Gratitude

"All of us have problems. We face them every day. How grateful I am that we have difficult things to wrestle with. They keep us young...if that is possible. They keep us alive. They keep us going. They keep us humble. They pull us down to our knees to ask the God of Heaven for help in solving them. Be grateful for your problems, and know that somehow there will come a solution." --Gordon B. Hinckley

I was blog hopping and found this. I think it really is awesome! I miss President Hinckley and his frankness.

OUCH!!!!

Well, this will take a while to write with 1 finger. Last night I put a movie in the DVD player and went to get a blanket from behind the chair.

When I stepped down, I tripped backward over the step stool and fell on my behind. I caught myself on my right wrist. As i ley there on the floor. I knew it was broken. Dave and I were in the ER til nearly 2 am.

SURE ENOUGH, IT IS INDEED BROKEN! JUST IN TIME FOR THE HOLIDAYS! (oops, I had caps lock on and I don't want to retype this. So, I hope I don't have to have surgery, but I will find out tomorrow.

The last few weeks have been pretty busy, considering the fact that I have no job. I have been working to get the garage, shed, and basement cleaned and orderly.(I have to admit it was Dan's idea, but we have all been working hard.0 We discovered that we had a mouse in the garage who apparently loved pears. We hope he is now gone, as all the food is. Bailee won't go in the garage without shoes now. That is ok though because it is getting colder.

I LOVE canning, or rather, I love looking at the fruits of my labor. Those jars look, and taste, so beautiful! Thank you to Meg and her Father for the gift of the pears. If you don't have to purchase the fruit, it makes it soo worth it! The storage room is shaping up nicely. We are looking forward to our "GIRL'S" apple canning days ahead. This time thanks to the Packer's apple tree. We even know how to make fruit leather this time. Fun, Fun, Fun!

Also, for the past few Wednesdays, I have had meetings at the temple to be trained. Then every Friday at 5 I go to the temple to do my regular shift. I am pretty tired, but the whole process seems to fit together. I feel more prepared in my home and thus more prepared in Heavenly Father's home.

A Birthday Tribute

This year we are a bit limited as to what we can do for Dave's birthday. We are saving as much as possible for our family vacation that begins on the 27th of September. Bet you can't guess where we are headed? You guessed it . . .

DISNEYLAND

So, I wondered what I could possibly do for my awesome husband? Then I figured I could write this tribute. Dave and I met thirty years ago about this time of year. We did not waste much time before we were engaged. He proposed to me on conference weekend. This December 19th marks 31 years. When you say it out loud, that is quite a long time. He really is amazing to have put up with me all this time. I have always said that it is because we laugh together every day. I try to give that counsel to everyone getting married. I remember when we lived in Orem. Someone in our ward saw us driving down the street. They told us later that they noticed we were both laughing and talking as we drove. I love that about our relationship.


We have had our share of trials, and haven't always felt like laughing, but even through our Gethsemanes, we have found things to make us laugh and smile.

One of the things that I love most about my Dave is that he is a big kid at heart. He has managed to find time to be a loving husband as well as a supportive father.


I cannot complain one bit about the love and devotion he has given me over the years. How many husbands would sleep on a cot at the foot of a hospital bed, shower in a hospital room shower, then head to work every day for three weeks, and stay up all night with their wife, when they couldn't sleep? Dave would, and did. I will adore him forever for that. I even learned the rules to soccer in the process. Ha Ha.


And last year when I could not take my sweet Mariah to be put to sleep, who did that for me and for her? Yep, my wonderful man! And then when he really did not want a new puppy, who allowed me to get not one, but two sweet puppies? Yes again, Dave. He really is the best. Those who know him know that he is there to help whenever he is needed. I actually felt a bit foolish when he suggested that we offer to take the grandchildren so that the kids could attend the Oquirrh Mountain Temple dedication. But that is the kind of grandpa and father that he is.


One of the things that Dave has been doing lately with his sons is to have a day each week or two that they go to have a guys lunch. This gives him a time to bond with the guys. They have even managed a way to keep this lunch under 20 dollars by eating off McDonald's dollar menu. It doesn't matter what they eat, it is that they have the undivided time with each other. This was his idea and I am glad that he is doing it. Sometimes I have kicked against the pricks on this one, but he tenderly tells me how important it is to him to have that time with his sons. He is especially happy that Jason is able to attend now. He is looking forward to next month when Dan will be here and they can all be together. He really is a thoughtful man.

And as for loving his grandchildren, there is nobody that can compare in my mind. Although sometimes at a loss for what to do with them, he is more than willing to try. We still laugh and smile a lot about the time he tended Ammon. He was reaching for Ammon's hand and he got his finger instead. I guess Dave pulled Ammon's finger, which hurt Ammon a bit. When Kathie got home, Ammon, who is getting very verbal, said, "Papa, finger, owie." Yep, Ammon told on Papa Dave.

Dave is very patient with all the grand-children, and he is a sucker for the girls. I have watched him and notice that he has a special connection with our Janie. The love in his heart seems to spill out when she smiles and reaches for her Papa.


So, Have a wonderful day, my wonderful man, I do not say it enough, but I wanted the world (or at least those that read my blog) to know the man inside the man I married. You really are spectacular! (and like I always say, "a Genius")

Love, Suzy-Q

Pills, Pills, and less pills

I had a doctor appointment last week. He decided to have me stop taking my water pill as well as my potassium. I have to admit that I am a bit nervous to stop taking them as I do tend to swell up (especially my cankles) I was looking at a photo of myself from many years ago and realized that I did indeed have ankles. Oh, well, I am alive and I am grateful. So now I get to watch my sodium intake and wear lovely stockings that keep me from swelling, but not sweating! I actually like the way they feel, except for feeling hot. They look sort of dorky, but soon it will be fall and nobody will notice with long pants.

The doctor also had me go to a vein center and make sure I did not have any signs of blood clots, so I did that last week as well, all is good, so that was a relief. ( I feel like an old person talking about all these doctor appointments), but I thought some people might want to know that I am doing well. Just to let you all know - when I left the hospital following the transplant, I was taking 47 pills a day, now I take 6. Wow!

Disneyland Motivates

I have discovered that the best motivation for me at work is a trip to Disneyland, so I should always have one planned.(haha) I have done better the last three weeks than I have done in three months. I want to go to the park and not use anything but cash, so I know that I have to do my best. I think the excitement must come through in my voice over the phone. Anyway, it is working and that is great! We are excited to have most of the family with us. Andy doesn't want to come and I guess I can understand that. I am sure that someday he will want to go again.

Last week I had my high school friends here for a few days! It was nice that the Oqurrah temple was still open for viewing, they were all happy to see it! I feel so blessed that after all these years, we still love to be together and have a fun time. Thanks to Dave for putting up with so many women for a few days. He was a champ!

On being a better, friend, grandmother, and mom

Well, an apology to everyone but Dave and our ward family. Youth Conference was all consuming. We did an Amazing Race with 40 youth and 12 adults. We were all over the Salt Lake valley on Thursday the 25th and on Friday the 26th we hit Utah County. Service, service, and more service, but what the youth had was fun, fun, and more fun. We said afterwards that we should have kept track of our hours. I am sure it would have been over 100 hours for Dave and I alone. I can't even think of how may the Pulsiphers must have spent. Everything went as planned. We had so many blessings that I think I should write a few of them down.

Weather: We had to try our River Adventure, so one week prior to the Conference, we borrowed a raft and headed to the Provo River. Matt, Kathie, and Ammon came along. It rained all the way down to the river, but when we opened the door of the car, it stopped. It was clear during the trial, and as soon as we put the raft away and got into the car, it started raining again. Then, the day of the actual River Adventure, it was pouring rain all the way up the canyon, but as the door opened, once again it stopped. The sky was clear all day and as the last group of kids was getting off the river, the rain began again. I know that the Lord wanted the experience to be what we had hoped and prayed for.

Another small but huge miracle. It took many hours to get all the clues into all the envelopes. Each team had between 27 and 29 clues. Each team was going to different places all the time. So each family's clues had to be done separately and then put together into a box that would be at each location. Not easy. But we finished on Tuesday evening. Wednesday morning I was breathing a sigh of relief and eating my breakfast at the kitchen table. I pulled out one of the schedules and was just thinking of how fun this would be, when an impression came to me. "What time does DI open?" I called to Dave in the computer room. We discovered that it opens at 10 and we had several teams showing up at different DI's in the valley at 9. Well I am grateful to a Heavenly Father who is into details. We had time to redo the clues that needed to be changed and still get them out on Wednesday evening. So, I learned that if Heavenly Father cares about our clues, he must care about each of us individually. I felt his love and care during the conference and was really touched that the youth felt it as well. We had a wonderful experience and I am glad that I could be a part of it!

So, now it is over, and I promise to be a better friend, grandmother, and mom to all of you who have felt the neglect. Love, Sue

Just got a new hairdo. Here is a photo. Let me know what you think.

Well, I've decided I have to be the laziest blogger on the planet. So I figured I would pick an easy background that I can just keep there forever. Besides, the Easter one was just ugly and not easy to read.

Dave and I decided that when I got home from work on Saturday, we would be on "Vacation"(except from church). It has been really fun. Yesterday we went looking at homes for Matt and Kathie. We drove all the way to Magna. We found a cute place, but it looks like it may not work for them just yet. I liked that Kathie was reminded of the talk on provident living from this last conference.

We even looked at some places for Dave and I to downsize to. Afterwards we all went and got some spaghetti.

Today we went to church and showed Dave's awesome "Powerpoint presentation" to the youth. I think they are getting excited. We came home and had a bit to eat. We loaded up the chichihuas and headed to Orem. (Oops, should I say Schnauzers?) Anyway, we charted out much of the youth conference. It rained all the way down to Orem, and by the time we had to get out of the car, it had stopped. We took photos that we will need, and measured time and mileage, and just had a fun time.

Barbara had called me this morning to tell me that Mark had done well with is surgery to remove his kidney that they had discovered was cancerous. He did however have a bit of a scare. He got a blod clot and it had moved to his lung. They are watching him very carefully. I asked Dave if we could go and see them in the hospital as long as we were in Provo, and he was glad to do that. It was nice to see Barbara, Mark and Kelly. Mark really looked well and they were removing his IV while we were there.

When we left the hospital, I suggested that Dave call and talk to Julie. She was overjoyed to hear the good news. Everyone keep Mark in your prayers.

We sort of invited ourselves to dinner at Mom and Dad's house, since we were going to be in the area, and It was just too early to get to their home, so Dave suggested a walk in the park with the pups. It was fun, but we just have not taken them on leashes enough, and they kept tangling us up. We laughed a ton. It was a blast!

We got to Mom and Dad's house and had a great meal with Lester and Vickie, and Mom and Dad. I think it was fun to just be there together. We laughed, talked, listened to a song that Mom and a bunch of ladies sang, had fun and ate. What a great day! And I actually did feel a bit like I was on vacation. I am looking forward to what we will do on Memorial Day. I have not had a holiday off of work in forever! I am excited. Well, thanks for reading! If you read this Jason and Meg, I have been trying to get a hold of you guys. Jason said he would have time to talk while on the trip. Well, hope you are having a great time and relaxing. Congrats to Dan on the sales this week. Love to everyone! Mom

Easter was so fun (except the fact that Dave was sick)! We have some very cute pics that will soon be on my blog. Bailee loved hunting eggs so much that we had to re-hide them on Sunday as well. It has been so crazy around here. Dan and Janelle will be moving next week, so they have a ton on their plate what with Bai having her tonsils and adnoids out last Wednesday. It has been a lot worse than any of us thought it would be.

I am sitting in an office wating to learn what to do next, so I figured I would take a few minutes to update my blog.

We have been so busy since getting home from Hawaii. Dave was released and then immediately called to teach the 15 year old Sunday School class. The next week they asked him to speak in Sacrament meeting. Now we have been called to be assistant Youth Conference leaders. Talk about getting Dave busy quickly! Wow. I love my new calling as Achievement Day coordinator, but I may have to be released from the Enrichment committe. I just don't seem to have any time for much.

We finally got our tax return done, and that feels like a super heavy load has been lifted.

I am exctied to start a new job, but am keeping both for the time being. That way, I am sort of hedging my bet. I have loved being involved in Worldmark, but I'm not sure where that is heading. Things have been strange at work lately.

I am looking forward to Friday night, we are having a girls night out for Kathie's birthday! I have a movie, I am taking nail polish and makeup, and my swimsuit. It should be a blast! The guys have the next night, so they will bring the kids up and we can all swim if they want.

Leavin' on a jet plane

I feel like singing . . . all my bags are packed, I'm ready to go, I'm sitting here in our condo, already I'm so homesick I could cry. . .

Really, I am ready to come home, but I always will think of Maui as our home away from home. (besides Disneyland that is) We love Maui! This time we did not get nearly as much sun and sand as we would have liked, but it was still a wonderful time. Dave is having a harder time leaving than I am. These are our last few hours on the island, and he decided to sleep. OK really because it is windy and cool and I wanted to do the last minute packing. I may not be O.C.D. about most things, but packing is my thing. I still can't believe I forgot the console for the Wii. Thanks to Dan and the McCoys I got it here and used it every day. My only hope is that it kept me from gaining as much as I could have. Yum!

Take care all, we will see you soon.

Love, Mom, Sue, Grandma, or "whatever"

Going home - at last!

Just as I look forward to a trip to Hawaii, I always look forward to coming home! It is a lot easier this year because we have not seen Janelle, Bai, and Afton for nearly 5 weeks. It has been very hard and we are looking forward to seeing them Wednesday. It will be really nice because we will also have Janie at the house as well. I hope we can get Kathie, Matt, Ammon, and Andy to come over too. I have small gifts for everyone! We have very little room in the luggage, so I had to get items that can be carried on easily. Sometimes the airlines tick me off.

Janelle, thanks for bathing the dogs, Maybe Myah is warming up to you!

My husband is a "Dork" or I only argue about cards in Hawaii

I wouldn't actually call it an argument. What I said was that since I took the time to not watch the whale watch and to take photos, I should at least get to post a couple of them.

This is called spy hopping. The whale pokes his head up to see what is going on around them. This little guy was a hoot. He literally played for over an hour. The guides on the boat told us that they drink 80 to 100 gallons of milk a day. And it is not just like mother's milk. Our whole milk is 4% fat. Whale's milk is 40% fat. It is like cottage cheese or thick yogurt. I bet his mom was thinking,"oh no, he will even want to drink more than usual today. I actually got a little tired of just watching him over and over. I wanted to head out and see some big whales jumping. Maybe we will get to see some on Monday when we go out again.


In this photo the little guy was trying to breach. That is when the entire body leaves the water. I will say one thing about him. He really believed in the phrase, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." He really did work hard.

Today was fun! The sun finally began to shine again. We packed up and went to the beach. We are rosy red to prove it. We read, slept, played in the ocean, and had a light lunch by the pool of the hotel that was nearby. After the beach we came back and swam in the Worldmark pool and got into the hot tub as well. Later we went to get sushi. They really do a great job here in Hawaii. Dave is snoozing, and I am baking some cookies because the McCoy's and Breinholt's are coming over to watch a movie. Should be fun! Love to all.

Hawaii 2009

It's been rainy, as you can see on this fern. Dave asked me to take this photo. He likes the symmetry.

This pretty little flower was waiting for me to take it's picture. I saw it just outside our car in the parking lot of the Worldmark.

This is the view from our balcony in our condo. We can't see the ocean, but we have a beautiful garden view.

Thanks to Dave, we were able to change my background. I figured I may as well go with February colors and not worry about January. This way I am ahead of the game for a few days. Dave told everyone all about the trip so far in his blog. We are having a great time. Today, Tuesday, it rained, and rained, and rained some more. We had a nice time anyway, although, I am ready for some sun, sand and surf. I think it will be better tomorrow. My fake tan looks rather orange in the shade, and is starting to fade. I need to replace it with the real stuff.

I don't think that Dave mentioned the view that we have. We are on the 2nd floor. We cannot see the ocean, but we have a beautiful garden and tree area that we see from our balcony. During the rain this morning, we watched several kinds of birds and you could really smell the flowers from the trees right outside.

It was great to read Janelle's blog today. What an experience she and the girls had yesterday. Wow! is all I can say. Don't know how I would have handled it when I was her age. Nice job Janelle!

Not too many whale sightings as yet. I don't think they like the rain either. Aloha to everyone!

So, I can't change the background of my blog without help. But I just wanted to share with everyone our stake challenge. They challenged us to be more grateful. To thank someone each day and to write down something about our gratitude in a journal daily. I can't say that I have done it every day, but I am trying. It really is fun! It make me remember to thank people for the kindness that they share with me.

Dave and I are preparing to head out to Hawaii this Saturday. I feel a little strange this time. We have not seen Janelle, Bailee, or Afton for three weeks. It will be two more before we get to see them again. Oh, well, I guess it will be easy to come home this time.

I got to play with Janie at her tea party on Saturday. Meg, you are amazing! It was so fun! I especially loved the powerpoint presentations. I was in tears of course! What a day!

This evening Matt, Kathie, and Ammon came over. Ammon is changing so much. I can't believe how fast he is learning! I am sure I will be shocked by Afton when we see her again as well.

Bailee sent us a cute letter from Boston. She drew a picture of me. I loved that! Thanks Bailee, you made my gratitude Journal. I miss your funniness, and hugs.

I have been running like crazy the past few days! It is always like that prior to Hawaii. But so worth it to be able to totally chill and relax with Dave and such good friends. I wish you all the blessing of such great friends as I have in my life. Family and Friends, the greatest treasures of life.

May the Lord bless you all in all the righteous things that you endevor to accomplish! Keep up the good work.