Finally at peace

My mother, Elizabeth (Beth) Corbett Tolman passed away June 9, 2011. She is finally free from all the pain and suffering her body was inflicted with. I have to say, it was a relief to know she doesn't have to endure the hardships of diabetes, congestive heart failure, and 'old age' that her mortal body went through. Also, to know that she is now reunited with the love of her life, Rex, her Celestial Missionary son, Mike, her parents, Ed & Maud Corbett, her grandson, Caleb, and great granddaughter, Zoey. What a reunion that must have been! I know how much she loved these people so to be able to be with them again must be wonderful!



























The Paulbearers: Six of her handsome grandsons. From l to r--Mike Forsgren, KC Franson, Malachi Tolman, Seth Batz, Jonathon Forsgren, and Weaton Forsgren. She wanted to have one grandson from each of her childrens' family but Tim's son, Andrew, was unable to make it. How she loved her grandchildren, especially her grandsons!

Finally her mortal body is layed to rest along side her beloved Rex...

and next to her son, Mike....

not far from her parents.

I really do like funerals in the fact that they are more like reunions for us. We get to see family members and friends that we rarely get to otherwise. These are two of my beautiful nieces, Rachel and Josie.

Josie and Rachel with cousins, sisters Jeralynn and Nancy.

Edward's children, Gideon, Tiffany, Josh and Malachi.

The 5 of us together. I love how all our eyes nearly squint shut when we are smiling.

Hair Flowers

Pretty much everyone that knows me knows I like to make things. I love to crochet anything from doilies to baby blessing gowns to afghans. I sew (I do custom sewing). I love making quilts and baby blankets, burp rags, most anything baby. I make stick horses. You name it I like to do it. I had 3 girls and loved making all kinds of hair bows and things for their hair. These hair flowers are the latest of many things I like to do. I have started selling them & had someone ask me if I had a web site. No...I'm not that smart, but I can post them here on my blog. So here you go. Most the flowers here are $5. There are a few smaller ones that are $3 and $4. Specify which one you want and I will let you know for sure the price. I also make headbands that the flowers can clip to. If I can find the color of flower you want I will custom make one.

I don't have many white ones pictured because I ran out of flowers. I will have more done up this week.

I also am always keeping my eyes peeled for black flowers because I get several requests for them, so if anyone sees any in their shopping excursions let me know.

You can either comment here on my blog or email me at lfranson@q.com for any questions or requests. Thank you!

Our Distinguished Dude

Last year the Junior Miss committee decided to add a fundraiser to the program. They started the 'Junior Mr.' here at Blackfoot High School. This year the title, 'Junior Miss', has been changed to 'Distinguished Young Woman' so they changed the fundraiser to 'Distinguished Dude.' The boys do essentially the same things as the girls...have an opening number, introduce themselves, do a fitness number, a talent, and the 'strut', which is self-expression for the girls. KC did not say anything about doing it this year. In fact, I didn't hear anything about it until I got a phone call one evening while KC was at work. It was his best friend, Matt, calling on a Monday night (the program was set for that Thursday) asking if KC would want to do this. They had 2 or 3 boys drop out because of the state BPA competition so they needed to fill their spots. KC practiced three times with them, did a talent with Matt and another friend, Layne, and strutted his stuff. What did he get for his efforts? 2nd runner up to the Distinguished Dude, out of 17 boys. Plus he one the 'Strut' competition. Pretty good I'd say! This is a picture of some of the boys. Third from the left is KC's friend, Matt, fourth from the left is Colton, who one the title of Distinguished Dude, next to him is Layne, then KC on the far right. All 3 of the boys winning the title or runner's up are in our ward. Pretty good huh? Way to go KC! These next two pictures were last fall during Homecoming Week. KC was one of the cheerleaders for the Junior Powder Puff team. Not so sure about the 'distinguished' look here. :)

Go KC!

Winter Wonderland

When I took Jud out to the bus this morning, this is what greeted us as we walked out the door. The fog from last night had covered everything from the trees to the fence to even the spider web hanging from the roof. It was all so quiet and peaceful, all sounds were muffled. What a beautiful morning. Jud was totally fascinated with it all. I told him I thought the frost covering the pine tree looked like fluffy cotton. He tasted it and said it tasted like coconut. Funny boy.

This is what it lookes like from our driveway looking out to the garden. KC commented on how he does not hardly remember our snowpile (from scraping off the patio) being any higher than that. (Jud has helped flatten it some). I don't mind the snow at all. It is beautiful and fun for the kids. I just hope we don't get bitter cold along with it.

More snow in the forecast this week.

A School Birthday and a Park Birthday

Judson's birthday was on a monday this year. He wanted a party so bad, but monday's are super busy for him. He gets home from school about 2:15 and has to be out to Camp Hippo for therapy from 3:00 to 6:00. We decided to have his party on Tuesday. He counted down the 'sleeps' until his 'school birthday' and until his 'park birthday.'
We HAD to take treats to school for his birthday so I made this SpongeBob cupcake cake. They were little mini cupcakes. I actually made two of them so he could take treats out to Camp Hippo also.They were soooo cheesy but the kids devoured them so I guess that is all that matters.
For his party, I thought I would be smart and have it over at the park so the kids could just play on the new big toy they have there and I wouldn't have to come up with games and entertainment. I am just not a 'games' kind of mom. I wanted to keep things simple and easy. Mother Nature had other ideas in mind. It poured down rain all day Tuesday. Yep--we still had it at the park, just inside the pavillion. I found a Pin-the-tail-on-the-Donkey game and got some crepe paper streamers for the kids to play 'Spider Man' and wind them all over the pavillion. They had a blast doing that. Then we opened presents, had cake, and ran Jud through the spanking machine, cleaned up and went home. It lasted just a little over an hour and he was one happy little boy.

This was his 'Park Birthday' cake. He is really into dinosaurs. Especially T-Rex's. At school, when it is the child's birthday, the teacher has them stand on a little podium and call on their classmates, one at a time, to tell them what their favorite thing about them is. Almost all the children said Jud makes a good T-Rex when they are playing at recess. It made me smile.

Please don't call me a Saint

About 8 years ago John and I decided to apply for a Foster Care License. It took us a while to fill out the paper work, because it seemed a little intimidating at first. Then we had our background check and home study and all that stuff. If I remember correctly, we were notified that we passed everything and would soon be getting our license in the mail, then, BAM! I was in a car wreck and ended up in the hospital for a week then in a hospital bed in my living room for 8 weeks. The week I got home from the hospital we received our license in the mail. I remember thinking, "Wow! We waited for this and now we can't do it for who-knows-how-long." I think I forgot about it after that because my next few months were filled with healing, therapy, surgeries, etc. My mother came to live with us for a time, I went back to work substitute teaching. and prepared for summer to hit. One day...
I answered the phone. Caller ID said, "Idaho State Government." CRAP! What did we do? It was a service coordinator for Children & Family Services telling me they were taking a 2 week old infant into care and would we be interested in taking him? OF COURSE!
Over the next 7 years, to date, we have had 17 foster children. Most of them have been infants, but we had a 3 year old girl and her 8 year old brother, and another brother/sister pair that were 9 and 13. The 13 year old girl was something. She taught us a lot in the 4 days she was with us!
Just last week we got our 17th baby, a little girl. She is the most precious thing!
I love doing foster care. It is very challenging dealing with the family because they can be very hostile at times, but I focus on the fact that we are taking these precious little ones into our home to love them and care for them in the short time they are with us and, hopefully, give them something they can draw on later in life.
Our first little 2 week old baby boy ended up becoming ours forever. We knew when we consented to adopt him that he was a drug and alcohol baby. We would not know for some time, if ever, the problems he might have from it all. As it turns out, he has a seizure disorder, which can be very serious (we almost lost him once--had to Life Flight him to Salt Lake), he is developmentally delayed in many areas, and he was just diagnosed last year with Autism. He is an extreme challenge but everyone who knows him will agree that he is the most loving, friendly little (big--he is over 4 1/2 feet tall and 100 lbs & 7 years old!) boy they know. He loves everyone! And everyone should love him.
Through all this, I get the comment, quite frequently, that I am a saint. NO I am NOT! To me a saint is someone who is right up there next to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ in perfectness. Not quite perfect but close. I am nowhere near that! I lose my temper frequently, (I even swear more than I should), I do not keep a perfectly clean, organized house, I sometimes have a problem with judging others too harshly, I don't read my scriptures like I should and many, many other things that do not land on the 'Saint' list. I just try my best to be patient, listen to the whisperings of the Holy Spirit to help guide me, and remember how much I love my family and am grateful for all Heavenly Father has given me. Because I have been given much, I, too, must give. This is the way I can give!
So, please, don't call me a Saint, because I am not. I am just a normal person who happens to love what I am doing and knows that it is my calling in life at this time.

Pretty Princess and a Cool Car

This past weekend was High School Prom. With each daughter, we told them they could get one new prom dress while they were in High School. Do you know how much prom dresses are??? Anyway...when Mataya got asked to Prom she asked us if she was going to get a new dress. John told her he would either buy her a new dress or put$400 towards a new scooter for her. Guess what she chose?! The scooter. She borrowed a dress, which I thought was beautiful.
Once she saw what color her dress was the wheels started turning. The following pictures are the outcome of her creativity, meaning the hair and shoes. Aren't they just fun?!




The traditional prom picture in front of the willow tree with Jud in the picture.
















Mataya and her date, Josh










Get a load of those shoes! She said that was the most comfortable dance she has gone to yet. I love it! Wish I would have been smart enough to think of that when I was going to formal dances.








Another great view of the pink highlights in her hair.














And look what he picked her up in!!! A brand new Corvette! His dad brought it up for him to use for the evening. Mataya said it was by far the coolest, classiest car there. And driving through town with the top down was the best! Even better than a limo because everyone could see who was in the car.


She had a super fun time and her date was a perfect gentleman the whole night. It is such a relief, as a mom, when your kids come home from a big date like that and they have had a great time. Thanks Josh and parents for making this such a memorable evening for Mataya.
p.s. Isn't she just beautiful?