What's been going on...

Well, things are busy. I've been Blogging  a lot.  Just not on my own blog.  I have been keeping up two blogs  for both my niece and nephew that are serving missions for the LDS church.  This weekend I found myself with out anything planned for two whole days. Before I knew it I was cutting out denim I had been toting around for 10+ years.  In just a matter of a few days I have pieced 2 tops together.  I have a second ready to lay out and sew. Hopefully it won't take 10+ years to quilt it.  Thank goodness my sister was there to encourage me and help me out a bit. I would probably been sitting at starting top 1 with out her.  

The past 8 weeks

The following photos are not for weak stomached people. The last week of May John underwent surgery to fix an old skin graft that was failing.  When it all started we were not sure what all this would entail but as things got started, other than worrying a bit that things would turn south here we are looking back 8 weeks, watching in amazement, a small miracle.  I'm not one that likes to point out miracles or even reference things as such. Life is life, there are great things that happen every day. This is a crazy thing we have been through. You see, Johns head was no longer covering his skull. There was bone showing through.  For about 6 months we thought it was an infection.  Little did we know it was skull bone.  The doctor scrapped the skin off, removed skull to get to a healthy blood supply.  Then started layering on this fairy dust and pig bladder, that created John's cells to regroup and make new tissue. We still have some healing time but we are out of the woods for now.  Here are a few shots. You can see where it started and where it's come.  

A little bit of Texas

We came all the way from Utah to visit a little piece of Texas. You see, baby Ira was born a few months (oh that sounds too long ago) 10 weeks ago and yesterday Papa and M boarded the plane and headed to Texas. We flew to Phoenix for just a few minutes and then headed to Texas. While in sky the pilot told us we were over El Paso. M couldn't believe how long it took to fly from one side of Texas to the other. She was glad we were flying not driving. We got to the airport and called baby Ira and his mom. They were just getting to the airport so we headed out to find them. M did a fantastic "run down" while they were trying to do a "drive by" and we loaded up to come to Baytown. Papa sat in the back seat with Ira for a while. He was so excited to let the world know he was in Texas he was on his phone when M took this photo.

We stopped at Whataburger, just because that's what you eat when you come to Texas. M loved the spicy ketchup and Papa loved the pickles. Ira just enjoyed laughing and smiling and getting loved on.

Papa got a lot of laughs and that made his day. M decided that is she lived in Texas she would have a haircut just like Papa. He assured her they wouldn't move to Texas anytime soon. They would just come to visit. 

We came home to Baytown and M and Ira spent most of the afternoon cuddling on the couch. M says its hard to hold the baby and take the photos.  Maybe Papa will take some pictures while they are here.

Playing ball

Tonight we went out to play a game of volleyball. The dogs were not very happy about it. They spent the whole time chasing after the ball, the girls and anything that moved. It was all we could do to get them to stay still for the picture.

FDR

We had a great visit with Tim, Leslie and Zack. Among our favorite spots was this memorial that we walked through and learned about the state of our nation during his presidency. Amazing stories, the feeling is great as you walk among the four "rooms" symbolizing the four terms he served. We had a great tour guide telling us the in's about what we were seeing. We posed for our family shot right here,
A fun day in Washington DC.

A wonderful weekend to quilt

This quilt has been in the making since November. It is a birthday/ Christmas present for Nash. Well, the top was finished in time for the Christmas season, but there just wasn't time to quilt it by Christmas. You see, the best weekends to quilt are the LDS conference weekends. It makes for two whole days you can quilt and listen to conference of course. Thank goodness Lori has a basement room big enough to quilt the king sized quilt. We laid it on the floor to mark it. That was a great project. Then the fun started. Stitch by stitch minute by minute we were making a quilt. It turned out beautiful and. My fingers were only sore through Tuesday. Not bad for 8 hours of quilting.

35 things I learned from or love about LaRee

People are the most important things in life~Family is the best thing to be around~Food helps everyone get along~Serving others is a necessity~Smiling makes people wonder what you are up to~ God loves everyone and so should you~ You have something to give~Babies are special~play store with your kids~ Enjoy the small things in life~ watercress makes a good sandwich~ Girls can enjoy the mountains as much as boys ~ Go the extra mile~ The best conversations happen at the dinner table~ Sisters are the best friends~ Life isn't fair, make the best of it ~ Food storage is easier than you think ~ Read~ you don't have to be good at everything just be good ~ Anything is a good reason to have a party ~ putting a quilt on makes for a fun weekend~ be nice~ Try new things~ Hang your clothes on a line ~ Never learn to use the snow blower or lawn mover, if you do that will be your chore also~ it's ok to scream when there is a snake ~ neighbors save lives ~ help others~ Play in the dirt~ you don't need a tv ~ Make sure you celebrate St. Patrick's day ~ Include everyone~ You are never too old to play ~ Homemade is always better ~ Simple is happiness!

Today would be my moms 75 birthday. I am so glad that I got to have her in my life. She will never know how much she means to me. I hope that while she was here, I at least showed her a bit of how important she is to me. Never a day goes by that I don't think of her or wish to ask her a question. Often when I am doing things for the first time I wish she was here to do them with me.

The reason I picked "35" for her special number this year is because we share our birth years. She would turn 75, I'll turn 35 this year.

Happy birthday mom! I love you.

May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields and,
Until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Dinner is on

You see, we have been planning out our weekly menu's. It gets pretty exciting around here because some of us like to try new things and some of us like to eat the same things. I myself like trying new things so on my day of cooking I try to pick something new/Pinterest worthy. Last week I found myself home alone one night for dinner. I made Pad Thai. I knew John would be happy. He's not the biggest fan. Here it is. It was wonderful. I added more spicy sauce to mine when I was ready to eat. It wins and I'll eat it again.

Spoiled

Yes I am. My niece just gave me one of the best pedi's ever. It was a great end to the evening after spending days behind a shovel and snow blower. I paid her back with the same treatment.

Once a dairy farmer

Always a dairy farmer. Today while we visited my dad at the hospital, he was asking how he could keep his muscles or strength up while he lays in a bed. We told him to flex him muscles a few times an hour. He squeezed his hands and replyed that he couldn't do that with out a cow. I reached up behind me and made him "Bessie" she didn't look like a cow but it did give him four teats to squeeze. He had a good laugh squeezing while pointing the glove at us.

Poor pops

My Dad has been in the hospital for the better part of December and all of January so far. He has had a hard time getting better. Please keep him in your prayers. We're taking all of the, we can get.

Kissing cousins

Here are the Garcia cousins that were in Utah for Christmas. We were missing some but we were still able to keep the crazy up.

Happy New Year

My husband was excited to ring in the new year with1200 teens. It was a fun night. We had a great time acting like toughies.

It's a cake

A wedding cake that is. Our family is in love with "My big fat Greek wedding" we quote it as often as we can. Elliot's wedding is cause for us to quote and act funny. Lori was elected to make the wedding cake. She enlisted the help of Paige and myself. We got together and had a good time decorating and making. We laughed and enjoyed our sister time.