Great Book

I just finished listening to a great audio book, Little Princes, by Conor Grennan.  It is available in hardcover and paperback, as well.  It was very interesting, uplifting, and hopeful.  I highly recommend it to everyone.  If I could figure out how to get an image from the book cover I would put it here.  That would make this post ever so much more interesting!  Alas.....

William's Baby Blessing

From left to right: Lovelle (Lynn's Mom), Lynn, Anne, Jessi, William, Rich, Susie, Brent, Dallas

These are the 4 generations of hands. (Lynn wouldn't put his in, so I did it.)





Hi all! Lynn, Lovelle, and I went to sunny California to see Jessi, Rich, and William, and to be with them when Rich blessed William in his parents' ward on Sunday. It was a long drive but a joy to be with the kids. This was Lynn and Lovelle's first time for seeing baby William. He is a calm, happy baby. I'll let you judge by the pictures how cute you think he is. I might get accused of excessive zeal if I try to describe how cute I think he is.

Blue Diamond Lunch Turns Spooky

Most of you know that Gma Beth hostesses a luncheon every month for the ladies in our ward who are 60 or older. She has lots of fun putting on the lunches, and everyone has a great time. Today she hosted yet another lunch, this time with a halloween theme. I had been enjoying looking at everyone's clever ideas on Pinterest, and we took some ideas from there to incorporate into the lunch.
I made witches' hats (Keebler cookies with Hershey kisses stuck on with frosting).
Mom made the owl face cupcakes.
I made the mummy juice boxes.
And for the main course we had homemade pizza - three kinds: pepperoni; Hawaiian; and this one with sausage, pepperoni, bell peppers, and heirloom tomatoes. The green things you see are called Aunt Ruby's German Cherry. They are a ripe green tomato, and oh so sweet.

For entertainment, Robin Shirts showed us a poster of Edvard Munch's "The Scream" and told us about him and this particular painting. She makes every art work interesting. It seemed the perfect painting for our halloween theme. It was fun to hear the halloween related stories the sisters shared from their lives. This luncheon is one of the highlights of each month for me.

Milestones

This week has presented us with a few milestones. After 15 years of getting up super early to either teach or to get kids out the door to seminary, WE ARE DONE!!! Thursday was Travis' last day of seminary. Then Friday Travis finished his years at high school. This is him just before he left to give his senior oral board presentation. What a good lookin' kid. He managed to keep straight A's all through high school, even taking extra challenging classes. Needless to say we are extremely proud of him. But even more because he's a really nice, respectful, fun person. (Lynn is dreading having to let him go away to college. There goes his sports buddy!)

Then last night Jaime's Ellie was baptized. That's another milestone - to have a great niece baptized. I do have Warnick great nieces who've been baptized, but because Evan and Lyn's kids grew up with ours, this feels particularly personal. There was Jaime last night in a beautiful purple dress, gorgeous and gracious, and HER DAUGHTER WAS GETTING BAPTIZED!! It really struck me, and I sat there during the baptism remembering all the fun times we had with Jaime, Scott, and Julie when THEY were little.
Wasn't it just yesterday when Jaime and TJ were busy playing hospital?

Wasn't it just yesterday when Scott was making cookies at my house with my kids, then selling his baggie of cookies to his sister (Niki) for $.25 and a Book of Mormon?!

Wasn't it just yesterday when Julie and Jena were modelling every chance they got? When they filled the stock barrell with water and dirt and took a mud bath (I don't think Auntie Lyn has forgiven me for that still)? When they got the video camera and did a long documentary all about themselves? What wouldn't I give to watch that now?!

It's a bitter-sweet thing to watch everyone growing up. It's so awesome to see these "kids" becoming amazing parents, capable professionals, and responsible leaders at church. It's so great to see how the gospel is blessing their lives, and how they are blessing the lives of all those around them. We sure love you guys! (Pass the tissues.)

Our Trip to Utah

Lynn and I went to Utah the end of May so we could be at Trevor's wedding. Travis had some big things going on with school, so he flew out for the weekend, then drove home with us. While he was out there he met with a counselor at BYU to get some advice on which classes to register for. It was very helpful.

Sometimes we miss taking some pretty important pictures. For example, we didn't get a single picture of Trevor and his bride - just the two of them looking at the camera - or say us with them. Alas. It was a beautiful wedding and reception. Of course Logan and Shaffer are drawn to any water anywhere! If there is the tiniest puddle, they will find it, plash in it, and throw anything not bolted down into it!

We were happy to see Lynn's siblings and their families! Just not enough time to visit as much as we'd like. Never that!

I stayed in Provo to help Jena and Josh move, and Lynn went to Logan with Lovelle so he could be at the reception there. It was absolutely gorgeous! Can you believe these stunningly beautiful girls? Siera and Lauren. They get their looks from their Grandma Velle. Landon is practicing for his future family (though they look like the perfect little family, Landon and Lauren are actually cousins, not husband and wife).

Who's the cutest boy? I am.

On Saturday we hiked to the Wind Caves. This was a 1.8 mile hike straight up the side of the mountain. OK, maybe not STAIGHT up. Jessi and Rich were kind enough to go at my slow pace, and they kept me from giving up several times! Some of the group actually ran part of the hike, and Jena and Jessi carried the boys much of the way. Josh finally got a turn at carrying (none of us wants to give the boys up when they ask for us!!!).

During our wonderful time together, Lynn and I spent as much time as we could with Logan and Shaffer. Lynn has a new ipad, and the boys loved playing the simple games they could on it. How can they be so smart?!

We made yummy things from Jena's new recipe book Our Best Bites. Great recipes! Eating is such a fun part of any get together!

And what would a family get together be without lots of game playing?! Lynn and I just LIVE for the times when we can be with our children and grandchildren. They are the golden highlights of our lives.

Track, Babysitting, and a Race

Friday I was able to complete one of my goals for the year. I participated in a 5k event. Molly Phair hosted it at one of our local high school's track. It was a fund raiser for friends of theirs who have a special needs son. He needs a high tech bike so he can be independently mobile. We all paid our few bucks to help their friend and gathered to walk/run with friends. Dad ran, too, and mom came along to cheer us on. I was hoping to get lost in the crowd. No one would really even notice me. They wouldn't see how slowly I was completing the course. Unfortunately the crowd was way too thin to get lost in. Fortunately everyone was friendly and supportive. Mom was a great cheerleader.

It was embarrassing to be so slow. But I sure enjoyed being with friends. Dad finished a good 5 minutes before me. He's in such great shape! I loved being with young families who had their kids out there, some running, some climbing on the bleachers, some being pushed in strollers. One of my favorite things was adoreable little Christa Phair. She's about 3 and is 100% princess. Here she was at a 5k dressed in a black ruffled skirt and pretty pink dress shoes. She ran the first lap just in front of me, her little skirt swishing and her pink shoes flying. She'd speed up for a bit, then slacken up, but she kept going the whole lap. Finally toward the end of it she was getting pretty tired, so she held my hand and we walked together for a time. Then she found friends to play with on the grass.

It warms my heart so much to see these little children and the love they have for their daddies and mommies. Oh that every child in the world could know such love and security! I admire the Phairs, the Seavers, and the Davises so much! They are truly terrific people.

Monica is in such great shape, and Albert helped mom cheer us along. Cole (age 10) finished in about 22 minutes! Impressive.



Travis competed in the district track meet last weekend. He had a PR in the triple jump. He scored points for his team in the triple, the 300 m hurdles and the 4 X 400 relay. He also competed in the 4 X 100 relay, but the baton was dropped so that was the end of that. He did a great job and worked his guts out. Didn't make it to state, THANK HEAVEN!!! He may not like me saying this, but Lynn and I were so relieved to have him done with track! He had such a brutal week this past week, managed to get a 100% on his calculus test - Woop Woop - and how could he have survived if you added track practice and state competition on top of all that???

Today when I was sitting with Travis at church and we were singing the closing hymn together, I just about got teary thinking that I don't have that many Sundays left before he'll be out at school. Ugh.

This is a long post, but I just had to say that I got to babysit James and Mike (Aubrey and Sean's boys) this Thursday. They are such good little guys! It's ovbious that Aubrey and Sean are great parents. I have a tool box full of little match box cars. That's the first thing Mike goes for. He loves to play with the cars, and he loves to line them up in a very neat row clear across the family room floor. James likes to play ball. He loves to be active. He helped me make homemade graham crackers, and he ended up with flour all over his face. I should have taken a picture.

Fun with the Grandbabies

I just wanted to post a few pictures of Logan and Shaffer playing in the mud, and of beautiful little Saige. Life is so rich and beautiful when enjoyed with children.