YES, I WAS YOUNG ONCE......

These are my six grandsons.  Pam's son Will 21, Sherrie's three sons, Alex 19, Brayden 17 and Kennedy 14 and Karrie's two sons Richie 18 and Scott 10.......I know they cannot believe I was ever young, as long as I have been Grammie I have been kinda old, well yes, old! ......"The great thing about getting older is that you don't lose all the other ages you have been."  When I announce to one of them that "I was young once?" they can't fathom I ever went through the riggers of curfew, rejection of friends or a bad score on a test paper!!!!  I am here as a witness, this too will pass and you will survive.....a better person.  I am very dedicated to growing and becoming....not just aging.  These two aspects are the secrets of being ageless--growing mentally, emotionally and spiritually and becoming the best person you can be at this time in your life.  Making this commitment to the process of agelessness is what will get you the results you want.
Sherrie and Kennedy came in from Vernal today for the dentist, Karrie and Scott met us at my pool and we had a fun afternoon......Oh yes...I am so exited for the Panniers, they bought  a new place at Maxx Inn in Idaho!!!

I BELIEVE.......

I am sure you have all raised your children on nursery rhymes.  You thought their message was good for us.....maybe we got another message from them....."I believe that each of us has an essence, a quality at the very core of our being that makes us who we are.  It's what guides our thoughts, our feelings, our tastes.  It's what sets us apart from everyone else.  I believe that finding ways to express that essence is one of the greatest joys in life."  26 years ago I stepped out and started traveling, volunteering, knitting, reading, painting, baby-sitting etc. looking for my real essence!   I am still looking. Do you ever find it?  Trying to find the secret of my success isn't easy.  Am I visually curious?  I am not fascinated by art or aesthetic, love to take snapshots and create photo albums so I am not visually curious.  Do I learn best through trial and error or curious about how things work....not really so I guess I am not physically curious.....Do I tend to be interested in history and politics or like learning about psychology....not really so I guess I am not intellectually curious....do I love to travel to new places, Enjoy trying exotic foods and cuisine and intrigued by different cultures....YES, so I guess I am perceptually curious!  Good to know where you fit in in this life and I still love nursery rhymes.

SUMMER OLYMPICS 2012....

As I count off the days of my life, I feel I have hit another mile stone, another Olympics!  You always hope you get to see another one, but every four years can see a lot of changes in your life.....especially in your later years.  It would be fun to be in London, but I think I can enjoy the events just as well from my front row seat.....my recliner in the family room. I plan to enjoy the next two weeks close to the TV.
It is a great feeling to know I am in charge of me!  It's true that there are some things we can't control.  But there is so much we can....From your attitude and actions to your decisions and your dreams, you have the power to shape your today and tomorrow.  Your life is in your hands.  Make it great! Great weekend tending Marley and Izzie and coffee with Cleon.

Apostle Delbert L. Stapley

This picture is of Apostle Stapley, who is dead now, but who turned my life around. After trying for another child for 8 years when Pam was 2, my sister-in-law's mother, Mrs James, who lived down the street from the Stapleys ask me if I would like a blessing from the apostle.....oh yes!  I told him my frustration and longing for another baby, well, he gave me a beautiful blessing.  In about two months I became pregnant......with twins.  I got toxic poisoning and they had to start me a month early, the morning they started my labor he came into the Holy Cross Hospital, put his hands on my head and ask God to bless the babies and I to come through the ordeal and regain our good health. This did happen..... I guess you would say this is when my testimony of the power of the priesthood grew stronger. The twins were a month early, Sherrie weighed 3lbs 13 oz and Karrie weighed 4lbs 5 oz, they were in incubators for a couple of weeks, but were always strong healthy babies.  When Sherrie and Darren were down on Temple Square last week they took this picture for me.....It is special to me.

ENGAGED......

Yea, Nicci and Bill are engaged!  We were on a cruise to Alaska and Bill bought the diamond.  They showed it to me and swore me to secret until they could go home and tell "OLLIE" and Bill's parents.  We have known Bill about three years and all fallen in love with him.  He is from Indiana, Nicci from Utah and they both live and work in Minnesota, so the wedding sometime next year will be in Minnesota. Soooo, I guess I won't hang up my DunnRovin sign just yet.

HAPPY, HAPPY HAPPY

This is me being very happy!  I have new stairs an stair case on my patio. They were not really safe, but I thought they could be mended, but they were beyond that.....soooo after one estimate of $1,000.00 my sweet Cook family stepped up and tore into them and it took a weekend, but the redwood now matches the railing and they will last me as long as I need them.  The lumber was $173.50 and we celebrated by dinner at the the steak house.  Saved me a lot of money.  It really makes you proud when you have good kids that love you.  Seems you just get one problem solved and two more pop up.  Now I can't get my safe to open....at least everything in it are safe!  Tackle that problem tomorrow and need to lock down my tvs with a password.....which is just one more thing to remember.  But this to will pass.  Nice quiet Sunday.

"A REAL DARK NIGHT!"

Talk about a dark night.....Last night we went to the 9:30 preview of "The Dark Knight Rises".  It was a fund raiser for my granddaughter's cheer-leading group. It was a packed theater. While we were quietly and silently engrossed in all the shooting and battling.....500 miles from Salt Lake in Aurora, Colorado a similar group had gathered for a late preview of the same movie....another packed theater,only into the movie, a gunman entered the theater and started shooting for real, killing 12 and wounding 38.  Today is a very dark day all over the U.S. Are our children safe any place any more?
What interesting times we live in.  We have lived to see the fall of our republic; money and corruption in politics, suppression of voting rights, endless wars, the rise of OLIGARCHS....(oligarchy is a form of government in which the power is vested in a few, or a state of governed; also those who form the ruling few!)  I guess if you live long enough your not surprised by what happens in our crazy world.

A THOUGHT.....

"To find yourself.....think for yourself.
To face my problems I have to see myself as part of the never-ending cycle of change in the universe.  Everything in the universe is continuously integrating and disintegrating-this produces transformation and growth.  My problems are caused by my resistance towards this natural cyclic movement of life. The universe is in charge....I realize my problems are an opportunity for learning and creating something new, and I will feel a sense of well-being that results from my shift in consciousness. I know that I am only presented with lessons when I am ready to learn them....I will trust my own direction. I know I have the confidence to follow my path and surrender to the inner intuitive voice that recognises the harmony and wholeness that has always been there.
"Life is the movie you see through your own eyes. It makes little difference what's happening out there.  It's how you take it that counts."  Two people can see the same car accident and each tell a completely different version of what happened.....it's how they see it......not right or wrong......it just is.

WHERE HAVE ALL OUR LEADER GONE?

Lee Iacocca asks......"Am I the only guy in this country who is fed up with what is happening?  Where the hell is our outrage with this so called president? We should be screaming bloody murder!  We have a gang of tax cheating, clueless leftest trying to steer our ship of state right over the cliff we have corporate gangsters stealing us blind.  But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when politicians say, "trust me, the economy is getting better and better?  Better?  You have got to be kidding.  Throw all the Democrats out , along with Obama....."
These are times that cry out for leadership.  Where are the people of character, courage, convictions, omnipotence, and common sense?
I was born during the Great Depression, other bad crisis I have lived through are World War II, Korean war, Kennedy's death, the Vietnam war, 1970 oil crisis and the horrible 9/11 strike on America, but this is getting to be the "worst of the worst" in America,  Please God......let Romney win!  I worry what is ahead for my nine grandchildren!

You Deserve To Be Happy....

Happiness isn't something you have to earn or wait for.  It's not something that only happens to other people, or something you have to be perfect to quality for.  And it's not something you have to chase.  Every day brings reasons to be happy.  They're just wait to be noticed!
We are not here just to survive and live long...We are here to live an know life in its multi-dimensions to know life in its richness, in all its variety. And when a man lives multi-dimensionally, explores all possibilities available, never shrinks back from challenge, goes, rushes to it, welcomes it, rises to the occasion then becomes a flame, life blooms.  (Bhagwan Rajneesh)   I so want to learn this.Sherrie came to town today and we went to lunch and shopping at Costco. Being with my children make my day.

SUNDAY DINNER AT THE COOKS

I really didn't show up at the cooks for dinner dressed like this....we were adjusting my blog page and this picture just happened to be what I put up....That is the real me.....or was many years ago???? I went over to the Cooks for dinner and took my computer as they are great to get me out of my messes.  Tiffany had ask me to drop my Alaska pictures in the "drop box" which I had never heard of and they got me signed up and my pictures inserted....I know Tiff will be really proud of me as she was my original tutor.....I am learning more new things every day. They are very concerned on helping find someone to put new steps down my patio....my first estimate was for $1,000.00.....I am not stupid, I will never recommend that guy to any one. Eight steps, I could put in an elevator for that much.....almost!  More estimates this week.

Drink up!

After a cool week on a Princess Cruise to Alaska we have had a week of temperatures in the three digits.  I just read that "nothing beats a glass of ice-cold water on a hot day.  Water plays a big part in the in the crucial physical processes, and can help prevent or ease  debilitating everyday physical complaints. #1. It boosts fat burning.  #2.  Recharges your immune system. #3.  Prevents skin disorders, ("when your skin is dry, the mucous membrane cracks and allows bacteria to enter.")  #4. Banishes headaches.  #5.  Ease arthritis pain...and #7. Re-energizes your body.  Your cells depend on water to produce energy.  The National institute of Medicine recommends that a woman drink 9 cups of water a day!  This has given me something to thing about. So drink up.

HAKUNA MATATA

Hakuna Matata..........No one can make you feel inferior without your consent!
"The world today doesn't make sense so why should I paint pictures that do?"  Pablo Picasso
If he were painting today I wonder what his pictures would look like? Would some of them include black people, would they be pinto colored to match both Democrats and Republicans or striped?  I love my collection of Picasso I keep filed in my picture album and my big desire is to try and paint some pictures as weired as his.......and become as famous!
Two good friends over for coffee.....we start at 10:30 and they left at 3:45.....that kinda makes it "crunch".....man, you cannot believe all the good stuff we talk about. Love my friends!

GATHER AROUND

"Forget what hurt you in the past, But never forget what it taught you"..........
The gathering hole on the Princess Star floating lazily around Alaska.  Can't believe the 4th of July has come and gone and we are almost to the middle of July.  July is not a favorite month for me.  It was on the 4th of July my darling niece and daughter, Karrie were in a terrible car accident and Rachelle was killed......THEN 26 years ago on the 18th, my then husband, waltzed in an announced that he had filed for divorce and was suing me for mental cruelty!  The picture was taken after the boys had watched a martini demonstration, and the girls had been shopping. Next thing I know we are gathered around the bar sampling the menu.  Mine is chocolate milk, (and if you believe that I have some water front property down south you can buy!)  I have been on a trip this year with each of my three families and needless to say they have all been fun and exciting.......and different. The family was very good to include Grammie in all their activities.  CHEERS!

FAMILIES ARE FOREVER

One picture can be worth a hundred memories.  This is formal night on the Princess Star.....our cruise last week to Alaska. The boys all rented tuxs and we proved we had class and charm and fit in with the best of them......I was very proud of my Pannier family.  There was a lot to see and do and we all kept very busy doing what we enjoyed most.  My roommate was my 21 year oldest grandson, and he admitted other than his girl friend LIZ, I was second choice as a good roommate......he was a lot of fun and took very good care of me.
I like this thought; "After 80 years I have learned that I cannot always count on others to respect my feelings.  Even if I respect theirs.  Being a good person doesn't guarantee that others will be good people too.  You only have control over yourself on how you choose to be as a person.  And for the others you can only choose to accept them or walk away."As families and large groups of people get together, realize you are all the same, but different and respect them and their beliefs.  I am about to get rested and unpacked.......

HOME SWEET HOME

This is the same group that traveled to Alaska....plus William....this is in Indiana for Nicci's graduation.
Just back from a wonderful cruise to Alaska.  My fourth cruise this year and I am cruised out!  Home sweet Home with Gigi and Arnold, my gold fish.  A pile of dirty clothes, a pile of mail to sort through and 93 emails to check out.  It will probably take me a week to unpack and put things away and GET RESTED! I had quite a few "firsts" on this trip.  First Major League Baseball game.....Boston and Seattle.  We sang 'Take Me Out To The Ballgame", and ate hotdogs.  I even bought a Boston shirt to fit in with the group.  I spent the Fourth of July bundled in a blanket watching Ice Bergs float by and then come home to 103 degree weather here today.  First suspension bridge I ever walked across.  In Ketchikan I took in a logging show and we went to a Totem Pole and Lodge village.  In Juneau I did a harbor cruise and had fun shopping. In Skagway we had breakfast in a "Bodero" in the Red Onion Saloon and a long ride into Canada and walked over the suspension bridge.  I didn't get off in Victoria, Canada. Any time you can spend a week with your grandchildren, it is a good week......Can someone help me put up my "DUNNROVIN" sign? ? ?