oh grandma!

I was getting my delicious breakfast ready (sauteed mushrooms, scrambled eggs and fruit dish) when the phone call came and my mom was on the other end. She was in terrible pain as I could tell in her voice and she asked if I had some ibuprofen. I told her yes but could it wait until I finished breakfast? No! I could tell the pain, what ever it was, was not going to wait. So, I dropped everything and went over to her house where I found her laying on the stairs unable to talk because she was shaking and in extreme pain! Her visiting teacher walked in after me (her hubby is a doctor) and together we loaded her into the car and drove to the hospital a block away!

They assessed her condition and found that she had ZERO circulation in the leg/foot and no pulse in the foot either and immediately loaded her into an ambulance and off to Idaho Falls they drove with the siren blasting! I met her at the hospital and the doctor said they were taking her into surgery to look for a blood clot which he eventually found and also found hardening of the arteries. He felt confident that there was enough blood flow to the leg. Had she waited just 2 hours longer, she would have lost her foot and possibly her leg not to mention her life had that blood clot gotten loose! (SPIRITUAL NOTE: She said that while she was waiting for me to come she prayed and said, "Heavenly Father please help me!" She had the impression to take (2) aspirin and call Carrie Mills (her friend at church). Little did she know, she was saving her life by taking that aspirin - as it thins your blood and prevents more clots!)

Surgery went well, doctor came in to visit and said he got the clot with his probe, however, he could not get the probe to go past her knee (should have been able to reach all the way to her foot) as it was clogged with plaque! Long story-short, all went well and after 5 days in the hospital, we are now home and trying to get her back on her feet - staying with her until she can do some basic things by herself. It will take some time and patience but I think she'll bounce back! Just like my dad would always say, "this getting OLD is getting OLD!"

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”―Mahatma Gandhi

Ansel Adams wonna-be

Went on a little drive to Jackson, Wyoming and shot some photos. We located the spot where Ansel Adams took his famous Teton/Snake River shot in 1942! We tried, we come close but you be the judge! What an amazing, unbelieveable day it was!

This photo hangs in our office - 69 years ago Ansel Adams had less trees to contend with when he took his photo and probably a different time of day! Look how the forest has grown up since that time! Interesting! I think we were SPOT-ON - what do you think? (Just a little hint: click photo above, when you get to Flickr click the photo again - see the photo bigger and on black!)

69 years later:






Okay, I agree - his is better - but we had fun!

updates for a new month

See updates and photos below! More coming. Heading out the door to take PHOTOS! I'm so excited!

a birthday

Saturday night I got an early birthday present! The dogs went wild as a big truck pulled into the driveway - didn't recognize it. Stepped outside the door, leaving the dogs in the house, and met Justin and Jennifer Nef and their adorable 5 year old daughter! What a surprise! I worked with Justin when we were both working for Triple "A" Landscape (my son's company). He was a young guy at the time - kind of a bad-dude with tattoos, earrings and an attitude! I immediately loved him! He'd had a rough up-bringing and we got to know each other pretty well. I knew his mother - but his mother just didn't do her job and decided she didn't want to mother any more! She took off on the wrong path! There were lots of times when we would just sit and talk about stuff. He just couldn't get a break - man he was a hard, hard worker and did a great job. Long-story-short, he grew up, feel in love and is now working a corporate job in the sprinkler industry! The bond we formed must have been a lot deeper than I thought as we sat and visited for a few hours! I told he and his wife that they were doing something that was a dying-art - VISITING! When was the last time you went, knocked on someones door and just visited? They said they were coming by to wish me a happy birthday (saw it on Facebook)! How about that! Pretty cool and speaks volumes for a young couple! That pretty much made my year!

Bob spilled the beans several weeks before my birthday that he was doing something special on my birthday. Well, that something is being installed as we speak! I'm so excited to show you but waiting until it's all done - then I'll take a photo and post it! It's pretty awesome! I tried asking Shawn and Kandee about it several weeks ago and they both claimed ignorant of any such surprise but come to find out they knew all along!

My birthday was pretty quiet this year - it fell on a Sunday and to make matters worse, on Memorial Day weekend - plus the weather was cloudy, rainy and cold! So Bob, Granny and I ate dinner together and no one else was around - pretty quiet compared to normal standards! Things started to rock and roll when everyone started to call - I like that - love talking to our kids and grandkids.

Shawn brought in his big equipment to move some dirt and get things arranged! The day was miserable - cold and rainy. He donated his time to do the installation of my surprise. Shade, my most handsome grandson, helped in the landscape redo! Pretty special!

Bob was there to help move things into place - can you tell what it is yet?! Super fun and exciting - for me anyway!


Grif and Katrina sent a sweet present - these really cool necklaces on a simple cord - love, love, love! The blue underneath is the vibrant wrapping paper the necklace was wrapped in - so pretty - so Katrina! Grif decorated their envelope in a pretty fun-creative way. No photos of it right now but, I'll get some. Made me laugh!

I have been bugging Whit lately about what's a good green tea without caffeine! She finally said there was no such thing as decaffeinating green tea kills all the nutrients in it! So, as a surprise, they bought me the most beautiful cup (Polish Pottery as you can see) and some Get Lost tea for loosing weight (caffeine-FREE) - as they know that's always the desire of my heart - getting skinny!!! Haha!

So pretty - I put it in my cupboard and it blends with all the other Polish Pottery I have - I just love, love, love that stuff!

Heather and the boys gave me this little "Thank You" angel statue - she's super-cute and I love her!

Thanks to everyone for their phone calls, Skype-experience and love sent my way - you ALL made my day pretty special!

old betsy

Grabbed the camera gear and headed out the door yesterday to . . . wherever! My favorite thing to do on a weekend when there's a pretty day going on out there! We pointed the car 'west' but we ended up 'north' in search of some fun and interesting photos. I had a few requests this past month, by a travel magazine, for photos of the sand dunes and had to admit I had nothing in my files! So, we ended up north doing just that. "The Sand Dunes" - interesting place - miles and miles of sand dunes in the middle of nowhere. They say the sand comes from the Teton mountain range - over time the sand accumulated in the form "The Sand Dunes". You actually have to see it to believe it!

On our way home, we found "Old Betsy" (photo above) - Bob and I instantly fell in love with it and got a few photos of her (will post ALL photos tonight). Come back to see some sand dunes - pretty impressive.

(click photo to read about "The Sand Dunes")

field behind the plow

(updated blog entry following this post - see below)

"Field Behind the Plow" is actually a song I teach to my guitar students and it happens to be one of my favorite - written by a Canadian guy. You've probably never heard it OR heard of it. The other day, my trusty assistant and I headed out and took some photos of some of the pieces of 'art' the farmers have created in the last few weeks - and they are beautiful to behold. Tractors these days are navigated by GPS units and the rows could not be straighter - just amazing - I marvel.