Progeny

These are my boys.  Five of them in all.  I am immensely proud of them, in the righteous, pleased way and not the unrighteous, boastful way.  They are from l-r Stuart, Aaron, Nolan ( middle and youngest), Sean and Owen.  They are big, happy, crazy, silly, fun, smart, talented, two are husbands and dads, two are cops, and all are students of life.

 

I don't know how my life would be without them and I am not ready to try.  I love them so much.  Thanks boys for being my sons!

Love,

M

Aunt Lola

Jan's Aunt Lola passed away August 1, 2012.  She was 91 years old.  She was such a sweet lady and had many friends and admirers.  I was one of them.  Here are a few things I know about her and learned about her at the funeral. 

She was a little sister of my husband's father, Leo Robison.

She was the wife of George Crow  for 37 years and after he passed away she became the wife of Cort Dixon, who was a high school sweetheart and a rival of George.  Cort passed away three weeks before Lola.  Each of her husbands loved and adored her.  She was good at picking her men.

She is the mother of Diana and the grandmother of Tyler, Camden and Catherine.  They were the loves of her life.

She welcomed me into the family in 1980 with open arms and open heart.  She was truly happy for us and made me feel so loved.

This is the reason I felt that I had to go to her funeral.

She was an amazing cook and loved to serve her guests, but occasionally when she wasn't in the mood she would put a can of tuna in the center of the dining table and that was the signal to Uncle George that he was to take them out for dinner that night.

  I am posting a recipe of hers below.  It was served by her last old friend on earth at her funeral luncheon. I went and scoured my recipe books that she had given me over the years and it was not in there, but when I looked in Jan's mother's (another amazing cook) recipe file, I found it.

Here it is:

Fruited Cherry Salad

Combine in saucepan and cook over medium heat until thickened, stirring frequently....

1 can (1 lb) sour pie cherried and liquid

1 can (1 lb) crushed pineapple and liquid

2/3 Cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

2 drops red food coloring

Remove from hear.  Add, stirring until dissolved...

1 package ( 3 oz) orange flavored gelatin

Cool until slightly thickened.  Stir in...

2 large bananas, mashed

1 cup chopped nut

Pour into 6 cup mold.  Chill till firm. 

Makes 8-10 servings.

I don't have a photo of this dish but I can attest to it's deliciousness.

I love you, Aunt Lola



High Maintenance Women

 It has long been rumored that the Rudd girls are high maintenance women.  My grandmother and her sister would go shopping in Amarillo and walk up and down Polk street for hours window shopping first and then going in the stores.  Grandma Pat would always have her hair and makeup done before going into town.  Once Rebecca and Jean got into her makeup area and played in it and there was not enough left for her to go town to buy more.  My mom had to pick up some for her.

 Isn't Marion cute all ready for the wedding?

 Camille and Emily got all prettied up too!

 Courtney is enjoying her makeover!

Somebody has pretty toes!

 Milly enjoying her first ever professional pedi.  She has been, from day one, a girly girl.  She loves her girl stuff! The more bling the better. We sure know where she gets it.  It comes naturally from being in the family.

 When Jessica got married in June, my sister Elizabeth's friend and hairdresser, Kelly offered the use of her shop and supplies and expertise for the whole female side of the family.  Elizabeth is here taking her up on the offer. She closed the shop for the whole afternoon, wasn't that an awesome gift?

 Emily enjoying the facility.

 The end result for Courtney and Brynna with their dad. Don't they look great?

 Brynna taking advantage of the hair dressing and the cute puppy!

 My sister Rebecca and her daughter Camille, don't they look fab?  Rebecca has always been the ring leader high maintenance girl.  Many hours in front of a mirror and so much time in the fabric shop deciding on material for an easter dress.  Remember the orange linen one with the multi color chiffon sleeves? She had that dress when she was about six.  She is also an experienced shopper, and has shopped many stores around the world!

The star of the day is Jessica and she got the top hair dresser, Kelly to do her up. She was the prettiest bride.

We won't even talk about these beauties! Oh Dear!

Things We've Been Doing This Summer

 The other day I tried to call Owen, it was Friday evening and thought he might be available to talk at the end of his week.  He didn't answer so I thought he might be at a movie or out with friends.  Boy was he out.  He was attending the 3rd Infantry Division Ball in Savanah, GA.  He texted me that he was at the ball and I asked for photos.  This is what he sent.  Isn't he handsome?  The nice girl is his Lieutenant.  Don't know her name.  They worked together in Iraq and she is in leadership over him now.  She is soon to be a Captain. 

 Nolan had 11 yr old Boy Scout camp this month also.  They go up to Elsworth park, which our church owns and is up at the Lookout Mountain area.  It was held on a Friday and Saturday with the Dads staying over the night with them.  He and Jan had a good time.  Nolan got to learn some new stuff, like his Tote-N-Chip, and some orienteering.  Looks like he is having fun!

 Are they starting a fire or looking at bugs?  They do have adult supervision!

 In June we attended Jessica's wedding to Andrew Washer.  They were married in the San Antonio temple.  It was beautiful, the couple are very happy and we had a great time visiting them.  We then went to Del Rio, TX for the reception and had a nice time visiting with the family.  Nolan loved swimming in their pool and the tubing on Lake Amistad. 

 Yesterday our stake had a mini Pioneer trek.  We went out to Byers, CO to a fair ground and they had a 2 1/2 mile trek laid out with stations where each group would stop and have a pioneer story. Nolan is the one in the white t-shirt pulling the handcart.  He told me he pulled the whole way.  I was proud of him.  The weather was hot (over 100 degrees) and at the end of the day they had dinner.  I was in charge of the food for the whole group (over 200 people)  We cooked lots of chili-60 lbs of meat, cut up 15 watermelons, and had bread and pound cake ala Sam's Club.  I still don't have my kitchen cleaned up yet and I didn't even cook it at my house. 

The above photo is of Nolan's group while stopped at a station listening to a pioneer story.  He said he had heard them all already, from the movie 17 Miracles.

 Today we got to attend Aaron and Susanna's ward to see Liam get blessed.  Yes, I am a bad grandma and have no pictures of him in his blessing outfit, but this one will suffice.  Isn't he cute? After church we went to their house for lunch and then later the twins came over to our house for naps. They slept for 2-3 hrs.  Aaron asked if I had conked them on the heads to get them to sleep that long.  They must have been tired.  Levi even fell off the bed and continued to sleep on the floor.  The day was lovely, and we had some good visiting with the whole family on both sides.

Also this weekend Stuart went with his single's brand to Manti, UT to go and see the Manti Pageant.

For lodging they camped out and then attended the free pageant.  You can find out more about it here.http://www.lds.org/church/events/manti-pageant-to-portray-the-resurrected-christ-for-the-first-time?lang=eng.  He said the weekend was kind of a bust, I think the biggest problems were that is was very hot, and his girlfriend, Kelsey, wasn't there too.  The first thing he did when he got home

was get in the car and go see her.  They went to a drive-in movie. Snogging anyone?

 This is Kelsey, she is in his single's branch and is from Arizona.  She is a culinary student at Johnson and Wales.  We like her.

 Stuart and Mitchel at the Manti pageant.  Mitchel is an old friend from church/high school and his dad is the single's branch president. 

  The group camping at the pageant in Manti.  Looks like he is having fun to me!

So anyway you can see we have been busy.  Lots more to come too, swimming, gardening, family reunions, camping etc.  Summer is half over already.



We Have a New Baby!

 Liam Alexander Robison was born May 24, 2012. He was 8 lbs 10 oz and 20 inches long.  He is beautiful, looks alot like his brother Levi and has brilliant red hair.  We already are in love.

He is doing well in the hospital, is in the NICU for some low blood sugar problems and is eating like a champ.  Susanna is amazed at how differently a full term baby nurses compared to the twins who were born at 33 weeks gestation.  His glucose IV is getting weaned down slowly but surely and we hope to have him home in a few days.  The twins love him already too, Levi said he wasn't pretty, he was cool and they gave him a sweet kiss before they transferred him to the NICU.  On the night Susanna went into labor I stayed over with them and we had a sweet little prayer for Mommy and Liam to be safe.  We also had a good rain that night so there is much to be thankful for.  God is like that!


Pictures for Owen!

 Levi doing what he does best!  He was jumping on the sofa this evening. Bouncing like a ping pong ball.

 Milly all dressed up!  She loves girly things.  She got new sandals with gem stones on them and could hardly breathe.  She wore them in her nap that day.

Easter Sunday! 



Abby is Seven Months Old!

Grandkids are so much fun!  Abby is now 7 months old.  She is growing quickly and is getting more social.  She is also at the age where she fears new people.  Last Sunday she was afraid of me, it broke my heart when her little lip jutted out and she started to cry.  We are loving her so much and looking forward to grandbaby #4 coming in June.  Happy Birthday Abby!

Be Careful What You Wish For!

Well here it is.  Lately I've said a couple times that I wish I could have a new car.  My car was really Aaron's car and when he went to Iraq, he asked us if we would buy it, so he could not have a car payment.  Well it is a nice car, a 2006 Pontiac Grand Prix.  It runs well and has great power.  Only problem is, it was not a me car.  It didn't suit my personality.  Aaron said it really did, don't know what he sees in my personality that I don't see but, anyway, this morning as Stuart was driving to work, only about 3/4 mile from our house, he had a little wreck.  I don't know the whole story, but he got a ticket and we are now down to one car.  We should be able to rent a car.  I don't know if it will be totalled or not, but is in the shop right now. 

The most important thing is that no one was hurt in this accident.  We may be getting a new car.  Be careful what you wish for.  I don't think I'll get my "ME" car this time either. 

Marker Madness!

Don't they look remorseful? They found a blue marker in a school bag and proceeded to have a very good time with it. Milly must have been the big leader since Levi had it all over his back! Her hand was totally blue and then every time she touched her nose it made her nose blue too!

This pic truly tells all, no remorse, only joy in living and a true attitude of playfullness! Whatever will we do? Tending these guys is like playing Whack-a-mole!

Looking back!

This weekend our church had it's twice a year General Conference. One of the speakers talked of climbing a mountain in Oregon with his children, that climb turned out to be very challenging. As a way of not getting discouraged they made a plan that every time they stopped to rest, they wouldn't look up to see how far they had yet to go, but to look back at how far they had come. This blog and especially this post is a look back over the last few weeks to see how far we have come, and not how far we have to go. I sometimes get discouraged when I think of all the things I would like to get done. But then I look back at what I have been doing and feel a little better about it all. Here is what has been going on. We went down to Texas over Labor Day. This is Levi riding with Reagan on a horse. Aunt Janna is leading. Levi loved riding, Milly was having none of that.


End of July we also went down to Texas for my Aunt's 80th birthday party. Coincidentally it was Jan's 40th high school reunion from Borger High School. See if there is anyone that you know in this photo. While we were there, we drove around town and also visited the cemetery where his parents are buried. It was good to revisit the old home.

Every Wednesday this semester, I am babysitting Levi and Milly. They are a fun handful and are potty training right now. Got to plan ahead and mark out all the bathrooms and have plenty of extra clothes in the diaper bag.

For Susanna's birthday I made (with Aaron's help) a padded headboard for their bedroom. It looks nice and was pretty easy. The kids helped and were so proud for Mommy to have a new bed.

I refinished this TV cabinet. It was a 10.00 thrift store purchase and was a light blonde color. I painted it red, then glazed it with black glaze. I added new feet and sprayed the silver doors and hardware with bronze spray paint. Now we have a nice TV cabinet for the old TV. Hope to have a new flat screen one of these days.

I bought this little rocker for the new baby and refinished it for her. I was fun, I took it apart and reglued it as it was a little wobbly. Then a coat of primer and turquoise paint and drew the daisies with the help of good old carbon paper and painted them, distresses and added a coat of stain that was quicly wiped off. After all that sprayed it with a coat of poly. Now Abigail has her own rocker. This is in addition to the scout meetings, homework, laundry, geneology, bill paying, working, cooking, sleeping, weeding, watering, gardening, car pooling, husband loving, children loving that I ordinarily do.

But the highlight of the last week and total focus of the week has been little Abigail Jo. She is off of the bililights, and has her IV out now. They have increased her feedings and she is gaining weight. She is up to 3 lbs 12 oz. She has no oxygen requirement. This weekend her other Grandma Pam came to visit and so did her Aunt Sarah. They also helped Sean and Krysten move to a new apartment. My muscles are screaming. Today we got to rest and watch General Conference, (hence the reflection on looking back) and enjoy some pumpkin pancakes for breakfast and French bread pizza for supper. Tomorrow back to work, but I get to take my lunch hour with Abigail.

Not such a back last few weeks huh?