Feeling Very Blessed

 On our way home from staying with Jared, Catherine, and Benjamin, we ran into a little problem. I don't know how much gas was in our tank when we left Queen Creek - we forgot to fill up the car before leaving. After passing many towns with services, about 2 hours into the drive, Alan finally looked down at the gas gauge and noticed that we were low on gas and we were out in the middle of nowhere.

The red light hadn't come on yet and Alan figured we had about 1/4 tank or less of gas left. I started to panic because I know how quickly the needle moves at the bottom half of the gas indicator on the van. Alan seemed calm and collected and said we could make it to a gas station before we would run out, but I had my doubts.

Alan kept driving, hoping we would see civilization soon. We were in an area where there was no phone service so if we ran out of gas, we wouldn't even be able to call for help. Gulp!

After driving a lot longer, we saw a road sign that said that a town called Wikieup was about 30 miles away. I kept hoping and praying that we could make it to that little town. Alan didn't even tell me that the red warning light had come on because he didn't want me to worry. I don't know how many miles one can travel after the warning light comes on, but evidently it was enough because we were able to get to Wikieup before running out of gas. Phew!!! We were probably running on fumes by the time we arrived.

There were two gas stations in that little town right next to each other. We stopped at the first one and many other travelers stopped there as well. We had to wait a while to fill up, but it sure felt good to be able to get gas into that tank of ours.

Since Wikieup is located in the middle of nowhere, the gas prices were atrociously high. We had to pay about $5.00/gallon and it cost us $101 to fill up, but it was worth it! Gas right now in Utah is about $3.00/gallon.

I can't figure out why it took Alan two hours to finally look at the gas gauge, but it did. When I'm driving, I'm always looking at the gauge, but not him. He seldom thinks of doing so. Maybe from now on he will pay more attention to that. At least I'm hoping so!

Since I did so much praying, I personally believe that God was watching over us. I was pretty nervous, but God knew what we were going through. I'm so grateful that our gas didn't run out that day. I'm feeling very blessed.

Benjamin's Birth

 On March, 6th at 4:00 p.m., Catherine gave birth to our newest grandson, Benjamin Noah Stott. He weighed 8 lbs. 4 oz. and is 21" tall. He is so loved and we are so happy to welcome him into our family. 

Catherine was supposed to be induced at 7 a.m. on March 5th, but the hospital had to cancel because they didn't have any rooms available. That night, about 9 p.m. the hospital called and asked if they wanted to come in for the induction. Jared was very tired (he had just taken some Nyquil), but they hopped into the car and drove to the hospital.

All in all, things went very well. Catherine had very little pain. She had an epidural, which helped. Benjamin has the distinction of being our first grandchild born naturally. Every other grandchild was born by c-section. Benjamin was born with a lot of dark hair, which I love. He is so loved by both parents.

This picture reminds me of how exhausting labor can be. It is called labor for a reason.

Catherine and Benjamin were released from the hospital on March 8th.

Since Catherine's mother couldn't come from Colombia to help her out after the birth, Alan and I drove down and stayed with them from March 10th-15th. 

When we arrived at their apartment in Queen Creek, we were greeted by this message in the entryway. So cute!

It was so much fun to see Benjamin for the first time and get to know him. One of my favorite things in the whole world is holding an infant in my arms. The sweetest!

He seemed so little! He's about the same size as Eric was and Eric was my smallest baby.

We had a lot of fun spending time with him during our stay there. More cute pictures of him. 

Our stay there, unfortunately, came to a close and it was time to head back to Utah. It was hard to say goodbye to this sweet little guy. Hopefully we will see him again soon. Babies change so quickly. I'm looking forward to seeing him grow and learn so many new things in his first year and throughout his lifetime.

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Since Kyle, Milo, and Clara live close to Jared, we were able to do things with them while we were there also. Kyle helped unload furniture from our trailer that we had brought down for Jared & Catherine.

It wasn't easy for them to carry it up to the 2nd floor, but they managed. This entertainment center was the heaviest piece. Ben & Eboni gave it to them and I think it looks great in their apartment.

After Alan & I had an eye exam at Kyle's office, we picked up Milo and Clara and took them to a place called Rush Fun Park Extreme in Chandler, AZ. It was their choice to go there. It is a fun place with trampolines, slides, and other fun things to do.

On this trampoline, they strap you in and you can do backward & forward flips. Milo and Clara both enjoyed it.

This is a very tall slide that they are hoisted up onto and then they let go and slide down. There was usually a long line for this, but they each managed to do this twice.

We took them to McDonalds after this for a bite to eat. It was a very fun "play date" that grandpa and I were able to go on with them.

Do You Know My Name?

I have a friend named Sylvia. I was her ministering sister in Lancaster for several years. Alan and I both helped her out a lot. She needed a lot of help because she was a single mom trying to raise her two youngest children when I met her. She had been married three times and had six children. Each of her ex-husbands was a deadbeat dad who didn't support her financially, so she didn't have any money. She is from Mexico, but came to the USA as a child and is an American citizen. She speaks good English, but still prefers Spanish. This is a picture of her with one of her grandchildren.

Even after knowing her and being her friend for years, she always called me Sister. She would call other people by their first name, but not me. I got to wondering whether she even knew what my first name was. I made a point of signing texts with my name or mentioning my name when I called her, but she always just called me Sister.

One time, I took her to a car repair shop to pick up her car. My memory is foggy, but I think I helped pay for something and she was grateful that I helped her out and she asked how she could repay me. I told her that the only thing I wanted was for her to call me by my first name. There...I said it out loud. I thought that would be the end of it, but it wasn't. After that, she mostly continued to call me Sister. She might have used my first name a time or two, but I'm not certain. 

This lack of using my first name got me thinking about how important our names are to us. Our name is our identity and sets us apart from everyone else in the world. Calling someone by their first name is a way of validating that individual. Our name is part of who we are and by Sylvia not using my first name, even though we were friends, really kind of hurt my feelings. I wanted her to recognize me for who I am. 

As you can tell, I still struggle with it to this day. Maybe I'm being too sensitive about it and I just need to move on, so that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to put this behind me. Since we live in different states, we don't see each other any more, but we do occasionally speak over the phone. I still consider her my friend and hope she is living a good life and is making ends meet now that all of her children are adults living on their own.

Built-in Handyman

 Alan is good at doing odd jobs around the house and yard. Recently, he has completed some new projects. The first project was to build a shelf above his work bench and put two lights up for better working visibility.

It was difficult to take a good picture of the shelf, but this is the final product.

His next project was caulking the kitchen counter/backsplash. The person who put in the tile when we remodeled our kitchen left a small amount of grout in that area and it was so small that the grout wouldn't stick. It kept breaking off and looked real bad. Alan decided to caulk it and it looks much better now.

(Kitchen Prep)

Can't see the good work very well, but here's a picture of part of the kitchen after the work was done. He used a white caulk.

The kitchen tuned out so well that Alan decided to re-do the caulk in the master bathroom. The floor of the shower looked really bad. Whoever did it before we moved in didn't do a very good job. The caulk was thick and uneven. Alan fixed all that with his handyman skills. He used clear caulk so it's basically invisible unless you look real close.

(Completed shower)

(Tub Prep)

(Completed Tub)

I think that Alan did a great job. He takes his time and does it right instead of rushing to just get it done. I guess I'll keep him around for an extended period of time. Who knows what his next project will be?