Retired and Tired

By Susan Brower

Kelli and Creed are adding the stress to our lives, as only Kelli can. Kelli had open heart surgery on May 9 in Rochester Minn. at the Mayo Clinic. She had to go there because SLC doesn't do the kind of surgery she needed. She had two tears in her pericardium that is the sac that surrounds the heart and protects it from blunt force. It was so damaged that they couldn't just repair it, they took the entire sac. She was there for a week, then home on bed rest for a while and wasn't supposed to work for a year. Her insurance company decided that she didn't need to stay for a week and they don't want to pay for more than 1 day. Isn't it funny that the insurance knows more than the doctors. We won't go into that.

Joseph is 12 almost 13 and in 7th grade. He is in the middle school and loves changing classes and being the oldest class. Kaitie is 9 and in 4th grade at Midway Elementary in Menan. She has lost interest in school since it is so boring. She needs more activity. I think she is a little spoiled also. I'm sure she will settle down. Bryce in almost 4 and in a pre-school with his stepsister Kenna who is 3 1/2, They are so funny, what one doesn't think of the other one does. Ben is 2 and tries to keep up - he is very persistent and usually gets in trouble by pushing someone down. He loves the farm and loves to go with Creed.

Lori is still here and keeps busy sewing quilts and doing crocheted blankets for most of the weddings and babies of her friends. She still watches Ben and Bryce from time to time and of course she plays with Tyson and Kristy. They do a bit of running around and we all play card games as a family. (rook, up and down, head and foot, rummykub, and golf)

Amy is probably sending her bit so I'll just say she is attending BYU and will be graduating in April 2008. She is a live wire and is hard to keep up with also.

Kristy and Isaac live a few blocks from us. Isaac just got a part time job in the School District helping with the Spanish speaking students. He helps them understand their school work and keeps them on track. He has about 8 students in the junior high. It's not quite enough hours to support the family, but it is an in with the district. He wants to teach Spanish, but may have to do part time school at BYU-I to do English as a second language. Anyway, they spend a lot of time here and we love having Tyson here. He is almost walking and has 2 teeth. Kristy is so proud of him, but so are we! He will be 1 in November.

Ivan is officially retired and tired. He reads a lot and still does some computer repair and consulting. He is currently trying to put up an antenna to hook the neighbors up to high speed internet. We bought a camp trailer in April and have only used it a few times. We love it so far and may be will take it out of the driveway soon!. Actually we spent 3 days in Yellowstone park and really enjoyed it. When it got so hot in July and August, I slept in there with the air conditioner on!

I quit working at the dairy the end of April and attended Jon's graduation with the family. Then the end of July we went with Keriann and Jon to Toledo Ohio! We were gone 2 weeks and enjoyed seeing some of the country on the east side of the Mississippi. The church sites were especially nice. We didn't take the trailer because we didn't have a vehicle big enough to pull it that far. It was nice to be with Keriann and Jon and get them settled in. They have a great family ward and will be a great part of it.

We love our families and we love the Brower clan. We miss spending time with all of you, but as our families grow we kind of get busy with them. I thank Vivian so much for getting organized enough to keep us connected.