Reflections on being 50

This week I turned the big 50!! I had told my kids I was going to get a motel room and come home when the crisis was over. For some reason the 0 birthdays always bother me. I remember when I was young and my parents were in their 50's, they just seemed so old to me. Being 50 means I have lived more than half a life time. It gives one cause to reflect about what you have accomplished in life. A classmate of mine who was born the same day and in the same hospital, came out to give me a hard time about being old. We spent time reflecting on our school days and talking about "If we had only known". If we had only known, we would not have been so worried about what others thought of us and just been ourselves. If we had only known, we would have paid a little more attention in class and gotten a better education. If we had only known, we would have cultivated better relationships with each other instead of comparing ourselves to classmates that we thought were so much better than us. We decided that our accomplishments were not the things we had in life, but the fact that we had good marriages, great kids and grandkids. That really is all that matters in the long run. I feel like I have the greatest kids on earth and my grandkids, well what can I say, they are perfect. I love you all so much. So I guess being 50 isn't so bad after all because if I wasn't 50 I wouldn't have you all in my life and I can't even comprehend that. So thanks Jeff for helping me realize that being 50 is right where I want to be.

Blessings

I guess I did this backwards. You have to start at the Merry-Go-Round post to understand the next 4 posts. Anyway our next adventure began on Tuesday May 26th. We met Dallas and Emilee and the kids in St. George for the birth of our 5th grandchild!! Wednesday morning Dallas, Emilee and I went to the hospital at 6:00 am. Emilee was induced at 8:00 am and at 2:38 pm she had a perfect baby boy, Trevyn Ty Clark. weighed 7 lbs 8 ozs and was 20 inches long. He is such a good baby. He is patient and never cries. The kids adore their new brother. They have waited so long. They all want to hold him and take care of him. We went home on Thursday to Dallas and Emilee's beautiful new home. Emilee has worked so hard to make it perfect for Trevyn's homecoming. The next day Gary and Sharla left to come home. It was pretty sad. The kids wanted them to stay and play. I got to stay for 2 weeks. The kids got a new trampoline and loved having Grandma jump with them as it made them go higher. Being with my grandkids is the best. I love it when they are all together. They love each other so much and love to play together. It is always so hard to leave. Two weeks seemed like it would be a long time but it went by so fast. Thanks for letting me be a part of Trevyn's birth. I love you guys to eternity and beyond!!

My next adventure was to head for Phoenix for the NCTOH conference on tobacco. It was a 4 day conference. It gave me a chance to spend time with Kelsey, Sharla and Jaron. I stayed the week-end and spent one night at Kelsey's new place and one night with Sharla. We all camped out at Jaron's. We did some birthday shopping for Sharla, some I really need some clothes and food shopping for Kelsey and some wedding shopping. We had a great time. On Sunday I came home. It was weird coming home after being away for 3 weeks. But my bed sure did feel good. Gary was pretty tired of being a bachelor and was glad to have me home. My next big adventure will be going to Kentucky at the end of July. That will be a new experience, I am excited.

Jen's new house

Our next adventure was going to Utah. Our first stop was at Jen and Tyler's beautiful new home. I am not sure why I didn't think to take a picture of it. The first night we were there we went to Pirate Island for dinner. We saw a real life pirate, a ship, talking parrots and skulls. What fun!! We got up the next morning and began working on the yard. We worked all day and got it ready for the sprinkler system. Gary and Tyler got the stuff to build a fence and a gate. In the mornings I would take Carson in the walking stroller along with Bentley (the dog) and we would see what was going on in Hurricane. Carson would point out things to me and visit with me the whole time we walked. I sure miss having those times with my grandkids. He is growing so fast. He likes to try to beat you by telling you he loves you more than the whole universe. I tell him I love him to infinity and beyond and he tells me, he beat me because he loves me to eternity!! The little boy next door got quite attached to Gary and began calling him Grandpa. We sure enjoyed our time with you guys. Love you tons, to eternity and beyond!!

Sharla is a Nurse!!

It is official. Sharla has graduated from nursing school! I know there were times when she didn't think it would ever happen, but she made it. It was so awesome to see her march with her group and get pinned. She took her test last week and was just sure she didn't pass because the machine shut off at 75 questions. I wasn't worried because she would always tell me that she didn't think she did good on a test and then she'd call and say she got a 95. Sure enough the next day she called and said she passed and by Saturday she had her certificate. Sharla we are soooo PROUD of you. You will be an awesome nurse!!

Stop the Merry-Go-Round

I decided I would get off the Merry-Go-Round of life for alittle while and update this post. Life has been pretty crazy the last two months. I have lots of updates so hang on. Did you notice the change in the name of the blog? We are now officially "Empty Nesters". Kelsey has moved out and gone to Mesa to pursue her life. It is weird to come home to an empty house again. We enjoyed having her here for a little while. She moved down to Mesa when we went down to Sharla's graudation.