Almost a Month

On April 12, Maggie went home to doggie heaven. I have been missing that silly dog like crazy. She died just as Kerry was getting ready to retire and could have spent time with her. Today we sold her kennel and dog dish. It is a lonely day without Maggie dog.

General Conference Fun!

I love General Conference weekend. I love the pace, the no pressure, the night out at 'This Is The Place' bookstore with Nan and the spirit of the whole affair. This GC especially fun and crazy because Richard G Scott. (we claim him as an Honorary Klein Stake Member) and Stan Ellis spoke. Then Gif Nielsen was made a member of the First Quorum of the 70. AND Bonnie Oscarson was called as the new General Young Women's President. How do you get to meet and/or know that many remarkable people in your life? So dang lucky!

RETIRED

That is how you can refer to Kerry these days! Yikes!
This is a period in your life you don't think will every really materialize, and all of a sudden it is here! We are 10 days into this and so far, I think he is bored out of his mind. But my tires are rotated, the garage door is fixed, the smoke detectors have new batteries, the light bulbs are changed, the dog bathed .... You get the picture! In Kerry's immortal words, "it is everything he thought it would be, and less!!!"

Tough Week

Maggie dog is downstairs with a cough that is bone rattling. She is so sick it is heart wrenching. She got sick a week ago today and we have had her in the doggie hospital for four days and is on a nebulizer for pneumonia and hasn't eaten anything to speak of for three days. Watching her suffer is horrendous. I do not know how people watch their children suffer from devastating illnesses. Having said that, we are going to a four year olds funeral tomorrow. Life feels hard right now.

Preparing a Way and Opening Doors

Been an interesting few months as we have watched the Lord 'prepare' the way for Missa and Ethan to get an internship and for Lisa and Rags to buy a home. We watched him open the doors for Corey and Steph to have the babies join their family and have seen that again in the lives of our Lisa and Missa. And a dear little girl for Chris and Chira is the cherry on top! It is such a sweet thing to know there is a watchful, loving Father providing for our family in the way that only He can do that.

Speaking of Events!

My last blog was about events. Then we REALLY had an event !There is nothing quite as memorable as your darling daughter sitting next to you in church and then pitching over in a never before, totally unexpected seizure! It was an event that I had never anticipated in my lifetime and really not what you want to have happen. We spent the rest of the day at the ER. We have since been to get an EEG; no real abnormalities detected and been to a neurologist. We had to make some adjustments to our plans for the next few weeks (we can not leave her unattended) and were feeling a little better about it until Thursday evening when I called her to go with me to run an errand and she didn't respond. When I called again and she didn't respond, I ran up the stairs and to my distress found her on the floor by the couch unconcious (in a post dictal state) and with pillows lodged around her head (freaky how they were configured that way) (there are just two fairly small and lightweight accent pillows on that end of the couch) I did not witness the actual seizure (so unnerving that I didn't hear anything and I was just downstairs doing seminary paperwork) but the post dictal state was very similar to her first seizure (it may have lasted a bit longer. This seizure (from start [my guess] to finish was approximately 6:40 pm to 7:15. We were truly hoping that she would not have a recurrence. She has now been put on anti seizure medication [Keppra 500 mg twice a day] and we will have to consider her as having a seizure disorder. She has been my semi constant companion for 35 years; she will now be my ever constant companion for the foreseeable future as we try to keep her safe and monitored. In an odd twist of events; Nan has for a long time chattered to herself incessantly [we have always felt it was her coping mechanism for the loneliness and isolation that she has felt over the course of her life with her disability] It is a behavior we have aggressively discouraged. She also is a mad dog vacumn-er which can also be annoying. All of a sudden I am encouraging her chatting and any other noise making (vacumning) because I can monitor her from other parts of the house and know she is safe and not seizing! WEIRD WEIRD WEIRD!

Bonjour

Off we went to the lovely country of France. I can't say that I was looking forward to this trip...y'all know me.........and the first day or two was horrific. I must have sworn a thousand times that I was not going to ever leave the country again and that I couldn't stand it and that I HATE overseas flights and that I hate.............well, everything. I do hate overseas flights and when we got to CDG airport, they don't pull up to a gate, they unload you on to buses and transport you to the terminal.....so......... you wait for two hours to leave from the US (overseas flights require early check in) and you sit for hours on the plane and then you wait to disembark and then you ride seemingly endlessly to get to the terminal and then you wait for luggage and then you wait in a line to get a taxi and then the taxi ride to our hotel was THREE HOURS LONG! Hence, the hate language. Fatigued and hungry, you try to navigate the currency and the room and lay down for a rest and decide where to eat. After resting, you can begin to appreciate the beauty of the city called Paris!

There are Events and then there are EVENTS!

We have had an eventful few weeks and an eventful day. I have been to Michigan in a Penske truck and off to Paris the week after; I returned home to our daughter and her cute baby being here to spend the summer and help us with the dog etc while we traveled; I am off to DC next week and the Caribbean the week after that and then seminary starts and then we head to Michigan again over Labor Day. We have a new Bishop tonight and that is eventful and there are other little events along the way (I hope to blog more about some of these individual items soon)but the thing I wanted to make note of (besides it being Corey and Kerry's birthday today...it really was a fun day 33 years ago when a cute little boy was born on his dad's birthday) Kerry told me this morning that it occurred to him that 40 years ago today he had been baptized. I had forgotten that he was baptized on his 18th birthday and I was impressed with the sense I had in that moment of the magnitude of that event. That is the event among all these events that has had and will continue to have the most lasting influence on the eternal wellness of our family. If he had not chosen the path of baptism, his life and mine and the children that we were blessed with would have an entirely different trajectory and it is a bit frightening to think what it would have been. So there are events and then there are events and as wonderful as the event of my son's birth is/was and as memorable as our little trek to Paris will be for Nan especially and as memorable a day as this will be for our new Bishop Dayhuff, I am most grateful for that event 40 years ago that allowed me to "date only those young men who honor their priesthood" and the influence for good it has had in my life.

Home Sweet Home

The weather is BEAUTIFUL! The azaleas are stunning..there is a ball game on and I am loving the opportunity to spend an evening at home after a week gone and then busy-ness that needed to be attended to. Trip to Utah accomplished and cute Liam and parents visited and now back to seminary and dog and chauffering and funerals and laundry and paperwork and grocery shopping and dentist appointment and much more fun stuff! Not much to say so let's watch Jimmer! (Charles Barkley an idiot!!!!)

Grateful Hearts

February is heart month according to something I read recently (I think they were referring to cardiac concerns) but my grandkids think of cupids and arrows and all things pink and chocolate and rosy (maybe not so much Johnny) I am once again not a big fan of Valentine's Day-ish kinds of silliness except for of course cutsie stuff for the littles (yes I know, I have holiday issues) but this is what I have been thinking about recently. [Bet ya can't wait.] More than just about anything you can do to show someone you appreciate them and care about them and love them is to express gratitude. We think of gratitude at Thanksgiving time but it is an appropriate expression at Valentine's time as well. I have glimpsed what Father in Heaven means when he tells us there is none against whom his wrath is kindled or 'in nothing doth man ^aoffend God,... save those who ^dconfess not his hand in all things...' I think it is a very real part of an expression of love and even though some of those lessons come hard, I hope that I have had that principle sink deeper into my heart these last few weeks and that I can remember the importance of expressing gratitude to those I love. I am kind of lousy at it and being 'not dead yet' I guess I can still work in that direction. So here is a verse I love and haven't ever put in the context of hearts and roses but what is more loving than a Father who delights to shower his children with glory and 'things'....that will bless them?!
And he who receiveth all things with ^athankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an ^bhundred fold, yea, more. Happy Heart Month!

Family Photos 2010

My favorite people on the planet!

My Fam

• Can I just tell ya how much I adore my fam? Since I am not worried that anyone is going to spend much time reading this, I am just going to be obnoxious and say that I have the world's cutest grandchildren and that I really can't imagine that anything else that one might do in life would be any better than kids and grandkids. I remember that it was hard. I remember that there were days. But the joys of knowing and spending time with such really great people just can't be beat. Liam is a darling little cherub with a happy smile and a silly belly laugh. Coleton is a peaceful little angel with the bluest eyes and the cutest superman stance I ever saw; Cavin says the funniest things and is the funniest kid that looks at you sideways and melts your heart; Caden is mature for his age and clever and full of surprises and quietly always plotting something fun; Ella twirls and skips and runs with grace and ease and flashes her dimples at you; Madi has beautiful hair and a lovely complexion and loves to spend time in the land of make believe and makes you wish you were there with her....ooolala (that's french); and John will forever be my Johnny; sober, careful, obedient, brilliant and curious with a love for books, video games, dinosaurs, Lego's and who manifests a deep concern and care for his sister and his mom and dad. Then there are two darling sons who I am crazy proud of and three lovely daughters who all do hard things and do them with faith and with determination and who nurture and care for the people around them and who are capable and solid and reliable and committed to the task(s) at hand; they have all five of them stuck to hard things and mastered them and held the faith and worked and struggled and persevered knowing that there is much more of that ahead. I am grateful that they honor their marriages (Nan not yet) and that their spouses have sustained them and blessed their lives.I am past grateful that they are faithful and that their spouses have been faithful and support gospel principles and righteous living. So on this 18th day of January, 2011, that is what I am thinking about and what I am grateful for. An entry to begin the year and to record my sense of gratitude for the blessing these kids are to me. Smiles and happy New Year!
  

2010

As the year closes out I thought I would note a few of the years hi-lites for the sake of posterity and record keeping and all things 'memorable'. I am going to skip the whole chronology because that would really tax my brain.


















































Coleton Younes Speers was born January 28th, 2010. He weighed 5 lbs 1 oz.
Liam Ethan Scharman was born June 30th, 2010. He weighed 8 lbs 12 oz.
Corey graduated from Baylor College of Medicine.
Chris changed assignments at work and is now working in 'Lubes' (whatever that means)
Cavin learned how to wear big boy undies very easily; a blessing to his mother.
John and Madi started a new school that they like alot.
Corey and Steph sold their home in Humble.
Missa went to work in Idaho Falls, her first paid teaching job.
We held a Haws family reunion in July in Vernal. Chris and Chira and family attended.
My 35th Uintah High School Class Reunion was held in August. Me and Becky and Laurie went.
Mom had her hip replaced a year ago and did better for a while.
Visited with Lois and David Powers and Don and Lynette Taylor and Scott Lewis and Fran and Art Ericson; all dear old friends.
Went to Hawaii with Lisa and Ragnar and Natalie.
Mabel turned 85.
Dad turned 81.
I won't tell you what I turned.
Randy returned home from Iraq and then moved to Kentucky.
We took Johnny up to Randy's Change of Command ceremony
I was called to teach seminary.
Kerry has been working in the Stake Presidency since the end of last year.
We had car trouble on our road trip to Utah which fuels Kerry's "i hate road trips' fire.
The car trouble fueled my 'Father in Heaven watches over us' fire as we had the real brake trouble at exactly the necessary spot to access help.
We went to DC to bless Coleton. Lisa and the kids came with us. We had a great trip.
I went to DC just to see Coleton when he was few weeks old.
Went to Idaho when Liam was born for 10 days.
Had Corey and Steph and fam and Lisa and Rags and fam for Thanksgiving.
Had all the kids home for Christmas this year. A wonderful way to end the year and start the new one.


Happy New Year!

This isn't what the GOVERN....meant!

My to do list has included getting my passport renewed for quite some time (a year). I determined that today was the day. I was going to take my 3 month old passport photos and my $110 bucks and get this job done. The paperwork said you could mail the renewal in but my mind works weird and I kept worrying that I may have misunderstood something because I would see people waiting to get their passports at post offices. I called the State Dept to see if I could just mail it and got lots of music to listen to but no person or information; I almost called the post office but decided to just go in and get it over with. I prefer the Tomball post office because in the past they have been much more efficient than the Louetta facility (of course, two year olds can put a fully functional nuclear attack sub in the water faster than the Louetta facility people can sell you a book of stamps) I had the paperwork filled out, my checkbook in hand and, as I walked in the door, two little girls about cut me in half as they zipped by, unattended, by the woman sitting in the passport application area who was chatting about some trip the passport processor was wanting to take someday. Another little boy went screaming out the door on a leash followed by a highly exasperated father who apparently was the spouse of the other woman in the passport application line who was on the phone loudly trying to get someone to dig through some paperwork at home so she could complete passport papers with a five week old baby in a car seat purched precariously on a table. The two little girls of the first applicant continued to catapult through the place without much concern for seniors (not me!) babies or unsuspecting patrons coming in the door; and so, we had two out of control little girls with a clueless mom (a third little girl would enter later with an equally unqualified care giver)and two harrowed parents who had only been there five minutes and had already lost control of their two year old. They had checked in for passports 12 and 5 minutes before me. Now, I will never be able paint a picture of the passport processor that any of you will ever believe but I have to try; She was somewhere between 45 and 65 years of age (it would be difficult to pinpoint her age exactly as some clearly hard living had been indulged in) hair that was half kinda blond and half very gray was held in place by a claw thing and it seemed as if she had never been formally introduced to hair care products of any kind (shampoo, conditioner, frizz control products) other than the occasional bottle of blond hair color; on her feet were house slipppers that I guess she might have thought were moccassins; she wore jean shorts and a plaid sleeveless top that had had the sleeves cut out and tattoo's encircling both ankles and her arm [now her arms made any Relief Society arm you have EVER seen look toned and chisseled]. She not only did not have ANY semblance of a professional, 'I am an employee of the US State Department' demeanor in her dress or her mannerisms, she could have easily passed as an inmate out on parole or a hillbilly from Kentucky (or East Texas). I am being mean but I was shocked. I honestly looked around to see if she was a baglady that had decided that she wanted to be a passport processor for a minute while the real processor was away from her desk. Sooooooo, I waited for one hour and seven minutes for the two families to conclude their business with my clearly blue application in hand while they filled out clearly beige applications (for new passports I was assuming) and with the children racing and screaming and crawling and bumping and getting their fingers caught (almost smashed once) while their parents just sat there and shouted at them. This doesn't count the very cute (they were all cute) little two year old girl that came in and knocked my purse off the chair and ran into a little man with a cane while waiting for her grandmother to get finished in the very long (18 minutes) postal line. Yes, I had time to track the timing on the line. The conversations between the processor and the second family consisted of comparing notes on the annoyance of finding they were pregnant with their first borns after only having dated the fathers for a couple of months and the process they went through to try to 'hook' the father or decide if they were even worth the effort of 'hooking' them and the decision after extended periods of time of living with the fathers to go ahead and put up with the
''$%*&*^' sons of ......uhhhh....guns" and how much 'fun' they had before they got saddled with brats. Oh my gosh!
She finally concluded with the little families (whom, by the way, I could have been in line AHEAD of if I had been 5 minutes earlier and she called me over. In 1.2 seconds (I hadn't even really gotten seated yet) the processor/bag lady looked at my CLEARLY blue application and said "I don't need to process blue aps, you can just put it in a envelope and mail it off!!!!!!"

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

My New Gig

It has been a busy summer and in Houston it is still VERY summer-like outside. We are in the high 90's and have high humidity and we're kind of tired of it; no more tired, I am sure, than the northerners get of snow and ice in April.

On my way home from a trip to Utah in August, I got a phone call from a member of the stake presidency (the one I am married to!) calling me to teach seminary and so all of my family history plans have gotten shuffled off to the side while I try to get up to speed on seminary. My poor little ancestors must have been SO excited only to have their hopes and dreams dashed yet again (they have heard me speak of getting going before) I hope that they can endure me. And I hope that the kids in seminary can endure me as well. We are into this three weeks now and the fatigue is already a tiny bit better and we are working out how to get this job done. Experience goes a long way and I don't have any. The first week I thought to myself, what in the heck have I gotten myself into. Second week better and this week better still. The kids are a delight and I adore them already. 16 seniors; mostly boys four girls and an eclectic group that is very sharp and who has some marvelous future missionaries in it. I am grateful for the opportunity and the blessings that I can see flowing into my life. Increased capacity on a couple of levels and I am hoping for some more because I really need it.

Chillin in Colorado

On our way to Utah for a family reunion and Liam's blessing we ran into brake trouble. Now mind you, we just had the brakes fixed three weeks ago to the tune of $1000. We had trouble with them the first few miles of our trip so we pulled over in Houston and took the car into Discount Tire to have the tires balanced again (Kerry had just had it taken care of the day before). We thought maybe the rotation and balancing job was improperly done. They rebalanced the tires and off we went two hours late but rolling. All day had difficulty on and off with vibration and drag. But our destination was Dalhart and stopping there for any length of time was not an attractive thought so the next morning we pushed on. More vibration in New Mexico so as we were traveling through Colorado Springs we were wondering if we should stop in Denver and have it looked at or just push on......question answered when we were pulling away from gas station in Littleton and the brakes seemed to 'lock up' and when smoke started to spew and rubber started to burn, question answered. Now, do ya think it is crazy that we were passing a Brakes Plus establishment as the brakes started to smoke and we were able to make a left hand turn and be there? And do you think that it is common to have a Comfort Suites AND a Fairfield Inn in the same parking lot as the Brakes Plus place when we found out a part would take overnight to acquire and we would be left overnight with no vehicle? And so....things haven't been going as planned but we have felt the hand of the Lord and are grateful. Seems to be a bit of a metaphor for life....Things don't always go as planned or hoped but help is available to assist through the changed plan or situation and peace is always available. We will see what today's adventure is going to be! On the bright side, had a fun visit with Scott Lewis...just camped out in the corner of the Brakes Plus place and visited for an hour or so.

And Happy Father's Day

I Determined I ought to make some mention of Father's Day while I am at it as it IS Father's Day. Kerry however is in London and so it just seems like a kind of super quiet not much going on day around here........... So happy Father's Day to you in England honey and happy Father's Day to our darling sons who are really quite extraordinary dads and to my father who is an example of the believer's who has lived a long and service-filled life. Kerry and I were just talking the other day about how we can see that 'enduring to the end' might simply be much more difficult that we might want that it will be. Maintaining momentum and enthusiasm is tough! Then as I look out at folks who have lived into their eighties and nineties, I have nothing but admiration for those who are able to do it well and keep their chins up. So chin up and thanks for teaching us the gospel dad, and know that we are grateful for the heritage of faith and hard work and dedication that you have devoted a lifetime to leaving us.

Mundane and Ordinary

I simply can never think of anything interesting or exciting to post. I love reading the kids posts and seeing their photos. I love reading other people's facebook entries that detail some of the daily and possibly mundane details of their lives but struggle to feel comfortable posting or publishing some of the mundane details of my life. They seem overwhelmingly mundane and uninteresting. It has almost become a mind block. I guess I am fairly certain that there is not a single interesting thing to report in my little day to day world. And yet I view blogs in particular and facebook a little less so as a valuable tool to record family history and share feelings and events and experiences and life! So I am going to attempt to post an entry. My last entry was May 5th...we are now into June. May was a crazy and overly busy month that bore much fruit in the memorable category. Chris and Ella had birthdays. Chris and Marisa were home for Corey's graduation. All five of the kids were here and that is something that isn't mundane to a mom in any way. What a delight to have all the kids together with their lovely families (we missed those cute Caden and Coleton boys and Chira and Ethan) but were delighted to have the kids together. They are the blessing and joy of my life...maybe that is why things feel so mundane now; after all these years of busy family life on a day to day basis, EVERYTHING will always feel mundane. I appreciated the effort that the kids made to get here. Supporting each other over time and distance is a challenge but one that I hope they will never give up on. Mabel was able to come and spend her 85th birthday with us. It was Corey's graduation day and made me wonder what I will be doing on my 85th birthday? Hmmmmmmmmmm............careful about the comments y'all!! Corey and Stephani sold their home and moved into an apartment downtown. Then Lisa and Ragnar and Natalie and Kerry and I took off for Hawaii. I was running a little low on gas for that trip and so I hope that we didn't slow down everyone's experience there. I have been running on empty for a number of weeks now and am trying to figure out how to get the energy levels moving upward a bit. Hawaii is a beautiful place and makes you appreciate the lovely world we live in not to mention the fun diversity of cultures that exist in the world. The polynesians are a beautiful and graceful people with a quiet intensity for living that I think may be contagious given some extended time with them. We came home to a lonesome dog and a house that needed (and coninues to need) a bit of attention and a trip to London for Kerry and a jag to Idaho for me. The next big event will be the advent of little Mr. Scharman. We are so excited to add a little fella to the family. How can one grandma possibly have ALL of the adorable and delightful grandchildren on the planet???!!! While I am in Idaho I am hoping to spend a bit of time figuring out how to download photos and organize pictures. Maybe this post will be the beneficiary. Till then...........

Feliz Cumpleanos

Feliz Cumpleanos is how they say happy birthday on Cinco De Mayo........so happy birthday to my darling not so little Texas born and bred son AND little Miss Adorable Ella Belle. We have a penchant for sharing birthdays in our family.....Chris was born six months after we moved to Midland and his new little guy, Coleton, reminds me temperamentally of Chris....Chris (and Coleton) was (is) a sweet natured and peaceful baby and we were very happy to add a son to our family all those years ago! And little Ella is a pleasure and a delight and we are happy to have her sparkly personality in our family! So smiles and love to Chris and Ella on their birthday....we hope it is fun and wonderful!

He Is Risen

I love words. I love phrases. I love poetry and observation and I love truth. This is a beautiful truth and a glorious declaration. One that words, as much as I love them, can't really provide any more illumination for. I love everything that Easter celebrates. We celebrate Him.

Happy Easter.