Summer Coming to An End and Miracles still Happening in America

We continue to have a revolving front door. My son-in-law had a four day leave and flew up here to see Marie & Ethan. It was fun to have their little family here. They stayed in a bed and breakfast close by while I entertained Ethan. It was nice because they could come and go. They received a wonderful surprise when one of the other couples they met at the bed and breakfast left a check with the owner paying for Marie and Chris' entire four day stay. The world still has good people with big hearts and miracles still happen. The cool thing is that they were a couple from Redmond and lived less then 5 minutes from our old house. It was a wonderful gift for Maire's little family. It is also nice to see people respect the military and what they are doing for our country. During their breakfast meals they chatted with the other couples so everyone knew Chris was heading to Iraq and had a short leave. It is one thing to spend 10 or 20 bucks on someones meal, but this was close to $800 for four days of lodging and food. It would be wonderful to do things like that for others without expecting anything in return. What a wonderful couple.
Now we are entertaining mom and Phil. They came up for moms 84th birthday on Friday. We are going to have a small surprise party for her. I have been getting cards from relatives that live in other states. So she will at least have some cards to open. Getting old has got to be tough. After they leave then school will be starting. Marie will fly to Texas for one more visit with Chris before he is overseas and I will have Ethan for a few days! Ya for grandma time. He LOVES being outside here and free to run all over. Ethan is a really good little guy. I sure enjoy having him around. We spend lots of time outside together. He even helped me power wash the driveway!

So as you see, not much slowing down has taken place yet. I did take some time to finish some yard work. I had a few good workers (Hunter and my son-in-law) do lots of weed whacking. I totally replanted one of the flowerbeds that was a mess of overgrown plants. It looks so much better and now has wonderful smelling lavender in it. So even though I really don't like yard work, it is getting done and looking better.

On another note, it is a new but fun thing to be flirted with! I am not used to that. So when someone does flirt with me, I feel like a million dollars!!! It almost makes me feel like I am back in high school again. Speaking of feeling young, I had someone at the store guess my age at 40. Oh how that feels good and makes all the $$ spent on expensive skin care products worth it! Thanks NuSkin for helping me stay young looking!!!

Slowing Down The Pace - Book 2

Book 2 is added to the title because I just had my blog bound in book form so I can keep it as a journal. This will be the start of the next book. As I was doing this task on line, I decided to add more pictures of this last year. Looking at these pictures I realized in the worst of times I had some of the best times ever. Not many people get to set $$$ aside to use as a release from life. Knowing how difficult this past year would be I sold one of Mike's stocks and used it just for get away fun. Perfect timing to if you know what I mean. With that money and the kindness of others donating timeshares and homes we were able to go to Victoria for Thanksgiving, Hawaii for Christmas, Disneyland, two trips to Utah and a trip to California to help out my lifelong friend in her move. Rachel said we have flown around way to much! So this past year has been full of family, friends and good times. It does seem to soften the reality of life.
Now it is time to slow down and start getting back into a routine. It is time to make a new budget, work a little and start saving.
Rachel has been doing very well. No major anxiety attacks since last March. She is so involved with school this year that I hope she can maintain her grades. Not that I have strict expectations on her grades, but she does!!! Rachel had the opportunity to go to a recording studio and record some songs. it was a lot of fun. She record a song called "Virtue" for a competition and it is amazing. I am sure the other 99 contests were good too, but Rachel was amazing!!! (Okay, I am her mom.)
Jeffrey has done well in school. He had a 4.0 winter and summer semesters. It seems that when he is at his busiest he is dating the most! He loves working in the lab at U of U. Like his dad, he is way to hard on himself sometimes. I keep telling him we are not perfect in this life, just doing our best to become that way. It is really hard to teach someone to not get down in the process since we all have our ups and downs in life.
Marie and Ethan are here visiting us and it is so fun. Ethan is such a treasure. Chris' unit hasn't let for Iraq yet but they are down in Texas. So he gets a 4 day leave and he is flying up here to see them tomorrow. That will be nice for them and I get to babysit! Ethan loves his daddy.
Now it is time to slow down and get back into a school schedule. That means getting up at 6:30 every morning, getting back to the gym (I am about to hit a weight that I haven't been at in over 10 years!), and having a schedule to life not just waking up each day to see what needs done. When I think about what I want to do with the next few years I am often blank. I want to get Rachel through school, but what do I want? It seems we are taught to do for others first that when we get to a place in life were we could actually do something for ourselves, we are blank. We really don't know how to care for our own needs as well as we do for others. I think I may want to write a book, do some family history, and travel to Europe. Big goals but it is fun to dream...

Traveling and Seeing Family

As summer winds down we are almost done with the last of our summer trips. It has been fun to see all the kids together. Ethan is so adorable. He learned that if he puts something on his Jack-in-the-Box that it flies across the room when it pops! He is such a good little guy most of the time. He is ALWAYS saying, "thank-you!" I love getting up with him in the morning and just snuggling. He loves to sit and snuggle in the mornings. He is missing daddy now that Chris is off serving our country for the next year. But they get phone time in. Ethan loves to use mommy's phone and often calls me without her knowing! I just hear all this gibberish stuff on the other end and know it is my grandson wanting to talk.
Marie and Ethan will be staying with us for a few weeks in Washington and that will be fun.
While in Utah visiting I was able to see a lot of friends and family. We are having a Sunday dinner with two of my cousins and their families I haven't seen in years plus my uncle Jack. Jack is so much like my dad; I just love when I get to see him.
We are doing the zoo and Lagoon with friends and I am going to lunch with a group of old friends from Kirkland that have all moved down here. So we have been busy. Lots of back to school shopping too. That is something we never really did in the past.
I also had a great time chatting with a good friend about life and "the law of attraction." Attracting good or bad things to our lives not necessarily an attraction of a person. Something that has caused me to do a lot of thinking. He is at a place in his life where he gets to redefine who he is and what he wants to do in life. Amazingly, I really relate to that. It has caused me to really think about what I want in my future and what I still want to do with my life. Lots to ponder about. What do I want? Lots to think about.