Grandbaby #11

Scarlett Ocean Rogers

6 lbs 4 oz, 19 3/4" long

Thursday, 21 August 2014, 8:04 a.m.

 It's been so long since I've posted that I forgot to hit the SAVE button and darn if I didn't lose the entire post.  So here is take two:

On Thursday morning I was on the computer in the library and Craig started hollering at me from  another room.  Which he never does.  Rebecca had send a text with news that Renee was in labor!  I never leave my phone in the bedroom overnight.  Usually, if I remember, it is plugged in to charge in the kitchen. So I missed Nick's 5:39 a.m. text that said Renee was dilated to 8... Renee was having mild contractions Wednesday night, so she called Rebecca about 9:30 p.m. to put her on standby.  At 3:30 they dropped off Skye and went to the hospital where Scarlett arrived at 8:04 a.m. Renee had a nice labor and Scarlett i just perfect!

I spent Tuesday and Wednesday in Las Vegas with my BFF Ruthie.  Ruth's Mom has lived with her for 10 years and her health and dementia are getting worse.  Ruth is so grateful for Hospice who come in every day to bathe her Mom and help with other things.  They are truly angels from heaven.  It was fun to spend time with Ruth and give her a little bit of distraction.

I arrived home Wednesday evening and was a lazy bones all evening.  I have kept in close touch with Renee since her due date was  August 30 and Skye came three weeks early.  She was dilated to 1cm at her Dr. appt on Monday,  but felt like she would make it through the weekend.  Once we got the news I went into overdrive throwing my things together so I could hit the road.  I took "chicken with it's head cut off" to a new level!  I made my first solo road trip to Star, Idaho from Cedar City and I only stopped 3 times.

(Note to self: check the corn dog labels at Maverik.  I thought the corn dog I bought for lunch had a bit of a kick to it.  Which kept getting hotter and hotter.  When I threw the trash out and looked at the wrapper, I found out why.  It was a jalapeno- cheese corn dog!  Who's great idea was that?)

I made it to Star in about 9 hours, just as Nick was arriving home with Skye.  Skye spent the day with Rebecca's family at the water park, so she was nice and tired.  Nick spent the night at home with Skye, and the next morning we were off to the the hospital to meet baby Scarlett.

Skye was darling with her new baby sister and she was so happy to see her Mommy!

 Renee was happy to show us Scarlett's feet and toes

 - all Rogers!

 Such a sweet family!

Nick is outnumbered by all the beautiful girls in his life!

I'm so happy to be here with these sweet granddaughter's.

A Visit from Ty & Amber

 We had a fun spendover with Ty and Amber Jacobson's family on their way to Disneyland from Eagle Mountain.  They have such cute kids, and it was fun to have little ones in our home again.  I don't know if I'll ever get over living so far away from our children and grandchildren.  In the mean time, it is fun to share my sister Dana's grandkids, while she is far away in New York.

Ty and Amber, Hudson 3, Harper 1 and Haylee 5

Hudson has the funniest personality.  He steals my heart.

Cute Haylee and Hudson.  

Josh's Deployment

 Josh has been deployed to fill in for a soldier who had to return home.  He arrived to his unit after they were deployed, so it did not seem like he would have to be separated from his little family again so soon.  They just bought their first home and got all settled in, when he found out there was a possiblity he might have to go.  It was a long month of stand by, on again, off again, and before they knew it, he was on his way to Afghanistan.  Hoepfully the 4 months will go by quickly, and his orders and baby #2 will cooperate so that he can be home for the birth in November.  

It just breaks my heart that Krista is single parenting, again, so soon after her recent round from October to February.  It is helpful that she is just 20 minutes away from Ben and Jamie, and that her family in Louisville are three hours away.  I am grateful for the support system she has with the military and with the church.  But I will be much happier to have my boy home with his family where he belongs.

Josh's assignment is 12 hours a day, 7 days a week.  On Sundays he gets to attend church for one hour where they have a serviceman's group.  We occaisionally get to message him or email, but the internet service is not very strong.  Plus we feel like Josh needs to spend any free time he has communicating with Krista and Lincoln.

I feel great peace and comfort knowing there are so many prayers for the military.  When we attend the temple most weeks, it is the highlight for me to hear those words.  My only problem seems to be verbalizing my own prayers.  Between this deployment, and Ben's to follow in October, I have become even more emotional than usual.  Add two pregnant daughters and I can barely bless the food without shedding tears anymore.  I thought for sure as I grew older I would have a better grasp on my emotions, but it seems to be just the opposite.

A fun visit from Kailey, Kartyr and Kace!!!

I was reading Facebook when I saw that Karen Hansen had posted " Arrived in Cedar City".  I gasped and immediately messaged her that we needed to get together.  Three generations  had been in Yellowstone the past week and were headed home to Moreno Valley, spending the night at the KOA campground in town in two motor homes.  Craig and I hurried right over to visit with them for awhile and had the most wonderful time.  How we love the Berney-Hansen-Jones-Howe-Rasmussen families!

I met Karen when her oldest granddaughter, Kailey came to my preschool.  Karen, her Mom, Pat Birney and daughter Caree Rasmussen all served with me on our Relief Society Enrichment Committee and we had more fun.  It is one of the most incredible families I have ever known.  I ended up having Kailey and her three younger sisters in preschool.  Kamryn was missing because she had to stay behind for cheer camp. I can hardly believe Kailey is in high school!  

It was the loveliest evening we spent in a very long time. Craig visited with Corey Hansen and Paul Berney while I visited with Karen and Caree while the kids swam in the pool. The time flew by.  I am so grateful to know and love these wonderful families! It is such a treat to have such forever friends.  

The Saga of the Traveling Grandparents Begins

WHEN I FIGURE OUT HOW TO UPLOAD PICTURES AGAIN, I WILL ADD THEM.. . . .

Somehow, five years ago we went from having all our kids within a half hour, to having all but one spread out   across the country. That was a brutal time for me.  We knew we needed to retire in a place we loved, that would be accessible by airports, and that would be a fun place for our kids and grandkids to visit.

We moved to Cedar City, Utah, in December.  Our closest child is 7 hours away.  The next two are 9 hours away and the other two are in Tennessee, a long way away,  both stationed at Fort Campbell Kentucky for the Army.We plan to visit the kids at least twice a year.  Of course, that is not adequate for me.  I have to keep telling myself I only saw my maternal grandparents twice a year and they could not have been more dear to me. And that was before the days of cell phones, email and skype.  We were just spoiled by those early years of being in the same county, and even having Paige, Kaylee and all of the Gargalis boys attend Grama's preschool. It helps when I know the next time we will see them, but there are so many variables right now. Nothing is definite except helping when Nick and Renee have their baby girl the end of August.

Nick, Renee and Skye were our first visitors in December.  They spent a week with us for Christmas which was heaven.  Then after Christmas, Rebecca and Melissa visited for a week.  We were even surprised by Jamie for a few days while she was in Utah for her Uncle's funeral.  Then the dry spell began . . .

In March we planned our first return trip to California for dental appointments and to visit Melissa's family. It was so, so good to spend a few days with them.  We were so spoiled having them for neighbors for 2 1/2 years.

We planned to visit everyone throughout the summer.  It just all worked out that the best time to visit everyone was in the month of May. Our saga began on May 1, when we left for a visit to California for Luke's baptism.  He is our second oldest grandchild.  Rebecca and Paige flew down for the baptism also, so that was a bonus for us.

Just after we planned our California trip, Rebecca called to tell us that the girls had dance recitals May10.  Plus we could see Paige play softball and Claire play soccer since their season ended the following week.
We got home from California on Tuesday, and we left for Idaho on Thursday. We had a busy trip to Idaho.  We went to a softball game on Thursday night, and then we got to spend  Friday with Nick, Renee and their darling Skye. On Saturday we saw a soccer game, a softball game and two dance recitals.  It was fun to be in the thick of a  busy Saturday with the Bryant's.  Sunday we went to church and celebrated Mother's Day with two of our kids and their families, so that was sweet. I wish I had taken more pictures of the beautiful Idaho spring.  It was so green with trees and flowers everywhere. (We are usually there in the summer or fall).

On the way home from Idaho Craig was a good sport and we stopped in Kimberly, Idaho, at the Quilt Barn.  It was glorious and I can't wait to go back!

Six days after we returned from Idaho we were on the road again to visit Ben and Josh who are both ( thank you Heavenly Father) stationed at Fort Campbell in Kentucky.  Ben is a Captain and Josh is a Specialist in the Army.  Ben has had a crazy schedule, but since he had a four day weekend for Memorial Day, that was best time for a visit.  We flew out of LasVegas to Nashville.  We spent the night coming and going in Las Vegas, where we could park our car at the hotel for no charge.  It was a long trip but so worth it to spend a week with Ben and Josh's families. Plus I discovered Panera!  And finally found a 48" barn star for over my fireplace.

We hadn't seen Lincoln since September when he was almost 6 months old.  Needless to say, he has grown from a baby to a darling toddler.  Josh and Krista bought their first home in Clarksville, Tennessee, near post, and they already have it fixed up so cute.  While we were there, we found out the baby they are expecting November 8th is another boy!  We also found out there is a chance Josh will be deployed to Afghanistan for a few months to take the place of someone who needs to return home. I was horrible about picture taking, but Craig got lots of fun video.

It had  been almost 8 months since we've seen Kaylee and Blake and they have grown so tall!  We stayed at Ben and Jamie's new home, also in Clarksville, but they live about 10 minutes away from Josh and Krista.

We spent parts of everyday together, and our week in Tennessee ended much too soon.  Tennessee was beautiful and green with lots of rolling hills and trees everywhere.  It reminded us so much of the Louisville Kentucky area where Krista is from.  It is also very humid.  We attended church in four different states during the month of May: California, Idaho, Utah and Tennessee.

This summer our only plans are to go to Panguitch, Utah for a few days for the Panguitch Quilt Walk, and to June Rockwell's 90th birthday party in Las Vegas.  I am thinking we need a quick trip to Idaho to see those kiddos in July.  Then  we are looking forward to Rebecca and Melissa's family visiting the first week of August.  Rebecca and Melissa are going to run in the Parowan Half Marathon.  Nick and Renee's baby girl is due August 30, so we will be spending lots of time there this fall.

Until we know what the status is of Ben's deployment to Afghanistan this fall, probably in September, we can't make any other fall or holiday plans. Kaylee turns 8 in October, so they will wait for her baptism when Ben is home next summer.

It is fun being retired and being able to travel. Now we need to be responsible and work on our backyard, which is currently 1/2 acre of red dirt. It looked so beautiful covered with snow!  It will be a fun project, but getting started is the tough part!!!