Smiles for Loni and blogging decisions

Hello again.

You might think that this is my brag post…… rather than my blog post.

It seems that Grammy’s News is about family 95% of the time.

Last post I bragged about my grandson Johnny, the gymnast.

This post I want to brag about his younger sister,our lovely Lonica, the dancer.

The list goes on and on. There is Claire the opera singer and her brother, EJ, the trumpet player. I can’t leave out Jalen, the missionary or Justin the returned missionary who is an army reserves  medic now….or any of the other 8 grands that are darling and precious and make my heart sing.

I sometimes manage to write about something other than family but not very often.  That is why I’m thinking about stopping blogging.

I started blogging when I retired 7 years ago as a way to keep in touch with my children and grands who live out of state. They all blogged back then…. but they don’t  now. They instagram instead and they are too busy to read my posts. I can’t imagine that all of my family stuff is of  interest to other bloggers.

Maybe it is time I hang up the Windows Live Writer and Blogspot and call it a day…. but … I like blogging as a way of documenting special times and my thoughts.  I’ve met many  blog friends whom I dearly love and feel close to.  I don’t get many comments but  the ones I get make my heart smile and support me. I would miss that.  So…. I am torn about the decision.

Meanwhile….  I’ll tell you what Loni was doing while Johnny was competing at the national gymnastics meet.

She was competing in a “Open Call”  dance competition in Los Angeles.

I’m sorry I don’t remember their names, but she had classes with some choreographers from the TV show “So You Think You can Dance”

They gave her many good tips to help her improve her skills. She was determined to compete even though she broke her foot and has to have surgery to put a pin in it.

The doctor wrapped it tightly and gave her pain pills and off she went to dance.  (Even though this Grammy didn’t think she should)

She is one determined little dancer.  In spite of dancing on a broken foot, she was chosen out of 100s of dancers to be in the top 20 (or maybe it was top 10.. I forget???) and won a scholarship to attend next years dance conservatories  where she can train with top choreographers again.

She was thrilled and I am very proud of her.  Now I hope she will rest after having her foot surgery and give her bone a chance to heal.

Tomorrow I am going to an orchestra concert where EJ is 1st trumpet. In spite of getting braces on, he is the featured soloist in Bugler’s Holiday.

 How can this Grammy not brag a bit? I guess that is just what Grammies do. I’m sure you feel the same about your family.

Thanks for letting me carry on about my grands.

Have a great week…. Hugs, Lura

Smiles for our Johnny Champion

We had a fun week when our daughter Lynell brought Johnny and Loni to CA to compete. Johnny was in the USA men’s National Gymnastics Competition in Long Beach and Loni was in the Jump dance competition in LA. Lynell kept the road between LB and LA hot going back and forth. (about 40 miles)

They arrived on Tuesday 5/6. Their first stop in CA was to go to Miguel’s… one of our favorite Mexican food places.

Dathan flew in on Thursday 5/8  just in time for Johnny’s first day of competing.

Johnny was excited that he qualified to compete, but he was nervous at the same time. He knew he was expected to do well since he is on the National team. He knew a lot of eyes would be on him… especially the Olympic coaches.

The best gymnasts from each of the 9 regions were there to compete. Johnny was #1 from his state, Utah, and #1 from his region 9.

Gymnastics is a brutal sport. Two or three points is all that separates 1st from last place. Every little slip up counts as a deduction. Johnny’s best friend Dylon had the flu and did badly on every event. Johnny watched as his friend fell twice on every apparatus. Johnny was upset for his friend and he competed right after Dylon.  It did not help that Hunter, last year’s P&G champion, fell on his first event and landed on his head. Luckily, Hunter did not break his neck but he did get a concussion and was out of the competition. Johnny was nervous with so much riding on this competition…. he just couldn’t get his head in the right place… and…although he did well… he didn’t do his best that first day of competing.

Look closely and you can see Johnny upside-down on the rings.

John missed a release move on the high bar and fell, hurting his back. (That was a 1 point deduction).  Johnny has not missed that catch for years… but he did that day. He went through the rest of the meet with his back killing him. Needless to say, Johnny was discouraged at the end of the first day.

Johnny with his mom

I was worried about how he would feel going into the 2nd day of competition. I didn’t need to worry. Johnny iced his hurt back, pulled himself together and did great in every event on the second day. He posted on his facebook “There will always be bad days. Do not be defined by them.”

He ended up coming in 2nd place on the parallel bars…. and…

9th overall.

He had hoped to come in higher but 9th in the nation is still very good….. excellent in fact.

His coaches and his family are are very proud of him.

Being 2nd on p-bars and 9th overall qualifies him to go to P&G Championships in August to compete to be on the National Team again for next year.

Soooo…. this Grammy will remain on pins and needles until that is over. Until then I will pray that he can continue to work hard without getting hurt. I love my Johnny so much… and no matter what… he will always be a champion to me.

I’ll tell you more about Loni’s competition in another post.

I hope you had a great week.  I had surgery this past week and I’m doing well. I wasn’t up to doing any blogging but I will make up for it this coming week and get back to reading your blogs.

Hugs, Grammy Lura

Mother’s Day Smiles 2014

Mother’s Day started early for me when flowers arrived from my 2 Utah daughters, Erin and Lynell, on Friday.

They are beautiful. Looking at them makes my heart smile.

John also spoiled me early by replacing the diamond earring I lost when I had surgery and letting me order 4 pairs of Crocs sandals.

Then a pair of comfy slippers arrived from David. It was only Saturday and I was already totally spoiled by John and our children. Did I mention that a box of yummy chocolates came with the flowers from Lynell?… Yummy.

Sunday morning John and I attended church with Mindy’s family. Claire gave a sweet talk on mothers. She wrote the talk herself and did a good job.

After church we went back home and I stopped by the cemetery to visit my dear mother’s grave. Her birthday is May 12th so Mother’s day and her birthday were always close together and very important to me.

Later that afternoon we went back to Mindy’s for dinner. This year we had to just have a casual dinner because we had a crazy schedule. EJ had to go to orchestra in Clairemont and Claire had to sing in a Mother’s Day concert in LA.

Our daughter, Lynell who lives in Utah was able to drop by with some of her family for a few hours. They were coming from LA where Loni had been in a dance competition…. but… traffic was terrible we were not sure when she would arrive.

With all the coming and goings we could not have a formal sit down dinner like we usually do. We put out the food with paper plates and people ate when they could. It was not as fancy but it was a lot easier and tasted great.

We ended our meal with a delicious dessert buffet….. but the sweetest part of our day was yet to come.

The best part of our day was  getting to Skype with our Grandson, Jalen, who is serving on a mission in Chile for the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints. He has been there a little over a year and will come home next April.

Missionaries write home every week but they can only call on Christmas and Mother’s Day.

We all gathered around the computer and talked face to face with our dear missionary for an hour. (The empty chair is where I was sitting before I got up to take this picture.) Click on  Mormon.org to learn more about our missionary program.

What a joy to see him so happily serving in Chile and hear him bear his testimony that he knows God lives and guides us…. and that God loves us so much that He sent his son, Jesus Christ, to die for us and atone for us.

I’m so glad that Lynell and Dathan were here with us and we got to be a part of Jalen’s call home.

After talking with Jalen, our Utah family had to pack up the car and head back home. They had come to CA the previous week for Johnny to compete in the USA National Gymnastics competition and Loni to compete in dance. (I’ll tell about that in my next post)

14 year old EJ, who has grown a foot this year,  teased his 17 year old cousin, Johnny, about being short…. but Johnny reminded him that gymnasts don’t have to be tall to be strong.

With one last goodbye from Grampy, they were off.

Then we said bye to Mindy and family and came home. That ended my  Mother’s Day.

What a wonderful day it was. I am so blessed to have such lovely children and family. I thank God every day for each of them.

I hope your Mother’s Day was special too.

Hugs, Grammy Lura

P.S.  I have to have a surgery procedure Wed. May 14th to remove the stint they put in from my liver to my intestine when I had a bile leak. It is a routine procedure and I will be in and out in one day. It is not a big deal but mine is a bit more complicated because I can not go off of the blood thinner I am taking. They said my blood clot is more of a concern to deal with than the chances of me bleeding excessively. I hope they are right. Wish me luck and please remember me in your prayers. Thanks