Families Are Forever

After Christmas

2012-01-24T10:05:00.000-08:00

First, Gary added several nutcrackers to his new collection and I didn't have the heart to pack them away with the Christmas decorations.

So I generously :0) created a shelf in the bell cabinet for the smaller ones, and the tall ones that wouldn't fit are on top guarding the plant which is obviously too large for its pot and may fall over any minute.

JANUARY'S wreath...a little windblown...because...

...the wind and snow came a little late after the holidays. We had to work real hard to lift the lid and get into the hot tub wearing boots to make a path.

The wind fairy kindly turned over the picnic chairs to "protect" them from the elements.

And, by the way, where's the swimming pool?

This was treacherous to drive in for a few days...snow, ice, melting, more snow, ice, and melting.

Eat your heart out, you Texans.

MORE HOLIDAY FUN WITH FAMILY

2012-01-06T11:36:00.001-08:00

The day after Christmas we drove to Western Washington to visit with Keith and Melora, Sophie and Sam for a couple of days.We exchanged Christmas gifts, ate fantastic food, and just basically hung out. Nice rest for me not having to cook.

See the DVD in Sophie's hand? She and I have a common interest.

Judi and kids came over to watch BYU win their bowl game Friday and we did fun stuff all day.

Some of our projects were more entertaining than others; I guess it depended on how much time was needed to complete them. This one didn't take too long.

Rich and Andrea brought their kids Saturday and we had a great New Years and football weekend. Gary loves having someone to watch football with and Harrison and Rich were the perfect ones.

Ella (8 months) has mastered pulling herself up to anything within reach so she had to help Grandpa run the train controls and was fascinated by the train going around and around. Actually so am I.

The kids started with the noise makers and hats way before the new year started because they all went to bed. Jessi started out with jeans on...I don't know what happened here but obviously the New Years toys took precedence over getting her pants back on. Thank goodness Harrison was dressed.

Finally she has her pants back on and it looks like she found an extra hat.

This was, and is always, the favorite place to hang out...young or old.

CHRISTMAS WEEKEND

2011-12-26T09:44:00.001-08:00

We began by making a list of projects for the weekend...beginning with making a new "Don't Eat Pete" board. Who is that hiding behind the artwork?

Here's dinner and the cook. We ate it Christmas Eve, Christmas, and we're still eating.

Here's before we got up Christmas morning. Since the visiting kids aren't little anymore, we got to sleep until 7:00 am.

Here's some pictures of unwrapping and new clothes and toys.

These two weren't the only ones who got BYU stuff for Christmas, but of course Harrison got the most.

Here's some of the favorite gifts.

We lucked out with 1:00 church so we had a great morning with our new gifts and Mickey Mouse pancakes on my new griddle.

It was a good day!

FUN IN OREGON CITY

2011-12-20T11:44:00.000-08:00

Before we left, something unusual happened. The hibiscus had two (count 'em) 2 blooms at the very same time. We enjoyed it for only a few hours before we drove away for the weekend, so we had to record it on film. So you think this plant gets a lot of attention? Absolutely! We aren't exactly in a tropical climate.

Now here's Ella...another little "flower" from the Grandparents' Garden...the very youngest. Her sweet personality is developing now. I think she's going to be a dainty little doll...unlike her sister who bounces off the wall. The rhyme was accidental, but appropriate.

Looking at Redden's BD card...he's 11 now as of the 14th.

Picture's a little blurry but #20 is Redden going in for the rebound. He made 6 points in his BB game on Saturday.

Austin and Gary in a light sabre battle, or more accurately a battle of wits or Gary wouldn't have been talked into getting off the couch where he was resting his foot.

Here I am with the whole family...Rich, Andrea, Redden, Austin, Jessi, and Ellla...good looking bunch, huh? I didn't have any ugly kids and certainly no ugly grandchildren.

The sad part of the whole weekend was when the battery died in the camera. There could have been so much more to post.

AROUND THE HOUSE

2011-12-13T18:22:00.000-08:00

Gary's clever outdoor light display couldn't have gone up this year without Melora and Keith doing the actual work while Gary bossed them around.

Hurray! All the gifts are purchased, wrapped (except for 2 in transit,) and the Christmas cards are in the mail. We've watched a hundred Christmas movies with only another hundred to go...well, slight exaggeration maybe.

Notice the new "do"...a lady at church thought it was my real hair grown back. No, you don't get to see a picture of the real hair yet. It's coming in though. Considering everything (hair, body, broken fingernails, etc.) I could easily pass for a little boy.

Gary saw something like this in a magazine and copied it...artist that he is. I strongly protested due to my lack of self control, but he got his way. I knew I couldn't leave these alone and I was right. I am NUTS about them. We have a box of goodies in the freezer that we have made together...he sits on the stool and measures, pours, stirs, and shapes while I bring him ingredients, bowls, spoons, spatulas, etc. We have been having a blast, but all that weight I lost during chemo is coming back.

It's been over a week now since Jack Frost made a very thorough visit to the valley and we've had freezing temperatures all day long every day. The frost is beautiful and doesn't appear to be melting anytime soon.

The drive to church is frosty orchards, grass, and vineyards everywhere...difficult to capture on film, but nonetheless gorgeous.

Okay...we got tired of having no place for guests to sit without bringing in the dining room chairs, so we purchased a couple of these chairs which are a nice and comfy fabric and fold up for storing.

Our home is filled with lights and Christmas music (yes, heavy on the Osmonds) and even though we're maimed and crippled, we are loving the season.

CHRISTMAS IS ON ITS WAY

2011-12-02T09:34:00.001-08:00

It starts the day after Thanksgiving and ends after New Years Day.

These pictures that Gary took were to contrast day and night. It's like a whole different scene.

This is the "adult" tree...green with pink, mauve, and burgandy decorations.

Here's the "children's tree" all finished.

Hope you all are having a wonderful Christmas season this year.

Thanksgiving Weekend

2011-12-01T18:45:00.000-08:00

"Why oh why don't I ever get any of this good stuff?"

Every year Gary makes the turkey and stuffing. This gives him access to the cookbook where he finds the recipes I've saved from years gone by of yummy things that I never make for him because they're too fattening. This is so depressing. Actually we did stop on the pie page and the two of us made pumpkin and apple pies for our dinner.

This, however, is cookie dough for treats that we planned to share with friends. I'm pretty sure that we'll have to make more soon. :0)

Natalee entertained us with a number of flute solos while we were working on dinner.

Dinner was traditional and everything turned out perfectly for a change. We ate the same thing for several meals afterward.

Friday morning the kids were so excited waiting for Sophie and Sam to come. Natalee was bouncing off the walls so we had to take drastic measures. This is reminiscent of her Aunt Pam who had an identical picture taken many years ago.

Harrison was practising up for a serious battle with Sam, his partner in crime, and he ganging up on the girls and the adults.

We kept the girls busy digging out the Christmas decorations...

...setting up for the Disney corner in the piano room...

...and putting together the "children's" tree and train display with all the Disney ornaments. I just call it the children's tree; it's actually mostly for me.

When Melora and Keith the the kids showed up we put them right to work hanging Christmas lights which was pretty impossible for Gary to do this year. Then we fed them leftovers.

Meanwhile, the kids used the entire culdesac for their "town" where they drew with chalk every imaginable store, shop, and personal residences...the imagination of kids!!

On Saturday the girls also made and decorated Christmas cookies. It's so fun when cousins get together...wish we could do it more often.

Another beautiful Grandview sunrise.

GARY'S BIRTHDAY

2011-11-18T19:13:00.000-08:00

I always like to take as many days to celebrate my birthday as possible. It's rubbed off on a few family members, and Gary has learned his lesson well.

We started on Saturday with Judi and kids with pizza...

...cake and homemade ice cream...

...and cards and gifts.

Blowing out 71 candles is a big job for an old man, so he needed moral support.

Then Wednesday night on his real birthday we had some friends over for Mexican dinner...

...more cake and ice cream...

...and he blew it again.

He had two special gifts on his birthday...the first snowfall of the season,

...and our once-a-season hibiscus bloom. Mother Nature was a little confused, but kind.

AROUND THE HOUSE

2011-11-07T09:30:00.000-08:00

The oil portrait of us is finally framed and hanging over the piano. We know the kids will fight over it after we're gone, like..."you take it"..."no, you can have it."

Gary then made a frame for the finished family puzzle and it's hanging below the London picture on the stair landing...eye level when you come in the front door. What a fun picture.

Gary's heel surgery went well and this is how he races around the house except for stairs. He climbs up on his hands and knees and slides down on his behind. This will go on for several more weeks. Now it's my turn to wait on him...well, more than usual anyway.

Just a few of the Thanksgiving decorations we have around the house.

NATALEE & COMPANY

2011-11-02T15:11:00.000-07:00

...with Harrison at their ward Halloween party. (What a haul of candy they made.)

...with the other members of the Carmichael Middle School 6th grade band in concert. (They were all beginners and did a great job.)

BIRTHDAYS

2011-10-17T12:55:00.001-07:00

Harrison had a special birthday celebration this year. He was in Utah watching his favorite football team win a game in their home stadium on September 30 (his 9th birthday), got to storm the field after the game and see the coach and players up close (just like he did this summer when he got all their autographs. It was a day he will never forget.

We did celebrate Corinne's 14th birthday Saturday.
Natalee played her flute for us...she's coming along very nicely.

Judi made us a nice BBQ steak dinner...

...and Corinne showed us stuff she bought with her birthday money.

Happy Birthday to Harrison and Corinne...(now she can go to stake dances.) :0)

AUSTIN'S BAPTISM

2011-10-14T14:22:00.000-07:00

Going to Austin's baptism was a real blessing for us since it took place right after my last chemo infusion and I was not feeling my best. However, I did just fine and it turned out to be a good day.

Here is one of the sweetest kids you'll ever find...all done playing soccer for the day and ready to go be baptized on the day after his 8th birthday.

Reading his birthday-baptism card...

...opening his gift.

Over at the church, dressed and ready to go.

Dad's ready also. What a blessing that his dad holds the Priesthood and can perform the ordinances.

Here we are so proud of this little boy...

...and his dad...our boy.

Here he's surrounded by his wonderful family.

Other guests included Grandpa Turner,

Grandma Chris,

Aunt Pam, Uncle Jay. and Nick.

They needed his mom's talents for reverence music.

(Redden gives him a piggy-back.) He ain't heavy; he's my brother.

Home now...time for dinner with the family.

A great blessing in our lives is that our children are teaching their children the Gospel. There is nothing more important than family.

A LITTLE HALLOWEEN CHEER

2011-10-10T08:29:00.000-07:00

It has been weeks since I've had anything cheerful to blog, and under ordinary circumstances I probably wouldn't put such frivolity on the blog...but I was desperate to spread a little cheer around my house, so I have to share.

There is a big mystery this month. We have looked everywhere and can't find the October wreath for the front door. Finally in desperation I just grabbed the November one and slapped on a witch. It will suffice.

Most of the figurines we inherited from Gary's mom who made them with his sister and sister-in-law many years ago. I'm not that crafty although I did make the candy jar on the coffee table a long time ago in Relief Society.

This Mickey pumpkin was a yard sale purchase that Bobbi made a few years ago. What a find for her crazy MM mom! It typically goes out on the front porch on Halloween night with a candle inside.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

CHEMO IS OVER!!!!!

2011-10-10T07:23:00.000-07:00

Here's my chemo nurses singing "For She's a Jolly Good Fellow" on my last day of treatment.
They gave me Martinellis and I told them they were great but I was never coming back!!!!

What's fair?

2011-09-06T11:48:00.000-07:00

One evening we did a quick walk around the Benton County Fair and we couldn't resist having Gary pose with this turkey. It's an inside joke but some of the family will get it. Dobble dobble dobble.

This is Gary doing 99% of the work on my 1000 piece birthday puzzle from Melora...

...and me taking the other 1% credit for modpodging it and holding it up.

This seems to be everyone's favorite wig so far.

RED SATURDAY

2011-08-21T11:04:00.000-07:00

Tomatoes have taken over the garden. Now begins the battle to keep up the canning with the ripening.

Here's the old "a-peeling" dude who hands off to the....

...old "tomato" who cuts and jars and boils in anticipation of future salsa, spaghetti sauce, and winter soup.

OLD FOLKS ARE A LITTLE CORNY!

2011-08-13T15:07:00.000-07:00

Freezing corn from Gary's garden. Tomatoes are coming on fast.

BIG NEWS

2011-08-04T08:26:00.000-07:00

When our hibiscus (Hawaii's state flower) blooms in Washington, it's big news!!! This poor plant was given to us years ago by Ron and Danielle (it looked so much better then) and we have nursed it and practically killed it several times, but it somehow seems to hold on.

Pie, Wigs, and Apple Beer

2011-07-30T17:31:00.000-07:00

It was a pretty exciting day when Gary found a container at Walmart for his apple beer syrup. He treats himself once a day.

Judi and Natalee came over for the evening just to help us take care of our rhubarb...and so what's the best way to have rhubarb? PIES, of course. We made 6 pies altogether with Gary and Judi doing most of the work.

Natalee and I took a walk to the mailbox after dark and there was a package I've been waiting for. So we snuck into the other room and opened the box and tried on my new wig then showed it off. Gary loved it.

Is this a new look for me, or what?!!! Maybe someday I can actually grow my hair into this style.

Below is a look at my "old" wig which I have been wearing for two weeks now. It looks more like my real hair, but I needed something fun too.

Chemo is going well. I have had no harsh side affects after 3 treatments...just a little tired is all.

The Last Family Leaves

2011-07-30T17:13:00.000-07:00

Ron, Danielle and the girls stayed another 10 days after everyone left from the reunion. What fun we had...a great extension to an already wonderful week.

The bulletin board just filled up more and more each day until you couldn't even see anything but pictures and notes. Since then I've put some of them into my journal but left up a few to remind me of busy little hands.

The last duty before leaving was stamping down the garbage which had been overflowing for 3 weeks during the reunion. Brianne crushed it all with a little bit of help from dad. It took another couple of weeks to get rid of everything.

Brianne and Tiffany are ready to go.

Courtney, Caitlin (maybe I have them in the right order) and Tori wave goodbye. We miss them all.

THE BEST REUNION EVER! Settling In and getting re-acquainted

2011-07-13T10:38:00.000-07:00

I asked Courtney for a title and she named this "The Best Reunion Ever" which sounded good to me.

WARNING: The following material has been geared for the pleasure of those who ARE these people or at least KNOW them. For anyone else it may be somewhat boring, so just scroll on down but not so fast that you miss seeing some shots of my wonderful family.

However, to avoid my computer from freezing up, this Reunion post had to be done as several separate posts, so be sure to click on OLDER POSTS between each segment to see the next one in line.

Greeting families as they arrived...

Big pasttime for the kids is looking at their own family photo albums.

Hey, Grandpa. What's happenin'?

Jonathan was Ella's favorite babysitter all week.

Reminiscing?

Okay, this is where we're putting up the tents.

Who's sleeping here tonight?

You girls need another man to help?

Aw heck. Let the women put it up.

Standing room only.

Tickle time...although Grandpa isn't very good at it right now.

I am the real Spiderman; don't you believe me?

Well, I don't know. I'll have to ask my dad.

The YW camp girls practising for the talent show.

Ron displays his shirt (small print:tough men can wear pink.) Each member of his family wore pink for me. Loved it!

Austin has been, and still remains, the official family climber for items lost over the fence.

Not again!???

Hmmm! Redden looks happy!

My boys...these guys don't get to see each other very often.

THE BEST REUNION EVER! Water play

2011-07-13T08:33:00.001-07:00

Here's the pool...all ready for mass bodies to swim for a week. In fact this pool exists for such a purpose as this family reunion.

Some people have a warped idea of the purpose of a pool.

Wait!! Where are the mass bodies in the pool?

The hot tub was pretty popular first thing in the morning when it was a little cool.

Besides, these kids were enjoying the togetherness they hadn't had in years since the last reunion.

Some were soaking in more sun than water....

But Bobbi got hers!! And this is only one shot of the water wars that went on all week.

This was so cute. At the end of the day Harrison and Austin were putting on the pool cover which is a little hard to manage. Austin was paddling around, coming up for air, and working his little body like crazy to move that cover.

Wish I'd taken more pictures of everyone in the pool. Frankly, the pool was about the greatest attraction for the entire week.

THE BEST REUNION EVER:Food

2011-07-13T07:37:00.001-07:00

One of our first plans was to have a pop dispenser from which to serve root beer, 7 UP, and Gary's all time favorite (only available in Utah) APPLE BEER. Big disappointment. The Apple Beer was not premixed for the dispenser, so we resorted to mixing our own. BIG HIT!

Here's Gary enjoying his Apple Beer. The fingers??? Well, that's a story in and of itself! He cut 3 fingers on his table saw the first day of the reunion (June 26) while people were in route. I sped him to the ER where they wrapped him and drugged him. He had surgery later in the week where they stuck pins in his fingers to hold them together. He had lost quite a bit of bone in one. I will spare you the X-Rays. He is without the use of his left hand for several more weeks.

He's still eating and drinking!

Judi at the BBQ.

Jessi looking cute at whatever she does.

Keith at the BBQ.

Lunch is served. Most of the food prep was done by the daughters and daughters-in-law this week since the whole reunion was especially for me. What a blessing!! They were wonderful.

This week we had more food than we've ever dreamed of in our home at one time. It's always Gary's goal that we have plenty of food for company. We had to buy an old refrigerator and put it in the garage to take care of the overflow.

The boys...

The girls...

Brianne picked berries from the garden and made a Mickey arrangement for her mom and me.
Clever!

THE BEST REUNION EVER! The shoe kicking contest

2011-07-12T15:49:00.001-07:00

Starting with the youngest, ending with the oldest, we saw the high and the low and the long and the short of it.

Here's Ron about to make the winning kick.

Okay, this is where Grandma wins the booby prize for the shortest kick...no pun intended.

Those who kicked out of the yard were disqualified...here they're retrieving shoes from over-the-fence.

WOW! What's everyone looking at?

Not again?!! Uncle Rich kicks his shoe on the second story roof this year...last year was on the greenhouse roof.

Talk about disqualified!!! And he gave Ron such a run for his money.

Cheers for Rich and Keith and sheer inginuity and gutsiness!

THE BEST REUNION EVER: The Sailboat Regatta

2011-07-12T15:03:00.000-07:00

When we first announced this activity, nobody was much interested and thought it would be boring. Then we got started and all pandamonium broke looose. They're blowing sailboats made of styrofoam in rain gutters filled with water.

I won't name everybody...sufficeth to say that we got pictures of most of the races.

First place after double elimination went to Courtney!!!

THE BEST REUNION EVER! Human Bingo and The Talent Show

2011-07-12T12:39:00.000-07:00

Two captains choose up sides. Two squares of 16 people each...caller draws name from "hat"...person sits down.

Players call out BINGO when 4 in a row across, down, or diagonal are sitting down. They win first round.

Second round is BLACKOUT BINGO where first square completely sitting down are the winners.

Looks like Jonathan's team loses!!

TALENT RUNS AMUCK!

First is David doing big moves to a number from Newsies "King Of New York" accompanied by Jessi who has her own moves.

Next is Tiffany with voice and hand movements to BOOK OF MORMON STORIES.

Brianne, Marae, and Sophie sing the names of all the cousins (learned from the previously posted Grandma bracelet) and put to music....no mistakes!!!!

Here's some YW freshly back from camp singing how they love the Mormon boys.Caitlin, Tori, Ashlin, and Courtney.

Oh No! I missed taking a picture of Redden, Marae, Austin, and Brianne reciting their original poem.

"Grandma, you're now 70.

And maybe you're not a fan of Glee.

But grandma, you're amazing

And, just keep doing your thing.

It doesn't mean anything when...

You want to take a drive and grab the wrong key.

But those are the pleasures of being 70.

We love you, Grandma,

Oh yes we do.

You becha.

Thanks for being our grandma."

Brianne at the piano.

There's a mystery in our family about who owned the Donny and Marie guitar years ago. Ron says it was his. Rich says it was his.

Ron decided to end the feud by bringing a new Donny and Marie guitar...

...and presenting it to his "little brother." At least he didn't hit him over the head with it this time.

Jonathan does the "Ron dance"..."Step step, hammer, hammer, step step, move the ladder......" This is between the two of them. I have no idea....

So Ron had to join in...nice duet.

Whoa...Ashlin doing "The Sprinkler"...ch, ch, ch, ch, ch.

Talented group, aren't they? If I missed a number I'm truly sorry. It was a hectic day!

THE BEST REUNION EVER:The Birthday Party

2011-07-12T09:10:00.000-07:00

Saturday, July 2, was the last day we were all together. This was my 70th birthday party...a little late but no kids were out of school and able to travel on May 31st. It's not so important what day we celebrated...only that we did.

I know! I know! You'd think a woman my age would outgrow the Mickey thing, but probably NEVER. Besides, my husband and kids just perpetuate it. I love it.

I missed one candle on the blow out...which indicated one boyfriend...very appropriate. He is my one and only!

Time for gifts:

Judi gave me Pampered Chef selections...here's a cutter for one of my favorite fruits. Melora and Keith had a puzzle made of a family collage.

Ron and Danielle: a blanket featuring snapshots from our cruise together last November.

Bobbi and Jonathan: Cute picture frame which I haven't filled yet (surely a family photo will work) and a huge box of almond roca which is half gone already.

Rich and Andrea: Many hours of enjoyment as I love to read.

A portrait of the two of us from my husband.

Pam and Jay: matching t-shirts which read: "Yes, they're fake; my real ones tried to kill me." This is the common thread which ties us together...Pam is also a mastectomy cancer survivor.

THE BEST REUNION EVER! The Family

2011-07-12T08:12:00.001-07:00

These are our 6 children, the spouses, and their children.

Judi with Natalee, Corinne, and Harrison.

Pam with husband Jay, Nick, and Brandee. (Son Cory is serving in the Navy.)

Bobbi with husband Jonathan, Michael, David, Marae, Ashlin, and Grant.

Ron with wife Danielle, Victoria, Courtney, Tiffany, Brianne, and Caitlin.

Melora with husband Keith, Sam, and Sophie.

Rich with wife Andrea, Redden, Jessi, Austin, and Ella.

Hey kids...behave yourselves!

There they are...our perfect children. Just ask them.

Here's all the grandchildren who've been posing for a lot of pictures and still being good sports.

This is everybody...all the people that I love most in this world. I am grateful for each of them and pray that we will always be a forever family.

This birthday reunion was a high point in my life which I will never forget.

This Week Miscellaneous

2011-06-12T18:25:00.000-07:00

The newest and final charm on Grandma's bracelet. This started over 19 years ago. No more grandkids! We've run out of room. Here's:
CORY: NOV
BRANDEE: MAR
GRANT: AUG
VICTORIA: SEP
CAITLIN: JUL
COURTNEY: JUL
CORINNE: OCT
ASHLIN: APR
MARAE: OCT
NATALEE: JUN
BRIANNE: NOV
REDDEN: DEC
SOPHIE: JAN
MICHAEL: MAY
HARRISON: SEP
SAM: APR
AUSTIN: OCT
TIFFANY: JAN
DAVID: SEP
JESSI: OCT
ELLA: APR

Gary's first strawberry crop.

Natalee "graduates" 5th grade and moves on to Middle School next year.

2011-06-12T18:24:00.001-07:00

2011-06-12T18:24:00.000-07:00

"Hi, this is Ella Turner."

2011-06-10T10:22:00.000-07:00

"My grandparents came to Oregon again to see daddy give me a blessing at church."

"My big sister Jessi is always getting attention from her playmate, Grandpa. I will play with him too when I get a little older...if she will let me."

"My daddy was so proud because I was a perfect angel for my blessing."

" Tough day! All those people here to see me, passing me around, and fussing over me...I need a nap!"

"These are my favorite people...mom and dad. This day I am the star."

"There's my brother Austin begging dad to PLEASE let him go to Grandma and Grandpa's this summer by himself (well maybe his brother Redden too) for a week to swim, BBQ, and play games without any sisters. Guess he worked out a deal."

"Bye now...you'll probably see me again soon."

Memorable Memorial Day

2011-06-02T06:39:00.000-07:00

The pool is open!!! But it was freezing cold...Harrison and Natalee braved it anyway.

The first people in the pool for 2011 on Saturday.

Monday was a little better. That's Judi...where am I? I wasn't in long enough to get my picture taken.

What is this new game? The latest craze? This is their first time ever at croquet...you'd think they would remember "Alice in Wonderland."

Perfect night for S'mores! Notice the walking blanket. Everybody gives me a bad time when I don't want people to see me if my hair isn't fixed...well, that's not me. Guess who else feels the same.

Since it was the day before my birthday, Judi made my annual birthday strawberry pie and she also made a rhubarb pie for Gary. We helped him eat it. Natalee has whipped cream on her pie without the pie.

I am a happy 70 year old grandma!

Weight loss

2011-05-20T11:20:00.000-07:00

Last week I lost 4 pounds in 3 hours. It was quick, but a method I don't recommend for everyone. The good part was support and time with my daughter Pam who came up from Portland for the biopsy and again for the first few days after my surgery. Her experience with the same surgery a few years ago was the support I needed to help me accept and make it through.

I'm not finished yet by any means. There is much additional treatment ahead of me. I have received many cards, emails, and prayers from family and friends, and support from other cancer survivors that I am just overwhelmed.

This wasn't a surprise to me; from the beginning I was pretty sure they would find cancer after the first mammogram. I really feel that I was being prepared ahead of time by the Spirit. I believe that many good things can come from our trials, and I have already seen some and am looking forward to more.

BEAUTIFUL BABY and BONUS BALLGAMES

2011-05-03T10:59:00.000-07:00

The main reason for a trip to Oregon last weekend was to see our newest grandchild, Ella, who is number 21. This is probably the last one, but we've said that before. ;0)

But we were entertained by both of her brothers playing baseball on Saturday...two games each.

Austin's team has "coach pitching"...and there's Rich (an assistant coach) throwing the ball to the batter on his team.

Now here's Austin and Rich playing the field. Austin did have a couple of really good hits.

These guys had a lot of spectators besides their parents and grandparents and siblings...a couple of aunts and a few cousins.

Redden's team is a little more advanced, and he's a great player.

At bat...

Running to first...

On 3rd, ready to steal home.

Oops, stealing didn't work, so he slides back into third.

Now warming up with dad to pitch next inning.

He throws the pitch...strike!!!

After the game...so who's totally beat?

Here's the cousins, going out for treats later. Look at those adorable kids...how can a grandma not love 'em?

This was a great day for everyone.

Easter Fun

2011-04-25T18:39:00.000-07:00

Judi and kids joined us on Saturday and the day started at the ward Easter Egg hunt. Here's Harrison and Natalee on the teeter totter. Yes, they were a little older than the other hunters, so we did our own hunt at home.

More ward members with their kids...it was a most beautiful day all day long.

Harrison on the rope swing...top of the picture in the sky.

There he is..."higher, higher!"

After the kiddie's egg hunt we went home and decorated cookies, hunted eggs, played Bocce ball, played Bingo, and decorated our bunny cakes.

Six little bunny cakes....Natalee's was an alien bunny...in the center.

Dinner at last on Saturday evening!!!! It's amazing that anyone ate anything after all the treats we had during the day.

SISTERS!!! Ya gotta love 'em!

Here's a bunch of "good eggs."

Well, most of the time anyway!

It was a great day but grandma went to bed pooped!

5 GREAT DAYS WITH THE BYTHEWAYS

2011-04-06T09:56:00.001-07:00

Every time we do something special, I always regret that I didn't take more pictures...or that I missed something that would be of special interest. Oh, well...on the up side, no one has to be subjected by more photos than I post aleady. On our two day trip down to California, we saw some interesting things. One was this long line of semis that went on and on for miles with no cars in the line. We never found out why, but there was a bit of bad weather in Southern Oregon and Northern California that week. We even heard that the Grapevine had been closed and perhaps the trucks was affected. This picture might be interesting to some of you...you know who you are.

The snowfall was admittedly beautiful.

And then there was Mt. Shhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasssta!

Saturday we attended the San Diego temple which is so extremely unique and gorgeous...both on the outside and inside.

We discovered a new historic site in Old Town San Diego, dedicated to the Mormon Battalion which ended in San Diego. Gary has an illustrious ancester who marched in the battalion (Lot Smith.) The presentation was very interesting and we learned how much the march benefitted the church as a whole, and how much help they gave the locals when they arrived in San Diego.

Somehow these modes of transportation don't coincide.

AH!!!! SUNDAY! The ship! This was the nicest Carnival ship we've ever been on...The Carnival Spirit.

The first event (right after the buffet, of course) was Sacrament meeting in a lounge...the Sacrament was served instead of liquor, and we were favored to a sermon by John Bytheway, who is THE reason we took this cruise. We were not disappointed. We're sitting in the back with Gary's brother Brian and his wife, Robin.

Monday was "at sea", so we did some exploring, ate, played games, ate, saw the show, ate and actually enjoyed our very nice cabin...one of the best we've ever had. Here's just a couple of shots of stuff on the cruise...always love the glass elevators.

This is serious Chess, but the guys didn't play...probably the pieces were too heavy for a couple of old men.

TUESDAY at Cabo San Lucas...snorkeling day.

Brian and Gary looked for fish....

Robin and I sat on the beach.

This is a view from the Sea of Cortez through the opening to the Pacific Ocean ("Eye to the Pacific")...no one can go through to the other side...or they never return because of the strong current. ;(

WEDNESDAY we tendered to shore to do some shopping.

This guy was still as a statue until he winked and waved.

Those are real seals, not rocks. It's noisy and stinky.

Okay, here's coming back to the ship on the tender. Gary took a video of my driving the boat but it wouldn't upload. The guy had me blow the horn and when I threatened to park it along side the ship, he finally took back the wheel. I have no idea what the other passengers were thinking during this time...probably considering jumping out.

John Bytheway wasn't the only celebrity on board. Here's Freddie...a replica of the Carnival smokestack.

We had the cutest waiter on board ship I think. This is Amazin' Jason from the Phillipines. We videod his dance when all the waiters performed but alas...it wouldn't upload either. (Must be my antiquated computer. You wouldn't belive how many times I have upload failures or long delays while I'm trying to blog.) He was one of two dancers standing on tables in the center during the waiters' performance, and boy...did he have the moves!! We had a great time with him all week. I think we got some special attention...well, probably mostly because of Gary. You know how he attracts the fun people.

Now, this shot is more up close and personal. Bytheways are some of the nicest people you could ever meet. Everyone just loves them. He is the most entertaining comedian and spiritual speaker...all in the same talk. We bought a book and he signed it. We hope to sail with him again sometime.

We had a most wonderful time, but it's always good to be home.

Here's a couple of photos that I lost in my computer and found again that should go along with my previous post. Couldn't resist adding them.

BUBBLES and COUSINS

2011-03-20T19:33:00.000-07:00

Redden, Austin, and Jessi paid us a visit Friday. Among other activities, bubble blowing was one of the favorites.

Some bubbles went way over the neighbors' yard and roof and probably clear to Seattle.

Later that evening Judi, Corinne, Natalee, and Harrison showed up for an overnight stay.

Austin and Harrison are best cousin buddies, but it was over too soon as Turners left the next morning.

Saturday evening we had our traditional although delayed St. Patricks day dinner...corned beef and various green food. Notice the pink "cast" on Corinne's arm. Corinne has been tested for several weeks now for what might be causing her passing out episodes and the final diagnosis is stress, anxiety, etc. The treatment has already begun, but she still has some episodes. We are all devastated that we weren't watching her more closely Friday night (there are no stairs at their house, and she hadn't passed out all day) because she passed out half way down the stairs and fractured her arm as she fell. She then paid a visit to our local hospital in Prosser (where I have been several times for surgery or testing during the last several weeks.) At least she didn't pass out before she went home Saturday night...probably because she had something different to think about and she's on pain meds. Our heart goes out to this sweet granddaughter and hope that all her ills will disappear soon.

We did watch a nice basketball game as BYU beat Gonzaga 89-67 for a spot in the "sweet sixteen." How far can they go??????!!!!!!

OREGON WEEKEND

2011-03-02T14:14:00.000-08:00

Friday we took off for a quick trip to Rich's with a big surprise on the Oregon side of the Columbia River...frozen waterfalls, icy roads, and 3 accidents. The mountains and trees had shielded the freeway from sunlight to melt the ice. Needless to say it took us longer than we'd anticipated.

Our main purpose was to see Rich play indoor soccer in his adult co-ed league on Friday, and the boys in their youth league on Saturday. Good photos were impossible as we had to shoot through the plexiglass, but Rich is in the white socks and white sleeves.

Saturday's games were interesting as Redden and Austin's teams played each other. There were a few skirmishes on the floor between the two of them, and we hardly knew who to root for. Then Austin's team played another game and since the opposing team was short of players, Redden was asked to play with them. So we had still ANOTHER game between brothers.

Here's Austin in the forefront...

...and again in the white socks.

This shot is Redden as goalie...

...and here's a little more action. I think this was as close a shot as we ever got of any of them.

Here's the two of them. Final outcome? Austin's team won both games and Redden scored twice in the second game. They are good little players.

Austin went to a tie kwan do birthday party where they "broke boards." Here's a demonstration.

What an amazing kid!!

We met Pam and family for lunch...here's a rare photo of her on the right.

Getting ready for the Blue and Gold Banquet is Rich, Redden, Mom, and baby girl, 7 months along. So pregnant ladies are nothing unusual for Jessi.

Like mother, like daughter.

This expression: "Oh, well...it's just another girl."

Redden and mom after he "pins" her.

Proud dad after the traditional face painting.

Each symbol has a special meaning...can't remember them however.

Silverware was wrapped in napkins tied with pipe cleaners, but that was only a secondary usage.

Coming home Saturday night, we drove on the Washington side of the Columbia...a little slower but much safer roads.

PARTY, PARTY, PARTY!!

2011-02-19T11:32:00.000-08:00

High Priests and Young Women were in charge of the ward Valentine party last Friday night....so you know who that means did most of the work. It was fun, fun, fun.

The men stood up and sang "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" to their wives although some of them had never heard of it until that night. They did a fine job.

You've heard of playing BINGO at church...well, this was the Mormon version. We had everyone sign in then gave them blank BINGO cards (no charge) to have people sign in the squares.

Then my lovely assistant called out the names and people marked their cards with candy hearts. Candy prizes were given for the first 5 BINGO winners, then they wanted to go to "blackout"...crazy Mormon BINGO players.

Then on Sunday night Judi and the kids came over for our annual Valentine dinner.

Just about every food was heart-shaped, but not necessarily heart-healthy. Yeah, we pigged out.

Then on Tuesday night we went to Harrison's Blue and Gold Banquet. More good food.

Here's the cake Harrison decorated for the cake contest...kid's got a one-track mind.

Getting his cub scout awards for which we gave scout cheers: "around of applause," "watermelon" and others. Then he pinned his mom.

Now it's back to the diet, diet, diet.

HISTORY of the CHOCOLATE CAKE aka THE DAY WE ALL WENT OFF OUR DIETS

2011-01-30T15:35:00.000-08:00

The master chocolate cake chef and his handiwork...

We're ready for dinner...yes, you see steak sauce. We BBQ in winter and in the dark. Here again Gary was the chef.

It was a most wonderful meal but we have somehow lost a steak knife so we gave Judi a bad time about cutting Harrison's meat for him although she might have done it anyway. ;0)

And...yes, you see homemade ice cream. I have improved it over the years and it is to die for! After dinner we all thought we might.

Amazingly enough, it took her only two blows for 47 candles.

I would have added another shot of the cake after we were through, but empty, dirty dishes are not that exciting.

January Stuff

2011-01-23T16:01:00.000-08:00

I have to resist the temptation to post a sunrise picture almost every day. They still excite me.

Call me crazy for keeping these antiques if you must, but there's no way I'm letting go of this many video tapes accumulated over the "video years." So I pulled them out of boxes and Gary built a shelf. We now have access to lots of "new" movies to watch that we haven't seen in a long time.

Okay, here's the wrapped toe...not very interesting. But the real reason this picture is here is to show off my new jammy bottoms replacing my jeans for a few more days.

Here's Harrison's nifty little blue racer for his very first Pinewood derby.

Here they come down the track.

His came in 3rd out of 4 in this heat. He built it all on his own. Better luck next time. Grandpa will help build yours next year.

DRAGGING CHRISTMAS OUT AS LONG AS POSSIBLE

2011-01-02T15:42:00.000-08:00

The week between Christmas and New Years we were blessed with 5 grandchildren in our home. Raising kids is for the young!! We were worn out by the end of the week, but we had a great time.

GIRLS' MORNING AT THE MALL: Sunnyside has a small mall that fascinates the girls for some reason...even though they live in cities with many huge malls. I like it because we can get our shopping done quickly since there aren't that many stores. But this day they had more in mind than shopping.
Corinne, Natalee, and Sophie pose by one of the mall fountains which are really quite attractive.
(That's both girls AND fountain.)

Okay, this could have been embarrassing had there been very many people there on a Wed. morning.

Rides are still only 25 or 50 cents. However, when these kids' parents were little, you could get on for 5 or 10 cents. Most of them outgrew the mall toys by this age though.

Then the parents showed up on Friday. We had another Christmas dinner then Judi took Corinne, Natalee, and Harrison home. We then had our gift exchange with Keith and Melora and Sophie and Sam.

We celebrated Melora's birthday a few days early on Saturday (that's 38 candles on a red velvet cake) then Keith loaded the kids into their van at gunpoint and took them home. What a week!!

Now Christmas is over and it's time to take down the decorations....not as much fun as putting them up. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

CHRISTMAS 2010

2010-12-27T10:47:00.000-08:00

Two Christmas hams...we love them both. Grandpa had to wear a hair net while working in the kitchen because his hair is disappearing so quickly. :0)

Christmas dinner was on Christmas Eve this year which made Christmas day a whole lot more relaxing. So while waiting for dinner Harrison almost beat Grandpa at Chess.

Finally dinner is served.

We used the special Mickey Mouse dishes.

Christmas morning is here!!! Here comes everyone!

Time to open presents.

The rest of the day was spent enjoying gifts and eating leftovers! Grandma refuses to do any more cooking!!!

A Christmas season weekend

2010-12-19T15:56:00.000-08:00

One of the reasons we came to Eastern Washington was to enjoy 4 seasons. Our first winter last year did not measure up to our expectations, but this year seems more of what we anticipated as normal.

This was only the beginning of an entire Saturday of snowfall...

... and ultimately measured out at about 4 inches...perfect hot tub weather.

Ice skating, anyone?

Today's projects included placemats for next week's Christmas dinner and some secret Christmas planning.

These specimans started in the front yard and worked their way around back before becoming life-size under the hands of Corinne and Natalee.

Here are "Grandpa" and "Grandma"...truly lifelike and about the right holiday shape.

We are SO loved.

Grandpa and Harrison watching BYU score big in the New Mexico bowl game.

Great winter Christmas season day!

REDDEN'S BIRTHDAY

2010-12-17T10:50:00.000-08:00

A quick trip to Oregon for Redden's 10th birthday on the 14th.

His good buddy came over; he opened his gifts....

...then off we went to Red Robin for dinner.

Jessi hasn't been initiated into the Cousin's Lemon Club yet, so while we had the chance we gave her a lemon. She's very skeptical about this, but willing to give it a try.

The crazy little girl LOVED it. We tried more than once to get a pained look, but this was her reaction every time. She did make funny noises, but no funny face.

Redden made out like a champ with balloons, the birthday song, and his own sundae.

Then off we went to the nickel arcade when everyone had a blast playing games.

Dad lights the candles on Redden's cake...

Redden blows 'em all out, and we scarf it down.

Then back home we exchanged our Christmas gifts with the family. Looks like it was a hit!

It's always fun with these guys!

CHRISTMAS SEASON BEGINS

2010-12-10T11:17:00.000-08:00

Right after Thanksgiving is the time that Christmas begins. It's not just a day, but a season.

So we were still in Texas helping Ron and family put up his outdoor lights.

Gary is a big help here as you can see.

I didn't do much; I just look helpful.

Okay, now Gary is really doing a good job of helping. (Ron didn't fall.)

Then we exchanged our gifts with the family.

The whole family carried in this "heavy" TV box to surprise us. We were surprised all right when we opened it and found its contents were NOT a TV!

Old friends from our mission living or visiting in Houston came for a visit. How great it was to see them.

So it's time to leave after a wonderful two weeks with Ron, Danielle, and the girls.

Home to our own home and Christmas decorating.

This is the grown-up tree...

...and this is for the kid in me...Disney and my little train.

Santa at the church party was absolutely irrisistible. Don't tell Gary.

However Carina's little guys were a bit more skeptical.

I LOVE CHRISTMAS...and it's only begun!!

THANKSGIVING IN HOUSTON

2010-12-09T16:42:00.000-08:00

After all that food on the cruise, we came back to another week of feasting. Part of it was for Thanksgiving, but the rest was just the habit of eating everything in sight. Needless to say we have put on some weight which probably won't come off now until after New Years.

Here are the table preparations for our Thanksgiving meal...best dishes and handmade placecards.

Here's the dinner laid out in the order which was specified by Ron who has never outgrown lining things up according to his perfectly orderly brain. :0) Notice the two pans of stuffing. One is Gary's recipe and the colorful one is Ron's traditional surprise creation which actually was very tasty.

Ron also makes a selection of pumpkin pies, two of which have secret ingredients. Notice how he dares us to try and guess. "Come and get it." "But where will we put it? We have no more room." Somehow we managed. Of course Danielle did the major portion of the food prep. As usual the mom works behind the scenes.

What a fun day!

THE BIRTHDAY CRUISE

2010-12-08T16:13:00.000-08:00

Five years ago for his 65th birthday, Gary chose to celebrate by going on a cruise and liked it so much that he decided to do it again for his 70th. There were 16 of us on the previous cruise, but this time we had only a couple of cousins that could go along. We had been begging Ron and Danielle to go with us for a long time but since we were their only babysitters in the past, they turned us down. Then they pulled the surprise of the century and joined us on the ship. The details of this surprise you will find on Danielle's blog as she has many additional pictures and tells the whole story. She is the blogging queen. Just click on Turner family beside this post and join in our joy.

Our ship, the Norwiegen Cruise Lines "Spirit"

A partial view of our cabin. We didn't spend much time here because there is food on the ship available 24/7.

Our favorite eating spot was the dining room for dinner. The food was always so picturesque. And because the portions were small we ordered multiple appetizers and entres at times. Then we went up to the buffet or down to get BBQ.

Here we are leaving the Port of New Orleans which is on the Mississippi River. To our surprise it takes about 8 hours just to sail to the Gulf of Mexico.

Here's Ron and Gary on our deck probably planning their snorkeling excursion or perhaps looking at the dinner menu. It was often a difficult decision whether to eat early then attend the late show and go later for more food, or go eat in the late afternoon to tide us over until dinner after the early show.

Gary's cousin Norma Jean also had a birthday while we were on the cruise. Birthday guests got cake and singing.

While in Honduras the taxi drive took us by the local Mormon chapel. He knew "the Elders." I suppose in this little town, so did everyone else.

Ah, yes...and then the chocolate buffet!

Here's the four of us at the base of one of the ruins.

Our group climbing to the top...who's already at the top taking the picture? Right! The old 70 year old.

OOPS! Notice Ron stayed behind me just in case.

At the beach were some beautiful peacocks...not the spreading of the tails (mating) season however.

This was the day Danielle and I sat in the rain on the beach so our men could have a good time.

They did...the rotten guys. ; 0 )

We went twice to the beach, once to see ruins, did a little shopping and I particularly enjoyed the palm trees everywhere. Could I ever grow one in Washington?

Here's a nice shot of the people who made this cruise really special for us. I hope we can do it again sometime. Wish I could have taken a picture of them running down the hall yelling surprise when they found us on the ship. That is indelible in my mind.

The whole purpose of the cruise...Gary's birthday! Here's the official celebration. These two were always "dragging" me and Ron up for "ice cream" which usually turned out to be a 4 course meal from the buffet...kicking and screaming of course. ;0)

Back in our room was a towel birthday cake rather than the usual animal we found every night.

The last evening was so happy with memories and yet so sad that it was over.

We're planning to do it again for his 75th!! So hang around, Gary!

The Lemon Sisters

2010-12-07T22:00:00.000-08:00

While in Houston we added to the "cousins' lemon tasters' club, starting with Caitlin and Courtney who have never looked so pitiful in all the years I've known them.

Brianne, on the other hand, was a little skeptical about how to react to something that didn't taste all that bad. This is a familiar look of hers anyway.

Tiffany, who hasn't had that much experience in lemon tasting, knew she was supposed to make a face but didn't exactly know how to go about it.

But Victoria must be cheerful all the time (is she?) because these pictures had a bite of lemon in between and you can hardly tell the difference.

SO...welcome Turner girls to Grandma's Cousins Lemon Tasting Club. Congratulations!

PS: Isn't anyone out there old enough to remember the Lennen Sisters from the Lawrence Welk Show?

Birthdays

2010-12-06T17:24:00.000-08:00

Gary's BD cruise being our ultimate goal, we planned our trip to Houston (by car) in time to celebrate Brianne's 10th birthday.

The fun part for Brianne...opening gifts.

The fun part for the guests...eating cake.

Shopping for birthday clothes: Sit down Rockettes! You've met your match! Brianne did choose some dandy new dresses...but these all went back on the rack.

So naturally we had to celebrate Gary's birthday too. Little did we know the real surprise that was in store for him.

Each year at Thanksgiving Danielle hangs this model of Gary from the fan in his honor.

Ron has met his match! Victoria can finally take on her dad. Don't mess with the queen!

Happy Birthday to Austin

2010-12-06T17:07:00.000-08:00

Baptism of Harrison Westover

2010-11-08T17:30:00.001-08:00

Judi's son Harrison was baptized Saturday by his dad. Family gathered for this special occasion and a fun party afterward. Congratulations, Harrison.

LAST WEEK

2010-11-03T15:52:00.000-07:00

Natalee's school had a history "fair" where each child represented someone from American History. She did a great job of impersonating Phyllis Wheatly who was the first African American slave to have published poetry. Adopted by her master, she was educated and free to travel frequently to London. This is a little out of character for Natalee as she is nobody's slave. She definitely has a mind of her own. : )

WHICH ONE IS THE REAL PUMPKIN?

Among the other Halloween decorations, the most popular was Mickey pumpkin, posing here beside his cousin from our garden.

Now this is probably the last of the canning...chunky sauce from free apples. Yum!

Another trip to Oregon??????

2010-10-18T20:02:00.001-07:00

We were invited for the Primary Sacrament meeting program starring Redden and Austin and a bunch of other kids. Couldn't take pictures in the chapel, but it was worth the trip.

Bonus was Austin's soccer game on Saturday. Rich coaches the star player (who scored 4 points) and a bunch of other kids.

So modest after the big play.

Jessi showing off her Minnie Mouse jammies...while going through Grandma's purse.

Fun weekend.

CORINNE'S BIRTHDAY!

2010-10-18T18:55:00.000-07:00

HOLY COW (inside joke)...SHE'S OFFICIALLY A TEENAGER. She's been practising for a long time however so she's real good at it already.

Dinner at Red Robin then strawberry shortcake at home while she...

...opened her presents.

When she turned 4 we were at Disneyland for her birthday. She was so excited for her Disney Princess motif that she yelled "Holy Cow!" Got it from her grandpa. We never let her forget it. Best wishes to a really cute girl.

FRUITS OF THE HARVEST

2010-10-15T09:37:00.000-07:00

Examples of our labors over the last couple of weeks.
Left to right: grape jelly, tomatoes, salsa, plums, and grape juice.
We grew the tomatoes; the grapes and plums were free for the picking.
We are running out of room in the pantry.

OREGON...again?

2010-10-11T15:34:00.000-07:00

Well, we HAD to go down on business anyway, so we timed it for Austin's birthday.

A kid this big needs a big bike from Mom and Dad

Opening Grandma and Grandpa's gift...always welcome but never a surprise.

Big celebration at Red Robin!

Home for cake! They still had leftover cake from Jessi's birthday 4 days earlier.

Blogging is difficult because there are usually several pictures to choose from and they don't all need to be on the blog. But they're in the albums. And what I blog I copy and put into my journal which has recently become more colorful and interesting than ever.

FRIENDS and FUN

2010-10-04T07:33:00.000-07:00

Finally I'm remembering to post Nikii and her husband Brett although they've been married quite awhile now. She's such a sweetheart...glad they are happy.

Thursday we drove to Logan and spent the night and went to the temple the next morning. Then of course Gary had to go to the local deli to get his apple beer on tap.

The drive up to Bear Lake was beautiful, but...

...we were NOT pleased with the house we rented for next summer, so we cancelled. This was the only picture of the inside worth sharing.

Our mission reunion was a blast. Here are our "relatives"...Elder Clegg who is Kathy Turner's (my kids' aunt) sister's son...

...and Elder Wakamatsu who is Greg Carpenter's (Ron's wife's brother) wife's nephew...

...and Jordan Brown who is Jonathan's 2nd cousin. Now the amazing thing is that they figure that they are now related to each other.

It was down to Utah Thursday, all over Utah Friday, and home on Saturday.

We stopped in Richland so Gary could go to Priesthood, then we celebrated Harrison's 8th birthday, and....

...added him to the lemon shots..."before" and...

..."after."

BEFORE and AFTER

2010-09-28T16:31:00.000-07:00

We didn't make it to the beginning of Harrison's flag football game Saturday, but here's a shot of before his going for the flag.

And now the game is over...score was 7 - 7.

And here's another before and after lemon episode...Corinne, before...

...and after!

Here's Natalee...before...

...and after.

Sunrise of a promising and beautiful day...

Sunset...the same beautiful day!
All our days are beautiful here at Averys' "The Last Resort."

BONUS WEEKEND

2010-09-21T15:33:00.000-07:00

Our main purpose for a trip over to Bellevue/Redmond last weekend was to attend the wedding reception of a sweet little sister we served with in the mission. But it turned out to have lots of bonus activities as well.

After an afternoon at the movies on Thursday we spent a nice long evening with our old friends, the Days. Karen, if you're looking at this picture I apologize for not checking it after I took it to get a better one because you're just as cute as ever.

Friday morning we did a session on our old temple shift, thereby seeing many of our friends that we served with way back when.

Saturday was soccer. Here is a view of the assistant coach that you may not recognize (maybe I should apologize to her also) due to the red hair. She said it's temporary but she just needed a change. Gary had a bit of a hard time since she suddenly looked more like Sue than ever. ;)

Sophie was top goaler...she's so fast she's a blur.

She goes in for the score!

Here's Sam on his way to the goal.

And it's a high kick for #20.

To add to our before and after lemon collection, here's Sam's "before."

...and after.

Sophie's quite optimistic!

OOO...worse than she thought! Keep tuned in for other before and after lemon photos in future blogs.

And finally...the bride and groom. Caroline was one of the sweetest sisters we met. We were so excited to find out she was from Bellevue. She is full Korean, but she was born and raised in the US and didn't know any Korean until she learned on her mission. They served a huge Korean dinner at the reception. Gary really enjoyed the meal...he does like Korean food, and every other kind. ;)

Great weekend!!!

Another weekend with the Turners

2010-09-15T16:51:00.000-07:00

Rich and Andrea spent a better part of the day Saturday at Rich's race/obstacle course where he made an excellent showing in his age group by being somewhere in the 80's in placement out of (hmmm...I think it was 400 something.) Now he's a Warrior...note the horns on the headpiece.

Mom and Dad were gone so we partied with the kids. Everybody dance! Wish I could get Gary on the dance floor like these kids did. Hot time in the office.

They brought out the lemons at dinner and the boys had to give them a try. Redden: before.

And after!

Austin before....

...and after!

Jessi is GOING to tackle this balloon by golly.

OOPS...the balloon tackles Jessi!

GOTCHA, you rubber beast!

Okay, this needs no explanation. However I have an old photo that's almost identical to this one of their dad and their uncle.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

2010-09-15T14:44:00.000-07:00

In our freezer is corn, beans, and zucchini from our garden, and what looks like some kind of Korean seafood, but it's cherries we picked from the neighbor's orchard.

These are tomatoes from our garden, and we've just begun. They are delicious fresh but we can't eat them fast enough, so this is next best.

Someday we will probably be glad we went to the trouble to do this...even though we haven't finished last year's cherries and peaches yet.

It's a Corolla!!!

2010-09-14T11:12:00.000-07:00

Lexus, Avalon, Fords and even Camrys were all just talk!!! We finally decided to stick with what we could afford brand new. We had somewhat of an idea and went looking. Turned out they had exactly what we wanted.

LABOR DAY WEEKEND

2010-09-08T06:46:00.001-07:00

This weekend we took over 50 pictures which makes it a little hard to choose just a few. Sometimes we did things like eating, playing dominoes, eating, roasting marshmallows, Rich putting up our ceiling fan, and more eating and forgot to take pictures. But this pretty much tells the story.

Our weekend was joyously filled with Rich's family. Since their picture in our hall frame is obsolete, we took another after church. Aren't they a good-looking group?

Wait...what am I saying?

"Grandma, there's so much good food, and so little time."

Boys playing with fire...sun and a magnifying glass. Learned this from their twin cousins last year.

Here's the reason why everyone likes to come here...we could be gone and they wouldn't even notice. Well, until dinner time, that is.

Good shot! And he survived!

At first Jessi was a little aprehensive about the hot tub and allowed her brothers to join her.

But soon she gained more confidence and kicked them out so she could have it all to herself. We had to "rescue" her a couple of times as she knows no fear. She'll be a swimmer soon.

By the time Monday was almost over we were all dead tired, full until we couldn't eat another bite, and ready to veg. However, they still had a long 3 hour trip home. We had a great time and wish we could have kids and grandkids come every weekend.

August Miscellaneous

2010-09-07T22:01:00.000-07:00

One of our favorite Elders from our mission married a Washington girl. We attended their reception in Bellevue, met his bride and his parents. He's French Canadian and a very special young man. We saw a lot of him in the office as he was an AP and in our ward in Korea and at our apartment. He was never shy about asking "What's for lunch?"

Here's a recent saga of the Westovers: Natalee had a small fracture of the hand, Corinne had a bad sprain for which she is receiving physical therapy, and Harrison is growing up with a bunch of women. We call them LEFTY, LIMPY, and LUCKY.

FUN TIMES

2010-08-12T09:44:00.000-07:00

As part of our Young Womens activity night around pioneer day we made appropriate refreshments starring some of our favorite movie actors. Beside me is Mercedes, one of our YW, and my counselor Carina.

The sunflowers are beginning to bloom...from this...

...to this...

...to this. I am so excited about these sunflowers that next year we'll plant them all along the fence.

We went to Harrison's last soccer game...they won! Harrison made 3 goals. In fact he basically didn't even need the other members of his team.

We spent a few days in Utah to attend Gary's nephew's wedding in the SL temple. We stayed at Robert's...here's a very nice picture of Robert and Gary...full of pizza! No wonder they look happy.

Here's the reception line. Gary's sister Cindy (mother of the groom in pink) recently received her endowments and surprised us at the temple. What a thrill!

Here's my old college roommate and high school church friend that found each other a few years ago in American Fork, then found me. We had a wonderful Sunday together.

Sister Julie Lutz was in our mission in Korea. She honored us with a visit on her way back to BYU from a summer internship in Seattle.

Another great weekend

2010-07-22T13:51:00.000-07:00

Our guests were Melora and Keith, Sophie and Sam...and...Corinne, Natalee, and Harrison.

The three girls stuck together like glue for 3 days...

...while the guys did their own things.

Here's the boys planning to "destroy Grandpa" with their various Nerf guns.

The battle is on...Grandpa knows no fear, and little boys run for their lives.

The battle is over too soon...Grandpa watches the "agony of defeat" with very little sympathy.

Meanwhile the girls have become more creative while taking over the boys' domain in their absense.

Soon everyone is in the "swim" of things where they stayed most of Saturday and Monday. The pool has a "day of rest" on Sunday. Meanwhile we played games and did puzzles and crafts. Notice the "Statue of Liberty" pose.

A few days before they came, Natalee broke her hand and wasn't about to let it ruin her swimming. We wrapped up her cast and she spent the whole time holding her arm above water while swimming all over and never got her cast wet. Remarkable!!

Melora also did some sunnning by the pool and at least got her feet wet.

Grandpa had to do some work in his office, so Sam did too.

Sam will do his best to talk anyone into anything, and it usually works on Grandpa.

Melora brought home some beautiful sunflowers from the store. We look forward to more which we have planted by the fence behind the pool and are just beginning to bloom.

Judi suggested homemade ice cream for the weekend, then she couldn't come.

So we saved her some for when she came to pick up her kids.

A beautiful end to a beautiful day.

11 DAYS AT BOBBI'S

2010-07-04T23:28:00.000-07:00

The trip to Bobbi's was timed for Michael's and my birthdays. Here is my beautiful Christ sculpture.

At Michael's baptism...looking pretty much like he usually does. Nice meeting!

Bobbi hosted a very nice luncheon for family and friends after the baptism.

When Bobbi lived in Quincy we visited Nauvoo every time we went to see her. This time the drive was about 4 times as long, but we went anyway. It was a great day. Here's Michael making rope.

The pause that refreshes...while eating our fudge from the fudge shoppe, enjoying a very nice day at Nauvoo.

One of my favorite statues...Joseph and Hyrum riding towards sure matrydom together.

Then the most exciting attraction in the city, the restored Nauvoo temple.

Michael, David and friend beating the heat in a series of 5 second dips in the cold water, then...

...warming up on the hot cement driveway. They went back and forth, back and forth for a good 15 minutes.

The biggest tourist attraction in St. Louis is the Jefferson National Expanson Memorial AKA the St. Louis Gateway Arch commemorating the western expansion from the eastern United States.

It's almost impossible to photograph it in one shot, so....

...here's the top.

Three of us after a very interesting inside gondola ride to the top.

We toured the museum but after viewing this display we decided to get the heck out of there before it closed and things began to come to life.

VISIT TO RON'S

2010-07-04T19:31:00.001-07:00

On to Ron's for 11 more days.

Fathers Day for a Father and a Grandfather.

You couldn't tell which was which if you only saw their hair.

Look who got the highest score in Wii bowling...klutsy, uncoordinated grandma!!

Recipients of the Young Women's Personal Progress Awards with their medallions.
Caitlin, Victoria, and Courtney. They finished in time to receive their awards while we were there to witness the presentations.

WHAT???? Could these be the same 3 girls??

Ron's greatest Fathers Day gift was being surrounded by all of his children.

We spent a lot of time cooling off...we Westerners aren't used to the hot humid climate of the South.

Ron...lord and master of the water works.

The Splash contest:

Most participants made impressive splashes.

Whether or not this is Ron is uncertain, but he did ultimately come out the winner.

However Victoria gave him a good run for his money and came in 2nd.

And here's his fan club.

"Don't eat Pete" was a big favorite along with cousin Bingo...we finished the bag of M&Ms by the time we left.

We celebrated the twins' 13th birthday a few days early before we left....

...with the traditional flag cake.

Arriving home we discovered a near-disaster in our garage. The board holding up the top shelf had split at a knothole and caused each shelf to fall, saved only by the lawn mower which wedged up against the freezer...saving us from a total disaster. The freezer was new (to us) right before we left on our trip...good timing.

We were very excited to see the lillies in bloom because we thought we would miss them entirely.

The butterly bush had quadrupled in size in the month we were gone.

The garden went crazy, but we were glad to discover that some of the families to whom we offered peas, lettuce, etc. had come and picked while we were gone.

What a great month we had! But it's good to be home.

4th OF JULY

2010-07-04T13:08:00.000-07:00

...or the 3rd, as the case may be.

We enjoyed Saturday, the 3rd with BBQ and games and hot tub, then when it got a little dark, it was time to light up the fireworks.

Judi and Natalee were our guests for the day...Corinne and Harrison still being at their dad's in Utah.

No way could a camera capture the hour and a half of exciting color and noise that we enjoyed.

A kid never gets too old for sparklers. We enjoyed quite the entertainment.

All too soon it was time to clean up and send the guests home. Nice day!

THE 3 DAY BIRTHDAY BASH

2010-06-01T11:08:00.000-07:00

This year it was just too easy to use the 3 day weekend to celebrate my birthday. What a great time we had. Gary, Judi, and Andrea did most of the work and enlisted the help of all the kids to give me a chance to relax.

The boys making plans to "destroy Grandpa" with their nerf guns.

Grandpa rises to the challenge and off they go.

HA HA! Santa brought Grandpa the best Nerf gun and nobody can beat him.

He is relentless and wipes out the whole lot of them.

RUN, you wimpy kid. You're toast!

Andrea does her usual beauty treatments on the girls and makeover hairdos for the boys. Amazing how empowering a new look can be.

It's time for the Bocce Ball tournament...let's go!!

Contestants divide into teams: RED, BLUE, YELLOW, and GREEN.

Each round of throws has to be carefully measured to determine winners.

RED team (Corinne and Redden) wins!!!!

Water play consisted of the sprinkler and the hot tub as the pool wasn't open yet.

On Sports Day in Korea they held a shoe-kicking contest which was pretty fun, so we decided to give it a try in Grandview, America. Here are some participants warming up for the kick-off.

Somebody's kick was a little off and the shoe landed on top of the "greenhouse" which was filled with water from the rain. Redden tried to get it off by poking it with a board. What he got was completely drenched. So some genius suggested a ladder and Rich finally got it down. Too bad the rules required horizontal distance rather than vertical.

Then Rich went on to win the tournament. Don't mess with the champion. He could kick you into the middle of next week.

It was a perfect night for S'Mores. Grandpa and Redden built the fire and we stayed up way too late.

Our entertainment for the evening was the stand-up (or rather sit-down) comedy of Uncle Rich sharing his words of wisdom with the kids.

The family talent show may become a tradition. Here's Sam sharp shooting at his moving target.

Corinne, Natalee, Sophie, and Jessi sing "A-You're Adorable" to Grandma.

Here's the male quartet with a rendition of something quite forgetable.

Natalee and Sophie singing and dancing. Jessi turns up everywhere.

The girls doing "Granny Smackdown." Don't ask.

Natalee goes solo performing her school talesnt show number.
There's Jessi again.

Redden does the McDonalds rap with his mom...he knows every word. Jessi, wait your turn.

I'm not waiting any longer to do my dance...get off the stage!

Sophie plays Twinkle Twinkle (AKA ABC) on the piano.

Finally we were favored with a series of tricks.

First came the monkey trick by Austin.

Then Austin and Redden did scooter tricks.

Soccer tricks by Harrison.

Stroller tricks by Jessi.

Driveway birthday messages.

THE CAKE! Andrea did the writing.

The singing, then the blow out.

ATTENTION!

This next part is messages for all the cousins that were not here this weekend.

LOOK!

It's high time to get this trailer out of here...it's been here since Thanksgiving.

Now a familiar part of our yard decor is gone. Guess we'll have to replace it with another car.

Grandpa is crying to see everyone leaving...or was it for the trailer?

Now we're alone again! We miss everyone, but WE NEED THE REST!

GIRLS' NIGHT

2010-05-15T13:17:00.001-07:00

Friday night Gary took Harrison to his Father-Sons outing so the girls stayed home and watched Princess Diaries 1 and 2 and did our nails. Left to right...Anne Hathaway, Julie Andrews, Raven, (AKA Natalee, Judi, and Corinne) and me at the bottom.

AH...THIS IS THE LIFE!

2010-05-13T05:48:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Gary got a surprise delivery...4 little cheesecakes from Safeco...a gift for being such a great guy or something. :0)

Mothers Day

2010-05-10T05:52:00.000-07:00

It started Friday night at Judi's with a fantastic strawberry pie...which she makes for me almost every year.

Saturday night Gary took me for Chinese and a play..."Man of LaMancha" in the big city of Prosser.

Sunday we got candy at church and Gary BBQ'd chicken for dinner.

Three days...not bad!!!

FUN WEEKEND

2010-05-04T05:58:00.000-07:00

Two-fisted eater

Grandma's entertainment

Boys' entertainment

Cousins' entertainment

Guys' entertainment

TOO MUCH FUN...

2010-04-20T11:08:00.001-07:00

I was looking forward to last weekend and all the things we were planning to do that I would photograph. What happened!!!!!? We were having so much fun I forgot to take many pictures! So I ask you to use your imagination.

First of all you will notice that in the background is the hot tub with windproofing. Three of the four hooks holding down the lid are broken, thanks to the Eastern Washington spring winds. We now hold down the lid with a 4 by 4 and cinder blocks. We have picked up our hot tub lid from the yard along with the BBQ cover, and the fire pit cover made it over the fence to the neighbors' while we were on vacation. So imagine the lid off and the steam coming up from Judi's family and us in the hot tub on Friday night.

Next just imagine us roasting marshmallows for S'Mores over the fire pit (which is exactly like Rich's "best gift ever.") We stuffed ourselves at the ward Luau then came home and ate "s'more."

Saturday was a flurry of activity, as you can see. Actually we did stuff all morning then finally vegged in front of the TV before our guests arrived.

My kids will remember James. He was baptized as a senior in high school and was "part of our family" for that entire year. He and Sherry and their two boys came for dinner and games on Saturday evening, and we had a great time. James is a fun guy, and he does have hair. This "do" was an experiment. Corinne and Natalee think of James exactly like the look you see on Corinne's face in this picture.

We couldn't stop laughing all evening! Our game of choice was super dominoes (361 to the set) and although dominoes isn't usually hilarious, it was that night. All 10 of us played.

We served up in the kitchen, cooked on Gary's new toy (every man's dream) and ate on the deck. And the BBQ is hooked up to natural gas so we don't use propane anymore. If Rich will bring us back our gas can we will give him our propane tank. ;0)

Some people never do grow up and get serious...Sherry is a Saint! Seriously, we are proud of James' devotion to the Church and the way he has lived his life since we saw him accept the Gospel and enter the waters of baptism, serve a mission, and marry in the temple.