My Birthday

The doorbell rang around 9:30 and it was a delivery man with this pink box. Big surprise!  I got really excited! Then I got super curious because there was no note to say who they were from. I texted Denya and Britta because they have both talked about Crumbl Cookies, but it wasn't from  them. I found out later it was Wade and Kimberlea. How sweet and thoughtful of them!

Crumbl Cookies came to Castle Rock in December. I had heard a lot of people rave about how good they were, so one Saturday when I was out and about I stopped in. There is a kiosk right by the door and I ordered a chocolate chip cookie. Then I realized you can also order from the counter where you can see what cookies they have that day. They always have chocolate chip and pink frosted sugar cookies, and then have five or six other flavors that change each week. When I saw the cookies at the counter I was a little sad and probably would not have ordered chocolate chip because the others looked so amazing! The chocolate chip was just average, nothing to make it out of the ordinary and I must admit I was a little disappointed. I have been looking forward to trying them again and now here's my chance!

These cookies are huge! I cut them in fourths and that was still pretty big, so I cut them into eighths. The snickerdoodle was my favorite and that's quite surprising. Snickerdoodles are fine and good, but they are far from the top on my list of favorite cookies. Maybe it was the frosting, or maybe it's because they are thick and soft, but they were amazing!

Nancy Brown is a good friend as well as my counselor in Relief Society, and she brought me this. Ghiradelli chocolate caramel snowmen and a magnolia candle that smells heavenly! I haven't had a candle for a long time, I've been using scented wax and I'm excited to have a candle again. 

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Denya posted this on her Instagram story. It was so sweet, I had to take a screen shot. She makes me sound so much greater than I am. 

Britta also posted on her Instagram story. What a cute collection of pictures, even if she does call me an old lady. So thankful for daughters and the great relationship I have with each of them. They both made me feel so good today.

Melissa is having a baby in July, YAY! and she had a doctor's appointment today. She felt guilty asking me to watch the girls on my birthday, but I was so happy to see them. It made my day exciting and out of the ordinary. They rang the doorbell and when I opened it, they all sang "Happy Birthday" to me. It was so fun!

They brought me flowers and a snuggle hoodie, a blanket you can wear. I'm sure I will love it because I am always cold!

It is super soft and feels a lot like minky. I bet I will wear it every evening after dinner.

The kids played with Play Doh and made lots of fun things.

Claire made a sleep mask like the one she had when they spent the night last week, and then she went to lay on the couch and wear it. So clever with lots of details and it looks just like her real one!

Dagny followed her example and made a cat mask. I love how she always makes her hands into paws when she pretends to be a cat.

Then they wanted to have a tea party with the toy dishes with lemonade and popcorn. They declared that I was the best Grandma ever! I laughed. That's a low standard in my eyes, but I'm glad they think so highly of me. I sure love these kids!

What more could I want on my birthday than to have these people come and spend the afternoon with me? It feels like heaven!

Delwyn brought me these sugar cookies that are mighty good! They are from a cookie shop that's by his work. They brought some to Lockheed one time when Delwyn was working overnight, and he brought an extra one home for me. I was excited to have a whole box. I think they have almond flavoring and that's what makes them so delicious!

Denya got an air fryer for Christmas. We tried it out a few times while she was here and it's quite fun! I decided I wanted one too! We ordered it from Amazon and it wasn't supposed to arrive until Feb 1 to Feb 5, but surprise! It came today!

I feel loved and special today! I got several texts from friends and so many people wished me happy birthday on Facebook. My birthday is not a big deal to me. I feel spoiled and blessed most days, so I don't need things or attention on my birthday. I did feel extra spoiled today! 

 

Everlee is Here!

Everlee Amber Palmer was born on January 12, 2021, weighing 6 lbs 15 oz and 19.5 inches long.

I am so glad this sweet baby is here! Kimberlea has high risk pregnancies and I've been quite worried about both of them. Kimberlea had a racing heart beat, high blood pressure, and had to have a C-section because the placenta was underneath the baby. She's also allergic to a lot of pain medication, so that's rough too.

Proud Dad showing off his new daughter!

Like Calista, Everlee has jaundice and is under the lights. Wade and Kimberlea do not have compatible blood, and both babies have Wade's blood type. The doctors said if her bilirubin levels were higher than 8 she would need to go under the lights and her test came back at 7.9.  They put her under the lights hoping to prevent it from going any higher.

They came home on Friday, January 15. We took dinner over (ham casserole, green salad, and  peanut butter treats) and visited for awhile. She was wide awake and just looking around at everything.

Calista is in love with her new sister and is so gentle with her. She loves to hold her and pat her. It's so sweet.

I got to feed her while we were there and my face says it all. I love to feed babies! Kimberlea is pumping and then they feed her with a bottle. When babies are under the lights, they don't like the parents to take them out even to feed them, so the baby gets used to a bottle and then doesn't want to nurse.

She is a good eater and drank it right up!

I snuggled her up and she went right to sleep. She is so precious!

Wade and Kimberlea had a present from Everlee for Calista to open. After her birthday and Christmas, she knows how to open presents and had it open in no time.

It was a Frozen carriage complete with characters. Calista loves this movie and walks around the house singing, "Into the Unknown". She was running through the house pushing it and smiling like crazy.

Grandpa's turn to hold and love on her. Look at all that dark hair! I think babies with hair are just the cutest! Some of my kids had hair and some were bald.

One of my favorite pictures! 

Cute to the core!

Girl Power! I see lots of nail painting parties in the future.

 

Life doesn't get any sweeter than this! Grandbaby number 7 and I am loving life!

Austin's Girls Sleepover

Austin is having a gum graft (He has some receding gums and they are going to take some tissue from the roof of his mouth and sew it onto his gums--ouch!) early tomorrow morning, so the girls are spending the night. 

Ready for bed and so excited to be sleeping on the air mattresses!

Millie has a sleep mask, so she put it on and snuggled into her sleeping  bag. I was a little surprised, I think a sleeping mask would make me feel claustrophobic, and most kids don't like the dark, but she seemed to love it.

Claire plays hard and by bedtime she is tired and falls asleep quickly.

Claire also has a sleeping mask. It is so soft and furry.

Maddie, on the other hand, was still awake at 10:10 pm! So I got a pillow and blanket and laid on the couch. I think I was asleep before she was!

Millie and Maddie loved the mermaid palace that Santa brought me for Christmas and played with it for a long time.

Claire and I did a puzzle while the little girls played with the mermaids. I love to puzzle, so this made me happy.

These girls love to color and paint, and they ask to do it almost every time they come over.

They are quite meticulous and spend a lot of time on each picture. They stay inside the lines, which is sometimes hard with watercolors, but they work carefully and patiently. I am always happy for new artwork to hang on the fridge.

The kids really wanted to watch "Snow White." They got out their sleeping bags and got comfortable. None of them had seen it before and they were very interested and hardly moved during the whole movie.

 Millie and Dagny always play  well together. They have the same interests and have so much fun no matter what they do.

We took the girls home after dinner and Austin was doing pretty good. The procedure took longer than Melissa was expecting, but it went well. Austin was very drowsy while they worked on him, and said he couldn't feel much. He has a tray for the roof of his mouth that is kind of like a retainer that he will be wearing for a few days to keep food out of the incision and to help prevent infection. He said the worst part was that he is hungry because he is on a liquid diet for 2 days. I'm glad it's over and I wasn't even the patient!

New Year's Day

Austin is converting his loft into an office. He has been working at home since Covid 19 hit in March and has been using their bedroom to work in. It's quite crowded and it's hard to spend so much time in the same room, so he enlisted all of us to come and help him. Ryan was excited to get on the ladder and start unscrewing the bottom row on the railing.

Austin built this wall last week and he needed help to get it nailed into place since it is quite heavy.

Getting the wall positioned and into place.

Britta and Ryan are holding the wall up while Austin uses lag bolts to attach it. It took about a half an hour and Britta's arms got tired, it was that heavy!

The new wall is in place! Austin left the railing up to help make sure it got positioned just right.

Then the railing came off! It was exciting to watch the progress.

This part actually happened the next day, Delwyn came and they got the sheet rock up in the office.

A door makes is it a real room! What a transformation!

Denya and I played with the girls while everyone else worked. Maddie got this puppet theater for Christmas and Millie and Maddie put on a puppet show for us.

Millie made a menu so we could play restaurant.

I ordered a hamburger and apple juice. Yum!

Dessert! Chocolate cake and ice cream!

Millie and I riding our horses to the park for a picnic.

Landon and his kids came over for awhile. Dagny LOVES this unicorn outfit and always puts it on first thing when she comes to visit.

Maddie loves to brush hair and Ryan was her first customer, followed

by Grandpa. 

Going for a walk in Aunt Denya's boots.

 We gave Claire a karaoke machine for Christmas. It was a BIG HIT! Everyone loves to sing, even Grandpa! 

Welcome 2021! Today was a great start to the year! We were robbed of so many things duirng 2020, but still experienced many blessings. The end of Covid is in sight, and we are more than ready to make up for all the lost fun!