EASTER AND UNCLE ROYS KIDS

The day before Easter, we had an Easter egg hunt so as not to do it on Easter. For Easter, Leah gave her kids things from the LDS Distribution....an animal book with stickers, a picture of Jesus, and I gave them the new Picture book with all the church pictures in it.

We were glad that Roy's kids could come over for the Easter egg hunt. There was Becky, Josh and his 2 kids and James and his wife. This little guy is Josh's...sorry I can't remember his name. Cute well behaved little guy. We just loved him.

Sorry folks, I'm still trying to figure how this blogging works. It aint easy! Hence all the big gaps!

After everyone left, Leah and Mike helped the boys color their Easter eggs...with a loooooot of supervision.

Before they went to bed, Leah read them a bedtime story. Notice Ian's cute red hearing aids.

NEW TOYS

Bryce was beginning to be way too hyper for all the adults. Someone finally suggested it might be because he has been cooped up in a house for a year due to all that he to went through that it might be a good idea to get a playset now that Ian was better so he could run around outside. So they bought a swing set. Boy did the boys love that! I won't tell you what Mike thought of the swing set as he was putting it up. First the instructions said he would only need a regular screwdriver yet ALL the screws required a phillips screwdriver!!!! That was just the beginning. The rest of us were in the house so we didn't hear the ?*!@%#? that was going on outside.







Next, they bought a 12 volt jeep that even has a radio in it. Lucky for Bryce that Ian is content to ride shotgun although he didn't at first. It even has a radio that really works. They keep it on a country western station. Now they have endless fun.

THE KIDS AND GRANDPA

One day Bryce wanted to ride his bicycle but of course he can't ride it without someoue watching out for him. Well of course the rest of the kids had to get into the act, so he pulled Ian and little Spencer in the wagon and made a circle around the car in the garage over and over and over again. It was so cute!

The wagon is something that the hospital gave to Bryce and Ian when Spencer was born and was in the hospital for a week in Boise. It has pop up seats and seatbelts. Really nice. Leah would put the kids in the wagon when they went to the store to keep Ian out of the grocery carts when he was first sick.

UNBIRTHDAY PARTY

One of Stan's and mine family tradition is to have an unbirthday party whenever we visit our grandchildren. They all live so far away that instead of mailing them gifts on their birthday, I give them all when I see them. It is getting so they know when Grandma Jackson comes, they are going to have an unbirthday party.

Of course, you have to start with the games. In this case we played balloon volleyball over the ouch...boys and Bryce against the girls and Ian.

Then come the gifts. Byce is tearing into his first gift.

Here is Ian showing off his new Spiderman sunglasses and Spiderman bandages. He has a fetish for wanting a bandaid on for any reason. The hat he is wearing is from the Make A Wish people who are flying his family to Disneyworld in August. He AND his family truly deserve a repite from all they went through last year and still have to go through for another 4 years at least.
Here is Bryce watching as Spencer opens his gift from Grandma.

Little Spencer opening his gift...a 5 foot speed racer. Has a great motor and everything.

And here he is playing with his new speed racing car.

LEAVING UTAH AND MIKE'S HOUSE

As we were leaving, we tried to get pictures of the kids, but as you can see we didn't have much luck. After several tries, we just gave up! If we'd have tried to pose them like this it would have never happened!!! Little stinkers

At last we got a picture of all of us right before we left. We spent such a wonderful month with Mike, Leah, Bryce, Ian and Spencer. Now we look forward to visiting Carlos and Steve's family in July and Annie in June. One of the neat things I did today after we got home, well the day after, is I installed my new webcam. Now I get to see Mike's munchkins everyday...between naps. Steve is going to set up his webcam and then I can keep up with their family often too. Now if I can just get Carlos and Dave to set up webcams I'll be in business!

WE'RE FINALLY HERE

We finally arrived in Utah, April 1st, 2009. We had been looking forward to this day since we left Mike last November. Many of you know we were here for 6 months when Ian had to have a canerous brain tumor removed with surgery and subsequent chemo and stem cell transplant.
As most of you also know, he is our walking miracle and we love him so much.


Well we got the royal welcome from all those
little munchkins we could hardly wait to see
but it seemed however, that Grandpa was the star of this grand entrance! They clung to him for about 3 days, dragging him everywhere all day long till everything got back to normal.



Of course Spencer the baby had to get into the act also while Grandpa was watching his news after we got there. We brought a small TV with us and we have our own room which makes it more comfortable while staying here for extended amounts of time. We won't go home till April 25th. The boys also liked to go walking with Grandpa whenever he went to jog! I went with them, but I was taking the picture.

I show this picture only so you can see the snow on the mountain in the background on April 2nd. It has snowed at least twice since we have been here and it is only the 18th.

I HAVE A BLOG!

I'm so excited! Mike's wife, Leah helped me make a blog today. She was like the elephant and I was like the mouse going over the bridge and the mouse said "Boy didn't we shake that bridge?" Leah did most of the work. I hope I can be patient enough with myself not to give up while I learn how to do this. I plan on using this blog to write about our next mission. I will let all who indicate interest in this blog a notice when I add to it.


We have been here at Mike and Leah's at Hill AFB since the 1st of April. Stan has made shelves in their garage and did a great job. The last 2 days he has been putting in grass seed in their lawn and flowers in their flower bed. He's been having tons of fun.



A SPECIAL WEDDING
Our branch had a lot of activity in the month of March, but the best one was the joining of two special people ffrom our branch for time in the Mesa Arizona Temple. Brother Jim Love, a member for the branch presidency and Rita Meeks. We had a very enjoyable afternoon enjoying their reception/luncheon. They are a cute couple and loved by all.

SAM'S TOWN

We finally were on our way to Mike's house in Utah. At our age we take 2 days to get to Mike's so we decided to stay in Las Vegas...at Sam's Town...not on the strip, and we had a very nice room. The room was only $27.00!...on a Wednesday...it is NOT going to be $27.00 on a Saturday going home. The hotel was surrounded by a four sideed courtyard on the inside containing a solarium with a glass roof. Our room looked on the courtyard. It was so serene and beautiful.

At night, they had a beautiful light and sound show. We had a perfect view from our room on the 4th floor. During the day you could hear birds (fake) singing and the bear growling as we walked through the park. They call it Mystic Park. All the animals moved at times. I would recommend this hotel...on a Sunday-Thursday.