Happy Halloween!

Ah, Halloween- one of my favorite times of the year! Madison and I carved our little minions the other day which took quite a long time. Then when I was putting them outside in the garage to keep them cool for Halloween, Madison's slipped out of my hands and I broke his face. I couldn't sleep that night I felt so bad. Anyway, they turned out OK.

Brenda had a trip to Lost Wages and wasn't here for the big night...again. "If you were going to be here, I was going to say you should go as a ghost, because you're never here!.." Mr. Mom.

Since SOMEBODY didn't get my Young Frankenstein movie back, we watched Insidious. Why did I watch that movie again! Probably going to have nightmares. Had to watch Arsenic and Old Lace after that to help me forget it.

Well, Happy Halloween!..... BOO!

Elva R. Zaugg

25 May 1919 to 1 October 2012

I pay tribute to one of our Heavenly Father's choice daughters- my mom. (I may have to edit this a few times to get it right, but wanted to get something out there in the Cyber Sea as soon as I could- may add more pix as well.)

It has been a crazy couple weeks. It started about 2 weeks ago when my my mom fell off her walker while sitting on it. She wasn't hurt too badly, just kind of bruised her side a bit. My sister took her and my dad to the doctor for their normal checkups about a week later (on a Monday). Upon leaving the doctor, my dad was pushing her while she was sitting in her walker. For whatever reason, the stars were aligned- don't know, but he hit the threshold of the sliding door or something and the walker collapsed and she fell backwards, luckily not bumping her head too badly. My dad proceeded to fall on top of her and somehow she tore a 9x5 piece of skin off her leg. Luckily still at the doctor, they got her all patched up.

She seemed to be OK for the next few days, in some pain of course, but was able to get up and move around with her walker. My sister stayed with her and my dad until that Friday and I took over for her as she had to leave to go home to her family. She and I noticed that mom started getting worse with more pain and not able to do much for herself. I stayed with her Friday night and was up with her about every hour, probably because Dad was bothering her, being in the same bed (snores like no other). Fried, but duty not done, I was with them most of the day, Saturday, spelled off by a few brothers so I could do the yard work for the parents and myself. One of my brothers and I stayed with them on Saturday night but made Dad sleep in his own bed (which he had done since his operation last year). We were up with her a few times, not as much, but we could tell that she was in more pain because of her moaning, although she did rest better. My sister had phoned the doctor's office, the doctor on call said he could not prescribe any more pain meds without the regular doctor's permission and so we'd have to wait until Monday (what good is a doctor on call that can not look up medical records or even call the original doctor in times like these- what a troll). During these last few days, she did not want to get up to eat, only wanting to stay in bed. She did seem to perk up when we fed her, she not being able to do it herself.

Before my sister came back to help out, she texted all the siblings and families that live close and said it might be a good idea to come and see Grandma soon, so Sunday evening it was crawling with kids. We brought grandma out and fed her and many got to see her feeling a little better. She didn't say much, we got a "I love my family" out of her and she and Isla were waving back and forth a little bit. She was tired and we put her to bed. With my sister there, my one brother was wondering if he should stay over night again as I hadn't had much sleep for 48 hours, but I felt like I should for some reason. So, after the families went home, my sis and I got Dad to bed and helped Mom another time, about 10:30p, before we retired for the evening. She had been doing some laundry and I guess that woke me up at maybe 11:45p perhaps and I went in to check on Mom. I could hear her breathing, though it sounded a little more labored than usual and she wasn't moaning as much. Concerned, but not wanting to disturb her, I went back to bed. I just had this feeling though, that she not moaning like she had, that she wasn't going to last long... don't know why October 1st kept coming to mind. Later, I woke with a start- it was unbelievably quiet, almost eery quiet- could not hear a sound. I walked to Mom's door, could not hear her breathing so went in to check her. As I walked into her room, I checked the clock- it said 2:05a. I turned to check on her and there was my dear sweet mother, not breathing- I knew she was gone. So much more to this experience, but I keep them to myself as I treasure them so dearly.

We called all the siblings and told them, those that lived close came quickly and with more of us there, woke our father. It was a special time together. After the mortuary had taken Mom's body away, we all sat in the living room and talked and shared memories. As I thought about my mom, I had a thought of her, looking as she does in the younger picture above (wedding picture), laughing, dancing and jumping with her sisters that have passed before her. What a reunion it must have been with her parents, sisters and brothers on the other side!

The Viewing and Funeral
I wasn't sure if many people would come, because most of mom and dad's friends have already died. But their friend's children came. I was going up and down the line with other sibs as a couple others would stay with my dad at the casket. For over 2 hours, I had the wonder opportunity to talk with so many old friends and neighbors that they had when I was a kid. It was great getting acquainted again, but they could not say enough of how they loved my mom and the kindness, happiness, and friendliness that she exemplified and how they'd miss her. I think I've heard most of the stories my sibs have about her, but to hear the stories and thoughts that these people had that I had never heard before, was priceless. I wish I could have written them down.

At the funeral the next day, all 11 of us kids took a few minutes each to say something about our mother- 30 seconds to 1 minute is what we were allotted. How was I to sum up what my mother meant to me in 1 minute? It was tough. I thought my sibs were gonna skin me as I timed my portion to be about 1.5 to 2 minutes long. So, let them get mad. We all had some wonderful things to say... why wouldn't we?

Here is a song that a couple of my brother's read the words to while my brother-in-law played the music on the piano. Dang, it's a tear-jerker... grab a hankie.

I dreamed I saw my dear old mother kissing me goodbye. And tho’ her heart was breaking and the tears shone in her eye, She whispered, “Please don’t let our parting grieve you anymore. But just remember, this is what God made all Mothers for. To watch over you when a baby, to sing you to sleep with her song. To try to be near you, to comfort and cheer you, To teach you the right from the wrong. To work day and night, to help win the fight, and over a million things more. To sigh for you, cry for you, yes, even die for you. That’s what God made mothers for.
That's What God Made Mothers For- Leo Wood

And just FYI, my remarks were the shortest of all the kids- can you believe it? I could have taken more time as they all did. Oh well, all together I think we gave a pretty good tribute to our sweet angel mother.

Mom, you were/are the best. What a supreme example of goodness and motherhood you have been to your family and all around you. If anyone has "made it", I know you have and I hope that I will also be able to join you some day. Here's a scripture that seems to fit right now:
"...I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day..." 2 Timothy 4:7,8

Mom, thank you for all you've done for me. I love you and will miss you. Until we meet again...

Family Pix!

Brenda has been waiting for many moons to be able to get a real photographer to shoot some pix of the fam. Well, it just so happens that "...the moon is in the Seventh House And Jupiter aligns with Mars..." (I feel a song coming on...)... actually, Rory had gotten his Army assignment and was being xfered to Korea and was able to spend the weekend with us. Brenda jumped on it and got the shoot lined up. Got a ton of shots, but some of the results are below. Dang! We clean up pretty good I think

2012 Zaugg Reunion

Oops... I guess I forgot to post this... Well, here it is.

It's that time again- family reunion time. We went, we saw, we ate, then ate some more. Here is Methuselah and Methuselahlita- still going strong. Mom is 93 and Dad will be 98 next month... unbelievable.

Oh, I guess I forgot to publish this. Here are a few more pix.

Last First Day!!!

This is our last first day... last first day of high school that is. It's taken a few years but we've made it- Carson, a senior in high school. Can you believe it? We can't either, but, Hallelujah! Now, all we have to do is get through one more year. I'm sure we'll be telling ourselves many times through the next long, drawn-out, drama-filled, bamboo-up-the-fingernails months "...just one more year, just one more year....

Long Weekend with Emery

CAMPING!
Yahoo, the Weekend! It was a crazy busy weekend- I hardly had time to change my mind. There was supposed to be a church camp out, but it got cancelled. But, since the campground was still reserved, we decided to go anyway. And as luck would have it, Emery was here and she wanted to go with us.

We got a late start from home, so we stopped and grabbed some Colonel's chicken- dang! you've gotta love those 11 secret herbs and spices. We got to the campground and it was already dark... and guess what? We bought a brand new tent that we hadn't put up yet- I was worried we'd just end up throwing the thing on top of us cause we wouldn't be able to do it in the dark..... right. But with Emery's help- badda bing!

Brenda and I were prepared for a wonderful night's sleep with our blowup mattress, but little did we know that our wonderful night's sleep would not be so. We both woke up in the middle of the night in a jumbled heap in the middle of a leaking mattress and we couldn't

get away from each other. Well, after dozing off and on for hours, I couldn't wait for it to be morning so I could get up. When it finally was time to get up, we both had bottomed out (bun intended) and we both got up. Emery had a wonderful night's sleep. I was getting envious of her foam mattress she was sleeping on... I wonder if she would have noticed if I would have moved her off and put her in my spot and I taken hers? No, what are you thinking Gpa? We had some hot chocolate and muffins for breakfast, walked around the camp, saw wild turkeys, heard squirrels, played "Pooh Stick" in the river. Feast yer eyes on a few pix.

SLIDING!
Also on the menu, and the reason we had to hurry home from camping, I had my work party. I told Brenda we wouldn't be there long "...10 minutes, 15 tops, then we'll pull the old Aunt Emily trick...". We came, we ate- dang good food (steak, chicken, pulled pork corn-on-the-cob, etc), got some pix of Taylor and Emery sliding on ginormously long water slide. We couldn't stay long at the party either, not because of Aunt Emily, but because I had some church meetings I had to go to... so again, Feast yer eyes on a few pix. Looks like I got Taylor's good side on one of the shots :)
.... The End.

Isla Turns One Year Old!

Another milestone. Isla is one year old today! Time to celebrate! Her parents took her to the zoo today (I'll try to get a couple of pix to put on here). She has been walking for about 2 months now- growing up way too fast.
OK, it's my birthday.... what do I get?

Presents!

Magic Slippers!

I'll add more pix later.....