Halloween at Grandma's

Belen's birthday and Halloween gave us lots to celebrate. Jenn made the cake, Belen dressed as a lion and new sister (Lyla) snoozed. Somehow I didn't get the rest of the cute little Halloweeners on film.

Lyla Mia !

Grandchild number 7 is here! Lyla Mia was born Sunday, Oct 26 at 10:01 a.m. She is the third child (second daughter) of Walter and Vero. Lyla weighed in a a whopping 9 lbs. 0 oz. and 19 1/2 inches long. (No wonder Vero was uncomfortable!) She has already been referred to as Snow White because of her fair complexion and thick ebony hair. The bright red bow just adds to that image.

Blessings in the midst of adversity!

Emilie has had more than her share of tough events lately. You may remember that she totaled her car in an accident a couple of months ago. Thursday I got a message at school that she had been involved in another car accident and that she was in the hospital. I made a quick dash to the hospital with my stomach all in a churn. This is what I found had happened -
Shortly after turning out of her apartment complex she suffered some type of seizure or something else that caused her to black out. While unconscious she coasted through a very major intersection, drifted into oncoming traffic, and hit another car head on. Everyone (but her) could see the accident about to happen so the other driver was slowed or stopped and Em was not going very fast. The officer estimates not much more than 5 mph. Very minimal scratches occurred to Em's car and little more damage to the car she hit. Because she was unconscious and her car was in gear (thus locked) a passer-by smashed out the rear passenger window so as to get her car out of gear and unlock the doors. Em remembers little or nothing from the time she left her apartment complex until she woke up in the ER. She said she has dreamlike memories of broken glass and people trying to ask her questions but no more. Her sisters reaction was "Gee Em. You get a ride in an ambulance and you can't even remember it!" At any rate, besides hurting all over she seems to be okay though they need to see if they can determine the cause of the seizure. She can't drive until a neurologist gives the okay so that will be a major nuisance.
Blessings you ask? Absolutely. If you know how busy Van Winkle Expressway is at 7:30 am you would agree!

Scenes from Wheeler Farm

Family Reunion

Our second annual get together at Thel and Marshall's ranch near McGaffy was a great opportunity to see dad, siblings, and several members of the new generation. Some stayed in the bunk-house - (Jack is standing in the door of the bunkhouse) and the rest of us pitched tents in the adjacent meadow.
Activities included board games (with competitive singles scrabble and team (dui) scrabble as the number one sport. I believe that the top winners were Liz, Chris, and Derrick.
Deb's daughter, Shannon, quickly formed an alliance with the horses. That was great until Shannon left and the little one year old filly (Sassy) spent the next 24 hours looking for her. She tried to come into the bunk house, stopped cars to look in the window, tried to taste anything on the picnic tables, and was a general nuisance. Everyone but Shannon's parents, seemed to agree that Sassy should have gone back to Tucson with her new found friend.
Since Jake, Em, and I were the last to arrive we stayed an extra day and then took a leisure drive home. We stopped the the Four Corners Monument and took the drive through the reservation up to Blanding. It took a little longer to get home but allowed us to see some pretty country.

Cousin Fun

We had a fun few days with all of the grandkids here. Chris and family came over for: 1) the blessing of Hunter; 2) the family reunion this week-end; and 3) a family photo shoot.
We shared a number of meals together, the girls had a sleepover at Grandma's, lots of time was spent in the back yard (Kate and Grant were the only photos I got, and we all attended Hunter's blessing and a meal at Jenn's house.
Last night we all got cleaned up and had a photographer follow us through Wheeler farm - stopping occasionally to pose for a photo. We are anxious to see the photos and see if we are at all photogenic as a group. We will share the photos when we get them.

The greatest gift

The primary president asked the question: "What is the greatest gift Heavenly Father has given us?" Several hands went up - "home," "cars," "clothes," "church," "flowers,"... Finally, the president repeated the question: "What is the GREATEST gift Heavenly Father has given us?" A little 3-year-old stretched up her arm and shouted, "Grandma!" Carol Searle, Deseret News, July 24, 2008.