Zada Howell Norman - A History

Zada Howell Norman 

I was born in Fairview, Utah, in Sanpete County. People down there are called carrot eaters. Yes I like carrots! My folks had a small farm with 2 or 3 gardens, a fruit orchard, and a bee yard. I didn't like the bee stings! We lived about 1 1/2 miles east of town, so we did a lot of walking to school, church, grocery shopping, and to dances. 

We had to make our own fun, so we went sleigh riding in the winter, had candy pulls, and played inside games. In the summer, we played outside games, went swimming , took hikes, and herded the cows so they wouldn't get in the gardens. 

When I was in Junior High, my friend and I were walking home from a Halloween party. When we got to a spot called the camping ground, a couple of older boys jumped out of the trees and attempted to grab me. My friend, who was dressed in a witch costume, yelled "Let her go or I will hit you with this broom." The boy just laughed and said "Let it fly". Somehow we got away and ran to the nearest home and pounded on the door and explained our fear and they drove us home. That was my most frightful Halloween. 

My uncle, Charley Terry, had a big strawberry farm in Orem, Utah, and my 3 sisters and I used to go up there in early summer and pick strawberries. Some of the girls talked us into climbing Mt. Timpanagos with them. The glacier was unusually high that year. We were supposed to spend sometime at a campfire program, but we lost interest and left early. When we got part way, we had to wait by a bonfire until daylight and it was cold. The path was narrow some of the way and scary. We met some nice boys on the way and they were helpful. When we finally got to the top and signed our names, we realized the only way we could get down was to sit down and slide. My younger sister was braver and went first. She thought she was in a bad way until she saw me come bouncing down, then she had a good laugh. We were so tired when we got back to Uncle Charley's, we slept for hours! 

I graduated from the North Sanpete High in 1936. I worked in a few private homes off and on for a couple of years.

I went with several young men and even stepped Rex's brother a time or two. I also knew his sister Miriam. I met Rex at a dance and liked him right away. We had one date, then I went from Fairview to Springville to help my Aunt Furn who just had a new baby. Rex had a new car and brought my sister Bertha and her boy friend up to see me. We courted for a few months, and he always kids me because I said “yes” on girls day. We wanted to get married on my birthday, which is April 6th, but the Manti Temple was closed; so we waited a week and were married on April 13th, 1938. We lived in Faiview for about a year where our baby girl was born on March 20th, 1939, then we moved to a larger apartment in Mt Pleasant. 

Rex worked for the Young and Smith construction company for two or three years, so we lived in various towns in our trailer house that he and his dad built. Marjorie was born in Salt Lake City about 3 1/2 years later. We were expecting our only son when world war II came and Rex had to leave for the war. He moved me and the two girls back to Mt. Pleasant to be near our folks , where our boy was born. Rex was given a 15-day delay in his transfer from basic training in Denver to his assignment to the First Air Force base at Mitchell Field, New York. He was able to be with me when our son Merrill was born. He was in the service from Feb. 1st 1944 to Dec. 20, 1945. That was a happy day on his coming home. 

We bought a home in Murray where we lived until Nov. 1959, at which time my brother Bert Howell built our present home. I taught primary for many years in Murray. We moved up here the weekend the Stake Center was dedicated. I gave the visiting teachers message and the Teacher Training lesson for awhile up here. 

Rex worked for the Department of Employment Security for 34 years retiring as a Computer Operations Supervisor. 

I worked in the Salt Lake Temple for over 14 years (two days each week) and quit to take care of my aging mother and Rex’s aging father. I also served as librarian for 31 years and was awarded a beautiful figurine when I retired. 

A few years ago, I decided to enter a few foods in the State Fair. I baked white rolls and wheat rolls which won first place and I also won first place on my pralines. I took 2nd place with my chocolates, Divinity, and fudge. What a nice surprise! 

We have enjoyed raising a garden, 3 kinds of berries, and a few fruit trees and I canned fruit and vegetables for winter. I even pickled beets 2 or 3 times in the summer. 

We are proud of our three children who have married in the Salt Lake Temple and are happily married and raising wonderful families. 

We both like to fish and we miss our successful trips on the old Strawberry. 

Rex has been an ideal companion and we look forward to at least a few more happy years together.

Check out the full life history (31 pages)  PDF... now retyped (HERE) 

A Poem Written March 27, 2007 (age 89)

MY LIFE 

   

When I was a young girl about three or four 

We lived on a farm and had chores galore. 

I liked to feed the chickens and gather their eggs. 

The only transportation we had was our feet and legs. 

  

One day I came in just in time for prayer, 

and an announcement made: 

"Dicky Dicky Dare there were no eggs there". 

This was the beginning of the poetry craze 

That has stayed with me the rest of my days. 

    

In the English class in my High School Days 

I composed a poem that the teacher gave praise. 

It was so much fun to get a good mark in her class 

By keeping and reading the poem to the class. 

     

Years hurried by and Golden Wedding time neared 

We needed invitations to mail to our peers. 

I picked up a pencil and wrote the message, we had. 

Then the printer did the rest--they were nice--we were glad. 

        

I now have Arthritis and pain is a close friend 

I pray it won't follow me around until the end. 

My dear hubby and three children make life still worth while. 

I dearly love them and their families and try hard to smile. 

                                 

By Zada Norman 

Here a video created by Nikki ... Norman Family History

Goodbye Grandma ... Obituary and program from the funeral

Caring for Grandma Zada

This will be backdated to October 23, 2013
Grandma Zada, picture from the Silverado Care Center

After GrandpaRex passed away (April 29th, 2010, at the age of 94½, Mom/Margie and her siblings had been taking turns caring for 92½ year-old GrandmaZada.  On December 29, 2010, Grandma took a tumble on the step down to the living room at Margie and LaMar's home. Margie was pretty sure that she broke her hip since she was in a lot of pain and had osteoporosis. She had to be transported by ambulance (and a fire engine came also) to St. Mark's hospital where she had surgery. For the next three years she would be in a care center.

Dec2010 ... before the fall

Here's some email recaps from Mom/Margie over the years ... (I'm sure I didn't get them all, but enough to capture the memories of what was going on during this time). 

Jan 3, 2011 ...  Mother was transferred Sunday from St. Marks hospital to Silverado Alzheimer's center. She is in the medicare unit for rehabilitation for 100 days, paid for by medicare. They also had a long term care facility there, but it was $8000 a month, so we decided to look elsewhere.  It is a very nice place and seems very caring. They have a "no restraints" policy, and pets are welcome, and workers can even bring their children. They have an outdoor swimming pool and playground.  Visitors can eat meals free with their loved one. They have a few dogs and cats that wander around, and birds in a cage. They have a lot of activities. Her surgery Fri. went well. She is having trouble understanding what all is going on and why she can't get up to the bathroom and why she can't go home. We explain over and over and I type up pages for her to read over and over, but she still doesn't understand. She hardly slept at the hospital. She just seemed very "wired", with eyes wide open. We got her up in a wheelchair to go to the dining room for dinner last night, just 2 days after surgery. Then we played games for a couple of hours and put her to bed. Nelva and Arnold went there today. We will go tomorrow. And Lorrie on Wed.

January 4, 2011 ... I just returned from Silverado, after putting Mother down for a nap. I think she would do well with a nap each day from about 1 or 2 for a couple of hours. They get them going early at 6 a.m., and have breakfast at 8 a.m. Nelva said she was exhausted and fell asleep about 4 yesterday. They said they did get her back up for supper last night at 5. I asked Mother if she had played Bingo at 6:30 last night, but she couldn't remember doing so. But the resident Courtney told me she had won two games and prizes! When I arrived this morning, she had finished an hour of physical therapy. The social worker (Chris--a female) sat at a table with us and got Mother talking and talking about her youth in Fairview. Chris was very nice. Another lady, Yvonne, overheard her and said she was from Sanpete also--an Allred from Fountaine Green. Everyone there has been so nice and helpful and attentive. A new lady ate at our table today, with her daughter (who had just transferred her after a week at Aspen Ridge). I told them I would be having lunch with Mother and requested a meal. I asked if there was a number we could call to let them know even earlier if we knew we would be eating a certain meal with her. They gave me the attached paper. Also attached is the activity schedule for January, so you can print it off and plan to be there for certain activities during a visit. A meal is provided free for a visitor to eat with their loved one. It looks like they prefer 24 hours notice, though have provided it twice for me with an hour's notice and no notice. It saves them having to help the resident. It helps keep the quality of the food good with guests eating it too. The lunch today was very delicious, but Mother would hardly eat any at all. They said yesterday, she had hardly eaten either. She was always such a good eater at our house, I was very surprised. So if any of you want to go visit and have a meal or activity with her, just let me, Merrill, or Nelva know, so we can coordinate our visits. Today we played a couple of games of "war" with a deck of cards and then played Chinese Checkers. She handles both of those well. They are in the game room. I wheeled her to see the birds and the fish tank. The dog Sophie wandered through, as well as a smaller dog, Dakota. Mother thought they were cute. The cat, Pepper, slept on top of a bookcase in the game room. When I asked Mother if she wanted to take a nap, she said, "If I take a nap, you will leave." She's pretty astute at times. I told her yes, I would go home and nap.  I found she was always "a caring understanding mama" and would accept that I had to leave if I told her I was tired and needed a nap or had to fix dinner, etc. Lorrie will visit her tomorrow. 

January 9, 2011 ...  Merrill visited twice yesterday, once with Jason and Josh. I had lunch with her and then took her to Bingo. On the activities schedule, on Saturdays where it says Bingo in Cottonwood, that is in the "Cottonwood Wing or room" on the other end of the building. So pushing her there and participating in Bingo gives you a good chance to see more of Silverado, their residents, and their workers. Mother won two prizes--she chose a small vase, relatively short  (so we can take her some flowers to put in it in her room). She chose a deck of cards for her other prize, so that will be useful. They offer a plate of candy bars or a basket of non-candy prizes for the winners to choose from. Merrill stayed for the ice cream social. They gave him ice cream also.  Then he had them put her down for a nap, which I feel is a good idea to do every day. She didn't eat much at lunch, as usual.  I had ordered a meal. I have had 3 meals there now and been there for others. One I had was very delicious, the others not so. Basic Visiting Schedule for next week (let us know if you can't do it and arrange for a substitute so she will have at least one visitor a day): Today: Sunday: Chris and LaMar will go after Church, play a game with her, stay for the ice cream social, and then have them put her down for a nap. Monday: Lorrie. Tuesday: Margie. Wednesday: Nelva and Arnold. Thursday: We will stop on the way home from downtown around 4:30 or 5. Friday: Lorrie. Since Grandma sometimes doesn't know visitors or remember that she had them, LaMar got the idea of keeping a Visitor's Log for her to read through, so she'll know she has had plenty of visitors. So I started one in a spiral notebook by her bed. I put what I could from memory since last Sunday--you can add what I missed. She seemed to enjoy reading through it. So all of you can mark it down in the notebook when you visit (and maybe explain the relationship--Merrill's boy or Margie's grandson, etc. of those she won't know). Lorrie brought Grandma a beautiful flowering plant for her room. There is now there in her room, a box of dominoes, cards, Yahtzee, and Scrabble. There are a few games in the game room, next to the dining area. They use cloth napkins folded in a fan in the dining room to look more elegant. There is always a bowl of fresh fruit there and a fancy container of ice water and lemons. She is now without the catheter since Friday, and without the oxygen the past few days. Her hair looked pretty flat yesterday. She couldn't remember if they'd shampooed it during her last shower. Lorrie, perhaps you could take a curling iron tomorrow and curl it a little. She's still picking at her lips all the time. She complained a little about her hip when I first arrived, but they brought her a pain pill before lunch and she didn't mention it again. She did complain about her neck hurting (in that same place as she has for many months). They weighed her while I was there--she weighed 114.8 right after lunch. She was 118.6 when they weighed her the Sunday she arrived (I think it was). LDS Church Services are at 10:15 each Sunday, and I think only last a half-hour, as piano music is scheduled at 11. If anyone ever wants to join her and see what that is like. I think it is nice if we try to see what all the different activities are like and then tell us all. Nelva and Lorrie said the Current Events wasn't enjoyable to her--loud and noisy. "One on One's" is just one of the workers sitting and visiting with the residents one on one. That was nice, as the social worker got her talking about her growing up years and Grandma sounded normal as can be and conversed well. Glamor time yesterday morning: I could see they had done her fingernails (I had already done them, so they didn't really need it).  Her hair looked the worst I'd seen it and no lipstick, so I don't know what else they do. She does seem to look at the big screen TV (with closed captions which are helpful to her) in the dining room and comments on what she sees during commercials or during "singing in the rain"--commented on him dancing in the rain. The residents don't seem to be in their rooms except for sleeping.

March 4, 2011 ... Grandma is up and walking--with a walker. They have taken her off all pain medication and said she seems to be doing fine. She will be discharged from the Medicare Unit at Silverado next week. She likes it there, and chose it over going back to live with the 3 of us. We 3 kids visited 3 more memory-care facilities last Saturday and are choosing to move her to Alta Ridge Memory Care on the North side of 8300 South, about 14th East. Nelva wanted someplace closer to her. It seems to be nicer than the extended care side of Silverado, with up to 31 residents, compared to Silverado's 90 or so. We were surprised that it was less expensive also. We've heard good things about it. We will move her bed, and a dresser and a chair this Saturday morning at 10 a.m. to make it more like home for her. Then my turn to visit her tomorrow. The new place won't be quite as close for us, but not too bad. We don't think she could handle the stairs in our homes at this point. We will try to spend even more time with her while she gets used to the new place. We'll probably transfer her on Tuesday. I think she will be happy there, as she was happy at Silverado also. I spent time with her yesterday playing Scrabble. If you ever want to visit her and see the place, I'm sure she would love to play a game of Scrabble with you. It's hard to visit and converse with her otherwise, but she does love to play a game.

March 9th, 2011 ...  Nelva and Arnold transferred Grandma today from Silverado to the Alta Ridge Memory Care Center (Alzheimer's Community) in Sandy. It is 1375 East 9400 South, on the North side of the street, just down from Waterford Private School and not far from Shane and Alicia's former home. Saturday all of us kids and our spouses (except Lorrie who was busy) met at Grandma's and moved a bed, chest of drawers, and chair to her new room. Merrill mounted a couple of her pictures on the wall. So it was all ready and looking nice for her today. Nelva and Arnold ate lunch with her there today in the Bistro--a smaller room with two tables, looking like a little French restaurant, where they put the residents that are more "with it" and don't need help or supervision. You can eat there with her free and with no advance notice (tell them ahead if there is 5-6 people) and they in fact recommend and welcome it. So go visit her sometime instead of going out to a restaurant, and see her room. Play a game with her if you have time--she has several there. She's still pretty good at Scrabble. We'll stop and visit with her tomorrow on the way home from court in Manti with Chris, probably late afternoon or early evening. Grandma's room is room #1. Meals are at 8, noon, and 5, as I remember.

April 6th, 2011 ... Today was our mom's 93rd birthday. Lorrie took out a sheet cake to share with the other residents and workers at the Alta Ridge Memory Care Center. Nelva and Arnold picked Mother up today and we all took her out to the Golden Corral for a birthday dinner. She seemed to remember the place somewhat (we used to go there often with her and Dad and then just her). It will be a year on April 29 since Dad passed away.  She is in pretty good shape physically, though needs her walker to get around. We are glad she can still play Scrabble quite well, or visits would be difficult with her hearing loss and memory loss.

Sep 20, 2011 ... Grandma broke her other hip this morning and will have surgery tomorrow afternoon at 3:30 or 4--poor dear! So it will be a hard few days for all of us since they want one of us with her day and night, which is very hard. She doesn't understand what is going on and wants to get up to the bathroom every 5 minutes! We explain and 5 min. later she asks again. Last time she pulled her IV out 3 times! She hardly slept at all at night there. We just got home. We all rushed to the hospital only to wait and wait and wait and finally see the doctor about 7 p.m. at night! They'll probably release her Friday, when Medicare quits paying. We don't know yet if she will go back to Silverado for a couple months rehab or straight back to Alta Ridge. Nelva is staying with her tonight.  Lorrie will take over by 7 a.m. and then we, or I, will take over at 11:30 a.m. That's as far as we have decided.

Sep 23, 2011 ...  Update on Grandma. She is forever trying to pull out her IV and remove her oxygen and constantly asking to get up and go to the bathroom. She doesn't think anything is wrong with her and can't understand why she can't get up. She has tested positive for MRSA, with a nose swab. I guess it is fairly common in long-term care facilities and hospitals struggle with it. I read that about 1/3 of people carry the bacteria and most healthy people remain unaffected, but it is potentially very serious. So now we, and the hospital personnel, have to put on a gown and gloves when we are there, are supposed to wash often, and go straight home and wash our clothes and not stop anywhere. She seemed more mixed up mentally when I was there last night. She asked me if I was her friend and didn't seem to know me (she had her glasses off though). She kept inviting me to come sleep in bed with her. LaMar came at midnight and stayed to 7:45. He can sleep anywhere, anytime, so doing the night shift is easier on him than the rest of us. He's sweet to do it. We haven't heard from the doctor this morning, so we don't know for sure what's happening. They brought a paper for LaMar to sign that they could do some transfusions because her blood was low in something. Merrill came this morning and then Lorrie took over. We were expecting for her to be released this morning, but don't

know for sure.

Dec 2, 2011 ... Dad and I moved Grandma yesterday from Silverado back to Alta Ridge--it was so sad. She kept asking where Nelva was and said Nelva had never been to visit her (she and Arnold had been there Tues.) Grandma said "Don't they want me here anymore?"  She didn't remember Alta Ridge or any of the people at all and kept asking me every 5 minutes, "Did you say I'd been here before?" She teared up often and said, "I wish I had a home." She kept asking if I knew all these people. She would gently cry and say, "I am just so mixed up." I pray she can be released from her earthly prison soon and quick and painlessly. We played 2 games of Scrabble and started to leave. Lydia at the office said, "Oh, you can't go yet. They are delivering her wheelchair and you have to sign for it or they won't leave it." So we had to stay another hour. We were very tired and emotionally drained by the time we got home last night.

Dec 26, 2011 ... We picked up Grandma about 2:15.  Merrill and Lorrie were there so we were able to exchange gifts with them.  They were heading to St. George today.  We had a nice Christmas dinner and visit at Nelva's with Karie, Gary, and Megan and Randy and his 3 kids.  I think Grandma enjoyed it, especially watching 4 1/2 year-old Brandon playing with his train sets.

Visiting great-grandma Zada

March 22, 2012...Monday morning after my water aerobics, we went to visit Grandma. We played 2 games of Scrabble. They had just moved Grandma's roommate to another room. Hope she can stay alone for awhile, so we can leave the card table & chairs up and not have to put everything away each time. They raised their price by $250 a month, so it costs about $4,000 a month to have her there. It's more for a private room. We stopped at a couple stores and the library on the way home.

Pictures seemed to be more of a priority when cute great-grandkids visited ;)

March 23, 2013 ...  Lorrie called and said the Alta Ridge people talked to her and think it is time to bring Hospice aboard for Grandma. They said her blood pressure has been low and she is down to about 95 lbs. and she needs more help showering, etc. than they can give. They want Millcreek Hospice. Millcreek Hospice wants a family meeting set up to discuss Grandma and their services for her, so Lorrie is trying to set that up this week when all of us can be there.

The care center had a monthly newsletter, and would spotlight someone in each.

Father's Day 2013

Not a lot of pictures this year ... I (Jen) checked my journal, but I didn't write much about the day. Maybe we'll see if Wendy wrote more ;) 

Easter 2013

Easter 2013 ... it was early, in March this year. The Westra party was on Saturday, March 30. Jensen's couldn't make it up this year (see the Jensen blog for their Hunt and Easter), but a couple of the girls and Alicia's girls had an even earlier Easter at a Grandparent sleepover a couple weeks before.  2013 was the year Landon set up a drink bar and this classic photo of Margie/Grandma reading to all the grandkids is a classic one!

As with many group gatherings ... it started with an email:

From Mom: We all need to know what to plan on............. Chris prefers 1 p.m., no one else has expressed an opinion----------1 or 2 p.m.? Scott and Amy have a nice buffet dinner to go to and a Jazz game, so they would probably prefer early. Chris and Kim said they would bring rolls and a dessert--cake with layer of cream cheese, strawberries and glaze (kind of right?) Though just one or the other would be fine, as long as we know.  I've got turkey, ham, cheese, for the rolls, and will get tomatoes and lettuce, pickles, I have olives and some tortilla chips and sour cream and onion chips. We'll just keep it simple. Ice water for a drink. Jen, if we can count on you for most of the Easter eggs, you wouldn't have to bring anything else. Just watched the weather from last night's news (Sat. night). It said 62 deg. for Sat.'s party and just a slight chance of rain. So that sounds pretty good.

Another Westra Backyard Group Gathering ...

  

... time for the egg hunt!

... and opening the eggs to see what's inside.

The kids always seem to enjoy the stickers and toys as well as the candy.

... I don't think it was related to anything at the Easter party, but all five Blackham Boys got the barfies, the extended Blackham family too, and then Grandpa/Lamar did too.  Not to be left out, Mom slipped on some water leaking from the fridge and hurt herself, and the ipad. Looking at other emails from right around this time, it seems like other sickness was going around too (strep and/or flu). At least everyone was healthy for the family party, although Wendy had blogged about Jenna being sick for some of their Easter festivities.

Sleepover and Great-Grandma Zada Visit

There have been a few grandGIRL sleepovers featured (11/2011, 2/18/2012, 2/18 and 3/11 in 2013... with dress-up time and glitter. The boys have always been invited, although some of the same activities wouldn't always apply. In March 2013, Chris's kids had a sleepover at the Grandparents house. No dressing up, but there was yard work and genealogy ;)  Just like with the girls sleepovers, it concluded with a visit to Great-Grandma Zada at the care center (so ... there WAS a little bit of beauty school stuff after all!). 

On March, 26, Mom wrote out recap...

We enjoyed a delicious salmon dinner at Chris and Kim's on Sunday (14 of us). Krystal was the only one missing. Then Chris gave a nice FHE. We took Corin, Camden, and Cayson home with us for a sleepover. They enjoyed our ipad and iphone and Corin enjoyed netflix on my computer. They all three worked for Grandpa for an hour outside. Corin took down Christmas lights from bushes and trees (saving Grandpa getting up on a high ladder) and cleaned out some rain gutters. Grandpa and Corin spent some good one-on-one time doing genealogy, creating a fan chart, and fixing some of Corin's line----Corin had asked to do this because he needed it for Youth Conference this summer. Corin and I had some good chats here and there.

We took the 3 boys to visit Grandma and took pictures. Then Chris came at 6:30 to pick them up and have a chicken dinner. Shane and Alicia and girls were visiting the Acquarium and had asked about going out to dinner with us that evening. We told them we had plans, but that they could join us for dinner here, so they did. Alicia made some rolls and chocolate chip cookies.

Chris's boys snapped a picture when they had visited Grandma Zada in May of 2012 too.

Early Easter ~ Four GrandGirls Sleepover

Wendy's kids were off for Spring Break, and Jaiden and Janelle came up to Salt Lake with Rick - he had some plans, and they got to play with cousins and Grandma and Grandpa. It was a couple weeks before Easter, but as the Jensen crew wouldn't be able to come up to the family party in a few weeks, Grandpa did an early Easter, and a photoshoot! Here are some exerpts from the March 11 email Mom sent out, telling about their time together...

Rick came Sat. and dropped his girls off at Alicia's to sleepover and go to Primary. Then Shane and Alicia brought the 4 girls here Sun. at 5:30. We fixed a salmon dinner. Rella decided to stay over after all.  Alicia let both her girls miss school today in order to play with their cousins they don't get to see often. They've had a great time. Rick slept here both nights and had some enjoyable visits with old friends Sat. night and Sunday afternoon and evening. He attended Sacrament meeting with us. Taylee's family had too busy of a schedule this weekend for her to join the cousins this time around.

LaMar got the good idea to have an early Easter egg hunt for them, while J and J were here. So they loaded their own eggs and LaMar hid them in the front yard--the back yard is still wet and some snow. They hung a few eggs from the trees for decoration. Adria and Rella didn't have coats and Rella had on a dress, so it is good it was sunny and fairly warm. They were delighted to watch the squirrel and each wanted to name him (a different name, of course). So he now has 3 names. Janelle didn't come out to see him.

Funny Janelle! She was telling me yesterday about the maturation program she attended at school on Friday. Today she was sitting on the couch and said, "I feel moody. They told us at the maturation program that we might feel moody!" I told Wendy and Wendy said, "She didn't even know that word until Friday." Funny kids!

Today Janelle said her arms hurt until she could hardly lift them. Rella took her upstairs and tucked her in bed. Rella told me that she told Janelle to call her when Janelle wanted to get up and she would come uncover her because Janelle couldn't lift the covers! Little mother! It finally dawned on me what the problem was and I told Janelle I thought it was because she played so much boxing yesterday on the Wii that her arm and back muscles were sore! She loves the Wii!

Well, I got the girls all fed lunch, now I'll go fix for LaMar. They are out feeding the fish. Rick just left awhile ago with Janelle and Jaiden. Today we will take Adria and Rella with us to visit Grandma and Alicia will pick them up there, then she won't have to drive clear to our place. 

The Great-Grandma Zada visits happened a few times after grand-girl sleepovers!
And a little later in the month, Mom&Dad hosted Chris's Boys and also did a GG visit!

Second Sleepover for Cousins Trio

 This cute little trio had a sleepover last year in 2012, and they had a repeat performance this year. Again, from Sunday to Monday, with the kids out of school for President's Day. This year, there was a little snow play. Not sure of the story of the matching jammies. They were from Target, and a coincidence that they all had the same ones? Maybe knowing beforehand that they had the same ones, they arranged to wear them for the sleepover ...

Mom's Email Recap ~ Sunday we had Scott's family (Alyssa was in St. George and Kemery in Sun Valley) and Shane and Alicia's family for dinner, so they could drop of Taylee, Adria and Rella for a girl cousins sleepover. Wish Jaiden and Janelle could have been here for it too. We'll have to try a little boy cousins sleepover sometime if they want and we get get some together. Though it might be harder to entertain them since they don't do "dressup" and glitter crafts! They had a fun time. We were tired last night (smile)! We took them to visit Grandma with us Mon. afternoon and Scott picked them up there and drove Alicia's girls home to Lindon.

Like last year ... the sleepover was followed by a visit to Great-Grandma Zada at the care center... and a bit more beauty school fun.

Who is winning at Scrabble this year?

There would be another girl cousin sleep over this year ... right before Easter!