The drive, the kids, and everything else!

Luke, Samantha and I headed to Idaho early Saturday morning.  It was nice to be able to switch off with the driving.  We made good time - stopping quickly about every 3 hours.  I do have to say though, the 2 lane traffic in opposite directions, headed to Twin Falls, is not my favorite!  But Idaho is beautiful.

It was so fun to see our little Pineda family again, and to meet our little Talia!  She is so cute!  One thing I hope to always remember is how Isla and Addy drew pictures of the 3 of us and made a big welcome sign in the bedroom where we were sleeping. and Bear told me several times "I Love You".

After a yummy BBQ dinner we hurried out to "Reed's Dairy" for ice cream.  This is some premium stuff, on a dairy farm, and was very crowded.  We've been a couple of times before but I had never gotten anything because dairy products were bothering my stomach.  but for some reason that has not been as much of an issue anymore so I got me a huckleberry shake.  It was delicious!  We also bought some of their incredibly yummy chocolate milk to go and a tub of vanilla ice cream to go with the cherry pie Julia had made.

On Sunday we went to church and I got to hold the baby while Julia gave her Sunday School lesson.  Then Samantha and I headed to Rexburg to take graduation photos, as I mentioned in an earlier blog post.

Monday was Samantha and I back in Rexburg for a celebratory lunch at one of her favorite spots.  I loved the huckleberry lemonade, and then chose a refill of cactus pear lemonade.  It was great.  I also enjoyed the scones and the best burger I've ever had.  Samantha then met up with friends while I visited my Mom's sister, thanking her and her daughter Debra for taking such good care of all of my college kids when they've been there.

Monday afternoon we visited Rocio and family, and I delivered some root beer to them, compliments of Grandma Chandler.  She loves sharing with the family of how root beer is a part of our history; of how she and her sisters worked at their dad's root beer stand during WW11 and how she and my soldier dad met there.  Wonderfully enough the kids had remembered that story, as years ago she had made for them a family history book so they would know about our side of the family.  It was so sweet that Cali ran and got that book out to show us the picture.

Tuesday morning we headed back home in 2 vehicles, taking turns driving and each having 2 kids in the back seat.  Those kids are excellent Road Trippers, and Samantha kept them pretty entertained with games and music. I wish we could have stopped several times for me to take pictures of the beautiful scenery through Idaho and Nevada.  Someday.

It was short, but a great trip!

 

Just call me TED

 In my self-deprecating humor, and trying to laugh through my troubles, I told my family to just call me TED from now on.  As a Kenny Chesney song says:  "Everybody's got their share of battles scars".  My current battle scars have come in the form of Thyroid Eye Disease. 

My eyes started bothering me in February.  It took a couple of visits for the doctors for to realize it wasn't just allergies.  The tell-tail sign of Thyroid Eye Disease is swollen eyes, or as the doctor's say, when the eye balls start to push out.  I have to credit Reggie and Mariah for noticing and urging me to keep contacting the doctors.

In May I drove to Hillary's house, a couple of hours away, and had a bit of a hard time.  My eyes were achey and dry and teary all at the same time.  But I made it safe and sound.  I was worried that this would get worse, but I'm happy to say it has gotten a lot better since then, and I was even able to drive hours and hours to Idaho and back.

The specialist I recently saw said that a lot of people start to get better after about 6 months of over-the-counter eye drops, ointment, and vitamins.  Hopefully that is what is happening to me.  If not, the next steps could be steroids, IVs, radiation, and surgery.  Sometimes the thought seems overwhelming.  But I am hopeful.  And since it is not life threatening, I will do what I need to do and be just fine.  Like the song says "everybody has their share of battle scars".  

ps - I do wonder if people who know me can tell that my eyes are looking different and starting to push out.  Oh well, if I end up looking like Dobby from Harry Potter I will just say I am perfecting my Halloween costume!

Road Trip to Idaho - graduation pictures!

A year ago Samantha enjoyed her "virtual" college graduation ceremony. But I knew I would not feel complete until we went back to her beautiful BYU Idaho campus to take graduation pictures in her cap and gown. So one last time - great job Samantha! and ps. It was her dream and my dream for her to move away to college and experience roomates, independence, and campus, life. It worked out so well that I forgot the goal was an education that would lead to a career. So when she came home and went out and got herself a great job in her field I was surprised and so proud of her. Life is great!

It's a Buttermilk Day!

 When I think about last year at this time, and how we mentally survived the pandemic, one thing was to celebrate everything and think of fun names to attach to everyday life - everyday life that looked different than the normal we were used to.  One of my strategies was to bake, and try new recipes.  It was so fun!

Though life is opening up again and getting back to our old normal in a lot of (but not every) ways, we still have challenges.  I am holding on to some of the strategies from last year.  One of Reggie's favorite things is buttermilk pancakes, and I rarely make breakfast for him or anyone, so I decided I was going to make buttermilk pancakes and have them ready for everyone when they get home from church (we are taking turns staying home with Grandma on Sundays).  Then I decided to make what I remember as the best syrup ever - buttermilk carmel.  I am going to put on an episode of "A Chef's Life" where they feature buttermilk, and I am thinking about the children's book "Charlotte's Web" - where they give Wilbur a buttermilk bath to get him all clean and shiny for the county fair.  Julia and her kids are here with us this week and Charlotte's Web might be a really fun movie to watch together.

I guess a Buttermilk Day and mental health go hand in hand sometimes.  Life is good.

The Family Table

 A dining room table can be so important for meal times.  On the other hand it takes up a lot of room, and for years we've been putting ours down to it's smallest size to create more floor room - for walking, chairs for visiting and movie watching and floor puzzles - but most importantly, floor room for toys.  Now that some of the grandchildren are getting older, however, the dining room table is at it's regular size for their most important interests - coloring, art projects, smaller puzzles, games, legos and playdough.  

When Avonlea was living with us Playdough was one of her favorite things to do and Ross' parents bought her a huge box - 24 colors I think.  Now that they have her own place I invested in playdough for the house, along with fresh new coloring books and special art paper.  

Not all of our family fits in the house right now so those who live away have been taking turns visiting.  I made sure I got enough supplies to last all visits.  But we are especially looking forward to a week coming up where we will all be together for a vacation, with my sister Marianne coming to stay with my Mom.

Anyway - the family table - for meal time, and beyond!