Let's pray for Dad/Grandpa

Remember how our Dad/Grandpa ran more than 30 marathons, 17 in Boston?
Remember how he had a full story done on him in the Sports Illustrated back in 1989 for breaking the record of his age division for the 24 hour race?
Remember how in 1996 he joined in for the 50 state run, and Mom rode in the car along side him? He would run about 50 miles a day and they would both sleeping on high school gym floors at night?

Remember how he sat by our mom continually for over 4 years taking care of her every need when that horrible Alzheimer's set in ...when the rest of us couldn't console her, couldn't endure those long hours with her?

Well this Monday he will begin another hard battle. This one is for prostate cancer.
He will begin radiation, 5 days a week for 8 1/2 weeks.
His doctor said his prognosis is good. We just hate the thought of him going through this.

We love you Dad.
We are here for you. We will pray for you.

Below is an article that appeared in the Ensign about him in 1991. I found this on the internet today. I don't think I have ever seen it before.

“Portraits,” Ensign, Jan 1991, 70–71

Ultra-fit at Sixty

“Ultra-fit at Sixty,” Ensign, Jan. 1991, 70

For some people, running a 26-mile marathon just isn’t enough of a challenge. Sixty-year-old Dick Rozier, a high priest in the Fresno Eighth Ward, Fresno California Stake, is such a man. Brother Rozier knows something about enduring to the end. “Enduring to the end,” in this case, means running for more than one hundred miles within a 24-hour period.

Brother Rozier, a veteran marathon runner with twelve Boston Marathons behind him, is a proven ultra-distance runner. Most races have a set distance over which runners try to make the best time. In this particular type of ultra-run, however, the contestants run as far as they can in twenty-four hours. On November 18 and 19, 1989, Dick set a U.S. record for endurance running in his age group when he won the Sri Chinmoy 24-Hour Race, covering 139 miles and 400 yards.

The record Dick Rozier broke was 134 miles and 194 yards, held by a Frenchman. The former American record was 131 miles, 440 yards.

“It was a weird experience,” says Brother Rozier of the record run. “I didn’t think I could do it, but I just kept going and going.” The run began at 8:00 a.m., and by midnight, sixteen hours into the event, he had covered one hundred miles. His only trouble came after nineteen hours into the event, when leg cramping forced him to take a ten-minute break for a massage. At twenty-three hours into the run, Dick broke the record and ran four more miles to complete the twenty-fourth hour.

A father of eight and a grandfather of fifteen, Brother Rozier is “in better shape than most of us,” declares his son Richard. “Mom and Dad are both great examples of endurance and determination.” Dick serves as the activities committee chairman for the Fresno Twenty-fourth (Laotian) Branch, where his wife, Gaynor, serves as Relief Society president.

[photo] Setting a new American record, sixty-year-old Dick Rozier ran 134 miles and 194 yards in twenty-four hours. (Photo by Photoworks.)


Dad and Susan last Christmas


3D Ultrasound of the twins

I got to see my twin grandbabies today.
Take a look.

First we have the boy. He has very full lips. Either he was pouting in this picture of his bottom lip is extra full. Either way, I think he is adorable.

And here is our little girl. I can really see Amy's daughter Kylie in her....can you?


Here's a little reminder of what Kylie looked like when she was a bit younger.
Can you see the resemblance?
She looks a lot like Amy.
The babies are both head down and snuggled up against each other. But like Logan said today, "What choice do they have?"

They will be born wanting lots of body contact. Now if they can just both stay head down, Amy will have a chance at avoiding a c-section, which is what she prefers. She has even invited me to be at the birth!

It was a great morning. Thanks to Lynn, a very sweet lady Logan works with, we were able to see our babies today. She volunteered to pay for it! I wanted to take her picture to put on my blog but she did not want that.

Very interesting morning even looking around the office before Amy's ultrasound.
Here are some pictures I saw on their office walls.


Don't know who this baby is, but what a great idea for a photo.
Or maybe this takes special talent, I'm not sure.

Other 3D and 4D pictures of other babies they have done.Some interesting shots of other babies. Thank you again Lynn,
for making it possible for us to see the babies today.
Thank you Amy and Logan for inviting me.
I could hardly sleep last night.
This is a day I will never forget.

What a nice way to celebrate Logan's Dad's 60th birthday,
which would have been today.

A Cadillac Dad

It is Mike's birthday today!
He is the husband of Dennis' daughter Kris.


We call him the Cadillac Dad. If his kids are anywhere around him, they are on him, over him, playing with him. I remember when Jessica and Katie were tiny, Mike would be in our pool with them for HOURS at a time. Then he would come inside, change them, play with them some more, feed them...you get the picture.

Jessica, Rachel, Mike, Jacob and Katie in front.

Mike is so incredibly easy going, so fun to be with.
We love you Mike and we know your family will give you such a nice birthday today!

Check out this very short video. Kris filmed it back in June. Mike was just getting back from a business trip. Do you think his family was excited to see him, or what?

McKay and McKenna snow shoeing

http://www.mediafire.com/?zzqznyhzmzn

Dennis Part 2

I can't believe what I did last night.

I had a nice card to give to Dennis...he and I both love cards...so I hid it under my jacket to bring to the restaurant with us. So I smoothly take it out, put it on the table and said, "Happy Birthday" Den opens it up and says, "Isn't this the card the office gave me today?"

I brought the wrong card with me!! I left the one from me at home!

Here he is at the restaurant looking at his office card.
Can't you just see it on his face...he's thinking about his crazy wife.
How romantic.
Isn't he so cute?

Den's daughter Kris had the following on her blog yesterday. He was so touched by this that I wanted to put it on my blog too:

"Monday, January 26, 2009 Happy Birthday, Dad! I want to take a trip down memory lane for a few minutes and share with you why my Dad is so special in my life. Kim and I were the first to be born in our family. As you can imagine, having twins is a giant leap into parenthood to have happen at the same time. My dad was a very "hands-on" kind of Dad and helped my mom in so many ways as we were little.
I think my dad really just LOVED being a dad! Everything he did was for and because of us. Even many hours of hard labor in the backyard was for us kids. Here he is building a treehouse. It didn't matter that there were no trees in the backyard...he was going to build one anyways! And oh, the contraptions he would think up for this house. A hinged roofside lifted for us to peek out, and a little pulley system to bring up our treats were the highlights. It proved hours of fun for us.

My dad was a police officer for the Los Angeles Police Department. He did this for 30 years. We lived in Corona, about an hour and a half away from his work. This is just one of the many sacrifices my dad made on our family's behalf. I can't imagine making that commute each way, every day. He did not want to move our family closer to Los Angeles. He would wake up at 3 AM so that he would miss traffic, and then be home in the afternoons by the time we got home from school.

One of our favorite things to do while growing up was to attend the stake daddy-daughter activities. They would hold them each year and it was a real treat to be able to go with dad. He was always a good sport and dressed up to play the part of whatever theme the event was centered around. Here is one of us from the 50's night. Notice he's got a lot more hair during this time! (Sorry Dad...I couldn't resist!) :)
I love that dad can be very sentimental over small things. For example, he just loves old barns and covered bridges. He always knows there's a story behind them. Here is one of my most favorite pictures of my dad and I together.
Dad has a really fun, sometimes dry, sense of humor. He's always full of one-liners. Oftentimes, he can really turn that frown upside down by just being himself. One of my favorites is: "Hmm...well, as they say in Hungary...oh well." (Now this may not seem that funny, but he will say this line and change it depending on who he is talking to! So if you served your mission in some other place, that's the destination he ends up using in his statement. I can't help but laugh each time he shares this one.) By the way, if you're reading this and you know my dad and know of another one-liner favorite of yours, please share! :)
This picture makes me laugh because Jessica was trying to show him how to hula hoop one day and he decided to show her how to do it around your neck. It was hilarious.

Having Dad live so far away can be such a bummer at times, but the one thing about him is that wherever and whenever possible, he tries to be here for the important events in our lives. That has always meant so much to me. Here he is with the girls when he came to watch them perform in the Martin Harris Pageant a couple of summers ago. What a thrill it was for them to see Grandpa in the audience!

And I love this picture of he and Jacob- his own namesake. (Jacob's middle name is Dennis.)
Well, I really could go on a lot longer talking about what a special man he is in my life. I guess one of the greatest tributes I could give to him is to let him know that when I looked for someone I wanted to marry, I looked for the same attributes my father had, and was that was what I longed for the most in a husband. Strong character and testimony were so important to me because of his example. Thank you, Dad, for all you have done for me over the years. I love you and wish you a wonderful birthday!
Posted by Kris at 1/26/2009

Happy Birthday Honey

Why do I love Dennis?
Let me count the ways.

1. Most mornings he unloads the dishwasher before going to work.

2. He still opens the car door for me, and any other doors he can get to.

3. He makes all the money so I don't have to.

4. He is a great problem solver. He can almost always come up with a solution.

5. If I walk into the room he is in and if I even look like I am going to say something, he will put down what he is doing and look up at me, ready to listen.

6. When I was Relief Society president he was always ready and willing to help me with ANYTHING.

7. In those nearly 5 years (see above) he would appear after Enrichment night every month to help me clean up.

8. He would also come and help me set up and serve at every funeral luncheon except for the one time he was out of town.

9. If I ask him, "Would you do me a favor?", he usually answers with, "Anything for you."

10. If I say I am going to the store or where ever, and it is dark outside, he will say, "I don't like you going out alone after dark. Would you like me to go with you?"

11. He wraps almost all the gifts we buy.

12. He loves to go shopping with me. At least he acts like he does.

13. He holds my purse when we go shopping. Sometimes he will say, "I wish you wouldn't bring this." but he still holds it for me.

14. When we go to the movies, he always lets me choose.

15. Almost every evening after dinner he will say to me, "Where are we going tonight?"

16. If I mention a place I would like to go he will say, "Okay, let's go."

17. He likes honey-do-lists and often asks for them on Saturday mornings. I wonder if this has anything to do with his BYU football or basketball later on in the day.

18. I like the way he ponders what I say. Sometimes hours later he will come up with an idea to a dilemma I told him about.

19. He tries to keep my car filled with gas.

20. He truly loves my children, worries about them, prays for them, like his own.

21. When we married over 9 years ago, he jumped right in to be a Dad to McKay and Tyler who were 13 and 15 at the time.

22. He makes a big deal about how I make his lunch to take to work with him each day.

23. If I draw a heart on his lunch bag, or write anything on it, he calls from work to thank me.

24. When we are out shopping together and go up to the register, he tells me he will take care of it so I can go back and look some more.

25. He cares for those around him, whether they be family or friends or ward members.

26. I bought a dress once with see through sleeves that I did not like. He said, "I can fix that." He went to the fabric store, bought some lining, and sewed it inside my sleeves.

27. He is great at cutting out and pasting any handouts I need for lessons I give at church.

28. He mails almost all our outgoing packages. He makes labels from our computer, and often makes his own mailing boxes.

29. He saves little notes I write to him and tapes them to his file cabinet in his office.

30. He takes me out to dinner every Saturday evening.

31. He always comes to find me as soon as he comes in the door each evening.

32. He understands that I need to be in control of the thermostat.

33. He honors his Priesthood and is always ready to happily do whatever he is asked.

34. If we are in bed and I mention that I am thirsty, he says, "I'll be right back", and brings me a glass of water.

35. He understands that I need to be the one to choose our hotel room and make all the arrangements for that. If I feel we have to change a room for whatever reason he might breath a little funny momentarily, but then he will say, "I want you to be happy."

36. He often tears up just reading or talking about the Pioneers. He has a true love for those who paved the way for us.

37. He often will tear up when we go to cemeteries thinking about all the people, whether he knew them or not. He will say things like, "They had hopes and dreams and lives just like us."

38. He insists on always arriving to church early so he can help set up chairs. Not that anyone has asked him to do this.

39. When my mom was very ill towards the end of her life, he wanted her to come live with us. He participated as much as I did in her care.

40. He tells me I am the best. I treasure his words.

I know there is more that will come to my mind later.
This all just from the top of my head.

Here is one of Den's most favorite songs:


Happy Birthday Den!!!
Thank you for marrying me.

What a thoughtful boy

Yesterday afternoon we found this note on our porch, put there by a neighbor close to us who we have not met yet.
He also had his address, and 2 phone numbers left under his name!
Den and I were so impressed by his consideration for us and the rest of the neighbors as I'm sure he must have left this same note on the houses all around us.

This reminded me of a party my son, Logan (age 17 at the time) had in our backyard back in 1997. Over 100 people showed up to hear the live band, and have food. He also passed out a similar note to our neighbors.
June 1997
The "band" used my bedroom window for their grand entrance.My10 year old niece Ashley made sandwich after sandwich for the crowd in our backyard.
Is it any wonder she grew up to have a job with BYU catering?
Back to the notice above, I think I will make a copy of this post and take it to our new neighbors, Ryan and his family, to show our appreciation for his kindness.

Pauline Memorial Service

Today brought the Pauline children together.

Jonah, Jenny, Robbie, and Joey
It was a memorial service for their Uncle Robert, who passed away last month. Robert lived all his 70 years with Cerebral Palsy, due to complications at birth.

You can see how the Pauline children have grown in numbers.

Jonah, Jenny with her son Phoenix, Robbie and Katie with Charlie and Avery, Joey

Jenny and PhoenixI love these older pictures sitting on the table up front.

Ernie and Deedee
(our lives have not been the same since she passed away in 2003)
Robbie, Uncle Bob, Jenny, and Joey
Jenny, Deedee, Ernie, Robbie, Jonah, Joey, and Uncle BobAnd of course Ernie Pauline who was our bishop in the 1990s
along with his wife Christi
After his brother's sudden passing, Ernie prayed for comfort. He shared with us this evening some thoughts and images that he feels a loving God placed in his heart. Here is a brief part of Ernie's thoughts in his own words:

"...Robert reluctantly turned and walked briefly into a place of God's rest. He began to realize the freedom of his movement and at the same moment found himself amidst a throng of family and friends. For the first time in 70 years, Bobby spoke to them unabated and with unfettered arms he embraced his mother and father and said, "I did the best I could! Thank you for all you did to love and serve me in my mortal life. it is wonderful to be together again...He looked upon the multitude of family and friends who came to greet him. He said to them all, "I had a wonderful life. It was the life God prepared for me. It was the life I needed to lead me back to God's presence and back to you. I wish everyone that we've left behind could see us now."

Family Health Update

Thank you so much for all of your prayers and concern, and comments!!

Brock is recovering very well from his surgery and went back to work today. Yah!!

Little Camers, (along with Erin who would did not leave her side the entire hospital stay)...came home yesterday (Tues) and is slowly getting her strength back. Erin called this morning to report that Cami slept all night which definitely sounds like she is on the mend!

This was taken a few months back.
I love this picture...She is such a sweetheart.
Sometimes when I am with her, I fear I will kiss the skin right off her face.

Elora is still coughing but we sure enjoyed having her stay with us this week. Monday we took her to see Marley and Me. There were a few questionable scenes for a 6 year old so I had some explaining to do. Dennis however, who was with us, said he will never take her to another PG rated movie again.

It was worth it though on the way home when Elora said to me, "I liked that movie even better than a trip to Hawaii."
Not sure just what she meant by that being she has never been to Hawaii or known anyone who has gone there, as far as I know.

(She had quite the cough so I put Vicks all over the bottoms of her feet before we went to the movie and she did not cough once while there. That stuff really works. Just make sure to use white socks.)

I wish I had known about this remedy when my boys were small.
Would have saved us many sleepless coughing nights.
On another note...hopping over to my other son, Logan's house. Amy said she is fine to stand or lie down, but even sitting for 10 minutes gets uncomfortable as the babies take up her lap and more.
This was actually taken a few weeks ago.
She looks uncomfy to me, but happy.
Next Thursday Amy has invited me to come to her 3D ultrasound! Both of us can hardly wait!

McKay's DC trip

A couple weeks ago McKay opted to leave nearly 2 days before the rest of his BYU math group so he would not miss church. He traveled alone in the middle of the night to Atlanta, then Baltimore, then a shuttle to DC....to a place where he knew no one, and had never been before. I wouldn't even want Dennis traveling alone in the middle of the night.

This also explains why he starts off this video taking pictures of himself, which makes him look a little distorted.
I like it though. It gave me a feel for his trip.
It's short, just 2 minutes.


32 years ago today...

I became a mother!
Brock, my first son, was due on Dec. 30, 1976.
I thought we would be having a competition with Santa that year.

I found this cartoon when I was pregnant with him, and kept it all these years.

However, he did not arrive until Jan. 20, 1977.
Exactly 21 days late.
21 very long days to me.

The 2 pictures below...do you think they look like the same baby??
The first one is of Brock as a newborn.
The second of his daughter, Elora.
Brock 1977
Elora 2002

Brock was a very interesting child to raise. He was opinionated from the time he was quite little. He loved to argue even,
and challenge many ideas and plans.
Made for some lovely moments as his mother.
Brock and Logan

In preschool he was the only child in the class who hid under the stage during "graduation". He wanted nothing to do with that ceremony and tried to tell me for weeks, but I thought for sure he would change his mind once he saw the rest of his class cooperating.

In kindergarten they had "hat week". Every day that week the children would come out in a large line of 34 students wearing the hat they had made that day. Brock was the only one who would not wear his. He preferred to carry his instead, rolling his eyes.

He also could be incredibly charming, and to me, no matter what he did I thought he was totally endearing.
Brock "working" with his dad


He excited easily. If he was happy about something his entire body showed it.

When he was 3 he wanted to go to Disneyland. He heard his little friend Chris was going, who lived across the street, so he decided he would go with him! He was still in his pajamas when he could see out the front window that Chris and his family were getting ready to leave. So he hurried into this bedroom, tore off his pajamas, put both legs into the same leg of a pair of pants and literally hobbled out the front door. He tripped being his legs could not move well, and fell down the stairs of our front porch. We both cried.

Once an older lady across the street brought Brock, age 4 at the time, his very own box of homemade frosted Valentine's cookies. She said she was not giving any to the other kids in the neighborhood but she couldn't wait to give some to Brock since "he gets so excited about things."

Brock was born with honesty. It was truly the way he arrived here. He tells it like it is. As his mother in law says, "Brock is brutally honest." Some may say that is not always a good thing, but one thing is for certain...you never have to wonder...'did he really mean that?'

I could always count on him to tell me the truth. One December when he was about 10 he decided to sneak into my closet where I was hiding all the presents I had bought. Apparently he checked them all out because later on he came to me with his confession and a very humble apology. I would have never known he did that but he wanted to clear his conscience.

Brock has attitude written all over his face here.
Better days were ahead.


Besides his honesty, he has a very strong resilient character, he is also compassionate, and he has a grateful heart. And did I mention his creativity? You can see that here and here and how about the caricature of his family he drew below:

I am proud of the man Brock is today. His first priority is his family.
He is a kind and gentle Dad to his 2 daughters. Elora and Campbell adore him. When he even walks in the room Cami goes wild with excitement.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROCK!!!
It is an honor to be your mother.

Our Sunday

Our little Camers, my 3 1/2 year old granddaughter, is in the hospital with pneumonia tonight. Brock called to tell us as we walked in the door today after church.

So we now have Elora with us.

Elora has a cough and some laryngitis, so she has resorted to writing notes all day. I looked through her notebook of today and this is one of my favorites. She wrote this apparently early this morning:
(I will translate below.)
It reads:
"Is my tooth ready to be pulled out yet?
Mommy, is Grandma Honey awake yet?
"
(I'm impressed that she was thinking about me!)

As soon as she got here she did manage
to find enough voice to say to me,
"Mommy said I need a bath sometime today.
I have not had one since November."

Of course we know that is not true, should you wonder.

So she read herself a book after we got her tucked into bed
Brock, unfortunately lost all his post op nursing care when Erin left to take Camers to the hospital.

He's recovering well from his surgery I suppose but he is so frustrated that he can't be at the hospital with his wife and little girl! I tried to talk him into spending the night here with us, but no luck with that idea.

Listen to this one Dr. Laura call

Wednesday evening I had a little fever so I went to bed, and took Dr. Laura with me. This one call made me laugh. Dennis was in the other room reading his book wondering what I found so funny. At first it might not make a lot of sense but just hang in there.
I loved her advice. Do you agree?

There must be a better way to bring this audio to you, but this is the only way I know.

So Brock will know...

what his 2 little sweethearts were doing while he was having his gall bladder removed...

Camers was heavy into La La Land.


Elora was watching Leave it to Beaver with Grandma Honey.
We got a good dose of those 1950s morals.
The first episode was all about telling the truth.
The next was about Beaver wearing the suit Aunt Martha
bought for him so he wouldn't hurt her feelings.
Love that show!
Elora read me the book, Miss Nelson is Missing.
I remembered reading this book to her Dad so I looked at the copyright date.
1977...the year he was born!
While Brock was in recovery the 2 sisters snuggled up close.
Look at their intertwining hands.
These pictures were not posed.
While Brock's pain was escalating on the way home,
Erin slipped into Target to get his prescription,
while Elora posed for this one.

We hope you become pain free soon Brock.
I am so thankful Erin is such a sweet and devoted wife to you.
I always hoped (and prayed) you would marry someone like her!

Look what happened last night

  Just a little pre-graduating gathering for our DIL Amy.... Not everyday a Mom of 7 and a Grandma of 7, graduates from college. It was not ...