From the comfort of our recliners....

 For the past couple of years we have spent time watching Paxton and Ben play hockey.  Pax dropped out to play soccer but Ben has kept at it and is now playing JV and Varsity.  I really need to speak to the coach about his playing time though.  His coach is of the mind that the kids need a fair amount of playing time to which I do not agree.  Ben plays offense and isn't where the camera is but he scores in almost every game.  He is quick to get where he needs to be and fast to score.  The last game we only saw him three times - and he scored twice.

The second score his coach told him to do this corn cob celebration when he scored.  It was like that was the thought foremost on his mind  because I don't think he spent a full three minutes on the field before he was off.  But we did get to enjoy the celebration.

 

 

Antelope Island 31 Mar 2025

 Well, it is definitely time to dust off the old camper van and get on the road a few times this year.  I have been through many emotions over the past 5 years:  Totally loving my van, to tripping with an RA eye, to the disappointment of having to come home early than planned and seeing the van in the back yard, with heavy depression that I couldn't go for a ride across the country.  I even hid it behind the wedding trailer so the pain wouldn't be so hard.  Dean brought it right back out even when I explained that I really needed it to not be seen.

Time has passed, we are not any closer to taking the coveted trips than I was late 2020, but now I'm a little more numb to it.

I posted on the chat that I needed a vacation and Mike was the only one that jumped at the wonderful opportunity of planning a holiday and taking me along for the ride.  The ride turned out to be a bike ride and we had planned a trip to Bate's Crystal Caves but the thought of crawling through tight spots didn't sit too well with me, so I over rode it and we planned Antelope Island. Dean's balance is not great and I knew he couldn't do the cave, but he opted not to go at all anyway.

I got off early with barely a good bye, Dean was having a recovery morning and not waking up.  I wasn't going to hesitate.  I had told myself I would be on the road at the latest by 9.  I was up and packed by 7, so I left Koko to care for Dean, and hit the road - just in the passenger van, but loaded with two e-bikes.

I had to go to Mikes because I was worried about the bike Ben would be using and not sure mine was in working condition either.  All tires were flat.  

Mike  power washed both bikes, cleaned off the rust on Ben's chain and both our sprockets and took my chain completely off.  I just don't think he believed me that it was perfectly safe off the sprocket and safety pined to the bottom of the seat.  Actually, I was glad he took it off.  I had been thinking of cutting it for over two years, and he made it so we could reuse it if I ever get my bike fixed.

I have wanted to go to Antelope Island for a couple of years and Mike was insistent that it had to be early in the season to avoid the 'no see 'ums".  We couldn't have timed it more perfectly.  At our first stop to see the bison there were flying bugs all over the windshield and I was very worried but they weren't the biting ones.  We never had any trouble.

We saw bison, deer, antelope, rabbits, foxes, and birds on our drive around the island.  Ben and I needed a detour so the other car stopped and we made our way to the outhouses.  By the time we got back the family was off on a nearby ride and Mike helped us unload our bikes, get on helmets and we were off.

It started out sandy and perfect but the rocks started getting much more prevalent.  I finally got to where I was going to do as Bria and Zub had done and turn around.  Without a chain my thumb was the only way to get the bike to go, but even without a chain, by peddling it piked up speed and was too fast for our trail.  Trying to find a perfect balance I hit a rock and was afraid I as going down.  However, I was able to control everything except my mouth and Ben heard my unlikable "S" word.  He couldn't stop laughing.  I should have felt worse for ruining his image of me, but it won't be the last time that word escapes my lips.  It jumps out at every possible scary moment.

I learned to swear when I was in 5th grade, and sadly I still remember two.  I only learned three so I haven't totally cut it in half but I'm pretty faithful now days to just the one.

Anyway, I spent another 30 minutes on the roads and that is much more my style.  I forgot how much it hurts my wrists to always be on the throttle so on the road I can go into second gear and just peddle and go as fast as I want.  The battery looked like it was dying on the hills so I headed back.  

It was a fun day with the kids and Mike and Zub but I had to head to Candice's for my first official baby-sitting Hayden days.  When we were just loading up I got a text from her saying that J was not going into work until Wednesday, so I went back to Mikes to hang with Bria.

Well, guess what day it was when I woke up?  April Fools Day.  I hid 20 of Bria's ducks around the house, made Ben's bed upside down and on Saran Wrap decorated Amy and Bria's soccer balls.  The final trick was the Sofie and Pax trick of writing "Don't be mean"  "Quit flushing me" on the toilet paper.  It was well received.  

Then I helped Bria give Ben a heart attack.  She was so excited.  Ben and Bria then replaced the TP in their parents bathroom with duct tape.  All in all, a very successful day.  I had to be out of their by 10:30 so they could pack to go play with the Riding's for a few days.

I went to Walmart to hang out until evening.  I just went to the back bench and took a short nap.  It was a bit cold but was able to cover myself with stuff just enough to stay warm.  I had taken out the bedding to get washed and only the new pink hairy throw was there until I found a sheet set.  I immediately ordered two twin comforters for the van.

I meant to clean the van but ended up watching the people going in and out of Walmart for a few hours.  Payson is boring but Tooele is not.  They had some mighty interesting people going and coming there.  Of course there were plenty whom I ignored as they were too normal to focus on but they had the pajama people, weird clothing and hair people and then one costume person dressed something like a dinosaur.  By 5 I headed over to Candice's to settle in, warm up, and get my instructions.

I needed to be upstairs by 8:30 but at the very latest 10 when J leaves.  No problem.  Hayden and I had a great day and I never did clean the van out.  I couldn't see moving both bikes in and out just to clean.  It could wait and it did.

And yes, Ben pulled a face in every single photo we took.  LOL

 

Still home

Mom really wants to stay in her home, but she needs more help than she realizes.  We tried three times to get her into an assisted living place, but she just pretends and then backs out.  I ask her outright if she was manipulating me.  She said yes she was.  I don't really care whether she goes somewhere or if someone goes in but she admitted to knowing how she was treating me.  I kind of blew a gasket.

A few months ago she told me what was wrong with me for three hours.  It took her that long to get to my weight.  I stood up, told her it was time to go, hugged her and left.  All of my stuff was gathered up so I just scooped it up on the way out the door and didn't look back.  Well, I did look back as she was standing in the walkway wondering what the heck happened.

I have tried talking to her, and in the same breathe she hits me again will all of my faults.  I know that we are well past making progress, so I just left.  I've never done that before.  Had to call a couple of my kids and tell them how tough I was.  They, of course, were proud of their Mom.

I told Mom a few weeks later, that now that I know she is manipulating me that she only gets one warning, and then I leave.  I also told her I would not have anything to do with getting her a place to stay if she needed one and Mady and Kelly were worn out as well.

Mady found someone to come into her home and help her and it has really helped a lot.  I was watching the camera about every hour to make sure she was okay, and now I'm down to just checking on it if I haven't heard from her for a while.

I told my doctor I was in bad shape with the adrenal failure rearing its ugly head again.  He told me I had to get rid of some stress.  I explained the only stress I had left was my Mom and my husband.  Which one do I get rid of?

Starting Rehab

 

Rehab stage has started.  This means I went through two complete phases already including the first phase where they break up the scar tissue in my knees, give me injections, do red light therapy as well as the shock-wave therapy.  

I am feeling really pretty good with my knees.  They never hurt, although the flexibility still leaves some to be desired.  He doesn't want me doing typical rehab and said he would let me work from home on the app.  However, after a week it was cut of, which is probably fair since I didn't pay for the third series.

I bought everything that he had me working on so I could do it from home.  It cost me one, maybe two trips of gas, so it was a bargain and I'm on my own.

Dinner in a Pumpkin, almost from the Grave

 Someone in the ward had a baby and so we decided to put together one of our favorite recipes from when we were raising our kids, Dinner in a Pumpkin.

We grabbed a couple of the smallest pumpkins from the harvest and ended up having to double the double batch to actually fill both of them.

We kept one and took the other to the family with two littles.  I hope they enjoyed it. They seemed excited when they received it, but we never heard back.  It's not your typical kids meal, but we were hopeful.

Come and Get It!

 

Hello Fresh never fails.  They always have a great recipe and Little Miss and I put together one of their kits for supper.  It turned out really delicious.

Of course, she is more of a pasta girl so if there wasn't enough for five it was okay.  We could just whip up a batch of Alfredo noodles for her.

I love that I get to spend time with the littles.

Donny Osmond in Concert

Good thing Kathy is a party animal or it would never have happened.  I liked Donny as well as the next person, but I like Marie's music better.  I forgot that until we got there.

He puts on a great show, and we enjoyed ourselves.  We stayed overnight and then headed home.  We ate locally a couple of times in a couple of different restaurants.  We didn't see any reason to move the car.  LOL 

We had a fun sister trip.  We need to do it again.

 

Chicken Farmers

 

We have raised few hens this year and then the hens hatched out two or three batches on their own.  The first 2, the second 3 and the third was 9.  Imagine our over excitement when Mama came out with these nine.

Well we pawned of a few chickens and a few roosters but we still had these remaining chicks.  Julie Lovell said she would come get them but they never did.  Before they came we discovered we had 9 roosters.  

After 6 months we had Justin Losee pick them up and give them to the Peruvian neighbors. 

We lost a few hens at the same time so we are now just getting 3 eggs a day.

Learning some basic stitches ...

I really thought big sis was going to be my little seamstress but she didn't have the patience it took for our little learning project.

Little sis on the other hand, stuck right with it, even when I added two more rows.  She wanted to do it, and she saw when it wasn't right.  She learned quickly even if it took two tries.  Her stitches were absolutely perfect.  She will be mending her own stuffed animals before long. 

One proud girl of a job well done.

 

L

 

Starting Neck Therapy

I've been going for a little while but today is my first traction treatment.  I've always "hung" myself from a pully in the sunken room with a rope and a neck brace or, for comfort, a sports bra.  The traction makes a lot of difference.  However, he said I was doing it wrong.  I need to be more about the chin lifting while in traction.  Then my way will work fine.

 

July 24th Celebration and the Hunt Reunion

 

Sterling Turtle Races

 

If you aren't in Delta for the 4th of July, then you want to be in Sterling.

Curt has been putting forth great effort to get close to the family, and went the extra mile getting Izzy flowers for both of the performances we were there for.  It was nice spending the day with extended family.

The kids have talked about how fun the turtle races are and we have to agree.  It was pretty awesome. 

I'm guessing we went home and had Navajo Tacos for lunch because some traditions travel.

Sterling's Gypsie Rose

 What a fabulous production from a small little town.  Izzy did so very well.  I stayed and watched the whole thing the first night, but skipped it the second viewing.  She was truly a star.

Happy Mother's Day, Happy Father's Day

 Candice and J brought us gifts and we sat down and opened them.  

I started by opening a necklace with photos in it.  It was kind of a weird picture of them, as they had something on their lap but it was so small I couldn't tell what it was.

When Grandpa opened his, it took him a moment to figure out and then we both let out screams of joy.  J thought we were weird, but we are so excited to add another little to the family.  

I Need a Little Lucy

One of the best parts of going to see Bria is that she brings out her mending for me every time I go to visit.  I love to be used.  I love to be needed.

One my last trip there, she saw that I had made a few things for Sofie and Pax and asked me if I could please make her a little Lucy.  We looked at patterns and this is the one she decided upon.  I didn't order the pattern because it wasn't just right, but used it as an example.  

I was very pleased with the way it turned out, and so was Bria. She loves her Lucy

 

Talent Show at School - the start of something big

 

Izzy asked the teacher if she could do a solo at the school talent show.  They allowed her to do it, and there were a couple of local scouts in the audience that immediately came up to her wanting her to be a part of the community theater this summer.  She just ate that up.  She has a great little voice.

Jr. Prom

 

I gathered a bunch of dresses from Madelyn to adapt for her Jr. Prom and other dress up dances.  I ended up with about six that we adjusted to be a little more modest.

Doesn't she look gorgeous in her dress.  This one was a duplicate so she can actually keep that one. 

This littles are not so little any more.

Watching the Grands Succeed

I got to join the family and watch a little spring sports and then go to watch the school choir concert.  

How fun it is to be welcomed into their home and their lives and get to see the kids as they successfully navigate their young lives.  

It is pretty rewarding to watch your adult children parent.  They are doing such a great job.  This little family, I spend the most time with, because I am always invited and welcomed, and they are also close enough it's a day's trip.  

I must confess my life is not what I wanted or hoped for, but this part is exactly perfect.  Thank you for including me in your activity and lives.

 

Ben at Box Elder Lacross

We get to spend a couple times each week watching Ben, #90, play Lacross.  That is the only thing good that came from Covid 19.  Our trips have dwindled in the van, but I'm still hopeful.  Until then, we watch from the big screen.
 

Miss Tacy almost didn't make it

 

Kelly came home to find a home health nurse at the door saying Tacy wasn't answering.  They found her on the floor, passed out from lack of nutrition.  He grabbed a rolling stool from the garage and quickly rolled her to the car and then got her to the hospital.

She was pretty hit and miss for a long time.  The worst was when she would come to and think she was in the hospital because she had relapsed again on drugs, when she was being perfect.  Becky made sure, and I think even hung a note on the wall, saying "You didn't do anything wrong!"  

We found great hope after a while, but they didn't fix her completely.  They switched things up and she was able to get some nutrition finally but she is still struggling.  However, sometime along the path, she came back to the Church and seems so much happier and a delight to be around.  We still pray for healing.