El Paso

It is almost old news. But Finn and I went to stay with Jen in El Paso while Andrew went on a Boy Scout Trip with his Dad and Dave went to work for the Army out of town. Finn and Ryan had a great time. They are good buddies and enjoy a lot of the same things. Finn was able to get on the Swim Team that Ryan was on. They were in different age groups but they really enjoyed it. That was so nice of Jen to arrange for Finn to have this experience. I can’t believe how much Ryan has improved in swimming this year. It is really great! He has won several great ribbons this summer. Finn was so excited to get a ribbon also and that is all he talked about. He also loves Kate. Ryan was building a Fort with a sign “no girls allowed – that means Kate.” Finn said “Oh let’s let her in. After all she is good company and makes us laugh!” I thought that was a great tribute and compliment to Kate. She will always be welcome anywhere being good company and making people laugh. She follows in the foot steps of her beautiful Mom, whose gift is to put people at ease and make them laugh and be happy. I love Jen. She is an amazing girl. I loved just hanging out. We did a lot of exercising together. We would either take the kids along or take them to the Gym child care. Jen has lost all of her weight from the baby and looks so wonderful and fit! We also had a day where we went with her friend, Christina Smith and had massages and pedicures. Then we went to a place called Geo to eat and it was fantastic. Can you believe Allie was so good through all of that. We just took turns with her. The rest of the children were busy and happy with a good baby sitter. Ryan and Finn loved playing their DS Nintendo games together. They all got along so good and Jen and I had a wonderful time together. Finn said he missed Dave on his way home. Because Dave was gone so much of the time, he did not get to see him and he missed that. Dave is one of his favorite people.

Trip to Arizona

The days have been so busy for me that I have neglected to post our wonderful trip to Paul and Kara’s home. They treated us like royalty and we enjoyed every minute of our time there. There is nothing better for me than spending time with grandchildren. I must admit, I have the most beautiful and talented and nicest of all grandchildren on the earth! How did I get so lucky? It all began with meeting my patient and good husband. Everything since then has been good! I hope that each child of ours knows there is a wonderful part of our hearts they fill and they alone can fill. Then with each spouse they married, we feel the same way! Each fills a wonderful part of our heart that no one else can fill. We are so blessed with wonderful children and daughters in law and son in law that mean so much to us. Truly nothing else means more to us. Then the icing on the cake is darling grandchildren we just look at and admire and love them all with all of our hearts! I felt my Mom and Dad’s presence as I spent time in Arizona. They love these grandchildren as I do and marvel at their wonderful posterity. Besides having fun just watching these precious children, and feeding cute Nora Jayne (who made such cute noises every time I fed her) I delighted in how good all of them really are. I had a time I will never forget with Ella, Jack, Max, and Nora Jayne. I was grateful that Lauren, Andrew and Finn could come. They were such excellent helpers and all of the cousins enjoyed themselves. Thank you Lauren especially for your help. Paul not only made sure that Lauren and I had a day shopping in Scottsdale without little ones, he also performed Botox on me. I am a whimp and complained a little of the needles so he stopped and used the rest of the dose on himself. Kara and I teased him a little about having Dr. Spock eyebrows for a few days but I really appreciated Paul doing this for me and wanting to make life better for me! I hope that I can truly express myself someday that I would shout it from the housetops how much I love you all – my five sons whom I adore and their wives and children, each being so precious to me and my beautiful daughter Jen, whom I consider a gift from heaven, and her great and wonderful husband and children. Thank you all and each one of you for being you and I hope that each of you know no one can replace your spot in my heart. I love you. I loved Elder Holland’s talk in the July Ensign 2007 pg 53 talking about This, the Greatest of All Dispensations. He talked about how God knows your name and He knows your need. As I read that, I thought of the great love I have for my family and somehow that thought that God knows your name hit me with such force. He lives, he does know our names and he does love us. This gospel is amazing and wonderful and I rejoice in it. On Friday, Dad and I took Andrew to the temple to do his first baptisms for the dead. What a choice and blessed experience that was. Our greatest treasure is you all!

The White Alligator

This last weekend, we took care of Romey, Crew, and Titan while Ryan and Sue spent a Birthday weekend away for a night. Of course, Andrew and Finn were with us. We had a dinner for the Missionaries. And even though, it was a little crazy, we managed to let all the children know how important we thought the Missionaries were and what a great privilege it is to serve the Lord. The Missionaries shared 1 Nephi chapter six with us and said their main purpose in life was to bring people to Christ. We loved their message and love all Missionaries and constantly pray for them. We have such a tender spot in our hearts for these young men and women who are willing to serve so faithfully. We loved the missions we have served and we loved our children serving missions and now we are looking forward, not only to serving more missions, but also having the great joy of seeing our grandchildren serve missions. How great will that be! We also went swimming, hung out in our Hot Tub, cleaned out our fish pond, named our new fish, ate a great dinner, and watched "Two Brothers". All slept very well. Then the next morning, I fixed a great breakfast of fresh juice (strawberries, pineapple, and apple - Finn's favorite), french toast and scrambled eggs. Fortified with energy we took on the Zoo! Wow, I have never seen so many people. We had to park miles away and walk. Everyone came to see the White Alligator on display. This was way worth the walk. What a great experience. The White Alligator was beautiful and one of my favorite experiences ever at the Zoo. We also caught the Bird Show and all of the children loved this also. My favorite besides the Eagle and the Hawks were the flock of white Doves. Of course, our last rite was the gift shop where we bought stuffed animals of the White Alligator and various little toys for each (except for Andrew who is very fugal and kept telling me -no they don't need that - no we should not spend the money). I love him! He is just like my wonderful husband Colin Sr. walking by me and keeping me in line and it all has come totally natural to him ( a carbon copy of his grandpa - how great is that?) Titan, grabbed a picture of he and his mom off my fridge and carried it around all day. He loves his Mom and was so cute about it. I will never forget that. I will never forget the night and the day. It doesn't get any better than this. My cup over flows with joy and with gratitude. God bless my grandchildren - those near and far. They are always in my prayers and all the good I try to do - I do for them! Wish I had pictures to post. I will get better at all this, I promise. My gratitude for Ashley helping me set this up and for darling Anna who laughed and gave us the raspberries as we were working on this. How fun she is and what a delight! Happy Birthday again to all the May Birthdays! It has been a fun month. Also a closing note. Paul and Kara, Ella, and Jack went to Chicago and Wisconsin these last few days and I talked to them once and they had a great time. How happy we are that Ella and Jack had this private date trip with their wonderful parents.! Also Jen and Dave and the children returned safely from West Point for Eric's graduation. One funny event was that at the Atlanta Air Port, Ryan ran ahead of them and boarded a train without them. Can you imagine their dismay and awe as the door shut and Ryan left them standing with their mouths open! All ended well and Ryan was the stoic brave little boy! How grateful we are for his safe return - bless the couple that helped him. He is a character and we miss all the grandchildren who are away, but look forward to some trips this summer to see those in Arizona and Texas. The Kelly Grandchildren Rock!