Monday, May 14, 2012

Skype it to me! Happy Mother's Day.

Each Mother's Day, all of the male figures in the family put on a Mother's Day dinner where the women (18 and older mothers or not) eat in the dining room without the interruption of tiny feet.  This may sound odd since it is motherhood we are celebrating but oh, how we love it!  While we sit in the dining room enjoying each other's company, the boys/men sit and eat with the kids.  Our only interruption comes from our servers whose only wish is to make our meal delightful.  

Each year we pick the menu and so far we haven't deviated.  On hand we had fillet mignon, baked potatoes, a green salad with spinach, goat cheese, toasted almonds, and craisins, topped with a raspberry vinaigrette.  Talk about good stuff!  For dessert we had a build your own ice cream sunday buffet with tons of toppings.  We actually had to get out of our seats to make our own dessert, but it was worth it.  

Twice a year we get to actually speak with our missionaries, Christmas and Mother's Day.  It brings a whole new meaning to Mother's Day!  This is our third actual conversation with Elder Tipton since he's been gone but our first Skype session.  I must say, I much prefer to Skype!  It was amazing and awesome to see him!  A small group of us gathered to see, hear and talk to Elder Tipton.  We were allotted 45 minutes from his mission president and got pretty close....we talked about 50 minutes or so.
 Cole said his cheeks are fuller due to all of the rice he ingests.  You can see the crowd viewing on the bottom right of the television.
 Cole and his companion were using Skype at the church in Hiroshima and during our conversation, a member cam in and spoke to Rick (in Japanese) telling him how wonderful Cole and his companion are and how much they love them and don't want them to leave.  After her conversation Cole agreed that Hiroshima is his favorite place and people so far!
 Here we are talking to Cole on the big screen.


It's the first time that Cole has seen Winston since he was one month old.  We had so much fun I hope we get to do it again at Christmas!
We're all crowding in to get in Cole's view.  I hope he had as much fun as we did!  Having a son happy and on a mission is the best Mother's Day gift ever!

Thursday, May 3, 2012

The best obituary, ever.

I read this great obituary yesterday.  I don't typically read obituaries for sport, but sometimes when I'm looking through my Wednesday paper, if I happen to turn to the obits, I'll see if I can find a good one.  Yesterday I found gold.  I found the type of obituary I think anyone, especially me, would want written about them.  Please indulge me.  In part it said:

"....a kind and gracious woman, died.  She was a mother, wife, daughter, sister and aunt.  She had more friends than we knew.  Perhaps in her fondest role, she was a grandmother to 8.  She bought crazy socks at Christmas for her grandchildren, some with bells and individual toes.  She held a Camp Grandma at Mormon Lake every summer.  And she was fun.  She kayaked and zip-lined; at Disneyland she rode the teacups and even roller coasters, though she disliked them. She took the kids to movies and always bought popcorn.  She cheered at their baseball and soccer games, swim meets and ballet recitals.  She would read the same book to a grandchild over and over, for as long as that grandchild deemed necessary.....


And cards.  She was always writing notes and delivering flowers to someone who needed a friend.  She loved meeting new people.  She loved her book club and hosting friends for dinner on her patio.  Her guacamole was legend.  She like traveling, skiing, camping and hiking.  She skied in the Swiss Alps and hiked the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim.  She went scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef and walked on a glacier in Alaska.  She saw a bear.....


When her daughters were young, she sewed doll clothes and then matching Christmas dresses, and finally prom dresses.  Later, she sewed Halloween costumes, including a vinyl Evil Knievel suit that is still the talk of at least one neighborhood....Her Easter egg hunts were the best, and the birthday cakes she made were always special.  She kept her Christmas tree up through January.  Every year....


She was a nurse for many years...She loved her job, her patients, who became friends, and her co-workers.  And then she found out she loved retirement even more.  Nobody was surprised.  


She was loved.


Please bring a flower from your yard, or someone else's - she would love it."

See, great obit, right?!  I wish I had known this woman.  I know I would have liked her!  That is what you call living.  Even though she's gone, her family, friends and co-workers will keep her memory living for the rest of their lives.  What lucky grandchildren too.



Wednesday, May 2, 2012

It all stems back to Weezer. Happy Birthday to Emily Zoe!

Today is Emily Zoe's 23rd birthday.  This isn't her birthday suit.  It's just a little something she wore while at college.  Not everyone dressed like this, just Emily.
It was a great outfit for poses.
She played with Weezer one October, while in college.  Her friend, Steven, drove down from Vegas to see her play.  I knew it was over...her single life, that is.
They got married 5 months after that Weezer concert and now they have this little nugget:
Mr. Winston, the cutest little boy in the world.

Happy Birthday Emily!
May all your birthday wishes come true.