Family Photos

I thought I would try to post some more pictures of the family and things we have done recently. Over Thanksgiving we took pictures with our family. Brandon took them with his spiffy camera and his remote control!

The girls.
The girls.

Rebecca and Joe.
Mike and Linds.
Steph and Brandon.
Brittney and Fat Cat.

HELLO! LONG TIME NO SEE!

THIS IS BRITT SINGING AT 'SHOWCASE AT CHATFIELD. SHE DID A GREAT JOB!

milo doesn't know what to think of Christmas....

We make a mess huh?

I was thinking how long it's been since we posted anything on here. Things have been so busy...life! So I'll just take a few minutes to report on Christmas and such and say hello! Hope all of you out there, family and friends, had a lovely and joyful Christmas. If we saw you or heard from you, then we were blessed! If not, we can't wait until we do see you or hear from you again.

Thanksgiving was very very nice....all of us were here! I was thinking how fun it is these days when we get together, because when we are done eating, we just sit around and laugh and talk and make good fun of each other (usually directed at me, but I deserve it). Steph and Brandon came from Utah and we had a wonderful thankful time!

Christmas then came all too soon. I have to wonder what inspires me to want to work in a retail establishment at such a crazy time of year, but I somehow love it. But we managed to still have lots of fun times. Steph and Brandon were at Brandon's house in Rexburg for Christmas, so it was sad not to have them here, but we did the computer web cam thing to open each other's presents which was really cool. We always take forever to open presents because we hate to see all the fun end. Right as we were getting done with Steph and Brandon, Joe handed me this tiny little gift bag. In it were keys! Yes that's right Rebecca got a new Honda CRV....tango red! What a nice husband! Our van has loads and loads of miles on it and won't last too much longer. And somebody in our family just got her license (that would be BRITT) and she is SOOO excited to get to drive the mommy van...how cute huh?

So that and more made it a very fun Christmas. We have now had seven without Brian. I didn't think I could make it through one. We miss him every single day. There are many things we are grateful for though, and one is that Joe is recovering well and we know his stroke could have been something much worse. He is doing okay! Much slower recovery than any of us ever thought, but he has a good routine for building up his strength, doing good deeds, even taking care of the home front while I run off to work. Talk about role reversal! (Although he always was better at vacuuming and dishes than I was...) I'm posting a couple of pictures but I'll add more later....

Current Pix

SIGNAL MOUNTAIN FAMILY REUNION August 6-7, 2009

(NOTE, THE ABOVE IS NOT A MEMBER OF OUR FAMILY) I noticed I had already posted pix from Steph's graduation and thought I oughta post something more current. Here are some pix from our family reunion at Signal Mtn. in Grand Teton National Park. We've been going there off and on for something like 35 years. These are pix Brandon our son-in-law took and they are maaaaaaavelously pretty! (Well, the first is a pic of all the Moss siblings...I wouldn't call us ALL pretty...ha)

This is the whole gang ALL TOGETHER! (Well except Brian, and he is with us always as we know).

Mt. Moran and it's signature glacier. I love this mountain...happy memories under it, while it stands tall and majestic above...that glassy lake is what many of us swam across ...about a mile I think (not me..too cold and I'm a wimp). But I rowed in my little blowup raft like a real champ! (I was on lifeguard duty)

The OTHER Tetons...that's the Grand on the left. Can you believe how beautiful it is there?

Even in a sudden storm...wow.

Hello again!

Can you believe it? Rebecca is finally writing in the blog again! We haven't been writing for awhile...been busy yet not too much has changed with Joe's condition. But I miss it, and wanted to share some of the neat pix and such from this summer plus catch up a bit. First, Joe is continuing to progress through his "stroke journey"...it's hard to know daily if he's improved but when we think back to how he was at Christmas, even during all the winter, he has made amazing progress! He still gets VERY TIRED, easily, and his eye bothers him, yet the eye doc says to be patient, so we are trying! Meanwhile, he is home doing great "househusband" things at home, and I have to say I am enjoying it, and I feel spoiled. He has always liked to do laundry and vacuum, as all of you know, but he has also organized some things, done some yard work, kept up on some cleaning, etc. We sure appreciate everyone's kind words and encouragement and love!

Meanwhile, here are a few pix from our doing this summer:

Steph and I on her graduation day from BYU!

All the fam is proud of Steph!

Lindsey, Mike and Britt after the Bolder Boulder!

Back to Steph's graduation, playing at the Penny Arcade with Sis Angie and Fam in Provo!

Girls' Trip to Vegas in June!

That's all for now...I'll add more later! Love to all!!!

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Joe Update and Steph's Graduation

STEPHANIE ELLSWORTH MARCUM GRADUATED FROM BYU APRIL 24, 2009!!!

Well it's about time I wrote! Sorry for the delay...we've been up to our eyeballs, well at least I have! Joe is doing somewhat better, but the noticeable changes have slowed down. His eye still bothers him a lot and I don't think his peripheral vision is improving. He constantly blinks which bothers him but he can't seem to stop it. He can read or look at the computer for about an hour and then he's wiped out. He still gets very tired, and one thing we are noticing that is a big cause of concern is that he "blanks out" once in awhile...forgetting conversations or names or places that he has always known...they are just gone. Of course I have had this malady for a long time now, but I know mine is for lack of concentration not a stroke. ha. They say this is a very normal thing for stroke victims but it is still very disconcerting. He is now officially not employed by JM, but not at all ready to go back to work, so we are waiting to find out about long term disability. One very nice bright spot, though, is that he has been feeling better during the day and he is really doing some great "honey do" things....got all the weeds out of the front planters on Thursday! He can't do anything strenuous, but he sure does what he can! I like it! BUT, ON TO THE NEXT BIG NEWS: LOOK HOW HAPPY HE LOOKS WITH HIS DAUGHTER STEPH AT GRADUATION!!!!!

Except there were some tired moments.....

That's her name.....!!!

The proud hubby..

Steph's buddy Morgan at the Cougar


The Moss proud grandparents!
The Ellsworth proud grandparents!

April and Sue.....BFF's...they drove all the way out from Colorado!

Partying with the nieces and nephews....

(They love Brandon)

Cinderella is an advertising major!
The night before we had Sub Zero Ice Cream...

Temple Square the Day Before...


Celebrating at Mimi's after...

And of course we had to go to the Iceberg...love those shakes and fry sauce!And we played at the nickel arcade with Angie and Fam!
All in all we had a great time in Utah celebrating. We want to thank all the relatives who came for the festivities, and especially Mike and Kathy for providing the beautiful house for us to meet, and we love you one and all! We now have two college graduate daughters!!!! Happy times for the Ellsworths....a few more pix....we love pix.....!!!