January--not too much happened this month aside from John doing his traveling for work and also his birthday.
February--another month of travel for John, but also finally received the much anticipated mission call Kim had been waiting for. On the 25th, at 4 p.m. she found out she had been called to the Tennessee Nashville Mission and was asked to report to the Mission Training Center in Provo on May 25th. John and Brittany were on the phones listening as she read the letter. Her Franson Grandparents and her Grandma Tolman were here with us as we opened the letter. Two days later we celebrated Kim's 21st birthday.
March--spent making plans getting ready for the garden, making the new 'hoop house' greenhouse for the garden and also traveling to Utah for the start of several of Brittany's baby showers.
April--another baby shower for Brittany, here in Blackfoot, more getting geared up for the garden and attending the Logan Temple with Kimberlee as she goes for the first time. Our dear friend, Lis, rode down with us and Brittany & Scott and Scott's parents, Richard and Connie, met us there from Salt Lake. We sure do appreciate how supportive Richard and Connie are with all our children and not just Brittany. Kim also had a close friend and her husband travel down from Blackfoot to attend with her. Grandpa & Grandma Franson were also there.
May--starting the countdown to a busy month. Kim gave her 'farewell' talk in church on the 15th. She did fabulous! After church we had a get-together at our house to celebrate Kim's new chapter she was embarking on and to celebrate Mataya's upcoming graduation. We had a wonderful turnout of family and friends and really appreciate all the support they give our family. That was also the last family gathering my mother attended. She was admitted to the hospital 4 days later with an unidentifiable infection.
The 17th was Jud's 8th birthday so, of course, we had to have a party and celebrate that!
On the 24th John, Kim and I headed down to Salt Lake to stay overnight with Scott & Brittany prior to taking Kim to the MTC. Brittany rode down to Provo with us the next day. The drop off was quite funny, actually. All along the street there are pairs of 'Elders' (young men attending the MTC for training prior to serving in their assigned countries or states). These young men are there to help the new missionaries unload their luggage and direct them where they need to go. As we pulled up to the curb and I got out and opened Kim's door, one of the Elders greeted me then saw Kim and said, "Oh. A Sister Missionary." Within seconds there were a half dozen Elders gathering at our car. All were eager to greet her and 'help' her unload her luggage. Once our hugs were given and goodbyes said, John, Britt & I got back in the car and headed out of the parking lot. Brittany kept chattering away, which I was grateful for, but then just stopped talking all together. That is when I lost it and started to cry. 18 months seemed like a really long time at that point.
John & I traveled home that afternoon and the next day I was in Pocatello talking with the Hospice nurse, trying to work out the details of Mom's release from the hospital to go back to her apartment at the assisted living center where she had been living. She was unable to take care of herself, even to the point of feeding herself or sitting up in bed on her own.
Friday, the 27th, was spent in preparation of Mataya's High School graduation that evening. It was a really nice evening. She got all graduated and spent the night at the school at her 'all night party.'
June--The last few days of May and the beginning of June were spent on the phone a lot talking with the Hospice nurse and family keeping updated on Mom's condition. The first weekend she was back home from the hospital she rallied and did very well. We thought she was on the mend. By tuesday of the next week she quit feeding herself and pretty much quit eating all together. By that weekend she couldn't be left alone so my sister, Jane, brother, Edward, took time from their busy lives to come stay with her 24 hours. I was able to go down a couple of times to relieve them so they could go home to take care of things there. Finally, on the 9th she gave up the fight and returned home to Heavenly Father. During the time Jane & Edward stayed with her and the rest of us came to visit her there were some precious moments we were able to experience and share with her.
We had Mom's funeral in Salmon on the 17th. We left Jud in Rigby with Grandma & Grandpa Franson. We knew it would be too hard for him to understand all that was going on and it would just be too much stimulation for him with all the events that had been unfolding up to this point. He did fabulous with Grandpa & Grandma and we were able to relax and enjoy our time in Salmon.
After all this, we were on the wait for our first grandchild to make his appearance. Finally, on the 23rd he decided it was time and Stockton Heinz Sawatzki made his appearance in this big, wide world. Brittany did great through the entire labor and delivery process. I think Scott even made it through with minimal stress. :)
June is the month of mine & Scott's birthdays and Brittany & Scott's anniversary.
July--another month filled with activities. The weaken of the 4th started off with Judson's baptism on saturday. He's such a funny kid. It was so great to see him be so excited for his baptism. We were unsure of how much he understood about it all but so happy to see that he knew this was part of what he needs to do and to be so excited about it. After the baptism, before he & John got out of the font, he turned to the crowd, gave a big grin and two thumbs up.
On the 4th we had a barbecue with some of the Franson cousins. Then, later that week we celebrated KC's 17th birthday on the 8th. On the 9th John, Taya, Judson and I went over to Raft River and Burley for the annual Tolman Family Reunion. There is a family in Raft River that has turned their yard into a big play area with two giant slip-n-slide water slides, a mud/volleyball pit, a couple of pavilions, a huge zip line and a candy cannon made from an air compressor. We were there for about 3 1/2 hours and not one time had to worry about where Jud was or if he was getting into trouble or mischief. He LOVED the water slides and spent the entire time running up to the top, sliding down, and going back up again. We could hardly get him to stop long enough to eat.
This month Mataya moved down to Salt Lake to live with Brittany & Scott so she could babysit Stockton for Brittany when she had to go back to work. We also attended our Corbett Family Reunion in Riverton and had Stockton's baby blessing in church the next day.
August--we hosted the John & Kathy Franson family reunion here at our house on saturday the 13th. That was a fun time having family here and letting the cousins just run around and play.
The rest of the month was spent enjoying the garden and getting ready for school to start. It is also the month of Brittany's birthday and John & I celebrated our 24th anniversary. We also make another trip to Salt Lake to help Mataya move into her apartment for school.
September--started off the month with the Eastern Idaho State Fair and Mataya's birthday. Brittany, Scott & Stockton came up for the weekend and Mataya and her new boyfriend, Kaleb also came up from Salt Lake. Mataya was getting ready to start school at the LDS Business College.
I decided to enter some things in the fair this year and got 2 blue ribbons and one red. I made a crocheted baby blessing outfit with the dress, bonnet and booties, plus a little girl's sundress & hat and another little girl's dress with a white pinafore over top. That was pretty fun to see those ribbons on what I had done. Made me start thinking of what I can do for next year.
After the fair it is time to concentrate on all the canning and cleaning up of the garden. That is quite a chore in itself.
October--I think the most exciting thing that happened this month was Mataya getting engaged to Kaleb Klingler. We have been so happy for her that she has found such a wonderful young man who loves her and treats her so well. They are so perfect for each other and very cute together.
KC has managed to keep quite busy with school and work. He is on the Student Body Student Council at school and works at a local restaurant. If he isn't working he is busy going to the ball games.
We also did really well with our pumpkin patch and had a lot of fun letting people come and wander through and pick their own pumpkins for Halloween.
November--worked on wedding preparations, dress shopping and the start of bridal showers. We also enjoyed Thanksgiving Dinner at our house with John & I, Mataya, KC, Jud and Grandpa & Grandma Franson.
December--More bridal showers and wedding preparations, along with Christmas shopping. John, Jud and I went up to the hills to find a Christmas tree and had such a fun time. It was good to let Jud play in the snow. Wish we could get some here so he could have more fun in the white stuff. He sure does love playing in it.
Christmas was great. We had Mataya & Kaleb here with us. Jud was so excited he hardly slept all night long. Finally at 5:30 KC came up and asked if we could get up because he didn't think he & Taya could keep Jud down there any longer. By 6 a.m. all the gifts were opened. We went to church that morning, then came home and cooked dinner and waited for Kimberlee to call so we could Skype with her. Oh it was so fun to get to see her and talk to her. She is doing so good and looked awesome. How grateful we are that she chose to serve a mission and teach people about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We have seen so many blessings come to our family because of her service. She is such a beautiful young woman, trying so hard to do what is right. We are quite proud of her.
Mataya and Kaleb were married on the 29th in the Salt Lake Temple. The night before we attended the Jordan River Temple with her for her first time going to the temple. Both days were just wonderful and beautiful. Their wedding was so awesome! We had such great support from our family and Kaleb's family. The reception that night was very well attended. It was a steady line of guests greeting the bride and groom for almost 2 hours.
Now we are looking forward to 2012 and all the fun and blessings it will bring. John & I are already thinking ahead to the yard and garden and what we are going to do. We had such success with our first greenhouse that we are going to build another. One we will fill with tomatoes again and the other we hope to fill with watermelons. Our watermelons did well and were sooooo yummy. We hope to figure out to grow a bumper crop so we can sell them and share the goodness with others. We are also excited to keep the pumpkin patch going again this year with maybe some more improvements to make it a little more fun for people to come pick out pumpkins.
Happy New Year Everyone!!! Make it a year full of purpose and service and positivity.
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