Friends & Family,

It's a great day to sit & spend a few minutes with you. The weather has changed finally from 100+ straight days of 100+ degrees to the lovely 80's. The 'snow-birds' are returning from the north & making the working people of Phoenix insane as we try to navigate through them to & from work, shopping, etc. They tend to drive like people on vacation (read as slow & gawking) & completely disregard all traffic rules. They turn whenever & whichever way & from ANY lane when the mood hits them. Ah, yes, the return of perfect weather also means the return of the dreaded 'cotton-top' motorists. Gotta love them.

Tony is playing Randy Travis singing old time hymns on his super charged computer with a six-speaker system & we've got front & back doors open with the sun shinning in & cool breezes shuffling through. Life just doesn't get much better than this.

I just came from our jetted hot tub to soothe an aching back & we're headed to the AZ State Fair later today.

This was the first time I've been in the Jacuzzi since the day I heard Rob, Patti Sue's husband, was ill last Dec. It's been a tumultuous year filled with pain & longing. We lost Rob to the other side in March, but I still hear his voice every day. As I was sitting in the tub, I was wondering if I would be able to always hear him so clearly in my head. I thought of others that I had lost from years ago, & the answer is, 'yes', I can still hear them if I want & so I expect that Rob will always be that clear & alive to me.

Tasha, John David's wife, discribed Rob as ' a force of nature' and I think that describes him well. He made life happen. He always picked the most quiet person in the room & got them moving! Rob was Life in capital letters. He was always in motion or planning to be in motion! And planning to put everyone else in motion, too.

I miss him, but I have him any moment I want.

Life is bittersweet that way.

So, we are learning to live without his actual prescence, but reliving moments of pure joy when his presence made all the difference in any setting.

Little steps....I'm taking little steps of doing normal things again, like the Jacuzzi, like the State Fair. And I'm feeling Rob's wonderful essence whenever I want.

I know Heavenly Father has a plan for us all, especially Rob & his family. I'm trusting Heaven to carry us forward without that bright light of human energy that Rob was in our lives. I'm trusting Heaven to ease his loss to his young family & widow. Rob's energy spans the veil between Heaven & earth. Thank our God for that.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Josie Holloway!!

Josie Holloway turned 12 on August 2, 2008. She is the oldest daughter of the oldest daughter of Sande Mitchell & John Griffith, Janet, and her husband, Brian Holloway (ages omitted). Josie has one younger brother, Zach, and one younger sister, Lucy (Lulu). She lives in Bremerton, WA. For some reason, I can't get her picture to download, bummer, so you can all see what a lovely young lady she is (I'll keep trying).

We Love You!!

Happy Birthday Josie Happy Birthday Josie

Visiting Granddaughter

Tony & I had a wonderful visit with Tony's granddaughter, Christina Mitchell of Nampa, ID, who had come to Phoenix for a month of sun & fun. Teresa Weingart, Tony's daughter of Cave Creek, AZ, brought Christina over to Mesa.....an hour commute via several freeways...and the three of them had lunch together at Tony's favorite (& Christina's) feeding trough, the Golden Corral. I don't know if they walked over or not cause I was at work at my great new job, but Tony & I often do when we go, as it is that close to our home (as is Chili's, McDonald's & Taco Bell). At the time the three of them went it was 110 degrees in the shade & no breeze, so they probably drove.



When I arrived home, Tony was holding them hostage to his computer cache of his extensive music library which he was loving & Christina was tolerating. It was easy for me to move her over to my computer to my you tube page where I had my own music which Christina liked a bit better. I had some Country.....her favorite. Score one for grandma.



They had to leave soon after that, but we were tickled to spend some time with her. She's sixteen going on 25 (of course) & anxious to get back to her ID boyfriend. Some things never change.



We never seem to get enough time with our ID (or any of our) grandkids. I'm hopeful retirement will change that! :) Wait!! Do we get to retire? Quick, somebody grab a "Magic 8 Ball"!!

Answered Prayers

Wa Hoo! I am employed...happily, I might add. It's a simple job in a mushrooming company that needed me as bad as I needed a job! I am working as a payroll tax specialist (can you say boring?) in a company that processes payrolls (only) for families hiring care-givers for disabled family members. It's a nation-wide operation. So that's payrolls, only, for families of disabled family members, only. Very highly specialized. Then you specialize further to the taxes, only, portion of that operation, and you have my job. It's not boring at all. The volume alone keeps my dept hopping. I've already had to work overtime in my first two weeks.

I'm trying to download John David's picture slideshow from the family reunion they attended in Riggins, ID. So far, I've failed miserably, but I'm going to keep trying. You can view it, however, if you click on his link on this home page or below under the name Griffith Fam Summer 08. It looks like they had a wonderful time. I would love to be able to hear the karoke session! They obviously had a blast!

We had a micro burst blow through here Monday night. That's a horizontal tornado. We were right in it's center. We don't have trees in our back yard, but just over the fence, I was watching those trees whip over & back up to ninety degrees at times. It was magnificent and scary. We are in a very safe & secluded building, however, our power was clobbered.....probably downed poles, and out from 7:30-10:30 pm. When we went to bed, I had a spray bottle of water in hand in case I had to spray my sheet in the night to keep cool. Even with the wind and heavy rain, we get no relief from the high temps.....it was probably 95+ that night.

Post a note or a comment when you drop in to read. Drop over to Patti's page to see her most recent news on her family's saga. Again, Johnny's picture show is well worth the browsing, especially if you're the Grandma!!

Catch you all later. May God Bless & Keep You.