The nicest things about a granddaughter

I'm in love with my grandchild Emma Renee! She is by far one of the best things that have happened in my life, so far. I'm speechless(hard 2 b) when I hold her. That first moment of making a connection I know that she knew who I was. The very trust in her being was almost palpable. To sit and hold her and watch her look at her new world is kinda cool, and you go through a million different emotions while doing so. I look back on when Adam was 'first-born' and the emotions that ran through me then. It's incredible! You have this sense of where they just came from, who they were with and what the last conversation they had and with whom. I had the overwhelming feeling of my own parents while I was giving birth. Since they had been gone for a time, I longed to have their approval or something. And I'm not sure if someone had mentioned that they had felt 'the other side' when they were giving birth, or if I was truly connected spiritually to it at that particular time, but I know without a shadow of a doubt that Fern and Dick handed my children to me and I also know that they had a hand bringing Miss Emma Renee to this world. Call me crazy but I just have a feeling about this. It happened with all four of my children, just that 'something'. So, the nicest thing about having a grandchild is that I know how close heaven is and also how much our Heavenly Father loves us. I didn't set out to make this posting a sentimental one, but it certainly came about that way.
Here's to Jaynann and Adam!: thank you for giving me another link to my parents. This is the best.

The Long-awaited Appearance of Miss Emma Renee Daly

Can I just say how thrilled I am on becoming a grandma! I realize that it really came to fruition when Adam and Jaynann announced the fact that they were pregnant, but to have her HERE is huge. I can't explain the feelings that I had then and now. I still have not seen her in person, because of work commitments but tomorrow evening, after work, we are headed down to surround Adam, Jaynann and Miss Emma. Just a warning to the parents'.......don't worry about Emma, she and I will be hanging out, swapping stories and I'll get my fill of kissing her neck...the sweetest spot on a child ;)
Just an FYI on the pix......I realize that all of us 'look' pregnant, but can you spot the real preggos? This was actually a day in Cedar where Greta hosted a baby shower for Jaynann. We thought it would nice to take a few photos. Little did we realize how alike we really looked.
I'll be sure to update in the next couple of days..with photos of Miss Emma and Grandma Di.
What do you think? Should I be a 'Grandma', 'Granny', 'Grammy', or 'Di'....give me your thoughts.

My Boy Add

Addison has found a 'new' passion. Besides loving basketball he has taken on a real interest in photography.

Go back about 3 weeks on a Sunday afternoon and he was bored. I've found Sunday afternoons the right time to nap, read and hang with family. Addison is NOT a napper, so I told him to grab my Nikon and head outside and go nuts. He was clicking pictures of everything that popped out at him. Susan's rose bushes were in full bloom and absolutely stunning, so that was a good subject. Then after dinner we went outside because of the great weather and he found more subjects; Cami, Shadow, trees and cars.

I had suggested that he try his hand at "Eyeball Benders"....things you see but don't realize what they are in just a glance. Again, he took it 100 % and got some great shots. I think he put them on his blog, but I'll try to recover some and post them here.

We're going to enter them in some contests and keep it going.

btw: He received an Olympus camera for his 14th birthday. Watch out Ashton Kutcher :)

Light, bright and smells from everywhere

Today was a very bright day. It started out at the Farmer's Market at Pioneer Park (downtown SLC), where the sun shone way too much. I took advantage of my sunglasses and still had to squint, but all was well. We took Ty C Adams on his first TRAX ride to the park and then surrounded him with all sorts of yummy smells, delicious looking salad greens, corn on the cob and the most wonderful of all breads, the 'savory loaf' from Great Harvest. If you are dreaming of eating all of those awesome things I hope you dream in color and taste, if not, just call me and I'll tell you how tasty they all were. We literally had a feast at Susan's table tonight. We made the plan on the way home from the Market (on the train) making sure not to leave one item out or spreading them over 2 days of dinners. Susan made up some 4 kind of cheese sauce then mixed in bowtie pasta. Greta and I shelled the peas and shucked the corn. Kevin made a marinade for the chicken and 'one-armed' Steve blackened it on the grill. Is your mouth watering yet? Then Susan sliced the 'savory loaf' and put it under the broiler for a few minutes, where the smell enveloped the entire house.
There we were, 9 adults (we have to count Addison and Jeff) and 2.5 kids surrounding Aunt Kays old boardroom table. There was truly enough room for all of us and the feast spread across the lengthy table. A sight to behold! I'm pretty sure that our goal was achieved in filling each of our bellies, let's just say that if you left the table hungry it was your own fault.
What a great weekend it's been with having all of Susan's kids AND grandchildren, ages 2 to 1month. Lots of hugs, kisses and sharing have gone on and I'm very blessed to be a part of it all. It's nice to be in a house filled to the brim and also nice to have your own little corner to hide away in.
I love you kids.....thanks for being there for your moms. dud

When are we too old to have fun at a concert?

Our family had the opportunity to go and watch Panic perform at SaltAir! and it was awesome.

I found myself rockin and rollin' with the best of the teeny boppers. It was either that or have a sore back the next morning. The hardest part was enduring the other 3 bands before Panic. AND we were standing the entire time. Back in the day when we went to concerts we paid for seats and stood the whole time. Nowadays, you pay to STAND!!

Anywho, when Panic finally played I realized that my hearing had been damaged. Talk about being OLD! I was experiencing a 'Snap Crackle and Pop' in my right ear. It still, to this day, is not the same. I actually have to ask people to repeat things that I really can't hear. It's awful :(

Needless to say we had an INCREDIBLE time. Brendon is a fabulous performer. He has grown in leaps and bounds from their freshman album. His voice has become stronger and his performance level is so expertise.

I'm so happy that we were able to share in his talent. And I am so thankful for my brother Boyd R for asking Brendon to get us into the concert. It was well worth it.

If you haven't listened to Panic's new cd, do it now. It's very ecclectic, mellow and upbeat. A lot of different elements all at the same time, which make it a fun mix of music.

Just sayin'

Time is Mean

As I drive the I-15 corridor every day I listen to KSL. Lately they've been reminding us of the onslaught of teens graduating from high school. It takes me back to my own graduation from Cedar High and there are a lot of memories. I remember that it wasn't about getting out into the 'real world', it was about the SENIOR TRIP!!! Being a graduate of 1976, we were honored with being a part of the Bicentennial. Our trip had started out dreaming of going to Philadelphia, DC, NYC. It was going to be the event of the year. We were all stoked, as I recall. In the end we settled with Disneyland and the beach. We couldn't care less about walking through the "C" (all of my siblings did the same). It was the coolest thing, but I don't remember if they ever changed the material that draped the monstrous letter. There I was in my gold grad outfit, smiling like a dork. I look at that picture and I don't even know what I was thinking at that moment.....at that juncture of my life. What was going to be the pivotal moment when I became an adult? I was registered to attend SUSC(SUU) for fall. I had a great schedule with music all day long. Also a bit of spanish, phys ed, and one of Ada's child development classes. But what did I want to be? A mom? teacher? professional singer? NO CLUE.

I think back to my children's graduations, well, at least I got to see one of my children walk the walk and receive a diploma from the hand of an educator. Adam was this close to his walk, but with an eighth of a credit shy there was NO way that the school admin would allow it. "If we doing it for Adam, we'll have to do it for all of the others." Ok? I didn't see the big problem. He took it a lot better than I did. Adrian continues to march to his own beat. I'm going to brag, but my kids are intelligent! Kate's graduation was a love fest. It was unbelievable! The cheering, applause, screams, kat-calls and whistles that she got when her name was announced was crazy stupid. She was/is the most popular and kindest girl in that school. Everyone was her friend, any class, teacher no matter, she was their friend.

Don't get me wrong, all of my children make me very proud. It doesn't matter what they've achieved in this life, as long as they're happy and doing what they love, that's good enough for me. I just wish that I would have had a plan back then. I had no plan! I was in la la land.

Time is mean. I guess that looking backwards is going the wrong way and it's time to turn around and look to the future.

Smells can make you remember

Some may think that working at a Doctors office is all about the patients and the doctors, well, that's true. But when you're in the front office you are doing triage, language, banter, boo-hoo's and running low on money. I ran to the bank, just down the street, to get change. Friday's are well known for receiving a huge amount of $100 bills. So, as I exit the building I get a whiff of 'home'. The Arctic Circle (across the street) was giving off that awesome smell of fresh french fries cooking. I inhaled and was taken back to my teenage years of working at Hermies. It was uplifting? I'm giggling right now. It was such a great time of life working there with my friends and hanging out with other friends who would come for a coke and fries, taquitos with cheese (tartar dipping sauce), beef-whats and the infamous Hermie burger!!!

It was amazing to me what one little smell did to me. I was smiling the entire way to the bank.