The Easter Bunny didn't forget

The Saturday Night before Easter as I was driving home from having dinner with a group of our friends,I called Bob (We took separate cars since he went to the Priesthood session with Derek and some of the friends) to ask if he thought the Easter Bunny needed to make a stop at the store. We had bought him some new shirts and thought that was enough.. So no basket was waiting for him the next morning. And if you know Derek, he didn't care, didn't ask and was happy just to have Bob's famous hash browns and eggs for breakfast instead of chocolate Easter eggs!!!
But the next day the Easter bunnies helper came and brought him a cute basket with some little toys and some very yummy candy. Thanks Gina for being the delivery gal.
Then a week later we were invited to have dinner at our friend PM house. She is the best cook, she wrote a cookbook, ... to say the least, she knows her foods. It was a really nice meal, delicious and lovingly prepared. She gave Derek choices on different foods so she can see just what he likes and doesn't like to eat. Thank you PM!!! While we were leaving, she brought out an Easter basket for Derek. A beautiful basket with the most yummy candy (If I was eating candy, those Reese's peanut butter cups would have been gone by me before leaving her driveway). Thank you PM for playing the other Easter bunnies delivery girl. Oh and for treating him to a can of pop as well!
Derek is spoiled and loved by so many friends.
Thank you!!!

Happy Birthday Aunt Donna!!!

I have an Aunt Donna. She is my mother's only sister. I can truthfully say that she is the most favorite true Aunt I have!!! She once said that if Arnold Schwarzenegger was made Governor of California, she would move to Bend, Oregon.. It didn't happen. Bob brought me home these flowers and I said "Oh, too bad Donna wasn't here living in Bend, Oregon, we would let her share in my beautiful bouquet on her birthday" So, I'll enjoy them by myself Donna! There are several years between us, but I feel that she is a very good friend! She cares about me and she cares about my family. We have many things in common. I'm making a "Top 5 List" of some of my memories. 1. We spent a Christmas in a chalet' in Park City. My sister and I were so anxious and excited about Santa coming that we just couldn't calm down. My aunt got up from wherever she was and jumped in bed with us and talked about hearing Santa on the rooftop and how we had better hurry to sleep before he would come down the chimney. Those that know my Aunt know that she needs and LOVES her sleep. We got snowed in on that vacation and remember it as one of our families best Christmas's ever. 2. When I was a Junior in High School our family went to Los Angeles where Donna was living (and still does)and spent Thanksgiving watching the Thanksgiving Day parade. I've loved parades ever since. Also on that trip she planned an outing where I was to get my haircut. The hairdresser was famous for cutting some "stars" hair. Oh, I felt like a movie star myself walking out afterwards. 3. After 911 we had more things to talk about. Those events changed Aunt Donna's life, and her life as well as mine have been blessed! 4. The last big birthday party we had for Donna was suppose to be a surprise. But it's hard to keep surprises from her. Donna pretty much guessed it, but we sure had a fun time all dressed in the "Old Ladies" purple shirts and red hats. Donna is definitely not an old lady! 5. We enjoy t.v. shows together.. We call at the commercials. A.Idol, DWTStars and 3 other shows that I won't mention, (one that I have boycotted). She reminds me that these shows(Not the reality ones) are only make believe and they really aren't happening (Thanks Donna for those reminders!) Several years ago I had a sad time in my life (yes it is true). I remember driving back to Bend in my car and crying uncontrollably. I tried calling Bob, and got no answer, I tried Rebecca, my parents... no connection at all. I knew I needed to talk to someone, so I called Donna. For some reason the call went through. I tried so hard to talk without her knowing how sad I was. She asked me a couple time to pull off the road so I could gain control (it wasn't that bad, but it must have sounded that way). For some reason it made me laugh, and calmed me down. Thank you Donna. You probably can't remember, but I do, and it made a big difference! We hope you have a Happy Birthday! Consider this your card! I knew it was your big day, but didn't get a card out in time! We love you! Can't wait to see you this summer!

"Need a Tow Ma ám?"

Many of you know that I enjoy watching,(following) police cars, ambulances and firetrucks. Rebecca and I both have this fetish. Why, who knows.
Anyway, our son Robert is working for a large towing company. Consolidated Towing is what it's called. They are the company that AAA uses for any breakdowns, tows, keys locked in and so on. I especially like this company because all their trucks are bright orange. I see Robert (or his fellow employees) from a far distance coming. Anyway, we are grateful he is working!!! Jobs are hard to come by. Robert has always been interested in cars and trucks. I swear he was 5 years old and he could tell me the make and model of any car driving past us. He would quiz me and ask me what a certain truck was called (if we were stopped next to it at a red light)... He couldn't believe that I didn't know it was a Ford XLTZ (whatever it was). Robert works Thursdays-Sundays. Every morning or in between "rescues" I quiz him now on what the emergency was. "Was it an accident, were the police there?" "Was it a DUI impound?" "What kind of car was it, what was the situation?"
Some stories he tells me are quite interesting. Three I will share. One girl who had obviously been drinking too much and didn't know why her tires were out of balance (She had hit something hard) asked him if he was married or if he had a girlfriend. Robert was very polite and said "I have dogs." I said, "Robert what did that mean?" He said it didn't mean anything but it shut her up. The next was another girl he was taking to her parents home because of a broken down part. He came home with a Heart Massager that was from her "Women ONLY" party line that she does. I haven't yet gotten on her web-site (she left him her card). (I'm saving the heart massager that he gave me to give to his wife at a bridal shower.. But wait, he has dogs) Last, an older gentleman locked his keys in his car at Safeway. Unfortunately the man had a hook for an arm. After Robert was done getting the door opened, and as the man was putting all his groceries in his car, he asked, "Can I give you a hand?" Not even thinking until it came out... The man said, "Everyone thinks that I can't do things, like I'm disabled." Robert than quickly changed the subject and went on to the price of meat.
So, if you wonder why a big tow truck resides at our home part time.. now you know.
Keep the stories coming Robert!

Spring Break in Bend

Last year we had a blast at the Great Wolf Lodge for Spring Break. I knew we couldn't get away, so we just found things around Bend to do (We still had tutoring all week, no break for Derek).
I'll admit, I'm not a big fan of our High Desert Museum, but my friend Suelynn and her boys have season passes. They new all the fun things to see and do. Having them as tour guides made the trip rewarding.

Felicity and Derek for 2 years now went to the free day at Ben & Jerry's Ice-Cream. The line wasn't as long as we thought it would be, (Even though we laughed about an older, ponytail man cutting in line.. who does that)Of all the flavors Derek could have choisen.. Vanilla is what he ordered. I even think the gal dishing it up looked at him like.."are you serious?"


My friend Linda came over for a break from a House Tour (she is trying to sell her amazing Aubrey Butte home.. if anyone is interested). Thanks for these flowers Linda. I never got a picture of her son David and Derek, but they had some moments together!


We had a play date with Mackensie. What a cutie pie she is. She is a great little tutor. We wish she could come more often! Thanks Mackensie!


Then we had a fun time bowling with Heather and her boys and Jenn and Grant. Derek won the game. Hip Hip Hooray!


We've had funner Spring Breaks.. but we enjoyed just hanging out!

THEIR Back!!!

We are so excited that the Clawson's have moved back!
We've missed them! (Their Junk Mail, Pit Games and A Breakdown in Snowville are some memories we had while they were here)
They had cutie-patudy Emily while they were gone. We can't wait to get to know her. I was so happy to "babysit" Ben & Emily while Alisha got Hannah all squared away at school.
Ben was as cute and helpful as could be and Emily slept on my shoulder the entire time. Anytime Alisha!!! I'm happy to help.

Houdini lives in our field!

Another new calf. If you didn't keep track last year, we only had 3 calves out of 12 possibilities. The bull had issues that I won't get into. (We now own our own bull) So we are excited to have any additions this year. This newest one is an escape artist. Yesterday after Derek's team meeting I went out to feed the "Herd" and found a little calf mixed in with the moms. (We have the soon to deliver, and new moms in a different area)I thought.. Oh, great, a new one that we didn't know about... Wrong.. this calf got through a little opening (Still not sure where) and wouldn't cooperate with me to go join her mom. The mom was pacing, and I was not sure how I was going to pick up the calf, and open up the fence to reunite the two. The weakling that I am called the cute teen-ager up the street to come to the rescue. I wish I had taken a picture of Cameron with my big boots on (He was wearing skinny jeans) and my old coat. He still would be a knock out for any young teen-age 16 year old girl. He had no problem getting it in with it's mom. Yes, I felt like a dork, but better safe (Not to let the mom's out in the meantime)to have not tried to do it on my own. Thanks Alina for loaning me your son!
I think we will call this calf Houdini!

And "Vet" Bob was here to give the shot. I WILL not do that (Knock on Wood)! Humm, Alina, I'm wondering if Cameron would be up for that if we have another calf born before Bob gets home.

Our newest member!

Thursdays are usually our busiest days, and today was just as crazy.
Derek and I took a aerobic swimming class with Jen, We took Dinner to the Clawson family (Hip hip hooray, they are back), Junk Mail and a visit to the Virgins, Returned and Checked out books and videos, then back to the Athletic club for our real swimming, and the rock wall.. oh yeah, and Carl's Junior. I was ready for the day to be done... but after checking our voice mail, there was exciting news. Our neighbor Deborah had a minute to pause today (Unlike me) and noticed our first calf was born. Number 10 had a cute little calf today. I was excited to go out and feed the herd and get some close ups of the little guy/gal. It wasn't wobbly at all, and wanted to be near her mom when the mom left to go get hay (dumb mom, I was taking hay to her, but she was too anxious to eat with the others). The cute baby walked over to one of the piles of hay and just sat down in it. Enjoy the pictures. These are for you Bob and Dad.



This brown was a calf we had last year, I can tell already that they are going to be friends!

More Cow Stories

My Rebecca has the best blog. You really need to go to hers, she has such detail, and the best pictures.
One of her posts was about getting Trey over his fear of the cows.
He doesn't mind the cows, just doesn't like it when they moo. I keep telling him that they can't talk and that is how they are saying "Hi Trey, nice to have you visit" But his hands go up on his ears and he backs away.
Robert was determined to break him of the fear. He grabbed some hay, and grabbed Trey and took him out for a visit.
Now Tian on the other hand is mad that we are holding him back, he wants to get up close and personal to the 4 legged, cud chewing beasts.
Well, Trey finally got the nerve, was so proud of himself. On the other hand Tian was mad that he couldn't get on the back and ride one of them!

I Looked Out the Window and What did I see?

Humm.. who cleans up after them?
Or maybe it will be good fertilizer! Now that's a thought!

This "Bull's" for you Dad!

The last two years we had a tough time breeding our cows, a very sore subject. So "Rancher" Bob decided (With advice from our Vet)we would buy our own bull.
Bob and Robert headed for Madras to bid on a bull that would do well with our herd.
(We've "Herd" black Angus are a good choice, so that is what we got)
I was excited to meet the guy, and wanted to get some good pictures to show my dad.
"Dad, what do you think?"
He (Mr. Bull) seems very interested in the "girls" so hopefully we will have great success in the years to come.

I'm Playing Candyland for Two days

Some of you know that I love candy. Well, two years ago on February 13Th vowed to my dentist that I would give up Candy. Well, I couldn't do it that day, nor the next since it was Valentine's day, but after that I gave it up. Last year I looked forward to my "candy binge" on the 13th, and now today I have enjoyed it again.
Notice, I did have a glass of milk with my assortment of favorites. I did have a nice dinner, and notice, the box of See's candy is closed.. You'll never know how many are gone.
Thank you Rebecca for sending me bite size candy.
Thank you Felicity and Heather for their little gifts.
Gina and Jenny's Christmas candy have been waiting in the freezer, along with my mom's almond roca roll.. YUM YUM... After tomorrow I'll be ready to start it again. This time I am adding COOKIES to the list. You know I have a sweet tooth. The other day I bought a package of Strawberry Fig Newtons. I do believe Derek had 3 cookies and I had the rest.
Lets see how I do!

P.S.
Feeling guilty for eating so much candy, I grabbed Derek and we hiked the butte, then I did some time on the elliptical! (Derek was in the middle of eating his rice crispy treat when the picture was being taken.. oh well, surprise I don't have chocolate on MY face!)

Fun with Phyllis

We have a friend named Phyllis. The Heinrich's introduced us to her. What a nice, smart, caring person she is. We especially like her because she loves Derek. She is so kind to him. She also is thinking about Derek and what she can do to help me help him. She is so complimentary on the way Derek acts (If she only could have seen him during the hard years with him). She invited us over for dinner last week. She made Derek the judge of all the different choices she had planned. She made 2 different kinds of Macaroni & Cheese, 3 different kinds of ice cream as well.
You have to know this about Phyllis, she knows food. She wrote a cookbook. She specializes in healthy cooking. I loved the Eggplant dish she prepared. It was a very relaxing evening. Derek had a good time and I was able to enjoy myself as well.
She knows Derek loves pop, and usually has one waiting to take home (Specialty pop, not the type we buy). Thank you Phyllis! Dinner was wonderful!!!

What we did on our Christmas Vacation!

I'm so behind in my postings! When I read Rebecca's blog, I should just say dido! Check hers out, scroll down to the Christmas happenings!

http://thebledsoebulletin.blogspot.com/

But for my own records, I'll add a bit to it (This blog is going to be made into a journal bound book, thanks Mindy for the idea! You'll be over here helping me when it happens!).
Just having the Bledsoes here is such a treat!
They just make me smile! Tian was a little sad this time, quite sick, and only wanted momBut when we took them to "Bouncing Off the Wall" WOW, he certainly perked up. Derek had fun seeing who was the fastest on the slide. Derek is such a tropper..

Robert joined us and had fun hanging out with the boys as well!
Christmas morning is so fun with a 4 year old and 1 year old.
Trey got so excited about everything... even a sweat band for Grandpa!




We had a lot of fun decorating cookies for Santa the night before (Thank you Satu for the Gingerbread kit), Santa and all his elves enjoyed the treats!


Wow, I'm so going out of order. One of the best gifts Rebecca and I got came a few days before Christmas. Bob arranged the two of us to spend the day at SPA W.

The boys were all safe and happy with the men in charge (and a tutor came to work with Derek.. thanks Jen). Most of the time we were apart, but just knowing Rebecca was down the hall having her facial, or her body scrub, made the day so fun. Before our pedicures they served us lunch. (Please be aware, we had just had massages, facials, body scrubs... including our hair.. before seeing these pictures)Oh, and notice the bruise on Rebecca's foot. She came in contact with their garage door.. she has a black toenail too, but the bright, Christmas Red police we chose covered it up.

We came away so relaxed. That ended quickly that night for Rebecca when Tian was so sad and upset that she and Bob spent from 3-5:00a.m. driving around Bend trying to get Tian to calm down and sleep. (Hum.. I remember those days about 30 years ago)
It's always so sad to see them leave.
(If you look closely, Trey is probably checking out his stash of candy in his pockets, making sure he had enough for the ride home!)

After we say our goodbye's and one last trip on the 4 wheeler it is ... so quiet.. so boring...so lonely! But then I find reminders all around the house that they had been here, and it makes me smile.
I found starburst wrappers under Derek's bed, rolled up stickers stuck to the bottom of my sock, a whistle in my make up bag, and a cute little white sock mixed up with my underwear coming out of the dryer! Hurry back Bledsoes's!

Ping Pong Champ!

On Derek's "drill list" we have down learning to play ping pong. Bob and I tried last night, but both of us had different techniques, which probably made Derek more confused than ever. Today Taylor went out and taught him a thing or two. Wow, he picked it up.

This is for you Heather, Gina, Jen, Jenny & Felicity!

Breakfast with the Missionaries

This year we celebrated Christmas on Wednesday. Rebecca and her family had to leave on Thursday, so we celebrated a few days early. Today, being December 25th, was going to be a quiet one. All the gifts are put away, the wrapping paper is swept up and it sure is quiet without the Bledsoes. But, we were very happy and honored to have the missionaries over for breakfast. Bob makes the best omelets! He cooked up left over ham, some hash browns, and we had some yummy Costco muffins as well.
It was so nice to have Elder Farnbach & Eaton over. Notice, they too like Capt. Crunch cereal. (Elder Farnbach likes to put eggnog in his cereal, but we passed on that request) The missionaries just get to call home 2 times a year, one being Christmas. Elder Eaton will call his parents later today, but Elder Farnbach got to call his family while he was here. I had tears in my eyes watching him dial his family. I'm sure they were so happy to hear his voice! Thank you missionary parents for sharing their sons with us here in Bend, Oregon.

You're never too old! Ho Ho Ho

Last night was the church Christmas party.
We had yummy food, great conversation, a cute program put on by the children, and than... you guessed it, the big man in the red suit showed up.
Derek was just as eager as the rest of the kids.
Thanks Santa and Santa's Elf for the great goody bag, and the nice little "visit". I sure hope you come through with the Kit Kat bar Derek wants! Merry Christmas to you.. Ho Ho Ho