Sam is just a little joy. He's such a happy little guy!He has this guy wrapped around his finger. All Kelley has to do is pick him up and Sam just starts smiling. (So does Kelley)

Candice is such a sweetheart. She came over and baby sat while Camille and I went to bunko.

She really took care of things...got grandma dinner and helped her to bed too.




This is what we came home to. Sweet auntie!

Sam keeps trying to get his thumb in his mouth...which would not be bad cause he's not too crazy about the binky.

This was one of my favorite days while Camille was here.

She has taught Liv to sing "I see the moon" and it really pulls at my heartstrings to hear her and grandma singing it together....

Sweet reminder of the many wonderful things mother has taught us that will be carried on through generations.

Oh my goodness, I'm going to eat him. Liv giving birth to new crochet animals.

Fun day playing with Liv in the new snow.

Candice, Camille and I went over to the new nail shop at the west valley shop and got our nails done. The place is fixed up real nice and I liked all the girls there. She did a fancy wax treatment on my feet that felt great! I will definitely go back.

The time went by so quickly for me...I was kind of in denial that they would be leaving at the end of the month.

Kelley was so great to stay with the kids so Camille and I could get out and do a few things. He was off of work quite a bit because of bad weather in January and February, so even though we are poor, it was a great time for us to all be together.
There were so many times that Camille would just step right up and help grandma get to the bathroom or into bed. She made sure she took her pills and fixed her crepes (which she loves!)

I called out to her several times when I just couldn't move mom around myself. She was always right there. It's a lot easier with two people!

I don't know if I would have been able to do this without her help.

When things would get bad and mom couldn't remember anything or be able to move around, and I would start thinking...
'I can't do this'... Camille would give me a hug and tell me I am doing a good job.

When we were leaving, Camille came down to give grandma a hug and say goodbye. When she told her that she had to go home, grandma started to cry. Don't think I've ever seen her do that before. Pretty special bond formed over those two months. Can't ever express how grateful I am for her.

My dear sister Teina offered to stay with mom while we drove Camille's family home to Arizona. I know it was a great sacrifice for her and I appreciate it more than she could ever know!

We left Thursday afternoon and got to Mesquite about 8:00 and decided to stop there. Ate yummy buffet and then we all zonked out.

We got going about 8:30 am and decided to stop in and see Chris in Las Vegas. We had a good visit with Chris and Lisa, then got on our way again. Sam and Olivia were incredibly good on the long drive...we got there about 6:30. Kellen had made reservations for us to got to a restaurant that a good friend of his was part owner of that night. We didn't get there soon enough to make it for the time he had set though, so we ended up going to Joes barbecue. It was fun but we were all pooped after the long drive, so we went home and all went to bed by about 9:30.

(Bev and Gary had a real nice room for Kelley and I...their house is huge and lovely! Really appreciate them and their hospitality! ) We picked up Katie from the airport Saturday morning. That was so sweet of her to fly in just for the weekend. She is always so thoughtful and made Olivia feel extra special ( she needed that...feeling like second fiddle these days) Kelley does not approve of the baby legs we made for Sam.

Sunday getting ready for church...Sam was just as happy as a clam. Fell asleep on the way to church and stayed that way till right before he was to be blessed. Then he started fussing and by the time they got up there he was wailing at the top of his lungs....continued through the whole blessing, then when Kellen said amen, he immediately shut his eyes and fell asleep. Ha!

Kellen was a little flustered, but gave him a great blessing!

Have to get enough loves to last me till I can hold him again....man this is hard! Tried to be brave when we were leaving Monday morning, but had a small breakdown. I'm going to miss them so much.

We went back through Vegas on the way home to take Chris a bag of things from Rudy. They had lunch for us and we stayed and visited for a while with him and Lisa. Then headed for home. I told Teina we would probably get there around 9:30, and that's just when we drove in the driveway.

Came in to a perfectly clean house and everything in order. Lynn was there with Teina to take her home and mom was asleep. I'm sure grateful to her for giving me this chance to get away for a few days. It was good to not have to worry about what was going on here at home ... I knew she would handle anything and everything that happened.

She said after spending this time with mom, she could see how challenging it is, and wondered how long I could keep it up.

That's hard to say because each day is so different. Some days her mind is totally there, and she can get around pretty good with my help...other days, she is really confused and can't even stand up to get in the wheelchair. I have always thought I could do this as long as she can still get to the bathroom with my help....But when she can't stand even for a few seconds, or feed herself, that makes me feel like she is needing more help than I can give her. We are planning on all getting together on the 15th to re-evaluate and discuss the future. It makes me feel sick to think of having her in a nursing home....As long as I can, I will have her here.

Candice asked me today what I would want my kids to do if I was in mom's situation. That gave me a lot to think about...I'm torn both ways. I wouldn't want to be a burden to my family, but would want to be with them. I know mom thinks she is a bother...as much as I tell her how much I love to have her here and it's no trouble to do the things I do for her. It breaks my heart that she feels that way. Every night when I tuck her into bed, she says "thank you so much for everything you do for me" That is much more payment than I could ever ask for.