Great being a Mom and grandma on Mothers Day

I don't know if I would have had time or the  know how to keep records of everything my kids did when they were little.  I was a very anxious mom and everything worried me and freaked me out, but now being the grandma I still worry, I just have more people to worry about, but I can pay more attention to the little and cute things they do.

The magic Teddy Bear:  Kids have very busy minds, especially when they are supposed to be going to sleep.  The little guy had already come out a few times and he asked me to come look under the dark bed again, so while I was doing that I put the little blankets and the big teddy bear back on the bed, kiss kiss and I went back to reading.  Only a few minutes and he came out again and very quietly said "grandma the bear got on my bed all by himself".  I tried not to laugh and just said that I had put him there, "I did not see put him there"  I quickly went and moved him again.  Kiss kiss and sleep came soon.

1. This was no nap fun!

Okey-dokey (sp)  I was driving and said that
strange word a couple of times to the little guy and he finally said "grandma what is okey-dokey"?  I replied it means OK.  Grandma just say OK, OK I will.

We had a good time in our 29 hrs together, and when I had to hand them off to the next loving grandparents I really missed them and wondered all the time how they were doing.

I love being a Mom and Grandma and even though mothers day found many of us separated by a few and a lot of miles, I like Judy think everyday is a great day to be a mom, with the great kids I have, I know they love and respect  me and have shown me that in so many ways.  

Home improvements

     Home improvements, unlike the sitcom, never end.  we wanted and disparately  needed  a new light fixture in the big open area at the bottom of our stairs.  I forgot to take a before picture, but it was from the 70's, with a big gold square base and 4 golden, smokey colored ball globe lights, (get the picture).  We went to look for a new one and came home with 5 new light fixtures.  I guess Kim has always hated the old ones we had outside, by the front door, garage side door and garage fronts.  So he gave himself an all day to-do job on Sat. but he got them all done and they look really really nice.   Then Tues I came home and he had a bought a new one for the light post we have in the front yard. They are all lovely and now up to date.

 The house guests and their stuff

 Baseball cheerleader

 New house light

 Mr. DIY 

 Before

 Happy little guy after, (Jodi and maybe Trevor put it together for him and all grand-kids to follow)  It was a great KSL find.

 The 24 year old birthday boy, his great cake his sister made and a little help from the little guy.

 Happy and laughing, but not wanting to give up the bat after a hit.

Adventure at the Tree House, there is almost too much to do.  They both ran from one place to then next.

      Kim is often complaining about the size of our home and yard.  Mostly that it's too big for only 2 people and it is requiring way too much time and work.  I know he wants to live in a maintenance free, brand new, 5th  story home somewhere, which is not what I want at all.  But I am sure that even there he would have work to do.  The only truly maintenance free homes I know about are Prisons and Care Centers, and those are not options at this point.

     We have had a great few weeks, we've had baseball games, guest sleepovers, birthdays, new activity toys, adventures at the Tree House, and work work work.

     Matt and Jenn have had a rough few days with car brake in's, stolen items, and ER visits.  Jodi is leaving Trevor in Cal. for 3 months for his internship with HP. Gordon and Jess are trying to think of ways to keep their temple recommends, but never hold a ward calling, Gordon just got called as their new Bishops Executive Secretary, and Jess is still the RS pres.  Mel is juggling being a single pregnant mom for most of the summer while Justin is working hard and traveling.  Being a young married family is such an adventure and they are all doing great at it.  It just seems like when it rains it pours.

     I am missing my mom this mothers day and felling like her in more and more ways.  I often wish she were here so I could talk to her and get her advice on so many topics.  I love her so much and I am so grateful for her love and guidance throughout my life and I hope I can be that same great mom to my kids that she was to my siblings and me.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY to you all.        

FINALLY

So it’s been awhile... oh well.

There has been a few things happening in the last 5 months, most will not be new to the few who care, but it’s my update.

 I finally have good kidneys, my BP is not so hot but that is being worked on.  I am such a patient advocate now. Whenever we are in meetings and pt. satisfaction comes up I have a lot to say.

I finally got an I-Phone. Kim and the kids have been bugging me forever to get one and I sore I would be the long holdout, but I am afraid Instagram got me.  I am like the little old grandma going to the mail box looking for mail; I want a new picture every time I look at my phone.  So if you are a Instagramer and I don’t have you as a friend please invite me. Kim and I got I-Pads for Christmas and I am sure with both the I’s I don’t use them to a tenth of what they are good for.  When I was home sick, Matt came by for a lunch visit one day and I was playing spider solitary and he said “mom, you have the whole world at your finger tips and you are playing a game”.  I do do a few other things now, but not much more.

I finally hired, behind Kim’s back, and for his b-day and father’s day gift, a lawn service.  The mowing, edging, weed control type.  Kim does and will do the job, but he just doesn’t have time.  His job has always been so busy in the summer, and now with this Bishop calling, I just didn’t want to nag and I of course didn’t want to do it myself. 

I finally, after a year or so of babying along our washing machine, doing very very small loads, actually starting the ring cycle by hand, and wondering if anything was actually getting clean, bought a new washing machine and I for some reason I  needed the set.  But to go along with the new machines we had to put in a new floor.  It was the only room in our home that hadn’t been redone, so why not.  (I did sort of sell the old dryer).

I finally got rid of the 80’s vertical blinds that had broken slates, that couldn’t be fixed anymore, with a custom made, due the size, blinds in the family room.  I love them and they didn’t cost anywhere near what I thought they would.

I finally can park my truck in the garage without fear of hitting something.  Kim did a great job cleaning and organizing it.  Why can’t it just stay that way?  I really think neighbors come at night and just throw stuff in there.

I finally went to the Draper Temple.  There are a lot of the temples I haven’t been in, but we took Charlene, her sister Ranae and brother Glad there last week and it was a beautiful day.

I finally kept to a goal that our Stake Pres. gave us to read the scriptures for 30 days straight.  I completed that on Jan, 30th and have continued to read every day since.  I have never done that in my whole life.  I finished the Book of Mormon a while ago and so I just started over.  I will admit, some days I only read one chapter, never less; there have been times I actually read at 1145 PM. And I would remember I need to read just as I was trying to fall asleep.  But out of all of these “finally” events I am very proud of this one.

I turned 55, I am going to be a grandma for the 3^rd time, I am driving my truck again, I drove Kim’s Subaru for a long time, I officially only have one job, I finial quit the one I didn’t like.  I have organized all my closets and especially my craft stuff so that little hands can no longer pull everything out. I also have the cutest grand kids around. (you will have to look at their blogs),

 I also attend an adoption class with Gordon and Jess.  They are in for what could possibly be a rough, long, but well worth it road, but I pray for them as I do for all my kids and loved ones.

I am finally done.

Are you kidding!!!

We had a very nice Thanksgiving. Sister-in-law Sally was so kind as she is every year to host the dinner. I only had to bring 4 pies, cheese balls and crackers and then I put to gather a little craft for all the kids to do. I always hate the in between clean up and pie time for kids, they seem to get board, and they seemed to enjoy to craft. So anyway even though not all my kids and a few in-laws couldn't make it, it was a day I was thankful for family and health.

I maybe had overdone it just a bit the day before, but I still felt like I was healing and moving around better.

Then Friday hit. The grand kids were there, Jodi and Trevor were still there but except for a little tired I was OK.

By Friday evening I started to chill and was running a low fever, then the nausea, then the worst headache I have ever had along with the stiff head and complete in-ability to move it. After a very long night of not knowing what to do finally I said at 4am I have to go to the hospital. I was enable to get in Kim's car due to the head and neck so we actually had to call for ambulance transport.

After all the blood work and IV's then a Lumbar Puncture, I was told I had Meningitis and needed an MRI to look at my back surgical site, which had never looked bad nor had increase in pain. Then after that I was told I needed surgery!!! 2 back surgies 13 days apart.

They kept me extremal sedated, due to the headache, until the surgery.

So I came home on the Dec. 1st. My family has been more than wonderful, with tending me, & helping, Mel took down all the thanksgiving decorations, Jodi finished some shopping, Matt and Jenn tended one night and then tonight Gordon and Jessica came over and did 90% of my Christmas decorating. I am so appreciative for all they've done. I can't forget Kim, he dusted and cleaned yesterday, and has kept the laundry up and things cleaned up, and of-course helped with many activities I couldn't do at first. He even washed my hair in the hospital, it had been 5 days since I could wash and then have the ability to curl. I was exhausted but felt so good.

I would be lieing if I said it hasn't been hard, because it has. I have cried more than I should, I keep having pitty parties and then think about how much worse it could have been. I am tied down to home antibiotics for an indefinite length of time, but I know I have been blessed and watched over and I just have to have faith and be strong.

Time goes on...

And on and on, and usually the on and on part is great. I've decided the reason blogging is a pain is the picture part, so none this time.

So I took out the calender and will try and catch up.

Jessica had her annual Davis 5k and most of the family participated, even Hyrum did the mud race.

Kim and I took a road trip to Mt. Rushmore and visited Martins Cove twice, . We had a great time just the 2 of us.

The girls had our annual Swiss days trip. The shopping, visiting, eating was as great as usual, but what we thought would be a great condo. only turned out to be an OK one. I'll have to ask more questions next time.

Grandma Hardcastle did her annual Jackson Hole trip. Our family got our own rental home. It was huge, 5 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, laundry room, 3 different sitting rooms, a great big kitchen with a dinning room table, a great view patio, hot tub, indoor sauna. It wasn't the best year for hearing the Elk bugling, but we did see bears, and other wild life. We can't really spend a lot of time as the whole big family, and there may be trauma now and then, but we love each other and our time together. Grandma is so sweet to do this each year and we all appreciate her so much for it.

We recently had our Stake /Regional Conference. Our visiting authority was Pres. Monson, Elder Jensen, Elder Anderson, & Sis. Wixom. Kim was able to get floor tickets, because of his bishop position, so we got to sit center seat, 4 rows back. But being that close did not guarantee good hearing. Some how the sound system was not so great, but it was still a great experience.

You'll have to go to Mels blog and see the cute Halloween costumes that the kids wore. Hyrum was a Train engineer, with a cute costume made train by his dad, and Kate was a pink fairy, who just was adorable being Kate. I have been working on a Witches costume for a few years and I finally had a year I could wear it, so we had fun at the ward party.

Now how to feel 90 at 54. My back or more specific my right leg has been hurting since April. After tolerating it for a few months, I finally got an MRI and found I had a ruptured S5 disc. I then had 4 spinal, cortisol injections over a 6 week period. With absolute so improvement and new and different problems resulting from it, I then waited 6 weeks to get into a neurosurgeon. He ordered a new MRI and called me at home on a Sat night and said "we have a problem", these are not good words to hear from your Dr., at home, on a Sat night. We meet on Tues, he showed me the MRI and that now there are 2 ruptured discs, S5 & L1 with a bunch of fragments scattered through out. Then another thing you don't want to hear is "I don't know how to fix this until I open you up, which needs to be as soon as possible, so that it doesn't get worse".

So I feel old. I had to use a walker for a few days due to a numb left leg and foot, (feel old) for a few days I needed help getting off the edge of the bed or chair (feel old), I walk with a limp, and put both feet on each step (OLD), I am grateful I have a high rise toilet and a bar on the wall, courtesy of having mom live here, (feel very old). So the topper is...my very sweet visiting teacher who has young children, came by with 3 of them and they had made me GET WELL colored pictures with nice sayings. I wanted to cry because of the thoughtfulness and sweetness, but now I really really feel OLD.

All of this is hard, but a lesson at the same time, I need to be more thoughtful, sensitive, helpful and listen to the promptings that we receive every moment of every day, and serve those around us.

Is the Bishop in.....

Call him the Bishop. Those reading this know what that means. In the last 4 weeks there has been a lot of emotions running through our home. We did let the kids know when the call came so they have also shared comments and their concerns and love.
Today he was sustained in sacrament meeting and set apart. So much love and concern was flowing through-out the whole ward. I didn't know we would be welcomed and be given so many warm wishes as we were.
Maybe the reason I was surprised is that this area of homes is very close-knit. Some of these families lived here 30 and more years. We are transplants. Our stake was re-organized 2 yrs. ago and our area of homes, 'Park Lane' , was added to this very established ward. But I have made friends and felt accepted ever since the change.
Our current Bishop has served 6 years as the Bishop and another 3 as a counselor. He has sat on the stand for 9 years and has grown to love, understand, help, and support the members of our ward.
Kim feels very humbled and inadequate at this point, but he is a great man. He has the qualities that are needed to serve the Lord in this way. He has a strong testimony of the Gospel and a close relationship with the Lord. He has the humility to know he needs the Lords help to meet the needs of the ward members, and more important he knows the Lord will lovingly guide him.
I hope I can support him and be by his side as much as possible. We are here to serve and Love one another and continue to learn the Lords plan along the way.
We have a strong and loving family, this may change a few get togethers but we all know that by giving service we grow closer to one another and to the Lord.

catch up (as usual)

Maybe if I just update once a month, & I know that's the plan, then I won't worry so much about NOT BLOGGING more often.

We are truly empty NESTER'S. what ever that means? No baby birds at home, no messes, (ya right), less food in the house, more eating out, wondering around in one's underwear,(too much visual information, sorry), a clean laundry room, less laundry, 2 guest rooms and a grandchild room. empty closets and empty dressers . More time for each other (in theory), anyway the list could go on and on, but it has been nice, I do miss people around, but if you just drop by, call first, remember the underwear and more time for each other!

Our ward has had an huge humanitarian project going, and I chose to learn a new crocheting project and have had some fun with it. I've made about 30 little girl cradle/purses, I'm getting a little better at learning to read directions, but I still need help to get started. MOM and Karen would be so proud.

Kim and I planned a last minute NEW YORK CITY trip. We had a great time. We did 3 days in the city and 3 days up-state. We did all the normal touristy things. Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, the Subway (Kim became an expert), Time square, Empire State Building, Central Park, Rockefeller Center(outside), Ground Zero, Broadway and the musical Spider Man, (which has it's own fun story), 5Th Ave. and shopped Tiffany's but we forgot to buy anything, we saw the Manhattan LDS Temple, Grand Central Station, Met. Art Museum, and Greenish village, We ate pizza standing at an outdoor counter, hot dogs and pretzels. Watched music groups in the park and subway performing. Then up-state, we went to the Palmyra Temple, Hill Cumorah (they were practicing for the pageant), the Smith family home and farm, the Sacred Grove, the Printing press, the Whitman home, and then up to Niagara Falls and road the boat into the middle of the falls. We drove through Ithaca NY and saw Cornell University and drove along beautiful ocean view country sides. We always felt safe, a little lost at times, had very kind New Yorkers and bus drivers helping us find our way. I was with the man I love, who was always looking out for our welfare and wanted us to have a great time. And we did.

Kim actually took a lot of pictures, more than me, so I am in most of his and he is in all of mine. I really did go on this trip.

Pioneer day my Niece Annie and her husband Ross hosted a fun Bar-B-Q- at their new home in So. Jordon. The food was great and so was the company. Melanie and her family had to go to a family reunion, and Matt had to work, and I missed the kids, but it was a nice day and their new home is absolutely beautiful.

Kim has officially reached Senior Citizenship age, or at least in some circles he now gets a discount. He turned 55. Birthdays get more and more boring, but the exciting part is that we are Still together and that we are Still Around.

An MRI (More Really-expensive Investigations) was done on my back. Since April I have been having numbness and pain in the right leg, thigh and calf, and now it's into my foot and I have numb toes. I keep having spasms that make my first movements very painfully and difficult. So I guess now the next step is to see a Radiologist and then possibly a Neurologist. I have several areas of degenerative spine, (arthritis,) old age crap, just get over it symptoms, and stop all the wining decease.

We moved Jodi and Trevor to Am. Fork into a large, bright, brand new, lovely 3 bedroom basement apt. They sold their home in Syracuse, and Trevor will be starting Law School in 2 weeks. Jodi starts her sort-of-the-same job on Monday in a new locations, with new people in Orem. They go from 2 good incomes to one, lots and lots of space to very little, a 3 car garage to none, to having all their time together to not much at all, having family and friends all around to none, can I make this sound any more depressing. They will do great. Jodi is a great homemaker, loves Trevor and loves making a sweet home environment so this new location will be no different.

I keep reminding her that when I got married I too moved to Prove, with no friends, a new job, a tiny, dark, basement apt. One car, no family, no texting, no computer, couldn't afford long distance calls, a man I didn't know very well, (sounds like an arranged pioneer hook-up) who was very involved and busy with school & with very little money. But like her we had each other, the church, a family that was reachable and that cared a great-deal about us, and the faith that we were doing the right thing.

The grand kids are getting big and even more fun. Kate & Hyrum together had their first sleep-over and I survived. Grandpa took Hyrum on a train ride to visit more trains. I bought them a Tuff Stuff outdoor play set, (KSL.com) which he seems to love. I'm not tiring to by love, I just want them to know grandma's house is funner than just a small box of toys in the corner. When he was taking his bath he kept dropping the soap and after finding it for the 10Th time, he said, "grandma, you are a good grandma". My heart melted. My kids may not say "mom your a good mom" so I'll take it from the grand kids.

These very beautiful flowers were waiting for me one afternoon from my friend, neighbor and walking partner Becky. What a nice surprise, just for being a good friend.

Things to come: New callings, Davis county race, Swiss days, Mt. Rushmore, Jackson Hole, cont. to clean out and organize our home, and figuring out how to be Empty Nester's and handling Old People syndrome. We are a very blessed and fortunate family.

The real reason I hate to blog is adding the pictures, it takes forever and isn't easy. I need a smart computer person to show me an easier way. HINT HINT