Annya

Saturday afternoon Mountain Standard Time at about 4pm this afternoon, my newest granddaughter, Annya Croft was born. Sami was only in labor a couple of hours and just had time to get an epidural before Annya was on her way out. She weighs 6lb 12 oz and is 19 1/2 inches long. I now have three grandbabies. Aunyka who is 5 years old, Koby who lives in Wellington, New Zealand with my daughter Rebekah, he is 4 years old and now Annya who is brand new. How precious these children are, how thankful I am that their mothers love them and are invested in their care.

I had to pick the news up on facebook because I was out landscaping all day, trying to finish this last huge job. Oh my aching back. But we got it all done, everyone got paid. The neighbors, house across the road from the 4plex, came out and told us what a fantastic job we had done. You never know who's watching you these days.

It was a wonderful compliment. The place really was a mess. We spent a total of two days cleaning up weeds, moving boulders and rocks into different places and shovelling 4 cubic feet of dirt. Half to Kent's residence, the rest spread evenly on the front lawn. The strip in front will need cloth and bark, but will be easier to maintain. It's always nice for tenants when the properties are maintained and kept up.

We have also been busy at Kent's residence. It was a huge undertaking, we were literally working on the side of the mountain. A ton of weedeating, a fire hazard averted. The weeding alone took several of the neighbors dumpsters. His drip system had to be trenched with pick and shovel, we moved it about a foot away from the driveway. People were running over the rocks and damaging the pipes. There were a few other sprinker chores that needed doing. Our hands are smashed from moving rocks, building retaining rock walls and shovelling soil so Kent could have lawn.

I have been so busy lately, the past two weeks have been a blur of landscaping. Lots of boulders, mud, rocks, dirt, bark getting moved around. It has been gruelling but nice to be outdoors and working in the ground. I feel like I have been couped up for to long. Summer has been fabulous. Lots of family time, concerts, fun dates with friends and solitary time for thinking and meditating. I finished the little wee sweat house, it feels so good to cleanse. I made a few sage smudges when I was up at Bear Lake, and I also tried out

Martin became an owner operator and has a almost new truck. He calls his business Jade Transportation LLC, named after Aunyka Jade, his daughter. He is so proud of her, and feels that it is appropriate.

Tim is working out his issues with Secured and is busy working. We both leave Tuesday morning to fly to Florida. We will spend a week with the new baby and mom. I also look forward to living on the beach. My friend Carol Oldshield brought me back some wonderful shells from her stay in Florida. She also let me have some shark's teeth that her and Kindy (her daughter) had found on the beach. I am lucky to be the recipient of so much goodness.

Rebekah's emails continue to be positive and my heart feels strong and steady. It was so worthwhile going back to NZ, if only to make Rebekah smile again.