Life

The house has been really quiet around here.  It's been just Scruffy and me for the past several days.  I've been doing chores around the house, studying for my licensing exam and working a little bit.  I start full time at my job in September.  I'll have every Friday off which will be really nice. I did have my Godson's, Iain and Elias, over last night and we had loads of fun. 

Iain liked the sidewalk chalk, but said it smelled like fireworks.

Elias preferred the sprinkler and kept trying to get "Grandma Mary" wet.

They both liked the bubbles but preferred to use them as light sabers so I got out the real light sabers.

And guess who got to play with them??  Usually it is Uncle Mike but since he's not here I was the lucky one!  :)  I had my arms and legs cut off and stabbed in my tummy, but I had a lot of lives, according to Elias.  Later we watched a Star Wars movie and I got to play with Star Wars action figures.  I had to have the bad guys, not sure why.  I asked Elias if his other grandma's played Star Wars and he said they didn't know how!  I had to laugh because I didn't know how either, but he was happy to tell me how!

While I was busy with that Iain found some markers that a friend had given me and decided to color the Etch-a-Sketch and the couch.  Luckily they were washable markers and it all came off.  I must've looked mad when I first saw it because Iain kept saying "I so sorry, I so sorry."  God made little children cute for moments like this. :)

We had popcorn and bananas and yellow watermelon and then just before their parents got here they got some fruit roll ups.  Needless to say Mom and Dad weren't excited when they saw that, considering it was bed time!  Oh well, that's what grandma's are for!

Good news and bad news

We got some good news the other day.  My sister-in-law, Tammy, doesn't have brain cancer like we thought she did.  The bad news is that she has MS.  But at least we know that MS is treatable.  Tammy's doctor seems like he will serve her well, and he has an MS specialist joining his practice next week.  We all hope she gets some relief from her symptoms soon.

Mike and Harley are in SD visiting some of Mike's old AMMO buddies and their wives.  I am sure they are having a great time.

Chelsea had her last day at Old Navy on Thursday.  She has worked there for over a year so it was a little hard for her to leave.  She has put in a transfer request to work in the Old Navy in Logan when she goes to college.  It's not a bad job and she actually likes folding t-shirts. I actually liked doing that also when I worked there several years ago.

She is getting ready to head back to Montana to volunteer as a jr. counselor at Flathead Lutheran Bible Camp.  Then next week we all head up to Montana for a week at Glacier National Park.

I am so looking forward to getting up there and doing some hiking.  Not sure anyone else in the family is as excited about that!

Jake put off completing his financial aid and housing applications so long that he most likely won't be living in the dorms this fall.  And he may only end up with a Pell Grant and student loans for college.  I've only been bugging him for about 8 months!  So now he is going to need to look for a place to live in Salt Lake.  And he's putting that off as well.  School starts for him on August 23rd so he needs to get busy.  And, no, living here with us is not an option.  At this point he is really using our house as a place to sleep and eat breakfast.  Other than that we don't see him and he has chosen not to go on vacation with us.  He doesn't do the very few chores he should be doing either.  So it is time for him to move on and really live on his own.  I've done all I can to help him become independent so he should be okay.  Besides, he does have a mother, father and grandparents to help out as well.

I am going to bake some banana bread today for Chelsea to take with her on her bus ride tomorrow. We always seem to have leftover bananas so I've just been throwing them in the freezer if they get too ripe.  Time to use them up!

Bryce Canyon

We went to Bryce Canyon with some friends and had a great time.  We got there Friday and just set up camp and relaxed.  On Saturday our friends, Bob, Carol and Jessica ran the Bryce Canyon Half Marathon. Bob won first place in his age group.  While they were running we went for a short walk at the south end of the park.  It was an easy 30 minute walk that gave us some nice views.

Here we are standing a little close to the edge~  Chelsea, Mike, me, Harley, Micah and Marcia.

Harley and Chelsea enjoying the view.

Later we went for ice cream and decided the girls needed a little discipline so we locked them up.  It's not too tough being in jail when you have good ice cream to eat!

Later Chelsea and I went for a hike into the canyon with Bob, Carol and Jessica.  Yes, the same people who ran 13.1 miles in the morning were up for a hike in the late afternoon.  Mike and Harley were exhausted from the 1 mile walk so they stayed in the camp.  They really missed out on some amazing scenery.  It was about a 3 mile hike and was relatively easy.

Here we are, taking a short break.  Carol, Bob, Chelsea, me and Jessica.

The girls spent the evening enjoying the giant marshmallows and making smores.

And this is Mike's idea of a good time, sitting by the fire,drinking Crown Royal, and spending time with friends.  Sadly I didn't have any red wine so I had to resort to drinking beer.  I was tired so went to bed early. According to the girls I missed out on a good party!  But I sure felt better than some of the other adults the next morning!

We went on the park bus tour on Sunday morning and then broke camp and headed home.  About half way home I noticed Marcia's trailer brake lights weren't working anymore.  Her wire bundle which hooks up the lights and brakes to her truck wasn't secured and so it dragged on the ground, which resulted in the wires becoming severed.  In the end we made it home with no incidents, although we were some very tired and in Mike and Chelsea's case, smelly people.  Harley and I took a shower in Marcia's trailer but Mike and Chelsea waited until we got home.

Now I am working on making plans for our trip to Glacier the first week of August.  I have been there before but no one else has.  We are staying at a really nice cabin at a KOA so won't be camping.  I am hoping we will do a lot of hiking but Harley doesn't like to hike so we'll see.  I am definitely going to Iceburg Lake which is a 4.1 mile hike (each way) but did pick out several easy, much shorter hikes to do as well.  And our KOA has a pool and hot tub so there will be plenty of relaxing also.

My sister, Karin, and niece, Samantha, will be joining us and so will Bob and Carol.  Karin and Sam will stay in our cabin with us and Bob and Carol will be staying in the park in their trailer.  It should be a fun trip.

Visit from the in-laws

We had a really nice visit with the in-laws this past week.  This photo includes Mike, his cousin Mini, Harley, Uncle Bob and Aunt Laura.  They traveled from PA and have been all over. They are headed home now.   They are such good people and we all really enjoyed our visit.

Yesterday Scruffy was having a hard time walking on his left rear leg.  Mike took him to the vet and they think he might have arthritis. He got a prescription for puppy ibuprofen and is doing really well today.  I have to go in to get a crown this afternoon and then we are planning to head out tomorrow to go to Bryce Canyon for some camping and hiking.  We are going with friends, Bob and Carol, Marcia,Micah and Jessica. It should be a blast!  It will be about 10 degrees cooler there than it will be here.  Temps are supposed to get up to 99 degrees over the weekend. That I could live without!

This morning I am going to take the dog for a walk then head to Kohls to use a gift card Mike got me a while back.  My new job is a little more casual than my internships so I need some khaki pants and new tops to wear.  I am not much for clothes shopping so it's not that exciting for me!

I am back

My dad asked me to start blogging again and since I am finally done with Grad school I guess I should be able to find the time.  Mike's aunt, uncle and cousin are here visiting and we are having a great time.  Harley is also here for the summer.  This weekend we are going camping with Marcia, Jessica, Bob and Carol.  We are heading to Bryce Canyon for a long weekend.  Can't wait to do some hiking.  I have started a new job at the Ogden Homeless Veteran's Fellowship.  It's not what I initially thought I would be doing but it is a very flexible position and the pay is competitive.  There are a lot of health issues going on with family and friends and so I want something that will give me an opportunity to work, get my LCSW license and still spend as much time with my family as possible.  This job will allow all of that.


I am not making any promises but will try to update this blog at least once a week!  See you soon!