Happy 4th Birthday, Kaleb!

It was both Kaleb's 4th birthday yesterday and Emma's 6th birthday! We did get to talk to Em for a minute before her mom dropped her at school. Apparently they were having a pouring Florida rainstorm so the car line for dropping the children off was extra long and they were running late as a result. We were so glad we got to sing "Happy Birthday" to her! We missed being at her little party but hope she enjoyed our gift and knew that we were there in spirit. We love you, Emma and miss you! See you in just a couple of weeks!!!!!

We WERE able, however, because of close proximity, to attend little Kaleb's birthday party and see his cool dinosaur cake! Though you can't tell from the look on his face in the picture, he was very thrilled with it! Greg had his company party at Mountain River Ranch at 7:30 so Cindy was gracious enough to begin his party at 5:30pm so we were able to attend most of it. We really appreciate that! Grandpa was pretty excited to give him the little pair of armittas (short, light-weight chaps) he found for Kaleb as this little boy LOVES to dress up like a cowboy! KJ was so cute when he saw them and couldn't wait to get them on. Cindy said it was one of the first things he wanted to put on this morning. Probably his favorite gift, however, was his little headlamp! Todd has one for reading and he thinks it is the coolest! So you are cool now, too, Kaleb! We loved his new little white shirt, tie, and dress pants for Sunday. Talk about looking like a missionary! He received some darling gifts from his sisters who absolutely adore him and love nothing better than hitting the dollar section at Target and picking out just the perfect gifts for him! These kids are as excited for their siblings birthdays as they are for their own. It was a beautiful thing to see how they fussed over him! My pictures arent' very good. I finally figured out that somehow I had slid it to the manual setting and so some of my best pictures were fuzzy. Sorry I didn't get a picture of you, Cindy. They were all fuzzy! We love our very special little Kaleb and his wonderful smile that makes his eyes dance and then disappear. He just enjoys life and everything about it! Happy Birthday to our 4-year-old "cowboy missionary" as he calls himself!

Grandma Dorothy Rose's 80th Birthday Celebration

Yesterday, November 28th we all met in Logan at the Coppermill Restaurant to celebrate Grandma Rose's upcoming 80th birthday. This time, I remembered to take pictures and though I am sure I have missed someone inadvertently, I truly did my best! This was such a memorable day. I am not sure of the total number of Grandma and Grandpa Rose's posterity, but the ONLY ones that were missing were Matt and Sara and their kids who, of course, were unable to attend as they live in Florida and are coming for the big Rose Family Christmas celebration! I think it is pretty amazing that everyone else was there...that the rest live close enough that they could be there with a little effort and that they all made the effort. It meant the world to Grandma Rose. She was just beaming the whole afternoon! Matt wrote a beautiful letter which Greg read so she knew that every one of her posterity was either there in person or in spirit!
We met at 2:30, visited, and had a delicious dinner of roast beef, paprika chicken, cheesy potatoes, pasta salad, fruit salad, green salad, rolls, and dessert. Brent served as master of ceremonies and gave each of Grandma's five children the opportunity to share a memory of something that their mother taught them or did for them. Sheri, Christie, Brent, Nancy and then Greg each took a little time to pay tribute to their wonderful mother who crocheted afghans, made beautiful quilts, clothing, doll clothing, taught them how to work, nurtured them, prayed for them, and taught them to love the hymns of the church and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Each was so personal and heart-felt. Greg wrote his tribute inside a hymnbook he bought for her. He has told me for 38 years off and on about listening to his mom sing alto in church and wanting so much to learn to sing a part like she did. He learned to do that and also felt the truthfulness of the hymn messages as they sang them together each week. He credits much of his testimony to the hymns of Zion that he learned to love sitting and singing by his mom at church ... and also to her faithful attendance in spite of many odds that could have kept her away. His last phrase of tribute to her was: "Like the sons of Helaman.. 'I never doubted my mother knew it'"! I loved that Greg also paid tribute to his Dad for taking such good care of Mom and saving her life on more than one occasion making it possible for her still to be with us to celebrate such a milestone as 80 years of life! I am very sure that none of the kids ever thought their mother would still be here at 80 as she has endured many years of very severe health issues. Dad deserved that little tribute. He loves Mom so much and has plead with the Lord to spare her life so many, many times! His prayers and those of the rest of the family have been heard and answered in the way we selfishly hoped. She is such a blessing to all of us, to our children, and to our grandchildren. We enjoyed listening to both Mom and Dad speak to us all for a few minutes after which we took group pictures of them with their 5 children, them with their children and spouses, them with all their grandchildren, and one with them and all their great-grandchildren. We then visited some more and said our good-byes. How grateful we are that she has been spared so that our children and grandchildren can feel of her spirit and grow up with memories of this wonderful, courageous, and faithful woman! We love you, Mom (Grandma Rose)!