Once again I am late in getting my blog up again. For being winter and oh so cold, it sure has been hectic and sometimes even overwhelming. But, FORTUNATELY, I haven't been sick this winter. Yea!!!
I am still concerned for others who are going through tough times physically and or emotionally due to medical or other issues in their lives. I was told at the end of 2006 I had less than a 20% chance of living 2 years! They decided to try one last thing and put me on a 24hour IVpump with a new medication that they hoped would buy me some time.
Obviously it has worked so far cause I'm still here. Because it was a mainline into my heart and because of the medication they gave me and due to being on anti rejection meds for my transplanted kidney, I had NUMEROUS hospital stays with massive blood infections with things like MRSA and pseudomonis and another one or two biggies. I've almost kicked the bucked several times due to those but with the miracle big bads, in other words the heaviest duty antibiotics they have, I eventually kicked each infection. Since the risk was getting bigger that the meds might not be able to kick it the next time the docs changed my IV to a subcutaneous form of getting the meds and since it does not go directly into my bloodstream I haven't had even one of the infections I did before. YEA again! It's been over a year so far and boy am I glad.
Because of the elapsed time since the last infection my body has definitelt gotten stronger which allows me more energy to do some things. My body isn't cured by any means but I have so far been given a stay of calling it quits I hope. The other thing I have to watch out for are lung bleeds and last June was the last time for that and only a tiny one so hopefully that will subside also. All in all I've had the best year I've had in a very long time. I can rejoice in that and enjoy each day as it comes with the full knowledge that I have lived my life fully and that I will continue to do so until the very end. As anyone would, I am planning on living at least until retirement age and beyond.
If you or anyone you know is living a precarious life I would really like to touch base with you/them and be able to share in the sorrow, the worry, the lost plans for a future and the joy of each day we live because each day really is a gift, whether we are sick, weak, or healthy. Only a person who can look at each day as if it were his/her last and can live it to the fullest is using their gift in the way God intended it. What a gift we can each offer to others who are down in the dumps, sick or on their death bed when we gift ourselves to them in hope, life, encouragement and any other way we can give them pleasure in their days.
I so love this life I have and want to share it with those around me. A distant relative, a police detective died recently due to a brain tumor, the most aggressive kind. He was diagnosed in early December and passed away this last week. Did he give up and curl into a corner? Not on your life. He immediately retired from the force of 30 years and spent his last 2 months sharing with others the joy of life and encoraging them to enjoy every mintute they might have with those they love because anyone, ANYONE could habve less days than they think to love others. He had a passion for the message of Jesus' love and he spent his 30 years as a cop loving everyone around him including those he arrested. His family received numerous letters from past detainees that he arrested, letting them know how kind he had been to them and that he encouraged them to do better with their lives. He was tough when needed but also had compassion for them all.
What a way to live life. Such a tough job but he still found a way to share in his joy for life and love for others and in Christ. Now that's what I call a natural witness and the best kind.
Ok, now that I've reintroduced myself and the reason I started my post in the first place I can share a few pieces of my life recently that make me smile.


Just incase I haven't posted this kind of picture enough in the past, this is what I look at from my neighborhood. Pikes Peak just makes me smile and sigh!
PIKES PEAK IN FEBRUARY


OUR NEWEST ADDITION AS POSTED LAST MONTH - MABELSmile!


MYRTLE AND MABLE - GUESS WHO'S JEALOUS Big Smile!


We finally got to go to Denver to see one of our other grandkids. Tyler and Grandpa got to play in the sand. We don't get to see him very often but we make the most of it and he is so much fun and has such a cute personality. He turned 2 in December. Lots of hugs and smiles!
TYLER AND GRANDPA


TYLER REBUILDS HIS MELTING SNOWMAN Another smile!


Amber's youngest son, Evan, turned 3 the other day. Amber balked and refused to call him 3 until just the moment of his birth that afternoon. She's done that with all of her kids, making them wait till the very last moment to celebrate their day. All in fun though since she, like most parents, watch their kids grow up way to fast.
EVAN'S BIRTHDAY CAKE (NOTE: Evan requested pink frosting and Amber let him but compromised with some blue on top). A giggle and a smile!


Note: I must wear oxygen but refuse to wear it for pictures. I like being seperate from my tools of survival like Oxygen and medical IV pumps and other nessessary meds etc. which helps people see me for the real me, not the extras. Just like those of us who have had to or still do use a wheelchair still like to sit on a regular chair at a resturant whenever possible. It is a psycological aide to help feel somewhat normal for just a few moments and to enjoy a temporary freedom from the stresses we face all day every day. I know other's who do the same and I think it helps.
Just like when I meet a small child or baby and see that they are worried or perplexed by my oxygen tubes on my face, I take them off for a moment and the child visibly relaxes and smiles because it takes the strangeness away until they are more comfortable. Ok, off the track and back to the party.
ME- GRANDMA AND BIRTHDAY BOY EVANLoving smile!

SMILE!


I am almost tired of the huge amount of rebuilding and refurbishing we've been doin on our house since last summer but we are almost there on the inside. When it's complete I will have a huge smile for sure!
My Dad and Husband working together to refinish our kitchen


My Dad working on rebuilding a pantry for our kitchen. He makes me smile all the time with love and awe!


My Dad and his brother Phil are quite a team and you would never guess that they are 78 and about 76 years of age. They have done carpentry, plumbing, electrical work along with heavy yard work and heavy equiptment use. They have dug up trees, planted others, smoothed out a large driveway with roadbase and even moved a self contained shed across the back yard on large pvc pipes. I've got that on video. They work hard and long and I can rarely get them to take it easy on themselves. I guess this is what keeps them going and healthy. They don't give up doing what they've always done with only a few small exceptions acording to the situation. Sure wish I could help them more but so far I do better just watching, asking lots of questions and mostly making a pest of myself. We call that directing the workforce, ha! Did you smile?

The Pantry framing continues I love watching the guys work although I'm sure they don't always smile at all my questions but they do smile when the day is done! :)


My Dad and my brother Jerry debate possible courses of action on the project. They are the real directors and contractors for our house projects. Jerry, my brother is always worth a laugh and a smile. My husband works at least 6 days a week and can only help out some when he gets home. He really always makes me smile and we love to be together whenever possible. Sometimes I have to share him with relatives but that's ok, I just smile!



The cabinets are in, the counters are finished and now we just need the backsplash and walls done which shouldn't take much time. I only had to do without a kitchen sink about a week but we don't have to camp in our house now. I hope not because we have scheduled a "Game Night" at our house in a week and a half with family and friends.
The Kitchen Takes Shape Yea, and yes, another smile from me!


Well, every day there is usually something to smile about, even when we don't think so. Sometimes we are lonely, in pain, don't think anybody cares or can't reach out for help. It sometimes takes alot of will power to do it but it can be done. I look inside my self regularly and try to find some good there and that is what I want to share with others. Giving of ourselves can help us feel better about ourselves and our own circumstances. Reaching out, offering a smile, or even asking for help can help another person and ourselves as well. Do you know someone you can gift your self to, even for a few moments or hours or a day? If not then just smile at someone today.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: What would you want someone to do for you or offer you if you were down and out right now? Try gifting that to someone else and see what happens!!

A new addition to our household

YEP, We really do have a new member to our family.

She's only 12 weeks old and our 3 1/2 year old isn't sure what to do with her. Like all 3 1/2 year olds our oldest loves to play but sometimes plays too rough so we play referee most of the time. The youngest girl been with us only 1 1/2 weeks and the night and early morning trips to take care of her umm, bathroom needs really breaks up my sleep but we're surviving. We have decided to give her a really old style name just like we did with our oldest. She is now Mable and our oldest is Myrtle. If you are wondering..."What are you thinking??" I'll show you why we picked these particular names for our girls.

MYRTLE....MEET MABLE!

Mable is an english bull dog and Myrtle is "ye olde english bully dogge".
We are having lots of fun with Mable and so is Myrtle but sometimes Myrtle pouts and seems depressed. I don't she's exactly happy with us for bringing in an interloper.


We do our best to make sure she knows she's still our baby too and give her lots of individual attention. In order to do this sometimes we have to seperate them. The real challenge is getting Mable to learn the rules of engagement. Everything Mytle does she does too and get's right in Myrtles face while she does it. She eats her food, drinks out of Mytles water bowl, takes her toys right out of her mouth and takes over her bed. It's no wonder Myrtle get's perterbed and depressed. Myrtle let's her know when she's had enough and we (my husband and I) work hard at helping Mable learn what's acceptable and what's not.
Don't they look like two sisters who have been they HAVE to be nice to each other?


Here Mable entices Mable to play with her!


When they decide to play they rough house all over and tumble together too. Myrtle thinks Mable is just one of her toys at times and we have to remind her to be gentle and she is, usually. Sometimes Mable gets the upperhand when Myrtle purposefully turns onto her back and Mable get's to pounce on her neck. Myrtle wraps her front legs around her like arms and rolls back and forth as they go mouth to head in mock battle. They love it.


Here Mable takes over Myrtles bed by the stair rails


At night Mable does have to retreat to her own bed in her own kennel and Myrtle still gets to take her place at the foot of our bed. As Myrtle gets more used to the puppy and more accepting ratther than exasterbated by her and Mable learns to give Myrtle her own space then we will let her join us. But, until she is housebroken that's out for sure anyway.

Mable is doing very well with the potty training as long as we remember to let her out VERY often. She is learning to come and to 'sit' and 'get it' (stand up on hind legs) for a treat and knows her name pretty well too.


Myrtle knows 20 umpteen verbal and hand commands and knows our moods and voice inflections well. She loves to show off her stuff when we have company. We aren't a bit shy about offering to let her show off either. :O

Mable claimes my husband too and snuggles up for a football game on TV.


Mable will learn fast with Myrtle as a model and teacher so no problem there. Like any new addition to a family there are trials and lots of rewards so we are happy!


We did just get back from our trip to arizona to see family and we had a great time except for the snowstorm that tried to strand us in Flagstaff. An accident 20 miles south of us kept us stuck in the stalled traffic for 2 2/1 hours and then we were routed to a turn around and sent back to Flagstaff. Flagstaff is up in elevation at around 7,500 feet. I can't medically stay at any elevation higher than 5,600 or lower so 2 of my brothers (one in Pheonix and another back in Colorado) worked diligently online to find us an optional route so I could get down in elevation as soon as possible.
They kept us informed of all the routes that were already closed and eventually sent us west another 40 miles to a little town where my brother had already called and set up a motel room for us. What a nice bro. It took us another hour or more to get there in the snow but we did ok and got to rest in a clean warm room.
The next morning my brother called and said we couldn't go south to Prescott because that road also was closed so he researced more and suggested we head out of town to the west for anothr 60 miles or so and then go south.
As we first headed out of town we saw a flashing sign to the side that said "road closed" but it didn't seem to be manned or blocked and we figured it must have been closed during the night with the storm so we went on.
The road didn't look too bad but as we got a few miles out we realized that the road was actually a sheet of ice under a thin layer of snow. We then noticed that we were the only vehicle in sight traveling west or east. Hmmm...

evntually we saw a few vehicles off the road (empty) but then came on to a small minivan on the side with at least 7 young college aged men standing on the side. We stopped to see if they were all right and they reassured us they were and they had someone coming for them. The front of their car was smashed so it wasn't going anywhere. We did see a tow truck heading the other way that we figured would be coming for the college boys car but since they can't take passengers and especially not 7 strapping young men we hoped they had someone 'else' coming slso.
Three hours later (60+ miles) we did eventually reach dry roads and got to my brother's house all in one piece.
We had a wonderful visit with their whole family and got to spend some time with just the 4 of us adults over the weekend. That was a real treat for them for sure. I did, of course, have to check out the local ER from the inside one night but was released after 3 1/2 hours which is almost a matching record to my 3 hour visit to ours at home last June. All is well that ends well though but we did decide to come home a little early so I could be near my own doctors if need be.
So there you have it..My last month in a nutshell except for some ongoing house projects that I'll fill in later.

Just as I always say...Remenber to gift yourself to someone today and everyday! That means sharing your love, your talents, your time or understanding or patience with those around you. They will appreciate you (except some teenagers who will wait until they are mid 20's to 30 and THEN they'll get it, ha :O ). You will receive as much or more than they will for it.]
To see what 'gifting' yourself is like on a daily basis see my daughter's blog about her daily gift to her children. To check out Amber's gift click on her name or click on her link on my sidebar.

I'm sure anyone reading this now had already given up on me ever getting back on here to continue my blogging saga as the Miracle Lady! Well.... you were wrong...but not by much I'll have to admit. Life is too short and too full to keep up with everything and everyone but mind you I'm definitely NOT complaining one little whit!



KIDS BEING SILLY AT DINNER TIME


ME AND MY BEST FRIEND KIMM


WE CAN BE SILLY TOO


MIKE TRIES TO BLOW OUT TRICK BIRTHDAY CANDLES


MIKE READY FOR HIS REVENGE AT THE SUMMER CAMPING TRIP


UH, OH, JUST NOT QUITE HIS SIZE? "I WANT A REFUND..."


DAD WILL KEEP WARM WHILE HUNTING WITH HIS NEW BONNET? NO, HIS CABELA'S CAP


AS THE FAMOUS CHARLES SCHULTZ'S CHARACTER CHARLIE BROWN WAS QUOTED AS SAYING...."ALL
I GOT WAS A....ROCK!"


LOOK, I'M A MECHANICAL ENGINEER BUT I REALLY ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A SAND ARTIST.


MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE
BET YOU DIDN'T KNOW ONE OF OUR OWN BLOGGERS WAS RUDOLPHS STAND IN FOR SANTA DID YOU?

I love being ABLE to be busy and to have so much to do and so mamy people in my life that I can't even keep up with all of them the way I would like. My blogging friends are also important to me and I don't want to neglect visiting you all too. I have done some visiting inbetween posts, even when I didn't have time to post myself. I know some of you can identify with me and I know some of you have tried to keep tabs on me because I find such nice little notes or emails once in awhile. Thank you for that. :)\

Here is another fun little synopsis, not of everything we've been up to but just a few things.


The house projects have continued and I am ready to take a break until next year. 2011 that is. The new windows have already helped dramatically with out heating nill and that's wonderful. Being able to walk across our bedroom without loding my balance due to an unbalanced foundation is surprising. I think I automatically lean to one side trying to compensate for the uneven floor that I navigated for over 15 years. Wow, what a difference. Our next and last project until summber is our kitchen but that will have to wait until January.

Otherwise, inbetween things we, like everyone else, has been busy with the holidays and get togethers and food up to our ears. So much fun but alot of work. Party's, games, gifts along with families and friends have definitely kept us busy and happy. We also hope to visit more family here on Christmas Eve and then to travel to Pheonix to visit more and more family. (We have a very large and varied family tree). Brenda and family has graciously offered to watch our house and our bully dogge, Myrtle while we are gone. Myrtle will miss us but she loves Brenda, Sunny and Grace so whe won't be in too much agony. When she was younger we left her at a kennel for a week and she was so mad at us and I don't blame her.

Ok, I'm going to keep this short sweet and simple:


MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL AND DON'T FORGET TO...GIFT YOURSELVES TO OTHERS THIS HOLIDAY SEASON. Oh, and Happy New Year too!!

House Projects Anyone?

Here's the reason I haven't been blogging as much as I would like. Hopefully things will slow down soon.

One of the first thiugs we did this summer in our back yard was to remove the shrubery against our house in preperation for the foundation to be leveled. We didn't want to waste one little evergreen tree so we transplanted it.

Here my dad and uncle are taking it out of it's original spot behind the house.


em>Here they transplanted it along the area we prepared to seperate the new driveway (parking lot) we were going to put in.

My dad and uncle moved our shed to make room for the driveway as well.

On the move...<


Some Nephews were delivered to help gather all the tree limbs after we had our huge cottonwood tree trimmed. Dad got alot of fire wood out of the large limbs.


Kids will be kids as one takes a break and a ride.


It takes a team to get the job done when you have a pile of interwoven branches.


Just a note: These boys were donating their time to help us because their parents are teaching them that it is a good thing to help others and not get paid for it. They are learning a sense of community and did a great job that day. Since they are all cousins it was a wonderful time for them to do something as a team and spend time and comradere with each other.


Whew, that load is done and we are all proud of our efforts.


Well, once in awhile we did take a break. Msriah loved riding grandpa's new 4 wheeler with him.


Ethan loves sitting on Grandpa's riding lawn mower.


Evan was 'king' of the pile. Get it? ha.


We created a rock and bush barrier between the new driveway and the rest of the yard. My dad, uncle and husband worked diligently to do MY bidding. :)


My uncle liked things to be just so.



My husband built a beautiful border around my wishing well. My uncle built that for me several years ago. Shortly after we planted flowers in the outer border and in some planters.



Greatgrandpa and Ethan ride the rented tractor. He rattled a continuous flow of questions about how it worked.


Greatgrandpa and Evan ride and Evan's rapt attention was unbroken as he watched the shovel go up and down.


My dad uses his own invented and self built tractor to smooth out the road base we had dumped in the new driveway.


Then, the much awaited major project, the foundation lifting began. After the trench was dug all the way around the house they began to drill down with the hellical piers to the depth that gave enough 'torque' to hold the weight of the house. It became a challange when they had to go deeper than the 10-11 feet they expected and had to go down 29 1/12 feet deep to create enough torque. We live on top of clay on a hill no less so the house was sliding down on one end.



Finally the trench was filled all around. And yeah, instead of sleeping with my head down like a bat and leaning to the side and losing my balance as I walk beside my bed I can walk straight and sleep upright.



Whew are you as tired of reading/seeing all of this as I was doing it? Guess what?: We're not done yet. Because of the raising of the foundation there is alot of spaces, etc. throughout the house that need to be mended. ie: we had to have the water heater replaced due to major leaking suddenly. The heater fan won't shut off now and we are getting a new one next week. The showers have spaces in the caulking and walss etc. Plumbing pipes (a few are stretched and need replaced) the downstairs fireplace mantel fell off with a few bricks to boot, and the front door kinked up and we had to straighted out the door frame and level it again and I had to repaint the trin, etc. Need I go on?

Well, what's been going on at your house this summer/fall?

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: "Do today whether you want to or not cause tomorrow will hold much more to do." RJM

Enjoy your gift of a day!