Empty Nest

It is so sad when your children leave home. The house becomes so quiet and boring. Katie moved to her apartment in Pocatello yesterday morning.

I miss her already.
It's not that I'm not busy, it's just that all of your kids always are a special part of you.
After sleeping yesterday, Mark and I went to the Summber Potluck Picnic at Sealander Park for the Alpine Club. Then Amber came over and we waited for Grandma Betty Van Sickle to arrive.

(P.S. These pictures aren't the greatest because they were taken with phones)

July 4th Week Vacation

I wanted to add some of my July 4th pictures, and discovered I'd never written anything about my week. I try to write something quickly and then I add pictures later when I have time.

I watched the Fireworks in Idaho Falls with Ben's family (Ben, Becky, Kara, and Kiersten) and with Victor and Nancy down by the river.

I watched Kiersten nap while the others walked around the river.


Ben's family came to visit me.

Bear World

I had a fun day off yesterday. Early in the morning I went to Bear World with Katie, Jill Gaumet from France, and two of her kids.

It was the first time Katie had been there. We had fun. Then I heard all about Katie's dance camp trip. She had a good trip. Then Katie and I went to lunch at Chili's with my post office co-worker Sandy. Then we had Amber and Shaun over for pizza and salad. Amber, Shaun, Katie and I played the game El Grande. I like that game. Amber won.
Amber tried a new way of cutting Mark's hair.

Then I had a short nap and headed back to working all night at the Post Office.

Still waiting for the twins

Our daughter Amber should deliver her twin boys at any minute. We are so excited to be able to hold them.

Amber is more than ready to deliver two baby boys, they are a good size.

I took these photos last Sunday, I was trying to get a good picture of how huge Amber's tummy really is, she says she is doing fine.

This view is taken from upstairs at the railing above the family room. I was still trying to get a good picture of Amber being very pregnant.

Today is day off, I love being able to sleep when normal people do and I feel so much better!

The brace on Mark's foot is from an injury he got on our spring vacation while hiking. He just finally went to the foot doctor a couple of weeks ago.

Nancy's Summer Party

NOT REALLY.....a secret was about to be revealed!

Nancy and Victor bought beautiful new patio furniture.

It is nicer patio furniture than we've ever had.

Mark and I drove to Twin Falls on June 6th after I had finished working at the Post Office (I start work at 12:30am)

We arrived early so I could help Nancy prepare for the big party.



I helped Nancy make these strawberry ladybugs. I was suppposed to ask "Why do they have pacifers in their mouths?" But, I didn't...

Brief visit with Nicole in June

We got to see Nicole for an hour on June 7th!

My daughter Nancy playing with the girls Nicole and Chloe in my mom's racoon fountain.

We all played lawn games in the yard with Nicole.



And then Nicole played the piano and sang to us.

We loved being with Nicole, so is so sweet!

Pictures of my granddaughter Nicole

Well, not exactly new, but I just downloaded them from my camera.

These pictures were taken March 28th at my mother's home in Salt Lake City.

I loved being able to see Jason and Nicole when I went to Salt Lake City.

I miss getting to spend time with them in Salt Lake City.

Weekend at home

After working 10 hours and getting off work at 10:30am on Saturday, I did a few errands. The siding repair on our home began yesterday, and they were finishing up the new siding installation on the south side of our home today. Mark and I started out to ride out bikes to the Edwards Theatre on the other side of town. However, we ran out of time, and my friend Patty came and picked me up to go to the movie "The Proposal". We chained up my bike. Mark rode his bike back the 5 miles to our house, and then went to pick up my bike. We tried to get him to go to the movie with us, but he didn't want to. Patty and I enjoyed the movie. Then we went to dinner at the Sizzler with Keith and Patty Christensen (our scuba friends). And the last thing we did is go and buy our movie tickets for the opening day of the new Harry Potter movie. It was amazing today that I didn't nod off, I've been up for almost 24 hours now.

Ben's family visit, vacation at cabin, July 4th

Life has been very busy! Lot's going on in my life. I had a great week getting to spend time with my son Ben, Becky, their darling girls Kara and Kiersten, my daughter Nancy and her husband Victor, and my sister Pam and her family.

My daughter's coming to visit this weekend

I am excited to have my daughter,Nancy (expectant mother), and her husband come and visit this weekend. They should be here soon. It's a good thing there is a bright spot in my life cause I got a bid to repair our house siding, and it $2,700!!! And my sweet dog Sky had a bad ear infection and it cost me a ton at the vet today!

Oh, I forgot, to post the exciting news: On June 6th I got the exciting news that my daughter Nancy is pregnant! I am so, so happy for them. They have wanted a baby for years. She is due on December 7, 2009.

Rafting on the Salmon River

We had beautiful weather for the Memorial Day weekend (except for Sunday). The weekend was a little shorter than usual for me because I had to work Saturday morning. I worked 10 hours and then Katie and I took off for Salmon. We arrived at the campground just as the afternoon trip was ready to lauch. They were kind enough to wait while we changed into our wet suits.

Katie and I are really still in the raft in this huge wave.

We came very close to flipping the raft, but due to the superior captain (Vicky) and the fantastic rudder man (Katie) we made it through O.K. without losing anyone out of the raft! Yeah! It was tons of fun!

Saying Goodbye

Nicole loved her princess bedroom at her Dad's house. She was always happy there.

It is so sad that Jason cannot have Nicole come to his cute little house anymore. He is going to start packing up her darling little bedroom. Pam and I enjoyed putting the finishing touches on the walls to make it the best Princess room fit for our little Princess Nicole. It is so sad she will never be there again. I hope the pictures we have will help her remember it someday. Jason's heartbreak is so unneeded, how cruel to push away a devoted, loving father.

A Sad Week

My son, Jason, has been having a custody battle for over a year. The custody evaluator has believed his ex-wife's lies, and thinks Jason is lying. Jason is getting restricted visitation instead of more time with his precious daughter. He feels he has no choice but to leave. These two pictures were taken last Saturday when we were all at my mom's house in Salt Lake City.



And then on Tuesday we had high wind warnings, and gusts up to 62 mph. The siding was blown off the south side of our home.

I keep thinking about sweet, beautiful Nicole. I didn't realize on Easter that it would be the last Easter we would all be together.

A Happy Mother's Day

On Saturday Nancy and Victor worked hard at weeding the front flower beds and planting flowers for my mother in SLC for Mother's Day. (With a little help from Chloe and I)

I've had a nice day. I woke up at 1:15am as most of the people at my mom's house went to bed. My sister Pam and my daughter Katie stayed up and talked with me until 4am. I got back up about 9am. At 10:50am I went to church with Nancy and Victor and enjoyed the special Mother's Day Program. Nancy and Katie gave me a nice yellow purse, and Ben and Becky sent me a gift card for Wal Mart. This afternoon I played the game May I with my mom and my 3 children: Nancy, Katie, and Jason. I made Tacos for dinner because my mom said it is her favorite meal. I tried to get my kids together to go on a short hike, but that didn't work. The weather was really beautiful today in Salt Lake City. I only had one day off, today, so it was a quick trip. I was lucky to have Katie with me and she drove. I got home at 11:30pm and had to leave for work 45 minutes later.












My daughters Katie and Nancy gave me a nice purse for Mother's Day. (I forgot to get a picture of the purse)

Goblin Valley

During our spring vacation we camped at the Goblin Valley State Park. They have a nice campground. And we really enjoyed exploring the Valley of the Goblins.

A Happy Birthday Day!

I had a wonderful day.
I worked 10 hours at the Post Office. Then I went to Fred Meyer to buy the Phalaenopsis Orchid plant that I've been wanting for years. And I was really happy to find it on sale, it is beautiful.

Then my friend Patty (scuba girl) took me to lunch at Red Robin. They gave me a yellow balloon and huge hot fudge sunday. Then we went to a movie, "Duplicity". We both thought it was dumb.

When I got home there was a teddy bear with balloons waiting for me from Ben's family. Then Mark and I went to dinner with me friend Joni, her husband David, Brian Boer (our Holland roommate), Amber & Shaun, and Evan at Jakers. Mark gave me a new camelback bladder, Amber and Shaun gave me pink earrings with a matching necklance, Brian Boer gave me flowers with a birthday balloon, and Joni gave me a new water bottle for work.


I finally got a chance to sleep for 2 hours before going back to work. (at 12:30am Wednesday morning) I had a very nice and happy day. Thank you everyone for all your well wishes and phone calls, and gifts.

Little Wild Horse Canyon and Bell Canyon, Utah

I can't get my pictures to upload. I am SO FRUSTRATED!
The instructions say 8 mega pixels is the maximum size, and my camera is 10 mega pixels. How do I do it?



Hey, I did it. It took me over an hour, and this isn't exactly what I had planned, but I hope you can see the pictures from one of our vacation days.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

For the first time I cooked a traditional St. Patrick's Day dinner. We got the receipes in Relief Society (I didn't get up when my alarm went off and missed the Irish Soda Bread demonstration). So here's what I made:
Corned Beef Brisket with carrots, red potatoes, and green cabbage.
Green Irish Soda Bread.
It turned out good. And Mark said it was better than what he had at the cafeteria at work. (I guess that is a compliment.)

Tonight I'm cooking my mom's traditional tacos that she always made for us, and a articoke for Launjing Guo. She is from China and has never eaten an articoke before. Launjing is moving out on Friday.

Yesterday, I was looking on the internet trying to help my son Jason find a job. As I read the National Guard site, I thought, hey I would like to do that. So I filled out the form. Have you started laughing yet? I talked to a truck driver this morning at work and he said they don't take anyone over 35 years old. The recruiter just called me, I laughed with him. Oh well. I desperately want to retire from the Post Office in a year, and I'm thinking I'll need to do some part time work.

We have Relief Society tonight and the theme is "Saving on your Budget", mmmm. Meanwhile my lucky sister in Logan is going to a concert I wish I was going to: The Nashville Tribute Band. We heard them play at BYU Provo. I enjoy listening to them.

I went to Physical Therapy today again. I'm so tired of going, and I'm so tired of having pain in my shoulder. The doctor said it would be a one year recovery, I just didn't believe him.

On March 10, 2009 I was diagnosed with high blood pressure. I started taking some herbs on March 3rd when I suspected it, and a regular prescription on March 10th. I'm glad my daughter Amber is in the nursing program at ISU and brought it to my attention. Finally today, my blood pressure is dropping, it was 130/68. yeah! I wonder if my high blodd pressure is an effect of my surgery and pain, or my night work schedule.

Have a great day!

Thursday, My day off

I cannot get this blog to look decent, it is so frustating!
I love my day off, cause I get to sleep normal, and I LOVE NOT WORKING AT THE POST OFFICE!
I had my physical therapy appointment today. I am still making slow progress. And then I had to take Sky and Gizmo for their annual Veterarian check up and shots. That was really a challenge. Sky is 7 pounds overweight (He weighs 127 pounds), his eyes are getting cloudy due to old age (I couldn't tell), but otherwise is doing well. He does need some tartar removed from his teeth (but that's not going to happen, it would be $200). Gizmo has lost 2 pounds this year, and the vet said this is a good weight for him. (10 pounds 11 ounces). He is healthy, but he had to get 3 shots this years. I felt bad for him and so I bought him a canned food treat at the Pet store. I love taking Sky to the Pet Store, you know everybody there is really interested in him. He is such a lovable dog!

Last weekend of February

It's a good thing Katie needed some prescriptions so I could brib her into driving me to Salt Lake City. It is so difficult leaving that important element out of your life--sleep.

So the weekend began with Mark driving to the cabin with Shaun, Amber, their dogs, and Evan. They left Friday afternoon.

Saturday morning (Friday night) I worked hard since we had a lot of mail to sort and not enough people. I was in a lot of pain when I finally got off at 9am Saturday. I did a few errands, hurried home to pack, and then drove to Pocatello to pick up Katie. We left Pocatello at 1:00pm to drive to Salt Lake City. We arrived at Jason's house just as he was taking Nicole for a bike ride. I will post a picture later.
We all went to dinner at Applebee's at 4:30pm. On the way home my mom and I went shopping at Wal Mart. Back at Grandma's house we all played Nicole's new game Cootie. And we played a game of May I. However, I couldn't stay awake for the last hand. Jason had to finish for me. It was fun being with Nicole, she says the funniest things. And she couldn't get enough of Katie, she loves her aunt!

Sunday morning I cooked breakfast. Katie and I attending sacrament meeting at the church next door. We played games. Katie and I left at 8pm to drive back to Idaho. I slept while Katie drove to Pocatello. I drove the rest of the way to Idaho Falls. I slept for 15 minutes and went to work at 12:30am. I was exhausted while working today (Sunday night)

We will soon be grandparents to twins!

On February 12th we learned that our daughter Amber is having twins! This was a huge surprise! She had told us she was waiting until after she finished the nursing program at ISU before she had any kids. Mark thought this picture of twins was funny, and he actually wants to get some shirts for the babies that say this. Shaun and Amber came over on the 13th and shared the DVD with us that they made for them during the last ultrasound. It was way cool, and you could see the baby A and baby B's heart beating.

It will be so fun to actually have grandkids living in the same town as we do!

VALENTINE SUCKERS

Becky, Kara and I made Valentine suckers when I was visiting them in Washington on January 13, 2009

Becky's suckers looked the best!

Kara made these suckers

Kara enjoying her suckers

Kara and the suckers
that she made.

Valentine treats that I made. It was hard for me to do the suckers since my right arm was still in a sling.