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What can I say? We are in heaven here! (Aside from the normal frustrations of boxing up your life and moving it...)
More later....
It's hard to think of anything right now except my brother in-law, Jack Crane, who is dearly loved by everyone is in pretty serious shape in the hospital. He was golfing Saturday and had a brain aneurysm. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and my sister Susie, and their family. So we'll show more of the house later...right now it just kinda seems wrong to celebrate anything until we know he has pulled through. Hang in there Uncle Jack--we love you and it's too soon for you to go anywhere.

At Home...

We're here!

What a great day--I was able to attend our new ward and was impressed with the quality of thoughtful comments I heard today. Nothing canned. As Cliff is at the station today and next Sunday as well, I am breaking trail in meeting our new friends and neighbors. I sat with Julie through all the meetings and really enjoyed that.

I was especially impressed with Relief Society and the openness with which insights were shared in an environment of safety and trust. It is clear these sisters have forged a bond that is inclusive, caring, and empathetic.

I talked to Julie about it and she said that a former Relief Society presidency set a goal that every woman in RS would feel that it is the safest room in the church. That here sisters could bring their concerns, insights and experiences and be received in a spirit of warmth and empathy. Even though this presidency had been replaced, the tradition they had established carried on.

I am so glad to be here.

Angels Among Us

There are those I want to thank for helping me through my surgeries the past 2 months.

All last year I had pain and numbness on the right side of my body.
Turned out to be some pretty big spinal/disc problems.

Firstly, thanks Cliff for doing all possible to keep me comfortable. I don't remember half of it but I know you were there. If nothing else you kept me smiling.
He bought us a new tv for our bedroom so that I could rest there more.
Here he is unpacking it and getting it set up...sort of.




Boys will play!

Thank you Jenn for coming up during and after the first and most difficult one. She stayed by my side, tucking pillows in all the right ways. I don't know everything she did but I knew she was there both in the hospital and at home for several days. I do specifically remember the pillow tucking! What a sweetheart~ Thanks for letting me borrow her, Chad!



Jenny--Cliff's daughter--came one night with some delicious soup and bread from the Market Street Grill and we also had a very nice visit. So thoughtful. Again, I didn't think to have a photo taken. But this is cute picture of Jenny.


Camille and Dan came by for a wonderful surprise visit bearing all things for breakfast! They made eggs and brought juice and yummy cinnamon rolls! I so loved seeing all of them and I was even feeling up to playing with the kids some. BTW. I found the elf that Lili or Aaron hid. Good job...it was in the pantry.

Britta and Mark came on Christmas Day and brought a huge Christmas ham dinner complete with gourmet sweet potatoes and other trimmings. She always tells me she doesn't know how to cook...lol. She knows and she is good at everything she puts her mind to. I know she's going to be mad at me for putting her photo up because she is camera shy.

Jeff and Marcy hosted a really nice Christmas Eve at their house.
As soon as I find the photos I will post them!

Thanks to everyone else for all of the flowers, cards, phone calls and visits!!!

Merry Christmas!
www.joytoeveryone.com

Enjoying the Christmas Spirit

Tonight I took a trip (Cliff was at the station) to the Conference Center to listen to the choir rehearse for the upcoming Christmas Concert. It was my biggest night out in awhile. Lynn asked permission for me to come in and listen. Permission was granted! A sneak peek at the decorations...but no lights on tonight. Just wait!

I'm having most of my Christmas up front since I will be laid up for awhile. Another back surgery.... As Lynn pointed out, it will be like going back into labor after you just had a baby. Since my last one was just 5 weeks ago I still feel the pain of the first one. It's a little nerve wracking going right into another one.

But being here I felt as if I was truly taking a small part in the
preparation of the celebration of the birth of the Savior!
And they were singing Handel's "Unto Us A Child Given" ! As you can see, no one was there!

Nothing like being there as the only one in the audience...

I could sing along and I also had fun helping the set dressers.

No, these huge flowers will not be taking up precious seating...but watch for them on the set.
They were like little poinsettia umbrellas.

Actually, Lynn is there but you might not be able to spot her since this was taken with my palm.

Merry Christmas to All!

Cliff Has Had Better Days...

And today wasn't one of them, poor guy. He is now here at home resting comfortably thanks to nausea medication, pain killers, ice packs, an anti-inflammatory med, plenty of gauze, his bean bag chair, the remote, (which he has kindly tried to pass off to me several times since he is mostly sleeping), a loving wife, and of course the "dew" . It wasn't a pretty site when they wheeled him into post-op. And the next 24 hrs might be a "little" uncomfortable. (Any degree of uncomfortable is a little compared to what he felt like earlier.)

In the meantime, feel free to leave well wishes for him.

Just Give Me One of My Babies to Hold and I'm Happy...

This is little Leah. And she has big personality, BIG!

Leah Christine Stott was blessed last Sunday.
We are so happy to have not one, but two new babies in the family.

Marcy Jeff and Leah

This is our little rosebud, Adalie...juuuuust about asleep.
(There's a whole blog dedicated to Adalie below.)

How lucky am I ?

My good friend Charlo--whom I love dearly--came to stay with us for a couple of days. Here we are lounging the morning away.

Sam Payne Concert

We have to say thanks to everyone who came to our house concert with Sam Payne. Everyone had such a great time. Thank you Sam! He'll be in concert at the Sandy Amphitheater Friday September 5th. And here's an article about him in the Deseret Morning News.

Angels and Pests

Ivanhoe came up with this--and BV passed the idea along.
Angels and Pests will be featured here from time to time.

Angel: for this inaugural post of Angels and Pests I'm going tell you about my friend Linda who also makes fish for my gallery. She is a true artist and as you might know, artists live life in their own way. They don't like schedules or deadlines and do most everything unpredictably. Most of the time this is a happy thing for me and this was just another day of enjoying a delightful encounter with one of my artists.
I was supposed to meet her at Home Depot (2:00 sharp she said...they really do try) to pick up a fish. She called me and instead we ended up at Kneaders right by my house sharing a chicken and artichoke heart pannini sandwich and catching up on...stuff. We also bought fruit tarts and I quickly reached my calorie quota for the day! Those puppies have to be about 600 calories. I'd do it all over again even though it meant I had blueberry tea for dinner.

Pest: I've had too many of these lately and fear it will turn me into a sour old woman if I'm not careful. I'd have to say the IV nurse that couldn't get a vein last week. Why she was insisting on going for the most delicate place--on the under side of the wrist--when I had a perfectly good vein on the back side (ulnar artery). I even told her "that's your vein right there." So I am bruised and it looks really tacky. She should have listened to me but instead after poking me and missing too many times had to call someone else in. The team leader came to watch--at that point--and stood there chomping on her gum (with her mouth open) telling me what a loser her husband is. Why would I care at this particular moment?

Camille, Dan and Family Come to Town

We're talking cute kids here! We had a good time together even though it was kind of short. Aaron, Taylor and I played a very complicated game of pool without cues. The point system Aaron had developed was as complicated as a video game. In fact, I'm sure that's where he was coming from! As Taylor said, "it takes more time to explain it than to play it" very true, Taylor. But we had fun and somehow in the end I won. Aaron seemed to glow with the satisfaction of giving me that honor. I love that boy. He is such a good soul.

I had a talk with Lili about calling me a not too nice grandma name. Even though she obviously had been beside herself and breathless with the anticipation of calling me that in person, our short discussion about being nice seemed to sink in. It was really kind of comical...especially when she told me she thought Aaron and Daddy would have a hard time giving it up. hmmmmm She is a child with a good heart and I love her. She is the kind of child you can reason with. I think she has a great capacity for empathy.

This was the first time I met Taylor, a cousin to Aaron and Lili. We had fun wandering around the backyard. She told me all about the animals she has at home and that her mom loves animals and her dad...not so much. Later when I told Aaron that I didn't care so much about the point system--I just wanted to play--Taylor said, that's what my mom says to me right before my games.

I was just glad that Max would eventually come to me. He looked like he'd been passed around a few too many times. But once we got outside, we had a good time watching Aaron, Lili and Taylor show us all the cool "trails" around the backyard jungle. Then Max sat on my hip and was my buddy for the pool and air hockey games. I long to have Max cuddle up to me and fall asleep with his head on my shoulder. Those are the sweetest things in life.

Concert in the Park!

We are so pleased to announce that our backyard concert with Sam Payne is ON! Please let me know if you'd like details...we'd love to have you! In the mean time...visit his website www.sampayne.com and listen to some of his great muisc. Two of my favorites are on his Father TO Son cd: "Fly Ball" and "These Are My People".
One of these days I'm going to have to figure out how to add music to this blog.

Adalie...on my mind

We have a new bundle of joy--the latest grandchild Adalie Elizabeth who was born July 19th. Cliff and I saw her the day after she was born and as you can see she is soooo pretty and sweet!
I saw her on my way to the airport to help my brother after back surgery. So I'm anxious to see her again.


Welcome Adalie! We're so happy you're here!

Concert in the Park?

Just a few pictures of our beautiful backyard which we have been enjoying so much this summer. I've always felt a need to play in the dirt, plant seeds, pull weeds (you can actually get lost in a good weed pulling session). Watering: something about it just feels so good. My favorite, of course, is cutting flowers and gathering in the harvest of fresh herbs and veggies.
I'm hoping it works out to have a concert in our backyard this summer--I have a favorite local artist I'd love to share with you. If it happens I'll be sure to let you all know.

Yes--I am finally posting again and--like journal writing--I promise to not wait between posts so long. I finally feel like I'm turning the corner on some health issues and I see light at the end of the tunnel. YEAH~
The last nasty problem was a rash that--at first--was thought to be a parasite. Then the dermatologist said "No," it was a reaction to a pain medication. No wonder I have avoided taking it. I had the prescription for 3 months and finally could take it no longer and had it filled. The results were awful-- red welts all over. I can't even describe how bad it was. The last time I had a reaction that bad was to a spider bite in Julian. The end result was blisters all over my hands and feet, which came at the end of sleepless nights and constant itching (until they gave me drugs to stop that). All I have left now are some scars that are disappearing. I'm telling you--now I know what the Heebie Jeebies are....
Other things that have been happening are much nicer: We have a new fence in our backyard and everything is looking so beautiful. For once, we have a summer where we are not remodeling something and are quite enjoying the yard.
I'm daily so thankful for the many blessings we have in our lives. Returning health, wonderful children and grandchildren (many of whom I miss terribly), stable businesses through tough economic times, and our house is almost paid for! By April of next year we will have zero debt. Then we will slug more away for retirement, a mission, traveling, and seeing more of the people we love. We have been really blessed with our goals.

My mother trying on a new dress that grandma B had just sewn

Mom with her fox terrier, "Lady".

Isn't she pretty?

Happy Mother's Day, Mom

As I mentioned before, I posted photos of just some of the important people in our lives. This is Dayton, isn't he a cutie? He is a grandson on the Stott side. I love him! He just started CPAP therapy and he is doing well with it--good job Dayton!

Random and Fun photos

Hi, I just thought I'd post a few random and favorite photos for my friends in Hawaii, the Matsuo's who have not seen our family in awhile and for my friend Raelyn Gunderson who has been a dear friend since we were in elementary school. Enjoy...not everyone that is important to us is on here but mainly photos to catch up with our friends.

Life is Sweet!

Jenn and Chad

Jenn and Chad Wedding Day Provo Temple