Celebrating Abby's 5th birthday March 28, 2009

Teresa, her children and Alyssa went with me to Abby's 5th birthday party. Spencer was sick so their family wasn't able to go. It was good to be with the others as we celebrated Abby's birthday. Here are a few pictures that I took at Abby's 5th birthday party. As you can see the kids had fun blowing bubbles. Dana wanted to take some pictures of Nolan naked, but we kept his diaper on. Also included is a picture of Nolan when he was 5 days old and a pictures taken tonight. Teresa and family went back home last night after Teresa, Aaron and I watched the Twilight movie which we borrowed from Alyssa. Seeing it once was enough for us. Sister Robinson completes her mission and leaves this Wednesday and so I will be getting a new missionary. Even though I don't see them that much, I've gotten attached to them and so it will be hard seeing Sister Robinson go. Since this is the first change, maybe it will get easier. I am looking forward to attending the Easter Pageant this coming week and of watching General Conference this weekend. In April I will be going to Washington for Melanie's baptism and then to Utah to help Diane. Hope everyone has a Happy Easter. Concerning the slideshow: I did the same thing this time that I did for Nolan's slideshow but it didn't work this time. I copied/pasted the code and hit preview and no slideshow came up. I went to publish it and it wouldn't let me publish it--something about not accepting Htmt, etc. I hit a square to stop showing title or body HTML erros for this post and it let me publish it, but you will have to click on the slide show. Help! I didn't want to spend anymore time on it this evening.

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Nolan Matthew Bushnell

Teresa asked me to update my blog with pictures of Nolan. Nolan Matthew Bushnell was born Tuesday, March 10, 2009 at 12:59 p.m. at St. Joseph's Hospital. He is a tiny baby for just being 9 days early, weighing just 5 pounds 12 ounces. He is 18 inches long. His hair is lighter than the girls. He looks a little different than the girls. His sisters love to hold him, as does everyone else. Enjoy the pictures!

Florida trip 2009

January 2009

December 2008

Rocky Point 10/08

Tanner's blessing 9/09

Washington trip 8/09

February 2009

February 27, 20009
Some of the kids have been after me to update my blog. When I hadn’t written anything, I knew it would take me some time, and so I kept putting it off. Well I finally did it yesterday and then a few minutes ago I lost all the text and so I am having to do it again. This time I am summarizing by month.

August
Teresa and Aaron moved in and stayed with me until the end of the year.
I went up to Washington to visit Don & Gaylynne and celebrate Dayton’s birthday with them. One day we went to the beach and it was cold, windy and foggy. The next day we rode on the Mt. Hood train and roasted. It was nearly 100 degrees. The train ride was fun but hot. There was a train robbery where we had to give them our "money". It was fun just being with their family.

September
I went up to Utah for Tanner’s blessing which was on Sept 14th. He cried during the whole blessing. I would have been frazzled, but it didn’t seem to bother Wade and he gave a beautiful blessing. Tanner is such a cutie and his smile wins over everyone. The next day we celebrated Dad’s (Grandpa Kitchen’s ) 83rd birthday with him doing all the cooking. It was a delicious meal. His creamed beans, corn on the cob, grilled chicken were so-o good. My contribution was a sorry looking birthday cake. I was able to attend the temple while I was there and meet with Dill’s brothers and sisters at their annual get-together on Sept 12. That was a fun evening also.

October
All of the family that lives in Arizona went to Rocky Point on Oct 10-11. As a family we went there several times as the kids were growing and so I fond memories of it and love to go there. Michael and Katie weren’t able to come until Saturday morning so they only had a few hours there and it was really windy that day. If you stayed down by the water, it wasn’t as bad. Friday the kids had fun catching the waves, riding in the raft and playing in the sand. Saturday it was so-o windy, but I think they still had fun. We had to eat in the motorhomes because it was so bad.

My good friend and visiting teacher Juanita Peterson died on October 11 of Pancreatic cancer. She and Jenny Townsend came over to my house on Mondays and we would have dinner and family home evening together. She had been diagnosed with cancer in July. She was able to make a trip up to Utah in August and see her son and other family members. She is greatly missed.

November
I worked the general election as I did the primary one in September. With the election of Obama we are going to be in for some very difficult times. I can’t believe how a person who has so little experience has been elected. The press idolize him. I watched Abby and Cameron while Michael and Katie went on a trip. Ryan & Dana, Lisa & Trent and Teresa & Aaron were here for Thanksgiving.

December
I went up to Utah and visited family. It was good to visit with Wade, Jolene, Heidy, Jerrald and Grandpa and Henny. It was fun seeing Tanner again and seeing his personality and how much he had grown. But going to Utah seemed to put me behind schedule and I didn’t catch up. Michael and Katie came down Christmas eve and along with them, Scott & Lila, Teresa & Aaron and Lisa & Trent and their families were here for our annual Christmas eve dinner and program. Cameron didn’t particularly enjoy being "baby Jesus" but it was a fun evening. On the 26th Michael and Katie went back to Tempe and picked up Jolene, Wade and Tanner who flew in late that night. They drove down the next morning. Gaylynne, Don & family arrived that night also. The time went by so-o fast. Some went to a movie, we went to the zoo and the adults went and ate at Sakura’s Chinese restaurant. Watching the chef doing his knife act and seeing him cook the food was enjoyable. We went hiking along the Rincon mountains and that was fun. Greg and his family came down New Year’s eve and we were all together–visiting and playing games. The next day we all met at Randoph Park and Don took pictures of us–what an accomplishment. Friday morning Don & Gaylynne went up to Greg’s place and spent the day and night with them. Ryan & Dana and family and me went up to Michael and spent the evening and night with them. Saturday the whole family met at Gammage Auditorium and saw the Lion King. The costumes were something else. It was really enjoyable. Afterwards Katie whipped up a dinner for a lot of us. It was delicious. Thanks Katie. Don & Gaylynne stayed the night with Ryan and Dana and then left the next day for home.

January
Dad and Henny came down to Arizona the middle of the month to witness the sealing of her grandson and his wife. I drove up to Greg’s place on the 16th and stayed with them along with Henny and Grandpa. The next evening Greg and Shelley hosted a get-together for all the family living up there so they could visit with Grandpa and Henny. It was good to see Liz, Bryan and Laurel–how she has grown. Ryan & Dana and Michael and Katie and families were there along with Greg’s family. Friday evening I went and watched Jessica at her gymnastics practice. She is very limber and loves it. While Grandpa and Henny were here, we went to the San Xavier mission. Henny really enjoyed it. They did some things on their own.

The hi-light of the month was the baptism of Spencer. What a handsome young man he is. It was good that he was the last one baptized because then everyone was there. It was a busy day for everyone. Ryan and Dana ran in a marathon that morning and Jessica had her first gymnastics meet. Afterwards we went to Lisa & Trent’s place for dinner. A family friend, Mary O’Brien came to Spencer’s baptism and she really enjoyed it. She knows the gospel is true and I hope and pray that she will be baptized.

I almost forgot to mention that I have sister missionaries now living with me. I got a call from Elder Meadows of the Tucson, AZ mission on January 8th. He said he had received my name from Pres. Lewis of the Stake Presidency and wanted to know of the possibility of the sisters living with me and wanted to check out the house. He came the following Monday. He said if the President agreed they would move in the end of the month. Well, I got a call on the 14th from one of the elders of the possibility of moving beds in a couple of hours. It was nine and they came at 11. The sisters moved in the following morning. Sister Robinson is from Oklahoma and will finish her mission the beginning of April. She has a brother on a mission in South America. She and her brorther left on their missions the very same day. I think she has five brothers and sisters. Sister Jager is from Germany. She has nine brothers and sisters and has a sister serving a mission in Hawaii. This is her first area. So far it is working out good.

February
Along with Dad and Henny, we went out to visit Sam & Jeannine in Florida. I left 76 degree weather in Arizona to a chilly Florida. Wednesday we swam in their new pool and then left in the afternoon for Orlando. We attended a temple session at the Orlando temple. We numbered six people in that session. I am so glad we went to the temple. The next three days were spent at Disney World. It is a huge place. Since it was a cold day we went to the Epcot Center first. It was cold and windy, but interesting. We then went to Hollywood Studios. We saw two stunt shows–one with cars and an Indiana Jones stunt show. They were pretty interesting. Jeannine and I went on the Twilight Tower ride. She hadn’t been on it. We both enjoyed it. We had hoped to see the Mickey Mouse laser-water show, but they were only showing it on Friday. . We left the park shortly after six and the temperature registered 39 degrees. Cold!! The next day we went to the Magic Kingdom and again to Hollywood Studios. We watched the laser show that evening. It was really good. Saturday we went to the Animal Kingdom and then back to Magic Kingdom. At the animal kingdom we went on a safari ride and saw lots of animals. Dad joined Jeannine & I on the Mt Everest roller coaster ride. He said he wouldn’t want to do that very often. Grandpa said he needed to go home so he could rest from his vacation. Saturday night we watched the electric parade and the fireworks show in Magic Kingdom. We were very busy those three days trying to see and do as much as we could. Each day it warmed up by 10 degrees. Saturday was very nice. Sunday we went to church with Sam and Jeannine. They also had the missionaries over for dinner that evening. Monday we went to see their sailboat--the boat that Ssam lived on for a year and visit the beach. Jeannine and I walked along the beach and gathered seashells. We found lots of pretty ones. Jeannine even found a starfish. It was so enjoyable at the beach. A man was cleaning fish there and he was surrounded by pelicans waiting to be fed. Tuesday morning came and our trip was over and we headed home. I flew via Washington D.C. Jeannine gave up her first class seat that she had been given to seat with me. The ticket lady had a rough time with that. "You mean you want to downsize your ticket?" Jeannine didn’t tell her that she hadn’t paid for a first class ticket. Since she is a frequent flyer, they have given her first class seating on some of the oft days that she has flown. It was a very enjoyable trip. It was fun being with all of them.

We thought Teresa might be having their baby on Wednesday. She had an amniocentesis that day and if the lungs were developed enough, the doctor was going to take the baby that day. She ended waiting for the results until 5 p.m and found out that they weren’t developed enough. The doctor will have Teresa repeat the test next Thursday (the 5th of March). Since she had a t-cut with the twins, the doctor doesn’t want to take a chance of her going into labor because her uterus could rupture. What a way for Aaron to spend his birthday. That day it was Grandparents day at Carden School where Alyssa and Spencer go to school. Lisa and I ate lunch with them and then there was a short program. All the grades did dancing. Spencer gave me a bookmark. Last evening Kayla performed in a short play through the Parks & Recreation program. She played a talking horse.

I got a scare Thursday evening when Henny called and told me Dad was in the hospital. As it turned out his oxygen level was low and he is now on oxygen and is feeling much better.

July 2008

July started out with a bang. Tanner Wade Huff was born July 1, 2008. He weighed 8 lbs 9 oz and was 21 inches long. I have included a few pictures. To see more pictures check Wade & Jolene's blog. To back track a little I went up to Utah on June 3rd to help Diane and attend Jolene's baby shower, which was on the 7th. The baby shower had some fun games. I think Jolene has some pictures of it on her blog. I failed miserably in guessing what was on the diapers. I flew back home on the 12th. I attended Karina's bridal shower, did my visiting teaching and canned apples & grapefruit. I flew back to Utah a week later and stayed with Diane a couple of weeks. While I was there I took Annie & Indy for daily walks. Sometimes Indy would be waiting for me by my door. I found it easier to back the car up without them in it. By the time I was at the door Indy was usually there. When I opened the garage door, both dogs would be waiting to get into the car. I went and stayed with Jolene and Wade on the 3rd after she got home from the hospital and helped them out some. Tanner is just adorable. He looks like his daddy. How fitting is his middle name. I flew back to Arizona on the 10th. Saturday the 12th was Kayla's baptism and Jason and Karina's wedding. Friday night the 11th Katie, Michael and I canned their food storage and then between the baptism and the wedding we had another "canning party" that involved most everyone. Kayla' s baptism was special and afterwards we went to their house and had lunch. Jason & Karina got married at a church near where Lila & Scott live and the reception was at a restaurant in Trail Dust Town. Jason & Karina are living in Yuma where Jason is stationed with the border patrol. Greg & Shelley, Katie & Michael & families spent the night. Sunday morning we went to Trent & Lisa's ward to hear Tara sing and play. That evening everyone was here for dinner. Monday I put food in the rest of the cans that we didn't get done and then Tuesday Trent, Brianne and Alyssa came over and helped me complete the project and then they picked some grapefruit. I bottled more grapefruit juice that night. I flew up to Utah on Wednesday for the family reunion. It was so fun being with the family. I really enjoyed the evening in the canyon roasting hot dogs, eating roasted corn and making s'mores. Friday I went flying with Dave and he "let" me fly the plane some. That was an experience. Thanks to everyone for being there and to Jeannine for organizing it. Tuesday, July 22nd I flew down to Phoenix on the same flight as Nadine and we were able to sit by each other and visit. That evening we celebrated Kirsten and Kendra's 5th birthday. This past week I have tried to get caught up with things at home. Lisa prepared a birthday dinner for me Sunday and then on Monday Lila & Scott took me out for my birthday. Today (July 31st) I watched Kayla perform a floor routine at her gymnastic class. I hope you enjoy the slide shows of the July events.

May--graduations & birthday parties

May was a month of graduations, talent shows, birthdays and two trips to the zoo. Congratulations to Yirla. She graduated from the U of A with a degree in chemical engineering. She & Aaron will be moving to North Carolina in June. Kendra & Kirsten had a preschool graduation at the park and last but not least, Brianne graduated from the 8th grade. She was one of nine graduates. She was one of the speakers, but then all nine spoke.
Brianne and Alyssa performed in the Carden school talent show. Brianne choreographed one of the numbers that the show chorus performed. Tara organized and performed in a talent show. She's in a band and they performed some of her original music. She is a prolific composer.
Howard (Dill's half brother celebrated his 85th birthday on May 23rd. Cameron loves balls and anything that is round he considers a ball and so he was throwing grapes at Howard's party. He wasn't shy and made acquaintance with old and young alike. The next day we went to Jessica and Nate's birthday party. The weather had cooled off and rained. It was a nice change before the hot weather settles in, but Shelley had to cancel the jumping castle that they were going to have because of the weather. Thanks Greg and Shelley for a fun party! After the party, I went back to Tucson taking Cameron and Abby with me. (I was watching them while Michael and Katie were in Ireland.) Although he isn't quite 18 months, Cameron went to nursery on Sunday. When I went to pick him up, he was being held, but they said he was good. On Memorial Day I met Lisa and Trent's family at the cemetery. Afterwards Lisa and Spencer joined us and went to the zoo. Abby and Spencer got to feed the giraffes. It was exciting for them. A zoo keeper held Cameron and tried to get him to feed the giraffe, but he didn't want anything to do with it. The zoo has a water play area. At first Spencer was leery about getting wet, but once he got wet, he didn't want to leave. On the other hand Abby didn't want to get wet and didn't want to go to the play area the next day when we went to the zoo again. I took Abby and Cameron back to their home Thursday, the 29th and then went to the temple and then over to Greg's house to pick up a puppy. They are giving Teresa's family one of their puppies. The month is over and I will be leaving to go to Utah to help Diane who broke her ankle and will be having surgery on June 2nd.

New York visit April 2008

Ryan and Dana asked me if I would come and watch their kids while they went on a little trip by themselves and so I left a little early for two reasons: (1) to make sure I got there (since I fly stand-by) and (2) so the girls would get to know me so it wouldn't be so traumatic for them when their parents left for a few days. I got there Saturday the 19th of April. The next day, the pope was in New York and visited ground zero. (Ryan and Dana's apartment is right next to ground zero.) We left to go to stake conference before he arrived there. We had to exit through a side door since the front doors were blocked off. Monday we went to the park, Tuesday we went to the Staten Island zoo. It was disappointing, but it didn't cost us anything since it is a reciprocal zoo with the Tucson zoo where I have membership. Wednesday we went to a mall in New Jersey to have the kids pictures taken at JC Penney. Thursday morning Ryan and Dana left. I took the kids to the parks around their house a couple of times. They loved sliding down the long slide. Friday they went to a birthday party. The kids were good although Mia missed her mom especially at bedtime and when she woke up. She would cry, "I want my mommy, I want mommy." The shows Dora and Diego and a music CD were lifesavers. Friday night was particularly hard for her. She wouldn't go to sleep. I told her stories, finally at midnight I turned on the CD player and she went to sleep immediately. So Saturday night, I turned on the CD player when they went to bed and she went to sleep almost immediately. Saturday, Michael called to tell me that the church had announced two new temples in Arizona--one in Gilbert which will be just about three miles from Greg and one in the Gila valley. That is great, although it would be nice to have one in Tucson. Sunday the rains started again. I went to church with Dana's brother and his family. We were going to take the subway, but since it was raining he thought getting a couple of taxis would be better. As I was hanging up coats in the church, I realized I had left my purse in the cab. Talk about panic! Dana's sister-in-law called the taxi company. They said things were turned in to either two police stations and they gave her the phone numbers and told her to call them later that day. As I left the chapel after Sacrament Meeting, a sister asked me if my name was Marilyn and I said yes. She said a taxi cab driver had brought back my purse and she handed it to me. I was overwhelmed with joy and gratitude. My prayers had been answered. About 4 p.m. Sunday Dana called and said they were about two hours from home. While Mia was talking to her, they walked in the door. Mia's astonished face was something to behold as they surprised us. Monday was really a rainy, cold day, but we ventured out when it stopped for a while to take a bus tour. It was a double decker bus and shortly after we got on it, it started raining again. Mia didn't want to go below and she didn't want to wear a rain poncho. After she fell asleep we changed to the lower deck. That afternoon I took a downtown tour while Dana stayed home. I rode in the lower deck this time. Tuesday was a full day. We thought we could ride on a lower deck bus for the tours, but no such luck-we just had upper deck buses. It was a nice view, but it was so-oo cold and windy. It was in the high 40's and lower 5O's. Thank goodness it didn't rain while we were on them. We went half way on the downtown tour, then switched to the uptown tour, then stopped at the Natural History Museum, resumed the bus tour, then stopped at the Guggenheim Museum (we just went inside and looked around--didn't pay to go through) and then walked to the Metropolitan Art Museum. The sky had cleared up by the time we got to the Guggenheim Museum and it was a nice walk to the Art Museum. We took the subway home afterwards. About an hour later I went on the night tour with Ryan, and it was cold. In Brooklyn the bus stopped at a Mc Donald's so we could get something to warm us up. I arrived back home today (the 30th). I landed in Phoenix, then went to the temple before I drove home, so it has been a full day. It's been a full and busy month, but an enjoyable one.

Washington trip April 2007

On March 28th I went up to Gaylynne and Don's place to watch their kids while they went back to NY. (They left Monday night Mar 31st and returned late April 5th) I left 80 degree weather and came up to snow. The funny thing is a mile and a half down the road there is no snow. They seem to live on the snow line.The first four days it snowed, there were three days of good weather and then it rained the next four days. The kids were on spring break so on one of the good days we went to the zoo and park and had a great time. The other two good days the girls had gymnastics and/or dance. It makes a long afternooon for Dayton, but he was pretty good. I guess he is used to it. I had a good time with the kids. I returned home April 7th and it was nice to get back home to sunny Arizona. If flights are good, I leave this Friday for New York to watch Ryan and Dana's kids while they go on a little trip. While I was at Gaylynne's place she showed me how to do slide shows and since being home I have been working on catching up on my blog as you will see. High speed internet is great. Enjoy the slide show

Check out my Slide Show!

March 2008 happenings

This month started out busy. Monday and Tuesday I did visiting teaching. Also Tuesday I made some frozen strawberry jam and then went outside to pick grapefruit. I hurt my finger when I slid down the ladder. I should have gone and had it checked out, but I didn’t. I had visiting teaching appointments. The next day morning I went down to St. David to attend the funeral of John Taylor who lived in our ward several years ago. A friend thought I should have my finger checked out, so I went to Urgent Care before I left for Greg’s place to watch their kids while they went back to New York. I didn’t think the doctor could do anything because too much time had lapsed. I did get a tetanus shot. But it healed fine. While in Gilbert, I was able to see the two performances of the Jungle Book that Whitney’s school’s performed. It was very well done. Whitney was the baby elephant and performed superbly. Tuesday, her 12th birthday she had a chorus concert at school. She had another solo there. It was very good. Katie and Michael came over in the evening for ice cream and cake. Her Beehive class also came over to welcome her into Mutual and brought over cupcakes. I was able to watch Trace play flag football and to watch Jessica in her gymnastics class, she is very flexible. I came home the 13th. On the 17th I received a visit from a friend (Mary O'Brien) who was interested in joining the church. She went with me to the pageant the next night, along with Teresa, Aaron & their family. Michael and Katie met us at the temple. I called the missionaries and they met with us the next week since I was leaving for Utah the next day. While I was in Utah, I attended Jill’s wedding, visited with Jolene and Wade, other family members and friends and went to the temple a few times. I returned March 24th. I met with the missionaries Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday evening I went back up to Michael’s place and flew out the next morning to Oregon to watch Don and Gaylynne’s kids while they went to New York.