Cute grandkids

Here we are, another week gone. Time flies so quickly. We have had snow, rain, wind, and this morning, sunshine. The clouds are starting to gather again this afternoon.

Last week we had Hayden here for 3 days, while Jennie and Jeff were at work. Friday night, Jennie took the boys home with her and Paul & I went to dinner with my sister, Marie and her husband Virgil. We try to get together a couple of times a year, but that is not enough. We live close enough that we should be able to spend more time together.

Here are Ryan and Hayden

Hayden and Jackson

Ryan, Hayden, and Jackson

Hayden loves balls and balloons. He had just wakened from his nap and was so happy.

Ryan was sitting on his Big Wheel looking at the asembly instructions. It was so cute. He would look at a picture, then look down at the bike. It was like he was making sure it was put together correctly. This was what he got for his birthday in October. His 8 year-old cousin, Tavita, put it together. He had very little help doing it, and was so proud of himself.

I am still working on getting the downstairs de-junked. What a job! I have not moved past the office area yet (my closet is in that area). My momentum has slowed down. I can only work on it when Marian is home and if Hayden is here, when he is asleep. I have been doing some quilt blocks, also. The cleaning gets old and my desire is wanning. Hope to get more done this week.

Luring the cat

No pictures today, but a cute story.
This morning, when I let out the cats, only 1 went out. The other was hiding behind the picture frames. When I discovered her still there, Jackson was beside me, with a cookie in his hand. He tried to lure her from behind the picture frames with the cookie. I guess he thought if it would work for him, it would work for the cat. Obviously not. She does not like the kids to even touch her.
Have a good weekend :-)

Happy Valentine's Day and President's Day

Greetings this fine wintery day. The weatherman last night said a chance of snow north of I-80. Well, they are reporting snow all along the Wasatch Front. Good for the ski resorts, though.

I have had the boys this morning, while Marian is at work. They have been soooo busy. The favorite place to play is in the kitchen sink, but they get the sprayer and shower the kitchen, so I don't like them to play there. And, Jackson has a stomach bug, so I have been on constant diaper alert. When they heard the laptop fire up, they both came running to play.

Paul gave me a dozen chocolate covered strawberries for Valentine's Day.

This is the last one. The box top had these instructions: "Close and lock the door, Hide behind a large piece of furniture, Open box quietly, and Eat and enjoy" It also said: "Perishable. Contents tend to disappear when opened." I did share with Jennie, Marian, Paul, and the boys. Ryan was not so keen on them. He is not a sweets kid, but Jackson loved them.

Ryan does like Pasta, vegetables, and meat. Jackson won't eat chicken, but will eat about everything else.

We made sugar cookies for Valentine's Day. I took some to my Primary class.

Austin has qualified to go to the Washington State Wrestling Tournament this coming weekend. He took 2nd place in regionals. He has been having trouble with his knee, but it is doing well right now, so hopefully he will do okay with it during the matches.

Hayden is 11 months old. Yesterday he walked about 3 feet holding on to Jennie's skirt. He is so cute and happy. I will have him 3 days this week. He is getting so he plays with the boys and ooesn't seem to be afraid of them anymore. He still cries if they knock him over or are too rough, but they both cry if the other one does that, so I guess it is just what they do.

The end of January already???

I can't believe it is the end of January already. How time flies.

It is great, being able to stay home. I have been emptying file cabinets and teaching stuff. I think I have filled a recycle dumpster single-handed. With that and shredding anything that might give anyone a chance to identity theft, I have really cleaned out a lot. Unfortunately, on the outside, it does not look like I have accomplished much, but I am really making a lot of dent in the files.

Jennie leaves Hayden with me 1 or 2 days a week, depending on Jeff's work schedule. I can't believe he will be a year old in 6 weeks. He is growing like a weed. He walks around furniture, and even stands alone if he has something in his hands. He has not been brave enough to stand emptyhanded for me.

Kambree turned 5 on the 13th. She thinks that now she is 5, she should be able to go to kindergarten, and not pre-school. It is hard for her to understand. Her daddy had a business trip to China, He sent pictures of him on the Great Wall of China, and in the Forbidden City in Bejing. They sure brought back memories of my trip in 2000. He was gone for 10 days, and is back home now. He has done a lot of traveling over the past couple of years. He is seeing the world, and being able to go do some sight-seeing when in different countries.

Here are Jackson and Maclay putting together puzzles. Maclay is very accomplished at the task. Jackson is more interested in emptying the pieces onto the floor.

Kambree and Kylie, playing with the poster book that Marian and the boys gave her for her birthday.
Ryan and Jackson watching TV and snacking.

Hayden, Ryan and Jackson on my couch.

We have had several snow storms this month. The past couple of weeks we have had above freezing temperatures, so it melts quickly. There is quite a bit on the north side of the house, where the sun does not get to it, but the front lawn is clear.
I have finished the top to my heritage quilt. There are pictures of it posted on our Dorinda blog spot, at dreamworthyquilt.blogspot.com

I am working on a denim quilt for Austin's graduation. It has been fun cutting up old jeans to use for the blocks. It also emptied a big stack of jeans out of my closet.

Oops

Sorry Maclay, I did not check for spelling errors. I am on the lap-top and the keys are too close together.

Happy New Year

We had a wonderful Christmas. We had our family party on the 23rd and all the Utah based family came. Santa stopped by and checked to make sure the kids were behaving.

Kelsey and Santa
Kambree and Kylie shared the visit

Mackat would have nothing to do with Santa. He spent most of the evening on Grandpa's lap. After he ate, he took a little nap, then lost his dinner. The next morning he had a fever and Dora took him to the Urgent Care, where they found both ears to be infected. He was put on antibiotics for ten days, but a week into that Rx, he broke out in hives. He is finally done with the course, and is back to his normal self again,

Ryan and Jackson thought Santa was OK!

Hayden was not so sure.

Christmas morning with new sweat shirts

and new trucks.

Hayden's 1st Christmas.

He has a mouthful of teeth!

He got right into opening the presents!

We stayed home for New Year's Eve, and let Marian go to a party with her friends. Paul had a root canal on Wednesday and was 3 hours in the dentist chair, and I woke up with bronchitis, so staying home was no problem for either of us. The boys went to bed early, and so did we.

Paul and Marian worked on New Year's Day. Paul opened the store and Marian took the 2nd shift. It was a pretty quiet day for them both.

Today was Ryan's first day in Sunbeams. He did pretty well, but had a hard time sitting in his chair in the Primary Room. He was curious about everything on the stand. He was very excited to see Jackson when we went to get him from Nursery. They hugged each other like it had been days since they had seen each other. It was very cute!

We are all feeling much better today. My cough has settled down and Paul's mouth is feeling better. He goes back in another 10 days to have it finished. He is still on antibiotics for a couple more days. The tooth was pretty bad and the endodontist wants to make sure it has cleared up before he seals it. He will end up getting a crown in a few weeks.

Happy New Year to you all

I Did It!!!

I turned 65 last week and retired from the hospital. It was a pretty hard decision to make, but once I made it, it was really hard to go to work. The last two weeks were busy with meetings and training my replacement. The corporation has re-structured the educator model, and all of the reports I was doing will still be the responsibility of the new educator, but other people will be doing them. The corporation also changed our "leveling" advancement, so some big changes came with that. Those level 15 (the highest level) will be responsible for many of the reports and meetings I used to attend. The educator will focus more on individual nurses and their needs, as well as the education for the department. She will have a specialist from the region who will help with the department education, which will be a good thing. All of the EDs in the region will have the same training. That will be a really good thing, but really different. You see, it was the perfect time to move out.On Dec. 3, the hospital sponsored an open house for me. It was scheduled for an hour, but we had folks coming in for another 45 minutes. I am posting a few of the pictures to show some of those who came.

Marian, Dora with Maclay, Evan with Jackson, Jaime, Kylie, Ryan, Jennie, Tamara (my niece) and Susan, my sister-in-law. All of my Utah children and grandchildren were there.
Evan and Jaime brought balloons, but the boys wanted to play with them.

The boys get the balloons. Grandpa is a pushover

Marla Frampton, ER Nurse and Bonnie Bateman, Financial Counselor

Dr Dean Shelton, ED MD. We have worked together since I started in the ED 25 years ago.

Left to right: Randi Abraham, risk management, Lori Bertelsen, Hospital Chief Nursing officer, former manager, and good Friend. Then Margaret and Kirk Mittelman. Dr Dean Shelton.

Jeannette and Jean, from UVRMC ED Margaret and Kirk Mittelman. (They teach EMT and Paramedic classes. He works as a Paramedic for Eagle Mountain FD and she is an RN. I have known them for many years also. ) In the middle is Daphne Thomas, my manager. Chief Marc Sanderson and Deputy Chief Dave Thomas (no relationship) from Pleasant Grove FD

Pat Roberts. She has retired, but continues to work 1 shift a week and covers for others frequently. She and I go back to the beginning of the ED. She was my manager several years ago. In fact, she gets called Ann and I get called Pat on a regular basis.

Stan Andreason, from Pleasant Grove Fire Department, Gary and Shirlee Best, former neighbors, as well as running ambulance with Shirlee for several years and in the ED for a few years. Dr. Lenard Brunsdale, ED physician. We have worked closely with ED and Scout activities.

Kristi Leaver, from Intermountain University. She is over all of the American Heart BLS and ACLS programs. I will continue to teach for her a few times in the next year (longer if she has her way!)

Wayne Watson adn Kathleen Merkley. They are from the corporate office, but I have known them and worked with them for many years.

My friend Ruth Caldwell. We went through nursing school together and worked together for several years. She is now the manager of the ED at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray.

The Hospital Administrator, Mike Olsen & Tami McDaniel from the business office. In the background is my replacement, Wynel Newman.