Category Archives: Grandbabies!

A Little Quirky

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We’re all human beings, and are mostly the same. Made in the image of God. We have eyes, ears, arms, legs, hair, mouths, etc. Because of DNA we all have familiar traits. Many times in life you can tell people from the same family because the look very similar.

In the family I grew up in we have funny little pinky toes. They’re short and bend toward the big toe, over the toe next to it. It is very obvious in most of us kids. My dad and all the brothers except two have what my dad calls fringe. Bald on top with hair on the sides and back. There’s an old wives tale that says the men/sons go bald if the mother’s father is bald. My Mama’s dad had a full head of hair when he died. So I don’t think that’s true.

In our family, we have two girls and two boys. We hear from many people that our girls look exactly like each other. Some people can’t tell them apart. That is a surprise to me, because I don’t think they look alike much at all. The boys are very different Riley has dark brown hair, and Alex has blonde hair, although the older he gets the darker his hair has gotten. People have said they look alike. Really?

One of the things I would say is a trait that has carried down to our kids, and grandkids is curly hair. Not everyone has it, but some do and I did and do. My maternal grandma and my Mama both had wavy/curly hair. I have always had curly hair. Riley has curly hair. His kids have curly hair. Although his sweet wife Janet has curly hair too. So they get it from both parents. Emily, our Bonus Baby has a sweet little one with really curly hair.

Joy
Grandbaby Monroe

One other physical trait that I think I have from my grandma is short and fluffy. I may not be super fond of the fluffy part, but I have learned to love me, all of me, and I do.

I think physical traits that repeat through the generations are neat! It is one of the many things that bonds us to each other even if they’re a little quirky.

We’re made in the image of God and each other.

Grandbabies!!

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Life just gets grander!! Look at these sweet little blessings in cute little human packages! I’m so grateful for them all! You never know when you’re a young Mama what a blessed and happy time awaits you when you become a grandmother. Each of these tiny souls has come into my life and made such a mark of love and happiness.

There was a story I heard once of person getting ready for a new child to come into their life. I can’t remember if they were parents or grandparents, but they couldn’t comprehend how they could love another child like they loved the one they already had. Like their love was only so much, and they had used all that love. Then someone told them that your love grows. Your ability to love increases. That is truth. I am amazed each time a new baby is born how much I love them, how much I can’t imagine my life without them.

The chorus to a very sweet Primary song says:

God gave us families to help us become what He wants us to be—

This is how He shares His love, for the fam’ly is of God.

God shares His love by giving us families. Children, grandchildren and sweethearts.

It is glorious!

Easter Time!

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Spring is wonderful, with so much to celebrate!

New life-Trees with buds and flowers blooming, baby chicks, baby lambs, and babies all around. More sunshine and warmer weather. What blessings!

Pretty dresses-Each little girl wearing a new dress for Easter. It’s a special feeling to get cleaned up and put on a new pretty dress to go to church and sing and pray. To remember Jesus on Easter morning. As a little girl Easter was the only time I got a new dress, and sometimes new shoes! In my bedroom, I would hang my dress where I could barely see it in the darkness as I fell asleep. My shoes would be positioned next to my pillow in their box in my bed, so I could reach over and touch them or look to make sure they were still there. I felt so special that I could have new and beautiful things.

Egg Hunts-Fun times with kids and grandkids hiding and finding the eggs. As I’ve gotten older and can host or help with Egg Hunts it is so much fun to get everything ready for the kids to come. My Darlin and I work hard on the yard to make it look nice, and invite all the grandkids to come and hunt. The are so adorable and seeing them having fun is the best. When I was a kid, eggs would be hidden around the house. We would search and search. Funny thing is we would almost always miss one and find it a month or two later.

Sweet Treats-Baskets with treats and candy. Some people don’t believe we should give kids candy in abundance. Well, we don’t have candy all the time, but when I was a child it was so fun and unusual to get candy and a chocolate bunny in my basket. To me it gives all of us something sweet to look forward to in life. Landmark dates that keep us going and celebrating life. Treats are a must!

True Love-Most important and overwhelming is the love of our Savior, Jesus Christ who gave all for us. And our Father in Heaven who gave us a plan and way to learn and grow, because He loves us and wants us to become more! He knew we would make mistakes and need a Savior. When I think of the death of Jesus and all that happened on Good Friday I get so sad. I can think about it but it hurts to think of all He went through. I’m so grateful for Sunday morning and for His resurrection. It is finished. He accomplished what no-one else could do and because of Him we all are blessed. I love my Heavenly Father and His Son our Savior.

Happy Easter!!

Grandbabies are Blessings!

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We have been blessed with an adorable granddaughter!

This sweet little “small fry” is our newest granddaughter!

We are so happy and in love with her.
She was born the day after my brother passed away.

It is the truest example of the circle of life. We come, stay for a little while, and then we go. I am so grateful for new life. This sweet little one is our 7th grand baby. She has a smile that fills her whole body!

I love the blessing of being parents, grandparents, and part of a family.

Welcome to the world sweet smiley girl!!

Reunion Time!

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I have a dear friend named Julie.

She has been my best friend since high school. We have been friends for long enough that we have some pretty troubling and embarrassing stories of our time together. I am amazed we made it though some of them. I’m so thankful we did. She is a gem. So loyal, and generous, and fun!

We have had this friendship and history for years, before we both got married. Then we both got married the same year within a month of each other. Both of our husbands names are Brett. Only her hubby’s only has one “t”. We started having our children within a year of each other. Because we love each other and we like to be with each other, as our children were born, they became friends. The kids don’t quite match up as far as ages go, but each of our kids are very close to each other. We used to call them our chosen cousins.

Let me add here that she has lived 350 miles away from me since just after we both got married. You have to put a big effort in to stay best friends when you live far away from each other. Also, we used to write letters to each other, because it cost too much to call and talk. Now we have cell phones and communicating is easy.

Our children are all adults. Almost all of them are married. Most of the married ones are parents.

We haven’t had all our kids together for years. They are all so busy and when my darlin and I visit them, it’s usually just the two of us.

We told Natasha we were going to visit with our friends and have a reunion. She says, “Now how are we related to them?” Kelsey said, “We’re not.” Natasha said, “What!!! We’re not related to them?” Haha, we laughed and laughed. All this time she thought they were family. Well, they are! We chose them.

So we had a reunion this last week in a little town in central Utah named Marysvale. It is an old mining town. There are lots of trails for riding 4 wheelers and hiking. We had so much fun! All of our kids and their spouses and grandkids where there. Wow! We know how to multiply.

What a fun time we had! It was very crowded, noisy, and fun!

I love our chosen family. And my bestie Julie!

She Made Me A Grandma!

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Yes, 12 years ago a tiny baby was born. She was just over 3 pounds. When I was 45 years old, this tiny person made me a grandma. I really had no idea I was going to be a grandma at such a young age, but she did it and she has been such a blessing.

Natasha is a very tenacious. She has been from the start. I love to be around her. She is a happy, talkative, creative, young lady.

She has been through a lot of challenges in her life. I hope she knows how loved she is, and how strong she is and that even though life is hard sometimes she has the ability to keep her chin up, to focus on the good, and the blessings in life. I hope she always does her best in all she does, and never lets disappointments or failure drag her down.

She is a wonderful gift from Father in Heaven to our family. I am so grateful she made me a grandma, even though I thought I was too young to be a grandma. She has taught me so about the love that exists in this crazy world. More love than I ever thought was possible.

Happy Birthday, Beautiful, Sweet Natasha! I love you!

A New Granddaughter!

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We have been blessed to be grandparents. I am so grateful to have little ones to love, and spoil, and then send them home.

Our sweet new granddaughter is here!

What a doll. She is so sweet and beautiful.

I truly believe the reason I love being a grandparent is because I was first a parent.

That may sound obvious, but it really is a “grand” plan. You become a parent, you love these children more than anything. It is the hardest thing you’ve ever done. They drive you nuts, they want/need something at the most inconvenient times. They challenge you. They make you proud.

They basically wear you out! They fill you will more love than you ever thought was possible. .

They grow up, and you’re amazed at all they accomplish in their lives, and the way they do it.

Then….you get to love their kids! And because they love their children more than anything else, you don’t have to worry about them. It’s the love and spending time without all the worry. As I say that I realize that’s not completely true. You do worry about them, but not as much as you did your own kids, because you know their parents will do most the worrying.

I am so grateful for this sweet, new little one to love. I’m so proud of her parents for being parents.

It really is a “grand” plan!

Not Very Amusing, Or Is It?

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In our part of the world we have a popular amusement park. It is the closest thing Utah has to Disneyland. It’s called Lagoon!

We went every year when I was growing up. The park would send discount tickets to our church, and we’d get to go and save a little money. The day was called Stake Lagoon Day.

Some families had lots of kids, like ours, so getting a discount for admission was a big deal, and it was expensive enough that most families only took their kids once a year. At least I thought that, it might not even be true, I know we only went once a year. Anyway, I loved this event, and looked forward to it for most of the summer. I couldn’t wait to ride the scariest rides. Or see how many times I could go on the fast ones. I have such good memories of summer trips to Lagoon.

Our family would pile in the car with a picnic and make our way to the park. It was about a half an hour from our house in the car. Once there, we’d put all the needed items for the picnic in the wagon and enter the park. After purchasing our tickets, and going through the gate we’d all walk to the rear of the park where there were many small grassy areas to set up a picnic. Some areas had only grass to put a blanket on and some had picnic tables. We’d always pick what we thought would be the best spot. When we were little, one of our parents took us around to the rides while the other stayed with our food, wagon and blankets. It was a kind of Home-base where we could leave things like prizes or jackets or treats to be looked after by Mom. As we got older the same routine happened except once at the picnic area, Dad would give us instructions for who could go where, always using the buddy system, then send us out into the park for a period of time and telling us to come back to eat at an appointed time. He always left the park for a little trip to go get fried chicken at KFC or the local grocery store. What fun memories!

I worked there one summer right after high school. It was a fun job, because I could stay after work and ride the rides. I could go on my day off and ride, all at no cost, because I worked there. It was so great!

Then something happened. I started not feeling very well after I rode the rides. What seemed to be a headachy feeling turned into a queasiness. Oh no, you guessed it. I was getting older, and what I remember happening to my dad, and other older people was now happening to me. One of my favorite summer activities was not going to be fun anymore. Bummer!

It worked out though.

Here’s why, by the time I wasn’t enjoying myself much on the rides, I had become a Mama of my own kids. The first time I saw my little boy Riley on

Bulgy the Whale, tears came to my eyes.
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to see his happiness, his complete joy at what he was experiencing was sooo much better to me than the experience of riding the rides myself.

Being a parent and watching my children experience life, especially the good things in life is the best! It makes me think about Father in Heaven and how He must feel when He watches us enjoying this life experience. What a blessing it is that God has allowed us to experience in some small way what I’m sure makes Him happy, watching His children loving life. When our kids are happy and loving life that gives us the same joy.

So Emily, my “Bonus Baby” went to Lagoon with Kelsey, my “Dream Come True” recently, and when they were riding on one of the fast rides Emily passed out, and her head whipped around and hit Kelsey in the face. The back of Emily’s head hit Kelsey’s cheek to be exact. Kelsey got a bruise, and Emily got a concussion. They laughed a little right after, but they were both really sore. Emily was sad because she said she doesn’t enjoy the rides like she used to when she was little, or young. It has already changed for her. I told her, “Just wait till your sweet tiny girl is a little bigger, and she can go on Bulgy the Whale.” Then I shared with her the secret about being a parent and watching your children experience true happiness!