Tagged by Marque!

Quilt being made for someone's wedding by Aunt Susan

Shhhh! Don't tell them.

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Sea World

Barry, Becky & Braydon Hill after blessing

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Leah visiting Gramma

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Cynthia Allen (soon to be Trosper)
First time meeting (again) February 2009

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Testing the camera--The grinch off TV
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Scott Christmas 2008

Marque was tagged by my niece Anna, and then he tagged me along with 6 other people. The original challenge was to post the 7th picture in the 7th folder, but Marque did all the folders and matching picture up to the 7th folder, 7th picture. I did the same but backwards. My pictures aren't great, but it was fun to see what random photos were posted.

So I will tag Casey, Jennifer, Beth, Samantha, Sarah, Jason, and Jayne.

Strangely, there aren't many my age who blog, so I am choosing those in the younger crowd.

...more to say

My baby is getting married two weeks from tomorrow! What a handsome young man he is. An exemplary one too. He has found a bride to match. Cynthia is a bright penny. She is full of energy, has excellent goals, a high value system and she loves her family. I believe she already loves ours too. Besides all of that, she is absolutely darling.

I don't know that Scott has found one negative thing about his future wife. She has found one, the same and only thing that I ever found to nag my son about, procrastination. I'm looking, with anticipation, to see if she can help him overcome this small inconsistency in his otherwise shiny armor. It's a hard call, if I was a betting woman, I wouldn't know where to throw my money. After all I've tried a long time to help him overcome, but she is one strong cookie, and she has some loving techniques that just might do it................I'll keep you posted.

Good friends, Ken & Tina Pratt, have lovingly offered their home and backyard for the celebration. They are working like crazy to make a beautiful venue even more perfect. It is high on the hills over Temecula so it will be a lovely August evening wedding. The only negative is it won't hold all of the people we would all like to come. There are so many friends who, like me, were waiting for this day, and so after the honeymoon I am going to have a party to introduce the newlyweds to those who are unable to attend the actual wedding.

Scott proposed high above the ground in a hot air balloon. How romantic! See he did get all those sensitivity lessons I pounded in his brain. When they touched ground both families met them and we celebrated with fruit, crackers and cheese, lots of tears and hugs. Cynthia has a delightful family. It's so hard to believe we lived just a few blocks from them for both of their lives.

Scott had a crush on Cynthia in high school, and they worked together at PetSmart for quite awhile, so they had a good friendship. He didn't make any moves for two reasons; 1) he was a shy guy, and 2) she had a boyfriend. Apparently she had thought about him since then as well, but somehow thought he was married and living in Utah. Imagine her surprise when she learned he was a police officer in Chino. Imagine his surprise to learn that she was a teacher working for the Chino Unified School District.

Now, I always like to push "Mom-power" so I will tell you that frequently over the past 15 years since he graduated that I asked him if he had seen Cynthia, knew what she was doing or if she was married. As a matter of fact when I was trying to persuade him to get on Facebook I said something like "You never know you might find some long lost friend, like Cynthia Allen." Sure enough she contacted him over Facebook after she found out he was in Chino when he stopped a friend. He just gave a warning, not a ticket.....what a nice cop!

Well that was the start of the romance in February. There was no easing into it, they were just meant to be. They allowed for re-evaluation up until the 24th of February, but then it was full throttle into "head over heels". Some people are surprised to hear they are marrying after such a short courtship, but those of us in the family have been expecting, and even planning since that first month because it was that obvious.

In addition to this bit of happiness, they also signed papers on their new house yesterday. So they are beginning to move furniture from his Lake Elsinore home, and her Chino condo today. It is a house they plan on living in forever, and they plan on filling the rooms with lots of children, which makes this Gramma very happy. As you can tell I am already so happy about this new daughter-in-luv who is going fill Scott's life with boundless joy!

Today, I am also thinking about another daughter-in-luv, Sarah. Today is her birthday! Happy Birthday Sarah. When I called her today to sing "It's your birthday shout hooray, I want to sing to you today, One year older and wiser too, Happy Birthday to you!", she was just getting ready to take a trip to St. George. Marque is taking her for a special weekend. He has some great plans to help her celebrate her special day. No one knows how to celebrate like Sarah. She loves having fun, and planning to have fun. What a special lady she is. Words fail me when I try to describe how I giggle when I think of Sarah. She sings in the shower, she knows every word to every musical, every Disney movie and can join in that strange language that Marque, Jim, and Scott speak when they have conversations in movie quotes. She is quiet. and so her sense of humor is quiet, but unbelievable. She cracks me up with her one-liners, quietly said, but packed with so much wit. She is the best mom, and just relishes every moment with Leah. I hope she has more kids, because they will be lavished with love. She is perfect for Marque and balances him amazingly well. Together they are an awesome team. You can tell how much I love this daughter-in-luv. They only thing that keeps her from perfection is being so far away. Happy Birthday Sarah!

Since I'm singing the praises of my girls, I certainly can't leave out my first daughter, Samantha. I didn't blog on her birthday I guess, and that was a sad oversight because she was my first daughter-in-luv. She is the one who first fulfilled my desire for a shopping companion, a confidant, a buddy, an emotional, sensitive, FEMALE! I never have to worry about my boys knowing how loved they are....that's the point.....they probably get tired of all that mush and are glad they have all given me wonderful daughters to focus the gooey stuff on. Samantha said in one of the cards she gave me that I was her best friend. That touched my heart because we all hear the "mothers-in-law" stories....and there is nothing more awesome than to have your "daughter-in-law" find something to love. I'm so glad Samantha lives closeby because though we rarely have time to take them as often as we would like, we love our "girly" time. Samantha was the first to call and see if I was okay yesterday on our anniversary date. She knew it might be a tough time. Thanks Sam!

So first we had Samantha and her birthday is June 24th. Sarah was the 2nd and her birthday is July 24th. We told Scott he needed to find someone with an "S" name whose birthday was on the 24th as well. Believe it or not (S)ynthia's birthday is February 24th.......now that is fate!

So much to say!

Some days there just doesn't seem like anything to write about. Other days there seems to be so much to say, and not enough time or room to say it. I'm just going to get these things down, just like a journal entry.

Today, July 23rd, would have been my 43rd anniversary, and 21st anniversary of being sealed in the temple. Just a statement of the circumstances is that it saddens me so much and I called Bud to say "Happy Un-Anniversary", and it hadn't even occurred to him.

Tuesday my step-father, Herb Baldwin, had hip surgery. Because of lung and heart problems there was indication that this might not be a cinch. As a matter of fact when they were going to do the surgery in Yuma the anesthesiologist indicated there might be a 90 - 95% chance his heart and he wouldn't make it through the surgery. So I was very, very concerned and spent an anxious day until I heard he was okay. I was so thankful my sister, Susan, and her husband, Bill, was there to support my Mom.

She gave the following report paraphrased slightly; "There was an x-ray originally showing there was a fracture that went down from the ball into the length of the femur, but the doctor said that when he opened Herb up the ball of the joint had broken completely off, he could just pick it up. There were jagged parts on both of the broken parts that were rubbing against one another and that was part of what was causing so much pain. So a titanium post was inserted into the femur bone and a ball attached to that, A titanium socket was attached to his hip with a plastic cup in that in which the ball fits. Both the post and the socket are a little porous so that the bone will grow into the metal and make the hip much stronger than it was before. It will take some time for that to happen so Herb will be using a walker and later crutches probably for at least 6 to 8 weeks. Herb was real shaky after the surgery and quivered for over 2 hours, he felt like he had chills and couldn't get warm even though he had about 8 blankets on and his temp was normal. Finally he was given a muscle relaxant to help him stop shaking as well as a pain killer, and then he fell asleep. The doctor said there are still many things to watch, but right now it looks good. "

Herb married my mom 17 years ago. He is really a good guy. I hated to see him be wheel-chair and bed bound, and to see my Mom's life change so dramatically caring for him (although she was glad she could do it, of course). I am happy for both of them that they now have some hope for living without the pain and that he will be able to be more active. Love you Mom and Herbie Baby!

Hailey, Mady and I took a whirlwind trip to Peoria, AZ (a suburb of Phoenix) for my Aunt Betty's funeral. Her death was very sudden. She was fine earlier in the day and then started having severe pain and asked to be taken to emergency. They were concerned from the location of the pain that it might involve the heart, or a kidney stone. It was pancreatitis. She didn't even live for the two days they gave her. My mom was so sad that she wasn't able to attend. She and Aunt Betty were the same age and they always loved each others company. It was wonderful to be in Phoenix with my cousins and their families as they celebrated Aunt Betty's life. What an amazing woman she was. Patty had been recording her mom answering questions about her life, and so she had alot of Betty's own words to share with us. Kathy spoke directly to her Mom believing, as do I, that she was present and observing us all with keen vision (she has had problems for years and her sight was almost non-existent). Each grandchild stood and shared personal insights and tender memories of Grandma B!

We were concerned about Hailey and Mady attending a funeral. Especially Madyson. She had a tough time watching Michael Jackson's funeral. There was no reason for concern. We had discussed dying, going to heaven, meeting God, Jesus and other loved ones. Aunt Betty's big brother (my Dad) was in heaven and would run to his sister and twirl her around. They might even dance because they both loved dancing! We talked about Aunt Betty being able to see now, and not having any pain. I told them even though people would cry at the funeral because we would be missing her, but there would be happy times of laughing as well because of the good things in her life. Mady would put her little arm around me when she saw me struggling, and the kleenex dabbing my eyes and cheeks. She could reach to the small of my back and she rubbed, and reached up to my neck and massaged it, and stroked my hair. She leaned over and told Hailey on the other side of me that she should do the same when I was sad. What a bright spot for me to have this empathetic little angel there. And we were worried about her! It was special to see my Uncle Art (Northern CA), Aunt Leona ( Kansas), Aunt Margaret (Mississippi), and my cousins Kathy, Vaughn, Patty, Mike, their kids and grandkids, Dale, Valerie, Debra, and Denise. I am so grateful for a big, loving, supportive family. Full of bliss! (Bliss was my maiden name for those who didn't know.)

I have such fun traveling with Hailey and Madyson. They are such good companions. We sang, played good music, stopped and ate a couple of times, stayed at a neat hotel. We cruised to Target and In-n-Out with the top down in 106 degree weather at 9:00 at night. Da girls and I had a blast. I love you guys!

I think I will post more tomorrow...........so much to say!

I had a dream last night!

I very rarely dream, but I did last night. I never remember my dreams when I do have them, but I did last night. It is still clear to me 10 hours later. I don't ever try to interpret dreams, but I did last night.

Many of my friends were gathered around helping me do a garage sale. I seemed to be surprised at the amount of money I was taking in, and was finding more and more to put out for sale. I was giving up things that had great meaning to my life, and even began finding some joy in doing it. Then...

Scott came to me and asked advice about the upcoming wedding. He listened very intently to the great wise words I was sharing. Then we were up on the 2nd floor of an addition in the frame stage of build. Marque, Jim, and Scott were there offering advise on just how to complete the addition and make the "new" part of my house just right. Then....

I went to the edge of the floor where there were no walls. I yelled for help and my three daughters-in-law, Samantha, Sarah, and Cynthia all ran to bring me a ladder so I could get down. Then...

As I was getting ready to go down the ladder which the girls were holding I looked at the pile of dirt and thought it might be fun to jump into, although I was a little fearful that it wouldn't be a soft landing. I took the risk and threw myself off the building into the dirt pile and slid to the bottom. It was so much fun that everyone else started jumping and slliding to the bottom. Then...

I woke up!

Well, I don't think this dream even takes too much interpretation, to me it is pretty straight forward tell me what you think. I think the garage sale with my friends around is me looking through my life and moving on with the support of friends.

Scott's asking my advice tells me that my place in the family is strong. That my kids still turn to me for advice, comfort and support. But they are there for me in a big way as well.

The new addition implies that my old life is important, but it is time to add on to that. A new chapter, if you will. My boys will be there for advise and support as I build this new life. My sweet daughters-in-love are there too. Their love and "girlpower" are so important to me. I think the pile of dirt is representive of just jumping into this new life and enjoying it.

What do you think?

Sweet Little Leah!

I just came across this letter I wrote to Leah when she was to be sealed to her family and given a name and a blessing. I thought I should put it on my blog.

Sweet Little Leah,

I absolutely believe you were always supposed to be a part of the family. When I first looked into those big blue eyes I saw a little bit of heaven. You are an angel. Smiling is just symptomatic of your bright, happy personality. It is easy to see that not only are you going to brighten everyone’s lives, but you will find joy everywhere you look, just like your Mommy and Daddy.

We all waited a long time for you to come into the family, but we knew you would come. Your Mom and Dad are just too special to not use their talents, gifts, and love to bless a precious baby and help her grow to be a loved, valuable daughter of God.

The joy you have given me, your Grampa, Uncles Jimmy and Scott, your Aunt Samantha, and your cousins Hailey and Madyson is hard to explain especially since we are so far away. But, we love to read your Daddy’s blog and see the pictures he posts. It makes us feel almost like we are right there with you. I just wish I could kiss your cheek and give you a “snuggle” every single day. Mommy dresses you so cute and she giggles when she takes videos of you laughing, so we laugh too. Leah, even though we don’t live close to you we all love you so much. Maybe someday we will all live close enough to watch you grow up. I hope so!

When your Mommy called to tell me that you were finally and officially a Trosper I cried. I knew it was going to happen, but it still touched my heart to know it was true. I laughed when I heard you blew bubbles the whole time the judge spoke. What a silly girl! Will you ever understand the miracle this all was? How God must have played such a role in bringing together your parents and Caitlin. There were many tears proceeding this wonderful day, but they were all worth it! You are beautiful and bright just like your Mommy and you are happy and clever just like your Daddy. You look like you belong, and you do!

Now you will be sealed to your parents for “time and all eternity”. You will be sealed to both of your families forever. We all need to live the life we should to be worthy to live that life with you and with Heavenly Father. You are a little angel sent directly from God, through Caitlin, into our hearts and our family. I love you sweet girl.

Love, Gramma Trosper