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.
*****************************
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
********************************************************************************************
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.......

Remembering.....

He would have been 65 today....

Traci wrote this a while ago and I hope she doesn't mind me using it today to pay tribute to this great man and the fond memories we all have of him.

"My Dad would have been 59 this month. I think about dad a lot but it's always really random the things that will strike a memory. There's the obvious things like when I watched the new Indiana Jones or Batman I think, "this is a movie my dad would have enjoyed". Especially when Pirates of the Caribbean came out, I knew that he would have loved that trilogy. I'll think about him when I drink a Pina Colada at La Cai and know that if he were sitting across the table he'd a been disgusted. I think about him every time I try to correct my posture. I remember him putting his hands on my shoulders and literally rolling them back. It was never something that bothered me, on the contrary, I appreciated him doing it and I know he just did it because he could see Grandma's genes in the way my shoulders rolled forward and he didn't want me to end up with a hump. When I'm at the Grocery store and I see pesto sauce I always remember that the pesto recipe was the only one of dad's experiments with cooking that we ever threw out. To this day I am racking my brain trying to remember where we ended up eating out after the pesto was sufficiently disposed of. When I'm driving at night, and the kids are sleeping and Russ is trying to stay awake but ends up falling asleep, I think about driving with dad up to Pine Valley and how much he enjoyed the silence. Anytime I ever wash my hands with the orange Dial liquid soap I think of Dad's office and I start smelling that Cherry air freshener that was supposedly suppose to cover up the animal smell. Then I remember gagging at the smell of the kennels after missing one night cleaning them out. When Scott asks me what I'm doin, and I say, "oh just puttering" I remember that no matter what dad was working on he  he always called it puttering. Some of the things I do, I do them just so I can remember like how I taught Scotty that when he squeezes my hand three times it means, "I love you". I remember going on walks with Dad hand in hand and he would do that and if I didn't squeeze back he'd say, "gotcha". Whenever I'm in Disneyland or even if I just hear rain forest sounds I think of the tiki hut and dad chillin' on the log bench waiting to go in and take a break from the heat. I remember the little dance that dad would do when he got excited about something. There's a picture of him in the middle of doing that dance, the one where he's wearing his new fly fishing gear and vest all ready and rearing to go try it out. When I leave the lamp on by the lazy boy at night I remember walking in the house after playing night games or after staying out late with friends, usually the only light on was the hanging lamp above dad's chair where he was reading the latest John Grisham, or Tom Clancy novel, and in the later years the Classics, and most of the time it was the Book of Mormon. When I visit Mom and It's late and the only light on is the fire blowing on a cold night I remember Dad laying on the couch listening to the last of the Mohican's sound track or Camoruh's hill CD. And then I start wishing that I would have turned on the Armageddon sound track that had the song "leavin on a jet plane" and started massaging his feet more often than I did. He would stop whatever it was that he was reading, lay the book over his chest and recline back with a huge sigh of relief whenever we would start rubbing his feet. Sometimes when I bring out the first aid kit for Scott or Russ I remember changing dad's bandages when he had the hole in his belly. I would pretend that I was a nurse and I enjoyed doing that for him or to him I should say. There are times that memories aren't so pleasant like the ones that watching a show that takes place in hospital with people in agony can sometimes spark. Dad really did suffer a lot in his life and that brings me back to the fact that even though he was a man that knew true pain he didn't let it become who he was. I always think of dad during a lesson in church about not worrying and trusting in the Lord. I remember one day when I was young I asked dad, "is there anything that I need to worry about?" He snapped at me and it really took me by suprise when he almost shouted, "don't ever look for things to worry about, there is never a need to worry when you're doing what you should do". Having the genes that I do, worry is one of those things that has been difficult to overcome but Dad is a great example of overcoming it.
There is so much more that I wish I could say because there is so much that I have forgotten. I'm grateful for old home movies so that I can remember the things like the sound of his voice, they way he sat in a chair, or played with his kids, the way he'd start up the snowmobile, or walk to the car. So much that we take for granted but I'm also grateful that I need not worry cause if I do the things that I know I should then I will get to see him again and it will be as if he'd never left. I love you dad and Happy Birthday! "

I'm afraid this is painfully true....

Things will not always go the way you planned, but you don't 
have to let that stop you. Remind yourself that you can 
adapt, adjust, and continue doing what's important to you.

Often, the interruption itself is not what throws you off 
track. Your anger and disappointment may end up disrupting 
you longer than whatever interrupted you in the first place.

Go ahead and accept the fact that interruptions will come 
along and plans will have to be altered. Then, just make the 
adjustments and get on with life.

Some of those unplanned occurrences might actually turn out 
to contain pleasant surprises. Make the choice to live 
life's value where you find it.

Instead of seeing the interruption as an excuse, see it as 
an opportunity. Let it strengthen your resolve and provide 
you with a reason to focus even more intently on making the 
progress you have chosen to make.

Life is filled with unplanned interruptions, and getting 
upset about them won't do you a bit of good. Instead, let 
them come, let them go, and enjoy the richness of a 
positive, purposeful life no matter what.

Ralph Marston

..and sometimes we don't want to blog about the "ugly" but for the record, I must. Last Sunday found me in a HUGE INTERRUPTION....the emergency room in Folsom in excruciating pain. Too bad I read up on the wrong things and people at church were sure I had kidney stones or appendecitis....so 4 hours later and $3000.00 worth of tests, they sent me home on pain meds and said that nothing was wrong. I drugged myself up for a couple of days and was supposed to head home on an early morning flight to help with Kyle's kids while they went to Vancouver but just before leaving for the airport, I started to throw-up so I figured something was really wrong. Got dressed, went to a doctor and showed her a spot I had discovered recently on my back and she said...."that's shingles".  Oh, my....the most dreaded of dread diseases. What to do. Getting so upset and agitated just made it worse. I've been upset for a week now and it's not doing me any good...if anything, it's sending me into a fit of depression and drug overdoses (not on purpose) and putting my system totally out of whack. I've been plugging along, doing the best I can and pretending to not be sick but my insides are churning constantly and my emotions are wild....I feel like I'm going crazy but I think now that I can blog about it, I'm on the mend. I finally boarded a plane on Friday to be home where I could get some help. Spencer got me in....

...and the shingles are on the mend but the drug withdrawal is a buggar. The upside to being home and not being too disabled is all the stuff I got to see and do. I got on the anti-viral meds real soon after diagnosed so hoped I wasn't contagious but I did get to enjoy the mid-night run associated with Dixie's Homecoming....always a fun family activity. Kyle started it a few years back and we all look forward to participation. Hopefully next year I'll be more than the picture taker (I say that every year) but I'm determined to get my health back in this 65th year of mine coming up.

Pre-run activities. My family likes to show up way early and use the big college field for some fun and games.

Sporting the green tees this year.  (Middle: Yet another Seth photo bomb and a good one from The Troy)

My action shots didn't turn out well but loved the bottom left with Miller running in with his dad. He claims he ran the whole 5K but I'm betting he had a bit of shoulder action from his dad. He was a proud finisher though and before the race started he proudly proclaimed....."I was made for this race".

You know you are in Small Town, U.S.A. when there's an occasional parade. George, Emily and Evan walked with the swim team while we all took our places on the sidelines gathering the yearly Halloween Stash of candy.

I've got these a bit out of order but Tailgating is always a favorite activity. The Alumni Association throws a great party before the football games....free food, fun and games and the kids love it.

I got to take in a couple of the last flag football games....Jack and Seth played on adjacent fields. Laynee ran State Cross Country; I didn't get to go and watch but was proud of her 7th place finish along with being voted (by her many fans) as "Athlete of the Week". I don't have a picture but hope to find one for the record book. Traci and her boys were able to be there to cheer her on.

Spencer and Shana were able to stop by and visit Lauri and the kids...always fun to see family....

Traci and Lauri enjoyed a little excursion with their youngest at the zoo...It's a good thing they could all sit in the wagon. 

So glad they have each other up in the north country. Cutest kids ever......

Emily and Maycee finally got to go to Thriller....ugghhhh and scary but they look pretty happy. I'm just not a real fan of "scary". This is Kyle's birthday tradition and I didn't pay much respect for him on his birthday so I'll throw this in 'cause I'm dang proud of him.....this was in the Alumni Magazine. His new title is "Dean".

Halloween is tomorrow and our family tradition has always been to carve pumpkins the Monday before Halloween. Snapped a pic of these from Kyle's house.....there are others that I will post as I can find them.

I'm so glad to see these traditions that we enjoyed so much carried on into the families of my children. Also, a preview of Halloween costumes. Caught Matty's pre-school parade and Traci and Lauri sent me these. Traci's Rock Star theme is truly rockin' it this year.....

Here's Matty (top left) and Jake and Max ready for the school parade. Just in is Lucy and Molly....

....ready for the pre-school show. Love Molly's poofy slip....reminds me of the good ol' days and the dress-up box. Well, I think that's about it. I had taken down my blog....never to do it again, definitely the drugs speaking. I'm on the mend and today I don't really care if the Russians look at my blog so I'm up and going again. I start a new year tomorrow. Hope to get to feeling better....this past experience has taught me a lot about my mental health. I will be guarding it ever so vigilantly from now on as well as my physical well-being and would admonish anyone reading this to do the same. I hope the kiddies have a safe and fun Halloween. This would be a great place for a TBT photo but hey, I'm doing good to get this blog up and running for the history books so I'll save that for another day. For today, I'm embracing the interruption....and trying to get on with life.