Merry Merry Happy Happy

First I want to wish each and everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Shelby and me.
Once again, the snow has us snow bound. In a couple hours, I will dig out to my car.
I have to keep a path dug out for Shelby. Snow seems to fall before I can keep the stairs and a potty path completely clear.
Hope you and the snow are fairing ok.

Went to Matthew's on the 8th and stayed for a few days to help out Angie. She had her other foot operated on. They had to remove some dead bone; fuse some other bone; and break and repair the break in other places. She won't be Walking or putting any pressure on it at all for at least 8 weeks.

Kymberly takes good care of Mommy making sure she has her pillows to prop her foot on.Angie said that when she was born both of her feet were twisted to one side so she has had foot problems all of her life. I hope they are fixed.

As you can see, we celebrated Christmas. Glad we could cause no way could I get there now. Here are a few Christmas photos.



Last year Kymberly was too little to understand. This year she gets it. Presents!

I also made Sugar Cookies with the kids. Matthew wanted to put some on the Christmas Tree. I used Spelt flour and Egg Replacer. They turned out pretty good and didn't taste bad either.

They sure had fun.
Both Marquis and Daniel did a wonderful job of decorating. My boys loved decorating.

Kymberly also had a great time.

Though she would rather eat the frosting than put it on the cookies.

She had so much fun that day that she didn't take a nap. She was playing and just toppled over sound asleep about 4 pm.

On the 12th, it snowed. Matthew and his children went outside and moved snow to make a snow fort. They hadn't finished it when I left. They were just in the process of moving the snow and piling it.




Even Kymberly tried her hand at digging.

Then figured they were doing a good enough job that they didn't need her help after all.


If the boys are going to do something, she is not going to be left out.

She has finally come to know who I am and gives me hugs and kisses and comes to me to be held.

All in all I had a very pleasant visit and was glad I could give Angie a hand. She needed the help.
Matthew is home more now that he is no longer working for Schwan. He is working at Chewelah Peaks Learning Center as an instructor. Right now there is not much going on up there. More skiing next door at 49 North than children coming to the Center. So he can be home more and help her. He is glad to be able to be home and be with his family. Before, he hardly saw them, especially, his children.

Well, for Christmas, if I can get there, I am going to my Brother's, Billy, in Union Town and spend the day and maybe longer with him, Debbie, Travis, Erica and MORGAN. Bill's other children and their families are supposed to be there. That will be Kirk and Laura with Wyatt and Meghan--Brian and Molly with baby Mason--and Jamie and Chris with baby Madison. Good thing they have a big house.

Hope you all have the very best and enjoy your Christmas.

Life is good

Can you believe all this snow. Of course, it was due. Poor little Shelby.


Prayers help. Tanna and Kevin have had good news. The medication she is on is helping. Her white blood count has gone down. The CML was caught in its very earliest stages. The ATF is still looking at her and Kevin's prospective job is holding the position open. So thanks one and all.
Thank you all. I hope these happy faces stay this way.

Last month was my Morgan's birthday. What a wonderful day it was. Can't beleive it has been a month. Wyatt and Meghan came and Jamie brought little baby Madison.


Yeah for Spiderman!

Meggie had a lot of fun. Hard to beleive we almost lost this precious little girl. She was born with her intestines outside her body. Now at 5 she is thriving and growing. Such a happy child.




I gave him a Spiderman place setting. Here his mommie watches and Wyatt helps Morgan. His Birthday cake, of course, was Spiderman.



Yeah, for 4th Birthdays and Spiderman, Me!

Always the Spiderman. Great Grandpa, my Dad, also came. Here he is watching Morgan enjoying unwrapping a gift.
Jamie hands Madison to her loving Grandpa. He sure enjoys his little ones. Both Wyatt and Madison were born on his Birthday.

Madison has sure grown. She is cheerful and bright.

I just love this picture. This is my sweet neice, Erica, taking a nap with Madison. Such a beautiful girl. However, she is a teenage best seen sleeping though she is sweet she is still a teenage girl.

After the birthday, the adults played some poker. It is fun to play with the family. We give each other a hard time. We each put in $5 and just have fun.


After Morgan's birthday came Thanksgiving. Kirk and Laura always make sure I am not alone. It is fun to go to their house. I had pictures but for the life of me I can't find them. It was a very pleasant day. Laura is a wonderful cook.

Now we await Christmas.

Good Day

Life has a way of sliding sideways sometimes and the last little while has been just such a time for me.
This is not a pitty party. It is just why I have not communicated lately.
1. I was under going my some medical needs. I have hurt a lot lately and found out that it is Rheumatoid Arthritis and Osteoarthritis. Treatment and appointments continue. It is just one more corner I must round and not an impediment to my life.

2. My Aunt Joan died of cancer. After 13 plus years of remission of Breast Cancer, cancer returned only this time in her bones. She lived for only a week and half after diagnosis. She is my Father's Brother, David's, wife.

3. The news that slide my world most sideways and for awhile off track all together was the news that my Daughter in Law, Tanna--Kevin's wife, has Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML).
She and Kevin had just put in their paper work for discharge from the Airforce. Tanna was undergoing routine medical examination so she could take a job with the ATF. This CML raised its ugly head.
Apparently she can not be covered by any insurance Kevin may get with any company he might go to work for outside the Air force. Doesn't make sense to me. I thought as long as you were covered by insurance without a break in coverage then you were covered by any other insurance. He has had to turn down a comparable job outside the Air Force with the one he is currently doing because of this insurance problem. Tanna may be medically discharged. All this is speculative and holds get concern.
The only cure is a bone marrow transplant. Kevin is checking into this as we speak.
Prayers are greatly appreciated.

As if this were not enough, as I was talking to my sister last night, she said, "Guess I can tell you now. " Tell me what! It turns out that at the time her daughter knew and she knew that the baby Alicia was carrying was not going to survive--Derrik, Cammie's husband, found out that his cancer had returned. He didn't even tell her for some time. Guess he has been undergoing Chemo since May. What?!
She says Chemo is through and that he appears cancer free once again.
You know a person should really share these things. It eases the burden and gives people the opportunity to pray. I just don't get it.

Good things did happen lately also. Morgan had a 4th Birthday and we had Thanksgivings. More on these in a different post a little later.

For now, I am headed up to Paper Pals and get my mind off the fact that today is my dear husband's, Marvin, Birthday. He would have been 63 today. Oh how I miss him.

Welcome Fall

I can't believe that September has passed and that it is October. On top of that, Summer is gone and Fall is here. I love the fall. The crisp air and the beautiful leaves. Welcome Fall Welcome.

The past three weeks have been very very busy. I spent several days taking care of Matthew's children. Angie went to her brother's wedding. I thought it was in Australia but it was in Hawaii. Oh so sorry for her:)

I came home for a week then back to their home. Angie had her left foot operated on. She will have the other one done December 8. I had a wonderful time except for getting sick. I always get sick when I go to Matthew's. I am now working on getting well.

Card Party was wonderful. I just love it.

Here are a few pictures of my time at Matthew's.

"Look Grandma we can Fly!"


Three lovely children

Marquis and me.

Daniel and me.

Kymberly and me.

Kymberly inspects the beautiful fall Crocus.


Now, if only I can figure out the whys of getting sick. That will make my visits more enjoyable than they already are.

Hope you enjoy the lovely Fall and take advantage of the changing leaves to revel in the thrill of God's paint brush.

Three Weeks of Fun

The last three weeks have been filled to the brim with fun.

First, was the Scrapbook Retreat at the Palouse Divide Lodge. I completed 30 pages and visited many hours.









I am thankful for my roomie and Friend DJ as I don't sleep very well and she understood and put up with my restlessness. For years, I put it down to the logging truck I tangled with in 2000 but it turns out that I have RA which accounts for my aches and pains. And why I have such difficulty sleeping in a bed. I sleep in my chair at home.

Saturday night was especially difficult and I gave it up and went upstairs just to see if anyone else was up. Sure enough I was greeted with smiles and hellos from Tina and Toni. Many thanks to the two of them for their care and concern.

It was 3:00 am and they hadn't even been to bed. Toni asked Tina if she were ready for bed and she replied with just a bit. At 4:00, Toni told Tina they weren't going now as they would just get to sleep and have to get up and they would be to groogy to drive home so they stayed up. Together we watched the sun rise. It was spectacular. Especially watching it with friends.



Following are a few of my favorite shots of the people I have come to call friends and the lovely Palouse Divide Lodge.

The weekend was soon over and I was off on my next adventure. I went to Yakima to visit my Aunt Sadie.

I stayed for 5 days and thoroughly enjoyed myself.
My cousin Wendy came over everyday with her daughter Allyson.
She always came after work so we didn't get much time to visit as she had to go home to fix dinner. I promised next time I would come on the weekend so we could really have a good long visit. Wendy is our Grandmother Stubblefield's youngest grandchild and I am her oldest.

Sadie is my Mother's younger sister. She has been a big part of my life.
We went to the craft store so she could get beads. She is into beading and got me going. It is fun but I must admit I probably won't being do much as I prefer Scrapbooking.
We indulged my scrapbooking needs and went to Bellas a lovely store in Yakima.
It was amazing how fast those days flew by and soon I was on my way home. Have I ever mentioned that I am directionally impaired. Well, I am. And I took the wrong turn at Othello and was headed to Royal City. Not my idea of the correct direction to get back to Pullman. A good thirty minutes on the wrong road I turned around and went back. Stopped for lunch and then got on the correct road. I must admit it was an interesting detour.
I was at the Drumheller Channels. Shelby enjoyed the view and the opportunity to stop.

I was soon home. On Tuesday I went to visit Mother. She was not having a good day her memory was really bad. I told her she just had holes in her memory and that it didn't hurt me one bit to fill in for her. We had a pretty good visit all in all and Dad stopped by. Mama is always thrilled to see Dad. I loved getting to see him. I was going to stop by the house but now here he was.

Wednesday brought me Morgan for three fun filled days full of talk, laughter, questions and Spider man.

We went to the Discovery Science Museum where he was most interested in the crawling through the tunnel and jumping and climbing the climbing tower. He enjoyed building with blocks and making tunnels for a ball to roll down. He was not shy in telling me he was ready to go home now.

I can't tell you how often we watched Spider Man nor the millions of stories I had to tell him about Black Spider Man and Venom. "Read me Black Spider Man. Why?" He would tell me stories of them also and then say, "Your turn." I had to take up where he left off.

We went to the store so he could get a Black Spider Man which entertained him for hours.
I had also brought home from Wendy's closed dollar store many items. It didn't take him long to sort through and find the ones he wanted. One thing he found was a sword. It is his Uko sword from Avitar. Don't ask, don't know but it was his constant companion.

We also went to the Park where I had to swing him higher. My back wouldn't let me play like I wanted but I think I did him justice.

A visit from Morgan isn't complete unless he gets to see Shawna. She plays right into his Spider Man needs and listens intently to his stories.

Debbie, his mother, said he slept very well all three nights. Guess I tired him out. Oh I slept well also and early to boot.

He is such a fun little person. I just love having him. It is just to quiet here without him. Though I must admit there were times when my ears were full to over flowing. I don't think he took many silent breaths between talking and questions but that is a OK.

This weekend has been very quiet indeed. I stopped up by PaperP als for their Remodeling Celebration. Got materials for my Card for Card Party and discovered when I got home I couldn't find something I needed to complete my card. Good thing tomorrow is Monday. Today I planted floweres and plants Aunt Sadie gave me.

There you have a very busy and fun filled three weeks. The rest of this month is going to be busy also as I will go look after my two grandsons. Once while their Mom goes to Australia to her brother's wedding and then again when she has surgury on her feet.

So, I sign out not knowing when my next update will be but I will be in touch.