More April Birthdays

April is a busy month for birthdays in our family. The middle of the month brings my daughter in-law, Lindsay's birthday. She is married to my oldest son, Matt. Boy did he do well! She is beautiful to look at. She is a fabulous mother. She is a valiant member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She is a great daughter. (I was always nervous to talk to my mother in-law about day to day stuff but it doesn't seem to bother her, for which I am extremely grateful.) I couldn't have arranged a better marriage than the one Matt did for himself. The newest thing I really appreciate about Lindsay is her support of Matt in realizing a dream that he has had since he was a little boy. He has always wanted to fly and become an astronaut. In fact, his old bedroom still has a space shuttle mural on the wall. When he was three or four he told me he would take me for a ride in the space shuttle someday. Well, he didn't become an astronaut but he is a pilot. He took me for my promised ride in an airplane when we visited in March. He sacrificed a lot of sleeping time to be in the air. But he couldn't have done it without Lindsay's support. Thank you Lindsay, for taking care of my son and letting him realize a life long dream. Happy birthday to wonderful addition to our family!

For her birthday Matt arranged to have the airplane and they flew over the Grand Canyon and up to St. George for a well deserved getaway.

Blog gap

Well, my blog looks like my journal. Lots of big gaps. Oh well there have lots of things keeping me busy. My biggest block of time goes to my service commitments. First of all, to my church calling as Young Women's President. We do many fun things together but it takes a lot of time to research activities, plan them and then carry out the plans. Every once in a while I have the opportunity to teach them on Sunday. That is a huge deal to me. I taught a room full of beautiful young women last week about The House of Israel. I spent hours preparing for the lesson. I learned a great deal and my testimony that Heavenly Father loves me increased. Tuesday night we weeded together at the Sandy Vegetable Project and then went out for Slurpees. I LOVE every single second I get to be with them!

My next block of time goes to maintaining my home. We did some major remodeling starting two years ago and we have never finished. Currently I am working on doing deep cleaning, de-junking and organizing. That is a slow process -- especially when you come across something that reminds you of days gone by or pulls at your heart strings. I worked all day in my basement. I filled up six boxes for Deseret Industries. Some of it was hard to let go. I decided that if I hadn't read the books in the last ten years they were going to another home. But then I started opening them up. When I found a handwritten note or an autographed copy I couldn't part with it. I even found books that my Young Women leaders had given me throught the years with sweet notes on the inside. I parted with my old LPs that I received starting back in Junior High. Do you know that Cat Stevens has beautiful eyes? I thought of the nights I spent listening to America, The Moody Blues, the Carpenters, Chicago and wishing for a date to prom. Then there was all of the other outdated technological stuff like cassette tapes and floppy disks. They all went into recycling. And what about handmade pottery items and pencil cans given to me years ago on Mother's Day? How can I part with those? It is a work in progress but I do have a lot of empty shelves tonight. Soon I will start stripping wallpaper and painting. We paid for the carpet a year ago so it is way past time to be done.

And of course, there is my family with whom I love to spend time! I have a lot to say about them and it is coming up. But now I am off to check on the score of the Jazz vs. Lakers game and then into bed.

Happy 21st Birthday Erica!

As of April 6th, my baby is 21 years old. I don't want to contemplate what that makes me. The truth is I don't feel much older than she is. We celebrated by taking her to Joy Luck for some yummy Chinese food. Matt was in town so he was able to join us. Erica has matured a lot over the past two years since getting married. I was nervous about letting my "almost 19 year old" tie the knot. She reassured me that she and Chuck would grow up together. They certainly have done a great job of doing just that. I love you baby girl!

A slobbery wet kiss from Keagan as he tries to bite my lip. Ouch!

Happy 79th Birthday Dad!

On Saturday, April 12th, most of my siblings, my Dad and his wife, Alice, got together to celebrate Dad's 79th birthday. Alice treated us to a buffet dinner at Scheider's Restaurant at Zermatt Resort in Midway. The food was great and the company was fabulous. I hope my life is as full as my Dad's when I turn 79 years old.

Things I have learned from my Dad.....Perhaps the thing that I learned most from my father was a strong work ethic. Dad always plays hard, but before playing hard, he works hard. I learned that if there was something worth doing, then it certainly was worth doing well. Scrimping and cutting corners wasn’t allowed much at all. Doing one’s best was a requirement of being a member of the family. These traits are all the more evident now as he battles Parkinson's disease. He is determined to be the winner and I know he will. I am proud of the way he doesn't give in to the disease. Instead, he finds ways to fight it. In fact, he is sharing his knowledge of the battle by funding a new therapy program to help others. What an example of perseverance and endurance!

Next to working and playing hard, the best survival skill for life that I learned from my Dad was to have a sense of humor and don’t take life so seriously. His jokes, no matter how corny, always seem to produce a smile and lighten the mood.

I don’t remember a specific occasion that taught me his love for the gospel and his reliance on the Lord. It was just taught through a lifetime of example. There was never any question as how he felt about the gospel and doing what Heavenly Father required. He just did it, and, consequently, he has a family of faithful children and grandchildren.

There is no one that could match my Dad! I am truly grateful that I am part of his family. He is an awesome father! I love you Dad! And Alice, I love you too! Thanks for taking such good care of Dad.

My Adopted Daughters

Being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints provides me many opportunities to serve. I currently am serving in my favorite calling. I am Young Women's President, which means I work with all the girls in our ward ages 12 to 18. I am grateful that they love me and tolerate me given my age. (I have to be careful how I refer to my age or looks. The rule in our group is -- if you say you are ugly, fat, or old you get a punch in the arm.) They keep me young and in touch with what is happening. They build my testimony in the Savior. They are fabulous examples to me. They are a lot of fun!!! I have counselors and advisors that work alongside me. I am grateful for their dedication. Most of them are young also. In fact, I could be the mother to three of them. They are remarkable women.

These pictures are from some of our activities. We went to the temple to do baptisms for the dead and then went to the General Young Women's Meeting.



Scrapbooking favorite quotes of President Gordon B. Hinckley

Hair Care and Makeup Night



At the beginning of the school year and then for six months, our Young Womens group had an exchange student, Katharina, from Germany. We learned alot about life from being around her. My greatest lesson from her was to don't be afraid to experience all that you can and live life to the fullest. We miss her!

Introducing grandchild #8 -- Daxson Allred

Carly had an ultrasound Tuesday to verify the reason she has been nauseated and gaining weight. These photos show the result along with mommy's comments....

This is his belly and heartbeat. His little head is still lodged quite low, so his legs and arms have a lot more room to wiggle than his head, but maybe one day he'll get bored down there and move. The larger spikes in the heartbeat (shown toward the bottom of the picture) are actually hiccups. Seems like he's taking after mommy on that one!

This is a 4-D picture of his face. It's not as clear as it could be, again because he insists on being squashed so far down, but you can see the eyes, nose and mouth pretty clearly. It looks like his little hand is up by his face, and you can see his belly toward the bottom (he's right in the middle of the picture).

Pretty clear shot that he is indeed a "he." Robbie and Uncle Matt both wanted Machel, my midwife, to measure it..... Anyway, that's our little baby! It's starting to get more exciting, but still slightly surreal. Though it's been a rough pregnancy for me so far, my heart aches for the people I know that have had struggles to get or stay pregnant. You are in our prayers! Love, Carly

Hello from down under!

Clay and Jen are currently in Australia visiting with Jen's sister. They sent some photos of some of the sites they have seen. Clay is becoming a very accomplished photographer. I would love to be there with them!

Fun in Arizona

The week before Easter, Talya, Eric, Tyler, Rylee and I drove all the way to Queen Creek to spend the week with Matt, Lindsay, Shae, Audrey and Eliza. I found the perfect way to capture some cute pictures of my grandkids without begging them. I just suggested that we walk through the neighborhood and take random pictures and then make mommy and daddy guess where we took the picture. They loved the idea as you can see.

Way to go Chuck!

I have to brag on Erica's husband, Chuck, for a minute....Last night an award dinner in honor of Outstanding Students UVU was held. Chuck recieved an award for his amazing skills in math. This is what his advisor had to say about him:

"Selected as one of the two UVSC/UVU Mathematics students of the year for 2007-2008, Charles Lindberg is a highly capable and competitive student. With a major GPA of 3.97, his record of academic excellence speaks for itself. He is determined to succeed, thrives when given a challenge, and is driven to be the best. He is consistently at the top of each of his classes. How many classes? By the time he graduates Charles will have taken EVERY Mathematics course which could possibly count toward his major.

"Not only has Charles left his mark of excellence in the courses he has taken, but he is also an exceptional student who will leave his permanent mark on the Mathematics department. Since his intended career as an actuary requires him to pass a sequence of exams, he set out early in his studies to be the catalyst for putting in place at least three actuarial exam preparation courses. The first two courses are being offered in the Mathematics department this semester. The other will be offered in the fall, 2008. In addition, he and five other students will take their first actuarial examination in May, 2008.

"Charles is married to Erica. They have a 10 month old son, Keagan. His parents are Paul and Erline Lindberg of American Fork, Utah. Spending time with family, skateboarding and doing math are a few of the activities he enjoys. He works as a drywall installer. His future plans include passing his first actuarial exam this spring, graduation in April 2009, and then securing an actuarial position at a top firm."

I'm just very sad that "an actuarial position at a top firm" means they will be moving across country. And what is an actuary? An actuary is one who calculates insurance risks and premiums. Gotta love math to do that. Way to go Chuck!

From Birthday Cake to Bathtub....

We celebrated Rylee's first birthday on April 1st. What a year it has been watching her grow from premie to average. We are so grateful that she is healthy and strong. Her personality has come shining through. She is definitely the life and princess of the party! With her cute round face she reminds me of a Cabbage Patch doll. Talya and I searched high and low and we finally found one that looks just like her. Do you agree?

Keagan -- the missing grandchild!

Keagan did not make the trek with us to Arizona so he wasn't in any of my new photos. His mommy gladly shared these photos with me so I could show him off!

Why pamapapa.blogspot.com?

I thought I might explain the origin of the name of my blogspot. A few years ago, when my grandson, Tyler, was two years old he couldn't say "grandpa." The best he could do was "papa." So logically "grandma" was "pama." He still calls me "pama" once in a while. Gotta love the logic of a two year old!

Photos of some of my grandchildren

During my trip to Arizona last month, we took the kids to have some professional photos taken. The photographer was great! Everyone was enthralled by him except Rylee and Eliza. They were wary of the noises and faces he was making at them. We are hoping to do a repeat this summer and include Keagan.

General Conference Ponderings and Mothering

I love General Conference! What an incredible experience to be a part of a Solemn Assembly and sustain a new prophet, President Thomas S. Monson. I have watched President Monson since he was called to be a member of the Quorum of the Twelve. I was eight years old then. I can't imagine a General Conference without one of his stories. I love General Conference! It is like a summer rain for my thirsty spirit. Some of my earliest General Conference memories are from my elementary school years. Back then General Conference was held Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. What a feast. I remember hurrying home from school as a 5th grader to watch the broadcast. I wish I still had my notebook full of notes of a young girl. Contrast that with today -- I have all the sessions on my DVR and also downloaded to my iPod. Guidance from the leaders is mine whenever I want it. No more drought...just a constant summer rain.

President Monson spoke to mothers today -- specifically young mothers. I want my daughters to know how incredibly proud I am of the effort they put into mothering my grandchildren and into preparing to be a mother of my grandchildren. I wish I had been more like each one of you! But being a gamma is an incredible experience also. I get a second chance to do things right. President Monson counseled mothers to express love to their children. I want the whole world to know how much I love my children! They are noble ones of the earth. Each one of them has chosen an exceptional person to be their partner and now I have ten fabulous children. Some of them are already parents and have blessed our family with almost eight grandchildren. I can't neglect to mention the man that made me a mother. I love my husband with all my heart. He treats me better than I deserve to be treated. I never imagined I would be so blessed! Truly together is the best place to be!

Welcome to my blog!

I have now officially joined the world of blogging with help and encouragement from my daughters (which when I say "daughters" also includes my daughter in-laws -- the same applies to my son in-laws). It is my hope to keep my friends and family up-to-date on what is happening in my life but more importantly to serve as an electronic journal. I am a miserable journal writer. I understand the importance of keeping a journal but that doesn't mean I have kept one. Having been strongly prompted to do so, I decided that a blog would be a fabulous format to use to act upon that prompting. In addition, I am using the learning process as a Personal Progress Value Project (more about that later).