December 2014

Our cats are getting along fine. Gizmo preferred to hang out in the tree. And  Gizmo and Rosco cuddle often.  Gizmo still has a pee problem. I caught him peeing on our tree skirt and he soiled half of it!  And he peed so much on our love sac that we had to give it away.  If he wasn't so cute and friendly, we would have returned him already. :(

Went to the Festival of Trees and enjoyed the scenery.

 Made some arts and crafts there.

Hammered together cute holiday light-up trains at Home Depot.

 Scott did a great job cleaning out the aquarium, so we bought some new fish to fill it.

Went to some holiday shows at the Clark Planetarium.  Sterling hit his head by his eye on the stairs very hard and basically had a black eye for a week after.

Attended the ward Christmas breakfast which was fun.

We got to meet Santa at the Hebdon Christmas party!

We were lucky enough to score tickets to the Tabernacle Christmas Concert through Scott's mom & dad to see the Sesame Street gang perform.  Our home was pure chaos with 18 people sleeping over.  People everywhere you look, but fun!

These two created their own candy display of Santa on his sleigh.

The next weekend was Grandma Paxton's funeral.  So we did a repeat crazy sleepover with the 18 Cedar City-ites.  And her funeral was very good I might say.

Took the kids and Grandma Hebdon to a magic show at the library.  I also saw Grandma at my sweet cousin Mary's baby shower this month.

Sterling and I enjoyed a great Christmas Eve dinner and program at my parent's home.  I must say, this was the weirdest holiday we have ever had! Marv and Vickie came up to spend Christmas with us.  Marv was pretty sick and opted to stay home and rest.  Makayla had the flu and Lincoln had Chicken Pox, so we needed to keep them home.  Scott of course wanted to be home since his parents were there.  It really turned out nothing like it was supposed to.  Scott's parents were originally going to spend Christmas Eve with my parents and family for the first time up here.  Sickness ruined it all. Oy vey!  Christmas morning came.

Sterling asked for anything remote control.

Makayla wanted an American Girl doll. Lucky girl also got one from Grandma Vickie who made several clothes to go with them.

Lincoln had high hopes of a yellow magic slide that went down the stairs. But that wasn't going to happen.  So he got some surprises instead.

Makayla literally laid on the floor in the morning with the flu.  Later on, she asked to watch a movie and rest.  Scott offered her a priesthood blessing for her sickness.  With Makayla's faith and daddy's priesthood, she literally felt better almost right after the blessing.  I love the power of the priesthood!

Lincoln suffered from Chicken Pox, of course, all centered on his face.  He felt pretty good, just looked too crazy to go out in public.

And Marv was really sick and could hardly breathe.  So Vickie took him to an Instacare the day after Christmas.  He had a chest x-ray taken where pneumonia was discovered.  They advised him to go to the hospital where he was admitted for 3 days and 2 nights.  Holy cow, it was a weird holiday!  Marv & Vickie were grateful they were up here because they think down in Cedar City, they might not have caught the pneumonia at this stage and it would have been much worse.

We also passed around nasty colds with horrible sore throats and coughs.  That, coupled with the flu and Chicken Pox.  So yeah, we can hopefully count this as the worst holiday ever and appreciate the better ones that come along.

Aunt Lisa joined us for dinner on Christmas.

Dad helped Sterling with his car maker.

So what does a family do when they are sick?

How about some nails.

And car races.

And puzzles. Lots and lots of puzzles.

And finally, celebrate a quiet New Year's Eve with making a fruit pizza for the first time.

Let's hope for a HEALTHY new year for 2015!

Grandma Paxton

This post is to honor Grandma Paxton, who passed away Decemember 14, 2014.  Vauna Paxton is Scott's dad's mom.

She lived 91.5 years which is quite a feat!

Grandma holding Sterling in 2009.

Grandma with her son Marv and daughter Lisa.

Grandma Paxton passed away on the morning of December 14, 2014.  Her anniversary is December 15th.  We think that her late husband Baker came to get her to bring her home.  Baker passed away probably 20 years ago.  He slipped on ice in his driveway and hit his head and never recovered.  Sterling's middle name is Baker after him. Anyway, Grandma's funeral was December 20th and it was a wonderful funeral.  I learned a lot about Grandma.

Vauna Mae Leany Paxton

• She was born May 30, 1923 in Hurricane, Utah, the 2nd of 8 children.
• Worked at Wadsworth Soda Fountain in St. George.
  
• She met her husband Baker at a dance.
• They were married December 15, 1942, while he was on leave from the US Army.
• Her husband taught her how to drive.  They were on a bridge where she turned off of it and wrecked.  She didn't drive or finish getting her license until 20 years later.
  
• She had 3 children. Ronald 'Ron' (on right), Marvin 'Marv' (on left), and Lisa (center).
• She was frugal and clever.  She would use things around the house to patch other items.
• Once she patched a broken vacuum hose with pantyhose and it ended up working many years later.  (She used pantyhose like a man uses duct tape.)
• She enjoyed pecan logs and would cut slices so thin for her kids that you could see right through the slice.
• She never used a negative word.  She was slow to anger.  If she was mad, she would exclaim, "I can't stand it!!"
  
  
• She was an excellent cook and made lace cookies every Christmas.
• Her potato salad was a favorite dish.
• Tuna fish was one of her choice additions to food.  Her grown kids won't eat tuna fish now.
• She thought that the burned edges of roast beef were the most delicious.  She would serve her husband especially the burned parts, until one day he asked her why she was always giving him the gross part. They then worked it out where he ate the good inside and she ate her preferred part, the burned edges.
  
• She once used the flash cubes off old cameras and made a cute ornament.
• She could sew anything from looking at it even without a pattern.  
• She enjoyed reading the newspaper.
• She drank Tang and ate half of a banana daily and never got sick.
• Her favorite hobbies were her neighborhood book club and dinner club.
  
• She served pizza and lunch at Skyline High School for 31 years.

The two things I will remember about Grandma are her pretty white hair and her cute little laugh.  She was always happy when we stopped by to visit and enjoyable to talk to.  She lived in East Millcreek for as long as I can remember.  When she grew weak, she moved to Mount Olympus Care Center which was just a mile down the road from her place.  Every Halloween we would stop by and show her the kids' costumes.  She always lit up and took a picture of us. I loved the years when she gifted us subscriptions to the Reader's Digest.  That was nice of her.  She was softspoken and sweet.

Lots of people sent flowers; she was well loved. These are just the flowers we brought home for Marv & Vickie.

My thoughtful parents also sent some flowers.

She was buried next to her husband in Larkin Sunset Gardens in Sandy, Utah. Rest in peace Grandma. We love you!