What is normal anyway ~

Well the past few weeks have certainly not been normal. Usually my life is pretty even and kind of boring, I like boring. So a few weeks ago, we start getting ready for a new grand daughter by having an Early Thanksgiving Dinner. Yummy, we had all of the good stuff and fun cooking with Michelle here to help. Way too many pies, but they were so good. Wonderful day with all of our family. (That would be all 8 of us.) That night we kept Kymber with us while Michelle and Alex had a night away before getting up early to go have a baby. Now, I am not a night person at all and this little girl is, especially when she isn't in her own home. So after not much sleep we get to take this sweet little girl to meet her new baby sister. What a treat. This new baby is so tiny and cute, makes you totally forget that you didn't sleep a whole lot the night before. We had a lot of trips across town to see this new little family. Kymber started to recognize the hospital halls and knew that was where her Mama was. With this little family safely back at home, it was time for second Thanksgiving. Yup, we did it all again. We had to do more pies too. Nothing is better than homemade chocolate pudding pie. This time there were just 5 of us for dinner, but we still had to have everything. Friday morning Rod and I were up at 4:30 am to go shopping. I still can't believe we went out so early, but it was fun and we got a good start to our shopping and some great deals. Jen had to work at 5 am at the mall, so it was fun to stop in and see her working. Saturday was pretty normal, leftovers, relaxing, just the way I like it. Got stuff moved back into my craft room after doing the wood floor. It looks so good. More about that later. At 9 pm we were getting ready to drop Robert,s Jeep off at the airport so we wouldn't have to stay up until 11 when their flight got in. Then Rod got a call from Heidi, my sisters daughter that is going to school in Rexburg. She had gone for the Holiday week to Colorado with some friends. On the way home, the car broke down and so she was calling for help. They needed a ride from Pinedale, Wyoming. He said, yes, we'd be there then we checked the map to see just where Pinedale was. If all went well, we should be there at midnight. Kristine wanted to come, but we told her to stay home and we would take her sometime during the day so she could actually see Wyoming. We dropped the Jeep off at the airport for the Haws kids, picked up gas (cheap gas, by the way. Just $32 to fill the TrailBlazer.) and Dr. Pepper and peanuts for Rod, and we were on our way. I called my sister to let her know we were on our way. Luckily when I talked to her, the weather and roads were great, so she got a good report. They didn't turn ugly until we were off the phone. Smart Heidi had called and talked to Rod first, so when she called her mom to say she was stranded in Wyoming she could tell her right then that help was on the way. We felt a little like the rescue party for the Martin-Willie handcart company. Except we were so glad for the warm vehicle, 4 wheel drive and bridges. We crossed the Hoback River 14 times and the Snake River 4 times. Wouldn't have wanted to do that on horseback. It was so good to see Heidi and her friends. A nice lady had let them stay in the convenience store until we got there so they were safe and warm. After lots of happy hugs, we loaded up the three girls and their luggage. (It was just as good to see Heidi this Thanksgiving as it was last Thanksgiving when she was able to come after her big surgery.) The two boys wanted to see how far the car would make it without being loaded down. So we followed them all the way home. We got the girls dropped off at their apartment building and made it home by 4:30 am. Kristine had brought the dogs up to her room to keep her company while we were gone. And she read a book and tried to stay up and wait for us. Don't remember much about Sunday, but Monday morning I headed out to help Michelle and the little girls for a few days. So much fun. Michelle does such a good job with her girls. I don't think I could keep up with little ones everyday like all of you young moms do. But I've got the grandma thing down. Back home again to my Mom of a teenager job and a family that really did miss me. The past week has been busy with Rod's work party, working on Christmas gifts, putting up the tree, and getting a cold. We put a baby gate up in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room, so the hounds can't get in to see the tree or the presents, or answer the door. So our presents and our tree are safe and when you come visit you won't get mauled by dogs happy to see you. They will just howl from behind the gate. Brad just moved back in, since the semester in Rexburg is over, so I am back to figuring out how much milk it takes to get through the week. Hopefully I am back on top of things now. I'd better be since there are only 9 more sleeps until Christmas. The girls (both daughters and puppies) and I went out to take pictures for Christmas cards yesterday. I played with Photoshop last night and they are ready to pick up this morning. I'd forgotten how much fun (and how frustrating) digital stuff can be. I also did a baby announcement for Michelle. This past month has pretty much flown by. I've been so glad that I've been able to help my family, both as a Wife, a Mom, a Grandma and an Auntie. Can't wait for the next few weeks to see what other fun things happen. Maybe this is the new normal.

Here are a few of the pictures from our photo shoot.