" the hog...

The kids were making us laugh so hard with these cut-out holes! There were five kids and six holes, but man! we had a hard time getting a pic of all of them in a hole at once...

 Here was our best attempt... Spencer was mad because he was the baby girl, and he did NOT want to be a girl, so he wouldn't look at me. ;)

The grist mill, in full operation. It was actually really cool to watch!

Looking at the farm animals...

Brand new little baby lambs. They were so cute, with wobbly little legs!

In the old school house. Spencer was the "teacher"....

Next stop, we went to visit our friends, Becky and Tim, for a delicious bbq dinner. Our kids had so much fun playing with their kids. It was fun to catch up, and watch the kids interact...

 Here's a group picture, I think the neighbor took it...

 Most exciting for Spencer, while we were at Tim and Becky's, Becky taught him how to ride a bike!!! yay! Brian and I had been working with him for a few months, but they had a bike that was just the right size for him, and Becky was a "fresh start" teacher for him, so, in a matter of five minutes he had it mastered. We took several cute videos of him, but of course blogger does not believe in letting me load videos. So, all ya get is that cute pic of him with our group.

The next morning, Becky kindly offered to watch our kids so Brian and I could take a little trip to the temple. Of course, the kids were more than happy to go back to their house, especially Spencer, so he could continue honing his new bike skills! :)

Lovely temple, lovely peaceful time with my Brian, reliving some sweet Boston memories of our single days and courtship...

After the temple, we stopped by the Old North Bridge in Concord for a quick visit. The bridge is way back in the background...

 The whole gang, except Dad...

 Sad memory about this picture (above)... Just across from where we were standing was a great big beautiful climbing tree. As we took that picture, I whispered to Samantha that she should go climb that tree. We looked at it and right then a little girl was climbing down from the last branch of the tree. Right while we were watching, she FELL out of the tree, landed on an exposed root, and BROKE her arm! It was terrible! The poor parents were Russian, though they spoke pretty good English, thankfully. Brian helped them make their way to the visitor's center, where they called paramedics and took her off to the hospital. Needless to say, I changed my mind about letting Samantha climb that tree!!

We went back to Reed and Alysa's that night for delicious pizza dinner, and a birthday party for Aftyn, who is FOUR! Bronwyn just turned two a few weeks earlier, so she got some presents, too...

 Happy kids, fun presents!

The next morning, we took off for New York, but stopped for a quick visit to Boston's Children's Museum, which our kids LOVED!!

 We let each of the kids have a bit of souvenir money and pick out a present or two for themselves as we traveled. At the Children's Museum, Natalie picked out this gem, which kept her busy most of the way to NY....

Once we got to New York, our kids were in HEAVEN, because we got to stay with some of their favorite people in the world -- Zach, Parker, and Leah! Aren't they all so cute?!

 Samantha and Leah were especially happy to see each other. ha ha!!

So, the sad thing about our time in NY is that we misplaced our camera after those first couple of pictures. It was under the front seat in our van, but we really couldn't find it. All the pics we took of our time together were on our cell phones. And, I'm lazy enough that I haven't figured out how to upload pics from our phones yet. But the list of what we did...
-- Stayed with Adam and Lindsay and their kids, helped them paint their new house that they're moving into.
-- Went into the City to the Museum of Natural History
-- Ate lunch with friends at Powells restaurant
-- Visited Erin and Spencer at their new house, had delicious Sunday lunch with them
-- Went to an amazing Greek restaurant with Erin and Spencer (still dreaming of that food!), and took the kids to a fun climbing gym and play place
-- Saw so many fun friends at church, visiting our old New Rochelle ward. Oh, how homesick that made me feel!!
-- Went for a walk around our old neighborhood, across the pond bridge, around Harrison village, etc. (That was actually just ME, at 7 a.m., and it was a wonderful 3-mile walk of serenity!)
-- Went to New Jersey to stay a night with our dear friends, Brian and Debbie Hunter, who we first met when we both lived in London.
-- We celebrated Memorial Day with the Hunters -- had a delicious breakfast of homemade crepes, took a walk/hike through historic Jockey Hollow, where Washington's troops camped in the winter of 1780-81, then had a fun bbq along with our friends, Meg and John, also from London days.

We headed back to Boston for our last couple of days. And, miraculously, we found our camera. So, we got some fun pics of our last days in Boston. On the T, going into the city for a family day...

We stopped at the Frog Pond, but it was kinda slimy. So we walked over to the Public Gardens. Our kids loved the "Make Way For Ducklings" statues, of course...

And, they loved the Public Gardens, also...

On the Swan Boats, too sunny to smile properly...

From the Swan Boats, my lovely, lovely Boston...

So, once when I was on a Duck Tour, the driver touted this little bridge as "the world's shortest suspension bridge." But guess what? It's not really even a suspension bridge. hmm... But it is pretty...

Where are we?? The Old North Church, of course!

Our kids really didn't care about the "one if by land, two if by sea" bit, so I took them out to the bathrooms while Brian stayed for the tour and more pictures. (Fyi, the public restrooms behind the gift shop behind the Old North Church are GOOD!! They have a box for donations for their upkeep, and I gladly put in two dollars for a CLEAN bathroom experience, after DAYS of helping toddlers in filthy, disgusting bathroom situations. Let's hear it for some sanitary bathrooms!!)

In the North End, next to one of those really old, cool cemeteries...

We had lunch at a little Italian restaurant where Brian and I had gone on our first Valentine's Day together, when we were first dating (Round 1). The owner happens to be from Jordan, and Brian started speaking Arabic with him, talking about Egypt and Brian's love of the Middle East, etc. The restaurant wasn't crowded, so the owner kept coming by to chat while we ate, and even introduced his nephew, who just moved from Jordan to the US a few month ago. By the time we were finished eating, Brian had made some new friends, and... we got free lunch!! :) The owner absolutely refused to let us pay, but we left a nice tip anyway.

More souvenirs for the kids at the Old North Church gift store (which was one of the BEST gift stores we visited... had so much variety and so many cute, creative little trinkets, btw.) Our kids each chose a stuffed animal, which they're showing off in this pic, below...

We had to stop and stomp through the fountains on top of the Big Dig, just for fun...

Then back to the T, finishing with a good snooze on our way back to our car...

I'm pretty sure that was my favorite day of the trip. We finished off that day with a visit to Walden Pond with Reed and Alysa's family...

 We brought Blue Ribbon bbq for dinner, and let the kids play in the water until the sun went down...

 Yes, it was cold water, and yes, we were the only ones letting kids get into the water. But they loved it, and it was a fun way to end the day...

Goodbye, lovely Walden...

 Goodbye, Boston. Goodbye, fun trip to the East Coast...

We actually DID have one more day in Boston. BUT... we were sick with stomach flu. Not fun. Nat and I were up vomiting through the night, then Brian got it the next day. We were pretty lethargic, and stayed in our hotel room till nearly noon. But then we made it to the Science Museum for a few hours anyway. (No camera.)

 And then, we packed up and headed home the next morning. Here's one pic of our really long layover in Denver. Not sure why Spencer's jacket is on his head...

 On the plane...

We flew into Salt Lake in the early afternoon that day. We had plans of staying in Utah with family for a few days. But we were still feeling crummy with the flu, and Spencer was starting to get it, and we didn't want to pass it on to anyone. So, we courageously took ourselves ALL THE WAY home to Caldwell that SAME day... from 5 a.m. East Coast time, to about 11 p.m. Mountain time. A LOOOONG day!

We stopped a few times to rest our legs and run around. And, finally, we made time to stop in Twin Falls and see the majestic Shoshone Falls. (It's been on our "list" for several years now, so we were glad to finally see it.)...

 Welcome Home, Bishop Family! That's the end of our fun start-of-summer trip to the East Coast. It was a lovely, bittersweet trip, making me homesick for the green, green loveliness of New York and Boston, -- making me miss some very sweet, dear friends who feel soooo far away right now. But in the end, I am glad to be home. And glad for the memories.