Growing up and Going back....I'm not ready for any of it.

Having the kids start school again brings me mixed emotions every year. I am not a fan of school schedules, homework, WAY TOO busy kids and the coming on of Fall and Winter...but its fun to see the kids in their new "school clothes" on their very first day back to school. Its fun to see each of them with their new hair cuts (ONE young man didn't get one this year...mom failure). Its fun to see the enthusiam and excitement on their faces for ONE day (because thats all it lasts at my house...day 2 isn't fun for any of us) and to have them actually get up ON TIME for one day.....you see at my house, its all about the FIRST day of school, but the fun ends there. After that, its just "back to SCHOOL", and thats never fun!

I DID get pictures of my 2 munchkins before they headed out the door on their first big day back!

I can't believe that there are only 2 of my youngsters left at home...and that those 2 cute little faces are growing up to be teenagers (right smack dab in the middle of it actually)!....its crazy how fast they grow up.

Is it wrong to wish they were all little again? I wonder if I knew then what I know now, would I have wished away those "little" years?...I'm pretty sure that I would have cherished those years a bit more and for a little longer....  

BIG blessings come in small packages

It's been a long week to say the least...not so much because its been BAD...but so much has happened. As many of you know... (some of you may not) my son (Todd) and daughter -in-law (Dana) were expecting their first baby...our first grandson on October 20th. BUT Tuesday afternoon changed all of that. Todd and I took Dana over to our little hospital for a "stress test". She had been feeling some "pains" in her back as well as some discomfort in her front. She wasn't feeling well and so we thought that we better have things checked out. 

We arrived at the hospital where they hooked Dana up to a couple of monitors to listen to the babies heart beat and to check and see if she was having any contractions. She was hooked up the monitor for 3 hours and they picked up NO contractions...then the nurses checked her to see if she was dilated (her doctor ordered that as routine before letting her go home)...thats when everything became a little crazy. The nurse found that Dana was dilated to 6 cm. They immediately decided that they were going to call for "Life Flight" and fly Dana to Salt Lake where she could be close to the NICU in case she delivered. They also wanted her out in the city where she could get the best care possible. The Dr.'s and nurses began to prepare Dana...giving her meds, steroids and fluids...and trying to stop her labor (which she didn't even know she was in and wasn't feeling any pain). The Life Flight Team arrived and determined that Dana was dilated more and was now at 8 cm making it a "NOT so good of an idea" to fly since they didn't want to deliver her baby in the air. She was going to deliver this baby within just a short few minutes or hours...it just wasn't going to be in Salt Lake, it was going to be right there in our "home town" hospital. The Docs called another Life Flight team to come(the Life Flight team that was there wasn't equipped to take care of a preemie) and Dana's doctor was trying to hold Dana off from delivering until the team arrived. At 11:09 our sweet, 2 month early grandson....Kenron (pronounced Ken-run) Zane Wilkerson was brought into this world. He was screaming (which was such a good sign and a wonderful blessing) as he was whisked down the hall for the Life Flight team to stabilize and prepare fly to the NICU in Salt Lake City. 

He has tons of dark brown hair, weighed 3lbs. 15 oz and measured 17" long. After a couple of hours of getting the baby ready, the Life Flight team took him into see Dana. She melted when she saw his tiny little body and grinned ear to ear as she held onto his sweet little hand. She is going to be a wonderful mommy.

...and Todd is going to make an awesome daddy!

 I was blessed to be able to bring Todd and Dana out to the hospital in Salt Lake the next day to stay with Kenron. He will be in the NICU until he is grown enough to come home. Being so tiny and so extremely early, he has alot he has to overcome before being released to come home. Our youngest was born 8 weeks early too. I remember the entire ordeal like it was yesterday. These preemies are so fragile and their little systems are so complex....its just a huge mile stone every time they do even the littlest thing. Like when Kenron opened his eyes for the first time, you would have thought he had just learned to walk. It was so exciting and awesome. Stepping stones to US are Milestones for him!
 Todd and Dana have been able to stay in a "complimentary room" right in the hospital. Its been wonderful that they have been able to be so close to him. They can go and see him any time they want to. They can stay as long as they want to...and he knows when they are there. Its such a sweet baby.

Kenron still has so many hurdles to overcome...but he is doing really well. He was taken off the ventilator after only 1/2 a day and has slowly been weaned completely off it now. What a miracle to have this extremely early baby breathing on his own...he is definatly a fighter!!!

 He has jaundice and is under the Bili lights and gets to wear a cute little "batman" mask. Hopefully he will be off the lights tonight as his biliruben levels have been dropping.  He is just as sweet and adorable as can be and I am so in love with him already.

 I can't believe how much my heart just swells up with joy when I see him and hold his little hand. It's amazing what modern day medicine is capable of and all the things that the Doctors can do to save lives. I know that prayers are answered and that Kenron is receiving blessing after blessing from a loving Heavenly Father. We are so grateful for this sweet baby in our lives. I am grateful that Dana came through this so well and that we have such wonderful friends and family who continues to love and support us through everything. Its amazing how fast our lives change from second to second, minute by minute and hour by hour....life is always full of changes and I am sure we will be seeing many more changes in our lives.
Miracles are real and we are grateful today for our little miracle grandbaby, Kenron.

PS...Dayna is keeping a blog to update anyone who is interested in whats happening with Kenron...you are welcome to check it out at KenronZaneWilkerson.blogspot.com and watch our little miracle baby grow and change day by day.

*update- Kenron was taken off oxygen as well as the the bili lights and is now happily sleeping without having to be attatched to so many tubes and cords....he is such a sweet little, beautiful baby! We love him so much!

FAmiLies Who Play together....stay ToGeTHEr!

There are times in our lives that we cherish and will remember forever....most of those times, at least for me, involve those that I am closest to....my very dear friends and my very special family. I love any opportunity that I have to spend with them.

This past weekend was our 

WEIGHT FAMILY REUNION

The WEIGHT'S...

Two of my 3 wonderful Aunts (Michelle was missing... we missed her), Aunt Saundra, Aunt Jo and my amazing Dad!

We had lots of laughs, lots of food, smiles and good conversation. Its always fun when my family all gets together, I guess because we are all so close knit and think the world of each other...it's a great recipe for building stronger relationships and making lasting memories.

Daynalee, Kim and Grandpa...happy times!

 I think that we could all be stuck in a dark, cold, abandoned cave and we would still have a crazy, fun and memorable time.

Once again we had our reunion at Hardings Hideaway where we could play in the water, slide down the giant slide, swing around on the big swings, play in the sand and venture out in the paddle boats.

Kimber is all smiles as she visits with her dad...tell him all about "grown up life on her own"!

Jack demonstrating his skills on the slide...seriously, that takes talent to do that trick..trust me!

Cameron coming down the slide and doing the "belly ride" into the pond.

Todd and Dana sitting and taking a break from the sunshine

If you don't want to get wet, thats okay...there are plenty of other things to do and lots of laughs to be had by those who enjoy watching more than "getting wet and dirty".

Halle and Todd getting ready to slide down the "ride of death"

This year was Halle's first time down the "GIANT BLUE slide". Her cousins had tried to persuade her for years to go down but she never would. This year it was Todd that finally persuaded her to take the plunge and go down. He rode down with her, promising to not let her drown. Coming down the slide, I could see the terror on her face...but as she bobbed up out of the water there was a big grin in place of her fear...so I took that as a "Happy EXPERIENCE" for her...one that I am sure she won't soon forget.

Some...or most...of the young ones that were excited to see Mr. Mater-

"Mater" came and paid a visit to the kids. I was getting all excited...you know, really playing up the "coolness" of seeing Mater, for the little kids... I asked one of my nieces if she was "sooooo excited to see Mater?" and he looked at me and said, "....it's only a truck Aunt Julie".....guess my enthusiasm and giddiness was for nothing...ha HA HA ha.

Happy Birthday to you Aunt Jo!

This year our reunion happened to fall on one of my aunts birthdays...her 54th birthday! She wasn't about to let the "kids" be the only ones that had the "times of their lives".

Aunt Jo showing us what FUN is!

She jumped right in on the "fun wagon" and gave the slide a try, the first time ever for her, and she was...screaming the entire way (thats what we all do...because it's truly terrifying)! Even after losing her boogie board on her first run down, she jumped out of the water and climbed up the steep stairs for another try at it. Its proof to me that you're only as old as you feel and that life only gets better and better....54 is looking pretty good!!!

Aunt Jo swinging around on the GIANT swing

Thanks Aunt Jo for "putting the cherry" on top of our perfectly awesome day! Happy Birthday!!!!

Family reunions are something that I have a lot of fond memories of as a child, we did different things...but they were fun nonetheless. I love that we can take time out from the "rat race of life" to spend time as a family and build relationships that will carry me through troubled times. I know that I can always count on my family to be there for me, today,  tomorrow and forever. I hope that my children grow up having strong relationships with each other as well as their extended family and remembering all the fun that we always have when we all get together and enjoy each other, like I always do! What would life be like if we didn't have our families?...I am glad I will never have to know.

Thanks one and all for another amazing reunion.  

PJ Parties and School ShoPPinG!

I like to shop!... (yes, I realize I have confessed this to you before...now I am just stating it AGAIN for the record). I enjoy it because its like a "breath of fresh air" and its something that I don't get to do very often in this small"rural life" of mine. Shopping breaks up the  monontany of my busy, sometimes boring and crazy days ... I enjoy it because its RELAXING and just plain ol' fun!!!!...BUT there are a few exceptions to the "Shopping IS fun" statement...SCHOOL SHOPPING, GROCERY SHOPPING and CHRISTMAS SHOPPING!...but we always do our best to make it as fun as possible.


With the first day of school quickly creeping up on us...the time is running out to get the school shopping finished. I thought we better make a trip out to the city to get done. We did all of Cameron's shopping "on-line" this year...(woo hoo) luckily I only had to pick up his shoes out in the city. We did a small amount of Halle's shopping on-line, but she needed to "try things on" this year so the on-line thing just wasn't going to work too well for her. I thought we would save HOURS of stress and headache (there would have been returns after returns for her, guarenteed!) if we bagged the on-line shopping and went right to the source (the stores!).

 Woo HOO!...says Halle

So Friday was the big day...we headed out to the city (yes, with everyone else that lives in the rural outskirts of our state) to get the rest of her clothes and school supplies. We stopped for a picnic lunch at "Whisky Springs" and some "one-on-one time" for me and Halle. It was fun to sit and listen to her dreams and aspirations over lunch as well as her excitement and zest for life. It was sweet to see her smile at the "mom-and-me time" that we were taking. I enjoyed just hanging with her a getting to know her better, its surprising what you can learn when you just take the time.

We packed "overnight" bags, thinking that we might possibly need to spend the night...(once again, so much to do yet not enough energy to do it all in our alotted time frame)...I am glad that we did because as the day flew by we hadn't even gotten a third of the way through my list and my energy was depleting rather quickly. We planned on meeting Kimber, Jack and Dayna for dinner (YES, at Cafe Rio!) and then I figured I would run and get a few more things crossed off my list before we went to "hit the hay" at Jack and Dayna's house. But as we were all sitting there and enjoying our dinner over laughs and converstation we started talking about what we could do for the rest of the night (getting things crossed off my "to-do" list wasn't one of them). I decided...since Halle and I were spending the night, there was no rush to get everything done that night....so we made a plan...we would help Kim move out of her apartment (long story...but yes she had to move again and then she'll move again in a week) and then we would all go to the LATE night showing of "Letters to Juliette" at the Dollar Theater....in our PJ's?!!!! I guess we can chalk that part up to the "craziness of an ordinary life"...and making our own kind of fun. Yes, we got a few stares and glares as we walked into the theater...but hey- it was "late night" and we were having a great time. We weren't hurting anyone and we weren't being offensive (our PJ's consisted of baggy T shirts and sweats or stretch pants...no worries!)...there was no reason for people to judge us so harshly! The movie was great, I loved it (I had seen it before but it was still super cute)...although, we all fell asleep a few times and ONE of our "little" group even snored a "little" (we won't reveal WHO that "little" someone was), we went away having had a great time and made crazy, special memories....sometimes those are the ones we remember the most anyway.

Come morning time we headed out to  wander the halls of the Malls and stores until all of my "I's" were dotted and all of my "T's" were crossed....that happened to be ALL DAY (sorry girls).

Kim modeling the latest in hair bows as well as shoes~.....interesting shoes (the colorful ones)?!

We had to break up the monotany of the day and take a "detour", trying on a few of the fun and funky things that the fashion runway has to offer this season...lets just say that "rural life isn't so bad"...being behind just a little bit in the fashion world is a "GOOD thing" sometimes.

Dayna modeling the latest in the hair feather and headband, which was super cute!
 (sorry you can't see them very well)

We even ran into a few maniquins along the way. 

Whew...the task of school shopping is once again finished and complete for another year. The weekend was a blast...our school shopping trip turned out to be great fun, if I do say so myself.  I laughed harder than I had laughed in months, chatted and caught up with my girls which is always fun, any time.

and so comes "The End"...of this years shopping trip!

Thanks girls for letting me be your mom...and for being such awesome girls...I love you!   

Trying to hang on....

I'm back....life has gotten the best of me, its been full....FULL of "so much to do and not enough time to do it all"....I am sure that most of you know the feeling.

There is always so much to do. I look around and feel so overwhelmed and discouraged at times because there is so much that needs to be done and I just don't have the energy to do it all anymore. I am only one person and I can't run the marathon anymore...I did once upon a time, but I just can't anymore. So as I sit and rest for a moment I thought I would get a blog post up.

Summer is coming to a close...and so is our summer break!...

I am sad to see the kids going back to school. I am sad that I have to get back to a "schedule", homework, sports, lessons, early morning rushes and rituals, short weekends and SERIOUSLY no fun. I am sad to go into Autumn with its cold, cool weather and colors of brown and yellow (we don't experience much of the "reds and oranges here").

I am sad to see the garden coming on in full force and knowing that it will all be gone before I get a chance to fully enjoy it.

I am a full fledged spring and summer girl...give me green grass, warm/hot temperatures...

blue skies and blazing sunshine, late summer nights-

 gorgeous sunrises and sunsets, long walks outside, lazy days at the lake, Sunday afternoons swinging on the swing, anything cooked on the grill, chirping birds, crisp sheets hanging out to dry and blowing in the breeze, bees buzzing around my face...

 the smell of campfires when I drive up the canyon, the sound of crickets on an early-sleepless morning

and the gorgeous colors that were created to make this world a beautiful place to live. 

I am trying to soak it all up and store all the sights, sounds, smells and experiences because it won't be long and its all going to be gone! Sure, I KNOW that we have to have winter so that we can enjoy the "good stuff" but I don't have to like it...I never have...and frankly, I never will!!!

Seriously...how does this "ugliness" compare to the "beauty" of Spring and Summer....?

Sorry....it just doesn't do it for me!!!!

(no "hate" comments please. I know MANY of you love winter and the cold, 

I guess we are all entitled to our opinions...but since this is my blog...I can give you mine!)

So...hopefully the next month to 6 weeks will be full of soaking up Summer experiences...at least for me. 

Day 2...a "splashing" good time!

Our 2nd day of our reunion was just as grand and fun as the first! Bright and early (9:30) Saturday morning we got up and had breakfast...outside! We never do that, even though we have a nice patio table and COULD if we wanted to, I just don't ever think about it but I loved eating breakfast out in the crisp morning air and the beautiful sunshine. Erik wasn't able to be with us for the 1st day of our reunion but he was there for the 2nd day...rearing to go and have a great time....

WHICH WE all DID!

We were planning on floating the Strawberry River, but we couldn't ever find enough inner tubes for everyone that wanted to float(bummer, maybe next year)..so we decided to head up to the Lake for a day in the sun and blue water instead. Erik worked at Starvation Lake for several years and said that he knew where there was a really fun place to go. Being the 24th of July in UT (our big STATE HOLIDAY) we were doubting that we could find someplace fun that didn't already have millions of people lurking around in every corner...but Erik assured us that he knew just the spot. We loaded up the cars and followed him to our own little piece of paradise. We had to walk a little bit (in the loose sand it felt more like hiking) into the bay, but when we got there we decided that it was well worth it!

 There wasn't a soul around (just like Erik had promised) and it was beautiful. 

The kids jumped off the "cliffs" and the rocks into the water, 

swam and played around for several hours. 

The water was deep but it was perfect for all of our "swimmers"....those of us

who "didn't swim" had a nice smooth rock to watch from. 

I was amazed by some of their "bravery", their pure craziness and desire to out do someone else in the tricks and daring feats they performed!

Deron, Dana and I enjoyed our day by just lazing and hanging in the sun, watching all the activities in the water  (someone had to be the "on-lookers)...Cameron stayed on shore as well, but his "water free" day wasn't by choice. 

Since his leg still had an open hole in it...he couldn't get in the water. He brought his dog (Draego) along and had fun playing fetch with tennis balls and hanging with the rest of us "on lookers". 

Deron and I have decided that "Labrador Retrievers" are the only dogs that we are ever going to have (assuming we have any dogs after Draego). Halle had decided that she wanted to swim across the bay to the other side and then back again (she was sure she could do it...and I thought she could too). She made it over to the other side, but on her way back she got tired (or something) and started calling out for help ( she was  a little panicked), she quickly flipped on her back and started to float. She had it under control, but still had a little ways to go. 

BUT she was making Draego WAY too nervous, he was pacing back and forth and finally he just jumped in and swam out to her, put his head under her arm and brought her back into shore. It WAS PURELY AMAZING to witness. Halle was grateful and gave him a big hug and we all decided that he was a "keeper" (we had already decided that...but that sealed the deal). 

We ALL had an amazing, wonderful, fantastic day. I am so glad that all of my kids were there and that everyone had fun. Reunions aren't just about "sitting around a picnic table and playing cards or talking about the olden days"(although that's fun and I enjoy doing that also) I think that one of the most important things about a reunion is spending time together and doing whatever brings the family closer together, just doing the things your family enjoys....whatever that may be.  

Sometimes its fun to just sit and watch, other times its fun to get down and dirty and participate.  My family is full of lots of "doers and goers", so "doing and going" is our thing....we were all completely pooped at the end of the day, but we all went away happy and with huge smiles on our faces! 

A great big thanks!!!!....to Dayna for planning the reunion and bringing us all together!....


We made memories to last a life time, had great belly laughs that we will continue to laugh about for years to come and strengthened a family bond that is unbreakable. I really do have the best family a girl could ask for!...(who cares if I am a little prejudice?!)