saying goodbye

How do you say goodbye to the one man who has been so pivotal in your life, who helped shape who you have become? That is my next task, to say goodbye to my dad. He passed away last night after suffering for over 20 years with such poor health it was more common than not that he was in the hospital. We used to jokingly refer to it as his "favorite hotel room" and his ambulance rides as his personal taxi service. I suppose it was our crude way of coping with my dad's continued failing health.
After valiantly surviving more than anyone should endure, he has finally earned his paradise. My mind is reeling right now, so if I tend to ramble on and on and not make much sense, I apologize. I'm also not at my own computer, I'm at the boys' computer so I don't have access to any of my pictures that I would've put on this post of my dad and me.
I found a favorite recently of my dad holding me when I was an infant. He's laying on the couch, playing airplane with me. I think I'm about 10 months old in the picture or so. I'm wearing a red sleeper and have a pony tail sticking straight up on top of my head. I love that picture.
I am so thankful for the peace the knowledge of the gospel brings to me. I know that families are forever, I know that he's in paradise with his family who went before him, including his baby brother who died on dad's first day of kindergarten. That must have been some reunion!
So Dad, thank you for all you taught me. Thank you for your "drives" on paydays. Thank you for your dates and time spent together, for the Paul Bunyan Restaurant Christmas Eve Frango Mint milkshakes as a little girl. Thank you for your good example of a righteous man and priesthood holder. I love and miss you greatly and can't imagine having this baby without you standing in the circle to bless it. Until we meet again.

Mother's Day Tea at Lake View Elementary

Hi. Thought you'd like to see this cute picture. It was too tempting to leave the devil eyes in, so I did. It actually was so funny! Not like our almost-June weather though. It's just finished hailing outside and now it's a downpour in our backyard. Yowza! Didn't Mother Nature look at her calendar? Um...heeeeelllllooooo! May 20, peeps! What gives?
Anyway, back to that cute pic.
Enjoy!

I just wish Tommy would smile. He hates being put "on display" and being forced to perform. He is so private and shy, he tends to look down, cover his face for pictures, etc. So on we go.....

some new family photos

Here are two of my new most favorite photos of one of my kiddos. Just thought you'd like to have a gander! Enjoy!!!

update alert.....
trying to get the u.g.l.y wood 2x4 backsplash from the wall is, well, um, pretty hard. apparently the genious who installed this eyesore not only screwed into the wall, but first put some carpenter's glue. so it's pretty tough to get.
my plan? as soon as i manage to pry that eyesore off my wall, to put this awesome beadboard-like wallpaper up and then paint over it with the same color as my others walls. my plan? to have one cohesive space. now to get that wood off.
yipes.
any suggestions?
oh, and outside, in my yard, i'm planning on a date for a yard work party. any takers? date and time to be announced, but in may or june. i'll have either pizza or lasagna and all the fixins' for ya, too!

lest you think that my floor still looks like that, you're W.R.O.N.G! Ok, so it kind of does, but it's cleaned up and has a pretty area rug under where our recliners go, and so there you go, Mom. I'll post a pic soon, I promise. Just nothing really beautiful to report yet. YET. It'll happen.

what I've been up to lately

ok, so it's been a very long time since I've posted...I've been biiizzeee! Ripping up carpet, painting walls, doing the laundry, fixing dinner, etc. My family has taken priority, as it should, and so I haven't really had much time to devote to this. I've also been really busy with my family researching, as shown on here.

so more later as i have time! more later, peeps!

the long-awaited, long-promised Cub Scout pics

Recently it was pointed out to me that I've been slacking in my blog duties. Well, people, my family has needed me, and I've been working hard on my house!
I've painted the dining/family room, duked it out (well, not really) with my husband over flooring, and baking for Easter. Cookies, of course.
I'll update the house makeover later. This is all about my cutie patootie Will the Wolf. Enjoy the pics! He was so cute that night carrying our nation's colors. He even gave the closing prayer at the end of the Pack Meeting.

Now here he is making a bird house with Grandpa Shuler last Saturday. The day we got our new fridge! Yeah! And got our dishwasher installed! Double yeah!!!!!

yes, those are my 8-year old's fingers holding that power tool! yipes!!!

He was so cute. I failed to take a pic of the finished product, but it proudly sits on my kitchen counter, waiting to decide where in our treeless yard this will live. Any ideas? Maybe our wood arbor. Heck, with that proud grin, I'd even go buy a nearly-grown tree and put it in our yard, just so we could nail it to that tree! What a cutie. Loving his toothless grin.