Catching up - Trip to Tucson

I have been sadly remiss in my blogging.

On September 30, we left for Tucson to spend the weekend of General Conference with Rich and his family in Tucson. We had a good time listening to Conference, going to Ryan's soccer game and helping with some sorting and boxing and cleaning to get their house ready to go on the market. It is now on the market and we are waiting to hear if they have had any lookers.

Following are some pictures taken during that weekend, mostly of grandkids, of course!

Curiosity of a cat

WHAT IS THIS? I DON'T KNOW!

I'LL CHECK IT OUT!

I'LL GRAB IT!

LET ME TRY FROM HERE!

I'LL TRY AGAIN - WHAT IS THIS?

They say that curiosity killed the cat. I don't believe that to be true , but as long as that faucet drizzled, they were determined to try to catch it and figure out what it was and why they couldn't grab it. Might it be a good trait to develop?

Rich's Birthday

Today is Rich's birthday - 37 years old - can it be possible. I remember every detail of that day as if it were yesterday. Up to that day our family consisted of Jerry, Linda, Robert 5 1/2 and Lynette, just turned 1 four days before.

Richard John was such wonderful gift from Heavenly Father. We thought we would only have one child and so we adopted Lynette and then when she was only 3 months old, much to our surprise, I found out that I was pregnant. It was quite a summer with the news of Lynette's problems and dealing with morning sickness. I suppose all of that stress was some of the cause of the gestational diabetes that the doctor discovered about three weeks before Rich was due the first week of October. My regular checkups with the OB were usually early in the morning before Jerry went to work, but that September morning, I got a call that they had to change my appointment until later in the morning. Instead of waiting to eat breakfast when I got home, I went ahead and ate before my appointment. I remember it was a Friday and they did the regular urine test. However, the doctor came in to see me and said that my test showed positive for diabetes and I would have to go to the lab the next morning fasting to have a blood glucose test. Monday afternoon I got an urgent call from the doctor saying that they needed me to check into the hospital immediately as my blood sugar was high and the baby was at risk. Total madhouse to call mom and dad to come to be with Rob and Lynette, make arrangements for the neighbor to watch them until they could get there from Price, get some things together to take to the hospital, panic, panic, panic - is the baby okay? This is 3 weeks early! Is the doctor going to start me? Questions, questions, questions!

And thus, Tuesday, September 18 was the day for this little boy to be born. He was put in the preemie nursery to watch for problems related to the high blood glucose levels, but he did just fine and at 7 lbs 1 oz, he looked big compared to the tiny little preemies that were there. We brought him home and then there were five!

I must add one picture of Rich's hairy little head.

The Pergola

We finally have our pergola. I have wanted one for many years, even at our home in Taylorsville, and now it is a reality. Can't wait to get some comfy furniture to put on it so we can spend some enjoyable hours lazing in the cool mornings and evenings.

A special daughter's birthday

It was September 20, 1972. The phone rang at about 3 p.m. and I picked it up never thinking that this was a life-changing moment. We had waited for over two years to hear from the LDS Church Relief Society adoption services for the call telling us they had a child that would be a good fit for our family. They told me they had a baby girl, six days old, and could we be there before 5 p.m. to pick her up. If I try to describe the feelings that I had at that moment, it would be disbelief that it finally happened, panic that I had nothing ready, and excitement to finally have another baby and a little sister for Robert. I called Jerry at work and they couldn't find him - more panic, how would we get there by 5:00! He did call back in a few minutes, came home, we dashed to Grand Central and bought an outfit to bring her home in and away we went to the RS Building to pick up our new family member.

Here we are, the Asay family with newly adopted Lynette Marie, Jerry, Linda and Robert, age 41/2. This new baby daughter had, in our minds, every future potential that any child could have. We were so naive and unsuspecting of what was to come. Our Heavenly Father had much different plans for our family in sending this child to us. It wasn't until she was about six months old that we admitted that she just was not developing the way she should. She had a hard time holding her head up, wasn't anywhere near sitting alone and when I asked the doctor about it, his comment was that all babies develop at different rates and not to worry about it. However, as time passed, I kept commenting to him that I didn't think "all was well". At about 8 months of age, I said to him that I thought something was definitely amiss. She wasn't rolling over, and she just kicked her right leg and her left hand was always in a fist. He finally said that we better have a neurologist take a look at her.

That was a day never to be forgotten. Because I believe that our minds try to rule out the worst case scenario, I went with her to the neurologist with the highest hopes that it was just some little problem that could be easily fixed. Silly me! When I think back, I knew that it was really serious, but I was trying my hardest to not go there. The neurologist dashed that hope in a few moments and less words. He sat down across his desk from us and said, "Her head is too small", picked her up off my lap and took her into another room. When he came back he bluntly said, "I believe the right side of her brain is missing". Did I break down in front of him - No Way! I sat and listened to his plan to set up an EEG at the hospital to confirm his findings. In my mind, this doctor flunked his course in "bedside manner". To me he seemed brutal in his "matter-of-fact" telling of the situation. When I told him that she was adopted, he asked if the adoption was final and suggested that we contact the agency about giving her back. I left his office in a complete daze and really don't know how I ever drove home.

What was going through my mind? I think I was in total shock and it was really just as if he had told me my baby was dead. She was never going to be the little daughter that I had envisioned. As I look back on it, we suffered much the same grieving that we would have if she had died, for that child we thought we had was gone and in her place was one that we had never thought we would have. His suggestion that we give her back was just not an option for a family with our beliefs, we knew that Lynette was to be a member of our family forever.

Now, 38 years later and through all the highs and the lows and all of the learning experiences both for Lynette and for the rest of the family, we are very grateful for this special person. She has never ceased to amaze us and continues to do so. One day we will see her as she truly is and understand the full extent of the blessing she has been in our lives.

The piano recital

September 3, 2010 and we went North to pick up Lynette in Spanish Fork and then on to Clinton to spend the Labor Day weekend with Rob and his family. As it happened, Ellie and Maddy had a piano recital on Friday night, which was so fun to attend. Since moving to St. George, we have missed going to the granddaughters events and this was the first one we have attended when Maddy played. She was first on the program and although she was supposed to say something about her pieces before she played, she sat right down and played them note perfect. When she got up her piano teacher reminded her to say something about what she had played, which she did.

Ellie was farther down the program and she played her pieces memorized. She did a great job!

After the recital, Rob and Kristine went out to dinner and to stay overnight to celebrate their 10th anniversary. We took the three girls to Farr's Fresh (a great ice cream shop). Their friend was there with her dad and Ellie and Maddy went home with them to have a "late night". We took Claire home and the girls came home at 10 p.m. and we all went to bed.

Saturday, Rob and Kristine came home a little before noon and we had a fun day and then went out to a baseball game in Ogden. Sunday we went to church and Monday was Labor Day. We went for a walk in the park behind Rob's house and following are a few pictures taken there. In the afternoon we went to the home of friends of Rob and Kristine and had a Labor Day BBQ and left from there to take Lynette back to Spanish Fork.

Claire swinging Ellie Skating
and
Maddy jumping

We had a WONDERFUL WEEKEND!

Cats and kittens

In January 2005 we adopted this kitty. She about 3 years old and very shy when we first took her home. She hid for about four days until she finally decided that we were okay to live with. She was an absolutely loving cat. She disappeared on February 23, 2010. She went out in the garage and then got out on a rainy afternoon, never to be seen again. We don't know where she went or what happened to her. It has been very frustrating not to know as we loved this kitty so much.

Now it is August and six months have passed. Although we still miss our Puddis and wonder what ever happened to her, we have now adopted two new kittens. Meet Buzz and Ginger, our new friends.


This is Buzz. He is a friendly and fun little four month old kitten. We adopted hom from Sandy Cannon in Washington, Utah. He was a little shy at first but has quickly become at home here. He is very playful and likes to be right in the middle of everything. Hence the name Buzz as in "Buzz off". Just kidding. He is a cute and fun kitty.

This is Ginger. She is a calico. I have always wanted a calico. She is much more shy but is finally more friendly and loving instead of hiding and darting away when we come around. Last night she got on the couch with me and acted like she couldn't get enough petting and purring.

They have so much fun playing with each other. Brother and sister, they play and pretend fight and chase each other all around the house.