Every now and then....

...I get the urge to catch up my blog.....but it goes away quickly. However, on this day, almost 2 months since my last post I guess I'm acting on the urge because as Matty told me the other night when she slept over....."Grandma, nobody needs you so you can do anything you want."  Dang right Matty and today I choose to blog and I applaud myself that nobody needs me (that's not to say that I don't need anyone 'cause I do) but I have some very successful and independent children whose aid I would come to in an instant but for the most part, they don't need me so I'm here in my dream home (like an eternal camping trip only more comfortable) and I do as I dang please most days. I tell you, I can understand Judd Burgess a lot more now that I live here. It's hard to pull oneself away from the cool breezes and go down into the dry heat of the city.... so here's my new camp site.......

...cool breezes included every day.  Here are a few random views from inside which I love too.

 Bottom left is the view from my window and I watched the moon change for about 20 minutes. It stays so cool all day, kinda like a cave in which I'm planning to hibernate this winter (if nobody needs me, wink, wink).

I've enjoyed the random flowers that have popped up in the yard throughout the summer and an occasional storm that happens by. Can't think of a lot that I don't like about Pine Valley except the pesky flies and mosquitos but we've taken some measures to minimize those including a zapper and I can't get along without this stuff........

When I was a kid my mom used to get a product called "Skin So Soft" that was also used as an insect repellent so I looked into it and this is what I found and all my fond memories of Avon came flooding back so I succumbed to the pressure to become an "Avon Lady" once again and because my cell phone number is 435-632-Avon....how could I say no. Anyhow, let me know if you are craving any Avon products or memories from your childhood including bubble bath, awesome make-up and skin-care products and I still have to look into whatever else there is. Don't worry, I won't bug you....I hate bugs, that's why I signed up for Avon....and speaking of bugs....

....the kids found this one as they were enjoying a little slip 'n slide action. You can see why I've loaded up on Raid, Zappers and anything else to eradicate these creatures. The kids got Kyle a year-round fishing license for Father's Day so it's fun to hit the favorite fishing spot whenever they can....

Drew and George were throwing in the net and then reeling it back when the rope broke and they had to go in for it. They were pretty good sports to jump into that yucky water and not give up 'til they found it. And speaking of cute kids.......

...Mae was born 4 months ago and she never got her just publicity so here she is cute as ever with her cute mom.

 A little girl after 4 boys, what a treat.

Of course, the first thing I had to do was try on her Mary Janes.....Harry's disappointed that he can't quite fit into these pretty little things.

Just a few more, she is changing so fast.

I had the opportunity to spend some time with Lauri and fam as she and James participated in Jacob and Anna's (James' sister) wedding on Temple Square. I stayed with the kids at the Kimball then headed over to see them come out all happy and excited. This cute family will be missed up north as they are heading to reside in St. George........and this cute family will be missed in St. George.......

....as they start their new life up north in Daybreak. Mason is working at Jordan River Dental.....click HERE to learn more about it and if you ever need a really good dentist, he's the one. We couldn't let Mason and Mandy get away without at least one trip to Powell. They are such good hosts so here are a few pics from the fun we had.

July 22 is the day we remember Scott....my husband, my kids' father, everybody's friend who left us on that day 14 years ago. The girls and I would always try to head to his favorite places on that day but everyone has their families and busy lives now but I was grateful for the invite to share lunch with my daughters to remember him on that day. "The Garden" at the top of the Joseph Smith Memorial was one of his favorite places so we enjoyed lunch together there in remembrance of this great man.

Life goes on, things change as does my love for my family....it deepens with each milestone and memory and it's such a pleasure to watch my children become parents and they all do it so well.  I'm so grateful Randy and I have this opportunity to live in Pine Valley in such beautiful surroundings. Please come visit me if you ever come to town.,....688 Oakridge Ln, Pine Valley, Utah. If I'm not there, come on in and enjoy the beautiful surroundings, the cool air and sit on my porch for a while. Keep smilin' and always remember my favorite quote....."Let whatever you do today be enough."

Not sure I can remember how to do this ......

....but it's good to be back. Hope it sticks. I've got a lot in my head and heart that needs to get out in this amazing transition year for our family but first and foremost, a great big

  HAPPY FATHERS' DAY

to the five wonderful fathers of my 19 amazing grandchildren. (pictured left to right: Russ, Mason, Spencer, James, (Mother Mary) and Kyle. Y'all are the best.....such great husbands and fathers and doing just the right things for each of your families and as a mom and grandmother, I appreciate that. Nothing warms my heart more than to see happy children whether they are mine or yours and I think we're all basically pretty happy these days.

As I mentioned, a time of transition. I've moved and sold the family home of 35 years (tears, smiles, and trying to not be sad that it will be gone but glad that we built it and it wrapped it's arms around my family for so many years)....and I know houses aren't people but we tend to get attached to something that protected us and kept us comfortable. Thank you, house at 765 S. Lexington Dr.  I will pay tribute to you later. Mason is moving, Lauri and James are interviewing, we all welcomed our dear little Mae (fifth child to Traci and Russ) and it has been a challenge to watch my mother age and lose her ability to serve others and difficult as we try to serve her to the capacity that she needs and deserves.....but all in all, we are blessed. I feel very blessed this day to be in Pine Valley (more about that later) and to attend church in this historic valley and to greet new faces each week as everyone wants just a "little bit of heaven" for a day.  I'm loving being greeted by the squirrels, sung to by the birds, taunted by the turkeys, surprised by the deer and tricked by the beautiful elusive butterflies each day.  I hope I never get tired of it. And on this day I especially appreciate so much the father of my children.......

....so in his element here in Pine Valley with open arms to one and all and cooking dutch oven. He truly was a very "present" father to our children and we miss him but feel his "presence" with us as he left us with many good memories and lessons of life as we learned by his example. And my own father.....

...who worked so hard for our family and was a great example of what a father should be. I always knew I was safe with him and can remember waiting anxiously in the wee hours of the morning for him to return from his water turns so I could go to sleep. I love him and miss him so. I'm also grateful to have another wonderful father in my life as I've been married to Randy for these past three years.

He is the father of nine children and I have come to appreciate the fun dad he is and how much he cares and still takes care of his kids. He learned from a fine example as his father has been a big influence on both of our lives these past few years. We miss Spencer J. Reber but his excellent example will live on and we are especially honored to be able to live in his beloved Pine Valley home. He and Josephine are here in spirit for sure. So, to all the men in my life who proudly wear the name of "DAD" I once again pay tribute to you all for the great jobs you do every day as you wear the many hats of fatherhood. It's been a wonderful sabbath day to honor you and let you know of our love and appreciation.
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I will continue to update the past three months but will leave you with this today. Thanks for checking in. Come back soon. 

What was I thinking......

....when I coerced these two fine young men to give up three days of their precious spring break when they could have been hanging out with friends, (rollerblading, skiing, gaming, etc.).....to hang out with this old grandma and these looks are probably giving the answer......

Yep, we're all in for a wild ride and these two had phones and I did not so this is one of many selfies and probably the only one I'll post here but just so you know......it wasn't like this the whole three days......sometimes it was worse.....

....but mostly they were gentlemen and made me proud to be their gramma. One thing I learned about these teenage boys is that when they acted their age, they were delightful which was most of the time but when they acted like 8 year olds......they were hilarious. I was thoroughly entertained for the whole three days....... We started out at Old Sacramento with lunch at Joe's Crab Shack and a walk around old town......

...then a stop at Folsom Prison. A lot of the comments on Instagram included...."....and who let them out????"

....then headed to Old Town Folsom for a little ice cream at Snook's and some antique shopping. Drew is trying out a tea set and George is tuning a Uke but the best is trying on of the hats....

These two were such good sports to do all of my favorite things......however, they couldn't get to the pool fast enough......

It was beautiful weather every day and the flora was in full bloom. The lake was next......

Wish I had more pictures on the lake but kayaking and canoeing all day, ending with a swim seemed fine for them and as I said, this trip was about "my" favorites both in activities and company. Loved being with these two boys. We took them up to Gold Country for a look around then back to the pool for swimming and Pizza.

I think they just love trying on hats for some reason.......and some of this is what happens when you let them take the camera.......

Sunday we went to Stake Conference and were instructed by Elder Bednar......

Randy was so good to make sure we all had good food and good times.....love him so much and I love these two boys.........They even endured my Temple Photo Shoot.....

Thanks George and Drew for "humoring" me......the meaning of which is..........
(hu·mor

ˈ(h)yo͞omər/

verb

gerund or present participle: humoring

1. comply with the wishes of (someone) in order to keep them content, however unreasonable such wishes might be.)  

...and also for "humoring" me meaning "to make me laugh a lot". Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Love you guys and thanks again Randy..

Just "had" to do a little TBT......

....or a little bit of then and now....whatever we call it, this is one place I love to visit and it holds some of the best memories from my childhood. Back in '58 we "had" to take a trip to Salt Lake because Bruce "had" to get his teeth fixed (where were all the dentists back then, huh???) and our car "had" to break down going up the hill just past Washington so we "had" to take Grandpa Sullivan's car then Bruce fell and hit his head on the corner of a table (at the dentists office) and "had" to have stitches but with all this drama, we "had" a great time as a family....one of our few trips out of town. Dad was a farmer and "had" to always get his cattle fed so our family vacays were pretty much "one dayers" to Zion or Kolob (but we did get to go to So Cal once in a while to visit the Isom relatives there and go to Disneyland).

Anyhoo, Randy and I visited here this past week-end and "had" a marvelous time. I don't know why I put "" on the word "had" but it is an interesting word to me. It is the simple past tense of have which means to possess, own or hold for use which leads us to believe it is very fleeting so because whenever it is used, something or someone is gone or force is being used....(I'm making this way too complicated) but my point being we were able to do all these things despite the difficulities encountered by this little family just trying to take a simple trip to Salt Lake and all the "hads" made for an interesting and very memorable experience so though the trip itself is gone I still "have" the memories and I especially love that my hair is in curlers (Top right. MOM, are you kidding me!!!!!) As usual, the mom took the pic (upper right) so she couldn't be in it and this gorgeous couple (bottom right) the one and only farmer and his wife (Hal and Leila) visiting the big city. Now to the reason I "had" to go to Salt Lake (makes it sound like I didn't want too, and I didn't at first (just seemed too far away or I'm getting old) but a certain sweet daughter helped me realize I was needed and whether I was or not, I needed to go.....to Traci's Baby Shower...hosted so graciously by cousins and Lauri. 

They put on a great party and we learned a lot about the females in our family and the lessons we can learn from them. Highlight of the party for sure, Meika's diaper cake. She hires out just in case you are interested and she does put together a mighty fine diaper cake....lots of fun, food and laughter and one can never get enough cousin time. This was a combination Birthday Party and Baby Shower as Traci turns 30 today and is having a baby girl....(in exactly 12 days) and it's Em's birthday too.....

I wasn't going to do birthday posts this year but these two chicks have a pretty important day today. Emily turns 12 and is going into Young Women's and Traci is 30 going into "middle age"....ouch, maybe that was too harsh but I think she looks pretty much like a teeny bopper with 4 little boys tagging her around. I'm sure people think she's the nanny when she's at Costco with all of them and I'm sure they'd still ask her for ID if she tried to buy some liquer...and I did mean to spell it that way so you would read it like "lic...yur""......Happy Birthday to the both of you. O.K....back to business.

Randy was so kind to travel (I don't think he likes it much) to be with me for a long week-end. We enjoyed some fun stuff. We took the "Funicular" to a hilltop hotel called St. Regis at Deer Valley. We just asked someone on the street if we could ride the chair lift and they guided us to this "freebie" and you know we just "had" (say it sarcastically here) to do it and it was beautiful.

I could do this, you know but I guess I'm just not supposed to but I can look in once in a while at those that live this way and they probably don't think it's all that cool.....but I do and it's fun to pretend once in a while. I guess that's why they say there are the "haves" and the "have nots" but I like to consider myself on the heavy side of "have" and count my blessings not my money.... (Wasn't that just poetic")...and one of my favorite blessings just happens to be my kiddos....which I get to see a lot of these days (if not in person, ya gotta love that FaceTime).

I got there in time for "snack time" with Lucy and Molly, a quick visit to the Staheli's and a beautiful day for trampoline tricks then breakfast with Molly.....she's eating like a kitty in case you couldn't tell and Lucy's cute hair do.....just missing the "bangs to heaven". I'm sure Lauri and Traci are marred for life with curling iron stories so their girls will never have to feel the heat and have that trauma (sorry, girls).

We enjoyed the little train ride at "This is the Place" monument and especially the tiny duplicate of our Pine Valley Chapel. It really was a cute little thing and is where I had my film debut....I was in "The Best Three Hours of the Week" (click on it to watch and see if you can find me). Now on to another adventure.....me and the boys (George, Drew and Randy)....Folsom, here we come. 

I can't be everywhere...

....and it's been difficult to figure out where I'm really supposed to be because there's so many choices but I'm here at my St. George home helping to take care of my mom and I'm most happy to be helping her (I do miss Randy) but being here has given me the opportunity to spend lots of time with my kiddos as yesterday I took Seth out for his birthday date and last Wednesday, I took a day trip to Pleasant Grove to join Lucy for her 4th birthday.

Traci and her boys came down and helped out and it was a total extreme birthday party with games, crafts, food, fun and lots and lots of pictures. It was a happy day for Lucy. So glad I chose to be there.

Any time I can spend with my kiddos totally puts a smile on my face as did this day a couple of months ago when I took my Wells kiddos extreme geocaching up to Silver Reef.

This all came about when Randy and I went here exploring earlier in the month......

...and found all these geocaches and  had such a wonderful day that I wanted to share it with my family. I knew the adults would just laugh at me if I suggested "geocaching" as a family activity so I just invited the wee ones and it was part of my Christmas present to them. We picked a date after Christmas and met at noon. Randy took the boys in his mom's SUV and I took the girls in the car and we started out at the Frostop (courtesy of Mason's freebies)......and said goodbye to James and Lauri and family there....

....then headed up the road to Silver Reef and let the kids wander around the museum for a bit then headed out on our adventure. It's sure to be a successful trip when you know where the caches are (wink, wink)....

We visited some old cemeteries and checked out the old silver mine that had been boarded up which didn't keep the kids away. They can find a way to put danger into most anything they do but discovered that it really was quite a long way down that boarded up mine shaft and appreciated the safety net....

We all enjoyed exploring the two old cemeteries, the Catholic one and the Protestant one as back in the day, the two could never be buried in the same place so there were two separate ones.

Ya can't visit a cemetery without playing "zombies" and I think you'll agree that these are some pretty cute ones. We headed to yet another cemetery, the Leeds one where we found some relatives....

While we were at the museum, the lady there told us about the old kiln just up the road but we tried to find it and missed it by just a few yards. Randy and I decided to go back up the next day to try and find it so we grabbed McKay.....(can't remember why but it sure was some fun one on one time with him).....

....and we found it.....and a fun little place to explore on the road to Oak Grove. This is where they would burn the trees to make charcoal for the silver mining. If you haven't explored this, I strongly suggest it on one of those boring afternoons when the kids have an "early out" day. I still hadn't had enough family time so I rented the Veyo Skating Rink for an afternoon.....invited everyone along and had a great time.

I certainly hope these will be some fun new traditions as I thoroughly enjoyed everything we did together during the holidays. These new fun times were added to the usual Christmas Traditions like JoEllen's Awesome Gingerbread House Party....

...always a success and much appreciated by all of us. Then there's the Christmas Eve Hike to kill time before the family gathering at my mom's.....

 Um....just for the record, I missed this but for a very good reason. Got a last minute chance for a free Colonoscopy  (best Christmas present ever)....and best 2 hour nap anyone could ask for.

It was good to capture a little taste of the fun for the record books. Christmas Eve is always the same and same is good in life. There's very few things we can count on being there every year but this is truly one of them and will surely be missed as we all move on.....

On Christmas afternoon we used to have a Home run Derby but find that Kick Ball let's us all participate; however this year the weather did not cooperate so we went to Mason's Church Rec Hall and played a little Hall Ball (no pics but it was fun for those who were able to come). We also slipped in an evening of Candy Bar Bingo.....

Normally we keep this an adult activity and we discovered exactly why. Some of our little ones could not handle the concept of the game (taking candy bars from each other as you score a bingo) and we had a few tears and a near knock down drag out between McKay and Matty. We'll have to up the age limit next year or find a kid version. It made for good memories though. It was a jam-packed December and a very quiet New Year's Eve for us then we headed back to Folsom and got in a bit of Winter kayaking down by the prison......

The ducks were really glad to see us. Very friendly that day. The bottom right picture is a guy showing off his catch of the day....ya, we were jealous. We must remember to put in our fishing poles next time. One last shot of Kolob from last Fall.....such a perfect picture. So many more but I must end and consider myself caught up. I'm sure I'll come across more and add them later but for now, I must sign off and pledge to stay caught up 'cause it's dang hard when ya get 3 months behind.

Before I go though, I've got to mention that we said goodbye to Randy's mom Josephine. She passed away peacefully on February 13 and she was honored in the Pine Valley Chapel and laid to rest in the Pine Valley Cemetery, reunited with her forever companion, Spence. A chapter closes in the Reber Family. She was a good woman and I am so glad I got to know her and Spence in this life and that they were successful in helping me re-unite with Randy. After a quick over-nighter to one of our favorite spots....

...we headed down to Bakersfield and had the privilege of transporting Jo's body back to St. George. I'm so grateful for the testimony I have of Eternal Life and know that we were only transporting her earthly body and that her spirit was not there. However, we had a calm, peaceful trip and felt her with us.

These past months have been all about "family" and it reminds me of one of my favorite songs entitled "Family" by Zach Gill and Jack Johnson.

She was feeling the ol' yuletide-burn
Cause her family was wearing on her nerves
She was tired of fighting and feeling frustrated
Finding it hard to relate to those of whom she was related
You know we all sometimes, say things we don't mean
But that don't mean that we're not still family

Generation to generation it gets passed on
And then one day, those who would passing well they passed on
Pulling back the covers, her heart will start to shudder when she realizes how deep it all went
Trying to forgive what was said, but was never really meant

Well you know we all sometimes, say things we don't mean.
But that don't mean we're not still family.
Pull out of the shadows and find out that eventually
It's all bad, it's all good baby can't you see
That we all, well we all, well we all are still family

I was there from the moment that you were born
And I've loved you since I heard your first cries
And I know we won't always be getting along
But I promise you that I will always try
You know we all sometimes, say things we don't mean
But that don't mean that we're not still family

You know we all sometimes, say things we don't mean
But that don't mean that we're not still family
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Just so ya know.....I sure do love my family.

Just wondering....

.....does anybody blog any more? I decided to check some of the blogs I like to look at and out of all of them, Lauri is up to date....as is Penny but me.....well, I'm over 3 months behind now and give no excuses because there are none that equal the reality of why I haven't blogged but I'm back now and I do have a reason for that. I was just hanging out in my den thinking to myself, "why have I stopped blogging?"....then I looked up.......

........and there were my 5 wonderful blogging books which is the only history I have of the last 8 years of my life and I realized I'm letting my life slip away because I have said and still believe that...."if you don't write about it, it's as if it never happened" and there has been too much happen in the last 3 months that I don't want to forget so stay tuned. This will have to come in increments. It is my goal to be caught up by the week-end. Stay tuned.......