Sat. Evening BBQ Chicken and Potato Salad!!!!

Dad said he wanted BBQ chicken and potato salad!!! S0,we had BBQ chicken, potato salad, cabbage salad,carrots and dip, and kids, kids, kids, and kids!!!

Gettin' ready to go home.

But, before you go.....................

These are my favorites!!!! The mother and father of 4 1/2 of my grandchildren!!!! Are we in trouble or what????

We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today. ~Stacia Tauscher

Dead Man Mowing!!!!!!

This man had MAJOR open heart surgery on Feb. 26, 2008, a cardiac arrest (stopped breathing) the night of surgery, another cardiac arrest (12 minutes with insufficient oxygen) on Mar. 5th and was in a coma for 27 hours, a GI bleed that required surgery right in the hospital bed, and 7 units of blood to stop, phenumonia, and another cardiac arrest on April 1st!!! He was in Cardio Vascular Intensive Care three times, Intermediate Care twice and up on the 5th floor, where patients are prepared to go home, twice. He was in rehab twice. He has gone through physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech pathology and is now working on speech therapy, and cardiac rehab.....and here he is..............102 days after the surgery...............mowing the lawn!!!! Is that not the coolest thing you have seen in a long time????
Who says there is no such thing as miracles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(you're lookin' at one)

After he got done with the front lawn, we went to speech therapy, then on to cardiac rehab where he walked for 6 minutes without a walker ..or oxygen!!!!, then on to lunch, and to another interview with another cardiac rehab unit where he walked to and from with no oxygen and no walker, then home!!!!! That was our day yesterday. ( He even made it through a nasty, nasty sandwich and a horrible diet strawberry limeade at Sonic in Orem)

Norm is really doing well. As you can see he is making huge leaps toward recovery. He still gets tired, which is totally to be expected, he still has a little bit of memory issues, but it is almost totally in his short term memory...when you tell him something, a couple of seconds later, he will ask you again....but that is only once in a while. He remembers where every single thing is in his shop, he knows how to do the checkbook, do laundry, load the dishwasher and unfortunately, he knows how much money he had in his wallet when he gave it to me before surgery!!!!! I'm still payin' for that one!!!

The day before yesterday, (5th) a good neighbor and friend, who has been over many times before and helped, came over to roto-till part of our yard where I have planted flowers before, and hope to again. If time and weather permit!!! (and money)

Again, Norm supervised. That is about the only times he uses his nifty-neato walker now, is just a place to sit. He can't stand a whole lot, but that's o.k.

Our neighbor just loves my little four legged best friend...so, after he got the ground all smoothed out, he couldn't resisit the opportunity to have Clancy "get the critter"!!!!

Can I get some more???? Let me get 'em!!!!

Clancy is good for a ton of laughs and a heck of a lot of company!!! Christy hates him but I don't care. He annoys the heck out of my grand kids, but tough noonies!!!!! He's my buddy!!!!

All is well. Everyday brings a new adventure and it is wonderful to be moving forward. Norms heart is still in sinus rhythm. So, today should make it almost three weeks. That is something we haven't seen in years. It's possible that the maze procedure could now be healed enough to take care of the irregular heartbeat, it could be that the amioderone he is taking is helping and that the pacemaker has finally been able to take over. It is a "paced" rhythm, but at least it is the right one. No matter what is the answer, the overriding one is that there have been a ton of people praying for him and that is what has brought it all together. I believe that. Thank you all!!!

I wish I could begin to thank all those who have done so much. I wouldn't be able to list it all, or mention everyone, the list is so huge. It is overwhelming to think about, for me anyway, that so many would be willing to give of their time, and love, to do so many things for us. Both Norm and I spend a lot of time trying to think of how we will ever begin to repay them. If they only knew how much it means to us.

Live your life so that the fear of death can never enter your heart. When you arise in the morning, give thanks for the morning light. Give thanks for your life and strength.Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. And if perchance you see no reason for giving thanks, rest assured the fault is in yourself.
~~~Chief Tecumseh, Shawnee Indian Chief

I Have to Vent!!!!

I am siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick of this and I don't want to dooooooo it aaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnyyyyyyyy mmmmmmmmmmooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeee!!!! I want to be locked away somewhere where there are no sick people, no dirty dishes, dirty laundry, no telephones, no snotty doctors or receptionist, no rehab, no hospitals, no weeds, no gardens, no sticky floors, no gross bathrooms, no bank accounts to reconcile, no bills to pay, no appointments, no sprinklers, no water coolers, no nothing!!!!!! Just cold pizza, mac and cheese (from the box), Wheat Thins, (not low fat) and a good book!!!!

K......now I'm done!!! Good night.

To give vent now and then to his feelings, whether of pleasure or discontent, is a great ease to a man's heart.
~Francesco Guicciardini

It's Magic!!!!!

There is just something about a rainbow that lifts spirits and makes you want to just stand there and look. Today we had just one of those little "spring sprinkles" that happen a lot in Utah in the spring. and while we were standing on my porch talking to our neighbor, we looked up and saw this!!!!

I am not a pro at taking pictures, as you can see, but I thought it was beautiful. Made my day. If you look at the one on the bottom, you can see that it was a double!!!! How awesome is that???? It was truly a wonder. Rainbows always will be!!!!



Norm and I planted one of my flower beds today!!! I guess it doesn't sound like much, but, we got something done!!! I hope it looks alright. Gotta go get more flowers tomorrow, cause I ran out and it looks tacky!!!! I like to see lots of color and not so much dirt. We will see in a little while, I guess.




These are my two supervisors!!!!!!!

It was fun to have Norm out there giving me a bad time. Here is the flower bed a little bit after I started:

It took soooooooooooo many flowers to fill that and I am not done yet. Hope it looks good this summer. Now, I have two more to do. These plants are supposed to come up next year, so, I won't have to re-plant next year, unless I don't like them!!!!


Norm and I had kind of a fun day. We started out planting, at least I was planting and Norm and Clancy were telling me how. Then, we went out to lunch because we had to go get a part for the last of our sprinklers to be fixed. Then, we went to the nursery to get more flowers, and then to the store to get milk and just had to get an ice cream cone!!!! We sat there and ate it and talked to a man who came and sat by us. We came home and visited with our neighbors, and planted some more!!!! Now, I have to get more flowers tomorrow and I will take pictures when it is done!!!! It was fun.




Again, Norm spent the day without oxygen. There were a couple of times when he had to stop and just breath, but he worked his way through it. I'm proud of him. Things will improve a lot when we both start walking more. We are going to have to start a routine, just like with meds and insulin and stuff. Maybe we should make that part of the meds!!!! That is the thing that will get him better faster!!!!! I know that it will come....just have to be patient.





May God give you...For every storm a rainbow, for every tear a smile, for every care a promise and a blessing in each trial. For every problem life sends, a faithful friend to share, for every sigh a sweet song and an answer for each prayer.”

Day of Rest is Rigiht!!!!

Well, it was a wonderful Sunday. We went to church and did absolutely nothing the rest of the day. The day went so fast, but the reason for that is because we both slept late. Neither one of us is sleeping very well lately, so it caught up with us I guess.

Church was nice today. Norm thought he could make it through without oxygen but ended up needing it for just a little bit. It was nice to be there, even if he did need it. Church is kind of like a boost for the week. Guess that sounds funny, but it is.

Tomorrow, we go to work!! Planting, weeding, all kinds of domestic things. Every other day of the week we have something going on, but at least we have some time during those days. Speech is at 11, so it really messes up the day, but the evenings are still there. We will do whatever!!!! We get to watch Katie on Wed. and that is always great, but, we are assured of getting nothing done that day, cause we play with her all day!!!! She's so fun.

I came home yesterday and Katlin, a young lady that lives across the street, said "Frances, I weeded for you!!!!" I looked at where she was pointing and she had weeded my flowerbed that I am going to plant tomorrow!!!! How nice was that. I coulda' hugged her. She is kind of the neighborhood gypsy!!! All summer long you see her long red hair running from one of the end of the street to the other, visiting with people, playing with the kids or her dogs and cats. She is on the go all of the time, and is a very happy young lady!!!! Thank you Kaitlin!!!!

My kids didn't call today. Not that they have to, and I certainly could have called them. It is not like I am complaining....I just miss them. All of our church times are different, so, it kinda messes up things for us to talk much on Sunday. I am going to have to get a dinner together now that the weather is better and the kids can play outside. They rarely get to come over anymore and we really miss that time with them. I would love to have a big, huge house and we could all live in it. I am sure that would not appeal at all, to them, but I sure would like to have them around more. See, I am a really bad empty-nester!!!!! Guess I will have to snag my grandkids more often. Having a sleep-over with a four year old is really interesting. Especially when she sleeps with you and the dog. A king-sized bed is not big enough!!!!!

I finally got in touch with my brother tonight and it seems he is dealing with some health isssues too. Last time I talked to him he could barely talk. It seems he connected with an allergy of some sort, or a virus or something....at any rate it affected his vocal cords. He said that his throat wasn't sore at all, nothing hurt, he just couldn't talk. He had to whisper. Since then, he has been to an Ear, Nose and Throat Specialist and was told that his left vocal cord is paralyzed. Nice huh???? The doctor said that it could be a virus, or issues with a possible allergy, or, it could be a tumor. That certainly was not anything I wanted to hear. Neither did he. Of course, if it is a tumor, it dosen't mean it is cancer, but it still is scary.

I am learning faith. I really am, but sometimes I forget that things are not in my hands. Sometimes I feel like I have something written across my forehead that says " OK, stick it to me....I'm ready!!!". Well, I'm not. Nothing needs to go wrong with anyone anymore. I think Norm hit it for everyone so people can just stay safe and healthy. I have a brother in law that has cancer.....I swear.....this can stop anytime now!!!! But, really , I remember where my mind and heart are supposed to be and He loves me anyway!!!!! How lucky we are.


A sunbeam to warm you,
A moonbeam to charm you,
A sheltering angel, so nothing can harm you.
~Irish Blessing