Father's Day

This latest blog should get me close to caught up! I'm only a few days behind now!

Last Sunday was Father's Day and I would be remiss if I did not say how thankful I am for the fathers in my life! First, my Heavenly Father who has blessed my life so much with all the wonders that I have been able to experience as well as the trials and challenges that have helped me to grow and build my testimony.

Then I am thankful for my dad. He wasn't a big part of my life growing up and, in fact, I didn't really meet him or get to spend any time with him until I was 14. My mother kept him out of my life during that time. Once we got to know each other though, there was no keeping us apart and I spent all the time I could with him! Unfortunately, he passed away when I was 22 but left lasting memories and lots of love! I miss him every day.

Next, I'm thankful for my father-in-law who has always been there for us! He is such a great man and a wonderful dad, grandpa, and great-grandpa to his entire family. His progeny is many, he is the father of nine, grandpa to 36 and great grandpa to almost 60 and it is all because two people fell in love over 60 years ago! Since Blaine is the youngest of his children, I tell them all the time, I am glad they tried one more time for another boy after a span of 5 girls!

Next is my hubby!! What a great dad he is!! He became a dad while still a teenager and we learned a lot as the years went by. He learned from the example of his own dad how to be a great dad and has passed that example on to our son. He has always taken an interest in what our kids do and has given them guidance, advice and help with whatever they needed. I couldn't ask for a better man to be their dad!

One of the happiest days of my life is when my son became a dad!! Because when he became a dad, I became a GRANDMA!! Which is my favorite calling in the whole world! He is a great dad to his three adorable kiddos! First of all, he picked a perfect MOM for them! He teaches them everything he can, he spends time with them, he has fun with them, and he isn't afraid to take them camping by himself! :-) What a great dad he is!

The other great dad in my life is my son-in-law! What an awesome dad he is! He has given us two of the prettiest, funniest granddaughters ever! Karlo knows how to have a great time, he has the most amazing patience, and loves to be with his girls! He works very hard for his family and takes the time to have fun. Karlo also had a great example in his own dad. Hardy is a great guy.

So, all the dads in my life are amazingly wonderful! They are all righteous, worthy men; they honor their priesthood; they counsel with love and kindness; they know how to have a good time; they do what it takes to care for their family; they cherish their children; and, the best attribute they all share--they love the mother of their children!

Love you guys!

My mom turned 70

I'm still working on catching up on my blogging so here is another recent adventure.
Almost two weeks ago (June 13) my mother turned 70!

I found out that they were going to be camping at Jordanelle Reservoir with her brothers so I hemmed and hawwed and finally decided to just go and surprise her for her birthday. I didn't call and tell anyone I was coming (or it wouldn't be a surprise) so I flew into Salt Lake, rented a car (they gave me a Ford Escape with 95 miles on it!--I want one of those!) and drove up to the lake in hunt of me mudder.... I found her and Jack and their two little spoiled mutts (Sassy and Annie).

I got to the campground and drove in looking for their rig. Once I spotted their truck and 5th wheel, I parked and just walked into their camp. They were all outside sitting around the fire talking and getting ready to roast hot dogs. So I walk up to the camp, my cousin (James) spots me and I motion to him to be quiet. Then my mom sees me and thinks, "that girl looks like Kathy"....then the light bulb went off and she realized I was her birthday surprise.My uncles told me I was a surprise over 40 years ago and never got over it! ;-)

We had a good time visiting. Two of my favorite uncles (Bill & Bob-identical twins btw) were there. Saturday, my Aunt Edna & Uncle Merl came up along with my Aunt Georgie and her daughter Catherine. They brought an awesome cake for my mom. It had a photo of her on it from when she was about 4 or 5 years old.

My mom LOVED the cake! We had a great birthday party in the camper (it was raining out!)
Here are some of my favorite relatives that were there:

Uncle Bill, Me, Uncle Bob

Aunt Edna "Abby" and Uncle Merl

Aunt Georgie and my mom

My cousin Catherine

My Aunt Regina with Uncle Bill in the background.

I like this picture!

(Aunt Regina tries desperately to not be IN any pictures!)

My cousin James cooked us up some awesome BBQ chicken!

My Uncle Merl (he's a blast!)

Uncle Bob and Mom on the boat (you would think they were cold!)

Uncle Bob

Uncle Bill

My mom and Aunt Edna

The Greek Group! (l-r)

Aunt Georgie, Uncle Bill, Aunt Edna, Uncle Bob, Mom

HAPPY 70TH, MOM!!!

I LOVE YOU!

PS...See the following post for pictures of the scenery!

Jordanelle

When I went to my mom's birthday party, they were camping at Jordanelle Reservoir near the Utah, Wyoming border.
It's a beautiful place!
Although, I wouldn't necessarily call it "camping" when you have full hook-ups for your RV, showers right across the road, AND wi-fi availiable in the camp!
But it was a beautiful locale and I got a lot of great scenery pics!

Ducks near the shoreline

The afternoon rain rolling in. One afternoon, we barely made it back before the storm and that storm ended up capsizing between 5 and 9 boats (the reports vary). Luckily, no one was hurt and all were rescued. I am thankful that I have uncles that are smart enough to come in out of the rain!

So green there!

Sunset on the boat

A slide area

Playing with my camera and trying to capture the gulls flying by

Nice view

Snow on the mountain tops

I had a great time going out on the boat with my uncles. They have spoiled me with attention since I was young and it's nice to see that they still take their roles of 'greatest uncles' seriously! It was a great weekend!

So far behind!

So one of my BFFs sent me a message asking me if I was okay since I haven't blogged for some time. I guess I'd better get busy and keep up with my blogging so Lina will have one less thing to worry about. :-) I love Lina! She is so funny and cares so much about everyone else and always puts herself last. We need to work on that, my friend!


Anywho.... Things have been busy with work, scout camp, trips, tonsils, t-ball, swimming lessons, horses, camping, father's day...the list goes on. But I am not the one busy with all these things, I am just the one who gets to hear about them and thinks, "I gotta blog about that!" and then I get overwhelmed and think there is so much to blog about, I'll never catch up! So, instead of excuses, I'm going to blog several different blogs to get all caught up and to ensure Lina that all is well in Grandmaville!

I've made a list of things to blog about and will blog about them ALL! So, go get a big glass of lemonade and come back....hurry, I'll wait..... then sit down and read all about the latest adventures in Grandmaville!


Here are several to get you started. More to follow later in the week!.......

Circus, Parades, Horses and Camping! Oh my!

The Shoopman grands have been having plenty of fun adventures this summer! They just went camping over Father's Day with Daddy. Look at this cool teepee they found!

Taylor has been walking the dog. Or the dog has been walking Taylor!

Money must be tight in Wyoming as well, because my grands have to pan for gold!

Who's that behind those Foster Grants? (okay, so I totally just dated myself with that remark!) How many people remember those commercials?

And don't you just love Baylee's sunglasses too!

I tell ya, it doesn't get much cuter than this!

Now this....this is a rare picture! Taylor is not fond of riding and

Kolby is not fond of riding with his sisters.

Taylor is, however, VERY fond of her daddy and it is wonderful

to see him get to spend time with her and help her learn how fun riding can be.

Now our little Baylee cowgirl, she will ride all day long

and well into the night if she could! She LOVES to ride!

The grands went to the Hillsdale parade and Robin

just had to send me this picture of the PINK tractor!

The grands hanging out with their friend waiting for the parade to start.

Baylee got her face painted so pretty at the circus

She looks a little bored riding the ponies. I'm sure she wanted to

break loose from the equipment and run them outside!

What a silly girl, Taylor is!

May as well roast some marshmallows when you have a fire going for clean up anyway!

Here's a cute video of Baylee and Kolby riding their horses.

And one of the grands playing ring around the rosie at the parade.

Have I mentioned lately how much I LOVE seeing what my grands do on a day to day basis!

Tonsils, T-ball and Swimming Lessons

The Stucki grands have been staying busy this summer. Kallie had her tonsils out on the 11th. Here she is playing with the 'funny mask' before surgery:

Right after surgery...poor baby!

The following morning....not looking too excited.

Because of Kallie being Kallie (and the medical issues that come with that!),

she gets to spend the night when she has any type of surgery done.

She had a rough recovery and was not a happy girl for

several days (okay--well over a week!)

But don't you just LOVE all those curls!

Some lady at Abbie's swimming lessons had the nerve to

touch those curls and Kallie had a complete melt down!

Talk about GRUMPY!

Poor little one was so exhausted and not eating that

she just couldn't stay awake! Her mom said it was like

having a newborn again. Up all night with her!

But, finally! She is on the mend and doing better!

Hopefully getting rid of those ugly tonsils and adenoids

will make her feel better and be a much happier girl!

Abbie has been staying very busy this summer with T-ball and swimming lessons.

oh, and being silly!

Ready for her game!

Here is a video of her jumping off the diving board!

I'm sure the teacher only saw flying arms and legs coming at her!

And here is her T-ball grand slam home run! When you are the last in the batting line up,
you get to hit a home run and bring all the players in. Abbie has such long legs and runs so fast that she passed the kid that was on third base so they had to call her back and make her run behind him. She did it, but was hot on his heels the whole way!

Have I mentioned lately how much fun my grands are!