Rylee Aden Balls her first day

Welcome, Welcome Rylee Girl.  She's here, she's here!  After much waiting and anticipation she is here.
She had a bit of a problem making her entrance. She needed the doctor to actually suck her out with a manual vaccum.  But she is a beautiful precious sight.  8lbs. 6 oz.  May 23rd, 2011  2:52 P.M. in Rexburg, Madison County, Idaho.

                                                    Mom and Rylee meet.

 This was such a tender moment.  You can't see the tears but Mom and Dad are weeping with JOY!

                                           Daddy comforts his daughter for the first time.

                   Momma keeping Rylee warm while she waits for the nurse to bathe her.

                                     Grandma Verdi and Rylee just after her first bathing session. 

all together now!  Mom and Dad, Uncle Matthew, Uncle Danny and soon to be Aunt Camille.

Jack and Jill went up the hill...

Anywhere worth going to on campus is UP hill.  Whew!  it's a good thing I have my shape-up tennie shoes, otherwise my calves would be in dire straights.  But as we all know what goes up must come down, so it is here also.  Up, up,  up and more ups, then down, down, down keep going down.  Endurance is the name of the game.  I do not know how Krystal does it everyday.

What is nice about looking up is you can see the Temple from anywhere in the area.  It sits on a hill and it is beautiful. You can see it across campus as pictured in the center of the photo below.

Food, we just love FOOD

One of the good things about visiting my girls is I get to go out to eat.  I don't do that much at home, it really costs too much.  You can cook so much more food than you can purchased prepared at a restaurant.  But I enjoy going out to eat with my girls and their families.   Since I have been here we have eaten at Panda Express, Big Judd's and 5 Buck pizza.  I forgot my camera when we went to Big Judd's.  This place is known for the 1 lb. hamburger.  It's so yummy.  We shared one between  the three of us.  Below is a photo of The Big Foot pizza.  It is 20 inches and 5 lbs. of yumminess.

Each of these places had a "Wall of Honor" if you were able to eat the item by yourself in the prescribed amount of time your picture was posted on the wall.  

BYU-Idaho

While visiting with Krys and Bruce I have the opportunity to spend time on campus with them. The last time I was in a university gym was over 30 years ago.  These buildings have changed drastically since then. When I first entered the gym I was so impressed with the way it was designed to accomodate so many different sports.  Krystal informed me that all university gyms are alike.  Hmmm, it's pretty cool what is offered for the students use.So I took pictures. This will not be anything new to those of you who attend college but Gary and I have not seen this before, so the pictures below are for his benenfit.

The day I took this picture the gym was set up for volley ball, tennis, and basketball.  The white and blue you see across the floor are large curtians that can roll up and down to make the playing area larger or smaller. This court is partioned off from the volley ball  and tennis courts.

Above the gym floor is a track that encircles the building for joggers, runner or walkers.  There are four lanes marked and a clock/ timer positioned at the beginning of the track. This gym is not only used by the students and faculty, it is also open to the community.  You just have to wear a school issued t-shirt.

 All around the gym upstairs are large windows which look out onto the campus.  Very nice to be able to look outdoors while you are exercising indoors.  Espeically on a chilly day like this one.  (44 degrees)

A rose by any other name is still a Rose

I have always been fond of nick names.  The cute ones, not the mean ones.  Our whole married life Gary has always called me "Babe".  It use to drive his mother crazy.  She use to scold him and say, you do know that she has a name?  I simple stated that I loved it and it was special to me.  It still bugged her.  She was the type of woman who wanted her own identity and nick names took that from her, I guess.  But what I thought was funny, one day as I was visiting Bob and Polly for an extended time, Bob called her Blue Eyes and she responded without a hitch.  "Hmmm, what's the difference between Blue Eyes and Babe,?"I asked.  She said the words babe, doll, sweetie, good lookin' put women in a bad light.  We are people, not objects for their pleasure.  Why is it okay for Papa to call you Blue Eyes?  She said that is a term of endearment, "he loves my blue eyes; it's a fact, I have blue eyes. You on the other hand are a woman, not a baby or a doll." 

Oh well, I like it when Gary calls me "Babe".  To me I am more to him than just the women who shares his residence. I bring this up because I noticed that Bruce calls Krystal "Miss".  It 's adorable.  Nate and Brad do not call Kim and Kerri by any pet names that I can recall.  I only remember Nate mentioning that his wife's name is Kim and  only her family call her Kimi.  Well, I suppose since her Father and I named her we can call her whatever we want.  She is Kimi, Kerri is Kerri Berri, and Krystal is Krysie. These names where given to them by their older brother, Garrett as each girl came along.  We have used these names ever since.  I have never heard either of them complain. 

As for my nick names growing up, we don't need to go there, but I never was offended just thought I was loved.  While visiting Kim this last time, Lili told me she had 14 nicknames.  We listed all her names on the board whenever we heard a different one.  It was so heartwarming to me that she was proud of all her nick names.  Too cute.  The ones I can remember were:  sweet pea, princess honu, miss lillikins, booger butt,
pretty girl,  lovekins, little mama....and there were more.  I guess it depends on your personality whether or not you like nick names/pet names. If I give a nick name to someone, it comes from my heart and I hope that is how they precieve it.

Idaho

I'm here in Rexburg, Idaho waiting for my 6th grand child to make an entrance.  Krystal is trying her best to be patient but when your due date comes and goes and still no baby it has to be very frustrating.  As soon as something happens I'll record it, but until then I have to sit and wait just like mom and dad to be.

making a list, checking it twice

A Ver-dah! moment

I forget to do things so I have to make a check list.  This is not new to me.  I have been this way all my life. I carry a notebook and pencil everywhere I go.  When my daughters were growing up they taught me to make my list on the bathroom mirror with a erasable marker.  This works wonders  especially when I am going on a trip.  No  last minute "I forgots" because I always have to use the bathroom before I leave and voile! there's the list.
Oh by the way, I shared this tip with the ladies at a luncheon one day and they have all since put this into practice   It really is a life saver. You are welcome to use this technique yourself.  I'm grateful to my girls for their ingenuity.

ANYWHO...getting to the point...Today I participated in a community clean-up project and when I got home a nice cool shower was all I wanted.  The usual occurred.  There was water, soap, shampoo, lather and the squeegee.  The squeegee is an important step in taking a shower in our home.  You must wipe the water from  the walls and doors so to make the maids job easier.  I am the maid and yes, it is an essential part of the plan!  I had just put down the squeegee went to squeeze out the excess water in my hair and realized by the sound of bubbles in my ears I had neglected to go through the rinse cycle.   I still have shampoo in my hair and soap bubbling on my body parts...you know those unseen places you have to double check.  I am so mad at myself at this point, not only do I have to turn the water back on and remove all the bubbles, I have to squeegee AGAIN!. BAAHHHH.  As I finish once again and I am drying off, I look at the mirror and think to myself, oh my gosh, am I going to have to write the steps to a successful shower iside the shower door?  Pitiful, just pitiful...

NBA playoffs commercial: .4 seconds left

I have been enjoying the NBA playoffs. There are three commercials with a talking basketball. This one is my favorite. Who am I rooting for? Right now, the Mavericks, The Thunder, The Heat, The Bulls.

Mason the explorer

My daughter sent this picture of my grandson Mason (number 4).  This child is a true explorer.  He can go and do anything. There are no boundaries as far as he is concerned.  While I was visiting last month, if I was ever left alone with him, I took him with me wherever I went, to the bedroom, the bathroom, whatever, because this is exactly what I  experienced when I  left him alone. I did not take the time to document it, I'm so glad she did.

This is what Dad tells us about the picture...

Nathan S. Howard The amazing part is that he pre planed the stool on the counter. He took it before he got the chair and shoved it up on the counter top, then pulled the chair with the booster seat over to get to the counter, once the bottom shelve is empty he then slides the stool over to get to the other two shelves, the kid's a genius, I can't even plan that far ahead.

9 hours ago · 

When I got back to Arizona I found this cartoon and immediately thought of him.  It's funny that Kim sent this photo just the other day.  Now I can combine the two.  I wonder if there is a playpen big enough for the whole apartment. Wouldn't that be a blessing!  Kids are fun!  especially my grandchildren.   I'm so glad their parents are on top of things.

a thought to cheer you

                     




                     










 I wish I was a glow worm
     A glow worm's never glum
           'Cus how can you be grumpy
                      When the sun shines out your bum!


There are times when I am cleaning out boxes that I come across a poem or quote I have found in my travels and have jotted it down on a napkin or a piece torn paper. This little ditty is one of them.I found it tucked into a folder which was among a pile of old business folders that I was discarding.

If this is not corny enough for you, I also found a list of jokes I use to send to the Missionaries when I would write to them.  I suggested the jokes be use when they taught little children.  There was only one Elder who said he actually used them to help break the ice in homes with children.  Yes, I'm going to list them below.

Q.  Why did the cookie go to the doctor?
A.   Because it was feeling crummy.


Q.  What did the stamp say to the letter?
A.  Stick with me and we will go places.

Q.  Why is #6 afraid of #7 ?
A.  Because 7  8  9.  *seven ate nine

Q. What do you call cheese that you don't own?
A.  Nacho Cheese

Q.  What do you get when you cross a centipede with a parrot?
A.  A walkie talkie

Q.  Which side of a bird has the most feathers?
A.  The outside

Q.  What do you call a Hippi's wife?
A.  Mississippi

Q. What do you call a fly with no wings?
A.  A walk

Q.  What do you call a pig that knows karate?
A.  A Porkchop

Q.  What did the scarf say to the hat?
A.  You go on a head and I'll just hang around.

Q. What do you call a broken bomerang?
A. A stick

There are lots more, but these are my favorites.   Kids jokes always make me smile.  Hope these did the same for you.

Eye spy with my little eye...

While I was visiting Kim I killed my phone.  When I returned home Gary bought me a new one. Usually I just get the free phone.  I don't need it to be fancy just make and receive calls.  This time Gary choose one with a keyboard and it's Bright Blue.  He got a matching phone only in Black.  The sales woman told him to get me a different color so we didn't pick up each other's phone.  Which is a very good idea.  When I got home with my new bright blue (,that's what I named her, Bright Blue) Garrett saw it and said, Gee Mom, is that phone bright enough.  Now I know why Dad got the blue one, you never know where you phone is, you can see that one from anywhere in the house! And he is right.

Tormentors or Dementors?

Today in Gospel Doctrine we discussed the parable of the servant (Matthew 18) who was forgiven his debt but did not do likewise to the person who owed him.  When the Lord found out about his unwillingness to forgive  the Lord had him cast into prison and delivered him to the tormentors.

Sister Dugan's  comment was, "he delivered him to the tormentors, oooh, that sounds soooo creepy.
Sister Cornwall followed with, "I know what you mean, it sounds like Harry Potter!"
Bishop Clifford immediately corrects her by saying, " you mean DEMENTORS, right? pause.....oh man, I can't believe I just said that out loud."

the whole room erupted with laughter               

Just a few moments with Kim and her children

 Laie Point

 Pali Look out

Kimberly's Graduation BYU-Hawaii

Until further notice....

I'm taking a break from blogging for a while.  Don't know how long it will take for me to get back into it again.

GONNA BE A BEAR

My mother sent this to me.  It's an oldie, but a very much goodie.  Since my daughters refer to me as Mama Bear this is right up my alley.  I hope all your mama bears out there enjoy this.

I don't think it could get much better than this!

Have I told you lately that I love you

I heard this song today and I thought of my wonderful children. I love these women and men so very much. They truly make me a proud and happy mama. To Garrett, Kimberly, Nate, Kerri, Brad, Krystal and Bruce. You are my sunshine. To Lili, Nate, Mason, Kaci, Forrest and Ballette, you are my bright shining stars. Together we make a  happy family, forever and ever.  I love you all very tenderly. This song tells just what I feel in my heart and know in my mind.

A day at the Temple

I have a new friend.  Her name is Marianne Johnson.  She is a sister in my ward.  We met last year when I congratulated her on her new calling as Mia Maid Advisor.  I offered to be a helping hand anytime she thought she might get over-whelmed.  She took me up on my offer and we put together a fun Christmas Craft evening at her home.  Gary was then assigned to be their Home Teacher and since the brother who is his companion isn't always able to go when Gary can, I get to go with him on the visit.  These people are wonderful.  They work in the baptistry on Fridays.  Most of the time they spend two of three days in Phoenix when they go down to the Temple but this week they were only going for the day so they invited me to go along.  They gave me plenty of notice so I was able to get some names together for baptism.  It took me their entire shift to do the baptisms and initiatory work.  I don't think I have ever gone to the temple without running into someone I know.  This time it was not any different.  I saw Pres. Jim Turley and his wife Peggy and Gwen Evans.  Gas is up to $3.00 a gallon so we don't go down to the valley because it just costs too much.  So I don't go to the Temple as often.  But now I can go with the Johnson when the do a one day trip.  We are really looking forward to the new temple being built in North Phoenix.

The joke was on me...

I left my classroom this morning to help a student locate her Ensign (we read a talk from the Conference Issue once a week) leaving behind the other 9 students half asleep.  When I returned to the room this is what I found. BAHHH!  My students Misappeared.  They were hiding from me in another classroom.  After about 5 minutes of me pouting they returned teasing me with giggles.  I'm just glad they came back and I didn't have to teach to an empty room.  I really like the kids in my class, even if they did get over on me this time.  I'm grateful we are comfortable enough with each other that we can have some fun.

A ladies luncheon for Valentine's Day

I was invited to a luncheon for Valentine's Day.  One of the women in my ward invited several of us to gather, eat and visit.  It was so enjoyable.  I haven't done something like this in a very long time.  When we left our hostess gave each one of us a potted Purple Pansy to adorn our window sill.  She is such a doll.  The food was great and so was the company and conversation.  Isn't it great how girl talk can make your day.

Month of Love---Pride and Prejudice

Happy Valentine's Day



Our final video for the month of love.  I hope you enjoyed watching.

Month of Love--The Little Mermaid - Kiss the Girl

Month of Love---King of Queens Pole Dance

Every wife should have her own pole for just this reason.

MONTH OF LOVE--Sharing dance moves/Confessions of a Shopaholic

First dates are always a good time to share your knowledge.

Month of Love--Can you feel the love tonight

Month of Love---For the birds

 LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF...

The Month of Love---The Cosby Show - Happy Anniversary

This is a classic!

Moth of Love--The Andy Griffith Show (S5E01) - Opie Loves Helen(3/3)

You need some time to watch this. It's an episode from the Andy Griffith Show. This is just adorable. For all you girls out there it is well worth your time...for the guys, I'm not sure you will appreciate it.

Month of Love---Say a Little Prayer for You - My Best Friend's Wedding

Gotta love this! How about those dancing lobsters

Month of Love ---Victor Borge Phonetic Pronunciation

This story is told in a very humorous manner.  I hope you get as much pleasure from it as I do.

Month of Love---No life without wife

There will be only a few of you who will appreciate this clip.  I think it's so funny!  We would watch this movie with the Young Women and then they would practice singing and dancing to this song.  It was corny but we had a great time.  We even changed the words and used this as a skit for girl's camp....no life without light...does anyone remember that year?

month of love That's How You Know

I just love this ...  my guy always tells me he loves me and has done some wonderful things to show it also...ENJOY!

I 

Hitch Dance lesson

.v

The Month of Love is here. I thought I would share some of my favorite love stories from the movies and t.v. Check each day I'll be sharing something new...

saturday night hockey game

What do you do on a Saturday night in Prescott Valley?  If you're lucky someone will give you tickets to the Sun Dogs game.  Before the game started this little car was slipping and sliding all over the ice rink.  Very comical.

 Gary thought he looked younger with his hood  on.  What do you think?

Our seats were right on the ice.  You could hear all the bodies collide.  We were even fortunate enough to witness a fight right in front of where we were sitting.  Of course I didn't have my camera on at the time.

This is the first and foremost reason for Garrett to go the the game.  He loves the Nachos.

We sat right next to the penalty box.  This is where the bad boys go for time out!

Garrett is a Coyote fan and hopes to one day go to one of their games.  He loves to watch hockey.
It's fun to people watch at these games.  I love the giant screen and being able to watch all the kids and older people dance and be goofy when the camera is focused on them.

It was fun for me to spend an evening out with my favorite guys.

We had a special little visitor

Mila is my great niece.  She lives in Denver, Colorado.  My sister Lisa, Oma is what Mila calls her, came for a visit this week and brought her grand daughter Mila along.  She was a delight.  And it was great to see Aunt Lisa too.  Mila with her dark hair and eyes resembles me more than my own grand children...blonde and blue eyes.  We all enjoyed the time we spent with Lisa and Mila.  Great memories.  Thanks Courtnae for such a darling litte one.

Meet the newest member of the family...

GLISTEN

Every so often Gary sells a car to a customer who does not want to trade in their old car and offers to sell it for cheap.  The last time this occurred Gary purchased the car and Krystal benefited.  This time he bought the car for us to use.  Now the three of us can travel together without having to squish into Blanca (the little white truck).  Glisten is automatic so Garrett can drive her too.  She's 8 years old, but still has a lot of life left in her.

Self explanatory

Gary bought himself this t-shirt.  For all of you who know him so well, it's self explanatory.  Nuff said!

Building spirituality one lego at a time

Early morning seminary is tuff this time of year. It's cold (always in the 20's) and dark, very dark you can still see all the stars in the sky, and of course it's early, 6 a.m.  So I try to think of  fun things to do to keep up morale, help us stay awake and keep our interest.  Scirpture Mastery the lego way.  This is acutally a preschool activity, but we had fun, all of us.  Never underestimate a GOOD preschool activity.

I have to share this.  Teaching at this time in the morning is not always a positive experience.  Everyone is sleepy and many times grumpy.  Because of this the teenagers often do not respond to lessons I have spend hours preparing. So I get discouraged.  I come home and say to myself, "Verda, why do you spend so much time  creating lessons that are up-beat and interactive. the kids don't care one way or the other.  They just want to pass the time quickly and move on to the rest of their day.  Stop making such a effort.  Just hit the basics, they won't know the difference!" 
Than I come into the room the next day determined to keep trying and this is what I see when I turn on the lights.  Our class meets in the Relief Society Room and Mutual is also held there in the evening.  Someone the night before thought of me and left this message.  Kind of made up for all the frustration the day before.  Yup! The Church is True.

T-shirts for Christmas

This year Garrett wanted to give personalized gifts to the Listers.  So he designed a t-shirt for each of them.



 He sat down and drew his GOT JACKED? logo and we took it to a Logo Company in Prescott to have the t-shirts printed.  Front and...

nick name on the back

 Uncle Kevin's shirt was different.  He always tells aunt marsha "No chirpin, Marge!"  and once he told Garrett that he should have a shirt made. "How funny would that be?"  he said.  Garrett made a mental note and asked if we could make this shirt for Uncle Kevin because he said he wanted one.

They all wore thier shirts on Christmas Day.  Gary and I felt left out...and Garrett had a good laugh. Oh, and Aunt Karen did not think Kevin's shirt was funny at all.  She thought it should say no chirpin, Kevin, but we said Marsha should have a shirt that says, Stop your Barkin, Kevin.  with a funny little bug eyed dog on the back  Karen agreed.   Any how, the shirts were a big hit and all was good.

I still have this problem

When I visited  Kim and the kids this year we planned a night that we all could stay up and watch movies as late as we wanted.  Mason was the first to fall asleep.  Lili was next, although she did make it til midnight.  Nate, however, was a die hard.  He refused to go to sleep.  He would play games with his cars just so he would not sit still, because when he sat still, his eyes would begin to close.  We watched three movies back to back.  He finally gave up, lying in the same postion you see in this cartoon.  It was 2 a.m.
that was a fun evening for me.  I don't think I'll ever forget it.  When I saw this cartoon, I had to save it in memory of my late night grand son.

Baby it's COLD outside

After being indoors for the last couple of days it was nice to get outside for a while.  The air was crisp and the snow was soft and glistening in the sunshine.  A glorius day.   Thank goodness for my old snow stuff.  They still work.

But I have to say I'm jealous of Kim and her family, running around on the beach while I'm sitting here drinking hot chocolate wrapped up in a snuggli

And I might be a but cold but my hair and eyelashes are not frozen.  Of course I don't know if I would brave minus 2 degree weather. But Kerri and Brad like adventure no matter the weather.

life is GOOD!