So much to be thankful for!!!....

Isn't this the most amazing picture. The twins are doing so well and growing, almost 1 more pound each. They are about 2 lbs 13 oz each. I am told they will be taken off the IVS end of this week. We are truly blessed and so excited. They are also 5 weeks old. We appreciate all the prayers in their behalf. What a wonderful Thanksgiving we will have!!

LOVE THOSE FEET

AVA MCKEL

EMMA LYNNE

TWINS ARE EARLY

What a crazy past month. My son and daughter in law's twins decided to come early..... 3 months early. The twins were born October 14th at 1:30 pm and 1:33 pm in the afternoon. I couldn't believe the excitement they caused. They had to call in extra nurses and 2 Paediatricians to assist in the delivery. They also had to find air flight transportation to fly them to Spokane Sacred Heart to receive special preemie care. I thought they would only need one helicopter for both of them, no they needed two. One isn't big enough. They could only find one helicopter and finally found a jet from Seattle to come and take the other one. It has been a scary 3 week journey, but they are both beginning to do well.

It is so amazing the wonderful care they are getting at Scared Heart Hospital Spokane WA!!!They are so tiny. Ava was 1LB 13 oz and Emma was 1lb and 10 oz. Each about 13 to 14 inches long. They have had so many complication going on. In fact they have their own website you can visit at caringbridges.org/visit/avaandemmabarnes. They are such fighters....Ava has had heart surgery, both have had abdomen surgery and just many concerns to doctors and nurses not to mention their parents and family. There was a couple of times we were told they wouldn't make it!! But they are now doing wonderful now!!

I truly believe in the power of prayers!!! I am so thankful this day to know their is a God who is with us to assist in comforting us in our hours of need and help. So many prayers have been said in their behalf I am ever grateful. Thanks to so many who care and love our families.

Grandma is so proud....now we have 8 beautiful grandchildren!!! It can't get any better than that!!!

This is our new yard....next Spring we will add lawn around the fire pit, raised garden box and trampoline...isn't it just wonderful. No more weeds to pull.

We will paint the swing set and add other fun things to it as well..

SUMMERS PROJECT A REALITY

Summer is at a close and my favorite time of year is here .....Fall. I am so proud to say we have accomplished our goals we set in the Spring for the Summer.



This is very excited to me. You see my husband never does yard work, in fact for 30 years I have done all the yard work. But this year he has totally amazed me! Ralph, my husband, in the spring, had talked about some summer projects out side he wanted to do. As he went on talking I thought ( 'sounds great but wouldn't happen) . We are always taking and dreaming and never accomplishing very fast. We were definitely going to put in the sprinkler system and I felt I was lucky to get that and never expected any more. To my amazement and with the help of our son who lives at home still and my other son who lives not far from us, this became a reality!



My husband had a vision of a great yard for our children and grandchildren to play in and it became a reality. Everyday I look out side at our yard and am so proud of what we accomplished...it is just beautiful. We now have a wonderful out door fire pit. A raised garden bed. A trampoline safe in the ground. We have put in a lawn under our huge swingset (that use to be dirt and weeds) and had sprinklers put in all round the yard. Our yard is a wonderful place to play. ( We do want to put in more lawn around all these new things next Spring.) This is a major accomplishment for us! It took from May to September a few early morning hours each Saturday because our old bodies couldn't do more than that. It was back breaking work, in fact I never shoveled so much dirt in my life but it was so worth it.



It was funny Ralph also thought we could paint our large swing set and the house as well but later made the comment: "maybe I am expecting too much from us!" (Maybe this Fall we can do those things.) The wonder thing about all this, my husband is really trying to improve our home. You see he has diabetes and his legs haven't the circulation they once had. And for him to work outside and help create this wonder backyard is amazing to me. I believe it has brought us even closer together! Our children will really enjoy it when they come to visit. He has now carried that energy back into the house to work on the bathroom downstairs (a long on going project). And it looks like that reality will come true, hopefully by Christmas. I truly love him for his vision and effort! What a man!! ( I will include a picture of our yard)

It Never Ends.........

I have been told ever since I can remember I am a Worry Wort. I'd worry about everything. I thought once my kids were grown and gone, on their own, my worrying days were over.......NOT SO!!! I still worry. I guess my destiny in life is to be the Great Worrying Grandma. And with grand kids your worries are multiplied!

My son and his wife just gave us an awesome surprise. They had an ultra-sound last week and to every ones surprise they are expecting twin girls. How exciting is that. This is their first children and they are thrilled. She is due about 1-16-08 but twins could be a lot earlier. My son has started a new job and October 1st has to go out of town (6 hours away), for 10 week training. I think I am more nervous about their situation then they are. I fear my son with not be there for the blessed event. Or I just hope they will go full term (I had one preemie child before and know what that is like.) And it goes on and on. My husband always tells me "It will be fine or things will work out!" Why do I do this?

I have 6 kids and each one has something I worry about....good thing there is cell phones to keep in touch to control my worries and replace with hugs and kisses!! I guess I will just control my Worry Worts and turn them into Love Bugs. I just want life to go smoother for them than somethings were for me. I am a Worrying Protective Loving Grandma ~~~~~~

THE GRANDKIDS WE MISSED THIS TRIP

THE GRANDKIDS WE MISSED SO MUCH THIS VACATION IS ON JENNIFERS BACK....KALEB FRONT, ZACK NEXT AND THEN LEAH...ELY IS LAST WHO WE SAW. GREAT FUN KIDS!!! LOVE THEM ALL!! THEY MAKE GRANDMA ROCK WITH JOY!!!

GRANDKIDS THE HEART OF GRANDPARENTS

OUR SONS FAMILY....AREN'T THEY CUTE....NOT THE PARENTS THE KIDS!!!! GOT TO LOVE THEM!

HIGHLIGHTS OF OUR VACATION

OUR HAPPY BABY JILL...WHAT A CUTIE. ALMOST 9 MONTHS OLD

NOTHIN' LIKE A GOOD OLD VACATION

WE HAD A GREAT VACATION....NOTHING IS BETTER THAN SPENDING IT WITH YOUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN. MY HEART SWELLS WITH PRIDE AT EACH ONE OF OUR 6 CHILDREN; THEIR ACCOMPLISHMENTS, THE GOALS THEY HAVE REACHED OR ARE WORKING ON AND JUST THE WONDERFUL PERSONS THEY HAVE BECOME. AND WE LOVE THE SPOUSES AS WELL.....WE HAVE SUCH A GREAT TIME TOGETHER!!

AND WHAT A JOY TO BE A GRANDPARENT. WE GOT TO MET OUR NEWEST GRAND BABY JILL....HAPPY BABY I HAVE EVER SEEN. SHE WAS ALWAYS SMILING NEVER CRIED ONCE, TIL MY DAUGHTERS SHAUNA AND JEN TALKED TO HER IN HER FACE AND SHE CRIED AWFUL. (WOULDN'T YOU IF SOMEONE WAS IN YOUR FACE....IT WAS PRETTY FUNNY I MUST SAY.)

OUR SON'S DAUGHTER RORY HAS THIS HUGE CRUSH ON GRANDPA. I COULD OF LAUGHED WHEN WE WERE WATCHING TV AFTER HE HAD SWUNG HER ON THE SWING AND HE KEPT DOZING IN THE CHAIR. RORY WAS SITTING BY ME AND STARTED TO CRY..."WHAT IS WRONG?" I ASKED. "I CAN'T TALKED TO HIM HIS EYES ARE CLOSED!" I TOLD HER HE DOES THAT ALL THE TIME JUST GO OVER AND WIGGLE HIS KNEE AND YOU CAN TALK TO HIM ALL YOU WANT. SHE QUIETLY WENT OVER, SHOOK HIS KNEE AND WAS SURPRISED TO SEE HIM A WAKE FOR A TALK. KIDS ARE JUST SO CUTE!!! SHE LIKES HER GRANDPA.

ELY THEIR SON CARRIES ON THE MOST INTERESTING CONVERSATIONS. I HAD GREAT FUN WITH EACH ONE EITHER PLAYING GAMES, GOING ON WALKS, PLAYING IN THE WATER AND GIVING LOTS OF HUGS AND KISSES. I AM SO LUCKY!!! WE MISSED OUR OTHER 3 GRAND CHILDREN THAT COULDN'T COME. BUT EACH MOMENT SPEND WITH THEM IS PRICELESS.

WE WERE LUCKY TO HAVE ALL OUR CHILDREN THERE BUT ONE.....COULDN'T HAVE A BETTER VACATION!!!

GRANDMA ON THE MOVE

WE ARE OFF TO SEE THE GRANDKIDS....ESPECIALLY THE NEWEST ONE. WE GET TO SPOIL, PAMPER, LOVE AND GIVE THEM BACK IF THEY CRY OR DON'T BEHAVE. I MISS THEM DEARLY. WE HAVE 6 IN ALL...3GIRLS AND 3BOYS, BETWEEN TWO CHILDREN. SHAUNA'S KALEB, LEAH AND ZACH. JASON'S ELI, RORY AND JILL. WE ALSO HAVE ONE ON THE WAY! LUCKY US!!! WISH THEY LIVED CLOSER BUT FOR NOW WE WELL ENJOY THEM AND TAKE LOTS OF PICTURES. (ABOVE PICTURE WAS AT THE FAMILY REUNION 2006 AND THE KIDS WERE TRIED TO TAKING PICTURES....THEY ARE MUCH CUTER) SO FOR NOW....TIL AFTER OUT TRIP......HAPPY VACATION!!!

GRANDMA ON THE MOVE

OTHER SIDE OF OUR PARKING LOT

I AM NOT SURE WHY THE DIRT
RAMP ....HOPE IT WILL BE MORE
STURDY!!!

AUGUST 14, 2007 FUTURE PARKING LOT UPDATE

JUST LOOK AT THIS HUGH HOLE...I ALMOST THINK THEY ARE DIGGING TO CHINA!! IN THE SHADOWS I TRIED TO GET A PICTURE OF A MAN WORKING TO SHOW THE DEPTH BUT IT DIDN'T WORK. THEY ARE NOW LEVELING TO BUILD UP, UP AND UP...5 LEVELS OF WONDERFUL PARKING!!

GRANDMA CAN'T SHOP ANYMORE.....

Looks like shopping for me is over!! In our local Sunday newspaper there was an article by a Patricia Mclaughlin ‘GRANDMA CAN'T SHOP BECAUSE NOTHING FITS HER RIGHT.’ It has me very concern and worried!!
In 1994 Patricia interviewed a William Rankin who owned Dress Rite Company. The Dress Rite Company made custom dressmaking forms for home sewers for $550.00. Three years before his company, as a side line, he made customize dress forms by casting women's torso in paper-mache so you could make clothes that would fit perfectly. It caught his attention a very different body shape kept coming up in his customized dress forms. He concluded it as the shape of the older women. William explained 'her body shape gradually shifts. A lot of things are different. There’s a little hump at the back of the neck. The neck goes way forward, the rib cage begins to expand, the bust falls and the spine condenses. At the waist there’s almost like a ledge that develops. The shoulders tend to roll forward, the waist gets larger, a rather large abdomen develops, and the buttocks flatten.’
Does this sound familiar ladies? It is like a whole transfiguration seems to take place as we get older.
He goes on to say these changes make it almost impossible for older women to find clothes that fit. So we tend to buy sloppy stuff and try to make do. Pants that fit them in the waist would be too big in the hips, so they were stuck with elastic-waist pants. Rankin also says ‘to make it worse women are wearing the elastic waist pants backwards to fit their pooched-out abdomens and flattened rears.’
How awful is that? Sounds like a nightmare. The article goes on to say that around this time the institute for standards research of American Society for testing and materials measured nearly 7,000 women over 55 noticed in 38 state’s concluded what Rankin noticed: 'as the body ages the head is carried farther forward, the shoulders roll forward to widen the back and narrow the chest, the spine shortens and condenses, the rib cage expands, the burst falls, the waist thickens, the abdomen rounds out and the buttocks fattens. '
To make things worse……. no one wants to accommodate for making clothes to fit women in their late 50, 60, 70, 80, and 90. The study also showed older women spent less on cloths so the market is geared to the younger set because they buy more. If there was a market for us we would be glad to spend the money!!! What an old gal to do? I guess we just hope someone out there will take pity on us and produces some stylish cloths that fit right. I don't want to look like a sloppy old lady but be classy and sophisticated in what days I have left!!! One can only hope.......so our shopping days can go on!!

THE HOLE OF MY FRUSTRATIONS......PARKING LOT DUE TO BE FINISHED IN FEBRUARY 2008.... not soon enough!!!

DIDN'T KNOW GOING TO WORK IS SO FRUSTERATING!

See that huge hole....that is our new parking lot not to be finished for at least 6 more months, so they say and the cause of my frustration.

Let me go back about a year...August 2006. We moved into our new 3 storey building to accommodate for our rapid growth but they didn't allow for enough parking places. What a mess! To solve the problem they drew names for what parking spaces they had and then the rest of the employees took a bus from our old location to the new. They were short 200 parking places. These buses ran back and forth every 15 minute pickups and dropoffs.

Now we have more employees and 2 locations for bus pickups and dropoffs. It isn't like we live in a huge city where you need a bus system or trains to go everywhere. We have always just drove where ever you need to go. We don't even have traffic jams you so often see in the big cities. It is just perfect for morning and night work days. I have lived in San Francisco Bay Area and really know what the traffic can be like when you want to go to work.

I even made the aweful mistake of catching the wrong bus going to my car after work. I had such a bad Monday I totally got on the first bus not thinking where it was going. To my dismay after it started I realized my car wasn't where it was going. Did I feel like a real fool!!

Today I was having a bad hair day and couldn't get it together. I figure I have to leave the house 20 minutes before the bus comes, so to get to work 15 minutes later. And if your schedule at home is off any way, bad hair day or just anything you can miss the bus and totally mess up your work time for the day....and when can you make it up? I can't even amazen if I had to worry about taking kids to school or daycare. I can't even function somedays on my own timetable. It is a frusteration, can't amazen what the winter will be like?

Oh, well we will call this an adventure......the hole keeps getting bigger, not sure when they get done digging and tons have dirt have been taken away. It is to be 5 storeys tall with 800 parkings spots. Each day gets us closer but continues to frusterate me in my timetable.

The new 40's?

My daughter talked me into starting a blog. Not sure about this but here is goes. She is really good at it. Check hers out called: UP INTO THE NIGHT. She has a great way with words. My daughter in law also has a great blog called The Nut House. Here goes nothing:

On July 9th I turned 59....I feel I'm in my 40's still but who is counting? They say the 60's are the new 40's. I like that thought very much. Everyone would like to extend their health and wealth of youth.

I am very active. I go to swimming aerobics 3 to 4 times a week. I walk on my breaks at work for 15 minutes 2 times a day, most days, and go to Curves 3 times a week. My real desire in life is to lose 20 pounds I seem to have gained in the last year or so. I am finding going into my 60's makes this a real challenge, the battle of the bulge.

Women my age have menopause issues and it sucks!! This has dragged on forever for me, like 15 years fighting the changes. The worse problem is the middle spare tire...oh, how I dream to have a waist again. I exercise endlessly on this middle problem.

To top off the problem cloths fit weird. Doesn't matter what department you go to the cloths in an x-large are always too small. Not sure who is in charge of the sizes. It doesn't even matter if it is juniors, misses or women’s nothing fits. The other problem, fabrics are so thin you have to have 3 layers, not to show those ugly body lines….. no one would want to see mine. I don't want to dress frumpy or baggy but in style with class. I want to be normal and not stand out. Is it too much to ask? I want my grandkids and kids to say "Wow grandma is COOL and looking good!!"

Oh well, I shouldn't really complain too much. I have great health and I guess that is all that really matters. The inches seem to go slowly but not the weight. The kids say I can dress 70's or 80's and pull it off well. I am really blessed to be an approaching the new age of 60's Rockin' Grandma with a TOUCH OF CLASS. I will continue to exercise and eat the best I can to live and enjoy those kids and grandkids.
Isn't that what life is really about......Rhonda