Morgan's New Room!

Click on the small one for a panoramic view of her room.

We worked on Morgan's room all weekend and these are the results! She did most of the hard work and she did a great job. Pictures never look as good as the real thing, it looks so cool it's amazing!

My mom


My mom, Joan Pace Woolsey, passed away a year ago today. I thought I'd share a few of my memories of her. First of all wasn't she so pretty! I know most teenagers don't want to be anywhere near their parents, but I loved going "dragging main, and getting cokes" with my mom. Since my dad worked out of town during the week, it was just us and we'd go to the movies all the time together. She loved to shop and she liked NICE things, I was more than happy to let her spoil me. She he loved her flower beds and pots and I know that's where I got my love of flowers and gardening. I didn't appreciate then how good I had it and how great she was to me. If I had known how hard our lives would soon get I would have appreciated those fun times much more.

While I miss her so much, I am very thankful that mom is finally at peace after having such a hard life for so long. Our lives may have been inconvenienced or hard because of her mental illness, but I don't know if any of us can even imagine how impossibly difficult life was for her. Of course I feel bad now that I wasn't more patient with her and understanding, but I know I only did the best I could in understanding her. I am thankful for the hard times I went through with her, because I know it helped create the woman and mom I am today. She's the reason I got my education, so that I could try to understand her better. I am very thankful for the example she was to me as a mom. She was wonderful to me, and taught me everything I needed to know at a young age, to be a good mom. I'm thankful I was blessed with my childhood with her, she was fun and loving. Mostly I'm grateful that my mom taught me to love and trust Heavenly Father and she was the first person who taught me the wonderful gift of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I am thankful that I got the most wonderful gift the night before she passed away. She had just had surgery to remove a cyst that had bothered her (well, mostly us) for years. When I called to see how she was doing she sounded so happy and said "I finally look normal." She then told me how proud she was of me, of my kids and how she admired me for how I've handled the difficulties in my life. She told me I was beautiful and that she loved me very much. I hadn't ever heard some of those things from her as an adult. That was a wonderful gift I know the Lord blessed me with, knowing she would be going home to Him that night.

I am very thankful for my brothers and sister. They are truly just wonderful people and I'm so thankful we are an eternal family and that we will all be with mom again. I know they will also be missing her today, I Love and miss you guys.

We have another addition to our family. Courtney has begged for years for her own puppy and we gave in. Myles is such a sweet doggie and Courtney is taking wonderful care of him. He's only 8 lbs and full grown. When we got him he had hair as long as is on his tail and it was matted all over so we had to have him shaved. It's starting to grow back and he is so cute! We love you Myles.

Dad and Courtney (mostly Courtney) made a WONDERFUL dinner for mom one day. It was awesome! She has a few cookbooks now and really loves to experiment in the kitchen. Mom loved that she didn't have to cook for a change. Now Courtney needs to teach dad how to cook more!

Joel and I were able to go on a Retreat sponsored by the Military--after returning from deployment. We stayed at the Mission Point Resort on Mackinaw Island, and aside from having to sit through marriage enrichment talks for hours, it was nice and relaxing.

Click on the small picture to see a panorama of Mackinaw Island.

We had a great time at Sam's wedding. Courtney and Megan danced the night away....they have such a great time together. They are the bestest of cousins!

Grammy and Grandpa--the longest married couple at the wedding, they are a great example to all of us. Notice I said "longest" married, not OLDEST.