Here's my son, Adam. Or you might know him as Colter. I love this original song by Coconut, his band. I love the video but don't know who did that.

Music Video for Techno by Coconut from The Heap on Vimeo.

I went on a trip....

Sometimes you've just got to get away. Even if your best friend (husband), other best friend (Connie), or any of your numerous kids won't go with you! Okay, here's what happened. Josh and Cammy came down with the kids for Josh's brother's wedding and Josh had to get home for work so he flew back, leaving Cammy and kids to visit for a week. I had the bright idea of caravanning with her back home, stopping to visit folks along the way. I guess I thought that either Dennie would somehow nix my trip or find a way to go with me, but I was wrong. I had to drive back all by myself. I had to do all the driving when I'm use to Dennie doing all the driving! (His choice)

Cammy and I had a wonderful time on the way to her house. First stop: Colter's House

The kids loved the long staircase as you can see. We were only there a couple of hours, long enough to find a parking place (Umm, that is not an easy task in San Francisco...) meet neighbor, Betty, and water his little garden on the patio below. Then we (Colter too) were off to Larry's house in Ukiah. He was already there. Heaven's, the road was steep, narrow and winding. (Signs along the way: "Where the heck are we?" "Wimpy car parking" meaning park here and walk the rest of the way! Cam and I both had 4 wheel drive so no problem.) But it was beautiful!!! Rolling hills with oak, manzanita and madrone. We hiked around his 40 acres (well, a little of it) and sat on his deck with the grapes hanging overhead while the kids chased lizards and ate ice cream sandwiches (left over from a wedding that was held at Larry's the week before). We spent the night there and woke up to Colter's "portrait pancakes". See Cammy's!

Then we headed on to Cady and Mikey's house in Chico. We definately took the wrong route, not a 'shortcut', but it was pretty. We wound around on the windiest road I've ever been on. Thought we were in the "Twilight Zone" there for a while and were going to spend the eternities winding around.

Got to Cady and Mikey's and the kids had fun playing Monopoly with Mikey on thier oval coffee table. Later Cally set up a "Homie" parade with lots of Mary's (Mother of Jesus), Joseph and a couple of different Popes. She was quite pleased with herself!

Okay, so the blog refuses to add pictures now so i guess I'll add some later. In fact I think I'll quit for now and go watch a few more "24"s with Grandad.

Family Jam

A little lesson for Ollie from Grandad

Sometimes, not often enough, we get together for a family jam session. Keyboard, guitar, accordian, trumpet, drums, tamburine, cowbell, etc. Actually Cady took a short video and I'll try to put that on here. It's sweet! (Hope that word retains its meaning long enough that my greatgrandkids know what I mean when they read this. If they read this.)

"The great thing, if one can, is to stop regarding all the unpleasant things as interruptions of one's 'own', or 'real' life. The truth is of course that what one calls the interruptions are precisely one's real life - the life God is sending one day by day: what one calls one's 'real life' is a phantom of one's own imagination."
- by C. S. Lewis - from a letter to Arthur Greeves, 20 December 1941 -

Kids, kids, kids..... and now silence.

Isaac and Sheldon Smith, oldest and youngest.

Gram and Grandad with the Smith kids.

Cally

Cally and Ammon on the tire swing.

Cousins learning to knit. Emily and Jaycee.

Saint Patrick's Day. I need to merge these two. But I don't know how!

The TeePee.

The Da Vinci Experience at Balboa Park's Aerospace Museum. This is a bridge that you put together from a bunch of sticks, copying the one in the background. Wasn't easy but they did it!!

The Skinners at the Maritime Museum in San Diego.

Yes, that's a fried Oreo. Daniel's specialty!!!!!!!!!

Emily, planting lettuce. She's a good little gardener!

Gopher hunting!

Cammy and her kids just left this afternoon. I think we're going to be really lonely! Sadie needs "doggie Prozac" or something. She is so funny. We noticed it first when Amy kept her when we went to Provo last time. When we got home I expected to be greeted by this crazy happy dog. She was happy to see us, but not overly. But then we took her home and she went into this depression! Yes, she sulked and skulked around for approximately three days and then she seemed to be alright. Well, we've noticed it since then, when Leah left with her kids and then a little when Ivy left, although the Smiths were already here so not so much. Yesterday Cam took the kid to the beach and Sadie moped around the whole time. Wouldn't eat. She didn't even want to play ball and those of you who know her know that's REALLY something. When they got home she was soooo happy to see them and later went in and started crunching away on her food. So I'm expecting a depressed dog for a while. I'll have to take her over to the Krause's once in a while for her therapy.

So we've had "guests" since the weekend after Christmas, except for right after Leah left, until Ivy got here, a little less than a week later. (Technically, we've had Brian here, a friend of Josh Smith's, since May, I think it was. He got a job in Clairmont and stayed here while trying to sell his house in Montana. He finally, around October, rented it and he and his family are now renting on the west end of Ramona. So our "empty nest" hasn't been empty much, yet.) Ethan will be home the last part of April and then Cady and Mikey will be here a week in mid-May. I must say, we've really enjoyed the kids.

Some highlights.... and I've already written about Leah's visit.... and Disneyland with the Skinners. Other highlights are Daniel getting a job (yeah!), the Maritime Museum and the Da Vinci Experience and the museums at Balboa Park with the Skinner kids. With the Smiths we went to Balboa Park and had a couple of family get-togethers, the first with the Skinners, Shelbos, Krauses and Miles Family (Brian's family). That's 18 kids!!! And a few others, one last Tuesday where the kids built a TeePee in the field with sticks from the tree trimmings pile, with a little corregated tin from the dog kennel roof (which blew off the kennel in the last wind storm).

And many thanks to the Skinners for all the yardwork, garden work, gopher hunting and house cleaning they did during the two months they were here. And Emily for planting the lettuce! (It's growing good. Not big enough to eat yet.) Weeding at the rental house out front with the whole Skinner family was SWEET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, I sure do miss them.

The Happiest Place on Earth (one of them....)

Disneyland is pretty happy, alright. Especially when you have five grandkids in tow. And Uncle Howard to pay their way!

The day was perfect; uncrowded, un-hot, un-cold, just perfect.

I, Grammy, even managed to keep up with everyone the whole day, except for the last hour or so when I chilled (literally) on a parkbench on Main Street and waited for everyone.

Popcorn, Rain and Scriptures

When Skinners, Krauses, Shelbos, (Doug) Skinners get together.....

Owen helps his mom clean the bathroom!

Happy Birthday, Daniel!!!

I smell popcorn popping. It's raining and I can hear it outside this window next to me. It's cozy inside and all the kids are busy. Ivy's gone to the airport to pick up Daniel. He went to Chicago for an interview today. I know they aren't excited about living in Chicago but we discussed the fact that this isn't exactly the best time to be looking for employment and one probably ought to take what one can get. Sure hope the one in Utah pans out before they have to move that far away.

We are enjoying family life with the Skinners. Even though I have good intentions of helping with the homeschooling, seems like I always have something else to do, like cleaning the kitchen or vaccuming. Ivy does a good job, though. Daniel is good to help too, especially with math.

Every night without fail we read the scriptures. I love that. Not even me and Dennie are that disciplined. We each take turns, even the two youngest, with help, and it has a wonderfully calming effect on all of us, right before bedtime. I love it when the Krause kids come over and they all run amock (sp?) through the house. And sometimes Daniel's brother, Doug, and family come over with their four kids and we can only hope that they don't knock the house off it's foundation :)