The Gift that Keeps on Giving....

I mentioned in an earlier post that our children gave us a cute little booklet with their Christmas wishes, and some ideas about what they would do for us this year. Brian had us for January and February. He worked on computers for us and got things running better. Right after Christmas, he made all the arrangements and he and I flew to Idaho to visit Heidi and her family. That was fun to see what they received for Christmas, and just visit for a day. Last month, and into this month Brian straightened out our home phone line, which required re-wiring and he also dealt with Quest over the phone several times for us, because they accidentally shut off our internet when they stopped the phone. It really took a lot of stress off of Ralph and I both to have him do this work for us.

Well, it is March, and Jeff and Heather have us for this month. Yesterday they came and spent the day here working in the kitchen. They worked so hard. Heather was up on the ladder taking down the wall paper border that Ken put up about 15 years ago. She washed walls, and got the sticky gunk off the top edge above the cupboards over the cooking area. As I watched her, I thought about the pain I would have had in my back, neck and shoulders if I had been the one doing that. ( I also thought about my mom who was climbing up on her roof to fix things at my age, but that is another story for another day! ) Now for Jeff...........he had the horrible job of tearing off the coved linoleum! You know, that part that goes up the wall about 5 or 6 inches. Well, that was a nightmare. It was glued and tacked onto the wall and a real bear to rip off. Jeff has battle wounds on his hands to prove it. Thanks Jeff! He also painted the ceiling with the KILZ paint that has to go over the oil based paint before the latex can go on. It was a mess, and they cleaned it all up for me before they left.

I will get started now on the spackling and sanding so they can come back to paint. I am very excited to see the kitchen come together and look nice again. Thanks again to Jeff and Heather for all the help yesterday.

Heather is up on a ladder on the stairs. The very thought scares me!

Can you smell the fresh paint? It is the BEST smell in the world!

Train Buddy Grandpa

Heidi, Ken, and family, were here in town for a few days while their children were out of school on Spring Break. One of the highlights of that trip was their visit to our house where they played for an afternoon and evening with their Grandpa. They were so delighted with the big train layout that Ralph had so meticulously set up for them. Probably the most fun of all was playing after dark with only the lights from the little buildings and lamps, and the trains. They all had such a great time. I prepared a dinner for them, and made cookies, and they also enjoyed playing with the dogs.....but most of the time was spent enjoying grandpa and the trains.

Grandpa and Kylie

Ashley loving on Grandpa

Lizzie and Grandpa


The four engineers



The most fun of all in the dark.........
notice Grandpa, Ashley and Lizzie in the corner

The Weather Frog

Hi.... I am the weather Frog! My forecast

for today is SNOW!

I am Gracie, the happy Dachshund!

I thought summer was here, but I LOVE snow!

Do you want to dig a tunnel with me?

I do not stand still for photos, but I hope you can
see me stylin' in my pretty coat


I wish you could have seen Oscar too,
but he ran inside the second he did his.....
well, you know! I hope you have a fun day too!

HAPPY SPRING!

It was such a warm and beautifully gorgeous day today. I have been doing a little raking and cleaning up in the yard this week. I love that my Hiacinths are peeking their leaves above the ground. It will not be long until they are spreading their delicious scent through the air.

Today is the first day of Spring. Oscar and Gracie seemed to know. They found warm earth to scratch their backs on, as they were sunning their tummies.

I enjoyed watching my 16 month old granddaughter, Rory, discover the thrill of her latest obcession....."Walkie, Walkie", outside, taking her mom all over the neighborhood, as she discovered the sights and sounds and colors of Spring. She was so disappointed that it had to end eventually.

The house got too warm today, and I had to open windows. The breeze coming in is so nice.

I missed my mom today. I miss her arms around me and her comforting words when I am feeling discouraged. I miss her humor and her faith. I read some of her journaling, a few days ago, and it lifted me. The signs of new life around us right now is a comfort. I do know that I will see her again and enjoy the sweet relationship that we treasured for over 64 years on this earth together.

The past few weeks, I have been reading "The Miracle of Forgiveness", by Spencer W Kimball, and have had the blessing of discussing it with some friends in my ward. I recommend it to everyone. It brings to mind so many precious teachings and insights from a prophet whom we all loved. If everyone read this one book, and applied the principles within, the world would be such a nicer place.

Best of all, today, another House of the Lord was dedicated this morning, in Draper, as the sunlight bathed it in beautiful light, almost as if it understood the meaning of this day. Maybe it did!

Sweet Rory discovering Crocus in her front yard

Gracie, sunning herself

Oscar enjoying the warm ground and the sun on his
fat little tummy

Oscar and Gracie

It has been said that, "A dog naps so much because he loves so HARD!" This is particularly true of my little friends. Both of them give us so much love. They are playing hard too! They are enjoying the yard since it is not frozen. Gracie has exposed her first gopher tunnel of the season. Oscar is checking things out too. He has dug a few shallow holes in harmless places. Chasing leaves and running fast is a favorite past time. They act so funny, I am still laughing at them every day. They love each other. Gracie takes care of Oscar. She pulls a blanket up over him and tucks it around him. When I call them inside, she rounds him up and bumps him with her nose, keeping him going in the right direction. I am hoping with her encouragement, he will move around a little more and lose some weight.

My Room

My room is finally coming together. I love the hardwood floor

that has been hidden under carpet for so long. I like the paint. I tried to make it my own, but still preserve the special things that mom had in here, and also have some special memories of her.

This is the North wall. That is my Grandfather's rocking chair in the corner. I had it and the stool recovered.

This is the West wall. Ralph gave me this bookcase for my birthday.
This is the South wall.
These water color roses were painted for mom by her sister, Merle.They have hung in my mother's bedroom for as long as I can remember.
I love how the upholstery and the paintings match so well
TThis is my Grandmother's cedar chestThis painting of Christ was done by my cousin, Darlene Morgan, for my mother.

This clever photo holder was a gift for my birthday, from my daughters, Heidi, and Becky. I have taken almost all of the photos myself.

I love that I have a safe place in this new bookcase, to display my rag dolls which were made for me by my maternal grandmother. Susan Fish, when I was 8 years old

February pictures

Good old February is almost gone. It has been a busy but good month! They are all busy. Life doesn't seem to slow down a bit as I get older. I FEEL older recently. Maybe it is because I turned the page to that magical 65th year. ......The one where you get Medicare. Looking back, when my Grandpa Fish turned 65, I remember crying all day because I thought he would be dying any minute since he was so old. He died alright, at 99 years!
Maybe I feel old because I weigh too much. Part of it is because my foot hurts all the time. It is really a miserable thing. I will be making an appointment for surgery. The hard part is deciding when I can be laid up for the recovery time. I am just not good at sitting around.

I made some more progress in my room this month. I celebrated my birthday, and went out to eat several times with family and friends. I enjoyed my grandchildren, and tried new recipes. I made missionary frames for a lady who found me on line. She lives in Georgia, but recognized my name on Facebook. Facebook has been a fun thing. Lots of connections to old friends and learning things about friends here in my ward. I had my brother over for a dinner I made just for him. It was good to eat it together. Saturday Feb 21st, I served again at the Draper Temple open house. It was especially enjoyable because I was inside the temple this time. A huge amount of people came through in the few hours I served. I am looking forward to the dedication coming up next month.

Feb 12, I took my little Gracie dog to the vet for her annual shots. She had an allergic reaction to them and we almost lost her. I was lucky that our vet knew just what to do, and she left a surgery she was performing to care for her. Even several hours after I got her home, she had a spell with her face and front feet swelling up, and that scared me, and necessitated another trip to an all night vet close to us. I am especially grateful for her, and the sweet love she gives to me.

Official birthday cake from Brian,
at our family dinner on the 15th

A plant from Ralph

Livvy and Cameron with their birthday
cards for Grandma

Karren and Danny

Karren and Brian. He put a candle in

an Asian pear. I made a birthday wish on it

Jeff's family took us out to dinner at the

Training Table. Just look at those cheese fries!

Becky and I had a fun dinner at our favorite

restaurant......Cracker Barrel, with our good

friends Phyllis, and Amorette Smith

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