Christmas Card 1992--James and Camber Wed

The big news of the year was the marriage of James, our youngest, to Camber Carlston of Mission Viejo.  They were married in the Los Angeles Temple and have settled in San Diego.  James is working in the mortgage business with Janet and Richard and Camber is working for a medical company and hoping to finish her education.

Linda and Gary were able to take a dream vacation to Hawaii this year and leave all four of their children behind with babysitters (James and Camber).  Gary Pulsipher is doing well as an orthodontist, working in both El Cajon and La Jolla.  Linda is the bookkeeper for Choice Mortgage as well as a very busy mother.

Maria and Mark Valko are back in California (hurray!)  Mark is working in construction and they have a new home in Tulare, CA--a nice little town near the Sequoia forest, south of Fresno.  Mark is working on getting his contractor's license and although California is a tough market right now, they are keeping very busy.  We love having them and their four children so much closer!

John took a month from his job as Senior Manager at Peat, Marwick, and Main (an accounting company in LA) and traveled throughout eastern Europe this fall.  Besides this he had numerous other hiking adventures to the High Sierras and Nevada this year.  Meagan has also gone on several weekend treks to the Sierras and is an excellent hiker.  They will be at Park City as usual for their Christmas skiing.  John's girlfriend Jessica is also getting in the skiing scene and did very well at Park West last year.  Meagan is in 7th grade at Muirlands in La Jolla and will be moving to San Francisco next summer when her mother Jennifer marries.  We will really miss them both very much.

We had another Vida and Merlin Hardy reunion at Torrey Pines Beach this year and Richard and his brother Martin had most of their children and grandchildren--next year we are hoping to get all of Scott's children and grandchildren to join us also.

Except for the same old problems we are managing to keep our heads above water and our feet moving and are just very grateful for the blessings of a loving family, good health, the gospel and warm beds at night.

Christmas Card and Review of 1994

I can't believe how old we look in this picture.  Hard Times!

If I were an economist I would have to say,
1994 was not good in ANY way!!!
But since I'm not, you'll be happy to hear,
We've had many blessings and lots of good cheer!

The first blessing for the new year '95,
Is the fact that Richard Hardy is still alive--
Like the little pink rabbit that keeps going and going
Richard is there for us all without any slowing.

And then there's the children Linda, Maria, James and John
Who's support and love is with us though they are long gone,
With spouses Gary, Mark, Camber, and Jessica, too
Our cup overfloweth from their goodness so true.

The picture enclosed really tells the whole story,
Ten grandchildren of beauty and wondrous glory.

Is it that first gaze from an infants eyes..
Or the hug and helping hand from the big girls and guys
That makes a grandmother truly thankful and aware
She has gifts from heaven with which none can compare.

And what a blessing The Temple has been in our life
As we escape each Wednesday from a world of strife-
And serve with loving, beautiful sisters and brothers
In a labor of love that transcends all others.

Knowing our family will be with us forever and
that life is eternal and that Jesus Christ and God
live and hear and answer our prayers--
Can any blessing be greater than that?

So Greenspan and Feds keep raising rates high--
Keep hurting our business in the years by and by,
No one can take from us what is of real worth
We've an eternal family sharing our life on earth.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! from Janet and Richard

I like to put the Christmas tree up right after Halloween!!  Meagan helps.  I made some of my decorations.

Four Generation Pictures with Grandma Anderson

Mike and Matt at Christmas.

We were  being threatened that we could not use independent agents anymore and would have to have everyone as employees with health benefits, etc.  We could not have afforded all that.

So in 1994 we moved our office out to Rancho Bernardo, too.  We just worked the two of us trying to survive all the financial woes.

It was in this office that I watched as Richard had a TIA and I called Kaiser as I watched.  They took us right in and in the morning he had carotid surgery on both sides.  It would be two years later when he had his final cardiac arrest in Susanville.

Stress, Bandido, Babysitting, Jeanne and Mom, Bad Dreams, Sonogram 1998

October 23, 1998--Wedding Anniversary so feeling sad and lonely.  Certain people are always telling me what I should do.  I have plenty to do, that is not the problem.  Logically I should feel better than I do, logic has nothing to do with it and neither does prayer and reading the scriptures or going places--it's losing that support system, that person who makes you feel of worth--I am not finding that anywhere else.

I get so stressed--they are moving the mortgage business back into the office--I hope I don't have to have anything to do with it.  They lost a lock I had in for Melinda this week but WMA is going to have to eat it, as far as I'm concerned.  

Someone said they didn't understand why I should feel stressed and someone said I should have a sense a humor about it all.  So much advice, so little really understanding, losing your husband, your home, your independence, your income is not an easy thing at 65 and the fact I have so little control over the work I am expected to do, it is so stressful.  

November 5, 1998--Bandido has not been eating and been so mopey so I finally took him to the Vet.  It cost me $365 before I got out of there, he has an infection and I have to give him a daily douche and a pill I am supposed to hide in his food but he carefully spits it out do matter how well I try to hide it.  I try to put it down his throat and he always brings it up, so frustrating.

I tended the Pulsiphers while Linda and Gary went to Palm Desert for an Orthodontics Convention and I went over on Halloween night ( did nothing for Halloween)  but the night before Camber had her little Sunbeams dressed in costumes and Scott and his wife were there and their baby was dressed like Raggedy Ann so I had to tell them about dressing Meagan as Raggedy Ann for her first birthday and they had to come and see my Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls that I have in my apartment at Jimmy's house.

The Pulsiphers came back with lots of candy and needless to say, I had plenty!  We all went to church on Sunday and Kelly, Amy and then Tanner all bore their testimonies!!!  They are all such good kids but I get very tired, you have to be a young parent to handle it all, I think. 

Jeanne, my sister is the caretaker of my Mom and she has had pneumonia!!!  I am sure she gets runs down with all the caretaking.  And Mom is crying all the time because her bowels are uncomfortable, probably constipated.  So hard to live so long and not have your body work right.

I have been having bad dreams again.  Last night I had this very vivid dream of not being able to find any of my own clothes so I had to borrow my sisters.  Then I dropped all my makeup on the floor and couldn't find it to finish and my hair was not done and I didn't find a mirror with enough light to work on it and I kept going from room to room and couldn't get ready and everyone body was waiting for me.  I have this same kind of dream a lot, where I cannot get ready and everyone is waiting for me.

Camber's baby is due the end of January and she brought home a sonogram and the baby looks very big, really sprawled out, she has a very long uterus.  Fun to see, they did not have those when I was having babies.