Gardening. Or not.

 Some of my seedlings in the house, tomatoes, specifically, have been attacked by fruit flies and have died. Nothing much is really thriving, but many are "still alive."

The peonies bloomed a bit.

The iris really struggled after our hard freezes. The ones by the back fence are never going to have blooms. The "buds" are dried up! Froze out☹️.

However, there are some that were kind of hiding by the deck and were protected from the weather somewhat. 

Quite a contrast. I think these dark purple ones came from Pam's house. They are way pretty. 

I planted some spinach seeds about two weeks ago. And peas. They are starting to come up. I'm guessing the grasshoppers will eat more of that than us.

Herriman Birthdays again!

 After we left Joe's party, we stopped by Scott's to drop off a book to him that we'd forgotten to give him on our last visit to Vernal. 

Then, we drove to Herriman

 Actually-- *I* drove to Herriman! Mike actually turned the wheel over to me at Duchesne. We took the car on this trip. His truck IS more comfy than my car! 

We got into Herriman not too late, skipped dinner so we could start our fast for our Lexi who is really having a rough go of it with Nausea, dizziness, blurry vision and muscle spasms and tremors. We are all praying so hard for her full recovery!

Sunday was Stake Conference for the Herriman ward Nick's family is in. There were some very good speakers and the kids, though very busy and mobile for the whole time, did last for the two full hours. I heard Nick say once that if they lasted for one hour, that'd be good enough. I'd like to be able to say we helped. But we didn't. The kids want nothing to do with us at church. I guess we'd better start bringing treats or something. 

We DID, however, have some of the better interactions with Logan this time. He played games with us and taught us how to play Exploding Kittens. We've played it before, but this time it made more sense.  Emily also explained "Trio" to me ( which I have also played before) and I "got it". I guess I need more juvenile explanations. Ha.

Sunday at 5, family, including Braeden, joined us for birthday dinner, etc. 

And we left for home by 7 pm or so, were home by 10:30 -ish. Fun trip! 

Photos of people and fun times!

Jane and I. 

Logan and Emily playing Nintendo together.

Checkers match between Logan and Nick.

Mike spent some of Sunday listening to an audiobook.

Rachel was tucked away in Nick's office.

Emily spends a lot of her time upside down.

Jane can also play some songs on the piano while lying on the bench. 

Braeden came for the festivities, along with Kaylee 's siblings and their families. Those Kids are growing up!! I didn't take pictures of the whole crowd, but it was a fun bunch. It's always to get together with the Christensen clan.

Then came presents.

More presents.

Measuring sticks with the other Grandpa Mike. Both girls have grown a bout 2-3 inches since last year's measurement.

And cake! It was actually brownies and ice cream. 

Jane is seven and Emily is going to be five. This is their "in-between" family party celebration. Jane turned 7 in April, Emily's birthday is later in May.

Vernal, and Joe's 90th

 We had such a fun time visiting with ALL of Joe and Jannae's family on Saturday, May 2nd-- Joe Maestas' 90th birthday. His children threw a great party in the park. 

Mike and I drove to Vernal Saturday morning. We got a good early start at 6 a.m. Kind of. We did leave about 13 minutes later than we'd planned. 

Jannae's been gone for about two years now, and Joe misses her SO much. Their children have done a lot to fill the hole she left. They take good care of him. All their 5 children and nearly every grand and great grand child was there. The only family that was unable to attend was Trevor's from St. George. Their second son, a 16 year old whose name starts with a C. . . He'd had a recent surgery and was unable to travel. But everyone else came and enjoyed visits and lunch at the park. There's about 71 or so in their family now. It was great fun to see everyone and get in some good visits.

Eric's concert

 Eric did this in April.

We joined Matt, his parents Debbie and Loren, plus Debbie's sister, Paulette, and we enjoyed the perform and some hot cocoa and banana bread after. It was a lovely Sunday evening and we were home before dark. 

It was rather nippy outside and some sprinkles fell, but nothing measurable, sadly. 

Lexi-Lou's 23rd birthday

 This is undoubtedly the birthday Alexa will never forget. She had a neck adjustment at the chiropractor and subsequently suffered a stroke!

This has been a most terrifying few days.

Lexi turned 23 on Monday, April 27, Mike and I sent her a birthday greeting/song in the morning and in the afternoon we received word from Tandy that this had happened.

It's been days of fasting and much sincere prayer, a LOT texting back and forth, much worry and concern. And  gratitude.

Today is Wednesday the 29th, we've received word that she is showing signs of improvement.

We never even knew such a thing was possible, but she is getting the best of care, she has been and will continue staying in the ICU with checks every 15 minutes. She's  receiving drugs to limit the chances of more strokes. It has mostly affected her arms and eyes, causing much dizziness and nausea. She is awake and aware of what is happening .  She has a positive attitude, is faithful and we are ALL hoping and praying for a full recovery.