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If I posted on Instagram this is what I would have posted there today -

I love looking out the kitchen window or family room doors to see this close to the yard.  And when we open the door or window we can hear the end gun and the gears of the circle when it moves.  It is a joyful sight and sound.

It is a piece of Terry and every time I see it in this position I recall times when Terry would have me stop what I was doing and come to the window to see this sight because it brought joy to our hearts. Even when I was deep into a project it was a good sight to see.  It was then, and remains to be, more than just a view out the window.

It is part of his legacy.  He homesteaded this corner of the world for us.
It is a piece of him.  
It brings me joy!

Our Weekend!

We have had a great few days.

I was in Ellensburg one day last week and drove down a street to find these lovely flowers.  I love this wild flower look and wanted to stop and take a picture.

So I turned right at the end of the block to pull in and take a picture of the flowers.  What a cute surprise!  I parked right in front of Mater.

I got a picture of him too, (I thought my grand kids would love to see him).  The flowers were fun to see, but the photos just don't show the beauty that I really saw.

I do appreciate how some people try to make their part of the world a beautiful place to be.  This look is so much more lovely than weeds and garbage.


BrittanyJo came home for the weekend.  She and I were going to head to Longview to get her patriarchal blessing.  My parents volunteered to come our way which saved her the extra travel and allowed her to be with her siblings and nieces and nephews here.  (I have awesome parents!)  

It is a wonderful thing to have a father that is a patriarch and can give these beautiful blessings to his grandchildren.


We stopped at the cemetery on the way home from church on Sunday.  My parents wanted to see the headstone.   Auger and Akleigh often like to ride home with us after church and they love to stop there too.  We saw another bunny today, but it was pretty quick at getting out of our way.

Auger read everything on the headstone as his Grandpa Rodeback pointed out each word, name, and date.  

We happened to be there when David and Shawna came too.

Oh!  Auger saw his name too, as he read his Grandpa Keith's name on their headstone.  

Our house was filled with family and noise and fun and love Sunday evening.

BJo is back to Rexburg and my parents are back in Longview and it's just the three of us again, but it was a great weekend.  (Missing them already!)

A bit of farm life over the weekend - Auger was with his dad checking the circle in the Timothy. Thomas (while up on the circle) got a picture of Auger standing in that field, trying to find his way around.  Our crops are growing, and so are our children and grandchildren.

Oh, almost forgot - I wanted to share this photo too.  While in Ellensburg getting my hair done I saw this picture hanging on the wall.  It brought a smile to my heart.  These 12 Man signs and flags often do bring a smile to my heart because they bring back fond memories of fun times in Seattle.

Back to School +

We took BrittanyJo to Rexburg to start this next semester of college.  The roads were really good for us on the way there but there was compact snow on the roads at least half of the way home (but they didn't slow us down too much and we didn't have any problems).  The trees were lovely to see.

We left BrittanyJo feeling kinda sick.  She was alone in her apartment with no one to require her attention so she could rest or organize as she desired.  We can see with this next picture that she did some organizing (though if she is at all like her mother, things might still change after she lives there for awhile).  This is her side of the room, then her side of the walk in closet, then the bathroom - all inside her room - it's really a nice place.

apartment exterior has such a fun look and the inside is pretty cool too

While we were gone Chase headed back to Wenatchee for his new semester.  He had a project to work on before school started and some friends to visit before he left.

Monday (5th) will be the first day back to school for BJo, Chase, and Anthony.  Big Day!  

Connor will be looking for work and trying to settle in to a new routine, which is what I will be trying to do too (I guess I already have my new job, but will need to settle in to that new routine).

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with the thought of it all, but it's just because I haven't had to worry about those types of things before and I don't understand the mail I'm getting and the work that is required.  I am so glad that Thomas knows some of it, but there is some that he hasn't worked with yet too.  I'll be setting up some meetings with a few people who can help us learn about whatever we need to learn about.  I think it will just keep going with a domino effect from there.

I will try to remember Terry's encouraging words -

"It will turn out better than you think!" 

as I continue on this journey.   Day to day life is just different than it ever has been before and it is just going to keep changing for awhile.

Through the last week some of the kids have mentioned how I've changed and I just tell them that I will never be the same again.  No matter how hard I try I cannot be the same.  Not much in my day to day life is the same as it used to be so there is no way I can remain the same.  Some change will be indifferent - not necessarily better, but not really worse either - just different.  However, because we are constantly striving to be and do better I do hope to change for the better in many ways.   With the help of the Lord I know I can do it.


I'll end this post with a puzzle we did over the holiday.  You may remember that puzzles have been a big part of our lives the last few years and especially last year, so it felt right to keep that tradition going.  It was a little hard for me the first several minutes but I didn't want that part of me to change so I kept going and it soon became relaxing and therapeutic.  

That is how I hope to make things work for me in the future - I will persevere ... until it becomes easier.  Not that the thing has changed, but that my ability to do so has.

(image from here)

When I tried to find that quote above I found these too.  They are all good, so I'm adding them as a gentle reminder.

(image from pinterest, but complete article from Elder Scott can be found here)

(image found here)

Well, here I "grow"  ...

Harvest

Chopping silage ... this is the last field.   :)

Baling Week!

This was the week for baling and it went quite well.

The kids loved sleeping in the tent - the first night was in the family room and the next nights we had the tent in Anthony's room.  It was so fun!



 We had a nice few days together.

Haying ...

The last three nights have been sleepless in Royal since second crop alfalfa began on Monday at our farm.   We have no photos to document the occasion, except for some Chase took while on the tractor during the night. I stole one of those from facebook to add here -

What a sky that is!

And, here is a photo from Thomas' phone, where we can see three of the six tractors/balers in the field.

The colors in these photos are oddly amazing.

While many were out in the field, some of us were inside sleeping.  With all the extras added to our calendars we didn't get to see the grandkids for very long, but they went to sleep here and woke up here. 

One night when Boston woke up (at 4:30am) Terry and I talked with him and had a fun several minutes while waiting for Dana to come in.  He was smiling and we were enjoying the moment.  We almost blew it because we woke him up so that he didn't go right back to sleep, but he was good and just laid awake quietly until he fell asleep again.  Lucky!   The next night we tried to not talk and play with him, and he did go to sleep better that time.    He is such a good little boy.

We love to see our grandchildren and enjoy time together.  It's fun to have them wake up at our house ..., it makes us all smile. 

We are done for this round, and everyone looks forward to some rest now.  And we also look forward to the next cutting.  ;)

Update:

A quick look back -
We were in Seattle a bit longer for the second transplant (5 months + 11 days) than we were the first transplant (1 day short of 5 months if I remember correctly).  However, the time after transplant was shorter on the second, since the added days were before transplant, due to the sinus surgery.  We were able to spend some weekends home with both, but I don't know how they compare.   When we got home from the first transplant we traveled back about 3 times a week for a couple weeks, then two times a week, slowly down to none.  This time we are able to take care of our needs in Wenatchee.

We missed many holidays at home, but hopefully that will make this next year of holidays more enjoyable. 

Our appointment in Wenatchee Friday morning went well.  It was nice to see our doctor and others who cared for us there.  A couple people stopped in to say hi as they walked by and saw us there.  We know we are in good hands and actually look forward to seeing the nurses in the infusion room this week.   (I could be speaking for myself there, but I know that Terry enjoys their loving care, though he may wish it wasn't necessary.  I wish it wasn't necessary too!)

WBC = 0.7(LL)
RBC = 3.05(L)
HCT = 30.6(L)
PLT = 65(L)
Magnesium was a bit low, so we will add another pill in the afternoon.
Creatinine was in the normal range.
Glucose was in the normal range.


Before we left we saw this taking place out our window.

Spring farming is beautiful!  We are happy to be here to see it take place.

Today (Saturday) has been a long hard day trying to organize things.  I've carried too many boxes and items from one room to the other, and to the garage or pump house, and feel like I've done enough to have everything put away.  That just isn't the case, because a lot of what I carried around was stuff already here, just moving it to a different location in the house, making room for a few other things I collected (especially Christmas stuff).  It's one of those domino effects where one things leads to another.

I think most of my food stuff we brought home is put away.   Bringing two households together can be tricky, even if the one we are moving from is a small apartment.  And, I was on my own today because the kids have youth conference.  NO HELP!  Oh Bother!  I can't wait for them or it will take forever.  Even more forever than it already seems.

I think I'll rest the rest of the night, if that is possible when I'm surrounded by boxes and things waiting to find their space in this house.  I'll be waiting up for the kids ..., hope they are home before midnight.  I haven't waited up for them in a long time. 

HAPPY TO BE HOME!