Layover

I was checking everyone's blogs while I am waiting 3 hours for a plane and realized everyone is updating theirs as well as I am. :( So hard to find the time and energy, especially when you are writing on a couple other blogs.

I printed off my past postings in a little book though and figure it is as good (almost ) as writing a journal so figure I need to keep plugging away. Right now, I am in the Medford airport waiting to fly out to Mesa. I worked today till 1:00, left the house at 2:00 and drove 3 1/2 hours here to (supposedly) fly out at 8:45. The plane is delayed 3 hours. Poor Julie, my sister, gets to pick me up at 2:00 in the morning. We have a wedding to attend in the Mesa temple at 10:00 tomorrow. I ought to look lovely, so rested. Oh well. On Saturday Julie and I and our dad head to Palm Springs for a week of sun, relaxation, swimming, and more sun. I am really looking forward to doing almost nothing!

This summer was almost Trinity-less. Can you believe it? I spent a week on a houseboat up there with family and a night last week on friend's houseboat and that was it. I had used up my vacation days with trip to Europe/Italy, 2 weeks in Hawaii, a week in Cancun area and the houseboat week. I think it was worth it but next year I plan to be back at the lake. When I was up there this weekend, I realized how much I missed it. This summer was also filled with seeing all of our grandchildren except Isobel and Oliver who I saw in the spring. I never see any of our twelve gorgeous grandchildren enough. My heart hurts to see them more. I can't wait until Lee retires and we can move closer to some of them so I can get my fix easier.

Okay, I did it. Back to the blogging world. Come on, you can do it too!!

P.S. No this is not the Medford airport. Think small, but bigger than Mack Town. The pic is the Paris airport!

Spring Fling

kids look cute, I look fat!!

Pompeii

Positano

View from our hotel room

Capri

Isle of Capri

Capri

Capri

Sorrento

Sorrento

Sorrento

Well I've been up for 21 straight hours now. I flew from London today and have 5 hours to wait in SFO. Unfortunately, I didn't sleep more than 15 minutes on my London flight.

I had a great time with Linds and family in London. I flew there Mar 30, got there Mar 31 and struggled with jet lag the first couple of days. Nothing like walking around in a fog! We just played it low key the first couple of days. Love that Isobel and Oliver. Talk about cute kids! Isobel always tells me like it is and won't go overboard for grandma but I caught her grabbing my hand and leaning into me quite a few times. I also got several pictures that she made with I love you's on them. I think bringing a present a day for her to open helped. Oliver is so cute to watch romp around and just brightens your day!

On the 3rd day Alan graciously watched the kids for 4 days and Lindsey and I headed to Sorrento, Italy and the Amalfi Coast. Gorgeous, gorgeous area of the world. We landed in Naples and pulled our suitcases from street to street in search of Pizzeria de Matteo known for great pizza. It was worth the jaunt-delicioso!! Naples, on the other hand, is just a dirty, big city.

After our pizza we caught the train to Sorrento. The night before we left we had read in Rick Steeve's book that the trains have a lot of pick pocketers and were kind of nervous. We worried for nothing-it was all fine. We got to Naples and what a gorgeous city it is!! So clean, right on the coast and we loved it! We had gotten our hotel from Trip Advisor reviews and weren't that thrilled with it. $150+ a night for very clean, amazing views but not very nice. Think Motel 6. The reviews also talked about Gianni and his family and they loved him. We were anxious to meet this Italian who would make us feel like family. What we got was a very frazzled owner who constantly looked harried and never even introduced himself. Mind you, this hotel is in top 10 of all hotels in Sorrento. We did get met at the station by the cutest Italian shuttle bus driver ever! Lindsey and I loved "Guido" (our name for him)! He was always smiling, always going out of his way for everyone!! We went to dinner in Sorrento the first night at a Rick Steeve's recommended place and hit the bed early.

The next morning we headed to the island of Capri which was very beautiful-reminded me of what Greece must look like. It is kind of a tourist trap so we didn't stay all day. When we returned to Sorrento we went to the #1 recommended restaurant for dinner: Taverna Allegra. We had an amazing mill and were glad we followed the reviews. Would have gone there again but it was closed the next night. Had gelato after dinner. Ymmm! In fact, I think I had gelato after every lunch and dinner!!

Monday we went to Positano about 30 minutes away on the public bus. Fortunately, we sat on the opposite sides of the bus of the steep cliffs. It was an interesting ride with some of it not wide enough for 2 vehicles. Positano is probably the most gorgeous town I've ever seen! The houses are terraced and it's right on the sea and it is just beautiful. We did a tour with an Australian girl named Christine who married an Italian from Positano after meeting him when she was traveling Europe. Great tour, fun girl and great lunch at place she recommended. Returned to Sorrento, shopped, had dinner and went to bed.

On the last day we stopped at Pompeii on our way to the airport. What an amazing tour that was! The weather the entire time was great. Only problem we had was on the train to Pompeii I gave a gypsy beggar a euro. We only had about 25 pounds cash but I wasn't concerned because I planned to use a credit card at the site. They only take cash. We thought we'd be fine though because we thought we'd have enough if we saved 5 euros for the train back to Naples. We tipped the baggage girl all but those 5 euros and went to get our tickets. The cost was $5.60 euros! Great! No ATM at the station, nearest one in town 2 miles away. We ended up taking a taxi in that cost 15 euros. If we had only not been generous to the gypsy and baggage girl we would have been fine. Our good deeds cost us an extra $22!! Oh well. It was a great trip!!

Back at Lindsey's for 4 more days. We went to several parks, the London Zoo and saw Legally Blonde the musical (It was so, so good-go if you get a chance!) I loved getting the chance to spend that much time with Lindsey-I miss not seeing her as much as I would if she lived in the USA but it's a great excuse for traveling and I do enjoy that!

Colorado Visit

I just returned from my latest jaunt to Colorado. Kelly, Kasey and I had been thinking that my visits there always feel so fractured because I have to split them up between Colorado Springs and Fort Collins. We decided to try something different this time. The plan was for me to spend most of my time with one family (Kelly's this time) and see the other family for an afternoon and then switch it next time. I was really concerned it would be horrible to not see the other family much but it actually turned out great. Of course, the afternoon with Kasey's family was actually an afternoon, night and morning-that helped a lot!! It was really nice to get to spend some quality time with Kelly and family though

Highlights:

1. Seeing Kelly and Jody's new home site. Awesome location, views and great house plan! I am really excited for them.

2. Being treated like a rock star-Kelly's kids all fight over who gets to sleep with me and make me feel so loved!

3. Ammon telling me: "You're my 2nd best friend-girl in the whole world". So cute!

4. Just hanging with Kellbell.

5. Getting to see Ammon and Cohen play basketball-they are both so good and it was so fun to cheer them on.

6. Taking Ammon and Cohen to the Justin Beiber movie. Cohen and I loved it. Ammon not so much but he was totally acting like Justin, singing and playing his guitar after the movie.

7. Watching Ammon and Cohen play basketball.

8. Going to Kasey's and watching the cousins have fun together!

9. Seeing Ethan play basketball over and over again at the jumpy house. My camera died after pics of him so that is why there are not other pictures of the Henry gang.

11. Being with my girls. Well two of them.

12. Seeing 8 of my 12 grandchildren. They are all beautiful, smart and talented.

I can't wait till we retire to Colorado some day!!

Playa del Carmen, Cozumel and Cancun

Just got back from an amazing trip!! We had so much fun and loved, loved, loved the beaches and blue, blue colors of the Caribbean.

I headed there on Friday by myself because Lee had church obligations for two more days. I met our good friends Toni and Howard at the Cancun airport and then we went to our resort the Gran Mayan Riviera. It was a great resort! Unbelievable landscaping-green, lush and complete with flamingos, tons of great pools and great food. We were total slugs in the cooking department and got a little food for breakfasts but pretty much ate out the rest of the time. While there we hung out at the fabulous pools, the guys played golf twice and we got massages and we played cards each night. By the way, Toni and I ended up the big champs overall in Hand and Foot (great card game)! We were cold one night and put our resort robes on over our clothes one night and won. The next night, Lee and Howard stole the robes and won. It went back and forth till the final defeat by Honorable Pam and Honorable Toni!! Fun times.

One day we went into Playa del Carmen and took the ferry to Cozumel where we rented the Silver Bullet (our beat up VW beetle) and toured the island and ate some delicious food.

Another day we went on an LDS tour to Chichen Itza (Mayan ruins), swam in a cenote and went and ate at a Mexican buffet. It was a really hot day but so interesting and fun.

After seven days we headed to Cancun for another two nights, 3 days and it was amazingly beautiful!! I couldn't believe how gorgeous the white sand and blue ocean was. We got upgraded to a Master Suite and the view from our room was completely breathtaking! I hope I got a good picture of it because it was amazing. I could look at that view forever. The city was very Americanized, like Vegas, but the hotel we stayed at Fiesta Americana Coral Reef and the beach made it unforgettable. It was an amazingly fun, beautiful trip. I would totally return. The only problem today is that I keep almost saying hola to everyone I see!

Holiday Recap

I was feeling perfectly horrible about not posting about my wonderful holiday time till I went to steal Christmas photos from Kasey, Kelly and Alex and found they had not posted yet either. I actually bought a new, easy camera this year, took pictures and then accidentally deleted them before they made it to the computer. I am a horrible photographer on all accounts. The only ones I had are the ones that were in my internal memory. Not much.

However, the holidays were fabulous. Family, food, and fun-who could ask for more.
Lee and I started by driving to Sacramento on Dec. 21st after work. We stopped at In and Out for burgers (ymmm!) on our way down. Staying at a hotel in Sacramento meant we didn't have to get up at dark thirty to drive down. A nice way to start.

We headed to Kelly's first and spent some time there doing last minute preparations for Christmas and visiting the Air Force Academy. Alex and Mitch came there too and we spent two nights there. Kasey, Matt and family arrived for Christmas Eve and we had a scrumptious feast of Prime Rib, double stuffed potatoes, green beans, yummy salad and bread and delicious dessert. The grandkids did a beautiful job of presenting the Nativity thanks to their fabulous director, Mr. Jody! We had a fun white elephant gift exchange and the grandkids exchanged presents.

The highlight of my night were our gifts from Cohen and Ammon. They had worked for Kelly every morning to earn money to spend at the school store and were soooo excited to give us their gifts. Ammon wanted to give them to us when we got there on the 22nd. He got Lee a trophy that said: Grandpa of the Year. So cute. He handed me a box and told me to unwrap it and then give it back to him. I did and then he opened the ring box to present it to me. It was so adorable!! It is that fancy "diamond" ring. He was so excited-it was too precious.

Cohen had a gift too for me. Of course he had played with it up until he gave it to me. It is the Reindeer pen. So funny, so Cohen! People probably laugh when they see me writing with it still or wearing my ring!!

We then drove to Kasey's and Matt's beautiful, spacious home. To say that our Christmas the next day was generous would be an understatement. Many thanks to all for the wonderful gifts. It was especially fun to be with the Henry's and see them open their gifts! We had a fabulous turkey dinner complete with all the trimmings. Matt is the ultimate host and there were movies to watch and airplanes to fly. We had a fabulous time.

Sunday we went to church, ate leftovers and took naps.

The next day we went after- Christmas shopping (the girls) and then out to another great Mexican restaurant. The boys had gone shooting guns and race car driving (Matt knows how to entertain his male guests!)

I had to leave the next to go to Arizona for my niece Kelsey's wedding but we changed Lee's ticket so he could stay a couple of extra days with the Henry clan.

I then spent 6 days in Arizona helping my sister Julie with wedding preparations. It is always fun to spend time with her and the Woods' hotel is the best! Kelsey married a wonderful young man and she looked so beautiful! I enjoyed seeing and spending time with my dad and Anne, my brother's and their families too. I ate at some of my favorite places like Costa Vida, Joe's BBQ and Rosa's. Lots of Mexican food was eaten by me in both Colorado and Arizona!

I had a blast in both states with all of my family-just wish I could have stayed longer with both. Not enough hugs and kisses from the grandkids, not enough daughter time and not enough sister/family time.

Why?

1. Why do we dread posting when it's been a while? I just can't do the catch up thing that so many do so brilliantly so I will pass on it and start anew.

2. Why do I feel a need/obsession at Christmas time to make every single treat I can think of? And then eat them. No wonder the 5 lb. weight gain. I took treats into work one day and the next day and someone said that it was like the 12 days of Christmas so I thought, why not? It is actually the 10 days cuz I started late. Am I crazy???? Certifiably so.
Here was the line up.
1. Christmas crack
2. Peppermint bark (cheated and bought Ghiradelli's-divine)
3. Poppycock chex mix
4. Pretzels with hugs and m and m's
5. Lindsey's and my favorite chocolate chip/butterscotch/peanut butter bars mixed with chow mein noodles, peanuts and mini marshmallows
6. Kisses, hugs and truffles (another easy day-went to Lee's work party night before)
7. Orange/craisin scones
8. Pistachio/craisin cookies
1 pkg Betty Crocker cookie mix
1/4 c. flour
1/2 c. melted butter
2 eggs
1 pkg instant pistachio pudding
mix together
Add 1 c. chopped pistachio nuts
1 c. craisins
Cook 350 for 8-10 minutes
made these tonight-really good!!
9. Danish Puff Pastry
10. Homemad caramels-ymmm!

3. Why do I always have a Christmas meltdown? Mine ocurred this year on Friday night. I had worked all week and we decided to have people over to watch the BYU game (yea Mitch for becoming BYU's all time point scorer during that game!!) I made clam chowder, pecan tarts, some craisin/almond cookies (more on that later), and spinach dip and then cleaned my house. After the tarts were done I opened my microwave to see the melted butter for the tarts in there. When I made the cookies, they just didn't seem right. Not sure what I did to them. Went to make lemon bars but was out of eggs. I went to bed about 11:00 in near tears from exhaustion and frustration. Got up the next morning to make lemon bars and used the 2/3 cup measurement instead of 1/2 c. and had to remake the crust. I may have done that to the cookies earlier.
We ended up having a great time-I made veggies and dip Sat. morning, lemon bars, cooked chicken wings, warmed up sour dough bread and we had fun eating and watching the game!

Well, I did it! Posted again so am back on the wagon! Hope all you women out there who do so much to make Christmas magical are surviving the season and finding magical moments for yourselves!

Books

I love to read. The book I have seen more people read than any other book lately is The Girl Wth the Dragon Tatto. So I read it. Possibly the most disturbing book I've ever read. If you like graffic tales of sexual abuse, read on. I tried to bypass those sections but the one section I did read ruined the otherwise good book. The main girl in it is the product of abuse and I didn't like anything about her. She is in all the other books in this series. I won't be reading them. Have you ever finished a book and then wondered why you did? Thousands of readers can be wrong.

On the other hand, Cutting for Stone, is the story of love, betrayal, forgiveness and is fabulous! I loved it and hated to see it end. I highly recommend it!! Another recent good read was the Other Side of the Bridge.

For all moms!

Snowbird

We had a great time in Snowbird with our daughters, 3 son in laws and 10 grandchildren. Yes, we were crowded. Yes, we didn't get a lot of sleep. Yes, it was noisy. Yes, it was messy. And yes, we looked like a bunch of refugees crammed into one condo! But it was fabulous and I loved getting to see so many of my favorite people that I love so much. As usual, I have few pictures, just the ones I've copied from my daughter's sites. I really have to get a good, simple point and shoot camera-any suggestions?

My highlights:

Eating at all my favorite places-Cafe Rio, PF Chang's, Costa Vida, Kneader's, Cheesecake Factory, Noodles and Company, Krispy Kremes and BYU bookstore for fudge and mint brownies (my absolutely favorite treats!!) I probably gained 5 pounds and my appetite for sweets has increased. Got to get it in check soon.

Tons of hugs and kisses from the most adorable grandchildren ever. I had to beg to get them from Izzy-she loves to play hard to get!

Lunch and pedicures just with the girls-wish Kasey had been there but she had to leave early!

BYU football game-love those Cougars, especially the cute kicker!!

Fabulous fall weather-we swam the first day and had snow flurries the last day at Snowbird. The tree's and foilage were incredible.

Conference-it was great to see all those Mormons in one place!

BYU Homecoming Parade-loved all the cute students having so much good, clean fun.

Getting to see Dane and Gay's family-thanks for hosting our crew for dinner!

Going back to 8th grade and watching Mrs. Payne in action. She is a fabulous teacher - a great combination of control over her students and likability. I was so proud of her!

I am so blessed to have such a beautiful, fun, loving family and it was great to be "almost" all together! We missed Chris, his kids and Matt.

CASA

In the spirit of giving, you can give here -http://www.firstgiving.com/pamiorg2. Every amount, large or small helps the life of an abused or neglected child. Do it for the happy, loved children you know!

IF IT WASN'T FOR BAD LUCK, I'D HAVE NO LUCK AT ALL

Here was yesterday:
1. My car quit running AGAIN in Eureka
2. I locked myself out of my house when I went to take something over to the Jones' and had to have a locksmith come let me in
3. I got a terrible head cold and couldn't get to sleep till 2:00 in the morning, slept till 11:00 today, called in sick to work, had to cancel my hair appt. for this afternoon and now can't get in till Wednesday and my hair is HORRIBLE!

Every want to run away from your life??

Thoughts on this summer:
1. It was horrible!
2. We had mainly grey, cold days.
3. Kelly and family moved away.
4. My car broke down on me 3 times. It was in the shop for 2 months and still doesn't work. (thank goodness Mick has loaned me a car most of the summer!)
5. Mice all summer long in my trailer.
6. Next year HAS to be better!

Can you tell I'm having a pity party?

Fright Night II

I had the craziest night last night. My good friend Toni met me at the lake for our annual weekend there. We went to the lake and got on the boat only to discover I had the left the key in McKinleyville. We spent the next two days on the boat on the dock. Exciting. I have a thing with keys lately (old age type of thing)-I couldn't find the key to the car I had as a loaner the night before and looked for about 2 hours till I finally found it in an envelope in my purse. We left the boat (hooked to the dock) the first day, drove to the trailer and I couldn't find my key to the trailer. I looked everywhere and finally had to drive back to Cedar Stock and found it on the boat.

The night got better though. After dinner we went to Trinity Alps for ice cream. When I opened up the door, I saw a flash of color go across the floor. Oh no, was it another mouse? I was nervous but thought it was just my imagination. We started watching The Duchess and I suddenly noticed Toni was looking to the right of me and I KNEW what she saw? I asked her if she saw a mouse and she nodded yes. It had been on the lower bunk and jumped down and into the bathroom. Freak out!! Somehow we continued to watch the movie but it was interrupted with it coming out and then running back. There was no way I could sleep there so Toni decided to "catch" it with a bowl. (I wanted her to kill it with a broom but she is way too much of an animal lover). It really was hilarious watching her try and capture it. Finally it ran behind the toilet and under the carpet so she put heavy things all around the toilet base and we thought we had it trapped. I thought I'd never get to sleep but Toni had an ambien with her so we split it. I laid down on the table bed and she was on the sofa bed. I fell asleep for a second and heard a noise that sounded like it came from the top of the stove. I sat up in bed and noticed Toni and we agreed it was the mouse. I decided to move to the top bunk. Soon after settling there we heard noise in the bathroom where we had put d-con. Now I was really freaking and said I couldn't sleep in there and we had to move to the tent. As a side note, in the morning two full boxes of d-con were empty!

We moved to the tent in our slightly ambien sedated states. I was just falling asleep when I heard Toni saying, "Do you hear that?" It was growling coming from outside the tent and behind where we were sleeping. We froze. We heard it walk by the tent and I saw through an open window something larger than a dog walk by. It then snarled. It was completely freaky sounding, something I have never heard before. We were frozen for about 15 minutes and went over our options but were too afraid to leave the tent. We didn't hear anything else and finally went to sleep. When I told Lee about it, he said it was probably a mountain lion. We listened on the internet today to the sounds they make and it sounded so much like one that we both got chills.

Well, we thought we could stay there tonight. What are the chances it would come back? We armed the tent with marshmallow cookers (they are sharp), a broom, a fire extinguisher and barricaded the entrances with chairs and a collapsible fence so we could hear anything coming in. (I know, they don't really use entrances and marshmallow cookers aren't really weapons!) We were going to take out car clickers in and press the panic button if we heard anything. Just before it got dark, we walked around the campground and realized that we were one of only 4 campers in the campground and no one was close to us. I called Alex and told her about our story and suddenly everything didn't seem so funny and we didn't seem so brave. We tested out sleeping in our cars and finally got smart and got in our cars and drove to Redding, one hour away where Toni lives and I will now safely sleep.
You can go here to hear the sounds we heard that night outside of our tent!http://www.soundboard.com/sb/Cougar_Puma_Sounds.aspx

Here's hoping the mouse capers will be a thing of the past with a new trailer next year. I would hate to give up my fun at the lake because of those pesky, annoying, fearsome little creatures!

Roadtrip

Wednesday, after work, Kelly, her kids and I left McKinleyville about 4:00 pm and started our trip to get them to their new home in Colorado Springs. We went to Winnemucca the first night, arriving at 1:30 in the morning. We got to our room and about 30 minutes after arriving, after Kelly had nursed Tate, she suddenly got extremely flushed in the face and felt like she was going to faint. Soon after she had major gastrointestinal issues. I won't go in to major detail except to say I couldn't go to sleep until I knew she was okay. The last time I looked at the clock it was 3:30 and I thought, "We have GOT to get some sleep!" Our wake up call, Tate, came at 5:30 when he would not go back to sleep and woke up the other kids. We figured we might as well get back on the road so at 7:00 we were back on the road. I had to drive because Kelly still felt horrible and so I had to drive. I decided to try a 5 hour energy aid and it worked! I drove till about 3:00 and felt fine. We stopped in SLC and met Alex for a quick lunch at Cafe Rio and arrived at Kasey's in Fort Collins about 9:00. Today we headed to Colorado Springs and so traveled another 6 hours total. It should have just been 2 each way but we got stuck in rush hour Denver traffic at 4:30. I love Colorado though-blue skies and sunshine as far as you can see and not too hot. Both Fort Collins and Colorado Springs are amazing. Fort Collins is such a cute college town and Kasey's place is amazing. Colorado Springs surprised me how green it was with lots of trees and mountains.

The last three weeks have been horrible for me knowing that Kelly and family were moving and that that meant I had no grandchildren I could get in a car and just drive to. This of course means I see granchildren less. The last week I have cried every time I think about it. I am thrilled for them though. It will be a great move for them and I know they will love Colorado Springs and being close to Kasey. I am grateful they moved close to Kasey's family and not to another completely different place. The grandkids are having a blast together. I think Kasey and Matt's house has taken over being like Disneyland for Ammon instead of our house! I'm sure Lee and I will make Colorado the place we retire to. Can we do that sooner than 6 more years???? Probably not. So it will be a long, long 6 years with me accruing plenty of miles on United and doing a lot of whining.

Fright NIght

Have you ever had something happen that woke you up at night and you were absolutely terrorized with fright? Last night it happened to me . The frightening thing was a mouse. Now I HATE mice-especially at night. They are actually kind of cute looking in the day. At the zoo. But I have an absolute phobia about one running across my body.

We have had signs of them at the trailer at the lake. Earlier this year, Jody saw one run in the trailer by cute little Tate, of all things. In the daylight. I bought a trap and we caught one and I thought that was it. Then we saw a dead one in the bathroom. Oh no, there were more! Must have eaten the poison I had hidden. So I've been suspicious there were more.

Well last night at the trailer I was awakened to the sound of a mouse at 4 in the morning. I sat up straight in my little bed (table that makes into a bed). I turned on the light expecting to see nothing and that it was all in my imagination. Suddenly, a small flash of brown raced from my edge of the sink to the stove area. I gasped. My heart stopped and I was paralyzed with fear. What should I do? Flee? But it was dead dark outside and I didn't want to drive home in the dark two hours away. I threw some sunglasses and chapstick in it's direction that were in reach just to scare it and thought of my options again. Finally I opted to go to the top bunk at the other end of the trailer and wait until daylight. I carefully checked the bunk for mice friends, took my lap top and jumped in. I was way too scared to sleep so I played solitaire till dawn and then went into the tent to get a couple hours of sleep. I woke up at 8:00 and went in the trailer to clean up so I could head home. Nervously, I opened the door. My heart started pounding. I had to do my dishes from last night and put away food on the counter. (Hence, my mouse problem-leaving food out). I was nervous about a mouse running over my feet (talk about heebie geebies!!) so I put my shoes and socks on and because I was scared of touching one, I got out some large tongs that I used to move things around, making sure the villian was gone. I even turned on all the burners of the stove trying to burn him out since I thought he'd headed to the stove area. After getting things ready to go home and, thankfully, seeing no mice, I headed into Weaverville to get ammunition. I got a few mousetraps and some poison and headed back to the trailer. I set out 5 traps and 4 poison boxes. I looked at what I was wearing. I had camouflage shorts on. I laughed-the war was on and I was dressed for it!!

Things I learned:
1. I can't wait to get a new trailer next year.
2. Never, ever leave food out on the counter or leave the dishes to do the next morning.
3. It is amazing how totally frightened, scared to death, a phobia can make you, even if it is super tiny and this one was definitely a baby mouse.
4. Daylight makes things better and makes you braver.
5. I'll be sleeping in the tent the rest of this year and making lots of noise when I am in the trailer.
6. There is a sonic mice repeller that you can order that emits soundwaves that people can't hear but repels the mice. I've ordered two.

Night frights. I hate them.
Mice. I hate them too.

BFF's

When Alexa was in California in June we went to celebrate her July birthday early. We went to lunch-she chose Carl's Jr. and then Burger King. Yep, she ate two meals. Then we went to Claire's where she wanted some sparkly eyeshadow she had been talking about for days. She picked it out and then asked if she could get a necklace. She picked out a best friend's necklace and opened it up right away and gave me half. So sweet! We then went and got pedicures. What a fun day I had with that girl! But the story didn't end there. The next night the Jones' granddaughter Alexis spent the night with us too (along with the 8 grandchildren we had-we are a little crazy sometimes. She and Alexa came up to me and Alexa said Alexis had something she wanted to ask me. The conversation went something like this:
Alexis: I really like your necklace, Pam.
Pam: I like it too, Alexa gave it to me.
Alexa: Grandma, she wants you to give it to her.
Pam: Do you want me to give it to her?
Alexa: Well that is up to you, Grandma.
Pam:Well I really love this necklace because it says we are bff's.
Alexa: But grandma, we'll always be bff's and you don't need a necklace to know that. (the handwriting was on the wall at this point and I knew what I had to do. I handed it over to Alexis.)

P.S.

I am in Colorado right now. Kasey's house is amazing. Alexa must have noticed I grudgingly handed over the necklace because she gave me a new one this trip! I better go home quickly before she wants it back!

Grandkids

I am having a great summer with the grandkids. I love having them around and love seeing the cousins play together. In June Kasey and her kids came for 2 1/2 weeks and Chris' kids came for a couple of days so one night we had 10 out of 12 grandkids sleeping over plus one of the Jone's grandkids for a total of 11! The older boys pitched a tent on the deck and the older girls opted to sleep on the wood floor - no mattress or anything. I guess they wanted to "rough it" too. Eight of them came to the lake with us and they loved camping at the trailer and playing in at the treehouse and going on the lake. We had an adorable talent show one night and the kids performed for us. We went to the beach and cooked hot dogs. We used to do this when my kids were little so in is a little deja vu experience. After looking at these pictures, one would have to admit, I have gorgeous grandchildren!! Love them all so very, very much!