My Amazing Mom!

My Mom still amazes me! She mentioned to me that she wanted to make some strawberry freezer jam when I was down there last time. (She's 97!!) So I started checking berry prices at the Ranch market and sure enough, this time the strawberries were on sale for .99 cents a pint. I wasn't sure how many we needed, so I bought 3 flats, that's 8 pints each flat. We ended up with about 46 pints! I guess I know what I'm giving my kids for Christmas this year.

Mom had a bunch of 'odd & end' type of jars we used, since I forgot to bring any of mine and we used every one of them! Sonja had also given her this wonderful, big food processor that we used, which made it so fast and easy. We had fun making this together and I will always cherish the memory!

TIME WELL SPENT!!

 I've just spent a week with my 97 year old mother and a week with 5 of my grandkids-Bret and Suzy went to Cancun for a week with her parents and siblings/spouses. I went to help Mom get ready to have her little sister Nita and my cousin Kathy come for the week. The sisters enjoyed their time together immensely and it was so fun to get to spend time with my cousin.

Sherry even took half day off work to come and Sonja came for 3 days too.

I fed them a couple of dinners and Kathy had us over for dinner at the cute little Airbnb they stayed at, just 5 minutes away!

Kathy took them to lunch one afternoon over to her friends, Susan, that lives in Scotsdale. 

Kathy wanted a picture of the cute little car she rented!

On Saturday I left with Bret to go watch Ivory in her last 'Cheer' competition at the Phoenix Convention Center.

Ivory LOVES it!!

One of the days Kathy brought Mom and Aunt Nita to Queen Creek to see me and my bunch and also to take us to lunch out in Apache Junction to eat at an old Ghost Town that had a beautiful view of Picket Fence Mountain.

It was a fun day, but pretty hard on Mom and Nita. The whole time together was just so nice and they got so much great visiting together.  This would have never happened if Kathy wouldn't have taken the time to bring her 84 year old Mom. They left on Thursday. Kathy said they got to board first by putting her mom in a wheelchair!!  Smart!

My week at Bret's was pretty easy. They are old enough now to get themselves up and dressed and ready for school. All I really did was cook and chauffeur them to all their activities. We made Snickerdoodles twice, fed the chickens and gathered the eggs, played games at night, had scriptures and prayers before school, went to Target a few times, and had fun together. The kids are so good and know their responsibilities and do them well.

London had a piano recital.

Dempsey had a volleyball game.

Because I had free time while they were at school, I got to spend some time over at Lisa's too. We went shopping and I took her kids to the park one day with Honey, the doggy.

EASTER!! HE IS RISEN!!

 We've been enjoying this Easter time of year. When we were in Mesa last week, we went to the wonderful Easter Pageant with Lisa and Barry. Wow, the cast of 450 people, put on an amazing show. It was all the miracles of Jesus, starting with His birth and ending with His resurrection. It was beautifully done. 

We went out to dinner first and also met up with LaVerl's cousin Gary and wife Innette. It was a little chilly, we had blankets and winter coats on!

HE sure made a beautiful world!

Easter morning was sure fun at our house. Lots of good hiding places for their Easter baskets!

'Spring has sprung' at our house. Our apricot tree is in full bloom. It was just humming with bees this morning!

Milea is now old enough to drive and go to Prom. She was trying on some of my girl's old prom dresses.

That was one of the reasons they came for Easter. To pick up a cute mid size truck they bought from Holly's Uncle in Snowflake. We drove it home last Tuesday.

Milea also had fun playing with my phone. I didn't know it could take these kind of funny pictures. 

I also got a 'wild hair' and canned 49 quarts of pinto beans this week!

More March Activities

 I just thought I'd post a few more things we did in March! 

We picked some citrus at my brother Curt's house. We picked so many we gave a lot away to friends!

We've been spending quite a bit of time in Mesa because LaVerl is working on a house that his cousin Gary Crosby is building. His electrician died and he was desperate to find someone who could finish this huge, beautiful home for him. So that means I also get to spend more time with my mommy. I took her to Mayo Clinic to get an infusion that she really needed to boost her immune system.

I thought this picture of Garrett was hilarious. He was power washing his shoes.

We stopped by Lisa's and LaVerl put in a 220 circuit for Barry.

Then we went by Bret's and it was funny to see how he was watching all the 'March Madness' basketball games. He had one of his computers, his ipad and his phone, all with different games going. He is pointing to the laptop he is 'working at home' from. 

Every Christmas we have a 'candy cane' hunt with the grandkids. LaVerl came in from working outside and said, "They missed one. I think I found the last candy cane!"

LaVerl also decided that my clothes line needed some work. He painted it and put on new clothesline! What was funny was him outside in his sweats and socks!

For LaVerl's 73rd birthday (March 11th) we went to Tucson with Sonja and Randy. We went to the Gaslight Theater and saw "Two Gun McGraw" and it was a good one. We all laughed and had a great time. We also went to the Tucson Temple and a movie.

Fun times! 

Sonja was dealing with recent surgery on her knee and a toothache. We had troubles checking into our motel, which took an extra hour and half and the movie wasn't that great, but we loved spending time together and relaxing and getting away.