Friday, August 30, 2013

Friday Family Flashback

Feb 11, 1996
Now for a Truman story.  Last night he got out of the tub. He had washed his hair and it was still wet when he combed it.  He came downstairs laughing and told his mother that he had a crack in his head.  She couldn't figure out what he was saying.  He repeated that he had put a crack in his head.  When she didn't understand again, he took her to the mirror and pointed to the part in his hair and said, "See, I have a crack."  He cracks me up.

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

What did not get accomplished this summer

So many things went by the wayside this summer while I was wallowing in my no-momma grief, watching too much tv and eating everything. 
I had plans to have a beautiful flower garden….nailed it.

I was going to organize the basement and make a great art space…. Never happened.

I wanted my closet to be made into a walk in closet….. to be fair this almost  happened…and is in the process every other weekend with nephew Brad Bentley kicking in what little spare time he has.  All of my clothes are on the basement floor or sharing Laila’s closet for the past 3 weeks.  My shoes are in buckets and I’m trying to decide on a closet organizer system.  We have bashed my closet into Monson’s closet, so this doubled my space and built him a new one.  I have a lot of painting to do to fix both of these rooms.

I was going to have an electrician come in and put a center light in my bedroom, so we don’t have to live with turning on 5 lamps every night.  We are still flipping switches. Hopefully this can happen with the closet change up.

So now my plans have moved into fall…

First task ….clean out the garage.  This is going to be a family affair happening over labor day weekend.  IT’s not called labor day for nothin.

Second….I’m going to paint the living room white…that’s right, this color girl is moving into the white zone so I can have a space to hang up and show off all of my colorful paintings.  I really wish I had wainscoting half way up,   but  I’m just going to paint what I have  and even paint out the dark fireplace.  I’ll keep the ceiling blue.
Then we are moving the gray furniture into that space and getting new furniture for the family room.   I’m looking for a new  cheap rug to lighten up the space  and going to change the light fixtures as well.
I’m moving out the colorful buffet  ( to the entry way) and the cupboard ( to the office)   and the chaise lounge to the window bay with a white cover on it.  
I’ll paint out the coffee table to a light blue like the ceiling….and ….
I’m kind of excited about all of this.  Now to find the time to do it. 
I have September and I’m determined to get it done.

Maybe I’ll put all of my summer plans back on the fall schedule too.

Monday, August 26, 2013

Final 6th grader

FIRST day of SIXTH grade....and we are so happy.  Laila is excited to " rule the school" and I am excited to get back to a scripture reading and family prayer routine.  We just can't seem to get that consistently happening in the summer time.

I love me some summer....it's truly my favorite season....but I love when school starts.  New school clothes, supplies and routine all make me happy.

We have had a student at Valley View for 22 years....so I am ready to get this year done and move out of elementary school once and for all!

Laila has Mrs. Ferrari as her teacher.  This was Landon's favorite teacher and he still goes down to the school and talks with her.  I hope she has a great influence on Laila too.


Saturday, August 24, 2013

62 miler....nailed it


The Cache Valley Century ride is finished. We came to Logan with the Farleys and Belnaps for our first organized ride. Eric, Wayne and I did the 62 miler and Bob and Kimi rode the 35.  So happy to have done it. So thankful it's over. Great roads. A few silage smells but really a great non traffic ride.   We are exhausted. Wayne and Eric could have probably done 100 today. But my butt was done. This is my longest ride so far. 
I need to add .75 to this. I forgot to start it when we started. 


The crew.  


Friday, August 23, 2013

Friday Family Flashback

Feb 11, 1996
Addison is so enamored about plays right now that he is directing a neighborhood play.  He found an easy play and cast it with all of the neighbor kids.  He called them all up and asked them if they wanted to be in it.  Melinda is over seeing the project.  They rehearse twice a week.  He is getting all of the costumes and sets and everything.  He is very excited about it.  Of course the star of the play is Landon.  Landon just loves life.  He has great self esteem and thinks that he can do anything he want to do and you know, he is right.  I just hope that no one knocks it out of him.

Monson decided that he wanted to shave like his dad...so...without telling anyone he marched up stairs and got the razor and proceeded to shave.  What he didn't know is that he cut his chin so badly that when he went down stairs, very proud of his shave, and not knowing that he had cut his face, he scared his mother half to death.  He was a bloody mess.  Today the cut still looks pretty bad.  Lyle says that they should have put a little shave stick on it and the stinging would have cured him from shaving for awhile.

Speaking of Monson, he has turned into a social butterfly.  Melinda never knows when she will get a call from a neighbor telling her that Monson is there.  Just last week she got a call from an older couple in the ward, about seventy or so, telling her that Monson had rung their doorbell, walked in, took off his boots and coat and went over to the television, turned it on and started watching it.  They have a granddaughter that is there sometimes, and they thought that Monson thought that she was there.  When they told him she wasn't, he said, "I know," and just kept watching tv with them.

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

End of Summer

Laila and I went with Annett and Max Eiting to St George for one more bit of frolic before school starts.
We partied, had Swig cookies, flavored drinks and ice cream, slept in, stayed up too late, shopped for school clothes, ate too much,  tried a Starbucks shake, saw the latest Percy Jackson movie, bought 6 bouncy balls, had pool time and sat in the sun.  
We loved watching "Mary Poppins" at Tuacahn.  It wasn't too hot and the show effects were great.  Such  a sweet show filled with valuable lessons and wonderful dancing.  We got home after midnight. That's the hard part.

Laila and Max both pulled out a tooth while on this trip and demanded tooth fairy money on the spot. Crazies.

Friday, August 16, 2013

Friday Family Flashback

Feb 4, 1996
The Welch pet cemetery has another occupant.  Addison's bird died.  It was ok when they left for church...but when they returned...the bird was dead in the bottom of the cage.  I feel for Addison.  His gerbil died. His dog died. And now the bird.  This doesn't take into consideration how many fish have bit the dust.  But... his front tooth is still coming down, so the world is ok.  Addison also won a blue ribbon in the school's reflections contest.  This is a big thing in his school so he was pretty happy.

 Melinda and a group of friends have created a "play group" for their little boys Monson's age.  They really have a good time.  Monson can't say play group ...he always says "play deloop."  He was always telling me about "play deloop" and I never knew for the longest time what in the world he was talking about.

On Jan. 21st Truman had his 5th birthday.  He got tons of stuff, but one of the things he thought he wanted was a dinosaur.  One of those plastic or rubber ones to play with.  I didn't get tot the toy store before it closed, so I went to the book store and bought him a couple of dinosaur books.  Well..anyway two days after his birthday he is saying his prayers and right before he said amen he looked up and very quickly said, "Please Heavenly Father, let someone give me a dinosaur.  Amen."  Then he looked up at his mother with a wicked little smile and jumped in bed.   Soooo being a good mother that likes to have dreams come true, she called Liz who had been asking her what to get Tru for his birthday and mentioned the prayer.  Needless to say, Truman believes in the power of prayer.

Thursday, August 15, 2013

New garage

Dad got garage doors put in. He has never parked in a garage his entire adult life so this winter is going to be exciting. He wont have to scrape off his car and his driveway will be easier to shovel. 

We hauled out lots of stuff. Took 3 DI runs. Rearranged the rest and now we need to figure out the floor so it's not a slippery parquet wood floor. It's all a process.  But its exciting 


Tuesday, August 13, 2013

the Butters' Bunch '99

We have been doing a lot of cleaning and clearing out at Dad's house.  We have gone through so many pictures.  What to do with all of them?  It's a dilemma.
 I did come across this gem....

BASH 1999.   We had the kids do the "Butters Bunch" sung to the Brady Bunch song.    It was a hoot.  
Monson was Lynette. Truman was Diane. Jenna was Dar...complete with a pooch.  Rachel was Sheri with her gigantic glasses.  Addison was Grandpa with comb and scissors.  Megan was Grandma with her remote and diet soda. Jordan was Steve.  Brad was played by Aaron with his "noodge".... and Landon was Bailey with a horse and a toupee.

Momma Sheri made up these words.......

Here's a story of a great big family
Started by a guy with love light in his eyes
When he saw that redhead, named Eulala
Oh my, he was so wise.

He said "Baby, I think that we should marry
We can go off in the sunset hand in hand."
She said, "well, Ok ...let's have some babies
A family would be grand."

Here's the children they had together
the girls are Darlene, Diane, Lynette and Sharolyn
the boys are Steve and Brad and Bailey and Grant Michael
(He's living now in Heaven.)

Sweet Mother's happy they all got married
And they all had many children of their own,
And those children had lots of children
We're never all alone.

There's an Ostlund, Sweeten, Poulter, Fulton, Morley
There's a Callister, a Call, a Welch, a Brown
There's a Tarrant, Sweeten, Smith and a Butters
An Ostlund and a Cole

There's a Butters, Ashworth, Butters, Black and Poulter
There's the Hills, Poulter, Cole and VonLutzow
And it started with Sir Grant and Sweet Mother
But that was years ago.

The  Butters' Bunch
The Butters' Bunch
All hundred thirty seven-- We're the Butters' Bunch

Every year we try our best to get together
It's call the BASH-- we eat and sleep and laugh and play
We swim and party, love and learn and make memories
We go on night and day

We hope to do this for ever after
til it's so big we have to rent the Taj Mahal
We hope we'll always get together
We always have a ball

We do the BASH
We do the BASH
When we're together we have fun,
We have a Blast!


Saturday, August 10, 2013

Feeling blue.....

I've had a hard, teary week.   I can't seem to get it together and cry over just about anything.  I had my feelings hurt this week, some work challenges, and Laila's performances...all things I really wanted to share with my mom.  She could have talked me off of the proverbial ledge, helped turn it all around and get me out of my pity party...suffice it to say...I "partied" all week like  a sad sack.
 I am counting my blessings that I had 50 years to be around such a wise and loving mother.   Truly a best friend.   Some daughters never get to experience that.

I was so pleased with Laila in her "Once on this Island" show.  It's a Fable from Haiti  about love,death and forgiveness.  Laila plays little TiMoune...and she was so dramatic and really into it.  Her dance with Big TiMoune was lovely and she just really did well.   She was joined by her cousin Becca Welch and friend Emily Mortensen.  Cousin Megan Call directed it.  I love that Laila loves theatre.  It was our first production since Mom's passing.....she would have been to every performance!
Sara Wilson with Laila
Laila, Emily, Becca
I'm not really looking forward to teacher meetings in St. George this next week.  I get teary just thinking about it.  I have shared a bed and room with mom for years now at these meetings.  It was a wonderful bonding time for us.   I was always so proud of her...she had to learn new technology and online schooling even though she wasn't  savvy at all...but she just did it.  I was kind of protective of her and her degenerating eye sight...her nose was right up against her screen.  It would have been so discouraging for me but she just kept pressing on, always looking on the bright side and being a team player for the teachers even through her cancer treatments and not feeling good at all.
It will be difficult for me to be there without her.  I hope they are ready for a sea of tears... I have to make sure I have a lot of tissues.

I don't look happy in this pic... But I was.  I had my mouth full of a shock block to keep my energy up.  Wayne is a cutie though!
OH my.... I had a tough bike ride today.   We-- Me, Wayne, Eric Belnap and Braden Haskell-- rode a 50 miler out to Saltair and back.   I was doing great even with a horrible head wind til the last 3 miles, then I just "ran out of gas."  I was pedaling  up NSL center street, the light turned red, and once again I didn't have the strength to yank my shoes off of the clips.... I stayed clipped in, called out Wayne's name and fell on the road... Right at the intersection with cars everywhere.  So embarrassing.  My tire was bent and my ego deflated.  Wayne has since, mended my spirits by not making me bike up the last hill to our house, and taking my bike to get fixed and having new easy clip pedals put on.  After a year or wrestling with the other clips, it will be a nice change.     We are in training for a 65 miler in Logan at the end of the month.

We got Mom's marker installed at the cemetery.  It looks great...although a bit disconcerting to see dad's name there as well.


Friday, August 9, 2013

Friday Family Flashback

Jan 21, 1996
The Welch boys are as unique and happy as ever. Addison's front tooth that he knocked up into his head, is about halfway down now and looking good.  Landon is still excited about theatre and plays and singing and dancing and socializing and playing and running and being generally out of control.
Truman fell off of a stool the first of December and broke his leg.  He had a Christmas red and green cast put on.  He had to use crutches the first little while and he looked just like Tiny Tim....so we all called him tiny Trum.  He got off the cast last week, but he still won't put his heel down.  Melinda is taking him back to the Doctor.  Monson is as crazy as ever. He is talking more clear now and he is a real character.  He had his tonsils out three days before Truman broke his leg.  Melinda  was really excited to say the least.  When Landon got his tonsils out his voice went up, up, up...Monson's voice remained the same, hoarse and loud, loud, loud.

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Welch Super Hero Reunion


Mark....coming down so fast he burned through  his gloves

 We had our Welch family - Super Hero -reunion this past weekend ....with out Wanee…we actually skyped and face timed her in to a few of the activities.   Anyway.. It was great to get together.  We all had a BBQ at the Butters pool  with swimming on Friday night.  48 of us…most under 12 years. The kids took turns doing their best super hero jumps, flips and dives.  Those that wanted to slept over night at Terry and Cyrrena’s in tents.  We showed an outdoor movie of "The Incredibles."  The weather was perfect.  



Hunter, Andrew Bentley and Nash...as the base of the cliff
Will..... Stephanie Shurtz Cox's baby boy
Rob is in the orange shirt looking down off the edge of the cliff as Laila rappells
On Saturday we all had breakfast, then Uncle Garth Welch came and shared about Grandpa Tom…and what it was like as brothers growing up in Harper Ward-- a small town north of Brigham City. He talked about their jobs on the pea-viner;  the one room church house that had curtains to pull to divide into classrooms; outdoor bathrooms; wood stoves that kept the kitchen hot all year long; playing sports with all ages and not enough boys in their very  small ward; what school was like, having a blind mother and eating Lumpy Dick.   He shared about Tom getting over his speech impediment and going to Samoa on his mission kind of sick.  He spent a bit of time in the office fixing things while waiting to get better before he was assigned the far side of the island.  All very interesting. 
 After that we had a hike over to a large cliff that we climbed to the top of and those that wanted to rappelled down.  The view was amazing.  Tru, Me and Laila, plus 20 others, all tried it.  It was fun, dirty and hot…and very steep.  I was proud of Laila.  She just stepped right up , put on a harness and listened to Uncle Rob as he helped her know how to do it.  It took superhero courage and determination to not chicken out.   Tru took some cool pictures.   
We got off the mountain had some lunch, then sat in a big circle and shared about a Welch family super hero…someone in the family we look up to, who has helped us or shown a good example.  It was a sweet time of sharing. 

I keep thinking about the old mormon ad... "Family-- isn't it about time?"  And I agree.   Taking the time to spend time together is a big deal.  It's great for  cousins, in-laws, siblings and eternal relationships to grow.

Laila and Uncle Rob
Tru, Rob, Alex, Laila, Becca, Savannah, Anna..and the view from the top overlooking Farmington
Andrew, Alex, Sophia and Laila 
Sophia and Laila
Butters Pool.... Abby in midair front flip
Tenting on the lawn...cousin sleepover
Abby, Kylee, Kimberly, Laila, Nathan, Anna, Savannah, Tru, Alex

Anna, Laila, Becca, Alex, Ella,  Uncle Terry

Friday, August 2, 2013

Friday Family Flashback

March 17, 1994
Let me tell you another Yellow Landon story...Yesterday he got off of the school bus without his shoes on, and Melinda asked him where they were.  He said in his back pack.  Well later, when she went to get them out of the backpack they weren't there.  Landon hasn't the foggiest where they could be...."but don't worry mom cause they are right where I left them."

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Sheri's mission statement part 2

Sheri's mission statement video part 1

Thankful Thursday

1.  I am Thankful for Wanee.  We had a crazy night.  I picked Wayne up at the airport and took him to his mom's to see her cute, new red Subaru.  She is  teenager-excited about it.
 As we were walking out to the garage...Me, Wanee, Wayne....Wanee stepped odd on her landing.  Her heel was off of the step, she tried to find her balance, she turned to catch her self, Wayne reached out to right her, the next thing we knew she was falling backward down her basement steps.  She hit her head hard, slid then somersaulted to the bottom where she crash landed into the shelves with the jars of fruit.  It was a slow motion disaster.  She lay at the bottom of the stairs in a heap.  Wayne ran down to her aide.  She was bleeding out of the back of her head.  I got a towel so he could apply pressure.  I was screaming, should we call an ambulance...Wayne said yes...Wanee said no...we called an ambulance because it was her back.   The good news was she never lost consciousness, and she could wiggle her toes.  The Ambulance, Police, Firetruck and another emergency vehicle all paraded up the street, sirens blaring. 

 Holly ran to the neighbors home for refuge.  They loaded Wanee on a backboard and rushed her to Lakeview Hospital for help.  She got 12 stitches in her scalp... has some subdural bleeding and a fractured sacrum in the lower part of her back.  Her glasses are destroyed. She has a headache and is achey all over.  We are now praying for a speedy recovery since she has a cruise of a life time scheduled...her first one ever...to theNetherlands, Russia and beyond Aug 11th.  Yikes.   It was a crazy night.  I'm thankful Wanee isn't more broken and that she is in good spirits.  It was great to rally the family troops and feel the love and support found there.

2.  Thankful for Little Sophia.  
Landon and Alex have the kids for the next little while...and they are all getting used to family life together out in  Eagle Mountain.  I'm so grateful to be "grandparents" to Sophie and Andrew while we wait for more grandchildren to arrive some day..... We believe in families  anyway we can get them...so it's an honor to be in these little cuties lives.  Sophia said the sweetest thing about Poppa Wayne.  Landon writes...."We were driving in the car with Sophia today and she had my phone.  She was watching a video of baby ChaCha saying 'Wayne.'  Sophia asked, why she calling my poppa just Wayne?  His name is Poppa Wayne.  She needs to know that he's my grandpa and his name is Poppa Wayne and he's my best friend."

3.  I'm thankful for my mom.  The Sharing Sheri event fell into place and now I am busy taking reservations and collecting money for the next while.   Landon sent me two videos of my mom's last words of wisdom that she shared on her birthday with her mission statement. I put them on my youtube channel.  It's so good to hear her voice.  I wonder when I will ever be able to hear her name and not feel a lump in my throat and a stinging behind my eyes?

4.  I'm thankful.