Has anyone seen my wife?

I remember the day we were married and I received the blessing of knowing that there would be no "til death do you part" because we were sealed together forever. However, I wonder if that promise takes into account grandchildren. Could grandchildren be more powerful than the sealing power of the temple? You decide. Judy left May 1, 2010 for a visit to her Texas grandchildren. Why did she go? you might be wondering. The answer is very simple -- her grandsons missed her. She had a wonderful visit and returned home the following weekend to a delighted husband. However, that delight would be short lived because on Thursday of the next week she was gone again. Where to this time? To take care of her grandson in Colorado. Of course, all the Colorado grandkids benefit to some extent by grandma's visit. Not to worry, she is coming home 10 days later to her once again delighted husband. Will the happy couple make up for lost time once home? Not exactly. The same night Judy gets home, Lori and family arrive at the airport. Of course along with the family comes another cute grandson.
Oh well, I give up. I am no competition at all to our wonderful grandchildren.

"Kneezeles" --A Terrible Disease

Poor Judy! She is getting over a terrible case of "kneezeles". Yes, that is what I said. I know that most people have never heard of this dread disease. I only occurs in people who have had a total knee replacement. It is a disease with lots of pain, that never seems to go away. It requires lots of physical therapy, hard work by the patient, and yes I will say it again, an ability to cope with lots of pain. Judy had the knee replaced 10 weeks ago in "pain weeks", but only 31/2 callendar weeks ago. She has made excellent strides and is now walking without assistance for short distances. Sleepless nights are the "norm" and pain pills every 4 hours.

We were very fortunate to have Kim and Lori come and leave the kids with their wonderful husbands. That made it possible for me to keep working while they were here. Lots of people from the Mountain's Edge and Spanish Hills ward brought in food. That was a blessing. The home nurse and physical therapist are now finished coming. We had the Cannons and Parks here this past week, and that was good for Judy to get her out of the house and moving more. Of course, that comes with a price of a lot of pain this weekend. The next week she has her first doctor's post op visit. Next weekend Mary and Carl are coming to visit. Things are looking up.

I am looking forward to having a wife who can walk without pain.

When it Snows, It is a Blizzard

Our Christmas holiday started with a bang. We arrived in Dallas, Texas expecting balmy temperatures. The day before we left it was 73. The day we arrived it was a windy, 32 degrees (felt like 20 degrees) and about to rain. Oh well, it was December after all. We had a warm reception by our grandchildren and their sunny smiles warmed us considerably. Christmas with the McDowells was really a fun event. There was always something going on. Outside of Christmas Day, we went to movies, restaurants, and kids play facilities with games and food. Of course there was also just sitting around and playing games with the kids. We must have played 30 games of Yatzee. Caden and Cooper are excellent players. I'll bet they won 70% of the time. In one game with 4 of us playing, everyone got at least one Yatzee and I got two and Caden got three and the highest score I have ever seen. Little Cody was just a little walking ball of energy. Never saying anything, but he was always in the middle of everything. I could not believe how big those boys are. We had a terrific time. During our stay the temperatures ranged from 30's to the 80's. When we got home, the temperatures were back in the 30's.

The next day at work, Judy called me to say that Shawn had a stroke and was going to the hospital. I don't remember much about the next few minutes. I felt sorry for the patient I was treating when the phone call came. I can't remember anything about the visit. The next day we were flying to Denver and then on the Colorado Springs. More cold, but who cared. We didn't know what we would find when we got there. By the time I got to the hospital, Shawn was already speaking and able to walk. He had a blessing upon his arrival at the hospital. The next day was the family fast and hundreds of prayers offered on Shawn's behalf. Prayers were answered and Shawn went home on New Year's Eve. Since then the progress has been slow and steady. There are still lots of fine hand movements that he struggles with ,but he can practice and get those things back. Ann has been a rock through all of this, but it is wearing on her. Judy stayed after I left, but is coming home this weekend. Since the stroke, it was discovered that Shawn has a small hole in his heart that formed the clot that caused the stroke. The heart will be repaired by cardiac cathaterization in about 4 weeks in an outpatient procedure. In the meantime, he is on blood thinners to prevent further strokes.

This will not be a short, get better quick, deal. Shawn already thinks that he is near normal and he is not. He still needs lots of prayers on his behalf as does Ann. As a family we need to do all that we can for both of them. Phone calls, letters, prayers, and visits.

Gathering at the Cabin

This weekend all the siblings met at Mary's cabin for a get together. It was really very fun. There were still some autumn leaves left and it was very pretty. The weather was perfect, in the low to mid 60's during the day. The cabin is very nice. Running water, plumbing, heat, big screen tv, nice beds and bedrooms for everyone.

Friday was mostly a travel day, but by night we were all together. We had a great dinner of home made ravioli prepared by Joni. We had a good night of talking. Shirley made copies of many photos in Mom's scrap books and gave them to all of us. It was fun going thru the photos. Saturday started with golf for me and Judy rode the quads. After lunch, I went with Judy riding on the quads for the balance of the day. Mom was an animal on the quads. She even had a wheel leave the ground when she hit a rut going a bit too fast. She hung on to the bike, but it slowed her down a bit. We found a natural hot spring on the ride. We were both very tired. After dinner we played games and had a great time just talking. We also celebrated Shirley's birthday. Sunday was another great day, but a travel day. After a huge breakfast, we left for home. We stopped in St George to see Allen and Patti Cannon.

It was a great weekend.

Thank Goodness September is Half Over

Most people don't know the significance of my title, because who cares about September anyway? Well I do. I had to pull out a picture of my wife to remind me what she looked like. I thought it was really "cool" that she was so willing to put everything aside and go to Brad and Amber's house to help out with the new born. In my mind I am thinking a week gone at the most. ( Of course my mind is very small ) In Judy's mind it meant spending a few days at each Colorado child's house. After all, "I am not going to travel all that way and come straight home", Judy said. ( If coming staight home is one week, then what is a weekend visit? "Might as well not even go" was the answer ). I soon discovered that the first week went by pretty quick because I was busy at work, had some evening meetings, and I had the pool tile cleaning to keep me busy. But then the second weekend hit and it was getting to be a long time. I was so bored at home that I went to all the ward church meetings I could find. ( After all, I was desperate and lonely and I figured I wouldn't into trouble doing that. ) My meal choices were running out too. How many times can you eat at IN & OUT anyway. Finally Monday night came and there she was pulling her luggage out of the airport because her plane got in early and I wasn't at the baggage site to meet her. Life got a lot brighter.

Judy had lots of stories to share with me about all the Colorado grandchildren. Everyone of them are precious to her. I guess that it is only fair that I share grandma with her grandchildren. I suppose that there will be quite a few more loney weeks ahead while grandma makes sure that the "treasure fairy" visits each of her grandchildren.

Jim's fishing holiday and Judy's Texas holiday

The first week in August was a real exciting one for both of us. Grandma went to Texas to be with the McDowell boys and parents. After spending a few days with the family, Jenny and Jeremy left for Arizona. It took a few days for Cody to warm up to Grandma, but then they became "best buddies". Screaming Cooper was fun to be with once Grandma got used to the screaming. Good news-screams, Bad news-screams, no news-screams. I think that Jenny's genes are playing a roll in Cooper. Caden was Mr. perfect. Willing to help Grandma any way he could. Of course the "Treasure Fairy" would always reward the boys for good behavior and Caden mastered that idea immediately. Grandma was really tired when she got back home on Saturday night, but she sure misses the boys.

While Judy was in Texas, Jim went to Canada's Queen Charlotte Island for 3 days of fishing. Canada was selected over Alaska because of the promise of many king salmon. However, that promise was proved to be unfounded. The salmon fishing was the worst it had been all year, even though 50 miles to the North the salmon fishing was "out of this world", according to the newspaper. Oh well. That's fishing. There were still fish to be caught. I brought home one large king salmon, two coho salmon, one snapper, one halibut and a bunch of cod. The trip was very scenic. The forests were very dense and multiple shades of green trees everywhere. Eagles were plentiful. We got in the middle of a pod of Killer Whales. The ocean varied from hugh swells to perfectly flat. The temps were cool to cold on the ocean. Much of the day I was in a heavy winter coat over multiple layers. The lodge was great. Wonderful food. One night we had fresh crab that we caught-all you could eat. All in all a wonderful time was had by all.

Grandma's Camp

It is summer in Las Vegas and that can only mean on thing -(not that it is hot) it is time for the "chosen" grand kids to come and visit Grandma's Camp. This year it was Kaylee and Brianne who got to come.

Grandma made sure that they would be worn out everyday. It started in the pool of course.

The first day included hours in the water, an afternoon movie and dinner with grandpa.

Day two was the 4th of July- more pool time, movie, party in the evening with fireworks and then back home for our own personal fireworks show. That night, the girls barely got to bed and they were fast asleep.

The next day it was off to ST George, Utah . Yes there was more swimming, dinner at a restaurant with the Cannons and then off to Touachan out door theatre for Les Mis. What a great production. We got to bed at 1 am . The next day it was riding "Quads" in Pine Valley. We got back to Las Vegas about 9 pm and everyone went straight to bed. Remember what I said about being worn out every day? All 4 of us were beat.

Monday, poor Grandpa had to go to work, but everyone else slept until 10 a.m. Can you believe it? Monday started with the pool (of course), another movie and then Circus Circus at night. Those girls are real gamers. I could not believe how good they were on the circus games. They won all kinds of stuffed animals.

Tues was the last full day and they were whipped. I think grandma was too. Another day of sleeping in and then a full day in (you guessed it) the pool and one last dinner out for Brianne's birthday dinner.

What a great time we had. It was really lonely around here after they left. We loved having them here. Who will it be at Grandma's Camp next Year?