My Sweet Grandpa Jackson

Grandpa passed away early this morning. In a sense I am so very sad, but I also have been crying tears of joy. Grandma left almost seven years ago, and I know he has missed her so very much. He has been wanting to go home for a long time. These last few months he has not been doing well and I have been so sad to think of him suffering. My last memories of him were last August when I went to visit him with my family. I didn't want to go because it was such a long drive with my baby. I am so glad that I did. Grandpa was so cute with Parker. He loved him so much. He kept asking to hold him and told me what a good job making him I had done. I am so thankful for the man that he was and for the boy he has raised to be my father. I love you, Grandpa J. Thank you for all the mule rides to the 'Grand Canyon' and for all of the stories and laughter you shared with us. Thank you for letting us destroy your garden so we could make a roadside 'Grandpa's Garden' stand. Thank you for the millions of toot-sie rolls you pulled out of our ears. Thank you for all the memories you left for us to cherish. Love, Sally :)

Goodbye to a Horrible Week!

Well, I really am glad to see the end of this week...
Monday - Our GrandAm dashboard went out. Apparently Nathan's Explorer sent a back charge when Matthew jump started it for him.
Tuesday - A visit from Mother Nature.... I guess it is better than the alternative though.
Wednesday - No comment!!!
Thursday - BeefCake (a.k.a. our walking food storage) ran away. We did locate him and his brother Dinna at about 9p.m. It was too dark to catch them.... They are black.
Friday - Went to catch BeefCake and he ran onto the Fort Hall Indian Reservation's sacred burial grounds. We can go there if we don't mind being arrested.... The Fish and Game talked to the Tribal committee and on Monday we can PURCHASE a permit, and with their assistance we can go try to locate BeefCake and Dinna. If and when we catch them they are going straight to the auction and finding a new home. Hopefully we will be able to find another suitable 'food storage' that will stay in It's pasture. Also, our Trailblazer decided to have issues.... So far the tally is up to $300+ and they still don't know what is going on.
Did I mention we have been paying our tithing? Good thing! I hate to think of what would happen if we weren't!
Yeah, I'm glad this week is over!

My mom....

.... is the best mom in the whole world! I want to tell you a little bit about her. She has taught me so much. When I had Parker, she was there. She hurried down while I was in labor and held my hand through delivery. (Matt was down 'in all the action.') I was probably squeezing her hand so tight that she was loosing feeling in it.

After he was born she stayed at my house for awhile and taught me so much. How to feed him, bathe him, change diapers, dress him.... everything! And most of all, she let me sleep! I am sure I could have figured all of this out on my own, but it was so special for me to have her there to help me. :) She has even driven down to babysit for me because I couldn't find a sitter and had to work.

My mom taught through example. She sacrificed so much for us when we were growing up. We didn't have a new, flashy car or a huge amazing home, but she never complained. She drove that blue Aerostar stick shift van for YEARS! Our house was always decorated cute and clean. She did without so much so that we could do the things we wanted to do. She came to our track meets, swim meets, volleyball games, basketball games, cheer competitions, everything. (And I'm going to level with you. I'm not a very good athlete, so it couldn't have been fun to watch me sit on the bench.) She was right there cheering us on and telling us we did great. She is the best mom ever!

Everything I've learned about how to be a mom, she taught me. I love her so much. And someday (YEARS from now) when I'm a grandma and know just what to do, I will know it is because of my wonderful mom who showed me how it's done.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom! I love you.

Trip to Denver...

So Matt and I did it.... We went on a trip.... and LEFT Parker with Grandma and Grandpa. I was pretty sure that I would have a meltdown, but somehow I made it through. Matt had some union meetings in Denver that he had to go to and really wanted me to come so my awesome mom offered, no DEMANDED, to take care of Parker for us. I really didn't want to leave him and I really missed him a ton, but we did do some fun things that we wouldn't have been able to do if we had taken him.

We left Tuesday night and drove to Evanston and stayed with my parents. Wednesday morning we got up and made the long and painful drive across Wyoming on I-80. Talk about a thrill a minute! We must've seen at least 500 windmills. (Can you tell I can hardly contain my excitement?) Oh, and a word to the wise... YAHOO MAPS ARE A BAD IDEA! They tell you to do things like 'turn left on a local road...' Or then there is the time that it directed Matt to the airport instead of hotel where his meetings were being held...Just don't use them. We seem to have a hard time learning that lesson, but every time I use one they have an error.

The first night we were there we went to the Denver - New Orleans playoff game. We had awesome seats way back in row 5 of the ground level. (It was fun to be so close.) We had a great time, but it was hard to get too excited over teams that we didn't really care about. We decided that if (more like when) the Jazz get eliminated we will root for Denver.

Our next night we went to the temple. Just so you know, it is kind of hard to find and tucked away in a neighborhood. I am willing to bet that if we had asked for directions 99% of the people wouldn't have even know it was there. It has been a really long time since we were able to go, so it was nice to go. Who knew that the cafeteria would be serving steaks? Matt said that it was pretty good. I opted to go the lighter route with a chef salad and dressing on the side.... and the BIGGEST piece of chocolate cake they had. Haha! You know that it is big when I can barely eat half of it! :)

Our last night there we went to the Rockies - Dodger baseball game. Our seats were not as good as they were for the basketball game, but we were behind home plate, so we had an awesome view. I'll be honest. I HATE watching baseball on TV but it was actually really fun to be at the game. Maybe when we go to San Fransico in July we will have to try to catch a Giant's game. If for nothing else it will be a really good excuse to eat another giant hot dog! :)

I was hoping to be able to explore Denver while Matt was in his meetings, but we were about a 10 minute drive from his meetings and an 25ish minute drive from downtown. He ended up taking the car with him during the day and I stayed at the hotel. It was actually fine because I fell victim to the nastiest cold I have ever had. He did take me to a mall on one of his lunch breaks and picked me up after he was done with meetings. You would think I would have gone crazy, right? Not so much. I spent 3 hours walking around the mall and ended up spending $100 in JCPenny. I could have done that in Pocatello. After the mall I walked over the the Sketchers outlet and got shoes for me, Parker and Matt. Another word to the wise - don't wear brand new flats if you are going to be walking 1/2 mile to and from the baseball game. You might end up with 5 new blisters! Thankfully they have first aid centers set up at the game and were willing to share a million band-aids with me. If not, I wouldn't have made it back to the car! Matt did inform me that his new shoes were EXTREMELY comfy and that he didn't have any problems wearing them for that big walk to and from the game... What a sweetie!

I was so excited to try Parker's new shoes on him. When I got home last night I put on his right shoe only to realize the other shoe was also a right shoe in a bigger size. Isn't it their job to check them? Maybe I should have, but they checked all the other boxes! I called the outlet and they were like 'Oh! We were wondering where the other shoe was...' They told me they would send it, so HOPEFULLY they will. The shoes are cute, but I don't think they are worth another 9 hour one way drive!

Well, that is all for our big trip to Denver. If we ever go back I definitely want to see more of actual Denver.

Pay It Forward...

Yippie! I've been waiting for someone to post this so that I could get a HOMEMADE GIFT!!
Pay it Forward is your mission, if you choose to accept... another fellow blogger is doing this on her site and I thought it sounded fun. This is how it works... The first 3 people to leave a comment on this blog will receive a handmade gift from ME during this year. When and what it will be is a BIG surprise. There's a small catch... You knew there would be didn't you? Post this on your blog then come back and leave a comment telling me your in. Sound fun? I know there will be people running to their computers to get a handmade gift from me. I am pretty crafty, ha, ha! I promise to make it worth while.

How fun!

This week I went to Boise with my mom and sister to visit Leslie. One of her very silly friends threw a baby shower for her and little Tucker. (I think that's the name they have decided on.) It was pretty fun. I RSVP'd to her friend Lisa and asked if there was anything I could do to help. Oh believe me! There was! Here is how everything went down...

Hey Lisa,
My name is Melanie Millward. I am Leslie's sister. I guess I am RSVPing, but I would also like to know if there is anything I can do to help with the shower. I live in Pocatello, but if there is anything you need as far as refreshments or anything else goes, please don't hesitate to ask. You can email me back, or my number is ***-***-****. Thank you!
Melanie

Hey Mel,
One thing we have totally overlooked is the Stripper!!! Would you possibly be able to find us one? If there is one in Pokey that would travel to Boise that'd be great cause we've already seen all the ones from this area plus we're trying to keep it on the down low so we don't want to hire ones that hang with our husbands! Let me know what you can do! Thanks you're the best!! ~Lisa~


Oh believe me! I did my job! (Lisa already had someone else who offered to help on alcohol detail.)


Lisa,
Well, I started out searching for one a little closer to the Boise area just in case there was one available so they wouldn't have to travel so far, but they all said they were booked that night. I did end up finding one from here. It is going to cost a little extra for the travel expenses, but he said he could do it. (There would have been two, but the other one had class on Tuesday.) I hope that it works out okay. I've never been to a party where a stripper was involved. Anyhow, it sounds like it should be a pretty good time. He has a great personality and seems really nice. I've included a pic just so you know what to expect. If there is anything else that you need just let me know. Do you have paper plates, cups, napkins and such? I can bring all of that if needed. Talk to you soon.

As you can see, I took my job VERY seriously! Unfortunately, he choked on a really big LaffyTaffy and was unable to come to the shower.... how sad. Maybe next time... So if anyone ever needs a stipper for their baby shower just let me know! I have quite the hook-up!

Anyhow, The shower was fun, and Leslie made out like a bandit! She is going to have one SPOILED little man! I can't wait to meet him. He will be so cute! :)

WooHoo!

So my sister, Leslie, decided to come visit while my mom and grandma were here. She taught me some cool tricks about the 'ins and outs' of blogging. MAYBE someday mine will be cute. :) We had a good time while everyone was here. Parker put on a 'silly show' which consisted of him laughing like crazy and him doing funny things. We would make sounds and he would imitate them. He was being such a show-off! And of course, I became a little hair slave, but I don't mind. It was just so fun to spend time with family. I loved it. We went shopping and Great-Grandma bought the CUTEST suit for Parker. He was a little too active to pose for pictures last night, but here are a few. Hopefully if I take him to a professional we will be able to get some cute ones.

Maybe he wouldn't pose because we were letting him be on the table??

And this was just a very cute picture of Parker and Daddy. :) I love my boys!