She's Here

Wednesday, October 20, 2010. Neil woke me up at 6am to tell me that Kim had just called. She had started labor at 2am, she was now going to have a shower and head on over to the hospital. Neil told her we would get our showers, pack and be on our way in 1 hour, and we were.

Just as we were getting onto Interstate 5, Josh texted and asked if we were headed up north. Yep, we are on our way. A few minutes later he called and said a substitute teacher had been canceled and the secretary called the sub to see if he wanted to come back and sub for Josh. Yeah, he did, so Josh was able to go too. It was meant to be. Josh dedcided to drive up in his own truck just in case she(no offical name yet-Jason picked out the name and is keeping it hush, hush until after she is born)arrives later than 8pm. It is a 2 hour drive to his house. Josh had to work the next day and wanted to get home early enough to get some rest.

We arrived in Grants Pass at 10:45am. Called and let Jason know that we were there. He said that the contractions had stopped and they were at the doctor's office. Kim was having some tests done and then they would be going back to the hospital. Told not to go to the house, so we went to Walmart and bought some diapers. Kim said she could use lots of diapers that she had everything else she needed. After getting the diapers we went to the hospital and signed in, received green stickers to put on to show we could visit Kim that day. The nurse heard Neil checking in and said that Kim was there and she was just getting Kim settled in and would come get us when Kim was ready for visitors. We waited and waited and waited, Josh and Lidia arrived 1 hour after us-got a text from Jason that Kim wanted her mom to come right in when she arrived. Nurse made her wait awhile too. Hospital volunteer said Kim was in intense labor and the doctor was with her giving her an epidural. Nurse told us to go get some lunch and by then Kim should be ready for visitors.

We went to Sonic Burger for lunch. It tasted pretty good. I must have been hungry. Back to the hospital to wait some more. We took turns, 2 people at a time visiting Kim for about 15 minutes each and then letting her be checked out by the nurses every little while and try to let her get some rest. She said she was not tired. The epidural was not working too well for her. She could not lay flat on her back, it made her sick, nausea, dizzy, she even passed out twice. She ended up laying on her side but needed to keep rotating from one side to the other so that the epidural would work. Said this labor is harder than when she had Bailey her first daughter.

While waiting we kept wondering what name Jason had picked out for the baby. After Lidia(Kim's mom) came back from one of her visits she said "I know the name of the baby." What is it we all asked and she replied "Medley". We all said Medley? Where would you get a first name for Medley. We had heard it as a last name for some people-a pro baseball player. We even went onto the computer to see if there were people with the first name Medley, did not find anyone. So she is going to have an unique 1st name. Well come to find out as Neil and I were visiting Kim in walked the doctor and we were introduced to Dr. Medley. So was the baby going to be named after the doctor? No, Lidia and the rest of us had seen the name on the delivery cart and as we walked out the door and really looked at what was written down, realized that it was the doctor's name. This kept us entertained for part of the afternoon.

During the late afternoon and evening we watched the baseball playoffs (Texas vs. New York Yankees, Phillies vs. Giants)between visits. While we were visiting Kim we were watching the Phillies vs Giants and missed the winning homerun. The nurse had just walked in and was telling us the doctor was on the way, Kim was now dialated to a 10, time for the the baby to come. When we turned back to the TV, fireworks were going off. The Giants had won. That's Kim's favorite baseball team.

Went back out to the waiting room. Neil and Josh went out to get pizza. Just as they came back and walked into the waiting room "Rock-A-Bye Baby" music came on over the intercome. Our little granddaughter was here. October 20, 2010 at 9:24pm. Jason texted the baby is here. Still did not give us her name and until we walked into the room later and saw it posted on the board.

We are so excited our little granddaughter Riley is here. That she is cute, precious, beautiful and healthy. Such a little miracle. Kim is doing so much better after this birth also and feel so blessed that she is doing good too. Big smiles, loves and hugs, lots of picture taking. What a wonderful day. HAPPY BIRTHDAY RILEY LANE LIDIA ALLEN!!!!

Monday 7/5 Was A Very Busy & Long Day

Neil let me sleep until 8am. It is going to be a very long day. Originally I was suppose to have the day off, but we have a floorset to do that requires alot of hours and people to get it done. So everyone on staff is going to have to work. I was scheduled to work from 5pm to 1:30am with the possibility of working until 3:30am. So I was not looking forward being up all those hours. Got the day started. Neil gave me a teasing hard time about wasting daylight. He was up and working on cleaning out the garage. Oh my gosh I was in shock. Neil never cleans the garage. I am the one who usually puts everything away. Neil likes to just put everything in the middle and let it pile up. I stopped cleaning it up and wondering when he would decide it needed to be done. I got up and everything was out of the garage and in the driveway. He was going through and deciding if we have not used it in the past 20 years it is time to go. Yeah!!!! I helped him fill up the back of his work truck and our truck. We ended up on my way to work, stopping at his work place and emptying everything into the dumpsters. So long!!! The garage is now neat and organized.



While he was cleaning the garage I worked on cleaning the pool, watering, doing laundry, pulling weeds, picking the plums and apricots off the fruit trees, fixing breakfast(more like brunch) and sweeping and rearranging the patio furniture. I was hot and sweaty the pool looked very inviting. So after Neil finished we took a nice cool dip into the pool. AAHHHH so refreshing.



After swimming ,it was time to get ready for work. I had to go in early. Needed to drop all of the trash from the garage and then go to work, get the keys to our off site storage unit and pick up props for our floorset. After getting the props back to work I was ready for another dip in the pool. It was 101 degrees. Thank goodness there was a nice breeze. Ended up working from 4pm to 3:30am, got home at 4:10am. Believe it or not I was not tired. I ended up staying up until Neil got up. We had a nice little chat about our days and then finally off to bed. After 2 hours of sleeping, what do I do ?I wake up. Why? Noise? Sun in the window? Body alarm saying time to get up? So now I am up and starting my day. Another busy one ahead , cleaning house and maybe taking a nap sometime during the day. It feels like it is going to be another long day.

4th of July Celebrations

It's 4th of July and brought up memories of past 4th of July's. Two weeks ago I noticed all of these firework booths going up around town and this brought up memories of living in San Bernardino and dad would help work in the firework booths for the ward fundraisers. He would bring home some of the fireworks. Uncle Rodney, Auntie Joanne, Jeff, Susie, Denise, Sheldon and Leslie would come over for dinner in the back yard and Dad and Uncle Rodney would set up and set off the fireworks. We would get sparklers to hold and twirl around and around. At first I would always be afraid of getting burned but the facinastion of the sparklers won over the fear.It was so much fun. I remember these round black things that you light up and they would grow like worms. I remember the smell and how much excitement and fun we had and the disappointment when it was over. We always wanted more. After our show in the backyard we would look out over our block wall and watch the fireworks shoot up into the air from the Orange Show Fairgrounds in San Bernardino and when those were over we would run around to the front yard and watch the ones from the east side of town. We alway wanted to sit up on the roof to watch them but mom and dad said no. We would either set up chairs or sit on the driveway leaning back against the garage door.

There were some years that we would go to Uncle Ward's and Auntie Sigie's for 4th of July. I remember Auntie Sigie making all kinds of food that we would take to a park down the street.
I think one year they were in charge of games and we were trying them out before we went to the park. Most years it was ovecast. We were alway surprised when we got home to find out that we had gotten sunburned. Those sun rays went right through the clouds. We were always excited to go to the beach in the evening to watch the fireworks but some years we were disappointed because the fog had come in and you could not see the fireworks. We still had a lot of fun being able to go to the beach at night.

After meeting Neil we started going to Charlie's cabin up in Warner Valley near Lake Almador. It was so nice to be in the mountains. Feel the fresh air, hear the wind in the trees, fish, relax and even to see the parade in town.

Now that the kids are all grown up we now sit on our front porch and watch our neighbors set off their fireworks and think about the wonderful times we have had in the past.

Sunday @ Sheri's

While Neil was busy working at Jason and Kim's I went up to visit Sheri. She only lives 45 minutes away. We had a great time. I miss the times we used to spent with one another when I worked for Claire's. That was one of the best perks of the job. I don't get to she her and her family very often now. We were talking and figured out that I had not been to their house since February of 2009. Way to long. We have got to make a point of seeing each more often.

When I got there Sheri gave me a tour of her back yard. Mom, Terry and her had pulled out a lot of weeds, blackberry bushes, ivy and added some new planters, flowers, a board walkway,

solar light and a privacy fence. It is turning out really nice. We sat at her table under the umbrella with a new breeze and talked about her time with mom while she was there. We talked about out memories of Dad and Wendy and how much we miss them and the special times we had with them. Got a tour of the house. They got some new carpet, Sheri redecorated Donovan's old room. It turned out really nice. Terry got an aquarium for Father's Day from Donovan and Sheri was pointing out the frogs and the names she had given them. We took a walk across the street to the Mexican restuarant and had some chips, salsa and a chicken tostada. It was really tasty (yum-yum). We sat there for a while sharing all kinds of memories and really enjoying one another's company. Went back to the house and went through some gardening magazines and pool accessory catalogs. Sheri wants to get some solar panels so she can have her pool heated and use it more often. It is hot at my house during the summer, so my pool stays warm all summer. Sheri tried to get a hold of Katie when I got there but there was no answer. I was getting ready to leave and guess who drives up? KATIE :) I was so glad to be able to see her and give her a hug. She was having a hectic day and needed a break. She unloaded what was going on, then she was on her way to her Auntie Devon's in Roseburg. I left at the same time. I really enjoyed my drive. Everything is beautiful. Lots of green meadows, green trees, wild flowers blooming everywhere. Saw a buck running across a meadow then stopping and eating, some fawns on the side of the road.

Got back to Jason and Kim's at 5pm. The Neil and Kim were in the living room watching Bailey play. Jason was at his dad's dumping the dirt they had dug up for the pathway(3inches deep,

4 feet wide and 15 long approx). There was a lot of dirt. When he got back the guys unloaded the extra sand behind the fence in their backyard. Neil took a shower and then we took off for home.

Stopped at Josh's and left him his new phone we had got him on Saturday and a tool box that

was in Jason's and Kim's new truck that they did not want. I drove all the way home. We got home around 10:30pm. It was a 107 degrees in Redding so I am pretty sure it was close to that at our house. Our house was hot, hot, hot. We turned on the A/C full blast to cool it down quick.

It was comfortable by the time we went to bed. It was a very nice day. A very long day. :)

Weekend @ Jason and Kim's

On Friday June 25, 2010 Neil and I went up to help Jason and Kim put in another brick walkway on the south side which is at the back of the house. Last week Neil went up and helped put in a pathway on the west side of the house. They did a beautiful job. This weekend they started on Saturday morning at 7am and did not finish until 5:30pm on Sunday. They did a really beautiful job. While they were working on Saturday I spent time with Kim and Bailey.

Bailey is really growing up and changing from visit to visit. She is now running every where. Kim got her some pink croc's on Friday and she loves wearing them all the time. We watched her play in her little swimming pool. The water was very cold but she did not seem to mind. She started with just putting her feet in and then finally sat in the water. She had a lot of fun putting on her pretty pink sunglasses and being a cool girl. She is so full of energy always doing something. We got her a trampoline last week and she enjoys boucing. She is still not comfortable bouncing in the middle; she stays close to the edge and hangs onto the net to give her some stability and bounces away and she laughs as she does it . It is so fun to watch and enjoy her happiness.

Lolly's Look at June 21,2010

I am trying to figure out how this blogging works. I get started then everything disappears. Can not get pictures posted. Probably need to get a hold of someone who does blogging to help me figure out all the ins and out of blogging.

Had to work over the Father's Day weekend. Neil ended up going to Grants Pass, Oregon to
visit Kim, Jason & Bailey. He helped them put in a paver pathway from their deck to the back gate. He enjoyed his time. Loved holding and playing with granddaughter Bailey. We got her a trampoline. Grandpa put it together for her and she loves it. He had so much fun watching her. He took a lot of pictures of her. Will try to post later. He worked 2 days on the pathway. He
got home real late Sunday night and he was so sore. He stopped by Josh's on the way home and said he almost fell out of the truck. His legs gave out on him. He came home wishing we had a nice hot tub that he could soak in to get rid of all the stiff joints and the aches, the pain.

Mom called while I was out checking the pool. Trying to get it cleared up, it is very cloudy. I called mom back. She said she was doing better than she expected being by herself. I worry about her. I am afraid that she will not eat. She likes to eat a little bit at a time. She is not into big meals. She did not eat much on Sunday. Just a meal in the middle of the afternoon. When I talked to her at 9:20pm she said she was still full from her meal at 1pm in the afternoon. I hope she is snacking. She said she talked to Russell (he was having a very nice Father's Day-has been sick with pluracy since dad's funeral) and to David(he had the day before off and was very sick with a bad cold). I hope they feel better real quick. We did not talk too long, she was tired and ready to go to bed. She reminded me that she does not have to stay up until 11pm any more, that she can go to bed whenever she gets tired.

I went out to buy Father Day cards and the tears started falling. Remembering and missing dad. Had to leave getting cards for another day. So guys don't be surprised if you get a late Father's Day card. I hope you- all the men in the family had a wonderful Father's Day. I was thinking about you-Russell, David, Terry, Larry, Uncle Ward, Duffy, Jason, Charlie, Uncle Joe, Kurt, Kevin, Brian, Shane,Greg,Patrick,Jim, all the Father's in our family here on earth and the ones in Heaven. You all very wonderful and special.

Lolly's Look @ Friday March 19, 2010

Since we went to bed at 1:30am, we all (except Neil up at 5:30am) decided to sleep in. We all started to rise and get the day going at 9:00am. I have not slept in that late in a long time.

Sheri did not get much sleep during the night. She was sleeping downstairs in the family room with mom. Mom had a rough night fitful sleeping and she kept coughing or getting up and down checking on dad.

We sat around the kitchen table sharing our thoughts, memories, and stories.Learned some new things about Uncle Ward and his family. Discovered that he was born in LaGrande, Oregon and that his family had a grocery store.

As I hear these stories I keep thinking that it is very important that we takethe time to write our journals and do our geneaology so this information isnot lost and can be passed from generation to generation.

I notice lately that mom is talking more and more about her life when she was little. I am going to have to have her retell some of her stories because I haveforgotten them. Here is a quick one I remember from my last visit.

Mom and Auntie Sigie decided to get some watermelons out of a neighbors orchard, they ate it and ate some more and some more. Afterwards they did not feel so great. Auntie Sigie told mom when you do something wrong you end up with a bad feeling and boy do they feel bad in more ways then one.

We finally got some breakfast made by 12:00pm.. I cooked up some sausage links, cottage potatoes. Auntie Sigie and Uncle Ward toasted some homemade bread(yum-yum). I started cooking the eggs but did not do very well, so Neil took over cooking the eggs. We had prayer and had a nice delicious brunch.

After brunch Neil and Uncle Ward started cleaning up the backyard. Neil trimmed the bushes and Uncle Ward swept and cleaned the patio furniture.
I came out to take pictures and Neil told me I should be helping instead of
taking pictures. So I pitched in and helped put the trimmings into the trash
can. Mom was getting dad cleaned up and put into his chair in the family room,
Auntie Sigie made him a delicious roast beef sandwich with chips and fruit. Sheri spent some time talking to Terry while he was on his lunch break.

All the women got themselves cleaned up and took off to go shopping in Victorville. Yahoo-we are going shopping. Our first stop was the Super Target.
I have never been to one, so this was a new experience for me. It was so big-
Mom said we could probably spend the whole day there because there is so
much to see. Sheri was impressed too.

We each picked out some personal items to purchase. Mom started to put some groceries in her basket, Auntie Sigie came by and saw what she was getting and told her to put them back that we could get them a lot cheaper at Winco.
Example: a small jar of minced garlic @ Super Target was $2.79 for the same
product and price we got a HUGE jar (5 times the size @ Super Target) we got
at Winco.

Mom was not feeling very well with her cold and she was wearing out pretty quick today. Normally she is like the energize bunny she keeps going and going and going at full speed. She wears me out.
Auntie Sigie reminded us that we needed to get a move on. It was now after 4pm and we still had some more stops to make. It was hard to get us moving we were so interested in checking everything out. Finally we were on our way to our next stop.

Our Second stop was at Winco. Auntie Sigie got the ingredients for her famous delicious Taco Sauce. Mom got some groceries to get us through the weekend.
One of our new traditions with Sheri is to get a self portrait picture with all of us together.We did this in front of Winco. We had so much fun laughing and trying to make sure we were all in the picture. Sheri has a gift of getting great self portrait pictures.

Third stop was at Home Depot. Neil gave me a list of things (in-line refridgerator filter, 1x4x8 piece of redwood or pine, range adapter plug, quick cement, brush to clean under and back of refridgerator, nuts and bolts, etc.)to help fix the things on Mom's Neil to do list. I could not find a lot of the things on the list. Sheri stated we should find an employee and have them help us find the items on the list. They were not much help. We only ended up getting the board and the range adapter plug. Neil will have to come back and get the other things.

It is a good thing that mom has a truck. I don't know how all our purchases would fit into a car. We seem to fill the whole bed of the truck each time we go out shopping. We love to shop.

After Winco we decided we needed to head for home. It was now 6:30pm. We discussed what we were going to fix for dinner-wanted something quick and easy. Decided on KFC. On our way home in honor of Katie(Sheri's daughter)
we stopped at Del Taco for a large cup of fries. Got into the drive-in line. It was taking forever(5 cars in front of us). Looked behind us, there was no one so I
backed up and packed and went inside with Sheri to get our Fries.(very good, nice and hot). We snacked on those on our way back up the hill to Wrightwood.
We stopped at KFC in Phelan. Mom and Auntie Sigie stayed in the truck while Sheri and I went inside. We asked the manager if we could get the TV special-10 pieces of wings and thighs with 2 sides for $10. He did not know anything about the ad, so we ended up getting their regular price for the 20 piece meal. It smelled real good all the way home.

While we women were out shopping Neil and Uncle Ward kept dad company and made sure he was ok. We got back to Wrightwood @ 8 pm. Missed seeing Larry. He was at the bishop's playing Domino's. We had our KFC, got into our PJ's and waited up for Russell to arrive with his family. He was suppose to leave
Pleasant Grove and 3pm and stop in Cedar City to pick up Tiffany.

Russell, Shirley, Emily, Spencer, Tiffany and Clint (did not expect him, so it
was a very nice surprise) arrived at 12:30am. We stayed up talking until 2am.
We were all very tired. We all gave hugs and kisses and off to bed we went.
Dad is in his room, Mom, Sheri, Emily, Tiffany and Clint slept in the family room, Russell, Shirley, and Spencer slept in the living room, Auntie Sigie and Uncle Ward slept in the front bedroom(old girls room), and Neil and I slept in the backbed room(old boys room while we were growing up). Nightly, Night to all. Thank you Heavenly Father for getting Russell and his family to mom and dad's house safely. It was a wonderful day.

Look @ Thursday March 18, 2010

Got a very nice surprise last night. I came home from work and Sheri, Terry,

Katie and Donovan were standing in the driveway talking to Neil. She decided

to travel with Neil and I to Wrightwood, CA for a family get together celebrating dad's 76th birthday.

Neil and I had to work in the morning. I was getting off at 12:30 pm and Neil was going to try to get off by 2pm. We all drove into Chico together. I dropped

Neil off, then Sheri and I made a pit stop at McDonald's for breakfast. We ate

it on our way to the Chico Mall where I work at Bath & Body Works.

While I was working Sheri occupied her time with taking a short nap, reading a book, then when the mall was open she checked out all the stores. She got nabbed by a kiosk worker, he talked her into having her straighten. She came by the store to show me. It looked really nice-her hair looked super shiney and soft. I wished I got a picture of it.

The guy tried to talk her into buying the straightner for $200.It was a little bit out of her budget but she told her daughter Katie about it.

I got off of work at 12:30pm. Right on time. Sheri and I planned to do some

shopping while waiting for Neil. Just as I got off work Neil called and said he

could leave any time, so come and pick him up. So much for our shopping.

We did stop at Sally's Beauty Supply to get a perm for mom. Hopefully we got

the right one. We picked up Neil and then made a stop at CVS Pharmacy to

pick up my meds. Neil decided to wait in the truck. While we were there we

decided to pick up some snacks (butter popcorn, carmel corn, jelly beans,

mixed nuts, sunflower seeds, chocolate candy bars, Chez-it). They had 1 of

my meds done but did not have the other one-they called the doctor's office and

were told that I did not take it - I was a little surprised because I have been

taking it for the past 3 years. They got approval to fill it but it would be a half

hour or more to pick it up. We decided I could wait until we get back from our

trip to pick it up.

So now we are officially on our way to mom and dad's. We ended up leaving town at 2pm. I started out driving and Neil gave me a bad time about how I

was driving. I got the hint that he wanted to drive. So he took over and drove

all the way.

We stopped at McDonald's in Gridley for lunch and ate it as we drove. Our next stop was at the Turlock Rest stop. Neil said our next stop would be in 175 miles.

In the center divide and along the sides of the freeway in Turlock there were some beautiful yellow, orange, pink, lavender spring flowers. We talked, read

magazines, listened to music, and played some Jeopardy on the lap top-we found out how much we do not know.

Along the way Russell texted Sheri to see if she was coming. He was also texting me at the same time wanting to know if Sheri was coming. We were trying

to find answers that would still give the truth but not let on that she was coming. Wanted it to be a surprise for him, mom and dad. We also talked to

mom on the way down. She also wanted to know if I had heard that Sheri was

coming.

We stopped in Mojave for fuel and some dinner-Sheri suggested McDonald's

again because it is easy to eat while on the road. I was tired of McDonald's and

wanted something different so we decided on Carl's. We split a grilled cheese,

bacon burger and some mini burritos-it was pretty good at the time, but paid

for it later with an upset stomach-tooo much fast food in one day.

We suprised mom by arriving 2 hours early and with Sheri. Auntie Sigie was

onto us. She was telling mom that Sheri was probably with us when we drove

up. We all had a good laugh and lots of hugs and kisses. So excited to see everyone. Glad that Auntie Sigie and Uncle Ward are there helping mom and

dad.

We talked for a little while. Mom is sick with a real bad cold and stated it

was time for everyone to get some sleep. So everyone did their teeth cleaning,

washing their faces, into their night clothes, prayers and off to sleep.

Thank you Heavenly Father for our safe arrival and the wonderful trip along the

way and the opportunity to make memories and be with our wonder family.

Goodnight.

Test Post

Family Reunion - Walgren Family for Dad's Birthday