Happy Birthday Grandma O

Titan was excited to see the cake.
Kelly, Odis, Kolbe
Kelly, Odis, Carolynn, Peyton, and Kolbe up top!
Odis turned 86 and Kelly and I decided to take her out to eat to celebrate. We went to Booga's and Ray fixed her special tacos and I had baked her a cake. After she ate all the waitresses came over with the cake and sang Happy Birthday to her. It was a fun time and I think she really enjoyed it. Afterwards she wanted to take a drive so we drove up Water Canyon Rd. and looked at our beautiful place on earth. It is fun to go places with her because she is so full of information about places and things. I hope I am as sharp as her when I'm 86.......which probably won't happen because I'm not even that sharp at 58 :) Maybe hanging around her will make me smarter haha

Come rain or come shine

I think we live in the prettiest place in Arizona. I took some pictures coming home from work the other day and then today it poured and I just had to take some more. It is raining now and between the sound of rain on my roof and the wonderful smell I think I will have a good nights sleep.

Dreams

The son is shining and the sky is clear. There is a cool breeze and a small plane flying overhead. I close my eyes and I am 10 years old laying on a blanket in the middle of the alfalfa field near my house with my girlfriends. We are planning what we will be when we grow up. Life was full of possibilities. I think I won't open my eyes.

Still beautiful at 90

Today when I went to the Beauty Shop there was a little, white haired lady walking in front of me, holding on to her daughters arm. It just made me smile a little because they were so slow and I remember doing that with my mom. When we got inside and I went to put my purse down I looked at her and thought she looked familiar......then she smiled and almost at the same instant we recognized each other. She had been my Mia Maid teacher so many years ago and I had adored her. I just wrapped her tiny body in my arms and cried. We had such a nice visit. She told me she is 90 years old but when she smiled she still looked as beautiful to me as she did when I was 16 years old. Back then I was such a rebellious little s**t but she just loved me (and all the girls...several of us were quite naughty!) and didn't seem to let us shake her up. I guess that is why we loved her so much. She never treated us like we were anything other than perfect angels. :)
When we started hugging the girls in the shop wanted to know what was going on so I told them she had been my very favorite Young Womens leader and they jokingly said "do you need to apologize to her?" I just said "if you only knew!"

Puffy eyes, not so pretty

What a week this has been so far. Randy started back to school and for some reason it hit me hard. I cried all morning the first day and haven't done that since his first day of kindergarten....except for the first time he rode his bike to school (he still claims he saw me following him in the car but I was very sneaky so I'm sure he didn't) Anyway, I didn't think his Senior year would affect me like this. Man, time has flown by.
Then, today, just as the puffiness around my eyes was beginning to disappear I heard from someone very special to me that I haven't seen or heard from for nearly 30 years.....here came the tears again. I'm such a boob! A long time ago I learned to "let go and let God". It's hard to do when you feel like it is someone you love that you are letting go of but when you do good things come to pass......even 30 years later.

New Kid on the Block

Randy has wanted a Border Collie ever since we were in Iowa last summer and he fell in love with Susie's dog, Sadee. I guess he must have said something to Eric Hamblin because he stopped me in Short Stop last week (actually he jumped into the car and scared the heck out of me :).....and asked if Randy could have a puppy. Who can say no to Eric AND Randy so we now have a new addition to our family. He is a sweet little guy but I just knew that Bits would be so jealous that she would be mean to him. The first day we had him he was in his crate and crying and crying until I couldn't stand it anymore so I decided that I would let him sit on my lap for awhile. When I opened the crate door instead of Owen running out, Bits ran in and started "mothering" him. I couldn't believe it. So now every where Bits goes, Owen is tagging along. It is really cute.

What a fun day I had and I didn't even have to get out of my pajamas! Kolbe spent the night last night and sleeping with him is quite an experience. I felt like I was awake every hour as he rotated his way around the bed :). He got up about an hour after me this morning and let me know that he didn't get any sleep because I snored all night. That made me laugh.
About noon Kelly and the rest of the gang came over and spent the rest of the day. We had a nice visit and the kids played. Randy and Josh were playing Guitar Hero so Jenna and Kolbe got to play a little with them. We just had a nice long visit and I always enjoy that. It was a very nice day.

I'm HOW old????

Yesterday Kelly had to take Jenna to Payson so I got to take the three younger kids to church with me. It is the first time I have taken Peyton. She usually doesn't want anything to do with me and I figured Randy would have to hold her the whole time.....even take her to Priesthood Meeting, but lo and behold! She liked me and I loved every minute of it. They were all three good during Sacrament meeting and only had a couple of adventures. One when Titan got ahold of my shoe and tried to throw it over the pew. Fortunately, I caught it in mid-air, which made the people behind us laugh out loud. Then when he found a whole banana in the diaper bag (hello, Kelly.... you don't send a banana to church :) ) Anyway I told him no several times so when I wasn't looking he got Randy to open it for him......such a bad idea. When I tried to take it he yelled "NONONONONO" loud enough for people in Showlow to hear. Randy took him out until it was time for Nursery, which he went to without so much as a backward glance. Kolbe informed me that he didn't need me to walk him to his class because "you know I've been here before!!" duh, Aunt Carolynn. So....Peyton and I went to Relief Society and she charmed everyone with her sweet smile. She kept pretending to sneeze and it was so cute.
However, even with all the love in my heart. They wore me out! 58 felt like 78 by the time we got home. My back hurt so bad that I thought I could possibly die if I didn't lay down. But, surprise, surprise....I lived. Randy laid down with Peyton until she went to sleep and I watched Kolbe and Titan in the pool until Ray came after them. Kolbe wanted to stay so he spent the night with us last night and today is a new day with less pain and lots of possibilities. Would I take them all again? Absolutely.