Bits and Pieces......

9/1/14: I know, it has been awhile since I've written anything much but I actually have a good excuse this time. I have been feeling pretty bad (actually - rotten) since I started receiving chemo for the Lymphoma.  I actually did pretty good after the first two treatments but the last two kicked my behind royally.  Sadly, I'm due for my next two treatments the end of this week. Enough complaining......I actually have quite a few pictures I wanted to share starting with one of Samantha right after Jessie had about 17 inches cut off her hair.

I know - she is growing up so fast. So hard to believe she is in the 8th grade. She came and stayed several weeks with us before we all went on our family vacation and school started.  She is such a delightful young lady, constantly asking if I needed anything. Dwight and I both kept commenting on how sweet she is.  Kelly brought me these gorgeous Gerber Daisies

and I love them! They lasted a very long time. I also want to share a few pictures of the flowers Kelly and Brian planted on my deck the last weekend they were here.

I will try to get some recent pictures showing how well they are doing and how filled out the really big planter is.  At the rate I'm going, I probably will not get it done before they start dying off. I know, that sounded negative so let me work on that a little.  I do appreciate them and all the hard work Kelly and Brian put into them in a short amount of time. I do love fresh flowers.

 

We also went out to the farm for a visit with Jen and her sweet family. Samantha is posing in the background in the dress Biscuit insisted she wear because they were playing dress-up. Jen was thrilled since this is one of her good dresses.  Samantha was thrilled with the ribbons Biscuit tied in her hair. It was nice to be on the farm for a little bit. As always, Jen put out some delicious finger foods for people to enjoy.  She also sent me home with this gorgeous Orchid. I had already had it for awhile when I took this picture. I kept it until the very last petal fell off. 

 It actually lived longer than any orchid I've ever had!! I gave it back to her when the last petal fell off so she could put it in her greenhouse. Fast forward to our week at the beach. Tony had called to say the septic tank at the cottage was backed up (because of the heavy rains) so we called the same hotel the rest of my family had gotten rooms in and because people had cancelled (the rain), we were able to rent the two bedroom apartment which made it possible for everyone to be together after all.

Well that took forever. I didn't think I would ever get these three pictures small and lined up.  I still have no idea how they are going to look. I guess this is telling me I should either blog more often or just stop blogging. Anyway- it rained about every day we were at the coast but I didn't mind because we were all together. Kelly and Brian brought their bicycles with them and either walked or rode about every day I think. Monica and Tom joined us and brought Samantha a surprise from her Great-Uncle Sidney - a bicycle! The best part is she took to it right away and really likes it. Kelly knew about the surprise and brought her single bike rack so that Jess and Douglas could take it home with them. We were all sad to learn that Alice and Sidney were supposed to join us as a surprise but Alice started having symptoms of a cold so they couldn't make it.  I'm just sad it didn't work out. 

We went over to the cottage Wednesday afternoon and sat on the porch for awhile to enjoy the great weather.  Dwight had set his tarp up on the dock and the guys were able to do a little fishing. 

A guy who was staying in the other side of the duplex said they still couldn't flush.  You could tell he wasn't a happy camper. Jessie was careful to spray Douglas with sunscreen.  His skin doesn't tolerate the sun very well at all.  We had to change rooms on Thursday which meant we went to a small efficiency and Jessie, Douglas, Samantha and Kelly were squeezed into another room. On Friday afternoon, we all ended up outside - did I mention the hotel we stayed at had a pool? We had all gone outside to look at a very nice rainbow which was followed by a gorgeous sunset and a nice full moon.

It felt wonderful to be outside so we just hung out around the pool enjoying a nice clean breeze.  I think Jessie was reading a good book because she kept reading it even after the sun went down.

Monica and Tom joined us and Kelly decided to join Samantha in the swimming pool when all the young girls she had been playing with went inside.  

Everyone enjoyed some good Pizza for dinner and you could just feel everyone start to relax.  I guess the rain had gotten everyone down but now it was our last bit of time left -- time to chill.

Monica is on the other side of the pool taking pictures of Samantha and Kelly. Pretty soon, we were the only ones outside and Douglas started playing some great music. It wasn't long before I found myself dancing to an "oldie but goodie" tune.  It was fun and I felt pretty good.  When I got up and started dancing to Pharrell William's song called "Happy",  Monica put her

hat on me while I danced. It wore me slap-dab out but was worth every minute of it. I can't tell you how nice it felt to be with my family outside at the beach listening to great music and have no mosquitoes biting you. Those times don't come along very often. Jessie bought me this tee shirt to commemorate our wonderful time together. 

 This was a pretty decent picture of me and Brian either before or after I got up to dance.  They told us we needed to change rooms again and Dwight said "no" - basically he was done  - so we didn't plan to stay another night.  

Yep - I was done too. It did feel good being outside though and even though it wore me out, I think the dancing was good for me.  It was a gorgeous day on Saturday when we left for home - of course. 

One more of sweet Monica!  We left the car behind so the kids could stay as long as they wanted to enjoy another day of good weather.  The trip home in the truck was a little rough on me but it just made it all the better to get home.

 9/2/14 -I wanted to share just a few more pictures. This is one of Lori's twins - Derek, his lovely wife, Cristi along with their new baby boy - Luke.  Isn't he the handsome little one!?!

This is Lori with most of her clan. I can never get over how big Faye's family is.  She has to give Lori most of the credit since Lori had a beautiful daughter, followed by two gorgeous twin boys and then they started having babies too. Faye's other beautiful daughter has a family of a boy and girl also.

 This is a quick drawing Gina did of me from her memory and sent it to me via Internet. We are on Facebook together and I commended her on her artistic talents. You notice my hair is dark in this picture - she hasn't seen me since I am pretty much gray headed now. 

 One of my favorite flowers - Irises.  I picked these from my yard. I do wish they lasted longer, Marlan brought me a huge bouquet of flowers that lasted forever awhile back.  I had a picture of them but can't find it.  I keep having to remind myself that I'm taking medications that definitely affect my memory.  The big news of the new Service Year is....Marlan is a Regular Pioneer and will be able to attend the very special two week Pioneer School next year!!!!! We are all so very excited for her!!!! I just know she is going to have an awesome year!!!!!

A quick picture I snatched from Shelly's Facebook page.  I shared this with Kelly but wanted to have it on my blog for me to enjoy.  Aren't they the cutest little ones ever?  Yes - they are twins! So sweet.

 And this is Sherry with her sweet grand-daughter, Lyla.  Lyla is expecting a baby brother pretty much any time now. I know she is going to be a wonderful "big sister" with her brother.
Daddy would have been 100 years old today!  That is so hard to believe.  Mind-boggling......
Adding a few more pictures from the beach taken when everyone was in the apartment.  I didn't get a picture of Faye or John.

 I guess these two pictures are saying that when Kelly and/or I want to kiss one of our men-folk, they may as well just hold on because they have no choice in the matter! 
I was excited to see Marlan with her sweet granddaughter - Emmy today! I can't believe how grown up Em is now!  Been missing so much these past few months.  Love her blonde hair!!!

 It took her awhile to trust Miya which is what we didn't want her to do. Once she got down from Marlan's lap, it was on.  Just like every other child who comes here, she doesn't understand why we couldn't just let her pet Miya as much as she wanted.  Of course, Miya was in her "friendly" mode of meeting and greeting herself.  She has to introduce herself and her scent to everyone who comes here whether they like cats or not.  The bad thing is, I never know what will set her off and where she might take a little "nip" or use one of her nails to hurt someone.  We warn everyone but all they see is how pretty and "friendly" she is.  I think because she is so fearless (because she "owns" her environment), they mistake it for being friendly.  I take that back because I do believe a lot of times she is being friendly. There are several people who come by and she loves them to death and never acts ugly. She acts like she can't get enough of them rubbing her.  There are others who come by though and we can tell she isn't going to play nice.  No rhyme or reason to it - just who she is.

Debbie C, Elaine and Savanna brought me these beautiful roses last week! Debbie said they had been in service and Savanna said they had to go visit ME!  She is such a sweet girl.  She was playing with a small globe I had and I could tell she liked it so I gave it to her. She truly is a special and very sweet little girl.  I enjoyed their visit. 

 I think Miya could tell we have been talking about her.  Just kidding - I took this yesterday. She loves to sleep on my lap - especially since I've been using an old comforter to keep me warm and cozy.  I guess this has pretty much caught me up to date.