There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. - Albert Einstein -
May was ushered in with Sid being tested over and over again to see if his heart is healthy. All tests proved what he already knew….he is!!! Then there was Women’s Conference in Provo with Stacy, Susan and Shelly. How fun that was….and a word of thanks to all the family members who submitted ‘tributes’ of prose and poetry to the beautiful Mother’s Day book that Susan compiled for me. I have the most thoughtful and gifted children in the world. Thanks for being who you are! It was nice for all who attended Spencer IV’s baptism. I was glad it worked out for so many of us to be there. I love the family get-togethers. Mother’s Day was spent in Mesa with Sandie and Neil coming for the weekend. They always spice up our lives and are such a joy to have in our home. Shauna and Troy, Ron and Dawn also came to visit. They are surely good to Sid and me and I love them very much (just like my other kids and their spouses). In mid May I flew to SLC to help Sherri and Spencer’s family while Sherri was in the hospital. Shelly and Stacy were there helping also. They are so fun to be around. Do all of you recognize how good the Lord has been to restore Sherri to good health? Please, always acknowledge his love in the blessings we receive each day. The new baby, Sydney, is beautiful just like the rest of the children. I had my first massage while at Sherri and Spencer’s home. They have a favorite guy who does their massages, named “Ivan the Terrible”….but believe me, I think he is “Ivan the Great” because he helped soothe my broken down knee and feet. Wow, was it great! Just this past week Sid had a cataract removed from one eye and next week he will have one removed from his other eye. He is doing well and is pleased with the results. Tomorrow we have the privilege of having Shelly and Dave visit for a few days. How lucky can we be? I am so fortunate to be blessed with the most wonderful family on the face of the earth. I love you. MOM
Sandie & Niel Taft
Hi everyone. Camp has started and things are going great and yet really busy. Neil has it looking the best it ever has. He works hard and they all love him for it. I love it when those that come here appreciate all that he does. Anyway, Neil stays very busy with the camp and his Ward responsibilities. He is the Executive Secretary again to a new Bishopric that was just called two weeks ago. He spoiled me and had my garden fence put back up (elk had gotten into my garden and kicked my fence down.)
Kris also works at Cottonwood Youth Academy and he not only supervises his assigned areas, they have him fly nationally to pick up the youth offenders or to return them home to either go to prison or be released. He is still working at his other jobs also….I don’t know how he can fit everything in. He works so hard. Allison is still going to school and is also teaching. Everyone loves her. They are letting Brenton, Tayler and Wesley come to visit us for the month of July. We will have so much fun. I already have activities lines up and I know that grandpa wants them to spend some time helping him on the camp
I miss my children and grandchildren so much. It is hard to live so far away. Kari and Curtis will come in June to visit us for a week. We are very anxious to have them come. She is working at Express at the mall and loving it. Jeremy works with Discovery card and is doing great. Curtis is growing up so quickly.
Our family
is so blessed. We love and support each other through good times and also through our trials. The Lord has been very good to us.
Stacy & Greg Hansen
May was such a great month for us. The biggest highlight was that I finished homeschooling. It was a great experience but it is nice to be finished. Madelyn had her gymnastics, cheer, and jazz reictals. Emma has her dance recital tomorrow. It is great to see all the progress this last year. Madelyn has started softball, and is getting ready for the ballet she is in next week. Koby finally got his drivers license and has started working. Emma read her first word last week CAT. It is great when they know all their sounds and try to sound out words. However COW didn't work out so well. I had my piano recital this past month and koby and Madelyn both performed. I really do enjoy teaching piano. Maybe because I only teach 7 students. I am excited for summer. We will be taking a road trip in June all the way to Mexico. I can't wait! Greg has stayed busy with work & making his pinewood derby car for an activity tonight. I think he has done every trick possible which should make me feel confident that he would win...however I think every man in the ward has done all the tricks to. It should be interesting. I finished the book Twilight and almost the sequel New Moon. I can't believe how much I loved those books! A must read for everyone who is a female! I also had the opportunity to see Sherri while she was in the hospital. I am so glad she is doing better. I am also so glad I got to hold and feed her new baby Sydney. She is darling. That sums up our month! I hope you all are doing well. I was fortunate to talk to many of you during Sherri's ordeal. I love you all. Stacy, Greg, Koby, Madelyn & Emma Sherri & Spencer Plummer
Sherri & Spencer Plummer
Ok, well this month we have experienced the highest of highs, and the lowest of lows. But, we are on the up again, and experiencing some more highs. Our new baby Sydney Gabriella Plummer was born on May 10, 2007. She is a doll, and so much fun to have around. When she was first born, she had extremely low blood sugars ( I am sure this was a factor because of the whole pregnancy, my blood sugars kept on going extremely high and extremely low). This put her in the NICU for 5 days. I was able to go home from the hospital on Saturday, and we were able to bring her home on Monday. Tuesday night was when I had my episode, and was put in the hospital for 4 days? I don't know details, you either have to ask Mom, Stacy, Shelly or my husband. They all took care of things while I was out. Spencer III has taken on the role of both husband, new father, and the wife. While I was in ICU, he had everything taken care of (of course with the help of family and friends). Because of the stress of this, I had to take Spencer into the ER to check for Spinal Meningitis. He ended up having a massive migraine, and Strep Throat (Which he decided to share with the entire family). He is now on his trip to Australia, and we are missing him immensely. Spencer and I are planning on going on a baseball trip in June to Chicago, and I can't remember where else. But we will go to a few baseball games. In July we are going on our safari to Africa. Haven't decided whether or not we are taking the baby. We will keep you posted next month on that. Spencer IV has finished soccer and is a star at baseball. He is in the machine pitch category, and has hit 2 home runs, and usually gets at least a double. What a star. He only has a few days left of school, and is looking forward to summer vacations. Sabrina is thrilled to be out of school at the end of the week, and can't wait to go to the beach. Every day she asks if we can go to the beach. She also has finished soccer, and was scoring tons of goals by the end of the season. She is now in Tee Ball, and has not quite got the grasp of it, but is having so much fun. You can't take pictures of her while the game is in progress, because she will stop and pose for the pictures. What a little diva! Samantha has been so cute with Sydney. She absolutely loves her, and is not jealous at all. I could not be more grateful! She loves to wipe her while I am changing diapers, and holds the bottle when I am feeding her, and loves to hold her all the time. I have to keep a close eye on her to not try and pick her up. She always gets me when Sydney makes a peep. She says, "Mom Syd-e-ney is crying. Go get her." She always makes me kiss her and tell her she is so tiny and cute. The only problem is that she has completely regressed in her potty training again. Oh well. I guess eventually we are all potty trained. Our prayers go out to Meela and Cherry, and hope all the results come back positive. We love you all and hope everyone is doing well. Love, Spencer, Sherri, Spencer, Sabrina, Samantha and Sydney Plummer
Dave & Stephanie Fansworth This month went by fast, but was very enjoyable.
We enjoyed a short trip to San Antonio at the beginning of the month. It was great to spend time as a family and get away. We love to ride in the car as a family and chat. The boys seem to open up a lot and tell us thoughts, concerns and silly jokes.
Dave took Austin and Chase on the father-n-sons campout. They had so much fun playing, getting dirty, and staying up late. It was some great bonding time. Dave also spoke in church on Mothers day. He did a wonderful job and is so comfortable in front of people. Dave went to Seattle for a conference this month for 5 days. He learned a lot of valuable things and was able to network. He was certainly missed!! Dave took me to "Camelot" this month along with "Wicked" (yes again). Our close friends gave us better tickets than we would have ever paid for and we enjoyed it again wit h them. It was a completely different play when you see their faces, costumes and expressions. Date nights are always something I look forward to!
I stayed busy this month with the normal routines of life. We put on a teacher training for primary that we hope turned out successful. It was more of an appreciation/training. Our primary teacher's have been amazing. Our freezer group exchanged one last time before taking a hiatus for the Summer. We did marinated meats for our last meals. They have turned o ut so yummy! Book club was canceled this month, but I still read the book (well... reread) The Hiding Place. It was a nice refresher on the sweet story. I took a great nutrition class at the beginning of the month and have rededicated myself to be better with my family. So far we are all doing great! I survived Dave's trip to Seattle with a couple of girls nights out. It was fun to get together with friends. The kids were really good for me while he was gone. Hopef ully he won't have another long trip any time soon. I am still blogging my life away. It has been great to reconnect with old friends and stay close to family. It is yet just another way to document our life's happenings. We have enjoyed some fruits of our labors in our garden. Or pepper plants have flourished and we are enjoying the first of our tomato crop. It is so nice to go into the backyard and have fresh veggies!!! Hopefully my next few months will be full of doing "mommy school" with my kids this Summer. We have some fun stuff planned and hopefully they learn a little bit too!
Austin "graduated" from preschool this month. He was so pleased and really had such a great year. Do I really have a kindergartener? Austin finished up his swim lessons and feels so comfortable in the pool (which is a relief to me!). He is still practicing the piano and practicing reading. He is so sweet and is such a help. He has perfected waking up and making his bed, saying his prayers, brushing his teeth and getting dressed without being asked. He loves to play with Star Wars toys, ride his bike, and read his books. He is always asking questions and is so inquisitive. I often don't know the answer to the questions he asks and we have fun looking the answers up together. How do you explain to a 5-year-old why Neptune has the most severe weather of all the other planets? He floored us the other day during our Sunday drive , Austin asked "Will Heavenly Father ever stop sending people to the Earth?" "Is there a Heavenly Mother?" "D id Heavenly Father ever live on this Earth?". No joke...he keeps us on our toes and we love it.
Chase is our funny little boy. He makes us laugh all of the time. He is a little ornery and has been known to say "I don't like" and that means you, everything and everyone. Then he smirks and starts to giggle. Chase had his gymnastics recital and did so well. He wasn't even scared to go up and stand on the stage to get his metal. He wears his metal around the house and says "I am going to do a jump kick over the volcano" and jumps as high as he can and lands on the couch) He is learning to recognize his ABC's and like to have his "piano lesson" after Austy (i.e. singing ABC's to random notes on the piano). He copies EVERYTHING Austin does (good or bad).
Austin and Chase also informed me this month that their stuffed pet's birthdays were coming up. So we planned a party. We made cards, made cookies, and invited the cousins over. We ran in the sprin klers and had a lot of fun. I think Ruffus (dog), Crouton (gorilla), Violin (dog), and Guitar (Bear) all felt loved!
Blakey is officially a toddler. He started walking at the beginning of the month. He is into everything and toddles everyw here. He has a few words he tries to mutter and is so sweet. He is our snuggliest baby by far. Naps and bedtime are the best. He places his head on your shoulder and smiles big. We will take all of the snuggles while we can get them! We sure love our family and feel so blessed!
Love to you all,
Dave, Steph, Austin, Chase & Blake
