(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)

Thanks

I've been trying to find who said the Quote:
 " If the only thing you ever say is 'Thanks'
 that will be enough."

I have felt very, very Thankful, lately. 
 We had a great Thanksgiving time in Utah with most all of our family (Rocky was missing), but we also had Mom & Dad Winters.

I have a great family and home and husband and life and.....and...
I could go on and on..
I use to write down 3 things that I was thankful for - everyday.
I had a journal and did this for quite awhile.  I go back to this journal often and feel much better everytime I look at it.
I don't know why I have to be reminded of the many things I'm grateful for.  I guess it's human nature to dwell on the things wrong in life. We have to consciously remind ourselves of all the good things and all that is 'right' in our lives.
I'm so thankful that Jay & I have weathered through 33+ years together as a married couple. It's not always easy, but looking back - it's not been THAT hard either.
I'm so thankful for our kids and grandkids. They have given us so much Joy. (especially since the grandkids have arrived.....:)
Also, I'm thankful that we've had a good home and it's warm right now!  This time of year is sooooo cold. Today has been particularly cold and I've thought of it a lot.
I've also thought of the good friends that we have around here. We've been very blessed to live in small towns most all of our lives and know most of the people around us. 
 I loved going to church today and feeling like we really have a good, tight knit community.
Some days I feel like I don't really like that, because I like to feel anonymous and not noticed.  But that's just my mood swinging...:) Anyways, I feel very blessed to be part of a community and have a somewhat good reputation in this community.
I'm also grateful for a pretty good functioning body. I've worked harder the last few years in maintaining my health.(probably because I have had more time to do it), but I do feel better and notice that my body is paying me back for it.  So all that walking/jogging is paying off.
I have taken quite a long break these last couple of weeks, but I'm determined to get back at it soon. (just gotta keep telling myself that)  The Holidays tend to mess up routines.
  Well, I know I haven't even touched on all that I am thankful for, but this is a long enough blog. I'll stop for now. Chow!

Today's Quote - Balance

Just as your car runs more smoothly and requires less energy to go faster and farther when the wheels are in perfect alignment, you perform better when your thoughts, feelings, emotions, goals, and values are in balance.   - Brian Tracy

Wow, I don't know if I've ever felt that I've had all these things in perfect balance for myself to perform my very best.  But I have had times that I've felt pretty close.

Lately, I've had a cold that is making me feel quite out of balance.
I hope to get some feeling of balance back soon. I've got things I want to do and places to go, but all I feel like doing is hiding at home and not going anywhere. Yea, that's life.

Quote Today - Henry David Thoreau

"It's not enough to be busy, so are the ants.  The question is, what are we busy about?"
Henry David Thoreau

Yea, I hope I can not be wasting my time away too much. I tend to find plenty of things to be busy with, but a lot of it doesn't matter that much. I'm usually pretty content and happy with my life and what I do.
But for some reason, last night, I kept dreaming that I was busy, busy, busy and running around like a chicken with his head cut off - for no reason at all. Is this dream trying to tell me something??
Probably.......
I've spent a lot of time on the computer, lately. And most of it is trying to update the address list of my classmates in High School.
I'm on a committee to help with our 35th Reunion next year and we want to send out a postcard soon now to tell everyone about it so that they can reserve the date.  I don't know......I really don't mind doing this stuff, but I can get to caught up in it and spend too much time on it. I am a perfectionist in some things and have to have things right. Oh, well. I guess I'm an ant.

But still, I know I'm more than an ant. I think we are all like the iceberg above. So much is below the surface.  We are all really quite complicated - if you think about it.....:)

Halloween time.....

Yes, we decided to be Doctors this Halloween. It was pretty easy to do, since I had some of Rocky's old scrubs and lab coats from Medical School. I bought Jay an outfit from Wal-mart and there you go.   Anyways, I also bought more candy this year than I ever have for Trunk or Treat.  Our daughter, Staci is a couponer - so I got some coupons from her and really went to town on the candy.  It made it much more fun. We had plenty to give all the scores of kids that came by our trunk and we were able to help some of those that ran out of candy around us..

Here's a few more pics and some below of those that came to our trunk!!

Pretty good, huh?!   The battery went dead again on my camera, so I really didn't get all the pics I wanted.  But all in all - it was a great Halloween.  And the picture below is of our son Greg as a Ghost on Halloween.  I took this off of Facebook.

HA!

Beezley Hill - Ephrata, WA

This is the first time that I have ever lost a whole post.
I honestly don't know what happened, but when I tried to Publish it.  It went blank and did nothing.
I think it was because I left it and came back to it later and hadn't saved it all along the way.
  Well, now the post won't be so great, but I'll hurry and try to re-coup part of what I said.

I climbed Beezley Hill last week and quite enjoyed it.  I have gone with friends a few times over the years, but this time I went alone. This is a picture of looking down about 1/2 way up:

Here's some pics of the new Breast Cancer Awareness memorial that's part of the way up, too:

Then right next to it - is the Autism Group's special spot:

Really nice, both of them.  I can't find the pictures I thought I took when I reached the top, but I do have a few of the lights that are up there. Depending on what time of year - they either have a cross, a flag, or a star.  I think that's it.  I don't live in town, so I don't see the hill every night.

Yes, it looks kind of dry and desolate.  That's why I like to drive to Wenatchee and walk the river.
But I think I'll try to walk this more.  It's nice to look down on the town of Ephrata. It's a nice town to be from.
Oh, and I almost forgot this picture.  It's one that I stole off of the Ephrata town website. Cool, huh?