Grateful for Eternal Families

After a 47 year romance, Dad has to say 'see ya later' to his sweetheart. Mom was diagnosed with Gliablastoma Multiforme 1-27-10. The tumor in her brain is larger than an orange & inoperable. 5 neurologists have agreed that no procedure nor medication will be worth the loss of quality of life & possible robbery of the few days we have left. They guess 2-6 months.
She has no pain from the tumor. Her right side has shut down & is no longer functioning. She can not see with her right eye, & may not be able to hear with that ear. She has no strength on the right side = wheelchair since last week. She has strength in her left side, thank Heaven, so can help, but can't stand up.
Although she can not speak well (sounds like reading a spelling list) the love & gratitude she feels is definitely discernable. She needs no words to express that. Her beautiful eyes shine as she smiles at me after dressing her or doing her makeup & hair, moving her etc.
Mom & Dad are inundated with expressions of love & support as an abundance of family & friends drop by &/or send cards & flowers & food. Nobody is surprised. Over the years mom has probably taken meals to hundreds of families & cared for thousands of children or ailing friends. Her compassion is legendary. It's still a thrill to hear well wishers share their experience regarding her service. sigh. what an elect lady.
As a family we have SO much to be grateful for. A plethora of lovely memories & photos to remind us of them. We are thankful this is not good-bye, but rather see ya later, since we are sealed together. That fact provides us much peace & comfort. Families truly are Forever.

My Addiction

I've recently learned we all have our addictions. Some are socially acceptable, some are not. Mine is my schedule. Here's proof: I'm working 2 jobs (dental hygiene & energy coaching) running my own business is ...challenging; I am the PTO president at our Jr. high school; volunteer weekly at the grade school; have 7 children in 8 sports (multiple practices daily & 8 games or events every single week); have 5 boy scouts; we both have X spouses; teach a class at church; maintain a clean orderly home for 9; make dinner nightly; children leave our home every hour for 3 hours school mornings (i pray all morning, not so bad) & am hosting a wedding reception in our back yard next weekend!; & a big birthday party the weekend after that.
The funny part is... I wish those things were the hard part of my life! sigh.
I don't mean to complain. We do enjoy a lovely thrifty life. We are very blessed in many ways, with much joy & love.
Gotta dash, much to do... of course! (this is why our blog is out dated... just not a priority)

4 happy years

Can U believe Jeff & I've been married for 4 years already?! We can't... but then at the same time it feels like we've known each other since before we were born.
Jeff was SO sweet= he gave me 12 wooden roses (as he said "they still won't last as long as my love for you", ya I know, gushy, but we both love it as we roll our eyes!), balloons, & a lil house made of chocolate candy bars with gum inside the house. That's what kind of cake I wanted for my birthday but didn't get it. the gum was his idea, 'cause who doesn't love gum?! + a very romantic card. As if all that wasn't WAY COOL, the children & I were finishing decorating the table w/ candles etc for a lovely family dinner when he pranced in (with an extra hand to carry stuff) in all his thoughtful glory. All our children got to see his presentation & see my reaction to it. He couldn't have been more proud of himself, not only for his gifts but also that all 7 children got to see our example. This is how you treat your sweetheart/spouse.

Merry CHRISTmas to you & yours!

We're so very blessed & recognise all the goodness in our lives comes from our omnipotent Heavenly Father. We've got 7 healthy, allergy free, active, smart, developing correctly children who strive to please their Heavenly Father. We're able to take misfortune as learing opportunities & learn from our mistakes. We're thankful for the blessing of the Temple & for the convienence of having a house of the Lord right up the street.

Eventhough our schedule has to be color coordinated for each person (because its so full & complicated), we're grateful our children want to be involved in good things & we're thankful for the quality time we can share on vacations & at the cabin. Sigh, we're just so watched over its amazing! I'm here to tell ya, prayers are answered friends. We're truly TRULY blessed.

We pray all is well with you & your's. Drop us a line, respond to this blog, or email or what ever, WE JUST WANT TO CONECT WITH YA!

Cyber hugs till then! ~Joanne & crew

Our California Vacation

We had such an INCREADIBLE time in California!

4th of July Fun!

We had such a marvelous Independence Day! It started on the 3rd with a BBQ at Tyler's house (my favorite Boise sister's boyfriend). Mom & Dad & Grandma Anna Streeper (mom's mom), Susan (my favorite baby sister) & her 2 lil darlings (Carter 3 & Layla 1). Friday the 4th several of the fam went golfing early. 3 of my boys LOVE golf & even the 6:30 T time didn't deture them! After brunch & practicing our songs for the parade (later) we swam at the Green's - where the party would be. We swam & dove for afew hours, then practiced with the all LDS missionary color gaurd (flag team). They looked SO good! All in their white shirts, red ties, & black pants & shoes, & blue flags. My favorite Caldwell sister in law Melanie did a marvelous job teaching those beginners how to twirl the flag.

Each family brought a pot-luck item so we totally pigged out! There was a fish pond, volleyball, soccer croquet, pool games & several grass games to play also... of course MY team won... if you ask any of us that is. :)

Our favorite part was deffinately the PARADE! First was our handsom nephew Cody dressed in a military uniform carrying a large American Flag. Next was our band: Jeff was the drum major, Jaren played the tuba, Preston played the trumpet, Blake the cyblols, Dillon the saxaphone, me the flute, Jeff's friend the drums, + 20 kazoo players! There were 4 floats, several decorated cars, bikes, strollers, rollerbladers, & skateboarders all decked out! We all had fun hats & red white & blue on.

Of course we had a pyro-style firework show to end the festive day. That is NOT a mom's favorite part! Yikes! Somehow, nobody was injured.

Saturday Mom & Dad & Grandma Anna left early to get to a funural. The other 11 of us (our 13 + Annabeth, Susan, Carter & Layla) went to the cabin in Cascade. We had a marvelous time at the lake... not ideal but we made the most of it.