Finally, an Update!

One year older and wiser too...yes, that's me today, since yesterday was my birthday! Just wanted to post a note that I will continue to use this blog for updates related to my family, and future grandchildren. I feel quite lucky to live in a time when I can easily make a permanent record of the happenings in my family's life.

I am working on a couple of other blogs and when they are published, will put a link here.

So for now, a few thoughts flowing through me head...

Birthdays are funny. When we're little and don't really appreciate gifts, we get tons of them. When we're more mature and have learned how to appreciate gifts, we get few-to-none or we buy ourselves a gift! hahahaha

Ok, so let me admit that i did buy a birthday gift while in Fresh Market yesteday. It was a cute garden Gnome, and it was marked down as low as it could go. Morgan saw it and said I should wrap it up and give it to myself for Christmas. Actually, I'm going to ask him to find a box and wrap it up. By Christmas Day I will have totally forgotten about it, and since Morgan will have wrapped it, won't have a clue when it's "given" to me!

Hahahaha, we just must find the humor in life. There are times enough when tears and challenges arrive unannounced and unwelcomed, the rest of the time is for smiling, giggling, living gratefully and laughing as much as possible!

Well, I'm off to enjoy this wonderful new day with a huge smile on my face and in my heart!

My Mom - Jean Lila Ranade Price

Mom as a young mother

Mother's Day Musings May 13, 2012 Naturally my thoughts and heart have been focused on my own mom for much of the past week. It's been 7 weeks sinced she passed, and I miss her so.

The sharp pain of loss has now turned to a kind of dull ache. Now I know what a heartache feels like. The silver lining, because there always is one, is that there is a reason for that feeling of heartache. It's love. Taking the good and the not-so-good, that is what I have learned to do, while always looking for that silver lining, even in the midst of a challenge. Being alive is WONDERFUL!

But just being alive is not enough; I want to LIVE, to really LIVE, to go for those dreams of my heart. This is what I wish for all of my family, friends, neighbors, colleagues, just everyone I know or have ever known.

So, will I go skydiving? Um, probably not this week, but who knows. My sister Julie would say, "Hey ya dummy, you gotta get in an airplane first!!!" hahahahaha


One of my favorite pics

Today is a cool, sunny, blue-sky-beautiful day, and I love it! I hope you all have a terrific Mother's Day today. Here are some pictures that honor mothers in my own family.

Guess where I got my smile from?

Mom, Me, and Frank

Mom, Julie, Morgan, and Papa Frank

Pretty flowers from the Westwoods

Getting ready to sent love and letters we
wrote Mom/Grandma Jean to the Heavens

 



             

We decided not to stay where time stood still. It was hard, but very healthy for us.

I asked Julie's friend Heather James to cut 10 inches off my hair so I could donate it to Locks of Love, to honor my mother.

Over the weeks that followed there were many tender mercies, much insight into life and death.

Susan Davis brought a very pretty Gerbera Daisy plant, one of my very favorite flowers, and a book, which I am still reading and really enjoying.

Shelly Hedin brought us a yummy loaf of Cinnamon Burst bread, but more importantly, she brought herself. We sat on the front steps and gabbed. That gift of herself, of her time, is something I will always remember.

Other Great Mothers in My Family
Julie

My sister Julie (the short one in the middle)
with her awesome kids Kyler  and Jenny

Nana

Nana, my grandmother
(my father's mother)

Katie

Nana's mother Katie Podosky Tait
(my great grandmother)

 

Great Grandma Katie and Nana

Favorite Pens

Like many of you, I have a favorite pen or two. I really enjoy doing crosswords and this is my lucky crossword pen, but something is just not right with it.

Whenever such a dilemma pops up in our home, my first thought is, "Ask Morgan." Why, you ask? Well, ever since he was a cute, little toddler, I'd notice interesting things just - happen - around the house. Two that pop into my mind are: 1. The time I went to put on some chapstick from a brand, new one. When I opened the cap and went to put it on, I saw the end of a nail sticking out. The chapstick itself was NOT all mushed up or anything either. 2. The time my beautifully painted egg on the little gold egg stand, that a friend had made for me, with a beautiful note that explained what each color and design meant, just POOF, disappeared! I never smelled a funny smell, didn't ever notice that one of my children might have actually eaten the egg and gotten violently sick, never found even an itty-bitty piece of egg shell anywhere in my entire house. So I told myself, "Ask Morgan".

Of course, at the time, he was too little (3, if I remember right), so no way was he going to be able to fess-up in a way that would make any sort of sense to me.

To this day, I have not a clue what happened to that beautiful egg, but the note is still there on the gold egg stand. Too bad I didn't take a picture of it, but who would think it would disappear.

So, this favorite pen doesn't close right anymore, and the boy is going to talk this time and fess-up to whatever the heck he put inside it! Can't wait to hear his explanation...

high school freshman

This is morgan by the way. So as some people may know that i started high school this year, i have somewhat enjoyed it. This year i plan on doing my very best in school and hope that i get the best out of it. My friends and teachers is what make school fun for me. Even though at times its hard and frustrating i like to learn. At my school we have the main rule as respect for yourself and others. It can be kind of hard to pay attention in class because of how small the rooms are. But when i come up to usu and sometimes when i went to logan high for something school related there i would notice that the classes rooms there are alittle bit bigger than the ones at fast forward. One good things i find easier is that we only have three classes a day and they are two hours each. Even though it may be a long class time, its enough time to have a chance to do alittle bit more work in class. We also sometimes mostly all the time never have to do homework, its all in classwork which is better than having to lug a big backpack around to six or seven other classes. Sometimes that may seem easier to some people but that just means that you are hurting your back when you do. I like it just because when you don't understand something to much your teachers help unlike some other schools teacher. High school gets easier when you get more into the year. And we go by terms which they seem to go by way quick. Its more fun that way. As you may know in the last post my mom said that we had a puppy named jack(with one eye),we still do and he is just crazy most of the time. He practically never just calms down when there are friends or neighbors over. Its pretty funny to see his reaction when we get home from school and work because he runs around like a maniac and than just calms down and than goes back to running around. I just felt like posting something random on my families blog because i was bored and i asked my mom so thats why i did.

Jack

Jack Carroll was born on August 1, 2009. Today he is 12 weeks old. Ok, so he's 3 months old. 12 weeks just sounds cuter, and Jack is cute. We love him! His mom had to have a c-section to deliver him, even though he was the last one. Somehow, he got an infection in his right eye and so he's blind in that eye. He doesn't have a full name yet, just Jack Carroll. I told the kids I think his name needs to be Jumpin Jack Stockton Digger Carroll, because he jumps a lot and loves to dig! So, here are some pictures of the newest member of our family...

My Julie Graduated!

We are so proud to have the first high-school graduate in our family. The ceremony was of course, pomp and circumstance, but much more than that! It was entertainment and special and Julie looked so pretty in her graduation dress from Auntie Julie. I can't say who shed tears, but they were tears of happiness and gratitude. We are blessed.

Updating...

OK! I'm trying to update, but...

Julie had a dance competition in St. George last weekend & did a GREAT job! Here's some pictures, and more to come!