Made it to Utah - - Life has been jam packed since day one.

Cathching up on my blog which is horribly behind. For some reason I've lost interest. I think it is probably due to the current adjustment(s) of living in a new place and knowing that our life in Florida is over . . . done . . . for good. I'm doing ok and I know I'll get more at ease here but I'll be honest and say that moving after 20 years is not a piece of cake and your brain can play little games with you just when you think you are moving on, it says, "oh no you are not!"

It's been hot and dry in Utah and since Dean and I arrived with our moving truck on July 2nd, we've had family visiting for family reunions and weekends and currently Dean's brother Doug and his wife Turid are visiting from Norway. She and I are kindred spirits. We are the two sisters-in-law who really connect. It's probably because we are close in age and our children are raised and on thier way. Turid and I have had several long chats and I will miss her when she goes back to Norway at the end of the month. Doug and Turid want to move back to Utah like Dean and I did and have put some goal planning in place to possibly do that in the next couple of years. I hope they can.

Eric and Jen have come down to visit us from northern Utah 2 weekends this month and may come for the July 24th holiday. This is a holiday that is celebrated in Utah and commemorates the arrival of the mormon pioneers to the state back in 1847. It's a bigger deal in Utah than July 4th. I remember moving out of Utah and being in a state of shock when I couldn't take July 24th off. It never dawned on me that the rest of the world didn't commemorate this holiday too! Duh!!!!! Sort of like People in the south all feel that Martin Luther King Day should be celebrated the world over. Duh!!!!! No! These are days that are significant to a region but not everyone cares or even knows how important they are to certain other populations.

I'm having physical problems. Both knees are having weakness and I see an orthopedic doc every few months for injections that are supposed to help me walk until such time that I feel I'm ready and brave enough for knee replacements. It all started with a worker's comp injury that happened at my hospital job a couple of years ago. I didn't report it because I'd worked in worker's comp and knew what a big deal it is to get the care you need - - so I chose immediately not to go there. I knew as soon as I hurt myself that I was just going to go to my own doc and forego all that reporting, waiting and then being told what to do by someone else. So next year sometime I will probably have at least one knee done.

In the next few weeks I'll be going to Seattle with Dean again to welcome a new little grandson that our daughter Rachel will be giving birth to. They are a sweet little family. Ashlynn the 5 year old kisses her mom's tummy and says, "baby!" Ashlynn has Down Syndrome but is smart. She knows what is coming and while her speech is somewhat delayed, she doesn't miss a thing and understands everything that is said, everything that is about to happen or that has happened and has the funniest responses to life. She is hilarious and it will be fun to see what her response is to having a new brother. She's ready!

The rest of the year is scheduled out for me as I plan to do some more caring for Eric's girls for a few weeks in the Fall.

Clay and his fiance will be moving here from Alaska in September and there will be a December 18 wedding for them here in Utah in the Manti Temple. So my year is already gone and planned out. The calendar is full and I'm looking forward already to the 2011 calendar and having nothing written in those blocks.

In between all of this we hope to soon sell our home in Pensacola and begin building a home in Oak City Utah at the base of a mountain on a lot that we have chosen for ourselves up there. It's lovely. It's our dream.