I'm back!

Did you miss me? We went camping last Friday and got back on Monday! It has taken me a day to get back into my routine. Anyway it was a wonderful camping trip! Much better than last year when all it did was rain! This year we went to Paul Reservoir (sp), above Humphrey Idaho. It is almost to the Montana border and is just a lovely little place. It was quiet, just Gene, Chelsea and I, only one visit from the other kids. We got lots of relax time in!


Here are some pictures of the lake and the spot where we camped. The wildflowers broke out while we were there, but none of my pictures of them turned out. Go figure!









Chelsea and Gene went on a 4-wheeler ride. They found this creek that is just adorable and even found this tree that blew over, root ball and all, this spring. Chelsea is 5'5" and look how it towers over her! Chelsea also found stinging nettle up there, but Dad had her smear mud on it and it helped keep the itching and swelling down. When she got back to camp, we washed it well and gave her a Claritan. She still has some itching, but not what it could have been!

I was raised in Southern California, so even after living in Idaho for almost 35 years, I still get amazed by the immenseness of the outdoors around here. I love to watch wildlife. We would go out for a drive right at dusk to see animals each night. We saw 3 moose, 2 elk, 2 deer, and 1 antelope in our watchings and heard a pack of coyotes signal each other that they had dinner! You don't get that in California!












I also wanted to show you a picture of my youngest grandson, Jesson! He is 15 months, and is becoming quite the piano player! He loves music and all you have to do to calm him right down is sing to him! What a cutie! (grandma is prejudiced tho!)


Go out and make it a great day!


Chris

BUILDING EXCITEMENT!

I CAN HARDLY WAIT!




In a little bit less than 3 weeks I will be attending the Express The Moment Scrapbooking Conference and Expo, here in Idaho Falls, Idaho! The keynote speaker will be Christy Tomlinson, formerly of Chatterbox and now of Making Memories! It is 2 days of non-stop scrapbooking heaven! Kim Rose has worked her heart out to build this into one of the premier events of the Intermountain Region! am really proud to be associated with her! So come and take a look on June 8 and 9 at the Shilo Inn in Idaho Falls, Idaho. For more info just click on the link above.

Last year Lisa Bearnson came and spoke to us (Here is my daughter Tiffany and I with her). This year is even bigger and better because it is at the Shilo Inn! I have my room booked, so no trapsing home in the middle of the night and then getting up at the crack of dawn the next morning to get there on time!




Hope to see you there!



Go out and make today count!


Chris

It's snowing!

I always love spring storms! I took these pictures about 15 minutes ago! Look at those flakes! Hopefully they will leave quickly, afterall I just planted the tomatoes in my garden on Saturday. But snowflakes in May are somehow magical, aren't they?

Here is a picture of my yard on Sunday, just a little difference, don't you think?

And last, we had a gorgeous sunset on Sunday evening. Here it is, through the branches of my crab apple tree.

Go out and make a difference today, okay?

Chris

Blessings

This has been a good weekend! Saturday was more of what Friday was, even got our entire garden planted! That is always a big job. Then I have to be patient and wait for it to grow! Sometimes I feel like a little child, constantly checking and rechecking for any sign that the seeds are growing! And every year I feel a very special kinship to God as I watch my baby plants emerge from the earth! These are entrusted to me to take care for a short time. Kind of like my children! I will post pictures of my new "children" when they decide to peak their little heads out.

I didn't get much scrapping done this weekend, but I hope to do some in the next few days. I will show you the results when I do. I took a picture of a georgeous sunset tonight, but I haven't downloaded it. That I will post tomorrow.

Tonight I walked around my yard in barefeet! It really is liberating you know? I thought about what I am thankful for. So here goes, my list of 5 things I am thankful for tonight -

1. My husband and his smile. Sometimes I don't see it often, but when I do, it takes my breath away (even after 30 years)

2. Chelsea. My youngest daughter brought to tears to my eyes tonight as I listened to her playing the violin at her recital. Has it really been 14 years since you were born?

3. My grandkids. They tickle my heart! Tonight I watched Grandpa and Daddy take Conner and Bailey through the fields on 4-wheelers and listened to their squeals of joy!

4. Asparagas. Don't even like the darn stuff. But it brings my family great joy to search the ditch banks around our home to find some. They brought home a huge batch tonight! So guess what we are having for dinner tomorrow?

5. Faith. Maybe I should say God, or religion. Whatever you believe, I am thankful for my church and the chance to worship each Sabbath day. I am thankful for the calling I have in my church, where I teach the 10-11 year olds. They keep me on my toes, but bring me such joy!

Well that's all for tonight! Hope you made the most of the day!

Chris

Don't Grow Old

Tonight I am feeling everyone of my 49+ years! For the last 2 days I have been doing "honey-do's" for my dad and even sucked my husband into them.

Let me explain. My dad is a widower and he's 70 years old. My mom died of M.S. 2 years ago. He has been lonely for her, but done pretty well on his own. He even traveled alot.

That changed in March. On his way back from Texas, he had a heart attack in Gallup, New Mexico! We had quite a time getting him home, but when we did, he seemed okay. Then about 2 weeks later, he came down with pnuemonia! He ended up in the hospital here in Idaho Falls. Ever since then he has been completely drained of energy, and has to have oxygen. Anyways, there have been a ton of things not getting done, and it is driving him nuts.

I finally realized that because I am the only daughter and only one of two that live by him, that I needed to get on the ball and take care of some of this. So yesterday I took him to Lowes to buy some things he needed. Here is our shopping list - Kitchen faucet, screen door, toilet and ceiling fan. Now isn't that a unique list? :] Not what I would call my favorite thing to do with my dad. Anyways, we got the faucet, got the screen door, picked out a toilet but didn't like any of the fans! 52 fans there and none of them were what he wanted! So today my husband, Gene and I went down, picked up the screen door and headed out to the house. We installed the faucet, pruned his trees, and got his lawn mower running. Now my oldest son will install the screen door and my younger son is going to pick up the toilet and install it Wednesday! Then next week we tackle new kitchen carpet!

After we got done at dads, we headed home to finish cutting back my way-overgrown lilac hedge. I have pruned trees, raspberries and lilacs this week. I have shoulder muscles that are screaming at me! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING? DO YOU KNOW YOU ARE ALMOST FIFTY? HIRE A GARDNER!

Here is a picture of my parents in happier times, about 15 years ago. My mom had only just found out she had MS and she still was pretty much like always.

Here is the last picture I took of my mom before she died. This was Thanksgiving 2004. By now she had trouble talking and eating because her throat muscles didn't work. She passed away in April of 2005.

Tonight I am happy to say my yard looks nice (I'll take a picture tomorrow), my dad is taken care of for the moment, and Aleve works wonders on sore muscles (now if it only got rid of gray hair and wrinkles)!

Did I mention how much I love my dad? Having lost my mother at 62, I realize how precious my time with him is! I admire how he took care of my mom right up to the end, not an easy job!I am not ready to become the caregiver for him! I still feel like I need my parents to go to. Now I am the one everyone else comes to! The little girl inside me is screaming, "Don't grow old on me! Because then I will be getting old!"

Remember to live for today. And be sure and call your parents too!

Chris

Wow!

I guess I am becoming a blogger! Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks! Over the next few weeks I hope to put together a blog to be proud of! I am new to this, but I love sharing scrapbook ideas and I hope I can help you grow and you can help me too!

Today was gorgeous! We had 88 degree weather! Of course the wind blew, it always blows in Idaho! But the trees are just finishing blooming and the lilacs are out! Unfortunately, we had a badly timed frost that damaged or did away with this year's blooms. Last year was glorious and I even did a couple of scrapbook pages and took lots of pics. I am going to try posting them, just give me a little time!

This was taken in May of 2006 in my front yard! This tree is a Syberian Pea Crab and smells positively sinful when it blooms! I wish I could bottle it! I am using this page to inspire my blog. I hope you find it pleasant and happy!

This is our newest addition to the family! Her name is Madalynn Valerie and she was born on March 16th! She is so sweet and she has a 15 month old brother to protect her!

Here she is with big brother, Jesson! Aren't they just beautiful? Grandma could just bust!

I feel a scrapbook page coming on! I'll let you see the end results!

Here's to me learning new computer tricks! And remember to make this day count!

Chris