Happy New Year!!

Well, I can't believe I totally missed December. My apology for anyone who had Dec. birthdays. I hope people remembered your birthdays without them posted on the blog. Yes I am losing it. Or could it be that I had 4 major Christmas parties to plan, prepare and deliver. Not to mention my stressful job. But it all got done. And I only had a tear in my retina to show for it. If we could just see from the end to the beginning that everything was going to turn out - we would worry less. But that is where prayer and faith come in. Something I often forget about. Oh, believe me I pray! Sad to say, I just don't trust the Lord. There, I said it! My New Year's resolution is to have more faith and be more optomistic. Ed would be laughing right now if he heard me say that. I'm a pessimist and a worrier. "What if" is my middle name. And its funny because I'm 62 years old and I can't say anything terribly bad has ever happened because I was in charge. Even if I had a magic ball and could see the future - I would be afraid something would interfere and change the future somehow. I picture my perfect future as sitting in a rocking chair on a porch in front of a beautiful beach and ocean. Diet Pepsi - with lots of ice - and all the sereneness that comes with it. Then comes my wildly vivid dramtic mind interupting the calmness with a huge gigantic 100 foot wave rushing toward me to wash me out to sea. I can't even dream peace and calm!!! So my dear relatives, having said all that, wasn't the family Christmas Party great! I'm not sure what mom was thinking during all the madness Sunday night. Masses of little kids running around screaming and chasing each other, 37 adults running and fighting for chairs and gifts that we could go out and buy for ourself. Not to mention all the other adults on the sidelines cheering for their loved ones to win the big one!! Well, I think she was grinning inside and saying to herself, "I wish Grandpa was here to see what we created!" Happy New Year everyone!

Thanksgiving

We decided that this year everyone will just do their own thing for Thanksgiving. We've just gotten so big and its so much work. Married grandkids have to run from family to family trying to fit it all in and its just become too much for most everyone. I know that some will not be happy with this decision but we all knew it would have to be this way sooner or later. I'm just kidding. I'm not sure anyone even reads this anymore so I just thought I would add some spice to it and see. Well we're going to do Thanksgiving but not Christmas. Just kidding again!! We have decided though that the dinner will be at the church again. And we've decided to downsize to hot dogs and chips to save on clean up and there never is enough food. What!! Kidding again, if you are still reading this. I do know that we ran out of food last year so we need to bring more food!! No skimpy little salads people!! We hope to have "Family Feud" again. So I will post more when I know more.

The Good Ole' Days

In the good old days we would all gather at mom and dads on Sunday evening and the grandkids would play outside until we dragged them in the house to say good bye. It was just the thing to do on Sunday and we enjoyed every minute of it. I miss those days. I didn't know at the time how lucky we were to have the time and opportunity to do that. Our lives are so busy now that it is almost impossible to find a time to all get together. We were lucky to all live in the same town and only have one church time. My how times have changed. I never thought I would see sports events for our kids on Sundays, live an area with several wards meeting in the same building, and schedules so tight we are like ships passing in the night. But here we are. If it wasn't for facebook I wouldn't know what my family was doing half the time. I long for those good ole' days. When we would get together and laugh and talk and didn't have to hurry off for another scheduled event. What happened to that life? I am sorry you younger generation will never know those days. They were good times.

Praying With One Eye Open

We have a saleswoman at Pure Line Seeds and she is also an ordained minister for a non denomiational church. I love this woman. She is from Oklahoma and has the most southern accent I've ever heard. She kind of reminds me of Paula Dean. She always greets us with a big hug and kiss on the cheek. Everyone she meets gets greeted like this. She is good in sales because she is so friendly and personable, everyone loves Penny. She is also very religous and a "Praise the Lord" lady. She has had a rough life but once she turned her self over to the Lord she is a changed woman. She is always giving me a bad time because if I'm ever stressed she tells me to trust the Lord, put my faith in the Lord. She's not afraid to show her religion. Unlike some of us. About a month ago she came to Warden for our Pea trial show. She had just returned from Jeruselem and was really spiritual. She even brought me a cashmere shawl from there. She really is a special woman and I am amazed at her faith and spirit for all she has been through.She is such an example to me. Well while she was here she took me to the Corral Resturant in Warden for lunch. The Corral was packed that day and people coming and going. I know pretty much everyone who comes in there. She decided we needed to join hands and she would bless the food. Out loud! Now, I am a religious person and I do bless the food-- at home. Why is it hard for us to bless our food in public. Well, I kept one eye open - watching out -- secretly hoping no one I knew would see us. It was a beautiful prayer and I am ashamed I can't be that open. She knows I am Mormon and I try to be a good example but I learned a lesson that day. She is a better example of a Christlike person than I will ever be. She's not afraid or ashamed to thank the Lord or praise the Lord. How would you have reacted in this same situation? Would you have prayed with one eye open afraid someone would see?

Come See Us!

Well here we are in our new little home in Moses Lake. Cozy like 2 peas in a pod. It only took us a month to move and its all we've done night and day! I didn't know 2 people could accumulate that much crap! we just moved 6 years ago and gave away so much stuff its hard to believe we were right back where we were. Like hoarders actually, only not with garbage. I just didn't realize how much food storage I had. Not until I had to watch the guys from Pure Line Seed - who were helping us move-lug it all up from the basement. I did realize one bit of advice I am passing on to anyone who cares to listen, If you have a basement, never take anything down there you don't want to drag back up out of it. Also never, and I repeat never, remodel your stair case so you can't get things back out of your basement when you move. Jeff and Lily have inherited and a big screen TV, a queen size bed, a couch and love seat, 2 recliners. The freezer came with the house when we bought it and I don't know how they will ever get it out of there if it dies. Well, lesson learned. None of it would have fit in our tiny cottage anyway. I will really miss that house at Christmas time. I know I can still have my family here but it was nice to spread everyone out, kids in the basement and adults upstairs. When we bought that house - it was our last house. The house we would retire in and live till we died. But I never realized my knees would give out on me and I couldn't go up and down the stairs anymore. I never realized how far Moses Lake was and how much more often I wanted to see my grandkids. Life is funny that way. It changes our perspectives constantly and we move to new phases in our lives. We hope to retire someday and this is the perfect place for us. Well, thats what we think right now, we'll see how we feel in a couple of years. At my age I never know how I'll feel tomorrow. Everyone please feel free to come visit us. We are at 3010 W. Peninsula Drive #97. Its easy to find and we welcome your visit.

Big Changes Coming

I first want to apologize for being so late with the June Birthday calendar. Time is flying by so fast I can hardly keep up. I am sorry to say the family blog cannot be my first priority. I have already said if anyone wants to take it over they are more than welcome. I know the day will come when I won't know what to do with all my spare time but until then there is no spare time. Memorial Day was wonderful wasn't it. Except for those who couldn't make it I thought it was one our best ever. Dad would be so proud. 3 new great grand babies for mom on their way - so we just keep growing. And another big change is coming- Ed and I are moving to Moses Lake. I know that most of you already know this but Jeff and Lily are buying our house and we have decided to downsize big time and buy a small house. I am not excited for the moving part and I will truely miss seeing the family on Sundays, but I am excited for this new change in our life. Sometimes you just get in a rut and a change is good. We are preparing for retirement so that we won't have to work forever. I will let you all know when the big move happens - if anyone is looking for something to do we could use some help - especially bringing all that food storage up out of the basement! I think Jeff and Lily are going to inherit a bunch of stuff with this house!

What the heck??

I don't even know if this is going to post right. I guess thats what happens when you only post every other month. My computer says my browser is no longer supported by Blogger. What the heck?? Some parts of Blogger will not work and I may experience problems. Well I don't know what to do. It looks different and I'll just see what happens. Don't you just hate it when you learn to do something and get used to it and it changes all of a sudden because somebody decided it would be easier that way. Well that somebody should be shot - or at least be hung by their thumbs for a day. At least let us vote on it. Us old people are not good with change. Just leave things alone. If it ain't broke don't fix it!! I thinks its a communist plot to confuse the old into submission. I know I say it all the time about everything from seat belts to cell phones but its my story and I'm sticking to it! I don't think many people read the blog anymore - well since I only write every other month but someday I'm going to retire and I'm going to write to my hearts content. That might not be too far off. Shhhhh don't tell Brian. Well at least I got the birthdays changed before the end of the month. If anyone wants to take over the family blog its fine with me. I know I'm always behind. Please forgive me.

Suprise Church Calling

Friday we received a call that the Bishop wanted to meet with Ed and I right away. We were elated because we were just sure he was going to let us know that he had found a new home for the missionaries. So of course we agreed to meet with him as soon as he wanted. Imagine our suprise when he extended a call to us to serve a 1 year mission. Now we both work and need to work so we proceeded to tell him why we couldn't and he said just hear me out. This mission is to a small country is South America where they are teaching the people how to farm and grow their own food. Their main crop will be garden beans and peas. They need someone to show them how to prepare the land, plant the seeds and especially how to grow the plants clear through to harvest. And that this mission was going to be paid for by the church. We just sat there and looked at each other. You know Bishop Cole and he's not real serious so we laughed and asked if he was kidding. He said he was as suprised as we were but that President Leavitt had received the call first and thought of us because we both work in that area. Then came the bad news. We would have to live in a tent and there would be no up to date facilities if you know what I mean. But there would be people there to haul the water and make us as comfortable as we could be. Ed was so excited and asked how soon we could go. I said now wait just a minute. We have a house and grandkids and jobs and bills and our moms! I cannot live without running water and a bathroom!!!! How long would we have to be there? The bishop said their planting season begins next month so we would have to start preparing right away. He wanted us to go home and pray about it but they needed an answer by Monday. I am the pessimist in the family - I cannot even imagine myself living in a tent without a bathroom or not seeing my family. For a YEAR!! It has been a very stressful weekend thinking and worrying about this. Then I woke up and remembered today is April Fools Day. Yes everyone we didn't really get this call. If we had you would have all heard about it on facebook and heard me crying and whining all the way to Moses Lake. Have a great day!

Leap Year

Gee we get one more day of February this year! Yippee! We're always saying there aren't enough hours in a day or days in a month. How productive were you with one more day in February? I'm still behind as ever. What I would like to do is clone myself. Just someone to go to work for me. I would lounge around the house and watch TV - take naps - eat. Oh yeah I forgot I have missionaries living in my house. 3 now to be exact. They are up at 6:30 sharp. We hear their alarm. They eat breakfast at 7 am sharp. Then they don't leave the house until noon and are back at 1:00 for lunch. Sometime they wait until 2 but then they are always back at 4:00 for dinner. Then they are there until 6 or 7. Then back once or twice to use the bathroom or get something and home by 9:30. So I guess if I stayed home I really wouldn't have the house to myself. No use cloning myself. I'm sure Ed wouldn't want 2 Lorrie's.

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Even though no one reads this anymore - I want to apologize for not posting birthdays. I could not get into the Cox Family Blog on my computer at home. It would let me in but wouldn't let me post anything. It let me change the background, strangly, but nothing else. I finally tried at work and I'm in!! Its actually been a depressing month for me. I hate when bad things happen to good people. And to be really honest I don't think people realize when they make a decision for themself - how many people that effects. Grandpa Cox's Birthday is coming up on Saturday and I just want to say that he was the most unselfish man I have ever known. He always put everyone before himself. He was a giver! He would give the shirt off his back even if it was his last shirt and worry about it later. All he wanted was love and kindness in his family and would hide hurt feelings and anger to keep the peace. I know that its a dream to think all people can be like that, but what a great world it would be if we could be more caring, and less selfish. That we would think of others first, and our wants second. I really believe our children will suffer if we don't. Life is more about giving than taking. Let us be the givers. Let us be more like Grandpa. Happy Birthday Dad. We Love You!

Happy New Year!

What a great way to start out the New Year with the blessing of a new family member. Congratulations Levi & Dania! I decided to make a tally of our family members. There are 30 grandchildren & 59 great grandchildren. By my account and I could be wrong - of course, the numbers change so fast around here we're always afraid to ask whats new. But I do know there is another great grandchild on the way. (TJ & Misha) There is also a wedding coming up - Emma and Marshall and the date I heard was Feb. 18th. I'm not a very good reporter I work mostly on hear say but I know someone will correct me if I'm wrong. The family Christmas party was a success and we are looking forward to next year. The decision was made to put a family in charge. Ricks family took this year and the Olson's will be in charge next year. The scarey thing is that it will be here before we know it. As I was taking down my Christmas tree today I went through a little sadness as I always do at the end of the Christmas season. But I know that time passses so fast I'll be putting it up again soon. Am I the only one that thinks that way? Well, here we are in 2012. A new year - a new beginning to be better than we were last year. Yes on Monday we will start our new diets, we'll vow to be a better friend, a better mom, dad, sister, we'll make a new committment to read the Book of Mormon, to de clutter our homes, get more organized. Do any of these sound familiar? I wish you all a Happy successful New Year and Good luck with those New Years resolutions. As for me I am working on all of the above and added a new one this year - I hope I can figure out my new IPHONE! I hate it right now and I know hate is a strong word, but I hope to turn it to love someday. Happy New Year Family!