Thursday, October 31, 2019

Happy Halloween 2019

The company I work for has an annual potluck with a costume and pumpkin carving contest.
This year I am Flo from Progressive!
I didn't win but there were lots of great costumes and pumpkins, so it was fun!!

Jim will go with me to the Trunk or Treat at the church as Mayhem and Jacob is Jake from State Farm.  So were making it a family affair.

I haven't seen my grandkids but I heard we have a Flash, and Owlet and Catboy.
So I hope I get to see pictures and I really hope they have a fun, shenanigan filled Halloween!!!

Friday, October 25, 2019

Blogging Journaling and Sisterhood...

I am finding myself more and more looking for things trying to remember and coming to my 2 blogs to see if I had posted anything about that person or topic or time.  Then I always get caught up reading a few posts while I am over here.

This week I found a friend and blogger who had posted on hers too for the first time in a while and I was so inspired by the post and all the reminders of why I kept blogging.  I am going to keep encouraging myself to get back here posting!!

It's such a great tool for me!!  Sometimes the hardest part is just what to write about.  I connected with a lady in NM that I work with everyday, her name is Brittany, and we shared about our families today via email to get to know each other a little better.  She shared she has a twin sister.  She already kind of feels like a sister to me, we get along and relate to each other so well.  So I have sisters on my mind!

This week my BFF Cris met her sister for the first time.  They share the same Dad.  She is here to visit for a few days so we went together for lunch so I could meet her.  Cris and I have so much in common and are constantly finding things we are so much alike about.  We've been asked if we were sisters so many times.  So to meet and learn more about her sister is a real treat.

My sister Lynn is going through a really hard time, her brother in law passed away suddenly and unexpectedly and she is driving from Seattle to Yakima right now to go clean out his house.  Oh how I wish I could be there to help her.  I love my sister and I don't even know who I would be without her.  She is the one that tell's me when I am overreacting or being crazy.  It's that just what sisters do?

Tonight the sisters in my church are getting together for an evening to learn and create and unite. There is a lesson from one who inspires women to not let the adversary get in your way telling you lies about yourself or what others think about you.  But to learn to be confident in who you are and create and make goals and live according to those truths rather then the lies of Satan.   And there will be a water color craft.   It is from 6-930pm so much later than I am ever awake for, but I know it will be good.  I have been struggling to keep myself plugged into going; and this morning I was tired of listening to the lies of why I shouldn't like: I have a cold sore, I am ugly, my bff won't be there, I don't have any connections to the other ladies there, I don't fit in etc.   These were also tools that told me in my right mind that it would be REALLY GOOD and I SHOULD BE THERE!!  So I reached into my bag of tools and texted 2 ladies I admire and asked them if they were going.  One replied and said yes and right away and offered to pick me up and give me a ride.  Well there was my answer and I said yes and now there is no getting out of it.

I love that God knows us enough to put Sisters in our lives in ways we probably never imagined or even hoped for!  They are just the best!

Friday, September 28, 2018

Meet Beau James Dayley

Meet Beau James Dayley 
He joined our family 09-21-18
8lbs 14oz - 21" tall
Twin Falls, Idaho
We could not be more excited!

We went to meet him at his new home in Jerome, Id
and he is such a snuggly bunch of LOVE!!!
(nevermind the photobomber in the back)

Of course Beckett and Memphis were excited to see us (and when I say us, I mean Papa, Papa, Papa, Papa!!!)

Jake and Sabrina's family is not really so little anymore ♥



He is already soooo happy
♥♥♥


His brother and sister have been so good with him and were so excited to meet him.  They love him so much!!

If this picture of the boys doesn't get your mind thinking about what the future holds... I just don't know what would. 
I see lots of outdoors in their future!!

We love you little man; welcome to the family!
Its already hard to remember what life was like before he arrived.
I just love how God made our hearts that way!
So big and all encompassing... kind of like Him♥

Tuesday, April 3, 2018

Happy Birthday!!

I found this previous post, from my Dad's birthday it would have been 2009; and he went back to heaven 3 years after this post in 2012 - 4 days after his 82nd birthday.  I just can't believe it's been 6 years.  I still miss him so much ♥
I don't think I would change anything about this post... it was a great compilation of memories to recall. 
It would be his 88th birthday!
I will add this pics I did from a snapshot of old home movies (I couldn't watch them for years, so I am super happy I can now and rejoice rather than wallow in pain... time does heal).
 I couldn't add his pic, without one of my Mom in the same videos.
It was when they were dating... I just love seeing them so happy and in Love ♥
So here is the older post, from a previous blog...
__________________________________________
Happy Birthday Cliff!
Today is my Dad's birthday "79"!
Wow! That sounds like an old man, but he really doesn't have an old man's spirit. He still seems the same way he was when I was 18.
.
Things I really love about my Dad.
.
He likes to tease and have fun with everyone, even our pets (okay this was an acquired taste, I didn't always love it).
He used to pay me a quarter to be quiet on car rides.
He taught me how to be independent and especially how to drive in new places and not be afraid.
He knows what he likes and doesn't waver or give in, even when I beg.
He has 5 sisters and 1 brother.
He always claimed he hated cats, but brought a stray home from work that I had been nurturing and really really wanted. She had her kittens in his closet.
He taught me the importance of being a "smooth" driver, so everyone in the car was comfortable and it was easier on the car.
We gave our son his name.
(Jasper Clifford > Jacob Jasper)
He can admit when he is wrong.
He is honest and has loads of integrity!!!!!
He let me bring all my dogs to stay with him... even though he isn't a fan of dogs. I think he even learned to like the "obedient" one (as he called her... Morgan).
He loves my son, bigger and more than life... it's the sweetest thing and makes my heart grow 4 sizes bigger to watch them together.
He gives everyone a nickname.
Mine was Bethaleen (I have heard worse, so I won't complain)
He hasn't called me that for a long time.
He is a great driver.
He used to use me as an example (of what not to do) in front of co-workers to get them to work harder (it made me so mad); but then I would find candy bars hidden in my desk.
He has his own way of saying "I'm sorry" and "thank you"and "I love you".
He gets hooked on something he likes to eat or drink and stocks up on it. A few "kicks" I can remember were...
applesauce
chocolate pudding
Pepsi Light (with lemon)
and most recently Tuscan Tomato soup from Safeway. (so funny)
He claims from all the years he drove truck, he has backed up more miles than I have driven forward. He knows about how many miles he has driven in his lifetime. He has a few million miler belt buckles given to him from Kenworth.
He used to sing in the kitchen, it would start out as a real song, but then he would make up his own words. I haven't heard him do that for a long time.
I have never seen him cry, but I have heard tears in his heart a couple of times.
He is a Mason and has a very strong testimony of God, but doesn't share it with many.
He is deaf in one ear, but has an incredible knack for hearing and recognizing certain sounds out of the other... like the kind of engine under the hood of a truck while driving down the road.
He has taught me how to be a better mother and wife, and I love him and cherish all the fun times we have had together! Sorry I was a rotten disrespectful, unappreciative teenager.
Happy Birthday Papa!!!

Friday, September 8, 2017

♥ There's this boy who stole my heart... he calls me Memaw ♥

It's a bitter/sweet day... 
Beckett and Memphis are moving into their new house!
It's close to us which makes my feet dance, and I am soooo excited for them, and all the new adventures ahead... but I won't say a tear drop doesn't fall every time I think about not seeing their cuteness every day when I come home for lunch, and after work and eating with them and praying with them before they go to sleep.
Meet Jeffrey.  He's Beckett's friend, has been there for him since birth, 
and he is very loved!

So loved his head and foot went flat, from giving up his fuzz to comfort his friend in times of need.

Fuzz, it's a friend too!

As a last ditch effort to make sure he knew how much Memaw loves him... I negotiated a deal to fix up Jeffery for his new bedroom.
So before he knew what he was getting into, he agreed to help me!

After not too much effort at all, and lots of help from his little fingers to get some new fuzz back into those tiny holes; and then stitched up any stretched out holes... he was looking like his old self again (with a little dirt and grime he picked up along the way... hey baby steps).
"Memaw I so happy"

"Oh B, I'm so happy too!"

Oh my love, I could cry he didn't just steal my heart, he melts my heart!!!!

Monday, August 21, 2017

Dinner with the Cameron's...

Sunday Night we had dinner with the Cameron's.
Dick, Heidi and her Father
They came back to our Ward to speak about their mission in Hawaii.
They had returned about 3 months ago, and it was so good to hear from them and the experiences they had that brought them and others closer to our Savior Jesus Christ.

They had always wanted to serve a mission and Heidi got really sick without a diagnosis as their youngest son left for his mission in Italy.  I remember they took her to the Temple with him before he left and she was in a wheelchair.  She got worse at times not able to move from her chair, not even to get to the bathroom, before they finally diagnosed her with lyme disease.  She fought her way back from near death for years and was able to watch her son return from his mission, marry and eventually have a baby.  All the while Dick by her side!! She gained strength at first only able to lift a tin can of beans up an inch bending her wrist, to eventually walking.  Through many miracles they found a window she was finally healthy enough to sell their family home to serve this mission!!

They came home and are taking care of both of their ailing/aging parents now.  We talked about how that is a service mission all in itself (sweet, tender and very sacred service)!!! I think when this mission is complete, I think they are hoping to build a home near the new Meridian Idaho Temple! Which if I could predict the future, would be a perfect place to find them on a next mission.

Heidi's Sister Kathy, is married to Jim's Uncle Tom (Jack's brother).
So they are Uncle Dick and Aunt Heidi to us!
They are the sweetest example of LOVE and SERVICE we could ever have!
We adore them to pieces and I am so happy I remembered to finally get this picture with them.

I hope we have many many more dinners with them in the future.
And trip to see them on the farm in Ontario is way overdue... 
I can't wait for our next visit!!!

Total Solar Eclipse 2017...

I remember the last eclipse when I lived in Washington... I would have been 14.
I remember being in school and we got to leave class and go outside to watch it.
I only remember how dark it got in the middle of the day.

This year during the eclipse... 
There was sooo much hype around our area.   
Totality was only about 30 min. from our house.
Predictions of people coming from all over!
The headlines read: 

"Solar eclipse 2017: Expect gridlock traffic to choke roads, highways ..."


Yuk!!!
That was enough to make me want to stay INSIDE!!

There were more than 10 people schedule off of work today... out of 35!
That was super weird.

They company purchased and donated glasses to a couple different local schools.
So we all got some for ourselves and our families... my boss is super cool that way!

So I worked through the Eclipse...
Since we didn't travel the 30 miles to see the total eclipse, it was only 99.3% here.  Still super cool, and you could get the affect.

But we all went outside to check it out!


I wasn't disappointed... it was pretty darn cool!!


(this is when it first started... the only shot I got... it was an accidental reflection)
I didn't remember how much cooler the air got during the eclipse....
it was almost cool enough to go grab a jacket!!
Almost.

I think my very very very favorite part was that after it was over here in Idaho...
my brother texted me from South Carolina.
To share his experience!!

Here is a photo of the night lights coming on at his shop because it got so dark.

Totally made my day!!!
Totally!!