Grandpa's 89th Birthday

This post is all backwards. Someday maybe I will get this right. This is Eli and his new found cousin. This is his sad face because she had to go home and he didn't want her to leave. He was having so much fun with his new friend.Aunt Leora came from Lehi, Utah and her great grandchildren came from Sacramento to visit. It was the first time we had met them and it was a very nice surprise visit.

Mom loves music. When she was young her family entertained themselves by singing. Mom played the guitar and the auto harp. All her sisters were singers. This is Uncle Dick, mom's youngest sister Janie's husband. He drove Janie and Leora out for a visit. It was great having him. I think Dick loved his visit. He wanted to go fishing for Salmon. We spent Sunday afternoon singing Hymns. Everyone picked their favorite hymn and we just kept singing. Mom enjoyed this a lot and I'm sure it brought back memories of her childhood.

Aunt Jane is mom's youngest sister. She has a contagious laugh and is always lots of fun. I lived with her family for awhile when I attended LDS Business College in Salt Lake. She has always benn very good to me.

I was fun to have everyone here visiting and to celebrate grandpa's 89th birthday. We had two days of celebration with different groups of family coming each day. It was a lot of fun laughing, singing and remembering old times.

My niece Mariah, David's daughter, came which was really nice because we don't get to see her very often. Noah loved Mariah and she was a natural. She will celebrate her 18th birthday in October.On Sunday, my cousin, Leora's grandson brought his family for a visit. They are the only other Utah family members that live in California. It was fun for Eli because they had a son and daughter that Eli had fun playing with. I lost track of how many people came but it was lots of fun and I think grandpa enjoyed his birthday celebrations.

Swimming Fun

July was my month to be in the pool. I am so glad that Walt and Becky are so willing to share. Everyday after work I head for their pool to relax and exercise. I took Eli with me a lot which was also fun. He is getting more comfortable in the water and actullay stays in most of the time. He always wants to get in the hot pool to get warm. He won't jump in yet but once in awhile his mom would drop him in. He didn't like it much but it didn't keep him from coming back. He really enjoyed swimming and would always ask if we were going to Scotties house to swim. He really likes Scottie which kind of drives Scottie crazy.

Jason and Jodi celebrated their 4th anniversary June 4th. Time goes by so quickly. They are doing really well in Elko. It is a long way from me but at least I can stop on my way to Utah. June 11th is also Jodi's birthday. In fact June is a big birthday month. My friend Jan turned 70 in June. She looks so young and is finally getting ready to retire. Cindy, Maree, Dee and Becca also have June birthdays. June was a great month because I went beach hopping with Walt, Becky and Scottie. It was very relaxing and fun. At the end of the day we played Nertz. I always loose but I have fun. There were also two weddings in June. Eldon McBride and Tara Hipes. We always have a lot of weedings in our ward which is really fun. Mom seems to be holding her own and it was overall a good month.

Mayis a big month for our family, but this year it was especially big. On May 13 th, Noah Russel Hudson was born. He weighted 8 lbs 10 oz. and was 20 inches long. Isn't he beautiful! May 14th is also the anniversary of the boys adoption and Eric and Dava's 4th wedding Anniversary. May is the month my family began and Eric and Dava's family began. It is fitting that our family should add it's newest member. Welcome to our family little Noah.

May 1st is the boys brother Adam's birthday and May 15th is Joey's birthday. It is hard to believe that the little boy that came to me at 6 months old is now 22. My life has been richly blessed by my children and grandchildren.

Joey holding little Noah at the hospital.
They will always have a special bond

being born the same month.

Mom's 80th Birthday

On April 25th we celebrated mom's 81st birthday. We never thought she would make it but she did. Jerry, Sharon, Dallin, Jen and Mercedes came from Utah. Kara, Adia, Orin, and Hamilton came from Nevada. Marge and Emery came from Live Oak. Frank and Leia came from Red Bluff. Sarah, Scot, Jacob, Ryan, and Sophie came from Corning. Joey, Eric, Dava, and Eli helped celebrate. It was a fun day but grandma was worn out.

Sharon, her mom Marge, and her daughter Kara, and son Dallin.

Four generations with grandma, Jerry, Dallin, and Mercedes.

Mom got sick at the beginning of March. I took her to the doctor and he said she had bronchitis. He prescribed antibiotics and cough medicine and said to come back in two weeks if she was not better. A week later she was not better but in fact she was worse. She was so weak she could hardly get out of the chair. She coughed all the time and her appetite was very poor. On Sunday 15th I took her to the hospital. Fortunately a friend of mine was the triage nurse. She checked us in within a few minutes. Her first comment to me was "Why is she so pale?" I didn't even realize she was that pale, I just knew she was sick. The first thing they did was take blood and x-rays. When the doctor came in to talk to us she commented on how pale she was. The doctor then asked how long she had been in renal failure. My mouth dropped and I said that I didn't know she was in renal failure. When the lab tests came back we found out that mom was very anemic and needed a transfusion. They also wanted her most recent lab tests to compare her current results with. On Monday morning she had a transfusion and they got her last lab tests from her doctor. She had been in renal failure for a year without treatment. They referred her to the Kidney specialist and he wanted to start her on Dialysis as soon as they could get her ready. They did the Dialysis for five days and mom seemed to get worse. She was basically comatose. She was hallucinating and so weak. We decided to stop the dialysis and they transferred her to the extended care unit. The doctor did not feel that she would make it. We called the family and many came to see her while she was in the hospital. After four days she started to wake up. She began eating and could actually carry on a conversation. She was in the hospital from March 15th to April 17th. She decided that she did not want to continue the dialysis and the doctor's felt like she had less than six months to live. While she was in the hospital my brother came from Utah and stayed for several days. His daughter Kara came to visit with her three children. Her grandson Joe came from Utah to see her. Her grandson Jaron and his wife and four children drove out from Utah to see her and her granddaughter Mariah came from Sacramento. Her sisters called every couple of days to talk with her and see how she was doing. Frank and Leia and David and Robin came often to sit with her and dad. She was so excited when she was able to come home. We got everything in place to make things as easy for her as possible. After being home for two days she was back to doing things her way. She was weak but she was managing.

In February I went on a cruise with a group of friends. Every day was something new and fun. This day we drove these great boats to the other side of the island and went snorkeling. I'm not very good but I now have my own snorkeling gear and I really enjoy learning. The weather was great and the beaches were beautiful. The company was great too. We spent a day in jeeps exploring the island and then ended up at a beach for the afternoon. One day we rented jeeps and drove to a beach on the other side of the island. Parts of the Island had nude beaches. Why anyone would enjoy this is beyond me. We took a ferry to St. Johns and spent the day at Trunk Bay. This was a beautiful beach and we spent the day sun bathing, snorkeling and playing in the surf. Of course there was also shopping for souvenirs. On the travel days there was always something to do on the ship. We played miniature golf, roller skating, rock climbing and lots of cards. Every Night after dinner there is a show and karaoke. We even have brave, talented singers in our group and a very supportive audience. You eat too much, stay up too late and laugh a lot. It is the best vacation ever.