I don't know if you know this or not...

...but I have the most adorable, sweet, funny, stylish, healthy, cute, precocious, precious, (did I mention adorable?) twin granddaughters in all of the whole wide world.

Today happens to be their birthday.  They are now the ripe old age of 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY YOU TWO LITTLE SWEETIES!  

I love you!  (Grampa Terry loves you too!)

Proof of their cuteness...

Here they are at our house for Sunday dinner.

Cute.

Here they are with me.

The one you can see is Olivia (cute) and the hat is also cute though you can't see her face.

So here you go, the face under the hat...

Lyla.

Cute.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DARIN!

This is the nephew who first made me "Aunt Tami".  I was only five years old when he came along.  I loved him from the start...even if he did call me a bad name once!  I forgive him.  I remember Darin as being the cutest, chubbiest, most adorable little guy ever.  He had great parents who raised him absolutely right.  He has always been a happy guy.  Self-reliant.  He even paid for his own LDS mission.  I've always admired that.

I asked his sister Janna to email me some pictures.  She did.  But more than the pictures she sent, she really touched my heart with what she said about her brother.  I'm just going to quoter her here:

"Darin is seriously the best dad there is. He is so involved with his kid's lives and spends a lot of time with them.  I mean, there are a lot of great dads out there, but darin is seriously the kindest, most gentle and caring dad.  Anyone who knows him would say that about him as a person, but I think when his kids are older and say that about him as a dad, it will be the biggest success and complement to him. (terrible grammar and way of wording things...wish I could word it better)."

You did just fine my dear.  I'm proud of you Darin and always have been.  Have a great birthday!  I love you.

 

One of my favorite pictures.  This shows my parents oldest grandchild (Darin) and their youngest grandchild (Erika).  Darin and Cam spent some time at our home right before

they left to serve their LDS missions.  I'll always remember that day.

This is Darin the year I graduated from High School.

1981.  Whoosh! 

Lookin' good Darin!

Darin's children

Darin with some of the wonderful "men" in my family.

L to R Backrow:  Brian, Brenton, Darin, Cameron, My dad

Middle:  Michael, Taylor, Joel

Front:  Vaughn, Sloan, and Brant

At my parent's 50th wedding anniversary.

All of us.

Darin and his lovely wife Violet...with the heart of course!

Darin hiking with his children.

I see that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.  He had a marvelous

outdoorsy father!

I know, I know, Darin isn't in this picture.  However, it was taken in Seattle when

we drove up to his wedding.  It was the only one I could find.

Happy Birthday Josh!

When I married my husband Terry, almost 12 years ago, I also inherited four

new children:  Josh, Spencer, Melissa and Abbie.

Josh is the oldest.

He is (on the outside) very quiet and keeps to himself.  However, I know he isn't.

He is an outgoing, humorous, brilliant, young dad.

There is something about Josh that I have always loved.  He has never treated me

unkindly.  I'm the "wicked step-mother" as the story goes.  But Josh has never made me feel like one. He asks me for advice about books for Royan (his son).  He listens when I give him that advice and seems to value my opinion.

He's either genuine or a real good faker  (haha!)

I'd just like to publicly thank Josh for his kindness to me. 

I really do love you Josh.

I wish you a happy birthday with many more to come.

(PS  You're pops has a present for you...come and get it sometime)

Josh with his awesome son Royan!

Our oldest and wisest (?) grandson Royan.

Josh with Lyla (one of Melissa's twins). 

I have never seen an uncle who is more fiercely loved than Josh.

They all think that the very sun shines out of Josh's eyes.

Thanks for being your amazing self Josh.

Oh, and Happy Birthday.

My Sister

"To the outside world we all grow old.  But not to brothers and sisters.  We know each other as we always were.  We know each other's hearts.  We share private family jokes.  We remember family feuds and secrets, family griefs and joys.  We live outside the touch of time."  

~Clara Ortega

Rhonda and me

Today is my sister Rhonda's birthday.   To tell you the absolute truth I'm not really sure how old she is.  I could figure it out.  Let's see...she's 17 years older than me and I'm 46 so that makes her what?  63?  She could be 50 for all I know.  It doesn't matter to me.  Age doesn't really count after 40.  Plus, Rhonda is ageless.  She is constant.  Through all the years and years that I've known her, she has remained steadfast and true.  That's what I count on her to be.

I've often wondered about what Rhonda thought when mom and dad announced (did they announce it or just wait for everyone to figure it out???) that she was pregnant.  The scenario that plays out in my brain most of the time is the mortification of a 17 year old girl who realizes that her mother could even GET pregnant.  Mostly I try to picture her as happy to be gaining another sibling...yes???

I never thought it was very fair that I was only three years old when Rhonda got married.  I got jipped.  I never knew her.  I never grew up with her.  I didn't get to share clothes or secrets.  She was grown and gone.  I was closer in age to her oldest child (five years) than to her.  So, needless to point out, our relationship was different than most sisters.  Or at least MY idea of what most sisters were.  She was much older and MUCH wiser than I.  We didn't get to fight like all sisters do (of course there was the infamous time in Calgary when I stomped off to the bathroom when Rhonda was taunting me in a Scrabble game I was losing!  I was furious. Remember that Rhonda???  How embarrassing!)  but that is neither here nor there.

We have always lived miles and miles away from each other so have never experienced running next door for a cup of sugar.   Using our parents' home in Southern Alberta as an anchor spot, most of our adult lives, Rhonda has lived about as far North in British Columbia as I lived South in Utah.  She has been married once.  I've been married twice.  She has five children.  I have two.  She's (probably) never seen a rated R movie.  I've....well.....

So many differences between my sister and me.  Differences that don't matter in the broader scheme of things.  They don't matter because they don't change my feelings toward her.  I love my sister.  We often go months and months without contact but I know that if I need her, I just have to call her.  I never worry that she doesn't think about or love me.  To me, that speaks volumes.  If it doesn't make sense to you as a reader then don't worry about it because it does to me.  Just trust me.

About now you must be wondering if there is anything similar about the two of us.  Yep!  These are the things I know we share:

•     Love of quilting and all things fabric

•     Sense of humor (Although I'm much funnier than she is!)

•     We both got our teaching degrees

•     We wear the same ring size

•     We are both much better looking than any of our brothers

•     We miss our sister and parents

(I'm sure there are many other things but I'll spare you all)

There you have it.  There is so much more I could write here.  More than anything else though, I want my readers...you,  and my dear sister Rhonda to know how very much I love and adore her.  She will probably never know to what extent.  Just trust me when I say (in the most profound words I could muster up) a lot.

Happy Birthday Rhonda!

My siblings

Back:  Bruce, Brian (again with the cut off head), and Larry

Front:  Donna with me and Rhonda

Rhonda with me.

Must. Have. Those. Shoes!

I'm so well behaved.

The last time Rhonda and I were together.

My bother Bruce's wedding in Vancouver.

That saucy gal in the middle is our niece Alissa.

Rhonda and her husband Jim with their offspring. 

I can't even begin to name them all.

Her children, though, Darin, Brent, Cam, Janna, and Mike (whose wedding this was).

I do know that two darling Texan twins are missing from this picture.

whose mother happens to write an amazing sewing blog you can follow

HERE!

(that was a shameless blog promotion just for you Janna :)

One of Rhonda's many talents.

My New Favorite Blog

My darling daughter, Erika, has created a blog that has knocked my socks off.

Why?

Well, I always knew she was creative but I didn't always know to what extent.

She and Tyler have been living with us for the interim before school starts.

(they move next week :sob: )

So I get to watch her create new things daily.

What a treat.

I know that we are all so very proud of our children and think the sun literally 

shines out their eyes.  At least, I do.  This is one of those shining times for me.

It seems like every day Erika is working on some craft.  She paints, sews, mod-podges, 

cooks, or glues, something new.  She created a blog about all of her craftiness.

Now, I'm pretty proud of her crafting skills.

I'm proud of her homemaking skills.

I'm proud of her computer skills.

But...

all of these talents pale in comparison to the pride I felt when I saw her blog header:

Her sense of humor is a trait I'd like to say that I gave to her.

I absolutely cracked up over this title.

(If you are familiar with Saturday Night Live, you will "get" the reference.  

If you aren't then it's still funny)

So here, for a sneak peek at some of the projects she has completed, is the link for 

her blog: www.oopsicraftmypants.blogspot.com

Button Pillow

(t=Tyler  e=Erika)

I fetching LOVE this "Cookie Sheet"  calendar!

You should definitely check out her blog just to see this.  Seriously!

Gorgeous star.

Actually, this isn't me, though I wish I looked so good.  

This is the crafty little girl that I crafted.

I love her.

(I am fully aware that we shouldn't be prideful.  Sometimes I have a hard time with that.  Can you tell?)

Lost and Found

Would the little owner of this...

kindly return to my house to pick it up.

If you do, I PROMISE to:

• take you shopping

•  let you play with

 the American Girl dolls

 • fix you a scrumptious sandwich

•  secretly feed you something that isn't "good" for you (shhhhh!)

• paint your toenails

• take you to the playground

• do some arts and crafts

• clean your glasses

• find something that smells good from "The Closet"

• take a walk with Leo

and, most important of all...

•  read you as many books as you'd like.

Come back soon.  I miss you Issy!

Are You Kidneying Me???

It's taken me a week to finally make this post.  If I hadn't been in shock and awe over my doctor's visit last week, I would have been able to post it then.  So, here is another installment in my medical saga for the year.

I went to my 3 month follow up visit with my urologist, Dr. Platt. (remember that name)  From the beginning, Terry and I were a bit worried about waiting so long after surgery to check to see if my kidney and ureters were doing their jobs.  But, Dr. Platt said it was "standard".  He's a doctor, right?  So we trusted him.

So, at the appointment in his beautiful new facility in the brand new Central Utah Clinic, Dr. Platt came in and looked over my report on his state of the art computer.  He then became a bit put out that I hadn't had an IVP Intravenous Pyelogram.  Like it was MY fault! So he arranged for me to "run downstairs" and get one done.

If you didn't check the link out, an IVP is similar to a CT scan but doesn't take the pictures in a 3D fashion.  The technician took an x-ray of my renal (that word sounds so nasty to me) area before the injection.  Then they insert an IV and squirt the same liquid as a CT scan...a water soluble iodine to show the inner structures of the urinary tract (kidney's, ureters, bladder). *Let me just insert here that I LOVE the feeling of that stuff when it goes in my body...I wonder if that's what getting high feels like, if only for a split second?*  Then the tech takes photos every 20 minutes as the solution passes through the  urinary tract.  No big deal.

(this is not me)

(This is not me either)

This is an xray of a functioning urinary tract.  The top white splotch are kidney's, the white lines are the ureters, and the white bowl at the bottom is the bladder.

Sooooo.....

Once I was back upstairs to Dr. Platt's office, he came in and called the Radiologist.  Once he got off of the phone he turned to me and the following conversation took place:

(please know ahead of time that I AM NOT LYING about what took place.)

Dr. Platt: Well, there's good and bad in all things.  Let me start with the good news...

(Just so you know, I had seen the x-ray in the IVP room.  The technician let me look but didn't, of course, make a diagnosis.  But, it was pretty obvious what the outcome was so I was interested to see what Dr. Platt had to say.)

Dr. Platt: The good news is that Obama is the president.  Which means, we will be in Iraq longer.  Which means, the world will end sooner.  Which means, Christ will come to the earth sooner.

Me: WHAT????

Dr. Platt: The bad news is, your kidney is not functioning at all and there is nothing we can do surgically to repair it.  

Me: Are you going to take it out?

Dr. Platt: No.  We just leave it in there until it produces stones or multiple infections then we'll remove it.

Me: What do I do in the mean time?

Dr. Platt:  Well, when you're driving your motorbike over a cliff, just think "What did Dr. Platt say?  Oh ya, land on your right side because if you land on your left side, you'll end up on dialysis."  

Me: WHAT???

Dr. Platt: Take care when you play extreme sports...blah, blah, blah...people live with one kidney all the time...blah, blah, blah.

...and on and on.

I honestly was in shock.  People ask me why I didn't ask him more questions.  I was just in shock.  For one, he was such a dork in everything he said.  For another, I was upset about the fact that I didn't really even need to have the surgery in March.  I had even more kidney function before that surgery (30%) than now!

I'm having a hard time recovering from these surgeries.  I'm exhausted all the time.  I'm out of shape.  I'm just not well.  I really need to change some things with my health so I don't turn into an old lady before my time.  I'm a mess.  Thanks to everyone for supporting me through EVERYTHING.  I'll get better.  I'll be myself again...I have to be.  I have a family and a class of first graders to take care of, plus myself.  I know it will get better, it just has to.

Good bye my friend!

(just be forewarned that if my friend Kari reads this, she may have a few choice words to say...that's just Kari.)