Labor Day Weekend with the Sugie's

Friday finally came and with it came the Sugie's! We had waited long enough to see our favorite Oremite Family. I was working at the Pharmacy when I heard this little voice say, "Gamma". When I turned to look, as any "Gamma" would do, I saw the sweetest little faces staring back. A few hugs and kisses and then they were gone and I had to stay and finish work. 9:00 came way too slow after that.

When I got home we had to feed the fishes and make plans for Saturday. It was unamious~ we were going to the Eastern Idaho State Fair in Blackfoot. We used to go every year towing with us any number of kids. I don't think we ever did get to take all 10 as we had moved to Oregon just before Alisha was born. But, we have lots of memories of fair week. Some of my earliest memories are of going with Granma and Granpa Thomas. They liked to spoil our kids with everything imaginable and I want to be like Granma T. at the fair. Thanks Sitani and Marley for letting me practice!
But before we could leave for the fair Saturday morning, Sitani had to show off his skateboarding skills. Really quite impressive for a little guy!


On the way to the fair we stopped at the DI to see if they had any strollers for sell. Marley found her kind of stroller and had to try it out.
I didn't take any pictures while at the fair because Kristi was taking some great shots and I knew she'd share them on her blog. Instead, I just got to be "Gamma" and have fun with the kids. Oh, the food, the people, the exhibits, and the rides!!
Alisha bought a wrist band and we didn't see much of her. Tessha decided to join her on the rides and then they were both gone. I think they must of rode every ride at least twice. At 10:00 PM they were still looking at me and with a pleaful voice asking, "Just one more ride, please?" Such was a great day at the fair. We've decided to make it an annual event. Anyone else living with my grandkids is welcome to come ~ that is if you bring the kids. (Watch for Kristi's blog for pictures)
Saturday night Kristi and I sat out on the swing till almost 2:00 o'clock in the morning talking and ocassionally going inside to check Will's tracker to see how he was doing on Rainer. (He's amazing!!!)
Sunday we all went to church and Sue and Mary Felber even joined us. Sue was taking Mary back to BYUI so they stopped in IF long enough to attend Church with us.
It's always so fun to see them both and to hear all the neat news from Drain. *** Mr. Vickery*** or "Roger" to us retired as Elementary Principal last spring but Candy is still there holding things together.
Haini prepared dinner for us and we were drooling from the wonderful smell of his grilled chicken, bratts and rice. He even did grilled corn on the cob for us. I called it the "Eat your heart out" menu! Did you take note of the grilled pineapple?? Sorry to anyone reading this that didn't get any. I still think he needs to open his own resturant (here in IF, of course).
While Haini grilled, Dad relaxed in his chair ~ Eli stretched out on the living room floor ~ and Sitani and Marley played on the tramp with the sprinkler under it and after dinner they had a dip in "Granma's swimming pool".

They could be the poster children for Hot Tub sells.
After naps on Granma's bed, they loaded up the bunk beds and crib and headed home to Orem. Thank goodness I'll get to see them in a couple of weeks. Withdrawal is always so hard.

An August of Beginnings

We’ll begin August with some beautiful August roses. I’m always grateful for beautiful roses in my garden.Dad’s not a rose, but I’m also grateful for him- especially grateful that his health has improved and he’s had a great summer. We celebrated his 59th birthday this month. Lots of kids called home to visit with him and I know he appreciated that the most. So, in order for him to enjoy keeping in touch with everyone, we bought him a new computer. He already had a good monitor but he was using Granpa Harmon’s old computer and it was all but gone. Dad and I had looked at this one for a few months and I decided it was time to really celebrate and buy it for his birthday. He has really enjoyed it since then.Tessha added a touch of class with an Armoni tie – baby blue!!On August 17th Dad and I celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary. So much has happened in so few years. It makes me wonder about all the things that are yet to come throughout the eternities. 35 is just the beginning. We celebrated the week before because I had to go back to work on the 17th. So, for our anniversary Dad took me to dinner and then to see "Harry Potter". We also went to a couple of temple sessions and did Sealings after each session. The Idaho Falls temple is no longer making assignments for Sealings. Instead, after each session they open up the Sealing rooms to anyone in the session who would like to spend about 20 minutes doing Sealings so we took advantage of this opportunity. The first time we did Sealings Bro. Dale Murdock from Thomas was the sealer. He is a good friend of the family and Dad and I have a lot of respect for him. It was nice to be in a Sealing room with him. Tessha took some pictures of us for our anniversary. We waited till Sunday so Dad could show off his new tie.
Next we celebrated Tessha’s and Alisha’s birthdays. We all went to dinner at Garcia’s on Friday night since we were all off of work that night. Then on Sunday Tessha and I fixed a nice dinner at home. And then both girls got to open their presents – Alisha’s idea :-)Tessha got a new florescent light for her bedroom. She’s been busy painting and fixing it up nicely, so we thought she would enjoy a new light. Dad installed it and it works great. “ Let there be light”.
Alisha had picked out and was way excited for her new NIKE shoes. We blame Will for this obsession, but only Alisha could make it this fun!!! Proof that it’s a “Real Nike”
Afterwards we had cake. Not any ordinary cake but an Oreo, Ice Cream Cake with whipped cream and fresh strawberries. The next night we had Alisha’s favorite dinner – pizza. Lindsey brought her a new country CD and Alisha declared the day a success.Last Saturday I had the day off from the pharmacy so I sat down at my sewing table and finished off all the projects sitting there. Of course, there are more coming but … I did all the mending, made three pair of pajamas for a friend, and four skirts for Alisha. Now, I can start the other projects. I’m excited! I started back to school on the 17th and Alisha stated today. We read scriptures this morning and Dad gave all of us Father’s blessings. Some things stay just the way they’re supposed to be and some things have new beginnings.
September begins tomorrow……………

July Came and July Went

It seems I'm only getting a new blog out once a month now but that's got to be better than every six months. :-)
And I can't remember if it was June or July but... Elizabeth and I finally made Gwen a crib set. Actually, it was just the bumper guard and sheets but it's what was wanted. Elizabeth had sent some fabric from Hawai long before they came themselves. And then I waited till she got here so we could make it the way she wanted. Elizabeth helped with it and Gwen encouraged us as we went.
I tried hard to rejuvenate my sad gardena plant. From the way it looks now, you would never have guessed that just a year ago people were borrowing my beautiful two toned leaved gardena for a weddings, etc. I'll keep trying. There is a touch of a new leaf coming.
However, I have been able to set out several potted flowers to color up the patio.
One day I even got a picture of a huge, beautiful orange and black butterfly sitting on a tiger lily. It took a couple of tries but I finally got a good picture.
We celebrated Elizabeth's birthday - kind of low key style.
And then we took a weekend trip to Orem/Provo. Haini and Kristi just had their third baby - Elijah Lucky Suguturaga~ born on Jenn's birthday~ July 17
and Marley (alias- Little Miss Marley) was celebrating her big 2. Wow, she had quite the party. Of course, her daddy was responsible for all the wonderful food and cousins were just able everywhere. And I got to hold and play with grandkids. We visited with Auntie Grace, did a little sewing with Laura (no photo) and of course, we went swimming with everyone.
(You can look at Elizabeth's blog for pictures swimming). We left a case of diapers and a case of wipes for Eli , took the Roemhildts and the Sugies to dinner and then headed home.
After all, Elizabeth and James were getting ready to move on.
We were so sad to see them go but we are grateful for the time they stayed with us.
So as not to end July on a sad note and because I want to be like Will (and I don't run 50 mile races or hike to the top of mountains) I brought home a little aquarium and two new fish for Jimmy to play with.
I had to watch them pretty carefully that first night but they are all doing well together. Alisha named the goldfish - Butterscotch and the little one is Scaper because he cleans up after the others. It took Jimmy a while to adjust to the filter and water current but he's doing great now. Just one happy little family :-)