Krispy Kreme

Special

Time with Annie for a late birthday shopping day.

Fun opening

Gifts

Oldest

Daughters vegging, switching channels between the reality shows Hoarders, Women in Prison, and Fixer Uppers. I think they deserve a good night of vegging after what I put them through with the wedding.  

What has become

A fun tradition eith thr Anderson grandchildren and great grandchildren.   Laser tagging

I know

I've broken my goal of blogging every day.  But I will make up for it. I'm too busy cleaning up and having fun. Dictated to Annie by me. 

Wow

We couldn't have done it without a lot of help. I feel so grateful for everyone who helped and everyone who shared in our special day.   Feeling blessed.  Lots of pictures and feelings later.  We've had a very relaxing day at Lagoon (comparatively speaking)

The Day

It's

Never too late.

Here we are

Having Eliza

Annie

I interviewed all of the grandchildren at Christmas, and Annie was quite the interviewee.   She turned 10 years old today!

Here is the interview in its entirety (as far as I could translate it correctly).

What is your favorite thing in the world?  Play sports with friends and cousins.

Favorite place in the world?  Here, at Grandma and Grandpa's house. (I promise I didn't make her say that)

Where will you be in 10 years:  At BYU

What do you want to be?   A Mom with a husband who works so I can stay home with the kids.

How many children?  3 boys and 1 girl.  The boys will love sports and the girl will be fast.

Favorite color:  Blue/turquoise.

Favorite food:  Watermelon

Favorite candy:  Crunch

Favorite animal:  Ostrich (Made up a song and dance with Ava)

Favorite subject:  Math

Least favorite subject:  Art and Science

What love about Mom:  Good dinners and snuggles.

What love about Dad:  Wrestles, snuggles, funny, plays sports.

What love about Eliza:  Lets me sleep in her room, reads to me, helps with homework sometimes.

What love about Ashton:  Funny, wrestles, reads to me, lets me sleep in his room,says sorry when hurts me.

What love about Luci:  Plays with me, funny, helps me sometimes.

Favorite thing about church:  Primary and the song Loaves and Fishes.

Favorite season:  Summer, it's my birthday, not cold and can play more.

Who would you like to talk to who has died?  Jesus

Who would you like to talk to who is alive:  Warriors player Stephan Curry.  She would ask if he would play basketball with her and if he was good at soccer.

What will heaven be like?  Peaceful, colorful.  Everyone nice.  Maybe a little bit of evil.

Favorite movie:  Annie!

Favorite book?  Encyclopedia.  Nancy Drew.  A-Z mysteries.

Favorite time period:  Married and have children.

Favorite Brand:  Nike and Adida, Under Armour

Favorite Game:  Apples to Apples.

Favorite sports:  Soccer and Basketball

What would a perfect day look like to you?  Win all athletic contests, shop at Sports Authority, go home, watch movies with friends and family, eat candy, build a portal that will transform me anywhere I want and whenever I want to, and then I will use portal and go visit my Grandma Ashton's and then get a lot of candy, then I will go to the basketball court at Timpview and burn off all the calories that I eat, and then I will go back to Grandma's and get a bunch more candy, then get in the portal and go to Africa and then I will give all the candy to those who need it and also give normal food (a feast), then go back to Oregon in my portal and have a sleepover with my friend, Ava,  and make up another Ostrich song and go to sleep while watching Harry Potter.

The end.   Actually, I did not fall asleep all night.  Had Popcorn too.  Now it is officially the END.

(I think she said all this without taking a breath)



We love you Annie and can't wait to see you in a few days!

We're

Getting down to the wire.  Now I need to  decide which of my "grand ideas" I need to let go of. 

Now we have

Petal garlands hanging from our kitchen cupboards

After laboring

Over leveling the cupcake stand, and his  patience tested, we took a few hours and went to the movie and for ice cream in Riverwoods. I love where we live.

It looks a little

different now.  Trent found this picture on the county records.  Circa 1972.

Natalie and I

are looking through photo albums finding pictures for the slide show Tiffany is going to do.

If we didn't already know this about Natalie, the pictures would verify that Natalie has always had a flair for the dramatic.  With just about every picture she asks, "What was I doing there."  In most she has on some type of costume and has created a scene of which she is the centerpiece.  She also keeps saying that she was so weird.  Really?

I'm feeling like a

great weight has been lifted.  My brother, Gary, is doing so much better.  For a few days there I was having flashbacks of Misty's wedding, where Mom had two heart attacks in the month before her wedding and then died the night after.

That was definitely a stressful time, but also a time of tender mercies.  The fact that she was able to be at the wedding, have a wonderful time visiting with everyone, and then to go quietly in the night was pretty miraculous.

I'm feeling very blessed now, too.

Flavor

Of the day. Chocolate cream cheese.

My first

venture into fondant.  I got the recipe from a neighbor and she is going to have me over to show me how, but I wanted a trial run so I could know what questions to ask.  Like, how thick should it be?  Do you cut the cake to have flat tops and bottoms.  How do you fix cracks.    And many more.  but, for a first time it wasn't bad.   They want the top of the level of the cupcake stand to be a cake they can cut.

I'm feeling a little more

Optimistic about Gary today.   Charlene and Richard came down to visit and he was not as agitated and more aware of what was going on.  He has finally been able to sleep, and that is the best thing to help him recover.  I totally appreciated and agree with Tom's comment on yesterday's blog.  I love my family.

It's been

an emotionally grueling day.  Beside the normal wedding stress, my brother, Gary, is not doing well.  Beginning last week, he has been in and out of awareness. He went through a similar episode several years ago and came out of it.  I'm truly hoping and praying that he will do the same thing this time, and that he can be well for Natalie's wedding.  There's has always been a special relationship, as Gary is the one who flew her in and gave to us when she was 1 day old.

On Wednesday, when I talked to Lynn, she said he was not doing well.  We went to see him and, while he knew us, he was talking randomly and like he was having conversations with someone.  I was feeling very worried, but while Lynn was showing us something in the upstairs, we came down to find that he wasn't in bed.  It was a moment of panic, but he had gotten up and was taking his medicine.  He then walked us to the door and and said he was glad those dreams he was having weren't real.   I was feeling very encouraged.

But, he has not shown any improvement.   The thing he needs the most is sleep, but his body and mind won't shut down.  Cory and Leslie flew in last night, and said that he was up all night.  His eyes would open and you could tell he was aware and then he would go back into unawareness of the present and have conversations with someone.  I wonder if he is seeing people from another realm.

Because of his Parkinson's disease, his body is very rigid and does not stop moving for a minute.  It must be physically and emotionally draining for him.   When Cory reminded him that he needed to try to relax and sleep, I asked him if he would go to sleep better if I left.  He said with a touch of humor "Probably."  That is so classic Gary.   He is always worrying about the other person, and he doesn't like the idea of someone being put out because of him.   I can't understand everything he is saying, but at one point he said, "You are not trapped here you know, Annette."   He says how much he loves and appreciates his family.

He has had such a life well lived, and I know it is very hard for him to be this way.   Cory and Gary gave him a Priesthood blessing, and in it Cory asked that he can feel peace and know how much he is loved.

So, I have shed a few tears today.  I am not really a crier, and I don't remember the last time I really cried. I think today's tears are a culmination worry,, of feeling love,  loss,  sadness, and gratitude.  .




  

I got to

Spend some time with these cuties today. Im pretty sure it wasn't meant to be used like this, but who can resist  when they are so cute

The universe is

aligning.   The medicine I got for my earache is teal!

Invites

Pinwheel

Day.