SNOWMEN

Today I rode my friend Chris by the cemetary and looked as a little windmill with a Santa was blowing in the wind and I looked at the snowmen in a little arrangement and wished I could hold that one little snowman named Noah once again; but I know that he is watching over all of us this Christmas, especially his mommy and daddy and that he is busy about his father's business. But I sure do miss that big smile and everytime I see a snowman this Christmas with big brown eyes I will think of my special baby boy watching over us. I love you, Noah and we all miss you!!

CHRISTMAS IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER!

December is here and with it all the fun of Christmas! Christmas for me always begins just as Thanksgiving is over. This year Emily came and decorated for me the day before Thanksgiving and even tho my decorations are meager by some standards, I think it makes my house so festive! The thing I love the most is decorating my tree with pictures of all our grandchildren and now, my greats with 4 new pictures this year. Chloe(Jared and Kristin's precious one), Austin(Gramps's Tiffany's little one in Tucker, Ga) Nolan(Heather n Kyles's wee one) and our latest Little Alle(Beth and Rob's newest bundle of joy) how precious each new life is and how I love them each one.
We loved all the "bargins" of black Friday and so it continues!

I have had a wonderful Christmas already, for I got to go by train to Columbia last week (the night before I left, we had a wonderful RS program; it sat the stage for the rest of December!) I got to spend time with Connor and Sarah Beth,got to visit them at lunch at their school and that night saw Sarah Beth in her skit about Christmas around the world, what fun it was and how handsome Connor looked in his basketball uniform! they are growing up so fast! And I had a chance to study spelling again!! Lib and Pete look so "at home" in their new home, it thilled me so!I enjoyed my time with Patti(we slipped off for lunch and she is such a joy to be around, what fun I had with her)

On Friday I spent the day with the Baileys and with little Chloe and her pretty mom! An added bonus was seeing Jared on his lunch hour and Will right after his work!
Beth looks great and Rob is as sweet as ever. My arms were full of precious cargo for 2 days, now tell me what could I want more for Christmas!(only to see them more often) I would watch them and close my eyes and make a wonderful memory of each moment! Carolyn and I played beauty shop and I left that night with a lovely manicure and sparkles in my hair and a lovely facial, i was a new woman!!
Seth is such a young gentleman and so kind and sweet! The twins are so much fun, Katlyn so sweet and serious and Natalie so busy and funny and Chloe so adorable and little Alee, so beautiful and good for such a little newborn! And did I mention Beth's homeade pizza, it was yummy!

Did I say Christmas was just around the corner, it is in every corner that I see! As I watch these precious ones living the gospel, as I watched Katlyn "playing" the piano and singing I am a child of God, as I listened as Seth (really) played a beautiful piece, I was so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and the joy it has
brought to each of us! I was grateful to see Lauren well enough to go to Sacrament Sunday and hear Emily and Jean bear testimony of what Christmas really is, family and love! I look at Mikey who will in a few short months pass the Sacrament, what joys lie ahead. I am thankful for Jacob for brings me home and the fact that we see him often now. But I guess I should be thankful for beautiful Brittany who guides him this way! Thank you all for sharing your greatest gifts with me! I love you each one

Soon during this season, I will see LaNelle and Steven and Peter and Ellen and Andrew and Floyd and Laurel and Katie and Jr. then Kim and Jerry and my David!

Gramps and I have all the Christmas gifts in the world, our precious family and the gospel of Jesus Christ and our wonderful friends, indeed Christmas is in every corner that we see! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LIBBI!!!

49 Years ago on an early Monday morning in Manning, SC in the delivery room, Dr. Kellar looked at his nurse Mary Nell and said "this baby is stubborn," this baby started 1 hour and 45 minutes ago, a very short labor and now she won't come, this must be a determined child! Then as if on cue, Libbi came out and greeted the world! She came out yelling and has been talking ever since! What a wonderful day for our family! She was our first little girl, did I say little? She weighed over 9 lbs and was just beautiful! she was the only girl in the nursery and even then she knew that she would make her place in this world and she has!

Throughout your life, Libbi, you have made a difference in everything you have tackled! and you have excelled in all! Do I sound like a proud(grateful is a better word) Mom? Well I am so proud of the many wonderful things you have accomplished in your field of nursing, but I am more proud of your compassion for those you serve, the world is a better because you serve the sick!

I am grateful for your choice in a husband, one of my wise men, and I am so happy you chose to have a family and choose to serve the Lord in your decisions in your life! I am thankful you came to me! I love you, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

autumn leaves

The smell of fall is in the air! Cool crisp mornings are wonderful and I love them. And with the autumn leaves comes a great time to reflect my many blessings!

Each day I get up is a blessing and as I look around I see the beautiful world that I live in and love I am so thankful for it. (at our age, you do begin to count the days-ha) When I see all the "tea parties and town hall meetings" I know how blest I am to live in a country where people can speak their mind and voice their views and I am thankful for this! I am thankful for an eternal companion who allows me to be me! He gos about quietly doing things that make my life easier and always is happy when I am! He asks very little in this life, a piece of Kim's pound cake, or Jean's chocolate chip cookies, or Libb's lasagna and he's good to go! I see my blessings when I go down my hall and see my picture of my family, my wonderful children, grand and greats!! What great joy this brings me as I pray for their safety each day! I think of them early in the morning, going to work, school, or seminary and think how blest I am for such a wonderful family. I count my blessings when I go to the cemetary to carry flowers for Noah and think of the joy he brouught to all of us in a such a short time, and to know that I will see him again! I am blest to be able to get up and go to work 2 days a week! I am thankful that my mind is still fairly sharp(no comments please) and I still love to read the scriptures and enjoy reading a good book, what great blessings I have and as I watch the leaves begin to fall, I think of them all!!

I love you all!

July, the beach and family

What a wonderful vacation that Gramps and I had after a rocky start with his auto accident.
The beach was beautiful, ( even tho the condo -was not as clean as I would have liked in the beginning)

How wonderful it was to be with almost all our family! That was a gift within itself, but added to that was the wonderful picture that Lib gave us of all our family! Katie, Jacob, Jared and family, and Noah were missing but I have a plan to put them in when I have it framed! Every night was just a little bit of Heaven as we ate together and then as Gramps and I watched as the cousins and brothers and sisters got to have fun just being together!

I know that some of you came as a great sacrafice and for that I am grateful.(Like the hard sofa that Kim and Jerry and Laurel and Floyd endured)

There was news to share, with new babies on the way, and Lib and Pete getting a house, and welcoming Ellen to soon be our newest family member, congradulations on yours and Peter's engagement! We love her already and she and Peter make a perfect match! Honey, you saw all of us ; now you know what you are getting into!
I know Lib and Pete was so glad to have all of their family together for a few days! No greater joy than this!

Getting to spend time with our great grandchildren was an added bonus! It is so fun to watch Lib and Kim as grandparents! What fun it was to see them all.

Also Gramps and i got to spend a few special hours alone with Steven and LaNelle as we traveled that Sunday to the beach and then got to see them the Saturday after they left the beach!(They came by for lunch on their way back to Utah!) It was such fun to learn of all LaNelle's accomplishments as she embarks on her career in teaching! Those kids are sure lucky to have her! And she's lucky to have that precious Steven! And now Patti is going to pursue teaching, how exciting!!

We watched as Little sassy Sarah Beth became a world traveler, off to Utah with LaLa! And thank you Andrew for coming on our week, that meant so much to Gramps and me. Andrew, the accountant in the making! Seeing Will for more than a minute was a thrill, we have not gotton to be with him since his mission, his wonderful spirit has not changed but become more so! and my faithful Jacob makes me laugh! It was so good to have David with us (the soon to be tallest Edwards boy!) Connor is so good with Kalib, I love to watch them together!
Getting to be with the Bailey bunch for more than an hour was fun, how blest I am to have lived long enough to have a redhead! Seth is a little Rob and Carolyn is a little Beth and Katlyn is a little Kim and Natalie is a little mess!! What a ham!

Seeing Jean happy at the beach, seeing Jeff happy watching Jean be happy, and seeing their kids have fun with everyone was wonderful !

And we all need an Uncle Floyd and an Aunt Laurel! How dull life be like without them, what fun they bring to everything! Thank you for all you do, you bring joy to us all!

Now July is fading and with it comes a birthday for Michael and so today we enjoyed his birthday by eating 8 lbs. of french fries and Jeff's wonderful hamburgers and seeing lots of family again, my cup runneth over as I take it all in.

Close in my heart is a little boy with a little rainbow shirt and a big grin who constantly reminds me of how precious and fragile life is and how important each day is and how I want each one of you to know how much I love each you and how grateful I am for each memories we share together, even the silly string!! Thank you one and all. I love you. Momma

AN EARLY MORNING CALL

Today at 4:50 AM I said goodby to Gramps and went back to bed because I had Jean's car and could sleep another hour before I went to Jean's house. 10 minutes later the phone rang and in my
mind I knew it must be Lauren, I cannot tell you the fear that gripped my heart-It was Gramps and he had been involved in an accident: someone, a young man had rear ended Gramps while Gramps
had been doing 60. The young man reached for his cell phone he said. There were 2 other lanes open and Gramps sailed from the far right to the far left and then back again, we don't know the
damage on our car(hope the frame isn't broken) The young man must have been doing 70 or 80.

Poor Jeff, he answered his early morning call from me and I went to his house and he went to rescue Gramps. What a wonderful peace came over me, for I knew he would do whatever he needed to do.

Except for a few cuts and bruises Gramps is ok. not fine, just ok; but in a couple of days all will be better! Now I find joy in this! How, well he could be dead or in the hospital, so I find joy in the fact that he is home. I find joy that the young man who hit him is ok too. I find joy that we have traveled a long and happy road together.

Now for the first time I realize that Gramps is getting fragile; this man who has put up with me these 27 years looked so fragile too me. And I thought of friday before last when he sat with me as I had surgery; this is what life is all about being there for one another and I find joy in that!

All of you have your busy lives and I love reading about them, but Gramps and I just waddle
along and find joy in being together and watching fox news and loving each of you at a distance. And reading your blogs and seeing your pictures.

We love splitting a meal at the cafeteria and maybe getting a drink at sonic for 1/2 price and I love the way he lays out my glasses and keys on my pocketbook in the mornings so I will be ready to go on time and how I drive him to work and we listen to the Book of Mormon on tape and I go and get him a bisquit and he calls when I get to work to see if I'm safe and what joy we have in the simple things. How we want to serve one more mission together and are working toward that! See, even at our age we still have goals! We have joy in the morning for we do not
know how many we have left and are enjoying each one as we go!

Thank you all for being a part of our simple lives. How much we love this beautiful world!

And how grateful I am for that early morning call that turned out better than it could have!

the month of June

Today is Sissie's birthday and I thought of her as I woke up before Gramps left for work. She was my dear friend and we shared many wonderful times together. She was there first when I went into labor with Floyd! She bought his first church outfit! she and I were pregnant at the same time with Fran and Kim. What fun we used to have opening our presents from Nina and Granddaddy when no one was around and rewrapping them and acting suprised on Christmas!

She and I had a wonderful friendship and she was truly my sister! I still miss her, but just think how she and Nina and Granddaddy will be together for her birthday today!

Sunday was Mother's birthday and I was a little sad as I usually am on that day, but smiled as I remembered how she loved her birthday and how she would do nothing on that day; it was her day she would say and everyone had to celebrate with her; she had such a zest for life and never grew old even if she had lived on this earth to be a hundred, she would still be a kid. Floyd is like her in this sense! Two years ago I heard from my high school friend that I had not talked to in 49 yyears and she immediately ask about mother! Everyone loved her but she loved being "grandma nell" the most! She loved setting up til 3 in the morning playing cards with her grandchildren! She loved cooking and gardening, she loved life!

Perer's birthday was this month and I love the way he is growing up into such a special young man! And I love his choice of Ellen, I only met her once but I can tell these things you know!

And my sweetheart turned 76! He is still the kindest person I know and will do anything he can for anyone, especially the grandbabies and yes they will always be our babies!(some grown up but never the less our babies! And thank you gramps for putting up with me all these years.

Happy birthday to all!!

A Garden Grown with Care

The Gardener and her Garden

Picnic Table Garden Layout

Topsey Turvey Tomatoes

Garlic

Onions

Squash

My Garden on the PicnicTable

The Bishop ask that all of us plant a garden of some kind, so I did. all on an old picnic table, right out on my patio! Now it began with 4 tomatoes and 4 pepper plants. Well, it kind of grew as the days went on. I now have 7 tomatoes and 4 peppers and 3 little pots of cucumbers and one squash, and 3 pans of beans and a container of garlic and one of green onions! Now whether or not they will produce is left to be seen, but I have 4 small tomatoes and 2 tiny peppers already!

My Mississippi roots are deep in the soil! I loved growing up in the country and watching my granddaddy grow his garden and work on his farm. I loved being able to see calves born, and chickens hatched and oh what fun it was to find a fresh bunch of little biddies and to watch as the mother hen gathered them under her wings just as I read in the scriptures about the Savior gathering Isreal under his wings! I saw first hand what it was to work" by the sweat of your brow". and in doing so I learned the importance and the joy that comes from a job well done!

I followed Daddy Kees all over his farm. I watched him sharpen plows in his blacksmith shop and helped him haul hay and even picked a little cotton(remember the story of the shoes and how I had to pick cotton to buy them) I went with him when he took his cotton to the gin, I was there at the grist mill when they ground his corn into cornmeal! I can remember going to the cane mill and watching them make syrup out of sugar cane! What fun i had.

When the vegetables were ready to can, Daddy and Mama Kees worked together, and we had "canning days" and as they worked they told wonderful stories of their childhood and of their children's! I loved to count the jars of beans or tomatoes, or corn! They kept a log of how many they had, and i finally figured out that they would can all they needed and then share with the neighbors! We picked blackberries and made jam and plums and made jelly! Always using the wonderful gifts that Heavenly Father had placed on the farm(blackberry bushes, figs, plums, and pear trees) to make food and store it for the winter! Each week in the summer brought a different fruit or vegetable and they were ready and prepared to work until all was harvested.
What a wonderful education I received on that farm and how simple it was but yet all that was needed was there!

I could never understand why my cousins were so excited to come and visit and see the animals and the garden and drink all the milk they wanted! They would um and aw as Mama Kees fried chicken and had homeade bisquits and cornbread and corn on the cob and butterbeans and I thought, what is wrong with them? You know it was not until years later that I knew what a wonderful life I had as a child! And I am so grateful to be able to share it, for as I look at my little picnic table full of plants my mind wanders back to Fair Oak springs and Daddy and Mama Kees and the "salt of the earth' people that they were!

Thank You for all the wonderful phone calls and cards for Mother's Day it was wonderful to talk to you. There is nothing a grandmother or mother likes better than to hear from her family! Thank you for remembering! As I sat in Church Sunday with my beautiful white rose corsage,(thank you jean and jeff) I thought of this custom we have in the south of honoring our mothers by wearing white if they have passed on or red if they are still here on this earth, and I thought how much I love that custom, for as a child I did so, we could not afford florist flowers, so we found one in the yard,(usually a red rose!) And sometimes as my grandfather would pin it on me, he would tell how grateful he was that his mom was still alive(she was 94 when she died)and how thankful he was for her and her courage to go forth and raise her family of 10 when his father had died in a swimming accident when he was only 10. It made him proud to wear a little rose in his lapel to honor his Mom! Just a simple thing, but so much meaning behind it. today that custom is almost gone, and it makes me sad for I love it; as I wore the rose, my memory of my mother was with me throughout the day and I felt close to her and it helped me think of all the courage it took her to rear me as a single parent, and of her mother, Mama Kees as she stood in the fields by Daddy Kees and helped work the farm to rear their children and their mothers and of Nina and all the women in my life that have helped me know and understand what it is to be a mother by their great example!

This week I want to say Happy Birthday to Laurel and Patti! What a special day May 12th is to have 2 birthdays! Hope you had fun at the beach Patti and I hope Charleston was wonderful for you Laurel! May you both have a wonderful year and have lots of love and joy throughout the year!

And I want to tell Katie that we miss her and love her and will be glad when she gets her feet back on this good ole USA soil!!

And to my 3 daughters, I am grateful to you for being wonderful mothers in Zion! thank you for being such a great example to yuor children so that they understood what being a Mom is-for they are and will be great mothers, how blest I am to have all of you! I love you!

I REMEMBER MAMA

What a wonderful time of year, Mother's day! And no matter who you are or where you are you always remember your own mother at mother's day. And what wonderful memories that I have! My mother, Nell, LaNelle, Grandma Nell or Mama was a wonderful lady! She loved life and loved living life! She was a "fun" Mama and a "fun Grandma"! She never met a stranger and had a heart of gold. She went thru life loving everyone with everything that was in her power.
She was the baby of six and loved her family with all her heart! She only had one sister, Audrey, who was older than her by 8 years, and she was very close to her. But she worshipped her four brothers! But she was closest to her brother Corbin, who was only four years her senior!
I always hoped I would look like her when I grew up, but she had beautiful brown eyes like Jacob and Noah and dark olive skin! I did not have a chance of looking like her with all my redhair and freckles! I stayed with my grandparents a lot as a little child and so when I saw my
Mama it was a treat above all else! I want to tell you what I learned from Mama!

I learned how important "family" was. When I was 6 Mama married a man named John Roberts and for the first time in her life had a little"money". I cannot tell you what I got that Christmas, but I remember Grandma Nell wrapping a huge box of presents for my U. Preston and his family of 6, who were having a hard year! from her I learned to GIVE TO OTHERS FIRST. When I was a teenager one of my friends from church had a thyroid operation and all of her hair fell out. What did Mama do? She brought her to her beauty shop each week and gave her oil treatments to stimulate Delores's scalp! Now this family had five children and very little money, so no charge was ever made! Once she knew a preacher's wife who was in the hospital with Pneumonia and had no insurance-she paid part of the bill and they never knew it! Mama gave when she did not have it to give and found joy in the giving not praise for doing it! There are many, many stories like this!
But I want to talk about her great love for her family, when U. Bill and A. Bertie's newborn passed away, my mother stayed by A. Bertie's side for days helping her any way she could. Later on a few years later, she would be the one to call all the family, when A. Bertie and U. Bill had a horrible auto accident and A. Bertie was killed. She was there in the good and bad times and nothing was important to she and her brothers and sisters as their parents. Each year come rain or shine she helped get a family reunion together where they all met at Mama and Daddy Kees and sat up all night telling wonderful stories of their youth!
What a wonderful life I had as a child to watch such a giving and wonderful woman live life the best she knew how. Yes, there were some demons in her life, but she overcame them and moved forward, loving and giving as she went forward! She never judged anyone! She was only there to lift them up and help them move forward with their lives! She had a great and wonderful love for her grandchildren. How happy she would be today to see all these wonderful children in this family and know of the wonderful lives you live and how you each one love and care for your family!
I am so gratful for a mother who knew and understood, (without ever having been taught), that we are children of a Heavenly Father that loves us and wants us to be kind and caring to all that pass our way, she learned this from her wonderful parents, my beloved Mama and Daddy kees and I watch as it is being passed on to you and I am so grateful for this! Mama trulyunderstood that "if you treat a man like he is the Savior he will become like Him! I will always remember, love, and be grateful for my wonderful mother!

Spring is Here

Isn't it wonderful that spring has come! emily took these pictures of my yard. I do love all that Heavenly Father has made! As I grow older I am really thankful for my sight, i have often taken it for granted but now I am thankful everyday that I can see all the Lord has made.

This has been an eventful week, Floyd is now "middleaged" and Michael is still in the hospital and is doing better but scared everyone last night bya low blood sugar in the middle of the night!
I saw a picture of Chloe on Kim's blog; she is so beautiful! I can't wait until I see her! We hav so much to be thankful for!! I loved being able to see Floys's birthday and Libbi's easter pictures! Modern miracles, my wonderful children, grand and greats, how blest we are! Carolyn, Seth and the twins were so precious in their easter clothes as were Patti, Andrew,Peter and the twins!

Thank you for sharing! i love you each one and all! Momma

My cup runneth over-from the richest granny I know!

What a wonderful 70th birthday I have had. It started on friday when I recieved the wonderful booklet with all of your sayings about this ole granny that Kim had put togather! And a gift to cracker barrel! yum! I cried the whole day as I read and reread the things you said and then I went down memory lane and could see each of you as little children and all the fun I had watching you grow up; then Floyd and Laurel came on Saturday and took us to Mimi's cafe and I had Sole, my very favorite fish! And wonderful presents too! And balloons! And we spent the afternoon with Jean's kids watching U.Floyd and A.Laurel do the WEI! What fun!!

Then yesterday i had phone calls all day from so many of you. I heard from LaNelle in Utah, My sister Debbe in Ms. and Beth in SC and then Jean, Kim and Libbi all called. Then we went to Jean's for supper and received service and a wonderful birthday letter and ate steak and Gramps got me a fruit boquet instead of a cake(it was great) I got an original painting from Lauren and dirt from Emily-yes I requested soil for my container garden and I am so proud! I got phone calls from Pete and Jerry too!(along with Jeff they are the greatest sons in law in the world!)! Katie called from Argentina(I guess I had an international day!)What a thrill and on Saturday we got to see her when we talked to her on the skype! Can you believe it! After I got home last night I was seranaded in spanish by Will and Jakey! Then i went to my email and there was the sweetest beautiful quartet that sang Happy birthday to me; They were all dressed up in their Sunday best I cried as I watched those happy little faces, I wanted to reach out and hug them! And last but not least my David called and saved the best til last he said!

I want each of you to know that i will always treasure this birthday, for seeing your faces and hearing your voices and reading your thoughts made me the richest mother and grandma that I know! Thank you for the gifts I love each one but most of all thank you for sharing your time, it was my best birthday ever and it is not over yet, Libbi and the twins are coming tomorrow! It just goes on, who ever said that getting old is not fun does not have my wonderful family! I love you each one!!

New Beginnings

Kim just called me and told me that Kristin is in the hospital and they will bring Chloe into the world tomorrow! It only seems like yesterday that I was flying in from Chicago to see Jared! (I only have to look in the mirror to see that it wasn't yesterday!ha!) . Jared and Kristin's life will forever be altered once they hold that sweet little angel. What a wonderful new beginning for their home!
And you know I have the deepest love for that little girl, even before she gets here! I remember when my grandparents oldest grandson (Lil Marvin Kees ) first brought his wife and baby to see Mama and Daddy Kees, they ran to the car and just grabbed that little one and loved her and held her and went crazy over her-I was about 10 and could not for the life of me understand why they would love a 6 month old baby so much that they did not even know-for they had not seen Lil Marvin in about 5 years! But today I know and have a full understanding of that wonderful love that burns within me just as it does Kim and Jerry to lay eyes on that precious baby! I am so grateful that families are forever!

I am so glad that Peter is getting along good from his surgery! And it looks like a romance is beginning for he and Ellen! I have met Ellen and think that she is a lovely girl and I look forward to seeing her again soon. Peter is having a new beginning in his life! I believe he is twitterpatted!!

Now in case you have forgotton, the 9th of April will be a new beginning for Floyd! He will begin his second half century on this earth! Floyd, it will be wonderful! You don't look a day over 49! You are embarking on a wonderful time in your life! It does not seem like 50 years ago that they laid that big old boy in my arms! What joy you brought into our life!

Spring is almost here, and I am beginning a new garden and i pray it will produce! How I love to put my hands in the earth and plant anything for I know each spring as I do plant something it is a new beginning and new beginnings are wonderful! They renew your faith in life and you feel that much closer to the Saviour as you watch the miracle of birth-even if it is only a seed come to life!

I am thankful for seasons, for new beginnings and for wonderful children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, each one is so important! I love you all!

March is blowing in like a Lion

We have had rain, wind, sleet and snow! What a way to begin March!
so beartiful tho, it was like heavenly Father just painted the trees and srubs and yes, my daffodils too, with a white paint brush! How I wish I could paint!
Now for all the birthdays! Andrew, Jerry, Jared, Melonie, my nephew
Brandon and I hope I have not forgotton any! Happy Birthday to you all!!

Oh yes, my great grandmother, Harriet Morgan Kees, born on March 18th. And I want to talk about her . She was pregnant with her 12th child, having lost 3 as infants and her husband, John Quitman Kees took his boys Gus, Lee and Jesse(Daddy Kees) down to the swimming hole, but before he would let them swim, he dove in to see if it were safe and it wasn't and he broke his neck. So here is this young woman left with 8 living children and expecting another- a widow! did she falter under the task no way!
She held her head high and ran a farm and reared those 9 chidren and lived to be 94. Each of those chidren grew up respectable and made her proud. And they cared for and loved her and praised her all of her life.
I can remember sitting at her feet and thinking she was like a big doll, she had a rocking chair with birds carved out of wood on the arms of the chair, funny what you remember) she weighed about 90 pounds and was tiny, yet her big sons honored her for she was truly a "steel magnolia"! She went on to bury another daughter befor she died. Yet I can always remember her saying what a wonderful life she had and how gratful she was the Lord had allowed her to live so long! What lessons we can learn from her! Happy Birthday, Grandma Kees!!

Spring is coming!

As I walked out in my yard yesterday, I saw my daffodils sticking their heads up trying their best to bloom! this is always the first sign of spring. and I loved seeing them because these past weeks we have had too much excitement!

Now Gramps is my " bionic man" now that he has his new pacemaker! and he is just ticking away! We have thanked Heavenly Father every day for his kidney stones, for without them he could just have stopped ticking altogether, and we would not know that he needed a pacemaker! and who could put up with me but him!!

Happy Birthday to Beth and Kim and Happy Anniversary to Jeff and Jean! It only seems like day before yesterday that I was on an elevator in Manning hospital giving birth to Kim. What a scarey day that was! I tried to tell everyone she was born but they just patted me and said "hold on we will have you in the delivery room and then we'll see" When they pulled back the sheet they saw a beautiful baby girl just looking around! Were they shocked!! and it seems yesterday that I was holding Beth for the first time! Wasn't it only hours ago that Jerry and I were laughing in the Washington DC Temple as Jean and Jeff were about to be sealed, Jerry whispered "Granny, she is holding on to him for dear life" and she was! What beautiful memories! aren't we grateful for such wonderful memeories. And birthdays and anniverseries are great times to remember-I pray I don't lose my memory! It is one of God's greatest gifts!

I am thankful for all your blogs, so that I can feel that I am there watching the babies at Beth's grow up, watching LaNelle work with her 150 kids, watching Jared get ready for parenthood, listening to Jake be Jake(what joy he brings to each of us), seeing Will's room(since I have not seen him yet!)watching Lib's twins grow and sharing in your joys and pains, your sucesses and failures! What a wonderful thing the internet is!

I love you each one!

WHEN I COUNT MY MANY BLESSINGS

Happy new year to all and happy birthday to Pete, Rob, Will, Katlyn and Natalie!
I just want all of you to know that I have now written twice in this blog and both times I have erased it! I had two wonderful thoughts that are floating away in cyberspace! Oh well!
What an exciting time in our family! Lanelle has a wonderful new job and Will is coming home and Katie is leaving for Argentina! Happy and sad times, happy for LaNelle and happy to see Will and sad to see Katie go, but happy for all the fun she will have and the things she will learn. What wonderful blessings I have in my life. As a little girl, I prayed that I would have a big family! and soon it will grow larger when little Chloe arrives! how exciting!

If someone would check my bank account they would probably say "what has she accomplished?"very little by the world's standards! But I have so much! Each day when gramps and i wake up we thank the Lord that He has allowed us to live another day in this wonderful world of ours! We are so gratful that we can be a part of your lives. This past Sunday Emily spoke in "new Beginnings" and I was impressed not only with her talk but by the depth of her testimony! What greater blessing could I have than to know that my grandchildren are living the gospel because of their OWN testimonies!

I wish that I could be there when Kim takes Will in her arms and once more she knows he is here on our soil, what a glorious reunion! What a wonderful blessing!

Yesterday I sat in my car(had been to dr.s) in my driveway and watched the many birds in my backyard, busy scratching working away for their food. What a wonderful blessing just to watch them as they worked. Most of them were little grey birds; there was a beautiful red cardinal and his mate, a brown and orange one(the males have all the bright color)I thought as I sat there that most of us are like the grey birds-but yet our Father in Heaven loves each one of the grey just as much as He does the bright colored ones. Think about it, if it was not for the grey birds, the cardinal would not be as pretty because he would not stand out! So if you think you are a grey bird, just think how good you make the cardinals of this world look!Ha! But in Father's eyes each of us is his special child and has our own purpose and finding joy in that journey is the greatest blessing of all. And each part of our life isunique! When i was younger, I did not have time to sit and watch the birds or listen to the rain or ponder but now I do and I am thankful for that blessing! As I approach 70 I have so much to look forward too! Waking up each day and knowing that I don't have quite as many days left on this earth as I did once is a special blessing in its self for I can take the time to enjoy each moment, i sure wish i had known this at 30!

Thank you for all you posts( see,I am learning the computter language)it is a wonderful blessing to keep up with your lives this way.

And andrew, if you are reading this, you better get busy writing a deep apology on the "myspace" that you set up in your granny's name for I am losing friends because they think i don't want them for a friend on myspace, your days are numbered!

And yes, Andrew you are one of my many blessings too!

lov