~Surfs up...April Fools!!!~

~THEY SWIM~

I had so much fun this morning! I watched Cole and Maddie at their last swim lesson. They have really done an amazing job of learning how to become "little swimmers". It is more of a "survival" swimming lesson. The instructor teaches them to first of all not be afraid of the water. They learn to flip over onto their backs and "FLOAT". It is really incredible. They just float and float. Cole is a little older and he can flip over and actually swim to the side. Both of them are so comfortable in the water. They are like little fish. I LOVED watching them and taking pictures and they loved showing me everything that they had learned. It makes you feel a lot safer at the pool knowing that they are capable of staying ON TOP of the water until you can get to them and help them if they need it. WAY TO GO Cole and Maddie!

P.S.
Cambria said that I needed to add more pictures so, when I do that I get a BIG gap between my words...SORRY! I think the pictures are worth it :)

~APRIL FOOLS, I MEAN HAPPY BIRTHDAY GARETT~

Happy Birthday Garett! Wow, I can't believe that 24 years ago I was trying to hail a policeman down driving 70 miles an hour down main street in Springville desperately yet unsuccessfully attempting to get their attention. (this was before cell phones). Not that they could have done much except maybe notify the hospital that yes, we were coming in with a baby that had been delivered in the car and no, it was NOT an April fools joke! That would have been helpful...All's well that ends well they say and this was one experience that ended VERY well. There is nothing you can't do. Sometimes I wish you would SLOW DOWN just a little but, I don't think that is in your DNA anywhere...Thanks for all you do and all you are. WE LOVE YOU!

~HAPPY BIRTHDAY GAGE~

Today is Gage's birthday! He is 8 years old. How crazy is that. So grown up...In a not so grown up sort of way. Gage is my 1st grandchild so, with that came a little entitlement. That lasted about 18 months until AliAnah was born and then he learned to share the limelight and didn't seem to mind at all. Gage is easy like that. Very seldom upset and usually always happy and ready to do what you ask. I just love this kid. He LOVES to build things. It will be interesting to see what he grows up to be. I am thinking that architecture may be in his future somewhere.

He loves to come to see grandma and grandpa even though it is a LONG ride. We have such a great time when he is here. It is hard to see him have to go home because it is always too long before we get to see him again. I guess it could be worse, he could live in Boston or NYC or some place REALLY far away! This is his 8th birthday. He is so excited to be baptized. Because of General Conference he has to wait until May so he is a little disappointed about that but, it will go by fast and soon he will be the newest member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints ( for about 3 seconds...)! Happy Birthday Gage, you are my favorite 8 year old!

~MISSING MOM~

This picture is rather a poor one... It is a picture of a picture taken at the cabin just two days before mom died.


Okay, so here's the deal, I'm a very "big" girl. Married, children of my own...Married children of my own. GRANDCHILDREN!!! An Empty nester for heck sake...Having said all of that... I just REALLY miss my mom. There are days when I try to push that old lump in my throat down or keep the tears at bay but lately there seems to be no stopping the "missing mom" feeling for me. Now I am not trying to make anyone feel sorry for me because quite frankly I've got enough of that going on on my own. I would rather that you take a moment and think about how greatly blessed we are to have amazing women in our lives. My mom taught me to be tough yet tender, sweet but, with a little "sass". She was smart and ambitious and NEVER one to sit quietly and watch the world go by. There have been so many times that I have caught myself reaching for the phone, or longing for our weekend shopping trips or cabin getaways. Mom always liked the fall colors but, it was springtime that she loved the most. I think that is why I get all melancholy especially as Easter approaches...Nothing quite compares to being raised on Easter's spent with family and picnics with olives, eggs and sand dunes, or fried chicken and Margin Pass...

I miss that little redheaded firecracker. She was filled with charm and tenacity. I hope that as life continues to deal out it's blessings and also it's hard knocks I will remember the lessons taught ( I'm still trying to learn a lot of them) by her and the example that she was as she went through many peaks and valleys herself and did so with grace.

Yes mom, your influence wraps around me like the sun on a warm spring day. I will take time to reflect often on your wisdom and try to teach my children and grandchildren the way you have always taught me...which means that you sometimes get blamed when things go very wrong...I SO miss you, I miss you SO, SO, I miss you...Still.

"If we stop to think about what we do, really do, we are building for the centuries. We are building character, and tradition, the values, which meander like a river into the distance and out of our sight, but on and on and on" -Anna Guindlen

~PROJECTS~

It's THURSDAY and I am NOT going SKIING! WHAT! The wind is blowing and it has been quite warm here the past couple of days...No new snow. I went on Monday and it was one of those "edgy" days. Lots of icy tops and slushy bottoms. Add "two" warm days and wind to that and you have a very unwelcome combination for even the spring skier so, today I am going to tackle a couple of projects around this neglected abode. Yes, I might even consider sweeping out the garage! It pains me to have admit that I have let it go all winter. I used to be so diligent in keeping it...well cleaner than it is now. I might even take the shutters off the windows and give them a much needed coat of paint. Even Cambria noticed that they were rather yellow yesterday. My last project for today is to get my flower beds ready to plant FLOWERS. I can't wait for the flowers. I almost got a tulip this year. It almost made it to the blooming stage before the deer ATE it!

It's just so much easier to go skiing!

~BELLA BLUE EYES~

Okay, when they are cute, they are just too cute for words so a picture is, what do they say "worth a 1000". This is little Bella. She is growing up way too fast but we are loving every minute of it. She is crawling everywhere now in sort of an odd one leg tucked under her sort of way. But, it seems to get her where she needs to go and rather fast at that.

I brought this little head band back from Guatemala. It actually goes around a hat but, the hat was too small so it will have to wait for baby girl Robertson to model it! In the meantime I think that it looks pretty cute tied around Bella's head. I am not sure she thinks much of it and I'm darn sure that she is convinced that her grandmother is a freak! Constantly making strange noises and shoving this lens in front of her face. You can see by her expression how I capture her attention and bring out her "happy" to be around grandma AGAIN personality. One day, she may thank me for all of the pictures I have of her as she grew!

LOVE YOU BELLA blue eyes!