We All Grow Up

I wanted to share my grands with you. This is Gordon at the beach just before the big storms in So Cal. He's 9 months, into everything and the happiest boy ever. Jillian told her mom, "I'm not a beach girl." She doesn't like the beach because the water is too big. Jilly turned 3 in November.
Evelyn on the other hand loves the beach and will run and splash in the surf all the time. Evelyn is 4 1/2
Christmas Eve 2007 all wearing the infamous penguin pj's. Check out the little girls then look at the next picture.
Same penguin pj's on Gordon & Jilly, my how they grow up!

Gordon Is Here!

Our grandson, Gordon Benjamin Cluff, was born yesterday afternoon. He decided to turn around that last week he stayed in Shaunie's Condo and was delivered by C-Section around 3:00 in the afternoon. He weighed in at 7 lb 10 oz is 20 and inches long. We're in Phoenix, they are in Provo and through the miracle of the Internet, I already can't get enough of my Beautiful, Blond, Baby Boy.
To see pictures of him: Ben & Shaunie's blog is on my link, just click and he's there.

Doctor Drandma

Just before Christmas a flu bug traveled through Ben & Shaunie's house. Jillian got it and proceeded to throw up. Shaunie thought Evelyn was getting sick too and asked her if she was going to throw up.
Evelyn replied, "No, I not going to throw up, Drandma isn't here to help me feel better."
Now for a little history; Evelyn has gotten sick and lost her cookies three times in her little life. I was watching her all three times, she has never thrown up when her mom has been there. (Luckyeeeeeee... Shuaunie) She even remembers the first time when Jillian was born and I was watching her while mom and dad were at the hospital.
The last time was in October when Chuck and I watched them when Ben & Shaunie went away for their anniversary. Jillian had gotten sick a few days before we came and everyone thought the bug had left. It returned with a vengeance on Saturday when we had plans to take the girls to Wheeler Farm to see the animals. I told Jilly that we would leave for the farm after her nap, so she willingly hopped into bed and fell asleep. Evelyn, who doesn't take naps, said she was tired and climbed in her bed and fell asleep too. She slept for 10 minutes, cried out and the barfing began. She got sick every hour on the hour for the next 12 hours.
Chuck and I ended up washing every towel, all of her bedding, and some of ours and her clothes. Chuck was a champion with the girls, holding and comforting Evelyn, playing with Jillian because she was mad at me and wouldn't talk to me for not taking her to the farm.
He actually loved it when Jillian didn't want anything to do with me.
She kept saying, "No, Drandma! Dranpa will help me!" I finally ended up taking Jilly to the Disney Store so she could pick out a Pooh Bear for her birthday. She relented to go with me as she realized it was her only way out of the sick house. Drandpa said he wanted to stay and help Evelyn.
When Ben and Shaunie got home the next morning she told us the tale of her getting the flu and throwing up in the SLC Temple. A memory she will never shake and when the girls see a picture of the SLC Temple they both squeal, "That's the temple Mommy threw up in!"
For those inquiring minds, she only got a small spot on the beautiful carpet. She caught the rest on her temple clothes and in the bathroom. What a barfy weekend!
Fast forward to the present: Yesterday I received a call from Ben. He said the bad news is Jilly was sick in the night and began to throw up at 2:00 am. The commotion woke up Evelyn. Ben asked Evelyn if she was feeling ok too and if she was going to throw up.
Evelyn said, (sleeply and at 2:00 am) "NO, I can't throw up, Drandma Chicken isn't here to help me feel better." then she went back to sleep.
Awwwwwwwww..., talk about making a Drandma feel all good inside. That sure did it. Of course I hate to see my grand children sick but every minute of time I spend with them is the best! Weather they are sick or not.

Drandma Chicken & GG

I just couldn't stand it any longer, a drandma with out her grands didn't sit right with me. So I packed up the car, picked up Patricia and we headed for Utah to see our grands on the 12th of March. For those who don't know, my grandchildren call me Drandma Chicken, their other one is Drandma Cow, since she has cows. I dropped Patricia off at her daughter Taera's house and the fun began, for both of us.

In this first photo the girls are playing with their new princess wands. I taught them they should say "Bibbety, Bobbety, Boo!" when they push the magic button on the wand to make it light up and swish. That is what they are doing in this picture.

I watched the girls so Ben and Shanuie could have some time to themselves, we had so much fun! We packed a picnic, grabbed a blanket and went to the park where we played for a couple of hours. They LOVE to swing and I spent at least 50 minutes pushing them on the swings. I'm not sure Evelyn learned the pumping lesson I taught her. She had more fun saying "Drandma! Go Under me again." And of course I would. She is a daredevil and not afraid of anything physical but...put a fly, bee or bug next to her and she freaks out! I mean serious freak out. When a bee touched her I and several other parents thought something was broken. We all rushed her to hear, "Drandma, a bee touched me." I won't even tell you about the fly she saw. Crazy, fun but crazy.

Jilly is just as much a daredevil in a smaller package. She would say, "Higher Drandma, push me higher!"

We had so much fun on the swings and at the park. If I lived next to them I would take them every day.

In this next picture they are standing by my Grandma Lois Olive Murphy's grave; their great, great grandmother. Evelyn kept telling me she didn't want to visit anyone that she didn't know. I kept telling her she would like this visit as it was like a park. She figured it out and had a good time. The day wasn't over, we took a little nap break and hit the road again to go to my cousin Toms 50th birthday party. GG was at that party and they know her very well. One of their favorite things to do is hitch a ride on GG's walker. (GG stands for Grandma Green, she's my mom) GG gave them individual rides and a ride together. The girls had a great time as they played with my cousin Klints 3 year old Sarah in the nursery most of the time. I was able to visit with my cousins, Aunt Rita & Uncle Fred before driving back to Provo.
This is a picture of my four cousins, Back: Klint & Kevin Heywood & Kassi Bybee. Sitting is Tom Heywood who's 50th birthday was the reason for the celebration. I wasn't real good with the camera and this is the best picture of three that I took of my cousins, none of them are even looking at the camera. I wouldn't make any money as a photographer!

Memories

I recently visited my mom and found an old box of photos. She let me scan them and I'm making a disc of them for her and others. It's been a while since I've blogged, that seems to be my pattern. Since I've blogged last Chuck has turned 55, I've been to Utah to visit my grands, winter is trying to leave and weeds are already coming up in my back yard but it's still too cold to plant a garden, I've had a couple of closings, real estate is moving and it's a great time to buy and I've lost 18 pounds!
I've labeled all of these pictures so they are pretty self explanatory and I've put them in order. If I remember correctly I'm wearing a light green cotton dress which I still have today. My mom gave it to me and my daughter Michelle wore it; I'm saving it with some baby clothes for her daughter.

If any one reading this blog knows my brother Anthony Maurice Muggy Hafen you might know his son Hunter. My mom and I laughed that in Hunters pictures at this age he looks exactly like me in this photo. Mom always said that I would never smile for the photographer.

This was taken on a family vacation we took to several sites in Southern Utah, in I believe 1965. I am 10 years older than my brother Muggy and that's him I'm holding in the picture.

I am goofing off with my best friend Rosemary Johnson Iles in this Polaroid. I believe we are seniors in high school so that would make this about the winter of 1972-73. When Mom and I were looking at this photo we both said at the same time, "Hmmm...I don't remember that chair. But I recognize that lamp" The photo is taken in our house in Farmington.

This one will make a lot of you laugh. Our son Ben says, "Look! Ben married Michelle!" It is pretty funny to see how much our two children look like us. Dan our eldest son looks so much like me (or a Hafen) that he's been mistaken for my dads son.

This was taken on a deer hunt in Utah 2 to 3 months after we were married. As you can see, Chuck was quite the catch, he broke several hearts when we got married. This photo is evidence that he really was skinny when we got married, I was 20 pounds heavier than that photo until around age 40 for all you readers who never knew me in my younger years.

The down coat I am wearing was a Frostline kit that Chuck sewed just before we were married. We are both wearing what we called "Swabbie Jeans", bought from the Army Navy Surplus Store. They were patch pocket bell bottoms and absolutely the "In Thing" in the 70's in Utah.

Eccentric Old Ladies or Crazy Sisters?

Yesterday as I was getting ready for work I experienced an upset stomach, it reminded me of mild morning sickness. I ignored the feeling and continued to get ready when the cramping started followed by the lower intestinal purge, thinking this was all it was I still ignored the signs that I might have something and slower then before continued preparing for my day. Within 30 minutes I was experiencing the full symptoms of the flu. Loosing it out the top as well. I was running a fever, cramping and aching everywhere in my body. I don't ever recall having an upset stomach that bad in my life, not even when I was pregnant. I took some pain and fever reducer medicine sipping what water I could keep down then resigned myself to lying on the couch the rest of the day. Nothing I had planned was going to happen that day.
I don't recall if I called Patricia or she called me but we talked and she rescued me by watering my flower pots so they wouldn't dry out and she brought me some coke to sip. Towards the evening she came again and brought me some food to eat, then she took my trash to the street. If you haven't guessed Chuck is out of town so I was on my own.
For those of you who don't know, Patricia, Chuck's cousin, is really a sister to me. It was the best day of my life when she and Tom moved to Emmett. I had my friend and sister close to me again. If not everything we sure do a lot together. We shop together and spend totally too much money. Sometimes we will just browse, checking out stores our husbands don't like to go into so we know what they have with out spending any money. I buy dog treats for her Baxter & Molly and she loves my Yoda & scratches his ears. I water her flowers when she is out of town and have even visited the kennel taking Baxter & Molly for walks so they won't get too lonely. She returns the favor and will feed Yoda & water for me when I'm gone.
We love road trips and our trips to Studio D where we get our hair done. We usually have 5 to 6 different conversations going and have the ability to keep up with all of them. Every 5 weeks when we show up at Studio D on Nampa the girls all welcome us as the "crazy ladies" and tell their other clients the fun has just arrived. Patricia always has some crazy story to tell Victor which begins the laugh fest. Then after our hair is done and we are "hot looking crazy ladies" we hit Nampa and shop the downtown area getting home just in time for dinner. Some of our most fun trips to Studio D have been the times we've taken our daughters with us, gabbing all the way. I recall the time Shaunie & Evelyn were with us, Michelle might have been there too, and Brenna called. We put Brenna on the speaker phone and had a great visit with lots of laughter.
Some of our favorite road trips are when we go to Utah to see our kids. We love Tai Pan Trading almost as much as our grand children (did I say that? It was a joke!) Anyway we will stop at the Clearfield Tai Pan and then at the one in South Jordan, then we will stop at Taera's before heading down to Provo. By this time the back of the suburban is full and we are like two giddy school girls over the good buys we have just purchased. While we are at our respective daughters we of course do more shopping for us and them. Then comes the day we leave, we want to get on the road and head home but the stores are calling and we hit Tai Pan in Clearfield one more time to consider a certain set of dishes Patricia has been thinking about. The consideration is short, they are loaded into the cart and we decide while we are there we have to have one more walk around the store.
When we finally get on the road we always get calls that sound like this from Tom & Chuck; "Am I on my own for dinner tonight or will you be home in time to cook something?" They are both good at ordering pizza's so we give them the news, stop at Carl Jr's for our dinner and have a wonderful drive home full of conversations about our children, life experiences and the Gospel.
I cherish our gospel discussions, a recent one has lasted for three months now about "Spiritual Gifts." We pray for our families, husbands and people who are part of our lives. If I'm down Patricia will remind me of the blessings I have and in turn I'll remind her of the blessings in her life. We buoy each other up when we are down and celebrate the wonderful times with each other.
Taera, Patricia's oldest has told us we are eccentric ladies and we have taken that as a compliment. Chuck says we are crazy when we get together and he and Tom have accepted that we are fun and most times frenetic in our speech yet we have a wonderful time when we are together. We laugh that when we are old ladies we will be considered eccentric or crazy and vow not to become like the "Aunts" (family members will know what this means) rather that we will be continually doing good with good words to say about the wonderful people in our life and the great experiences we've had. Life is good and full even when I have the flu because of my eccentric, crazy, loving sister, Patricia.

32 Years & Still Counting

Yesterday, July 16, 2008 we celebrated our wedding anniversary. I always said I would never tell, but I've decided what the heck: I had a red, white & blue wedding reception. I fell for it as it was the rage since 1976 was the bicentennial year of our country's birthday. I even recall one wedding where the brides maids were dressed like Betsy Ross, complete with caps and the grooms men were dressed like Ben Franklin. So glad we didn't go that far as we would still be living it down. Here is a photo so everyone can have a good laugh. I won't post a photo of the men waiters we had wear flag bow ties. I think my brother Muggy still has his.
It hasn't always been easy to live with each other yet we've made it this far; we're happier than ever and neither can imagine life with out the other. Chuck will tell people what attracted him to me was the fact that I was vivacious, friendly, outgoing, and always doing something. I was attracted to him because he was hunky (good looking in 70's speak) grounded, smart and pretty much the hot potato in our ward at the time.

We were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple and made our first home in Salt Lake City. In the spring of 1984 we moved to Stockton, Ca for a job transfer. A year and a half later we moved to Southern California where we lived until we came to Idaho in 2001. This family picture was taken when Chuck graduated from college in the spring of 1989. Dan and Ben are standing in the back and Michelle is sitting by me.

Here we are in Idaho. Ben had just returned from his mission to Mexico that is why he is so brown. Dan flew up for his homecoming and we had a great reunion. Michelle was a junior in high school at this time.

And here we are today, 32 years later as empty nester's. Life is good to us and has blessed us with 2 new daughters a son and two adorable grand daughters. We have had some good times and rough times yet we look back fondly on those times as we have grown so deeply in love from the experiences. I don't even think about the red, white & blue wedding any more:)

When Men Do The shopping...

This morning Chuck stopped by Albertsons to pick up his prescription and he came home with this. No, you are not looking at the freezer section in a grocery store, that is my freezer! His only defense...it was on sale!Sounds familiar doesn't it ladies:)

It's All About The Dress

Evelyn is turning three years old on July 15th. We won't be able to drive down this year so we are planning on a virtual birthday party. We will watch her open her presents on the web cam. Last year we gave her a Cinderella dress which she promptly out-grew. Jilly would like to dress up like a princess but it just causes a fight as Evelyn knows the Cinderella dress is hers and it doesn't matter that she can't fit into the dress. I told Shaunie that I wanted to get Evelyn another princess dress so they both could dress up and Shaunie said the Sleeping Beauty dress would fill the bill. Since we weren't going to Disneyland anytime soon my niece Brenna who lives in So Cal picked this up for me. Her father in law works at the Magic Kingdom and he graciously bought it one day after work. Then Brenna mailed it to me and today it is in the mail to Evelyn. Thanks, Brenna and to your father in law too.

Now Evelyn has reached the age where she likes talking on the phone and surprisingly you can understand most of what she is saying. Last week I asked her what she wanted for her birthday and she said with out hesitation, "A seeping booty dwess Gwama." Both Shaunie and I were so surprised as we don't think we even talked about getting the dress in front of her. I'm wondering if she remembers her last birthday when she got the Cinderella dress. Any way, no matter how she knows and maybe she doesn't know she is getting the dress; I can't wait for her birthday to see her open her present. The dress is a size six so it will belong enough but I'm sure it's wide enough to fit two Evelyns inside. It's pretty funny how little girls learn so early that "It's all about the dress."

Once A Boy, Always A Boy

This is a little motor that Chuck wanted. I don't know why he wanted it, I don't try to understand any more. He will put it in a box, pile or drawer of similar parts and trinkets. It will stay there and occasionally he will pull it out and touch the wire leads to a battery making the head of the motor spin which causes a strong vibration. Why? Because he can and it's fun to do. After 30 years of marriage I've stopped asking why it's just part of the package that comes with his curious engineering mind. One day he might use it in something. What? I don't know, he doesn't even know; but he might use it one day. So...if any of you readers out there have a use for this little motor...Please, speak up! Call and ask to borrow or even have it, he has several!

Are any of you wondering where he got the little motor? Look below and you will see what I found on the island the other day....Now you know the rest of the story.

Grand Babies, Spring & The Mountains in Utah

If you look closely you can see the "Y" through the clouds. The weather was cold and damp, kind of like being back on the coast. While I was in Provo I took in the beauty of the mountains & took a few pictures of them. They are so beautiful in Utah, especially along the Wasatch Front, it's one of my favorite places to be.

I forgot the name of this little mountain, it overlooks the BYU campus. When Ben & Shaunie lived in Wymount it overlooked their apartment. I believe they have hiked up this mountain. I took this shot from the bookstore parking lot.

As Patricia and I were driving south on Main Street I was so taken with the fresh green trees just leafing out. This is my favorite color of green, it's so fresh and clean. I had to have a picture of that green so I hung out the window at a quick stop light and took this. I think I have a green shirt for every shade of green in this photo.
I can't say enough about the grand babies. BTW as a notice to all my children: I have room in my heart for as many as you will give me:)

This is Jilly & Evelyn in the morning with Ben. They are so happy to see their daddy in the morning even if he is growing his out of school beard.
I hesitated posting this photo of Jilly. But she is just so CUTE! She loves her little potty seat and is so proud to sit on it. It's almost like a throne and she is the Queen of the Potty.
Shaunie and I talked today about Jilly's size and how cute she is. She is clearly an 18 month old with advanced vocal & tactile skills yet she is so tiny you don't expect her to say and do what she does. She wears 12 month onesies and they are baggy on her. It was so much fun staying with Ben & his family during the conference, They were very accommodating and lots of fun.

The Princesses Cluff

Today Evelyn, Jilly & I made our first craft together. I found these foam crowns and flat back jewels at Craft Warehouse. I stuck each jewel to a glue dot and the girls loved sticking them on to their crowns. The bottom photo is a bit blurry because I had a real hard time getting the girls to hold still. I love how Evelyn is holding Jill still. (BTW Jill is alive and well)
They love their "pitty cowns" and wanted to wear them all night. Later Evelyn changed into a long dress because she wanted to be a princess.

Cousins

This weekend I was in Farmington, Utah at my moms. Sunday when we got home from church my niece Corrie Norman was there with her husband Brad, daughter Avery, & sons Bodie & Luke. Luke is about a week old, there is nothing like holding a week old baby.
After dinner we drove up the canyon to Morgan where my cousin Klint lives. My Aunt Rita & Uncle Fred were there along with Kassi my cousin & her family. We visited for a little over an hour before we left. I love getting together with my Heywood cousins they are so much fun.

Moms Surgery

My mom called this morning, she has to have surgery on her hands because her carpel tunnel has made them pretty useless. She asked me to spend a week with her and Lloyd after the surgery so I can help them. She has had 17 surgeries and they take a toll on her little body. I hate to see her go through this again however; she can hardly use her hands. She is trying to schedule the surgery the end of April, if so I will be there around the 22nd of April and stay until women's conference at BYU before I come home on the 3rd of May.

More Money Ganpa

Last weekend Chuck and I attended Sefton Wildes wedding in the Logan Temple. We drove over on Friday evening after I had catered the grooms dinner for Jeff Heads wedding that afternoon. When we got to our hotel in Logan, we both crashed. Chuck had returned the night before from a three day trip to Eastern Idaho.
We called Shaunie and she drove to Logan from Provo and brought our grand daughters. Evelyn & Jillian. We weren't going to attend the wedding lunch because we had Shaunie and the girls but were glad we did when we arrived.
Sefton married Katie Mumford from Clifton, Idaho. It turned out that Katie was in our daughter Michelle's ward in Rexburg. We were surprised to see Ben's old roommate Eric Mattson there with his wife, Jesse who was Michelle's actual roommate. As it turns out Jesse grew up with Katie Mumford-Wilde, they were best friends. Further Shaunie was in the same ward will Michelle, Katie, Eric & Jesse so she knew as many peeps as we knew at the event.

OK, now on to the cute pictures, my favorite part. After the lunch we took the girls to Cache Valley Fun Park where they have an indoor soft gym. Shaunie and I took the girls through until we came to tubes you had to crawl through to get to the next place. That's when I sat down with Chuck. This is Jilly squealing at me.
There were two little cars that moved when you put in a token so Ganpa bought $5 worth of tokens. After I gave Evelyn the second token and showed her where it went she had do it all by herself. After every ride she would say "More Money Ganpa" until she and Jilly emptied Chucks pockets. Jilly would make the sign for "More" when she wanted to ride again. When Chuck was completley out of tokens Evelyn of course asked for more. Chuck explained that they were all gone and she said, "Get more!"












In the play ground there was a big foam triangle shape that you had to climb over. Evelyn figured out how to put her feet in the net and push her body up then when she reached the top she would pull herself up while pushing with her feet. Then after sitting on the top for a bit she would slide down the other side and do it all over again. It was pretty funny watching her.












This is us at the wedding lunch. Chuck and I got the girls balloons with a pig and lamb on them with out realizing the brides colors were purple and pink. The girls blended right in and weren't even invited never the less, welcome.












After the wedding lunch we walked down Main St to the car. Jilly took to Ganpa real fast and loved riding on his shoulders. Evelyn would run ahead and hide in each recessed doorway while I pretended I couldn't find her. Then she would laugh when I found her. Notice Evelyn is wearing her favorite outfit, she wouldn't take off her fleece when we went into the indoor playground. The first time I saw her in the denim skirt was on her second birthday, it touched the floor. Now almost a year later it's just below her knees and getting quite thin. (Great pick Grama Janna)















Here is another picture of the girls in the Sesame Street Car. Did you notice that Evelyn is always driving? At one time just Jill was driving the car and Evelyn was driving the ice cream truck. When her truck stopped she hopped out and climbed in the passenger seat of the car because Jill was driving. It didn't take 10 seconds before Evelyn squeezed on top of Jilly and moved her to the other side. That's how it will be when Jill gets her drivers license as long as Evelyn is with her she will do the driving.
We played at the fun park for about 2 hours before we left to drive home. On the way home we drove through Pocatello so Chuck could take me to a Greek Restaurant he eats at when he's there for business which serves the best gyros in Idaho. We stopped, the place was a dive but he was right, we ate really great gyros with some of the best tzatziki sauce I have ever had.
My impression of Pocatello...I have some friends who grew up there and they call it Pocapoopoo. I must agree with them when they say, "Pocatello is the arm pit of Idaho. It's a really old run down city that seemed dirty. We got to bed that night around midnight. What a fun weekend.

Splitting Hairs

Should I have been insulted? I'm still in shock over the incident!

Last Saturday morning when Chuck and I were getting ready for the day he casually stated, "You're Fired."

I couldn't imagine what he had hired me to do that I did so badly causing him to fire me. I just looked at him with a puzzled look on my face and asked what in the world he was talking about.

He said, "It's been two days and you haven't even noticed. I know you haven't noticed because you always say something. I must admit I was still at a loss for what he was talking about. My life was a whirlwind the last couple of days and I didn't see anything different.

"My Hair! My hair cut! I had it done on Thursday and you didn't even notice."

OOoopps!

On his business travels to Eastern Idaho he stopped at Sefton Wilde's shop in Pocatello and had him cut it.

"Further more," He stated, "Sefton cuts my hair when I want it and how I want it. So I'm firing you and I have already hired Sefton. I'm in Pocatello on business several times a month so I'll get my hair cut there from now on."

Now we have been married for 32 years this July and I have been cutting Chuck's hair for 33 years so as you can imagine I was surprised. I must admit I do cut (did) his hair the way I wanted...Heck! he got it for free and I was hotter than the guy with striped pole by his door. Plus he's never complained before.

Who said life slows down when the kids leave home? Every day our lives grow richer with more events, friends and family and for the first time in 33 years a new barber!