Weekend With Claire

I borrowed this picture from Sarah's blog - for those of you who may only see it here!

Sarah went to San Antonio Friday and Saturday to attend a women's conference with her Fruge family - very cool. We had the opportunity to keep Claire Bear - of course we had a fun time. It always amazes me how quickly she is growing up. She is so not a baby anymore - she has stong opinions, a vivid imagination, and a gift for anything musical: singing, dancing, etc.

Saturday evening her cousin, Taylor came by with her grandma (my sister-in-law). For those who don't know - Sarah's husband, and Sarah's first cousin's wife are brother and sister. (did ya get that?) So...Sarah's cousin, Justin is her cousin AND her brother-in-law! When Claire was first born Jarom asked Sarah if Claire was her daughter and her cousin!!!!! I know - our family tree is a wreath!

During sacrament meeting on Sunday Claire picked up the bulletin which had a big picture of the Savior on the front; she looked adoringly at it and said, "Jesus!" The look on her face was priceless.

Picture Tag

I saw this on Sarah's blog - I love these tags!!! So, here are the rules: open the sixth folder in your "My Pictures" and then upload the sixth picture.

This is a picture of the tape when Sarah was in labor with Claire! The feed on the left is the baby's variability - or how reactive she is. As you can see she's got a good line which means she is alert and reactive to what's going on around her. The feed on the right measures Sarah's contractions. It doens't look like things were too rough at this point. Just a little note - Sarah's labor was pretty okay until her water broke - it all hit the fan then, and Claire came just a couple of hours later! It was awesome!!!

I tag Ron, Sarah, April, Caryn, and Brianne

Weekend with Heber, Ashlei, and Jace

Sweet smile for Daddy
Got on his cool clothes, got his succor, and ready to go outside!
Jace loves it outside - he's such a boy!
Jace and Max
Heber, Ashlei, and Jace

Heber, Ashlei, and Jace spent the weekend with us last weekend. Heber was best man in his best friend's wedding, so they were pretty busy. We didn't get to visit a lot, but it was enough to see them and have them close for awhile. We're hoping Heber will be transferred down to Houston soon. I want him and Ashlei to be able to be together - they've been separated for about eight months while Ashlei has been at MD Anderson undergoing treatment, and then a bone marrow transplant in August. It's been pretty rough on Ashlei, but she has Jace with her now at least. It was a rough week waiting for test results, but as posted earlier - the bone marrow transplant was successful and she is in remission! Jace is precious - ALL BOY! He loves to go outside, watch Thomas the Train, and be with his mom and dad.

Remission!!!

Earlier in the week Heber had told me that Ashlei had one hundred percent grafting. That means her bone marrow and the donor marrow are working together as one. She had a PET scan on Monday and an MRI on Tuesday, and was to hear the results today. Heber called me this afternoon and told me Ashlei got her report from the doctor: REMISSION!!!

We are SO BLESSED! It has been heartbreaking to watch her go through all she has been through - both physically and emtionally. She's tough though - to go through most of this with Heber in Oklahoma. I'm proud of this young woman who is my daughter-in-law. She's a very special chick!

YAHOO!!!

Hammy's Gone

Our little squirrel, Hammy, was found dead in his cage yesterday. We had just had him outside the night before playing with him. I don't know what happened, but we'll sure miss him. It was neat to have him for the three weeks that we did; I'm thankful for the experience of raising a little wild animal - it was a lot of fun.

General Conference

General Conference was SO WONDERFUL! What a blessing to be able to sit in your own living room all snuggled under a quilt and listen to a prophet of the Lord and other church leaders guide and direct us - literally scripture for the next six months!

We have everything, don't we? We live in the final days of the earth - it's true - but...we have EVERTHING: The gospel of Jesus Christ is restored! The power of the Priesthood is on the earth! We have a living prophet - a living prophet - amazing!!!

I am so thankful for the life I lived before I came to this earth that allowed me to have the blessings that I have here, and I pray that one day when I am on the other side I will be able to say, "I am thankful for the life that I lived on earth that allowed me to have the blessings that I have here. "

Crazy Squirrel!

Life's rough, huh?!
Milton feeding him his "bottle"
Full tummy and all stretched out!

His eyes are open now!

This little guy has been such a blessing and such a joy! He is adorable and so sweet! We were feeding him with a syringe at first, but now he has an actual pet bottle; he loves it! He's a smacker too! He's such a little fatty! His unofficial name is Hammy from "Over The Hedge", but the kids say it doesn't fit him. If anyone has any name ideas - leave me a comment and let me know!

Our Week With Claire!

Riding Fancy with Aunt Megan
"Don't drop me Uncle Jay!"
Playing with Grandpa Kenneth's dog, Ruby
Feeding the baby squirrel his bottle
Driving the golf cart

I don't know if I can even express what a wonderful week we had while Claire was staying with us. I know she's our precious grandbaby, but honestly - we're not predjudiced! She was SO SWEEEEET, and so good. One day when her mommy called she asked me if I had to put her in time out...uh...NO! I told Sarah that I had actually not even thought about it! She played and sang, and charmed us from sun-up to sun-down. Thank you so much to her mommy and daddy for letting her stay with us! Claire, we love you SO MUCH! What does Gammy say? That's right, "Love you Punkin!!!"

I've Been Tagged!

Okay, I've been tagged by my daughter, Sarah. I hope I'm not so un-cool that I do this wrong!

Here are the rules:

1) Link the person who tagged you

2) Mention the rules on your blog

3) Tell six of your quirks

4) Tag six fellow bloggers

5) Leave a comment to let them know

Here is the link to Sarah's blog:

http://sarahfruge.blogspot.com/

My Quirks:

1) It drives me crazy if a cabinet door, or a drawer is left open

2) Being late (even though I'm always late) I hate it!

3) At work, my cubicle is probably the most organized at the office - I'm really OCD about that. When I worked at the hospital my med cart had to be organized just so too! Funny, cuz my house is NEVER organized!

4) When I take a shower I have to go in a certain order: wash hair, put in conditioner, wash up, then rinse everything - ha ha!

5) When I pump gas it has to end on a whole number so if it goes to $30.02 I have to keep going up to $33.00 - even if I'm bumping the car to fit it in!

6) When I go up or down stairs I have a compulsion to count them. I have to purposefully lose count - crazy, huh?

Hey, this stuff won't be held against us, will it?!

I tag Ron, April, Caryn, Brianne& Janelle (I only have five)

Workin' Hard

Physical Therapy has been very beneficial; I think I've come a long way though I still have a long way to go. One of the exercises I do is to just step up on a four inch box - that's all - no weight bearing - just step up and then back down. The other day I asked the girl if I could have the six inch box now cuz I felt like I could do it. I had actually started out with that one, but could not do it at first. (I know - I'm a wimp!) She gave me the bigger box and then went to let the PT know. Remember the old saying: "be careful what you wish for (or ask for); you may get it"? The therapist decided I would now do that exercise with a NINE inch box, and I used the four inch box to step up - full weight bearing. (Today he had me do the full weight bearing with a SIX inch box)! He also added side stepping with a thera-band around my ankles ( that's like a big rubberband), a three pound ankle weight when I do one of the leg lifts, and walking without the cane. I can actually do that, but I use it cuz it helps with the "gimpyness" that I still have. That's been disappointing, but the other day he also did a test that showed I still have almost no strength in those hip muscles. Of course that's the result of about four years with a hip that was so bad there was almost no function in it. Those poor muscles have really weakened - hence - the gimp! For awhile I didn't need a pain pill before therapy, and I didn't sweat. Not anymore!!! I'm sweatin' now! I do exercises and walking in the therapy pool too - that's fun! I really feel that walking in my back which is a good thing. My low back has gotten really weak and now maybe it'll get stronger. My goal is to get back to normal, and I want to walk (if they have a walk - I know they have a run) at Dogwood time this Spring, and also ride in the trail ride! Yee-haw!