BRAG!

That's exactly what I'm doing! BRAGGING!

Background info:
For Christmas, I gave Mesa some round looms to learn to knit with. Morgan gave her a box full of yarn so she had supplies. She and I learned how to do it with the included directions and she had knit a newborn size hat before she left my house that day. It was really neat and just the creative type things I get into. I tried really hard NOT to get myself a loom because I wanted Mesa to feel good about herself doing something creative that her mother (who is always doing creative stuff) can't do. I couldn't hold out. I had to get myself a loom. I was a good girl, I got a totally different kind from Mesa's so she can be better than me at round things and not get intimidated. (Yes, I really worry about that.)
Well Christmas was Wednesday and today is Sunday. I had gotten a skein of yarn and made a narrow scarf last night. It took me 4 hours and I used the whole skein. It wasn't quite as long as I would have liked, so I looped it on my neck and pinned it with a brooch Tommy had given me 24 years ago for Christmas (awwww) and felt pretty good about myself at church today.

After church, Jared was determined that HE was going to knit too! Do you see how big that word
D E T E R M I N E D is? I was ready to rip out hair! That was just after one hour of his nagging me! I had some stuff to take to Mesa and my loom does flat panels. I figure it could probably do round ones too if I'm creative with it, but I haven't done much yet so why tax myself and hate knitting on the second try? I went to Mesa's house and we traded one flat loom for one round loom. I showed her how to do a flat panel and then came home and showed Jared how to use the round loom. I only had to show him one time. Look at this kid!









Seriously...He is so proud of himself, as he should be! I'm just as proud. He's also won out....he'll be getting his own loom asap!

SURPRISE!

You probably thought I had neglected my blog,...maybe even figured I had forgotten I had one...or perhaps I just felt you didn't need to know anything in my life anymore....right? wrong.
In fact,... back a few weeks ago, I got a text message from Mesa and the whirlwind began then.

What whirlwind? ... you ask....

That's what I got on my phone. Two pink lines means that in August, we should have one pink baby too.

Do not call me Granny, Grandmaw, Grandma, Gran Gran, Mawmaw, Nana or anything else. I'm not old enough for such language! I'll wait for the baby to start talking to me and tell me what my name is. *shivers*

So your mind is reeling with questions, right? I'll answer a few:

• Due date is August 5th. 
• Yes, morning sickness has struck....hard.
• If you ask her what she wants, she'll say "a duck", because in reality, she doesn't care so long as it is healthy.
• Is she excited? Like a little Justin Bieber fan!
• Is John excited? yep.
• Am I excited,............ ummmm....... 

Well, let's say it this way, when there is a baby in my arms, I'll be thrilled. Between now and then, I see a belly full of stress and worry. I have PCOS and it has caused me difficulties with every pregnancy except MAYBE Manti. Mesa has exhibited several of my symptoms already and has had a little spotting. So I have concern there. I feel like they as a couple are very ill-prepared for such an adventure, but as I have said for nearly 2 years now,....this isn't MY lesson to learn or my reward to earn. I have a hard time shutting my mouth and letting go, but I really do try. I worry myself silly and I do too much...and a baby is going to increase all of that for me. But the good news is.... I have till August to work through that and find my excitement too.

Now before anybody scolds me or preaches at me, I am NOT disappointed or upset and I am NOT downplaying this special time for Mesa and John. I'm just feeling cautious and concerned and motherly worry for the health and safety of my daughter.....and my unborn grand-daughter (yep,...that's what I'm guessing at this point.)

So there you go! SURPRISE!

Road Trip- Part 1

This story will be a little heavy on the pictures, so I'll tell it in 2 parts.
Part one started with a special scout camporee. This particular camporee we attended to support a patrol mate of mine from my session of Woodbadge training. His name is Al. While we were at Woodbadge, there were a few times we needed to adhere to the "buddy system" and Al happened to be MY buddy. He's a great guy and I admire how he talks about his family. That man LOVES his family!
So anyway, this camporee was a part of Al's project (also known as his "ticket")...to prepare it and document the planning and to provide a guide for others to follow in putting together future camporee programs in his district. I don't live anywhere near there, but Al invited all of our patrol and it just so happened that I got to go....AND I got to bring the whole family! (Everybody but Mesa that is.)

Off we went to the North Georgia Mountains to the Woodruff Scout Reservation where pitched a few tents and hunkered down for our first night of camping.....where it promptly dropped dramatically to 26 degrees!!! No I'm not joking! Tommy was on a cot. Manti was on some animal hides and blankets. Morgan was in a tent with his buddy, Adrian (where I had to help him remember how to sleep INSIDE a sleeping bag! go figure!), Jared was on a narrow air mattress and I was on a good sized air mattress with the best sleeping bag EVER! We were fine, but boy were we surprised at the temps! We survived, but wow!

It was a great camporee (a first for me and Morgan and Jared!) and I got to spend it with two of my best friends (Sara and Tommy) and my favorite boys. What a blast we had!

BUT....the story doesn't end there!

Sunday morning, we got to experience a "scouts own" service, which is a non-denominational religious service planned and prepared and presented by the boys themselves. That was first for my little boys too. After we did that, we took down our tents, packed up the car and headed....

NORTH!

Yep, north....to Cherokee North Carolina. It was a nice scenic view all the way. From all the walking during the camporee, I could barely get my legs to work so I got Tommy to drive me around like Miss Daisy :D Ahhhhhhh the life! That means I got to take pictures! And that means YOU get to see some of them now :D You thought I'd never get to this point, right?

 

This is a distant view of the mountains as we were coming up on Blairsville Georgia, the area where the scout camp is located.

 

Manti standing in front of this sign. Who cares who William Bartram is, it's Chief Atakullakulla we were interested in, because he is a REALLY distant ancestor to Tommy's side of the family. Neat, huh?

 

 Morgan was easily excitable this whole trip. We're standing at the edge of an overlook, looking down at the Nantahala River.

 

 And this is the Nantahala River.

 

This one is inside the Cherokee Reservation. This is the Oconaluftee River that runs through the middle of town. I found it sweet how the boys followed Manti around wanting to see everything that interested their older brother.

 

 This one was taken over near the Kituwah Mounds. The area has been through a lot of changes. It is now strictly used by registered members of the tribe for hunting and gardening. Visitors may drive through and look, but may NOT leave the path or touch anything. Their gardens were unbelievable! I've never seen so much corn in one place in all my life! Anyway, the view of the mountains from those fields was amazing. It was a foggy morning and the haze over the whole town was gorgeous.

See what I mean? Gorgeous!

The Answer!

I never knew why I have to go through such "crap" some days. Now I know why...it's where I live!

Bead Shop

After setting up a vendors booth at the most recent powwow, I decided that I needed to spread my wings a little. I dislike Ebay. They should hire people who can think for themselves. So that meant finding another place to sell from. My sister-in-law sells her cookie jar lids and potpourri dolls on Etsy.com so I thought I'd give it a shot and see how I could do there too. Last night I started setting up shop and found it wasn't impossible...so now it's open.

You should go have a look!

The Rest of the Story...

So Wednesday, Manti left Albuquerque New Mexico and flew to Atlanta. We arrived at the airport and had about 45 minutes to anticipate his trip up the escalator to us. I couldn't sit... no way! I stood at the rope in front of "the line".... ok I stood in FRONT of the rope.... and I bounced on my heels the whole time as if my bladder were overfull. I kept crying too...the entire 45 minutes. I don't know why,...really I don't!
As I wait, a lady comes up to me and says "I'm a church member too, so I understand your excitement and anxiety. May I take pictures for you?" I told her yes but it really didn't sink in what she was saying and I didn't care. All that mattered to me at that moment was that nobody prevented me from my first glimpse of Manti on that escalator. That was the LONGEST 45 minutes ever!! I stood the whole time, bouncing and crying. Finally he appeared and Mesa saw him first. She said "there he is!" and I looked where she pointed and yep, it was him! I couldn't help it,...I screamed and ran to him. I was aware of the DO NOT CROSS line and stopped at it. He stopped too because of the commotion and my screaming. I called to him and told him GET OVER HERE! so he came. I hugged him. He let me. He didn't say a word and didn't try to rush me, just let me hug him. He hugged back and his arms around me were so solid and sure. I don't have better words to describe it.... heavenly!

I had a stroke of conscience I guess, and remembered the rest of my family. So I walked him over to the others and shared. I couldn't even talk really. It was just joy....pure and absolute joy.

And then the lady who took the pictures came back up to me and asked me to gather all the family together so she could take a group picture of us. I did, and she handed me a slip of paper with her email address on it. She said to send her an email and she would send me the pictures. That's about the time I realized what this lady had done for me. Mesa had my phone, and the camera in my phone is a really good one, but you DO need to know how to use it to get the best pics out of it. She got a video, and I did post that....but she just got her brother and close friend back and her emotions wouldn't let her think as clearly and focus on photos either. I didn't expect that of her because I was so caught up in having my child in my arms the first second I could get him there. This lady gave me a treasure. She told me a little about herself and then we left after I thanked her. I emailed her, she flew back home to Colorado, and she emailed me the pictures. They are SO good! Here they are in order as they took place.

Manti Came Home!

I'll have more to show on this and tell you after tomorrow. (It's a really really neat story, but it has to wait till I have the pictures to go with it.)

So it took 45 minutes from the time we arrived inside the airport until he came up the escalator. I didn't think I was going to make it! I stood right in front of those escalators the whole time, bouncing up and down and crying. The pictures look like I'm chewing my fingernails, but really...I wasn't. We had some New Mexico flags and a small banner I had made that said Welcome Home Elder Bailey, but he didn't even see those at first...thanks to me :D

So here's the video of the first hugs....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NpKoZoiGKQ&feature=youtu.be