My neighbors of 26 years...

....and my friends from forever ago just drove away today headed to Billings Montana to serve as mission presidents. As I write this through tears I can't help but think how great it's been to have them here. Though we could go months without seeing each other, it's just nice knowing there's good folks around that you can call on at 4:00 in the morning when your husband has fainted and you're scared....or someone to call when the pipes break and you're all alone. Carol Ann and I became good friends in high school, then roommates at Utah State University then neighbors where we raised our kids together, them feeling like they were more family than friends. Larry and Scott were best friends in high school and they left for their missions on the same day, driving away together alone in Scott's mom's car to go to the MTC by themselves. They came home together and we all got married in the same year (us in March and Larry and Carol Ann in April). We've laughed together, shared tough times together, and borrowed a lot.....me more than her. She has a regular grocery store in her basement but most of all, they are both wonderful, wonderful people that will touch a lot of lives and do much good for that area and for our church. There's no one that can captivate an audience like Larry Gardner with his stories and knowledge of the scriptures intertwined to bear fervent testimony....and though Carol Ann claims she's not going up there to cook and clean, I know she'll be cookin' 'cause that's what she does. Her many scrapbook-sized looseleafs with recipes in them won't go to waste. So I bid farewell with mixed emotions....happy for them....sad for me. Good luck and God bless, good friends. Good byes are so hard......

Show me the $$$$$...

.....$$$$ 4 what? College you say? Higher education? Yep, the letter was in the mail today and Lauri got the "yes" you can go to college because we will give you some monay.....Way to go Lauri. Arizona State University....here she comes..... only 2 years away from an MSW degree. It's a good day.

Everyone's together again......

.....and Spencer was glad to greet them at the airport after being home for a couple of weeks without them. I helped Shana with the kids and they traveled well. Laynee traveled on her 10th birthday and came home to a room full of balloons and a sign from her friends. Spencer welcomed the little ones with open arms and a big smile on his face. I spent a couple of days knowing it would be my "last" summer visit there so we crammed a lot in even though the muggy weather slowed me down a bit. I got to visit a couple of favorite yarn shops and Seth wanted a trip to Shelbyville. The pool was cool and the evenings were filled with fireflies, glowsticks and just chillin' on the porch. I'm back home again today and it feels good knowing the family is back together again.

A year gone by already.....

.....and I hope Karen doesn't mind me lifting this picture from her blog but I couldn't help being a proud mom and congratulating Mason and his staff on this milestone. The success of any doctor depends on his staff and Mason has a great one. I know Scott would never have succeeded without his loyal staff and when Scott died and I sold the practice to Moe Bracken, Sharlene stayed on and has kept it going all these years. There's not enough money to pay for loyal employees. Thanks to the staff of Hurricane Dental for all you do. We need a party!!!!!!!!

Laynee Jane rox.....

.....and it's her 10th birthday tomorrow. Crazy....my oldest grandchild is turning 10. She belongs to Spencer and Shana but I claim a bit of her as I tended her 3 days a week during the first year of her life and loved every minute of it. I remember rocking her while she slept most every day and having many a photo shoot, capturing her every mood. She's mostly mellow and easy to be around. She has a charming smile and is very photogenic. She's wise beyond her years....growing up way too fast....loves to cheer, plays the piano (taught by her mother), is the most thoughtful little child you'll ever know and is turning into an amazing young woman. Happy Birthday, Laynee Jane....keep smiling. You're a doll and I love you so.

Some of the coolest Dads I know....

.....Happy Father's Day to the dads in our family.

....and Happy Anniversay yesterday to Kyle and JoEllen. Their day kinda got lost in the hub bub of the activities of the day but we're glad these two got together 12 years ago.

I can do hard things....

......and I know that (but I don't like to) because I had an English teacher in 9th grade that taught me that. She's about the only teacher I really remember. I remember the others as people, but to this day I can see Beth Syphus, up there in front of that classroom and I can hear her in my mind and I can feel the feelings I had back then just before I had to stand and recite the 125 line poem that I had to memorize and because of her I can recite the most important part of Invictus........"It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul." I owe it to her that I love words.....and I remember well how we had to do the "Word Power" exercises in Reader's Digest. To this day, whenever I'm reading, I notice the words I don't know and most times I will look them up. She was a true educator and her class was hard and if I could have, I would have dropped out or changed teachers. She had a reputation for being a "hard" teacher....so what's my point? I can do hard things.....and I did that last night. I had a sleep-over with all of my grandchildren. (Well, actually 7 slept over, the 2 youngest went home with their mom's and Traci's 2 were in Salt Lake) none the less, it was hard.

But like Mrs. Syphus' class, it will be memorable. Because I choose to do something hard, I hope that I will remember it but mostly I want them to remember me and hopefully appreciate the fact that I was willing to do it for them and to have fun (I hope they had fun. I tried really hard). I saw a little segment on Studio 5 that showed a lady having a "Grandma Camp" with all of her grandchildren and it sounded really fun so I wanted to start that tradition. I hope this was the "First Annual Crazy Cousin's Camp" and not the "only" Crazy Cousins Camp. Hopefully by next summer I will forget how hard it was. Anyway, it was exhausting but hopefully successful. We started with a PowWow where I gathered them together and tried to talk to them.....big joke, but we sang a song then off we went. Activities included T-shirt creations, hot-dog supper, a trip to Snow Shack, lots of jumping on the trampoline and playing in the basement, then bustin' the dance moves for our "Rockin' Awesome Dance Video" (which is yet to be produced. I'm too tired.) All I can say, it was hard but fun. Lauri helped make it easier and now it's Lauri's "Going Away to College" fundraiser yard sell (and it's already hard but she needs some money. Sometimes money is the motivating force to do hard things). I've got to muster up the energy. Peace out......What are some hard things you've done lately or not-so-lately?

After all these years....

.....I still love this china hutch. Kyle built it for me about 18 years ago and I had to move it to get my new floors put in so it forced me to take out all the stuff and clean it out. I put in the china that I got from Grandma Rose. So....I wonder why I blog about this but if you were to walk into my home today, I would take you directly to this china hutch and open it up for you and hope you would enjoy looking at it as much as I do....I know for sure that you really wouldn't, but I would hope that you would humor me and act like you think it's as beautiful as I do. Grandma Rose had three sets of dishes with which she enjoyed setting a beautiful table. This set that I got was very incomplete, some of the pieces chipped but I'm very happy to finally display it and wish that I knew a little bit more about it. I think it was a set that her mother owned but I'm happy to have this little bit of her and I will always remember the regal lady that she was and how she loved to set a beautiful table and provide an impeccably perfect meal for her guests.

The kids have been enjoying the dress-ups....... as Emily has been rounding up her crew for the most recent production of Cinderella. Mckay and Scotty continue to be Super Heroes in their sparkly garb.....Drewby....not sure about him but he did strike a pose for the paparrazi.

This is a mom that has it all together....

....and it's my daughter-in-law, Shana....awesome mom to 4 of my grand children and amazing wife to my son Spencer and it's her birthday today. Shana has allowed Spencer to get through med school and is raising 4 amazing little children. She's got an "irreverent" side that we love and she's an amazing competitor....when playing cards, any way. She's got a calmness about her......but can "rage" when she needs to. She's organized and frugal and has served the last umpteen years as a Primary President. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Shana. Thanks for being an example to all and we give you accolades for hangin' in there with Spencer's schooling. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it's your degree as much as his. This picture is my all-time favorite.....it says it all. It's way out of character for Jack....I just got done tending him for 3 days and he didn't cry once and he slept every night for over 10 hours (and took naps in the day time) so this must have been a really bad day for him.

The fishin's fine....

.....at Gardner pond and in the busy lives we live, it's not many a dad any more that can get his kids out throwin' out the line but Spencer took the time last week while he was here to let the kids give it a try. My boys had the opportunity to know what "Fishing Season" was when they were growing up and believe me, it was pretty exciting around our house as they planned for "opening day" at Enterprise Rez. They'd get their gear together and go shopping. They only needed 2 items to take care of them for the morning. They soon learned that the less time cooking, the more time fishing, and somewhere along the line, chocolate marshmallow cookies were renamed "Fishing Cookies". Those and a gallon of milk is all they would pack for the morning. Off they would go to camp the night before and I was never there so I don't know what the real truth is, but sometimes they caught their limit and sometimes they didn't. I remember that Scott would always take Kyle and Spencer when they were really young but he would never take Mason. He would say "He's too young".....and I would remind him that he took the other boys when they were that age. Mason did get to go eventually and he did take the girls a time or two. We would go up to Panguitch Lake and camp and fish a bit. I always teased him that I couldn't watch them fish because I've never actually seen a fish being caught so I was bad luck for them. To this day I don't think I've seen one being caught but I've heard a lot of stories and they are in these pictures so I'm pretty sure it happens. I've accused them of stopping by the supermarket on the way home to purchase a bunch of fish.....never the less, good times. Some fishing trips include the Reber's, Scott's brothers Gawain and Gary and their kids and any other kid that either didn't have a dad to take him or hadn't ever had the experience. Scott was good to make a party out of the adventure and take anyone along that didn't mind their routine.

I wouldn't call him an "avid" fisherman by any means but if avid means what the dictionary says (–adjective 1.enthusiastic; ardent; dedicated; . 2.keenly desirous;) then I would say in the last few years of his life, he was moving very close to becoming one. He had a huge desire to learn to fly fish and got all the gear but was only able to go a few times before getting sick. I'm hoping there's fishing in heaven.....if so, he's a happy man. I think he learned a very powerful lesson through all of life's struggle and that was to slow down as much as he could, read a good book when he wanted to; study, pray and prepare for what was to come.....but take the time periodically to put up the sign on the door...."GONE FISHIN' ".

Gotta go get my cell phone, wanna come?

"A road......trip......YES....and off we went today to Panguitch to retrieve Joyce's cell phone that she left at the ranch....

Cell phone retrieved...job done? Um....not quite yet. Gotta rev up the 4-wheeler and go check on the sheep....and the Llama.....O.k....are we done yet? Nope.....



Gotta go check out Mainstreet Panguitch where we hooked up with some of the dummies in town. Now we've fer sure done all we came to do and more......Almost.

A trip isn't complete without a ride down 89 through the tunnel and through Zion and a quick dinner at Oscar's, a little shopping in Springdale and we'll call it a day.....and a good one it has been. Good company, great food and beautiful country. Nothin' like a quick trip to Panguitch to retrieve a cell phone.

The 2nd Annual Scott Wells Family Reunion.....

.....a great success due to a couple of fabulous party planners (aka Lauri and Traci) and as Spencer and his family rolled into town about 4:00, we were ready with Lauri's yummy Mexican cuisine and other excellent contributions...then on to Traci's most creative Treasure Hunt. She ought to market these, she does a fab job and had the kids choo chooing over to the Wintch's house for one of the clues, breaking balloons for yet another one and performing their piano pieces for another. Fun, fun, fun....then we ended with a Pinata....it was a very "Mexican" theme. We ended up in Mason and Mandy's pool even though the weather was cool, we felt the "warmth" as a family...truly a mother's "reward"......It's been so much fun and just goes to show one doesn't have to spend a lot of money or time to have some great togetherness....a few hours spent here at home was all we needed. Traci had to go home and Spencer and Shana and family leave for Salt Lake tomorrow. I am so thankful for my family and even more thankful that they seem to want to get together. Each one of these 12 little personalities warm my heart and make me smile.

I'm posting the attempt to get a picture with all of them.....we gotta keep tryin'....We'll have number 13 next year (#4 girl) and try it again and hope for more success.

Rub a dub dub....too many in this tub...

....it's time to get the party started. Spencer and his family arrive today....par....tay.......