My kind of day!

I slept in this morning, clear until 8:30!! Then I rushed down to get my hair done - it was really looking bad. (yikes, don't know why I am posting these, I hate pictures of myself.)

Before

After
I stopped at Merilee's and she made an awesome chicken sandwich for me. She bought a box with a real oyster in it for me on her cruise. I opened the oyster and there was a little pearl to put the necklace that came with it - very cute! I love it, thanks Merilee. She also gave me a cute little doo-dad for my knick knack shelf. I bought Merilee and April these shelves once when they were little because I loved them so much. They weren't really all that interested in them, so I took them back. I put all the little things I have collected over the years in them - but there are still lots of empty spots, so if you go some place exotic you can buy me a little something to help fill them up!!!

When I got home there were 3 huge boxes of new towels to make in to bibs sitting in the kitchen!! I had an order for 60 bibs - so straight to the sewing room I went. I sewed for a couple hours, then back up to check website sales (I had 2 more sales) and of course check everyone's blogs. Then back to the sewing room to finish the bibs. I got all the sewing done, then sat and trimmed and folded them while I watched TV and ate popcorn!!

Sigh, my kind of day.

Quiet House

Lexi and Brandon went home last night. It sure is quiet here this morning. They kept me hopping, seems like the only rest I got is when I would lay down with them to get them to nap!!

They are busy little kids so to keep them out of trouble I enlisted their help in almost everything I did. They helped unload the dishwasher, vacuumed, cooked, set and cleared the table, and of course picked up toys and clothes!!

I didn't make them slave the whole time - they played with Paul's old cowboys and Indians,

colored pictures and played outside when it wasn't too cold.

Brandons favorite pastime was being the Hulk -

and Lexi's was playing with her webkins. I was amazed at how fast she learned to play the little games and navigate from one activity to another in the program. It was fun to have them here - I am glad they didn't go too far away.
But......
I am ready for some THERAPY!! (sewing)lol

After Christmas Letter

January 6, 2009

Greetings from the Funneefarm,

It is way too late to call this a Christmas letter – even a New Years Letter would be stretching it. I still wanted to write and tell everyone about how blessed we have been this past year and catch you up to date on the Zito happenings!!

John and I put our place up for sale but with the recent economic problems and the changes in our family, we are glad it has not sold. We were going to move to the Billings area where all of our kids (except Leonard) seemed to be congregating. When you see what our family is doing you will understand why we want to stay here. This place is a lot to take care of and we are not sure what to do about the paintball, but we love the peace and quiet. When we were looking for places to move, we couldn’t find any thing that came any where close to what we have and really don’t want to leave. I got a riding mower for the huge yard but that doesn’t help with the watering! So who knows what we will end up doing.

Leonard and his family are doing great. Leonard took a new job after 10 years working as a computer engineer for Intel. He took a service engineer position at Network Appliance or NetApp. They sell PC hardware. One of NetApp's biggest customers is Go Daddy, a web hosting company he is dedicated mostly to the Go Daddy account. Loree is still addicted to scrapbooking – if you need advice, ideas or supplies, talk to her. She is also the blogging queen – if you want to know something about their family, check out her blog. Kaitlyn (10) and Carly (7) are growing like weeds. They were both on the swim team this year and did really great – you should see all the blue ribbons they have. They came and spent the week before our family reunion with us – it was so fun to spend extra time with them. Blake (2) is all boy and seems to keep everyone hopping. Steve got out of the military last spring; he got a job with the Stillwater mine and moved his family to Laurel, Montana. We are not sure what the future of the mine will be, but for now, Steve still has a job. It was sure hard to see April and the kids go after having them live with us for almost 2 years. Sure is quiet around here. April is a stay at home mom right now – probably a good thing with 3 little ones. Seth is 4, Ashlyn will be 3 next month and Brenna will turn 2 in March. It was almost like she took MY kids when she moved because they had been here most their little lives! Seth loves being with his dad and has memorized the 5 house rules. It is so cute to hear him recite them. Ashlyn thinks she is a real live princess and has to be forced to wear “real” clothes. Brenna is just starting to talk and loves to have us hold her – I think she misses us as much as we miss her. When the kids aren’t keeping April totally occupied, she enjoys blogging and has gotten most of the family going on it too. They are after me to start a blog – maybe that will be my next new project.
Nathan and Johnathan are still working hard with their asphalt sealing company. It has more ups and downs than farming if you ask me. One day they are doing great and looking at their first million and the next they are hoping they don’t go broke and lose everything. John and I drove trucks a little for them last summer again – fun to be with them, but nerve wracking to be right in the middle of the roller coaster life they lead. I like hearing from them when the check is in their hand or a crisis has once again been successfully avoided much better.

Nathan's little family is really growing. Heather was born in September, what a happy little baby, she makes it thirteen grandchildren for us. Nathan works hard to keep Z&Z Seal Coating up and running. He is always busy bidding jobs, working with bankers and looking for ways to expand the business. Amber was baptized last spring and we are excited that they are working towards going to the temple. Amber finished up her Physicians Assistant Degree and passed the test – so she is now officially a PA and is looking for a job. Aden (4) loves to help his dad with all the equipment and is a wonderful big brother.

Kris took the final test for his CPA license last fall and passed!! He was really worried. But that is all behind him now. He has accepted a position with a company in Eugene, Oregon. They were here for Christmas and then left the day after to pack their home and move. Kris and Jennifer have wanted to make this change for a long time – they are so excited that it has happened. Jennifer will put her schooling on hold for at least a while but hopes to continue soon. Dominique (7) spent a week with me this summer, we had a lot of fun and now that she is so far away, I am glad I took the opportunity to have her here while I could. Tyler is growing so fast – he is the oldest of the batch of 3 year old grandkids and isn’t afraid to take the lead.

Johnathan is the advancement chairman for his Boy Scout troop – I think they use him for more than that quite often. He often calls for ideas on merit badge requirements and goes on campouts. He loves camping so he probably volunteers for that. He went on camping trips with Leonard last spring and Troy Jaques went with him at Thanksgiving. If you know Johnathan and his camping stories you know that they did well to survive! Anneke is the enrichment counselor in their ward and is doing great. We have fun sharing ideas since I have the same calling in our ward. Josie turned one in October. She is a little shy, but has the cutest smile with only 2 teeth – she is finally getting her top teeth so I suppose she will soon look more grown up.
Merilee completed the courses for her LPN license in December and is working at the local clinic/hospital/rest home. She loves the work and her face lights up when she tells you what she is learning. She has started the RN courses and should complete them this time next year. Eric took a job at the Stillwater mine, but he was one of the 1,100 people that got laid off. He was lucky enough to get his old job back at WyoBen (bentonite plant) here in Greybull. So they won’t be moving to Billings either. We are so lucky to have them close; Lexi (4) and Brandon (almost 3) keep us company and help keep us young. “Chubby arm hugs” are never far away.
Paul is living in Billings. He worked for Nathan and Johnathan last summer. It was fun to watch him work and see how many things he has learned to do. He drives those big old trucks, runs the equipment, blows out the cracks and fills them and some times runs the whole crew. I worked with him on a couple jobs and he works hard and fast. We don’t get to see him much now that summer is over – he has a new girlfriend and is pretty smitten with her so that keeps him occupied. Paul did bring Amanda home for Christmas tho and was fun to get to know her a little.
The kids bought John a really nice fly fishing pole and he has really enjoyed using it. He has gone on a couple of fishing trips and is getting pretty good at it. He also bought a truck that really runs and is not such a gas hog – first time he has ever had a nice truck. He loves having the grandkids over and scaring them to death with scary movies. When he has had enough of them crawling all over him, he simply chases them out and locks the door! I am still busy, busy, busy with respite, crafts, paintball, R.S. calling and grandkids. I know I should give up some of it, but I love every thing it is hard to choose. All in all, it has been a wonderful year for our family. Seems like there is seldom a dull moment and if there is you can bet it won’t last long. We have been blessed with closeness in our family that you don’t often see. All of our children get along very well with each other and are always ready when someone needs a helping hand. It was such a joy to have all of them home last spring for a family reunion. There were 27 of us all under one roof! We still call our place the Funneefarm although the craziness does subside a little bit occasionally.

We love and miss you all,

Welcome to the funneefarm!

I was telling April (my daughter) about last Sunday. She laughed so hard - gasping she said, "Mom, you have to start a blog!" I haven't done it before cuz I just didn't know where to start. Here goes!

First a little background. Merilee and Eric are gone on a cruise and I have the grandkids for 11 days! (Lexi is 4 and Brandon just turned 3 on Sunday) We made it through the first few days and even Sunday morning was a breeze since our meetings were changed to the 11:00 schedule. We didn't get home and have lunch over until 3 so I decided the kids would not get naps and would go to bed good and early for Pappy while I went to my stake meeting. I laid out their pj's and toothbrushes and went on my way. I arrived home all inspired and uplifted about 9:30 or so only to be met in the kitchen by pappy who grabbed me tight, his shoulders shaking, I wasn't sure if he was laughing or crying! (maybe a little of both!!!) He said he had just gotten the kids in bed and was laying down with them when Lance Anderson and his girlfriend showed up at the door.

The dogs went crazy, the kids were up - Lance took them to the basement to play and some how Brandon hurt his wrist. Lance left - kids were headed back to bed but Brandon wanted his wrist wrapped up so pappy took a long strip of cloth from the sewing room and bandaged him up good. They were just laying down again when Lance was back at the door - he was stuck on the hill!

The dogs went crazy, the kids were up - Pappy loaded the kids in the truck and spent an hour or so getting him unstuck. By then he was hurting - the kids were way too tired to settle down and I walked in. I promptly put pappy to bed - scolded the kids who then laid down and were zonked in less than 3 minutes. Needless to say - on Tuesday I took the kids with me to enrichment meeting with strict instructions for John to not answer the door or phone.

This is just a little glimpse - but our entire lives have been and probably always will be just like this!

Note - Brandon's wrist was fine - I loaded him up to take him to the doctor the next morning - as I put his coat on, I felt it pop - he howled - apparently it was out of the socket but I popped it back in. whew!!