I don't know how many of you will see this new blog. You have probably given up on me ever writing again. When I see all of your blogs and they are so cute and interesting, I hate writting something so boring. But a lot has happened up here in the past month and so there are a few things we can write about.

The family reunion was great. Grandpa and I didn't die on the hike so they tried to get us the next day on the jet ski...But we are still here. It was fun to have the family there. I think I have gotten use to peace and quiet around here and there were times that it was anything but peace and quiet. So I hope I didn't make anyone feel bad. Everyone said they wanted to do this again next year. We will have to talk about that. Do we want to go to the same place again or another place? And do we want to go every year or every other year? Next year will be Coltons last year with us then we loose Jordon and then someone else every year after that. I know it is hard for us to try and get together every year but we will have to talk this out.

The 2nd cutting of hay is up and in the barns or tarped. That feels so good. With the big balers and three swathers it goes really fast. And we didn't get any rain on this 2nd. Prices are good but so is the price of gas, labor, fertilizer, water, taxes, and everything else. (Good for someone elses business) Colton stays with us and helps us out during the days and goes and plays ball at night. He is one busy boy.

I spend lots of time in my yard. If I miss 2 days then i have some catch-up to do. Next year I have got to be more efficient in my planting and use lots of Preen. It sure is nice to get those tomatoes, potatoes, beans, cucumbers, corn, strawberries, rasberries, and lots of zuchini right now. Then there is always the cannning to do. The girls also got me hooked on the "Vampire" books while we were on the trip. So now there is no free time. It is all taken up with Vampires and werwolfes. I should be too old for this, right?

Well, we love reading your blogs. It really makes us homesick for our kids and their kids. We think we have the cutest and smartest grandkids around. And we will fight anyone that says different. We are looking forward to spending a little time with Candace and Brian when they have their little one. Madie, Cassie, and Kamryn want to go with me. That's if Candance doesn't wait to long and get to close to fair time. So Candace, have Brian take you for a bumpy truck ride. That might help. Love you guys, mom

It has been such a long time since I wrote anything. It is getting really busy around here. I have my garden and lawn to tend to plus help grandma and grandpa with theirs. Plus the last days of school are here and we are trying to get things done there. We are moving our reading room to the portable outside the building so that means a lot of heavy moving each day. It is great that they are geting enough kids to need another room but it makes it hard for us that had the reading room all set up and now we have to tear it all down. We have 7 more days of school and the kids are getting hard to keep in their seats. I'm sure many of you are going through the last days of school jitters also.

I got curbing!!! It sure looks nice. We had some guys come in and put in about 510 feet of curbing around the flower beds and it makes the yard look so groomed. I have been busy trying to keep the weeds down until the flowers get big enough to take over. The black birds are taking over this year and they are a trashy bird. I need a good BB gun. Maybe I can talk to Janae's boys to help me out. Probably won't take much talking. My strawberries are on and it is a race to see who gets to them first the birds or me.

Jim is busy getting the hay up. They worked until 12 midnight last night. he said they baled close to 400 acres yesterday. He was sure glad they had 2 ton-rights. He and Blake run them. They are trying to get the hay up before we get any more rain. It has rained on most of it a little but it still is good hay. Hay is suppose to be a good price this year.

We are looking forward to seeing everyone this summer for the reunion. We hope everyone is still planning on coming. If you aren't, now is the time to let us know. We can cancel the rental houses one month before we go. After that we still have to pay for them. I think it would work out if we put everyone in groups and that group was in charge of a night meal, breakfast and lunch. The groups would be mom, dad, Wes, Jen families.....Janae, Wayne, Kim families....Mike, Sha, Stephanie, Troy, Tammy, Neal..........It wouldn't matter what three meals on what day. but if you could talk with the people in your group and come up with a menu by the 20th of June then we could compare menus and see if we are having repeats and make a plan to only bring one of each condiment, etc. The groups would all be in charge of paper products for their meals. And if you need beef for your meal Jim and I can supply that. We have meat in the freezer and we just took three more beef down to McCarys. No mad cow disease here. We know exactly what and where they have eaten and been. Might be few weed in their feed but that won't hurt you. Get together and let me know what you have planned.

Well I must get ready for school. It is getting harder and harder to get there on time in the mornings. I can find all kinds of things I want to do before I go. And then it is just spend my time down there and rush home to do more things. Oh, our reading groups that we work with in Kinder-4th grade made benchmark of 63% (60% of the kids had to reach benckmark to get our reading grant for the next two years) we were so thrilled. That means this reading program is really working. It amazes me how those kindergarterners can read firt grade stuff by the time they leave kinder. And they had 100 % of the kinder and first grade make benchmark. Good teachers. Well I have got to go. Love mom

Happy birthday to Kenzie this week.

Thank you

Yesterday was just a great day for me. It was so fun to get to talk to everyone and not have to just get your messages from Jim. sometimes he forgets to tell me that you have called and then I may or may not get the message. Thank you everyone for the wonderful gifts and the phone calls. We had a great BBQ done by Jim. He always makes the meat taste so good. Kim and Janae and their families came over. Then Jim took the kids for a ride to check our the farm. I guess, from what I heard. they went down to the bass pond by the zip line. They played for a while in the wash out from the spring run-off. Then Jim showed them some "Quick sand". It was just really muddy boggy mud by the pond and if you stepped on it for very long you would start sinking. They all were having a great time seeing who could get in the most. Jim said Dallas was in up to his knees. I am sure glad there were no mothers or grandmothers along for the ride. We would have never let them do that. They came home all muddy and completely dirty. They were so excited and kept talking about how much fun they had had. More memories for the grandchildren. Jim was so suprized by Cassi. She fears nothing. They all headed for the showers when they got back to the house. It was nice of Jim to take the kids because they were gone about an hour and a half and it gave the moms some time to just sit and talk.

I have been really busy working in my yard. It is the time of year that the weeds are growing faster than the flowers and they need a lot of work to keep them down. My garden is starting to grow. I hope to get my corn planted tomorrow. I have a plan and hope to doa little on the list every night after school. I got some brick pavers and put them around my flower gardens around the house and they look really nice. It just makes the flower gardens look more groomed. There is so much to do. I love working in my gardens but I have the time now. I remember how my lawns use to be when I had small children, dogs, places to go and things to do. I remember that saying that there is a season for everything and this is my garden season. It comes to everyone. Just be happy to be where you are and take your time to be with you children. They will be gone way to soon. Gardens will come later.

It has been a little chilly today, at least jacket weather. But by Friday it is suppose to get in the high 80's. We are ready for some warm weather. We sent the kids off to Camp Wooten this morning at school and I hope they don't have snow up there.

Grandpa got his donkey carts handed out at church yesterday. Everyone loved them and he even had some left over. So you may all get donkey carts at one time or other this year.

Well I had better get some dishes done. It is almost 8 and Jim and I worked outside until 7. So I have other things to get done. Thanks again for the gifts and telephone calls. i love hearing from you and listening to what you have going on in your life. Love you mom

Jim had a meeting tonight and so I have some free time on my hands to write. I did my MS Walk last week and I actually made the 4 miles with no problem. I was so suprised! I guess it was easier than I thought and it helped having people to walk with and talk to. Then they just kept pushing treats and drinks at you at every mile. Next year I plan on taking some grandchildren with me as there were lots of kids running the race. It actually was quite fun.

Well, I got the early seeds planted in my garden and then the weather turns very cold and we even had some light snow on Saturday and Sunday. It has been very cold the last 4-5 nights and we are nervous about the fruit trees. The soft fruit will probably really be hurt. Our cherries won't have a lot on them this year.

Jim is really busy trying to get the new circles wired up. We wish we had Mike for a week or two. They have three circles with wires hanging down on every tower and we know Mike would have them fixed up in no time. The wheat underneath them is needing some water. But we are expecting some rain in the next few days.

Boys, you will be glad to hear that day set me up with another rock garden. It is in the corner of the trampoline. I got some weeping cherry trees and some bushes to put in it. Now the FFA flower sale is this weekend. If it warms up I will get some flowers planted in there.

My big thing that I am working on right now is putting on a breakfast for the teachers during teacher appreciation week. Some ladies think that it is just too big to tackle, so some are afraid to help. But with everyone's help it won't be that bad. Actually we will be feeding about as many people as when all my kids and grandchildren are here. So no biggy, huh?

Grandpa McGary is making some flower carts and little donkeys to pull the carts for all the ladies in first ward for Mothers Day. He has 89 of them and is busy painting them. He also made some for all of his daughters, daughter-in-laws, and grandchildren. So on the 3rd of May we are getting together and painting our carts. Sound like a party doesn't it?

Well I had better go and make some cookies. Grandma gave me a new cookie sheet last week and I have yet to use it. She calls me up every other day asking if I have used it. So I had better not disappoint her. Love mom

Conference Sunday

Well we are back to normal routine with our spring break over last week. I got some flowers planted and other flower gardens cleaned up. Our weather was pretty good most of the week. I spent some time helping mom and dad get ready for her sisters and planting her garden. They got a new lawn mower (a cadillac) because they needed something to pull the little cart around with that dad picks up all his leaves and stuff with. They looked at a 4-wheeler but then decided to just buy a new lawn mower and use the old one to pull the cart. It is nice to have the break from school and not have to know that when I get out of bed each day I will be running the rest of the day. I'm looking forward to summer.

Sunday we had mom, dad, sister and husbands, and Eileen and Mark over for dinner after conference. Then later the rest of the family came over to hear KAren and Devere talk about their mission to Australia. I was suprised to hear how many of the luxuries they didn't have iin Australia. I guess I thought it was a little more advanced but it made me appreciate our country even more. I guess we don't really appreciate every little thing we have until they are taken from us. They went on a teaching mission this time and they were firm believers in member missionary programs. One thing she said that made me really think was when they go door to door and find someone, usually they are not finding people that are really searching for something more in their life. Whereas, if a member brings a family to church the reason they come is they are impressed with the members life. And they were probably looking for something more in their own life. She said retention is major in Australia. They are really working on getting those members back that have been baptized but never come to church again. Isn't it good to know that we are not just finding people to baptize for number sake but the church is really concerned for their eternal welfare. Anyway it was good to hear from Karen and Devere.

There was about 25 adults here and about that many kids. So we had a house full. And of course we had to have treats. It is great to have a family that enjoys each other and likes getting together for fun things.

Well this weekend is my big walk for MS. I'm getting really cold feet. Four miles seems like a long way for someone who hasn't walked that long in one stretch. They keep telling me that they really take their time. About 31/2-4 hours. But the only problem is I will probably be the only one not a little drunk and so I will be hurting a lot more. Hopefully I will still be around to write another blog next week. We love to hear from you all in your blogs. Keep writing.

P.S. JEnnifer I got your money for the lodge. Thanks so much.

Easter Sunday

We had a busy Easter Sunday around here. Janae and Kim came over with their families. Then Curtis and Julie came, Eileen and Mark, grandpa and grandma, Keith and Nancy and Kathy. We had just a small get together of around thirty. Poor Courtney had just had her wisdom teeth pulled and she was pretty swollen up and packed an ice pack around on her face for most of the day. Eileen said Renton is now in Phoneix and likes the school. They are pregnant but are having major problems. They don't know if she can carry it to term or not. It was good to have Curtis and Julie and their family. We don't get together with them enough. Of course he was on call and had to go early. We all told him that there really was no hurry. The people he deals with will surely wait for him. They will just lay around until he gets there.



Jen, we loved seeing the pictures of the Easter Egg hunt. Taylor looks like she is freezing but everyone looks happy. Chase is really growing. We miss you guys so much. And Candace we can finally see a little bit of belly sticking out there. Last time we thought it was just your zipper sticking out. There wasn't much of a belly. You are really cute pregnant. You are probably going to be like Jen and Janae. From the back you can't tell you are pregnant because you guys are so skinny there is no where for the baby to go but straight out. Oh Candace, the school district is adopting the Saxon or Saxton math program. I think that is the one that you liked. Is that right?

There is really nothing new to happen around here. The guys are busy getting the new small circles on the ground that use to have apples in it. We are putting 2 small ones on our place here.
They had to take all the solid set that was in for the orchards out first and then get the ground ready for wheat. They are making contracts on $10.00 wheat. When grandpa heard that he rushed to town and bought 5-6 sacks of flour. I don't know if they will ever use them before they get bad but they will have them in their basement. If they could get down there to get it, that would make it all the better.



I am going to try and put a picture on this blog of Payton singing to grandpa. Tammy wrote everything down. So if I can follow the directions you may be lucky.




Well, evidently I need some more training. This is not Payton and I'm not sure what it is. HElp!!
Well I just got Jim out the door for a priesthood meeting so I am going to post this and try and work on getting the pictures to turn out right. Better luck next time, huh? Love everyone.mom

I just love getting on everyones blogs on Sunday afternoon and reading about everything happening in your lives. I find things out that we never hear about on the phone. Jim is gone to a meeting and Janae and Chelsea just left. Chelsea has her drivers permit now and she was out practicing. Janae said they would only let one or two of the kids come. Can't chance loosing all the kids at the same time with Chelsea just learning.

Jim is having a big regional spanish conference in Pasco this next weekend and they are putting the final touches on it tonight. We had to purchase 40 bags of tortilla chips for the party. I'm not sure if I will go. I can help in the kitchen, which Jim tells me I am not needed there, and then just sit and smile while the entire conference in done in Spanish. Those people are so friendly and have a great time at all their functions.

School will be a little crazy here the rest of the month. Ag day is tomorrow and then we have early releases the rest of the week. Next week we are out 2 days and then the next week is Spring vacation. And then they wonder why Jonnny can't read. We are never in school long enough for it to happen. But I guess after spring break we have a long time with no vacations until school is out in June.

We have been getting our share of rain lately. But I shouldn't complain because the rest of you have snow and cold weather big time. I am itching to get my garden in. Mom and I went to town Friday and got seeds. You know grandma she is planning a big garden again this year. But right now she is not feeling very good. Her knees swell up about twice as big and she get a fever whenever she does to much walking. They just got back from California and she hasn't rested up from it yet. She says that she should probably have knee surgery but with her sugar diabetes it would not be easy healing. So she is just suffering right now. Both of them are not getting around very good. Keep them in your prayers and they love getting short phone calls from grandkids.

Thursday Payton sang his song to Grandpa. He did such a good job. He knew all the words and just boomed it out. There were even grandparents crying. If I can get the picture thing to work I will put one on here.

Well keep blogging... We love it.