Grand kids

Don't I have the most beautiful grandkids in the whole wide world!?!  I can't tell you how much I adore them. And, Here's a pic of the whole family:

This is a pretty recent pic. (about a month ago)

Our daughter, Staci, is their mother and our son-in-law is Chad Larsen.

 

I feel like telling you a little bit about each one of them. I don't think I've said a lot in past blog posts, so here goes:

The Oldest is the only boy : Weston Jay Larsen. He is 9 years old. 

This pic is when he was 7, I think.  But he is really an amazing kid and I'm not just saying that because I'm his grandma.  A lot of other people have said it to me, too...:)

He is always beating us at games -almost any game I've played w/him.  And I don't even try to lose either. He has a very competitive nature and does excel at about everything he tries to do.

He has always been amazing at putting together Legos - starting at 2 years old. One day when he was 6 years old, he said to his parents, " Do you know what the greatest thing in the world is?"

And they said, " No, What?"

And he said, "Lego instructions!"

Now what 6 year old would say something like that!

(Okay, I'll  have to just say one story each about these kids, or I'll never get this blog done...:)

 

 

 

Okay the 1st pic of Analee was when she was a lot younger. (But I just love that one). And the next one is a more recent one.  She is 7 years old now.

She is a very sensitive and loving girl. She is also very observant.  I'll never forget when she was younger and she asked me what were all those polka dots (freckles)  all over my face!

Oh, here is an even more recent pic of Analee below:

 

Then you've got Kallista, age 5:

 

And

here is a pic below of her at around 2 0r 3 years:

She has been the one that has said sooooo many funny things. I have quite a list of them in

my little Grandma's book of sayings.  Here's an example:

I had been w/the kids for almost a week one time during little Lydia's surgeries and helping w/a move that they were making to Rigby. And at the end of the week, I was driving them to a park - when Weston asked if I had to go back home soon. I said, "Yes, I probably will have to go soon."  Then Kallista piped up and said "  Don't go Grandma!  We are just starting to like you!"

(Oh, out of the mouth of babes....:)

 

Next there is Gwen. She is 3 years old right now:

Above is when she was younger and would just let me hold her like that forever.  She was the only one that would do that for so long. I'd say that she did that for at least the first 2 years of her life.

Gwen is a very strong willed little girl now. I get quite a kick out of her and how she is.

A few months ago,she was upset about something.  So she had gone into my bedroom and shut the door behind her and had started to tear up some pages in my scriptures. (Greg also did this once when he was little) Anyhoo, I caught her and her parents found out - so they were trying to make her say "I'm sorry Grandma."  She just couldn't do it.  They brought her to me about 10 times until she finally said a very quiet "sorry".   It was so funny that I tried not to laugh, but it was so hard for her to do.'

 

Then we have little Lydia:

 

Lydia will be one in June.

 

 

The above is a picture before one of her surgeries. She had a cleft lip and palate.

Even with all that she has been through, she will smile. She has such a sweet spirit about her.

We are so thankful for this little girl.

 

Okay, I had to do a little bragging. That's what a Grandma does.

I'm OCD

Yes, I'm pretty sure I'm OCD when it comes to keeping my house clean.  I've always been a cleaner.  It's in my DNA, I just can't help it.  I can't stand CLUTTER!! 
You know I don't care if other people are messy. And if they can live with all that clutter around them - it's none of my business.  But I sure do care about my own mess. 

I have to have a house that is in order.  I've tried all my life to be a little more relaxed when it comes to having a clean house and I just can't do it!  I can't relax until things are as they should be - in order.
I'm afraid that I've passed this on to my daughter (and to some degree, my sons).
I've noticed that Staci is a workaholic when it comes to her house.  She really cleans and keeps things in order.  And with 5 kids, that is hard to do! I hope it doesn't drive her to the looney bin - like it almost did to me.

Those hoarder shows don't help me a bit.  I almost get sick when I see how bad it is for some of them.
And it makes me want to clean more! Oh, well........I guess there are worse things. And it's been much easier to keep a clean house with just Jay and I.

My Best Friend

But oh...the blessing it is to have a friend to whom one can speak fearlessly on any subject; with whom one's deepest as well as one's most foolish thought come out simply and safely. Oh, the comfort-of feeling safe with a person-having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all right out, just as they are, chaff and grain together; certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then with the breath of kindness blow the rest away."   "Dinah Craik, A Life for a Life, 1859

I really like this quote. I do feel that I have a friend like this and that friend is my husband.  It's taken many years for me to feel that I can say almost anything to him and he will understand. I guess we had to pretty much grow up together - to finally understand each other.
It's true that we still have our days when one or the other of us feels grouchy and sometimes says something that may hurt the other's feelings. But we are quick to forgive each other.
I'm so thankful for this. It wasn't easy to get to this point and I pray that it can only get better from here.  I see so many couples that have crumbled as a couple and others that are crumbling. All I can do is be grateful that we have the relationship that we do and try every day to make it better.

Time

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven:  a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2

 Yes, I'm going to start some Quote posts again.....:0)
I really am shocked how fast time seems to be going.  Even though,
I have more time in this stage of my life - to do the things I want.
It's
like that saying in the song, "There's never enough time to do the things you
want once you find them."  (I think it goes something like that)

I can almost feel time rushing past me.  How can it move so fast? Where did it go? What happened to my children? How can I help them with this concept of time??    

Am I using my time well??
 
One good thing about time going by right now, Is that we are moving in to the Spring/Summer season that I love.  Things are greening up and I love being outside.  I walked the River yesterday and was in Awe (as usual). The trees were greening up, there were small plants and flowers (like daffodils) showing themselves on the manicured side of the River.  The east side is more wild, but
it has it's own kind of beauty.  All the decay and grayness left by Winter is being
over-run by new green shoots (mostly weeds)  But hey!  it's still beautiful.
How can you not look at the pic above and not want to slow down time and just
savor the day and enjoy.   I sure do love to do that. Wish I had more time.

The Canal Caper

Well,

I didn't take any pics this year (today) of The Canal Caper (10 K) in Ephrata. So this one from last year will have to do. (Paula Cobb, me, Janene Cobb)

I really, really should have taken one, because it was the best weather we have had since I can remember!

And I've been doing this race (on and off, mostly on) for the last 10-15 years.

They were celebrating it's 35th year this year.  And the race director - Joe McManus - has been

running this event the whole time. This is his last year. What a nice man, I could tell he was a little

choked up today about it all.

I was able to run/walk and I did my usual (around 75 min.) But I could tell it was harder for me today.  I/m just not in the shape I would like to be! So I'm going to commit to doing better this year.

Yes, I said it - now I've gotta do it.

My Mother in-Law, Vera Adams, passed away February 5th. It wasn't too long after the last post that I posted below.

We had a wonderful Funeral and most all of her family came to say "Goodbye". I have a picture of all of us somewhere, but will have to post it when I find it.

We had a very sad funeral a few weeks before Vera's for another member of our Adams' Family. Little Liam D. Adams, The brandnew baby boy of our Nephew& Niece - Richard & Leisha Adams. What a sad time that was.......
as Vera's funeral was more of a celebration of the good long life she lived. She lived to be 89.
 We've had so many people comment on the kindness and love that they felt from her. We've also received many cards of Sympathy on her behalf.
This is a pic of Liam's graveside:


A lot has happened the last few months. I'm so thankful that it is starting to warm up and showing big signs of Spring coming.

This is a pic from walking around The Columbia River. I've been doing it once a week for awhile now. I'm going to walk/run
the Canal Caper in Ephrata tomorrow. It's a 10K. I'm feeling like I've slowed down a lot. So we'll see how great my time is tomorrow.

Vera

Today I'm thinking a lot about my Mother-in-law, Vera. She has lived close by us all our married life.(almost 35 years) The last 10, well maybe 15 years have been tough for her. (since Dad has been gone.) She has had a lot of health issues. I don't know if I should start naming them, but here goes: 1st she had Ovarian Cancer and went throught the Chemo and a surgery and all that. Then she had a few falls, broke her hip, broke her arm, and re-broke her arm. She had to finally just let the arm hang w/a brace on it, because they couldn't fix it. So the mobility in using her Rt. arm was limited. Which seemed to lead to other things......because her bones are very, very fragile. She had the terrible fall at the church a few years ago that really put her down. She broke a lot of bones and was never able to get up and walk after that. So we had to put her in a Nursing Home. She has always seemed to have a chronic bladder infection and now I think it is getting the best of her. Her immune system is down and the infection has caused a high fever which has caused her whole body to be affected. She is now in the Wenatchee Hospital on some strong Antibiotics. Hard to tell if she will pull through this our not. She has been delirious and disoriented. Not really knowing what is going on. It is hard for us to see, but we know that she has lived a great life and if it is to come that she passes, so be it. She is 89 and her quality of life hasn't been very good for quite awhile now. Everytime I took her to church on Sundays she was always so upset that she couldn't see or hear well. She had macular degeneration and hearing problems that couldn't be fixed. I love her very much, but I've felt so bad for her for so long. It's hard to see your loved ones suffer and there's not much you can do about it. You try to visit them, take them to family functions, buy things at Wal-mart that they need, take them out to dinner and to your home for dinner. But trying to keep them in your home and taking care of them is a full-time job. It's very hard and all of us in the Adams' Family tried this before we realized it wouldn't work. So this is why I'm feeling such mixed emotion today. You never feel like you've done enough, but you have to come to peace with it. You have to realize that you've done the best you could do for the situation. I just re-read this post and it hit me that I didn't say the most important thing. That Vera was the best mom-in-law I could have had. She really is and was a very, very sweet lady. Never judged us and anyone else much for that matter. Everyone loved her. She was indeed, kind and sweet to all. She cared so much for her family. She was always wanting to know how everyone was doing and what they were up to. I feel so blessed to have been a part of her life.

Just a quick note to show you our Family Picture that we took at Christmas time. We can never seem to get the whole family together, but finally we did!!! Rocky is a Dr. in Mobile, Alabama....and so it is hard to get him out here in the West when the rest of us are together. Hopefully, we can get a picture like this every Christmas time in the future....:)

 

(The pic below is of our 2 nieces - Whitney and Melia who graduated from Zillah High School this year.)

 

 

Well, I'm going to try and catch up on some of the Summer things that happened this year.
We had quite a few big things happen this year. I hope I don't forget something, but I will attempt to list the big things that happened. (Not in any particular order)

 My Sister Mindi got married in June. (so happy for her - she is 36)

Staci had baby Lydia in June - and Lydia had a major surgery on her Cleft lip & palate in August.

Our nephew Mitch was married in Las Vegas. (we went to the wedding and receptions)

I had my 35th HS Reunion at the end of July. (in which I was quite involved in the planning of)

Our neice Gina got married in October ( her 2nd and his 1st)  everything seemed to fall in place for her. She soooooo deserves some happiness after some tough years w/the X.

Some other good friends found their mates. (So we've gone to a lot of weddings this year.)
Jay has had to perform a couple weddings, too.

Heidi graduated from Art Academy

Jay's brother Roger had some pretty scary surgeries, but all turned out fine.

Our sis-in-law Nadine had breast cancer and surgery.( Is fine now.)

Staci and Chad made a major move to another town - all around the time of the baby's operation.
(so I spent a lot of time down there and at our house in Utah)

Our grandson, Weston turned 8 and was baptized into our Church.

Jay & I were Thing 1 and Thing 2 for Halloween.

Now I will post a few pics of this last year. And maybe I'll feel like I've caught up.....a little bit.

My Class Reunion.

 

Fun at the Beach w/the Winters Family.

 

Memorial Day w/Grandma Vera in Ephrata:

 

 Our darling granddaughter - Kallista.

 

   Well, Yes, it is December 2nd and I feel like blogging today. Many times I have sat down to write and then I think of something else I need to do.  But not today!
I realize that I still have this blog named as Marie's Walking Blog and I haven't talked about any
progress on my Walking.  I still do walk/jog as often as I can.  I try to go walk the River in Wenatchee at least once every two weeks.  It always makes me feel so good to know that I have
walked the whole 11 mile loop.......  I plan to do it tomorrow.
    Then every three days I walk around the farm or some other 3-4 mile walk.  I realize I have been
slowing down a little, but I still feel that I have to make time for walking.  It's that time of year that
I have to resort to the treadmill, too.  But I really feel much better about myself if I keep this going.
I probably have said that a thousand, no, maybe a million times in this blog.  But I do feel better!!
I have a strong, strong testimony of walking.  If you keep doing it when you are older, you will
generally feel better and be able to do more.   I hope I can keep it up.  My Dad is very good at this.
He is 77 and he keeps walking.  He has always been a very healthy man and I'm sure his walking has
been part of the reason.

   So I must write in here that I did do a 1/2 marathon this year.  I did the Ogden Valley Marathon with
my daughter Staci.  She is amazing. (Pic of her above) She had just given birth a couple months before.  Infact, we couldn't get a babysitter for little Lydia so we took her on the run w/us.  I can't believe how great she(Lydia)  was.  We only had to take her out of the stroller once on the run to hold her. Staci was actually holding her and giving her a bottle while running.  Unbelievable!
 I know.....but we finished the race and of course our time wasn't that great  - but we finished!
  It wasn't an easy race, because of the hills and the altitude in Utah (I'm not used to)

And I was really dying at the end, because I wasn't as prepared as I should have been.  Still, I'm documenting all this to try and keep myself going.  I should do at least 2 or 3 races a year, I know.  I'll keep trying....:)

since last post - mostly July

OKay, It sure has been a full summer already! I almost forgot that I have a blog.  I can never keep on top of things.  But here's a picture of me w/some of the grandkids at a park in SLC.  We spent July 4th down there w/Chad & Staci's family and Greg & Heidi.  What a great time we had!  The picture below is of Chad and Greg's Birthday which we celebrated at our house in Eden.

 The pic above is of Jay and I at Mindi's wedding at the Salt Lake Temple, SLC. And the one below is of my Winters family (just the adults) that were there. My brother Rick and his wife JaLynne are on your left of the screen.  They have just moved from Virginia to Soap Lake, Wa.  They will live by us!  Rick is the new HS/MS Principal there.  We are so excited to have them close.

 The pic above is of Staci and Chad's family.  Aren't they just too adorable!! Staci is holding little Lydia and Chad is holding Gwen. Then from L to R is Kallista, Weston, and Analee.  I know I'm a very lucky Grandma!      Then the pic below is of Mindi and her Sister and Sis-in-laws, also a very close friend on the Left. (Casey)

 The pic above is self-explanatory.  Grandpa w/his Grandkids.  And the one below is of Greg & Heidi and all the kids except the baby.  I know, too cute.........:)

Also, this last one is of Mindi and Kody after their wedding.  I know I'm out of order, but you can see that we had a very full month.  And a lot of great things happened.  I loved it. <3

Little Lydia arrives! June 4th

Yes, we weren't expecting her until the 13th. So I was very surprised to get a call on the morning of June 4th from our daughter, Staci.  She was feeling quite groggy, but managed to tell me that she had the baby that morning.  So I packed up quickly and headed out on the open road to Idaho Falls, Idaho.

I was able to go straight to the Hospital and see Mom and Baby.  Lydia has a cleft lip and palate. It will be a challenge to fix this, but Staci and Chad have been through this before.  As their last child, Gwen had a cleft lip.  We are just so thankful that she is healthy and the lip can be fixed.  It won't be fun for the parents, but they are optimistic and up for what lies ahead.
I was so glad that I could stay the whole week and help Staci.  The main thing for me was to help with the other kids.  They have 4 other kids!  Yes, I got a little tired, but it wasn't hard.  I just had to get them out of the house as much as possible - so that Mom and baby could get some much needed rest.  We went to McDonalds a few times and some other eateries with play places.  We also went to a few parks and a couple different Dollar stores.  I'm telling you -  bribery does work - and it works very well for Grandmothers.....:)
Staci hasn't been able to breast feed Lydia, so I was able to help feed her the bottle a few times. 
She is just the most precious little thing and seems to be a good baby so far.  She just has her days and nights mixed up -  like so many of them do for awhile.

Here is another picture of Lydia,  but it is done by a professional. (you couldn't tell, could you:)

Well, I'm home now, but intend to go back next week and babysit while Staci & Chad take Lydia to the Doctors at Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake.

Then next weekend is my Sister -Mindi's wedding.  It will be at the LDS Salt Lake Temple.
We are sooooooo thrillled for her.  She is 36 and has been waiting a long time for this.  What a great time it will be for my Winters' Family.  My brother, Rick and his family are coming from Virginia.
They are literally moving the family back to Washington State.  So they will stop in Salt Lake with their moving Van and come to the wedding.  We are so happy to get them back here.  They were only gone for a year, but we all missed them.  
That is how I feel about our son, Rocky Jay.  He is still in Mobile, but we intend to get him out here closer to us in the Western United States. 
Well, the summer is turning out to be quite busy.  After Mindi's wedding, we all plan to come back to Zillah and have her Reception (the next weekend).  Then Jay & I will go back down to Utah for the week of July 4th.  Greg & Heidi are coming to join us at our house down there in Eden, Utah for the 4th.  Hopefully, Chad & Staci & family will come back down, too. 
We really have enjoyed that house - as we have only had it for a year now, but it has been wonderful.  It is big enough to have all the kids and then some - stay with us.  It is so nice to have the extra room.  This will be the house that we plan to retire to.  I will have to post some pics on here sometime soon.
But this is enough posting for now.
Maybe I can make it a habit again........but I don't think anyone cares.....:)
That's okay.

Yep, I'm really having a tough time blogging this year.

This month has gone by sooooo fast. We went on a trip for 10 days.  First, we visited our oldest son,
Rocky in Mobile,Alabama.  Then we flew to Oakland to visit our youngest son, Greg and his wife, Heidi. 
Rocky was moving across town.....so we were his moving crew. I did much better this time, since the last time I had heat stroke and laid in bed for 2 hours while Jay and Rocky did all the work. Yes, I was much more useful this time...:) 
After we helped Rock move, we took a little trip down to Pensecola, FL.  The beach there is so nice and the water was warm!  We just don't have warm watered beaches in the West.  So we laid out and swam for a bit and then went back to Mobile and watched a movie.
We had a great time with Rock.  Jay even got to do a little golfing w/him. 
But then it ended all too soon and we spent a day in Airports heading to Oakland, CA.
Greg & Heidi picked us up and drove us down to Monterrey, CA. that same day.  We spent a couple
days there - relaxing and visiting friends (Stuart & Carma Dong) and eating.  Man, we had some good meals there.   Jay & Greg were able to play Golf-and Heidi & I took long walks on the beautiful beach.
Then we drove back up to Oakland and went to Heidi's graduation from The Academy of Art in San Fransisco.  They treated us so well and took us into the big City to eat and watch another movie. Then on our last day there, we ended up in San Fransisco Park by Golden Gate.  Greg & Heidi had reserved a Segway tour for us.  It really was much more fun then I thought it would be.  I will post some pics of us on our Segways at the bottom of this blog.  We spent over two hours just flying through the park like the Mall cops we were! We sure got the looks, too.
 And what a beautiful day and Park it was!  We really had a good time.

Well, I think that's a pretty good summary of our trip.  Now we are back home and busy with the day to day things.  I will be going to Idaho Falls as soon as Staci starts into labor/ orJune 13th.  (whichever comes first)   Then at the end of the month, my sister, Mindi is getting married. We will go to Salt Lake City for that and then come back to Zillah for her Reception.  I'm making the Shrimp puffs for that and I've been practicing today.......Since it's been forever since I've made Shrimp puffs.
They turned out pretty good (if I do say so myself) and I do...

Now if I can make 300+ more and put them in the freezer sometime...
Hey, you do what you can for family, right?!

Is Spring really coming??

It was overcast, but warm on my walk yesterday. I haven't done the 11 miles around the River in at least 2 weeks .  For some reason,  I was really hurting about 1/2 way through the walk. It wouldn't be signs of old age, would it?? no...........:) 
I did do the Canal Caper again this year and I felt pretty good about it.  I did around the same time as I did last year.  I just know that I'm not as in as good a shape this year.  It really is a constant struggle to keep yourself going during the cold months.
I'm praying that the cold months are over and that it gets warmer. I have another picture here that shows that I may be right.

YES!  Doesn't that mean that Spring is here?? I hope so. The weather has been very strange this year.
But at least we don't get tornadoes here - like they do back east (and in the south).  The Dallas area had some really crazy ones(tornadoes) about a week or so ago.
So bring it on Spring.....I'm ready for ya.

Every day is a Miracle

I took this picture when I went out walking today. Yes, I believe that every single day is a miracle.
I just wrote a long blog on it and I lost it somehow.  But I'm not going to let that defeat me.  I still believe in Miracles!
I know it is impossible for me to catch up with the last 3 months that I haven't blogged - so I will start anew.  And I will talk about miracles.

The sun rises and sets.  It provides warmth and light necessary to sustain life. Even when the skies are clouded, we know the light is there.  I look at the sun at least once every time I go walking  and a feeling of pure gratitude washes over me.

Look at the make up of a little leaf or a flower! Isn't that amazing?  Like Christ said: 'Consider the Lilies of the Field - how they grow"  Yes, isn't that a miracle?

Each of us are a miracle. Yes, I'd say that's the biggest miracle of all. US.
Our individuality. No one in all of the universe is exactly like us.
 And Blood is pumping through
this body of mine, allowing oxygen to get to every portion of my tabernacle.  Amazing!
And this body is able to keep going for about 100 years, unbelievable.

We can communicate with each other.  And most important of all we can communicate love to each other - with our mind and bodies.  I believe that showing and communicating love will be the most important thing we can do on this earth.

Well, I know there are a lot of other miracles that I could mention. Look at water, fire, and especially the food that is provided on this earth for us.  All of these are miracles.
But I just wanted to mention some of the miracles that I've been thinking of. (above)


Our daughter is having another baby girl in June.  Her name will be Lydia.  Isn't that a miracle that we know that she is a girl already??

I have one last thought. In one of Marianne Williamson's books she says that a miracle is a change in perception.  Think about that.  I will not try to explain what I think it means.   But I can give an example that comes to mind:
About 20 + years or so ago, I would have told you that it would be a miracle to hold a wireless phone in my hand and surf the internet. I don't think  we even had the word 'internet' back then. 
So that's a miracle to me. (what we can do today with technology)