FAVE FOTO FRIDAY

Clara loves Papa--and he loves her.
Gramma--I just want to play with my toys. I don't have time to smile for the camera. Sheeez.

Valentine's Day came early at our house

I looked out the window this morning and thought, "What the heck is all over our front porch"? I opened the door and this is what I find. . . . . . .

Our wonderful, sweet, funny, kind, generous young women left us a heart attack last night complete with brownies!!!!

Can you guess what we had for breakfast? Yup. Thanks so much to our ward young women for their thoughtfulness. You guys are AWESOME!!!

Hurray for Gramma Decker--We love you!!!!!

So here's why Cris and I went to Rexburg last week:
1) We wanted to see Gramma Decker with our own eyes and make sure she was OK.
2) We wanted to help Patty and Howard in some way.

Get your scrolling finger ready and enjoy the ride. . . . . . . . .

Gramma Decker is feeling much better and getting stronger every day. She took a really big hit with her surgery/illness and for the first time--didn't land on her feet very fast. She was on antibiotics and compazine (for nausea) for over 3 weeks. Come on--that's just torture!! It took all the life out of her and she was basically a small, cute, zombie trying to hold on. She still managed to talk on her cell phone--she wasn't complete dead. Once she finished the meds, she began to perk up a bit. She is still very weak and eats like a bird, but every couple of hours she gets up and does the loop around the house with her walker.
Jack and Janice decided to come from Boise to Rexburg and visit Gramma and us on their way to SLC. It was really good to see them.

Can I tell you how cold it was in Rexburg? Yah--that's how cold it was.

This is our rental car in the driveway. Yes, folks, that's how much snow is in their front yard.

My sister, Patty, is in charge of the costume shop at BYU-Idaho and it's a really sweet set-up. She designs, runs a crew of seamstresses and manages hundreds of costumes. It's a state of the art facility. This is her office.

This is just ONE of the isles of costumes. Each section holds period costumes, etc. and can be moved back and forth etc. via a button. Hard to explain but really cool.

The new Rexburg Temple at night. Really beautiful.

OK--don't' be scared--this is a picture of my mom's perforated ulcer at the beginning of the small intestine. Left picture, red spot. Cool isn't it.

Don't' be grossed out. These are about 1/4 of the gall stones found in her gall bladder. Not the source of her problems but they took them out anyway. I put my hand there for scale. Patty thought we should make her a bracelet out of those rocks. Not a good idea.

To summarize; We had a great time. We're really glad we made the trip. Traveling can be challenging with our circumstances but we did well. The worst part was the drive home from LAX last night. Took 4 hours instead of the usual 1 hr 45 min. Pouring rain, stop and go traffic most of the way. Nightmare.

Again, we are so very grateful to Patty and Howard for their loving care for Gramma Decker. Howard gets up a couple of times each night to check on her and take care of her needs. Not many son-in-laws would do that. Patty makes her life happy and comfortable. We never know how much time we will have with our loved ones and must count each day as a blessing.

I love you Mom.

Greetings from Rexburg, Idaho

That's right people. Cris and I are in Rexburg visiting my sick mommy. If you remember long ago posts--she's the 86 year old with the hot legs and cheerful personality. This will be a short post as I'm a little busy taking care of her and Cris and freezing my tush off here in winter wonderland. When I get home I'll post pictures so you'll believe me when I say--it's cold up here.

My mom had surgery a month ago and it really hit her hard. She seems to be recovering but it's very slow. I had to come see her and make sure she was OK cuz I love her. Cris came too because he also loves her--and because can't live without me--pun intended. Traveling with a wheelchair person has it's perks people. You get to pre-board, pick your seat, people open doors for you, help you--stuff like that. Every thing has gone well.

Sorry I missed Jespy--but there will be other trips--not to worry. Maybe Memzy could post the picture I sent from my Iphone of the rental car and snow in the driveway? Hmmm? I couldn't seem to make it happen as my tech support is too far away.

I HAVE been reading all posts from my Iphone and have enjoyed staying in the loop. Admit it-we're all addicted to blogging.
Over and out.

What is it about ladders--kids love 'em.

Our grapefruit tree is LOADED this year and who can I get to help me pick 'em?
Just say the word "ladder" in a sentence around kids and it's go time. Liesl and Owen came over to help pick Saturday and had a great time. Liesl wanted me to be her safety net.
We had to take turns and follow the safety rules. . .and yes, it was a bit muddy under that tree.

We picked two large buckets and 4 grocery sacks full and didn't even make a dent. We've had a couple of families come over and pick already. Still hundreds up there.

I might mention that some of the grapefruit are hollowed out by our neighborhood raccoon. We've seen him walk across our patio many times.

Fun times. Anyone is welcome to come over and take some home. Side gate always open.

Christine--or Sweet Pea as she is sometimes called

I came across this picture of Cris and Christine taken at Becca's wedding and it melted my heart. Papa has a soft spot for Christine, for good reason. She is our first grandchild and was born with curls, spunk, super brains and talent. As a small child she gave her parents a run for their money--what with the energy and huge spirit in a very small body. She did everything early--walked, talked, drew, wrote, danced, ran--you get the picture.

She is the oldest of 5 and a second mother to her siblings. She has many talents; ballet, violin, piano, writing, singing, any sport you can name, is a lightning fast runner and is not afraid to try anything. Yes, her brothers can annoy her and her little sister can mess up her stuff--but she loves them anyway. She is now 12 years old and in Young Women. Where did the time go? Here's another picture with Papa. What do you think? Is he proud or what? Thank you Christine for being our granddaugher. We love you.

The Oregon troups

I received some cute pictures from the Oregon troops this week and wanted to share. They live 9 hours away and we miss them very much. Miss Christine is our oldest grandchild and there's just something special about your first grandchild. And Little Miss Rachel is hilariously funny, cute and talented.

The Rickster is addicted to books and brother Seth spends a lot of time reading to his little brother.

Aaaahhh, the benefits of good hair gel. Seth, Ricky and Luke--too cool for their own good.

We saw them at Thanksgiving and miss them very much. Hope to make a trip to Oregon in the spring.