A visit to Grandma and Grandpas!! Part 7

~A promise is a promise~

Earlier on in our stay we had promised the kids to take them swimming in the new pool that the town has now. The day we went was FREEZING outside, but so much fun inside.

They have a lazy river section which was really funny at first. My grandma Ruth braved the water with me and when we first got in my kids were all being such chickens. It was a huge shock since Abby's normally my brave girl. It didn't take her long though to warm up to the idea. They had life jackets available to borrow and we put one on all the kids and had a great time!

Grandma Ruth helping Abby on the Lily pads...she and Derrick had a lot of fun on these! Derrick was really good at getting from pad to pad and Abby got better each time!

Another perk of the pool was the slide in the shallow part of the pool...they ALL loved this one.

Madie loved to play in the water fountain area. She tried to drink the water a time or two. I guess it does look similar to a drinking fountain!!

Madie, Derr and I on the lazy river!

Derrick floating down the river!

Grandma Ruth, me, Madie, Cailee and Brooklyn (my cousins daughter) in the shallow end. I think we are watching someone on the lily pad thing, but not sure.

We had such a great time! Thanks Grandma for the fun pool time!! Thanks Mom for taking pictures so I didn't have to worry about it!! Funny story to note:

We weren't exactly ready ready to leave, but had a quick exit when Abby swallowed too much water and it came back up...OOPS. I was so embarrassed. Thankfully my Mom was brave enough to tell someone that she had thrown up in the pool. I have no idea what they did about it...we got everyone dried off as best as we could and headed back to Grandma's house!

A visit to Grandma and Grandpas!! Part 6

Rickity Rack...the cousins are back!!

One major perk for going to stay at Grandma and Grandpa's house it that my sister lives in the same town!! Cousins are always a plus and they got to play almost every day we were there! I grabbed my camera one day, but wish I would have taken more pictures.

Brandon LOVES to have boys to play with and Aaron, Aidan and Derrick are always good to include him when he wants to play.

The girls were so silly when I was taking pictures!

I'm not sure where Abby was when we were taking these...possibly with the boys.

**All photographs taken on another one of the faves...the swing!!**

A visit to Grandma and Grandpas!! Part 5

Scruba-Dub-Dub...
Fun in Grandma's Tub!!
One part of going to Grandma and Grandpa's house is the spa tub...otherwise

known as the bubble tub! Madie LOVES bubbles and they all wanted to get in the tub so

they had a great time one day in the Bubble Tub!

A visit to Grandma and Grandpas!! Part 4

What do a domesticated racoon, two mini donkeys, crazy slide, trampoline jumping, swinging barrel, hay ride, and a mini roller coaster ride have in common?

ONE HAPPY FAMILY

Abbys my little dare devil. She was so excited to try the home made roller coaster!

I just had to post this because I have the coolest Mom in the world!!

I rode this too, but didn't have anyone take video:(

A visit to Grandma and Grandpas!! Part 3

We love Trampolines...

but we LOVE

Aunt Darcee, Uncle Justin and Uncle Derrick MORE!

A visit to Grandma and Grandpas!! Part 2

Mommy, when I grow up I want to be...

A kitty

Madie LOVES animals and where Sophie the cat plays is no exception to her love. She played more in Sophie's toy than Sophie did. I mainly see Sophie sleeping in it. Probably trying to escape the kids chasing her around trying to play with her or pick her up. Oh and a funny story...Sophie is one funny cat. She thinks she's a person and it's hilarious. My parents have a spa tub in their bathroom and the way you turn the water on is pretty easy to turn. Sophie has designated this place as her "drinking fountain". Well after coming into the bathroom to the water being left on they had to rubber band the hot and cold together so it would be too tough for Sophie to turn on. One day we found Madie in their turning the water on for Sophie. I guess the rubber bands didn't make it Madie proof!

Madie's the cutest kitty I've ever seen!

A visit to Grandma and Grandpas!! Part 1

Puppy Love

Madie absolutely LOVES Grandma's "puppy" (he's not a puppy anymore but that's what she calls him) Toby. She spent many hours in Toby's room playing, feeding, feeding and trying to give him LOTS of treats. She got many puppy kisses and tried to give him a few herself...YUCK!

Trying to sneak more food for Toby. We had to take his food out of the room a lot due to this sneaky one trying to over feed him.
Please let me in...I want to play with my friend.

I don't know why but she would stick out her belly and laugh at Toby.

Trying to get Toby to "kiss" her hand.

She just can't get enough of those "kisses".

So far behind I don't even know...

where to begin and what to blog about. I'm going to try over the next bit to catch up though. So here we go.

Hope

Hope. Hope comes in many different forms. Sometimes not in the form we think hope comes. This time hope came in the form of an elderly man, who has lived a full long life and at first glance looks to be in excellent health...especially for his age. I sat in the second row on the left side of the chapel not knowing this man. He was introduced by our Stake President as being a former Stake President in our area. This man, who now I see as a man of strength, began to speak. He spoke of a time not too long ago when he was told by his doctor that his kidneys, after all this time of having Nephritis, were failing him. He was told he would need a transplant and the likelihood of getting a kidney anytime soon was NOT likely. He would most likely have to go on dialysis for the duration of time it would take to get a kidney. He was told of an alternative list that the donor kidney doesn't have a long life span, for lack of a better way to put it. They wouldn't expect the kidney to function longer than a 30 year span, which being an older man who has lived a great life and probably wouldn't live longer than that, chose to be on this list.

He served in the temple and he and his beautiful wife were preparing one morning to head to the temple when the phone rang. It was his doctor telling him that he needed to get to Salt Lake. There was a kidney available. They had notified the person ahead of him, but always have a backup person just in case. So on the chance of being a backup they headed. There were actually two kidneys and he was the recipient of one of them. His doctors were amazed that he didn't have to have dialysis prior to the transplant. Its not very common. The transplant took nicely and there stood a strong elderly man who to me was the face of HOPE.

I debated going to the adult session of that stake conference, but am forever grateful that I did. It was personal testimony to me that my Heavenly Father loves me. He sent this man to this conference of many people and out of these people spoke of something that meant something special to me. Those who know my dear Cailee of course, their thoughts joined mine in that miracles do happen. I wish I could remember this mans name because to me he was an angel sent to deliver a message of hope. I don't know what Cailee's future will hold, but for now it gave me a renewed sense of hope.