So much to be thankful for!

Thanksgiving is a time of reflection and a time when we consciously count the blessings we often take for granted. Sometimes, when we are experiencing challenges in our lives, another challenge we face is recognizing all that we do have to be thankful for. So, amidst the challenges we are facing at the moment, I do have many things in my life that I am so grateful for.

To start with, I have an amazing husband who works so hard on the farm and has been such a great companion for nearly 32 years. He has been so patient with me the past few years and supported me as I have tried to regain my faith in God and fight this monster called depression that lives inside of me. He never pushes or demands, he simply waits quietly for me to take one step at a time and move forward. I never would have made it this far without his loving concern and support.
Next I have five amazing kids as well as two wonderful son-in-laws and two beautiful daughter-in-laws that have brought so much into our family by simply being the people that they are. My kids are some of my closest friends and I appreciate them so much for the people that they are and for the lives they have chosen to lead.

Third are "Grandma's Angel Babies", as I sing to my six beautiful grandchildren. They bring such light and hope into my soul that I cannot even put into words the depth of gratitude I feel for having them in my life. Their personalities are so diverse and each one brings such a spirit of love into our family.

Trick or Treat!

I remember one year when my kids were little and it snowed Halloween week. When we went to dentist appointments, there was a jack-o-lantern and a snowman on the porch of the house next to Dr. Keller's office. Luckily, this year was NOT one of those cold years! In fact, this was the warmest Halloween I remember in the 33 Halloweens I have experienced in Idaho. We didn't even need sweaters as Glen and I went trick-or-treating with Joanne & Brad and their family. Travis and Stephanie came, too, so the three little girls were well chaperoned.

Halloween morning, Carlin told me that if I dressed up as a cowgirl I wouldn't even have to sew to make my costume. I decided to surprise the girls and took Carlin's advice. I borrowed Glen's cowboy boots and spurs and pretended they were "cowgirl" boots & cowgirl spurs. I borrowed his chaps, tied a red girl's bandanna around my neck and pretended the cowboy hat I wore was a "cowgirl" hat--and my stick horse was well behaved all evening! Who says Halloween is just for kids! There were even some houses that gave this here cowgirl some candy!

With creative Mommies, our grandbabies had some pretty awesome costumes. Kaida was a cowgirl, Cole a pirate, Ashtyn was Princess Belle (Grandma Goodman sewed her gorgeous dress). Carlin was a bat with awesome wings, Shelby was a beautiful and colorful butterfly. Sammi was "Jack-Jack" from the Incredibles and she fit the part perfectly with her hair spiked on top of her head and her bright smile. Everyone had a great time and I am sure the older kids are already thinking about what they'll be next year--I know I am!

Continuing the "Joys" of Turning 50.....

Now that I've kept you waiting longer than planned for the "rest of the story", here goes.........
From midnight the second day before, you are on a liquid diet. From noon to 3 pm the day before, you fast then you begin the REAL preparation. Don't let the mild-sounding name "NuLYTELY" fool you--this stuff is deadly! To begin with, you add 4 liters of warm water and a "flavor" packet. Next you drink 8 ounces every 15 minutes. After tasting the first 8 ounces, you literally gag down the rest of the jug over a 4 hour period. After finishing the "beverage of the evening", you wait one hour then take 4 Ducolax tablets.
No explanation necessary. WARNING: Don't make any plans. You will spend the next 12 hours camping in the bathroom. Word of advice: take a warm blanket and a nice, thick book along as you won't be sleeping.
Our ward's High Priests group leaders decided to visit Glen and I that evening. I'm not sure what their thoughts were as I repeatedly jumped up and ran from the room during their stay.
After camping out in the bathroom all night, we left at 6:45 am to head to Boise. Papers to fill out and then my name was called from beyond the door. Actually the procedure itself was a piece of cake. They started an IV and I vaguely remember bits and pieces of what went on. I remember the nurse telling me I could get dressed. I remember wondering, as I struggled to get my foot into the leg of my jeans, if this is what it is like to get dressed when one is intoxicated, and that is all I remember. Next thing I knew I was waiting with Glen for the doctor to come give us his report and then we headed home. I slept the day away.
So, to any of you approaching this golden age of 50, take heart--the procedure itself is a piece of cake. And to the rest of you--your day is coming so don't get to smug about it!

The "JOYS" of Turning 50

All you "young folks" are probably thinking, "Joys of turning 50? That is so OOLLLDDDD! How can there be "joy" in that?" And those of you who have reached this half-century mark in your life probably know what is coming next!

Check back in tomorrow and I'll tell you all about it!

She's Amazing!

Go to Brandis' blog and read all about her experience running the St. George marathon last weekend--she is amazing! What a huge committment it has been training for this marathon and then to actually run 26.2 miles--boy, I am exhausted just thinking about it! How can a mom be anything but proud!

It's that time of year.........

Our beautiful indian summer has come to an end, the leaves are falling to the ground, garden season is winding down and frost is in the weather forecast. Spring and summer are my favorite times of the year--everything is growing and beautiful. Fall, for many reasons, is not a time I look forward to. That first frost that wipes out all of the colorful flowers signifies the coming of a long, desolate winter.

With October comes many memories, one in particular that stands out for the Edwards' clan: October 13th will be the 6th anniversary of when Tracy left us. What a gift those 18 years of her life were to our family! Not a day goes by that we don't think of her and how she touched our lives. I won't lie--knowing she is gone is still the most difficult thing I face every morning when I wake up. But I will say that time eases that pain and, while it doesn't ever really go away, time allows us to get used to living with it and that hurt is not as raw or fresh anymore. Memories are such sweet blessings and are treasured all the more when someone you love is no longer with you.

The other sweet blessing are all of the angels I have in my life who give me a reason to keep going. First, there are my other four children and their spouses--what amazing people they are! Incredible, fantastic, creative, dedicated, ambitious, energetic, committed, talented, capable--those are just a few words that come to my mind when I think of them.

The next angels are my angel baby grandchildren. I thought having kids was great but then the grandbabies started coming along and as the saying goes, "If I'd have known grandchildren were so much fun, I'd have had them first!"

The third set of angels I have in my life are a group of Tracy's dear friends who have taken such good care of me since she's been gone. They have honored her memory by the way they have stood by me. Even after six years, they haven't forgotten and they always come to share Tracy's birthday and the anniversary of her accident with our family. Most of the time we don't even talk about Tracy but she is the reason we get together. Travis, David, Andy, Katie Jo, Bre and Tom are Tracy's angel friends. In the beginning, if I was having a hard day at work or at home it never failed that one or two of them would drop by to give me a hug or call to say hello.

My laptop is out of commission right now or I'd post pictures of all of my angels--I'll have to do that when my computer is fixed.

Anyway, as this 6th anniversary approaches, I want to let all of the angels in my life know how much they are loved and appreciated. Their love, support and encouragement has provided so much strength and hope and I will be forever grateful to them.

Camping at Big Creek, Idaho

Last weekend Glen and I went camping up at Big Creek. It is about a 6 hour drive from here, past Yellow Pine, over Profile Summit and down the other side. Beautiful country, other than the devastation from last summer's forest fires around Yellow Pine. We actually pitched our tent on the deck of Tom Stokes' cabin (just in case it rained!) Glen has been to Big Creek many times but I had never been there. We took a hike from Big Creek to Lick Lake on Friday. It was only three miles but the elevation changes 2,000 feet in that distance and the trail is pretty steep. Glen kept apologizing, saying he didn't remember it being so far, asking me if I wanted to stop (maybe he was wishing I would so that he could stop and save face!). (Did I mention that Glen was on a horse when he "hiked" to Lick Lake all those years ago?) Now I firmly believe that sometime over the past 15 years or so since Glen was last up there, someone stretched that into a 30 mile hike. Just around the next bend, up the next hill, down the next grade, over the rocks........it can't be much farther! Three hours after we started out, we made it to the lake. I will say that it was beautiful. Going down seemed easier at first but it was an entirely different set of muscles and, while I didn't have to stop and rest every little bit, those muscles got a workout, too. The next morning I literally couldn't walk. In fact, for two days I could barely shuffle around. Glen thought it was pretty funny and of course he was laughing WITH me and not AT me!

There were several abandoned cabins--some constructed from logs, others a little "newer" but in similar stages of deterioration. They fit into their surroundings as if they've always been there. One of the cabins had an amazing old fashioned cook stove along with some other furniture that was probably beautiful before the cabin was inhabited by chipmunks and other such critters. Can you imagine the stories some of those cabin walls could tell of days gone by?

We listened to a couple audiobooks which made the drive seem shorter, enjoyed camp cooking, didn't enjoy the outhouse experience or the hard frost we woke up to Friday morning, savored the fresh mountain air and the peace and quiet and serenity that comes with that territory. It was a great trip--refreshing, renewing and much needed. Now it is back to the real world, school, and life.

School days.......again!

Tradition at our house is a "first day of school" picture--this is last year's that Corey insisted on taking.

Classes started at Boise State again this week. After just four days, I find myself wondering if I have bit off more than I can chew! Why is it that every professor acts as if THEIR class is your ONLY class and piles on the assignments accordingly?
My day begins at 7:40 with an aerobics class (which, by the way, would be a great place for young men to meet women as the ratio is 2:40). Is it possible to flunk a fitness assessment? If so, I pretty much did just that! But there is a bright side to everything, right? From the bottom, the only direction to go is up--I will do better because I couldn't have done much worse. How pathetic I am! Here Brandis is training for a marathon and runs for literally miles and hours at a time but I can't complete a single pushup correctly, my knees give out after 10 rounds on the "beep" test, (the class star completed 141 rounds if that tells you anything!). But, as I said, I can only go up from here.

I do have other classes besides aerobics. Intermediate Algebra, English Literature, civil war to present, History, civil war to present, Biology and a to go with it, and two one-credit Healthstudies workshops that will be held three Saturdays each, one being stress management, the other positive thinking and happiness. It will be an interesting semester.

If there are any of you toying with the idea of returning to college, I highly recommend it. It is a bit intimidating at times (can I really remember any of what I am reading? can you really teach an old dog new tricks?) but it is great to be making the old brain work hard again and to be doing something for myself that I have always wanted to do. If you are thinking about going back, I say go for it!

I'll give it a go.......

After enjoying the blogs of others for awhile, I decided it is time to give it a go myself and see what I can come up with. My favorite subject is my kids and grandkids so take this as fair warning--Grandmas have a tendency to be a little biased where grandchildren are concerned in that no one else's are quite as cute or as smart or as wonderful.