The Finished Project

The one project became two, as one day, Kylie
and I bought a shelf from the store, the men saw
it and starting their critizing of it's detailing.
We aren't stupid women...we challenged them
to make a better one....and they did!!!


The men in our lives and their
proud work.


The cabinet with the changing pad.



Kylie's reaction as the garage door lifted and
unveiled the completed dresser.


Now...if Preston would just get here!!!!


The men will be moving the changing table and shelf over to Mike and Kylie's place next week before the baby comes. It really is quite beautiful!!
There are such details to the detailing of this heirloom - more than just the beautiful wood and the carefully chosen hardware and stain. More than the countless late nights and very early mornings. More than the finishing and re-finishing of every square inch.
It had to be perfect.
And it is.
There is much love put into this project.
This is for Del's first grandchild.
This is for Preston.

A sidenote to the significance of today...
Happy Birthday Jordan.
I love you son.

And, as always...another birthday..another year gone by, but not forgotten...the 27th..He should be 52 this year, I think...Happy Birthday Jeff.

Single Digit Grandma

So we're down to days now. Kylie's doctor appt yesterday was a little disappointing for her. She was hoping she would deliver our little Preston early, but it appears he will be arriving on her due date of September 29th.
But that's okay. It just means that Heavenly Father needs Preston all the way up until the last possible moment - then he's Kylie and Mike's responsibility. Probably just some last minute instructions on how to handle the physical body Preston will receive and the do's and don't's of raising parents!!!
So, we look to next Wednesday - 6 more days.
I'm giddy with excitement.

240, 7, 689

First number should be under 200.
Second number should be over 30.
Third number should be under 200.
Not significant until I'm told they are as follows..
1- Cholesterol level
2- Calcium level
3- Triglycerides
I'm in BIG trouble. Time for a lifestyle change, per doctors orders.
He says I could 'stroke out' any day .
No time for that - I have to play grandma for awhile!!!
So, hope to post new numbers at next years annual check up!

A Taste of Motherhood

Kathryn has been the babysitter for the Lisonbee family for just about a year now. She nanny's for the mom Kate . Kathryn loves the kids and the kids love her. It has it's ups and downs but mostly everything has been a wonderful experience.
But now, they are moving. Justin, the dad, has been given a promotion and they are moving to California. Everyone is sad.
Katie went to California this past weekend to help find the family a home and to be with Justin for some special events, so Kathryn was asked to babysit. This has been a 24/7 situation of which Kathryn has done fairly well with. The first few days had a few little difficulties...mostly meltdowns on the part of the two year old Nate, but overall, things have gone beautifully. Kathryn did burn her arm at work and has had some real discomfort and pain with it so that has made it a little more difficult to handle everything as easily as Kathryn would have liked to.
But overall, I have been quite proud of her. Del and I have heard some interesting comments from Kathryn about how 'she will parent when and if she ever has her own kids' and 'if I had ever done THAT when I was a kid, I would have slapped myself silly'. We have smiled a few knowing smiles over the past few days and feel this has been a good learning experience for Kathryn in several areas, not just parenting.
She's learning some concepts about patience, long suffering, kindness, discipline, compassion and a few other Christ like qualities. Where we as parents have been able to learn some of these traits one child at a time, she has been thrust into this situation with 4 kids all at once. And I think she's held her own fairly well. I'm quite proud of her.
I imagine that when she picks Katie up from the airport tomorrow at noon, that she'll transfer the mantle of authority to Katie and go right home to take a very long nap.
That's okay - she deserves it.

Serious! Only Two More Weeks!

But Preston could come any time now. He's just wayyy too comfortable inside his momma's tummy. She needs to make things a little more undesirable for that little guy so he'll want to come out early to see his grandpa and grandma!!!
We'll see what the doctor says tomorrow when Kylie goes for her weekly visit.
Wouldn't it be like way cool if Preston came like...uh, ...TOMORROW!!!
I can only wish...

Another Project and Another Recruit

Del's creative juices just go into overdrive when it comes
to 'fixing' things. This would be one of his Sunday shoes...
yes, with a clamp and glue attached!!!! Did it work?
Of course.



'The Project' is almost complete. Saturday, the men recruited
some last minute help from Kylie. We couldn't have this
heirloom be something without Kylie's special touch.


Finishing touches on the doors. The results will be
unveiled probably next week, after it is completely finished.
I would love to show how it looks right now, but only
one more week brings it to it's completion.

Yummy Treats

We received the October issue of Home and Garden magazine at work and it had these gorgeous homemade doughnuts on the front cover. I knew I had to have one.
So yesterday, after work, I came home and made the dough that had to chill in the fridge for 2 hours. Then when Del came home from work and had his dinner, we cooked up the doughnuts.
Just like I had hoped - they were so YUMMMMMMMMMMYYYYYY!!!!
It seems we have a winner!!!
I think we'll try these again as soon as this first batch is gone...
Probably tomorrow.

Update on my Daddy

Daddy has been in the ICU since last Friday night - well, really, kind of 'in and out' of the ICU. But last night I spoke with Becca and she said daddy had a great day yesterday in the fact that he was able to eat his dinner, walk around a little bit and is breathing much more easily with the less anxiety he has.
So they are releasing him to go to a care center - or rehabilitation center for a few days to continue to help him strengthen his breathing capabilities.
Something that brought me even more comfort was to have Becca share with me the feelings Uncle Floyd had when he gave daddy a blessing.
It's not daddy's 'time'.
It brought me much peace.
Just what I needed to hear and know.
It's not his time.

My Girls

We thought Kylie's belly looked like she had a basketball in there...but when Del put the basketball up against Kylie's belly....NOPE..the basketball is bigger. And to prove that point, Del put the ball underneath HIS belly. he's bigger by far.
Today marks three more weeks until Preston comes. We're getting more and more excited. Kylie was pretty disappointed though yesterday to hear the doctor say that she hadn't even started any of the signs of delivery - no cervix thinning - no effacing and no dilating. The doctor told Kylie she would probably NOT go early. That's okay though. We plan on Preston at the end of the month and not a day before.
Kathryn has been working at my office and learning how to assist. I enjoy sitting at my desk and looking out my office door to see her working on a patient. I like to kind of look over her shoulder to see how she's doing and she seems to be able to hold her own. There are still a few things she doesn't know how to do and needs to practice a little more at. But overall, she is taking a great load off the veteran assistants in helping to see some of the easier patients so the others can do some of the heavier work.
I'm proud of her. I'm enjoying going and coming home from work each day with her. We're having fun talks and she is opening up more and more about some of her past challenges and how good she's feeling about her life now. She mentioned yesterday how really glad she is that she's not going off to college right now as she's really not ready to go out on her own. I was glad to hear her say how she tried to put on a brave 'show' of being all grown up but really, she's just glad to still be here at home.
I'm glad she's here to.
She has finally finished her on line classes, taken both final exams and passed both classes. She's finally a high school graduate...and I'm relieved. She asked me today if I would finally put her senior picture up on the wall now. I will do that this weekend. She starts her new on line class this weekend for BYU Idaho - a Book of Mormon class. Classes start tomorrow.
I'm proud of my two girls. I love them both -
Each different and unique in her own way...
each a blessing in my life.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

With just over 3 weeks left, we think Kylie
looks absolutely adorable - the good.

More good - Kylie is always bringing Lacey new toys.
This is Lacey protecting her new puppy.


The project continues for another week.



Bad...very bad. We received a letter from
the HOA saying that my BYU flag had
to come down. Del volunteered...


It got ugly - very very ugly. Only made better
by the fact that BYU won their first game against
Washington tonight...the flag WILL go back out.
Just in a different place and displayed according
to HOA policy. But it WILL go out!!!


This weekend has also been an emotional roller coaster since Thursday night.
I spoke with my mom on Wednesday about some other issues and she mentioned that daddy had been sleeping a lot the past few days, and had, in fact, slept solid for almost two days. She was concerned but didn't notice any other symptoms.
Thursday, Rebecca went over to the house and she checked in on dad and he was not looking well, plus, Becca felt that he was warm with a fever. She had Lance and Uncle Floyd give daddy a blessing and then they took him to an Urgent Care Center. A chest xray showed his lungs looked suspicious and he had a high fever...he was sent to the hospital. Another chest xray was taken and they said he appeared to have advanced stages of pneumonia and full of infection. They admitted him to the hospital.
Things got worse from there. His blood pressure dropped and he has a urinary tract infection that is causing some septic infection issues...and when they try to give him the IV antibiotics and other medicines and fluids, his blood pressure drops to drastic levels. His white blood count was out the ceiling and he has been in and out of the ICU for a few days.
Today, it appears that they have him somewhat stabilized with the medications, trying to keep his blood pressure down while monitoring him day and night still in the ICU. Doctors and nurses say he is very sick but they have seen worse.
My question would be, 'But have the worse lived?'
This is going to take a severe toll on daddy. I'm not quite sure he will ever fully recover from this. I have had some gut wrenching feelings that things may be winding down for my daddy. It almost paralyzes me to think he may go soon. I'm not ready for that. Not sure ANY of us are.
But he has accomplished a lot over these past 12 months - a family reunion with all his children; then another with his siblings. He and mom have finished their life history for us and have it on DVD for each family member. He sang with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, a life long dream and he and mom bought a home. Some very significant achievements.
But in our minds, he has so much more to do. He has grandchildren that still need patriarchal blessings and grandchildren that need to have him perform their sealings of marriage. He has great - grandchildren on the way and we would like him to MEET them on THIS side of the veil instead of SENDING them off on the other side of the veil.
But I also don't want him to suffer - or be uncomfortable. I don't want it prolonged if it's what should be.
So, I guess we'll see how he endures this challenge. How we ALL endure this challenge.
With the prayers that are being offered in his behalf, he may not have the choice but to stick it out a little while longer.
But we'll be sure to make it worth his while!!!
Hope he sees it that way.
Hope the LORD sees it that way.

The Grandma Countdown Has Officially Started

Kylie went to the doctor on Monday and my grandson weighs 6 pounds 4 ounces and is about 18 inches long. And he is due 4 weeks from TODAY!!!!
I'M GOING TO BE A GRANDMA!!!!
I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am.
The doctor says that Preston Michael should be over 8 pounds and over 19 inches long, so that's going to be a big baby for Kylie, who has no hips!!!! She came to my office today and from behind, you can't even tell she is pregnant. It's disgusting how tiny she is from the back. But then she turns around and she looks like she's stuffed a basketball under her shirt!! Sorry Kylie - don't mean to hurt your feelings but, you've started to finally show that you're pregnant!! Don't you think it's about time since you're due the end of THIS MONTH!!!!???
The nursery is all set up, all the baby clothes are put in their place for now, until grandpa and Preston's daddy get the changing table finished. It's going to be beautiful - an heirloom.
Kylie finishes work next week and then???
It's just a waiting game after that.
Will Preston come early? On time? Over baked??
We hope not the last option...
But we are definitely on stand by for the next few weeks.
I couldn't be more anxious and excited!!!
Countdown has started...
FOUR WEEKS TO GO!!!!