A ONE AND A TWO

Finally the cat's out of the bag and I can share our big news.  It's been killing me (seriously) to keep the secret but now that it's all over Facebook I can tell whomever I want.  Woohooo!

Come February or March we will have nine little grandchildren to kiss, cuddle, and spoil.  Nathan and Emily are going to be the proud parents of two little girls (at least that's what the doctor thinks but the babies were moving around too much to get a clear picture).   I am so excited for them and for me.  The girls are really starting to outweigh the boys so I'm thinking that Brittany and Olivia need to have boys this year. Hint, hint.

AND THE TOTAL IS...

$1,329.20

Some of you were waaaaaaaay off but surprisingly one of you was quite close.  My sister Ailsa guessed  $1273.21 which seems a little fishy to me when everyone else is off by hundreds of dollars and she misses the total by $56.  I'm calling for an inquiry.

HOW MUCH????

A couple of years ago we started putting loose change into a big water cooler jug with the intent to save up some fun money for our family Disney trip.  Next week Ian is taking it to the bank to be counted.  So here's the question: how much do you think the final total will be?  Take into consideration that there are some loonies and toonies in there.  For you non-Canadians, a loonie is a dollar coin (named for the picture of the loons on the tail side), and a toonie is a two dollar coin.  We have referred to them as that for so long that it doesn't seem even the least bit strange or funny any more.  The closest guess wins a prize.

A TALE FROM THE PAST

This little anecdote happened a number of years back when all five of my kids were under the age of ten.
 I had just said goodbye to Ian who was going out for the evening and I went to check on the kids who had been put to bed about a half an hour previously.  All of them were sleeping soundly so I decided I was going to run a well deserved,warm bath and soak for an hour.  As I lay there luxuriating in the bubbles the sudden thought hit me that I had forgotten to lock the front door.  That knowledge sabotaged any hope of truly enjoying my bath and my very active imagination set off a series of scenarios playing in my head all of which invariably lead to my untimely death at the hands of a serial killer.  As I lay there contemplating getting out of the bath to go and lock the door I noticed a shadow pass under the bathroom door.  It felt as if my heart stopped and for a moment I froze.

"Ian is that you?"  I called out.  "You're home late." I added, even though I was not expecting him home for at least another hour but I wasn't going to let my intruder know that.  I wanted him to think that someone would be home at any moment.
Not only was this met with silence but the shadow that had passed by now came back and stood still in front of the bathroom.
"Adam, is that you?"
Silence.
"Matthew, is that you?
Silence.
"Daniel?"
Silence.
"Brittany?"
"Nathan, is that you out there?  Do you need to go to the bathroom?"
Silence.
"Would you answer me please!"
Silence.
  My imagination kicked into high gear at this point.
I could see that the door handle was slowly being turned back and forth and I was convinced I was about to meet my doom.  I looked around the bathroom and realized there was absolutely nothing in there that  I could defend myself with and then I remembered watching something about the best thing you can do in a situation like that is to surprise your attacker because it will throw him off his game plan. This thought gave me courage, I wasn't going to be an easy target so I stepped out of the bath dripping wet, covered in bubbles, completely naked, and made my way to the door.  I undid the lock ever so quietly, yanked open the door, at the same time yelling in my very loudest voice "GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!!!!"
There stood three year old Nathan looking up at me with his big blue eyes, sheer terror on his face.
"Muuummy?"

THANKFUL

THANKFUL FOR

• Indian summer - warm days, cool crisp nights, colourful trees, nature's last hurrah before the snow flies and winter comes.
• my kids - I sometimes look at them and think "I made them?" They are each so unique and yet so the same in ways.  Kind, generous, smart, and in the words of Derek Zoolander "ridiculously good-looking". They didn't even pay me to say that.
• my grandkids - seven already and number eight on the way.  Sweet, cheeky, happy and loving, and always ready to give me a hug and a kiss.  I could not feel more blessed.
• my daughters-in-law - our family was pretty awesome before but now with these three girls it is ridiculously awesome.  I can't begin to tell you how much I love and appreciate them. Two are the mothers to a majority of my grandchildren and they value their roles as nurturers to those special little ones.  
• friends - I have a lot...more than I deserve really... all over the world.  Each friendship is valued, they enrich my life in a way that is impossible to describe.  I am friends with some of the smartest, funniest, and kindest people in the world.  I am sure you fall into one of those categories considering you're reading my blog.
• turkey dinners - turkey is fine but what I really care for is all the trimmings... mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, did I mention mashed potatoes?  mmmmm... my favorite! Bring on the left overs!
• my husband - I lucked out in that department.  He is the reason that our marriage runs so smoothly.  I accuse him of having OCD but in reality I envy the ease in which he organizes and remembers everything (except where utensils belong in the kitchen).  The grandkids adore him.  What more could you want?
• my health - One of life's greatest blessings is good health.  I couldn't be more thankful for that blessing in my life. 

Happy Thanksgiving to you all.  If you haven't already, take a moment to reflect on the things you are thankful for.

SUNDAY SMILE-LOVE THY NEIGHBOR

One of the things I was looking forward to when we moved into our new house was meeting our neighbors.  At our old house we couldn't even see our neighbors but at our new house we are close enough that I can wave to my one neighbor through the window if we are both doing dishes at the same time and if I am out on the deck reading I can wave to the neighbor on the other side if she is sitting in her porch reading.
So let me tell you about our neighbors.  The lady on the one side of us is in her eighties.  Her husband is in a nursing home so she has her daughter living with her.  Up until about last week when the weather got colder I could count on her swimming by at least two times a day.  She is an inspiration to me.  I only hope that I am as active as she is when I am that age.
The neighbors on the other side of us are an Italian couple also in their eighties.  Fortunately they are all hard of hearing so they really don't mind when all seven of the grandkids are here whooping and hollering in the water. Anyway... the Italian couple often call me over to chat when I am in the yard,  this can be entertaining as neither of them hear well and both have thick accents.  One day John (83) calls me over.  "I have some cucumbers from my garden I wanna give you." he said to me in his thick Italian accent.
I told him I'd be over in just a minute, I just needed to grab a grocery bag to put them in.  I quickly ducked into the house because I was only dressed in my rather revealing bathing suit and I joked with Emily that I needed to put a cover up on or John might want to give me more than a cucumber. I headed next door and John told me what cucumbers I should pick.  The conversation went something like this.

"Your husband, how come I never see him?"

"He works for a living.  He'll be home tonight."

"He no stay around much?"

"Yes, he's just busy right now because we've been away a lot and he has some catching up to do."

"Ah! When he at home, he spend all his time with you?"

"Mostly but he likes to golf too."

"Okay so here all the cucumber I gonna give you."

"Thank you so much, I appreciate it."

"That's okay.  You give me a little kiss now eh?"

I wouldn't normally kiss the guy but we'd been to his house a couple of times and both he and his wife as I was leaving kissed me... on the lips...I thought it must be an Italian thing. So I leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the lips and that's when he slipped in a little tongue action.  I couldn't believe it.  I didn't know if I should laugh or cry.  I pushed him away and gave him a little slap on the chest and I think I said "that's not okay".  I would have slapped him a little harder had he not been 83 and had I not been in total shock.
Later that afternoon we all went for a swim and I dove off the dock.  I happened to glance into their yard and there John was working on the retaining wall on his beach.  The next thing I know, off comes his shirt and he shovels away topless.  I would have put it down to coincidence except a couple of hours later he does the exact same thing.  I go in for another swim and the next thing I know, he is shirtless again.  Needless to say, my family has been having great fun at my expense.

BUSTED

Last weekend I had the privilege of attending General Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah.  Personally attending conference was on my bucket list of things to do and when Ian happened to have a work conference in California the week prior it seemed like the perfect opportunity.  We made the executive decision not to let anyone in Utah know we were coming because one,we were only there for the weekend,two, we were not renting a car, and three, Ian's brother David and his daughter were driving down from Idaho to visit with us.  It was a tough decision to make because we have so many good friends living nearby and even more acquaintances and we knew we just couldn't fit in a visit with everyone and didn't want to offend anyone.  The LDS Conference center at full capacity allows for just over 21,000 people to attend and trust me when I say that it was filled up.  Just before the meeting started I noticed a familiar head about 15 rows in front of me.
"Is that (name withheld to protect privacy)?" I asked Ian.
"It looks like him." was his reply.
"He's with a girl." I exclaimed and before Ian could concur, I shot up out of my seat to get all the juicy details er... I meant... to say hello to my friend.  Yeah, that's it, to say hello to my friend. He was just as shocked to see me as I was to see him.  BUSTED Much to my chagrin one of the two girls he was with happened to be the daughter of some wonderful friends of ours, the very friends we'd neglected to let know we were coming. Now it was my turn to get BUSTED.  As they say in Utah, dang!  I hope I didn't give away too much info about my mystery encounter.

Some old friends of ours from way back did find out from a mutual friend that we were going to be in Salt Lake City last weekend and after we bade goodbye to my brother in law and niece, we enjoyed a wonderful couple of hours catching up with them.  It was so good of them to tear themselves away from a sick son  to spend some time with us.

To all our wonderful friends in Utah, I promise we will come back another time to do dome visiting.