So far, its been summer...

Well, to all 4 of you who check up with my blog... this summer started great. Sort of. With my mom having had heart surgery and things went bad, she stayed in the hospital from the 26th of March to May 19th. (In Boston) Then she was transferred to Sunnyview Rehab hospital in Schenectady for another month.

Meanwhile, my dad's dad passed away a few days before mom's surgery, so he had to fly to Utah while mom was knocking on deaths door. It has all been very hard for him. During his talk at grandpa's funeral, he told about how grandpa Wood took care of a sick grama, and grandma Taylor took such good care of a sick grandpa...then he said, if Patty turns out like her mom and I turn out like my dad...we are in real trouble!!! Elissa and I laughed out loud... I don't know if any one else thought it was funny:)

It was a family reunion ... almost every one was there. It was so good to see every one together... maybe for the last time ever.

So, with mom so sick, and Beck, Kevin and Dad tapped with mom's illness, I got a good deal on ticket and took all 4 boys and a "nanny" to New York - HOME - for the month of June. This is Mom a day after getting out of Sunnyview Hospital. We went to visit her parents grave. It was beautiful at the Chuctinunda Cemetary near Amsterdam. She couldn't get out and walk yet, but I planted some flowers while she watched.

While in New York, we got to visit the Atlantic Ocean and go see Plymouth rock. The kids loved the water and had a great time playing in it.

The boys also got to know their grandma and grandpa better. They learned what fire flies are and Hunter always felt like there was something hiding in that thick foliage in the back yard. We ate soft ice cream, listened to big thunder storms and met new friends at church. The boys caught snakes and frogs. Hunter got to mow the yard with a push mower! Walker never felt to loved as when he met his Uncles and they all said HE BELONGED to the Wood family. I got to visit NYC and went to play in Saratoga several times. Friendly's, Chuck E. Cheese and Red Robin with Uncle Kevin and Aunt Becky along with Sunday family dinners. There was an OCD grandma who couldn't walk very well, a grumpy grandpa who kept apologizing for being that way, an Uncle Kevin who took the job of stand in dad very seriously (thank you) and a babysitter who couldn't WAIT to get home to her boyfriend...the trip home is for another blog:)

I got home in time to see Kyra in the 4th of July parade. She is a Brave Cadette...dance team. I am sooo proud of her.

Chad also lost his job in June and so....that is why "so far, its been summer".

Wish us luck...and prayers wont hurt either.

School starts in a week...good luck kids!

By Request...

Spring in Star Valley... I started sending pictures of our late snow storms to my family at the end of February. Now that it is the end of April, not only am I sick of the snow, my family is sick of getting text pictures of snow that says "can I come to Florida?" or "yep, that's today...". Every time it snows again I think to my self that it can only last for the day and it will be melted by lunch. Any other possitive ideas I can tell my self???

Around Christmas I started smelling something dead in my office, and could never get rid of it or even find where it was comming from. I thought I was stuck with it in the wall until summer...

Chad was upgrading my memory the other day and just about screamed like a girl when he saw this. It was definately a process to get it out. If the mouse was stuck when it was alive, you can imagine how stuck it still was now!!

A fun week!

Chad and his friend decided to skip the butcher and brought the pig home to chop up...and yes, they shot it there in the drive way. Some days I think I am turning into a hick...but this day, our friend Andrew called me a city girl for my reaction to the event...THANK YOU ANDREW!!!!!!

Pinewood Derby night! Hunter and Taylor had such a good time. They both received awards for place and how the car looked.

Taylor's first pinewood derby and he walked out with 2 trophies and a second place finish!

I took Kyra and 3 friends to Idaho Falls (that's a two hour drive) for the midnight release of "Twilight"!

The crowds at Wal-mart were amazing...I hate to admit I am as crazy as them...

So, off we went, back home at 12:30 a.m. watching the movie on the way...

It didn't take long before...they were all fast asleep!

This is Jared, my little brother-in-law. (Chad's dad's son) He is a junior this year and their prom was last night! His girlfriend's name is Kayli and is a beauty queen!

On this prom night, I experienced something as strange as I have ever seen (and you all know I have traveled and seen many, many strange things). In this small valley, on prom night, at 10:00 p.m., there is something called promenade. Right in the middle of the dance, in the high school gym, the towns people start arriving and sitting in the bleachers. They sit and watch. Then at about 10:15 the kids who would like to be "promenaded" are presented to the town and do a choreographed ballroom style dance for the watching crowd. Then the prom court is introduced and then they all go back on to the court/dance floor and continue the dance...and the towns people/families either leave or go take a few pictures or talk to the kids. And the dance ends at 11:30 so that all the kids can be home before midnight, Sunday morning.

Taylor's Month

Finally, I am going to actually sit down and post a new entry! This past month has been fun. Taylor was baptized and wouldn't you know...my camera battery is dead. These pictures are taken with my phone:)

We had the Parker family and Chad's brother and his wife there for the event. Since I was hands free from this event, after the baptism, Taylor come out for the confirmation in hair combed strait down his head, with sides all askew....white tennis shoes and shirt untucked...oh well, I love him just the same. I got to give the talk on confirmation and the holy ghost, and so I was glad to be able to look him in the eye, and bare my own testimony to him about the gospel. I don't do it enough.

Taylor also went to the eye doctor, and found that he is just slightly far sighted, so he gets to have glasses. He's the only one in our family to have glasses, so all the boys can't wait for their turn at the eye doctor in hopes to get their own!

Taylor picked these out all on his own. There was a wall worth of choices, and these (although he wanted black) were the choice:) He is my boy who loves art, music, and is very picky about the clothes he wears. I see Taylor as super artistic, and these glasses, as an expression of his individualism. He loves the spotlight, and revels in attention on one hand and on the other is quiet, observant and slow to share his thoughts. Taylor, I can't wait to see who you become, because who you are amazes me.

He went straight home and tried them out. I have been asking how they work and he says "the words are bigger." Oh, and my face is bigger...I am so glad that they work!

A look in to the male brain....

So my son came home from school the other day...he had the biggest grin I have seen! I said "how was your day, Hunter?" He said "Mom, on the bus Amber was telling me that no one will ever like me, that I was the stupidest person and that there is no way I could ever get a girl friend because I am soooo ugly." My heart sank a little. You don't want to hear these kinds of things from your beautiful children...but I was perplexed at the grin on his face. So I said, "so what happened then?" He looked at me and said with shoulders square, "AWWW YEAAA, she wants me!"