Jace Makes 12!

When you're a Grannie, it doesn't make any difference how many grandbabies you have, each is extra-special and a great miracle and blessing from Heavenly Father when they come. Especially so, this new little Jace Thomas who has finally made his appearance in Joe & Jen's home after waiting for so very long to arrive. This little tyke has been so hoped for for so very long, and for some reason, his Grannie was especially excited as the time for his birth drew closer.

So, this past week, Grandad & Grannie Annie made a visit to meet this new little fellow. Of course, they found he is extra-special, extra sweet and especially smart, although he mostly just wiggles and grunts for visitors at this point in time! It is also a great blessing to see his dear parents begin the caring and nurturing process that brings such great blessings and responsibilities. Joe & Jen do so very well with it!!!

The miracle of new life seemed evident in many of the pastures on the way home, as we saw brand new little calves and lambies. Spring seems to be an delightful time for our little miracle child to begin his life on Earth.

Welcome, Jace!!!

Jace is in Grandad's lap and Jace is holding Daddy's finger in this tiny hand.

Go Fer a Ride with me, me Patty??

We went to visit Joanie the other day . . . Have been trying to get there for the past two weeks, and time just would not allow the trip. But Friday we carved out a whole day for the excursion and were off! Years ago in Livermore or Palmdale, Joanie gave me a shamrock start which I have loved, especially in the spring when it gets so leafy and excited about the new growing season. And we had a St. Patty's plant for Joanie that we wanted to deliver . . .

"Take a ride with me, Lucille, in my merry Oldsmobile . . ."

We also thought of Jake: maybe he would be playing his bass for a gig that night, and we could stop and listen.
When Jake called back, he invited us to their place to see the "sweet set-up" he had, more especially, his music room.

He and Cody had also painted their living room and acquired a new couch since our last visit!! Pretty nice, for sure!

Long and the short of it??

We had a most enjoyable day with Joanie and Jake. What good company those two are! Poor Cody had to work and Uncle Gordie had some home things to attend to.

It was a fun day to be able to drop in on My Sister like she was a neighbor and enjoy a visit. Haven't ever been able to do that before!

Here Cum de Mud

Cindy blogged about her beautiful new shed a month or so ago. Well, we are getting a shed too: not cute and decorative like hers, just your basic shed -- But it WILL be here to store things out of the weather!


I AM EXCITED.

It will even have a cement slab, and that is where the Mud part comes in. This is what it looked like when that big old hulking mud truck came underneath our front trees and squeezed itself down the driveway to discharge its load.

The truck managed to maneuver itself back to the little slot where an ancient one-car Model T garage stood years ago.

Wayne & Chris gab while they wait for the mud to come down the chute.
Wayne & the bull-float finish. Love the perspective on the handle.

And, this is what the sky looked like that day, perfect day for finishing a slab, not too hot. . .

Last of all, Wayne specs in a safe place, i.e. not in the slab!!

Our Garden IS Coming!

Last Saturday Wayne got a bee in his bonnet to plant seeds for this year's garden: tomatoes and stuff -- so he got out the little peet-nuggets that swell up when watered and proceeded to plant tomatoes. Since there were 72 holes in the planter tray, he went to his seed bucket and kept adding different things until he had 72 little seeds nestled down to sprout. This is what we found:

Sweet basil sprouts very fast -- first little leaves appeared in a couple of days.

Zinnias were right behind the sweet basil!!

Tomatoes?? -- we found the very first little pointy leaves today, one week after planting.

Sweet peppers ?? -- They are still incognito, although we can see the seeds, but no baby plants yet.

Years ago when Sarah was about 6, she and her daddy were in the back yard planting the garden. He was wearing a straw hat and she was climbing on his back. With that in mind, I couldn't resist when I saw him diligently planting this year's garden!! Sorta fun!!! I love these pictures!!

Also took some shots of our indoor flora.

The big tree is a schfleura, brought home by Dave when he was in Cub Scouts some 30 yrs ago. It was in a paper Coke cup at the time. . . . I love it! Now it goes ceiling to floor. A summer or two ago, I walked in the back door from my wonderful, shady back yard, thinking how much I love trees, when I realized I really DID: I had an indoor tree in the dining room!! This plant has been with us so long, it is just part of the woodwork! The indoor tree idea made me chuckle.

And over the years, one of our all-time favorites are spider plants. I have several and they are all gorgeous.

I love the way plants soften a home. What a blessing they are in life!

Aunt Lyne & Darlene

Since she hadn't been able to come for quite a while, Aunt Lyne and her daughter Darlene came the first week in March to visit her mother Luzell. It was so very nice to have Lyne & Darlene here to stay with us, and they had the fun of being able to spend a couple of days and a two hour drive with each other. Wayne enjoyed having his sister and brother together and they had a blast. Lyne loves to talk about the Gospel with her brothers. Darlene is a delightful, lovely young lady, and it was a privilege to have them come.

Grandad Shares His Tiny Hammers

Miss Sarah invited Grannie Annie & Grandad to her classroom the last week in February. She wrote on the board, "A carpenter builds houses. Grandad is a carpenter." Then I wrote, "Grandad builds houses." Those smart little kids were able to read all of it, and they are only kindergartners!! I tell you, Miss Sarah does a great job teaching!

A few years ago, Wayne invested in some kiddie hammers, putting them in a little red toolbox along with a few little screwdrivers and a couple of little bitty saws. That little box lives in the basement, except when we go to visit Miss Sarah's kiddies. Then the kids pound nails, screw screws and saw little pieces of wood. Wayne says usually a little girl is his best hammerer, hitting the nail all the time.

While the kids are doing all this gleeful pounding, I usually have some sort of art project. Since we were talking about houses, I had the kids do a water color picture of their house where they live.

A couple of years ago, Sarah was in a different classroom where the hammers echoed more. I noticed one little boy flinching every time somebody hit a nail. Finally he said, "Boy that is loud!" Remembering that, this year we went out into the hall where it was a little quieter.

Miss Sarah has some really nice little kids. It is a great pleasure to spend a day with them . . . and then, if we can help Miss Sarah as well, why that's just hunky-dory!

The Wings of the Air

Daddy taught us to watch birds and love them. He put a little square cardboard box up in the eaves on the back porch so the bluebirds could nest, and located it so we could watch from the kitchen window. Cats who tried to rob the nest bought trouble for themselves that they surely didn't want!!

Mrs. Sheehan sponsored a 2nd Grade birdhouse contest when I was in her class. I was so excited to see what I could do! I took my excitement home and told Daddy about Mrs. Sheehan's contest. Would he help me make a birdhouse?? Absolutely!!! And so we set to work. It was fun to watch Daddy measure and cut, explaining all the time what kind of birdie bungalow would be best for the kinds of birds we had around. Daddy even shingled the roof with cut-down asphalt shingles, and we decided that we would mount it up in the peak of the chicken house eaves.

That little birdhouse won the contest and earned me a 25-cent's worth First Prize. Daddy had done the work!!

So we were raised with a love for the little birdies, and Daddy would call Sue & I, "Chickadee".

A few winters ago, I noticed some darling little black-hooded birds who would come and bob around on the vines outside the computer room window. Immediately, I thought of chickadees. They were so cute, friendly and fat. But they weren't small enough for chickadees. The bird book told me they were Oregon Juncos, and they come back every year.

We started putting birdseed outside the dining room window three winters ago, enjoying watching our winged visitors feed. We have sparrows, who come in big flocks like storm troopers. There are morning doves whose tail feathers look like scalloped eyelet lace when they come in for a landing. And there are the little juncos who are calmer than the sparrows, although both birds are about the same size.

I've heard that some children refer to angels as Birdies . . . and those little feathered beings have brought that kind of joy to my life.

Above right: Dove & sparrows by Wayne's rock garden

Left: Two doves puffed up to stay warm on a power line.

Right: Oregon juncos and a sparrow feed outside the window

Sunflower Serendipity

When Draper Temple was under construction, Joanie & Gordon drove us up to see it, afterwards taking us back to Utah Valley on a wonderful ridge road that went farther east up the canyon and coming down in Alpine. So as we headed home that Monday morning after going to the temple with Andy & Becky's family, we decided to take the Scenic Route home, leisurely fiddling our way through Alpine, Cedar Hills, Pleasant Grove, and parts of Orem. Beautiful communities. Then we headed over to I-15 via University Parkway, just incidentally going by Sunflower Market in Orem, where Cody works as a manager. They had a wonderful special on pink grapefruit. We had just "loaded up" on grapefruit.

Wayne had wondered out loud, "Wonder where Cody might be?" when this bright voice said, "Hey. What are you guys doing here??" And it WAS our Cody. She is so great!!!

Draper Temple Open House

Feb 23 -- Andy & Becky arranged their schedules so we could visit the new Latter-Day Saint temple in Draper, Utah, early Monday morning. Going to the temple is an always a sweet experience, but being able to enjoy it with the children is an unusually choice occasion.

We always made it a point to take our kids to temple open houses because they couldn't go inside until they were in the Young Men or Young Women's program, and then they couldn't see the whole temple. Of course, there weren't as many open houses years ago. We got to attend the Jordan River Temple open house when Joe was about 2, and when Manti Temple was remodeled and rededicated, we enjoyed that privilege as well. And so, this was a choice time with the grandkids.

After we were guided through the temple, we were invited to the adjacent stake center for refreshments after the temple tour, where we enjoyed cookies, beautiful paintings, peaceful piano music and a map of temples that dot the earth.

Draper Temple will be dedicated the last part of March.

Above: Grannie, Andy, Becky & Hunter at the world temple map

Above right: Becky and daughters Amy & Brittney (R-L)

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Right: Mike, Grannie & Lizzie with a cookie.

Painting at top: Christ, teaches Mary & Martha by Minerva Teichert, LDS artist.

Stuff for Sweet Baby

We had the most fun Saturday the at Jen's baby shower! Mom Rayma and Aunt Charri hosted a wonderful luncheon social for Jen in Charri's lovely home. I got to go with Joanie, which was a great treat in itself! Cody greeted us when we arrived, and shortly ShaNee & Sarie came together from up north. A little while later, Becky and all her girls arrived, and we had a Boucher party!!!

It was fun to be there with all those sweet girls whom the Lord has blessed me with as my boys have married. Also got to visit again with Rayma and Charri and Grandma Conna -- nice, nice, NICE and gracious ladies. And I got to see Jen and her sister Stephanie enjoy the festivities together, as sisters should be able to share special events.

Later in the day, Wayne & Sarah & I got to see the lovely room Jen & Joe have been preparing for their little Kidlet. They have worked so hard, and things are turning out very nicely. That little baby is certainly excitedly anticipated and very loved already!!

Wayne caught Joe and Sarah at the top of the stairs just before we left. Those two still seem to enjoy each other!

The two beautiful little round-faced kiddies were guests at Jen's shower. Aren't they darling?