i have 2 good feet!

after trying to help my sweet little mother-in-law the past few months trying to get where she [thinks] she needs to go. (she will be 85 in august) whether it be to the bathroom or just to go thru cupboard one more time because "she knows that she put that receipt in there and no one else can find it". bless her heart, she can get up with help of her walker (and a person or 2). her walker has become one her finest possesions. she knows she needs to move this foot and then the other one to get where she wants to go, but dang! they just won't cooperate with her (most of the time). she use to out walk me with her short little squatting legs and tiny little feet.

so...i've decided that i need to pamper my feet a little more. they are only 52(since march, but according to the wii ,today, they are 61)

and they get me where i need to go. they aren't that attractive, but what the heck! so today i took advantage of the 70 degree weather (YEAH! it's finally spring) at lunch today. we, me and my 2 little feet, walked up past the temple, down mary pulley's hill, and back to the clinic (forgot my money, can't have good feet and mind at the same time) then over to the hospital (had to have that drink) then back to work. it took me about 45 minutes and it felt soooo good! i then came home, painted my toenails, and tried my luck at the wii. last week i was only 58 today i'm 61 - go figure! anyway, then i trained in bowling and tennis - can you say pathetic!

but... i got 2 knockouts in boxing, so now i'm feeling pretty frisky!

(haley, how about that challenge?)

so... now i think i will go put my little piggies up and give them a rest.

finally, finally, friday !

and...ta! ta! i'm finished ~ yeah! ~ with my washroom.

now who's kidding who? i've watched 'design on a dime' and other makeover shows on hgtv. it only cost them under $200.00, AND they were completely finished with a whole real room in less than 48 hours. am i doing something wrong?

then when i finished, donnie mack comes down and says, "wow! you've turned into my grandma! this room looks just like what her basement looked like, when i was a kid ~ i hate it! " and in another breath, said, "well...it's okay for a washroom, but PLEASE promise me that you won't paint our bedroom this color!"

he thinks the curtains look like ones we ripped out of our first home, when we bought marcelle skinners home just before we got married. (marcelle was an 80 year old woman, who had lived in this house for 40 years.) and that was back in 1974! sometimes, he is such a dork! or maybe i AM turning into an old woman!

anyway... i like it! it actually looks like a room now and the yellow makes it look bigger and cheery!

the floor, before..........and after.

the ceiling before, had a big whole where donnie had cut the sheetroock to fix a leak ~ oh about 5 or 6 years ago. and this is my new sign to make sure everyone knows 'what' room it is!

sooo, now i'm off to find another project!

my ride !

do you like her? isn't she a beaut? don got her so he could use her as a commuter car to go back and forth to work, but...HE says that she heats up and the tranny slips when he has to drive her that far (to kennecot) ~ so since it only takes me 10 minutes to get to work, i guess that i have inherited her forever! donnie said, "if you will drive it, i'll clean it up for you" ~ well after a long while, i was embarassed to drive it anymore, so i took one of my 'days off' and cleaned her up the best i could ~ what you can't see is the drops of sealer all over the front of her. donnie had her parked out under his barn while he sealed the wood beams. splattered everywhere! anyway she is a beaut and her trunk is bigger than an elephants behind - i swear that i could probably fit the whole 'byu' football team in it.
i know, i know, it's a gramma car, but heck, i AM a gramma! it gets pretty good gas mileage (because i only drive where i have to go). i don't have to worry about her getting any dings - she has plenty. you can lock your keys in her and still get in ~ if....you can remember the code, or if.... you have your cell phone to call cheyne so he can help you remember. heads turn when you drive down the road. most laugh, but everyone needs a good laugh once in a while! and she gets me where i need to go ~ anyone want a ride?

i have been blessed!

i have been given a lot of gifts in my life that i certainly take for granite. the first being my "mack daddy". he is everything and more than i could ever ask for. this picture was taken this past summer at the end of our trip to alaska. we had been fishing for 5 days and left soldotna where we were staying, to go up to denali to pick up jordan mower, (who had been working up there all summer, driving a bus). jordan got us hooked up in the 'sour dough cabins' in denali . they were just little one room cabins with a bathroom. they were great (anything 'free' is great! right?!), really the only thing wrong with them was the water! the smell was worse than sour dough, it smelled and tasted of sulfur. it was all we could do to brush our teeth and shower. if we could get done before we started to gag, we were doing great. the last night that we were there we went to this dinner show. he wasn't feeling that great, but was still a good sport. he is a big tease and it took a while for me to get use to it, i think now, i just blank him out. but he has a lot of great qualities. to name a few, he is a wonderful husband, a great dad to our kids, a super 'papa', (to the cutest grandkids around, might i add). he also has a big heart that is very tender. he is and always has been a hard worker and has always been able to meet our needs (and most of our wants). he has been in a bishopric 11 of the past 12 years - the past 3 years being the bishop of the young single adult heritage park ward in our stake. he doesn't think he is the one who should have been called to this calling, but the lord knows what he is doing, and donnie has been of great service to these young kids. he also has been of great service to his dad and mom, who are getting up there in their age and can't do a lot of things for themselves. when ever they need anything done, they call don, because they know it will get done, it will be done right and will be done the very best way it could be done. he also like to keep me happy! - and even helped me in my washroom yesterday, putting a new casing around the window, when he would have rather been out working on his barn. i love you 'mack daddy' and thank my heavenly father for blessing me with such a "wonderful gift"!

flashback friday

OHHHHH...
you're brent's little sister...
that's what i heard all of my growing up years, from teachers and friends. brent was only 10 1/2 months older than me. he was cute and smart.

we were great friends when we were younger. (we had to be, we went to 5 different schools in one year, when i was in 2nd grade) but... he was the "typical" BIG BROTHER. being the oldest of 7, 6 being born within 6 1/2 years of each other. (sorry, ginny, i don't think you were born yet, when this picture was taken, and i know marci wasn't) he liked to sit on us, and let his spit drip until it would almost fall, then he would suck it back up - sometimes he slipped and it DID fall -YUK! he was very persuasive and could get steve and i to do almost anything. except i remember one time ~ we were most of the time 'latch key' kids (when we got home from school, our parents were usually not home from work yet) ~ when dad and mom got home, 'someone' had been playing with matches, and of course, no one would fess up. so, brent, steve, and i were sent to our room. brent kept saying "i know you did it, why don't you just tell 'em, so we can eat?!" (going back and forth from steve to i) . finally dad and mom came in and told us to put our hands out so that they could smell them. dad started with steve, and imediately brent's hands go into his pockets. HE WAS CAUGHT! i don't remember what punishment he got, but i do remember that we were starving and grateful to get to eat dinner... finally!
we were so close in age, that we hung out with the same crowd, until we moved to lehi. he was voted "most preferred man" of the sophmore class the year we moved to utah ~ all of the girls loved him and all of the guys hated him. after his sophmore year, we went on different paths (mine being the better one - i would say). brent was killed sept 14, 1995 from a gunshot. he would have been 53 this sunday, april 20th. i have some great memories of him and the older i get, the more i realize how important family relationships are. so....YES, i am brent's little sister and always will be. happy birthday and i love ya brent

a monday moaning !

today is monday. when i went to bed last night, i didn't feel that great, but never did i think i would wake up to feeling like crap this morning! i work at the doctors office and you would think that i would catch everything that came around, but i have been lucky, only once or twice in the past 10 years have i really been that sick. i started coughing and have coughed until my throat hurts, my sinuses feel like they are going to explode and i think i have swollen glands. to top it off, it's beautiful outside today and i don't even feel like going out.
and...my washroom finally is in the painting stage. i have it all primed and ready to paint, and i don't even feel like doing anything with it, today. i even called in sick to work, which i very, very seldom do. it's killing me to even sit here at the computer, so i think i'm going to go back to bed. better days to come.....

It's FINALLY Friday !

Wow, What a Week ! I am so glad that Friday is FINALLY here! We have been trying to hang one little piece of sheet rock all week, just can't seem to find a second to do it. Maybe that's what we'll do tonight (date night).

Monday and Tuesday nights were crazy late nights, busy with family and church, but Wednesday was the kicker for me. First of all it was Haley's 28th Birthday and I told her that I would stop by on my way home from work and pick up Kamryn and Hunter for the night, so she and Jeff could go out. I stopped by her house, and Hunter was still asleep, so I visited with her for awhile. I finally got home about 6:10 pm and started to get a few things organized and started to 'think' about getting dinner ready for the kids. The phone rang about 6:50 pm and it was Lee Kimball. He said that the FM Group needed to do some things at the Chapel and wondered if there would be anything that would conflict with them being in there until next Wednesday. I told him that the only activity that I knew of was Enrichment on Weddnessdayyyyyyyy -YIKES! It was Wednesday and I had promised that I would make soup for the RS Birthday Party - TONIGHT at 7:00 pm ! All of the sudden I was like a tornado going back and forth from the pantry closet to the stove. Onions, carrots, celery...Oh no, NO celery. Oh well ! All I can say is OH THANK HEAVEN for Costco - all ready cooked chicken, shredded carrots, etc... Okay, now everything is in except the pasta noodles. Then it hit me that the last time I went to make this soup, I had No pasta noodles. Now it is after 7:00 pm. I sent Don down to the fruit room for one last 'hopeful' look. NOPE ! NO NOODLES ! But...There is a box of 'Suddenly Salad'. - "Rob Peter to Pay Paul". I threw the pasta from the 'SS' into the soup , grabbed Kamryn, and run to the church. We were only 10 minutes late! I put the soup in the kitchen on the stove and turned it on, so hopefully the pasta would be ready, when they were ready to eat. Then Kamryn and I went into the RS room to listen to the lesson. Here I am, the Bishop's wife, who is suppose to have it somewhat on the ball (I think), in my Scrubs and untied tennis shoes - late - and there sits 2 of the Stake RS Presidency. (Donnie, maybe this is what is going to take to get you released). They just need to go tell President Godwin, that "Sister Bishop" has gone LOONEY!

Well, we came home and made chicken strip and french fries for the 'home crowd' Of course the 5 year old had to be right in the middle of the counter to help and if she does ANYTHING, then the 2 year old thinks he has to do the same. -So it took a little longer than usual - I didn't have the patience to let my own kids help - too much mess! That is why Heavenly Father let's us be Grammas - So that we can have a chance to make up for the mistakes we made as Mothers.

Don helps sooo much, (he really does), he likes to keep the kids entertained with...

'THE CLAW' He had them screaming and giggling the rest of the night. His favorite thing is to have the kids kiss and hug him and ask ......

"Gramma, are ya jealous?"

I love my family and am happiest when they are around me! Have a Great Week !

Oh.. I forgot to tell you. The other soup that was brought to RS.... Well ... They opened cans of Campbells Soup and put it in a crock pot!!