I bet you've never seen a 2 month old do this before!

Richie!
and he is not even quite 2 months old yet!




And if that isn't enough for you, look at him wave to the camera!


Children these days really grow up fast.

To go with Sunday Conference breakfast


Watching conference every 6 months is a huge deal in our family. 
One of our traditions is having Ben's Buns to go with our breakfast of eggs, bacon and OJ. 
I've been making these the night before conference since my boys were very young. 
Then I would just pop them in the oven as they were just waking up.....
or as the case is now "right before they come over."

I took the picture above from conference of a few years ago.

Very simple to make.
Here's how, straight from the cookbook I found them in years ago:

Ben's Buns
I can't find the whole wheat bread dough any longer but my kids prefer the white dough anyways.
I had crossed out the 350' oven because they seem to bake better for me at 325'

Also, I should add that on warm nights, like we are still having here, 
I will probably put it in the fridge before I go to bed.

I hear my Utah sons and their families make these for conference now, too.
And so the torch has been passed. I love it!

If you would also like to watch conference go here.

1 link and 2 products


Of all the reviews of the Woman Conference last Saturday, this one is my favorite.
Very honest. I think I will call it Upclose and Personal. 
Read it here.








Also, I've discovered  2 products this past month and they really do work, at least for me:

Earlier this week my shoulder was hurting all day. 
Not as bad as it was last June, but bad enough that I was icing it off and on all day long. 
Finally Den remembered some stuff his son Keith uses for his bad knee....Epsom Lotion. 
I have a few friends who swear by Epsom Salts in their bath water for aches and pains 
so I assume this is the same principle.
He offered to go hunt some down for me and came home with this CVS brand.
It worked like a charm. I was amazed.
I've only had this one try with it, so time will tell.
but Keith uses it everyday on his bad knee and says the relief is near immediate.

I've heard this product has annoying commericals although I've never seen them.
Normally I put  Peppermint oil on my head if it hurts, and about 20-30 minutes later the pain is gone. 
But I sometimes I don't want to smell like peppermint,
so I thought I'd finally try this HeadON recommended by a friend.
About 10 minutes or so later (I didn't really time it) my head started feeling tingly and soothing. 
Another 10 minutes after that my headache was history. 
And it never came back that evening.

Richie's Daddy needs a job

Because of the economy Tyler's employer is being forced to let him go. However, his employer is more than happy to give him an excellent recommendation.
So if you have any suggestions or ideas, please let us know.
Thank you!
 



Richie is 7 1/2 weeks old now.
Richie looks like he will be a blondie like his Mommy.

(Thank you for taking these pictures last week, Aunt Mar!)

Have you ever seen little girls play soccer?

 After seeing Nie Nie, the night before, the next morning we got to watch Hailey's soccer game. 
Girls play a bit different than boys, that's for sure.

Hailey's Dad giving her encouragement before the game.


Hailey's right smack in the middle...#18.

 I was listening in on conversations between these little girls and their coach:


One of the little girls: "When is it going to be half time?"
Coach: "We already had half time.

Coach:  "Okay, I need all of you to go out there and keep your eyes on the ball!"
Another little girl: "I can't. My throat hurts reeeeeeaaaaaallllly bad."
Coach:  "We need you!  We need all of you!
               Hailey can you go in now?"

Hailey was a great little player. 
She kept focused on that ball and would assertively turn it and kick it towards their goal. 
Here she is trying to fuel up and cool off. 
Notice her pink cheeks and sweaty hair.



But when the coach asked if she could go back in the game, she dutifully got right back up.
 But she turns to me and says in a soft voice only I could hear, "This is the only break I've had."
 A 45 minute game is long when you are 7.

Hailey and one of her team members discussing if there were any more Capri Suns left.

Hailey's team won! 4 to 2.
And Hailey made 1 of those 4 goals, I might add.
During lunch Hailey tried to figure out the scrambled word game on the kids' menu.
None of us could figure out the words. 
But you know what impressed me the most about this? 
Since the scrambled up words remained scrambled, 
Hailey said, "That's okay. I'm just going to find little words within the scramble." 
And she did! She reminds me of my Pollyanna Mom.

During the lunch I asked Hailey about her Aunt Whitney teaching kindergarten. 
I said, "Doesn't she teach in a private school?"
 Her answer to me: "No, she teaches the whole class." 
So cute, she is.

I know I've said this before but whenever I am with Hailey I can't help but think lots about her Mom. 
And as Hailey is growing older I see so much of her Mom in her. 
She is every bit as chatty as Robin was. 
We would ask Hailey simple questions like, "What is Aunt Natalie's house like?" 
and she would give us a very detailed description of the layout of her home, 
complete with drawings. 

Yep, 2 or 3 questions and that little girl pretty much carried the conversation all through lunch.

Next time we see Hailey, it will be when these 2 get married.
Aunt Natalie with Hailey's future Uncle Brian.

Look who we got to meet!

 
 This picture makes me laugh. Not because of the Nielsons, but because Dennis is standing with them!

Since we had a sort of sudden change in weekend plans, 
I thought, why not, sign us up for this dinner and evening with Stephanie Nielson
from the Nie Nie Chronicles. Anyone who is in the blogging world at all, knows them. 
When I asked Dennis if he was interested in making the over 6 hour round trip 
he said like he always does, "Sure let's go." 
Seriously, half the time he doesn't even know what he's agreeing to.

So we headed up to Loomis, Ca which is in the Sacramento area.
And after driving through this gate...

We came upon this ranch home. Really, it was out in the middle of nowhere.

We arrived about 30 minutes early and the man who greeted us just after we got out of our car said, 
"If you would like to meet the Neilsons, just go on in the back door." 
So we did!

Surprisingly there was Ken and Jenn Thomson who use to be in our ward! 
Jenn was anxious to meet Stephanie because Jenn's little nephew was recently badly burned 
and she wanted to thank her for her inspiration and hope.

Dennis and Stephanie's husband Christian talked for quite a while 
about the plane crash, life, their kids, our kids, BYU football, etc. 
Stephanie had wandered into the next room by then so he asked if we would like to meet her. 
As soon as I came up to her, she put her hand out to me and said, "I am so happy to meet you." 
Then she reached out and said, "I want to give you a hug." 
I was worried about hurting her fragile skin but it didn't seem to bother her at all. 
We talked about her pregnancy and how she is so very nauseous. 
I could see that in her eyes.
She was holding food but not eating it. That's another sign.  
She said the baby is due April 2nd and how this pregnancy is so different from her other 4. 
She also said she has been very grouchy. 
That's when Mr. Nielson, (as she calls her husband on her blog) sort of shook his head 
and said, "That's like Snow White being grouchy."

The food was a self serve fajita bar, and then we all got to sit back and listen to the Nielsons speak.

I think what struck me most about the Nielsons is how genuine they both are.
For example, when they were talking to us it didn't feel like small talk.
They would both look right into our eyes and ask us specific questions about our lives
...and they didn't even know us!
They made us feel like we were the only ones in the room with them.
At times we sort of were. For example when Mr. Nielson asked Den about his line of work, 
and he mentioned how he was with LAPD for 30 years, 
he wanted to know what that was really like, etc.

I asked them where their 4 children were and they said they were home with Aunt Courtney (CJane). 
How for the past 3 years they have not been with their children during Fall Festival weekend...
so their kids think of that tradition now with Aunt Courtney.

During her speech to us that night, Stephanie talked some about the plane crash. 
She said she had always believed there was a God...all of her life....
but because of a very personal and sacred experience that happened to her right after the crash, 
she knows there is a God. 
She said she is very grateful to be able to pass this knowledge on to her children, 
and later to her posterity. 
She also said she would go through the crash and burning all over again just to learn what she knows now.

Stephanie also talked about the little things of life, and how those are really the big things. 
She is SO happy she can make her children's lunches 
and she especially loves putting carrots in little baggies and ziplocking them....
something that took her months of therapy to learn how to do.

The evening was scheduled to end at 8:30 but ended an hour early. 
I think whoever scheduled this seminar expected the Nielsons would speak longer than they did.
He spoke about 5 minutes, she spoke about 20. 
I think she was struggling with the nausea so cut it short. 
I completely understood. I was just so happy to get to meet her.


 Thanks Jenn for taking this picture of us.
It proves I was there too. 
I could have taken more of the Nielson's but I didn't want to feel like the Paparazzi. 

Soon I will do a post on who we got to see the next morning, since we were in the area.
She is 7 and her name starts with an H.

See Grant's cute little casts!

Baby Grant got to take a trip to Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City to get casts on his feet.
He was diagnosed with club feet even months before he was born.

His parents said Grant did not like his casts and would cry because he couldn't kick his feet,
especially when they would change his diaper. But I hear he is adjusting.



He got to have his very own BYU shirt on during the game yesterday...signed by all the football players!
Thanks to McKay Jacobson who is married to McKenna's cousin Kim.

Wasn't that just the sweetest thing for them to do for little Grant?

And not only that, but he had them all sign one for Grant's Daddy too.
The plan is he will go back to Primary Children's and have get his casts changed 
several times over the coarse of a few months. 
Then he will wear a brace for 3 months. 
After which time he will wear the brace just at night time for 3 years. 
Amazing what they can do now to correct this. 
Decades ago children would be crippled for life. 
But not our little Grant.

We are so grateful to McKenna's mom Kelly, for being with them the past 10 days. 
Doesn't she look young enough to be Grant's mom??

Even though we are so very thankful Grant's feet can be fixed, 
can I just say I thought his club feet were so CUTE.

Shining the lights on Grant

Baby Grant has some newborn jaundice so look what he gets to do for 20 hours a day....


His Mommy lies right beside him assuring him that she's there. 

Amazing how they can bring this little lighting bed into their home so he can stay with his parents.
 They have to bring him to the hospital every morning for blood work. 
Blood tests can feel like no minor thing for a baby. They can be quite traumatic. 
I remember I use to cry right along with baby McKay when he would get poked...over and over again.

McKenna doesn't want him to think they have abandoned him 
so she stays by his side stroking his head and talking to him.

I heard she even sang Wheels on the Bus to him....and he liked it.
Motherhood is such a sacred adventure.

The pictures I promised

Remember how I said I would show school pictures of this family soon?
Well, these aren't exactly school pictures, 
but I love how they turned out, 
so here they are from oldest to youngest.

 Austin

Kylie

Chandler


Laurynn


Macie


And of course the twins.
Jonas and Téa

But my favorite picture? 
Is this one! 
Logan really does love his mother in law. I do too !!

Thanks to Amy's sister in law Brittany for the great photography!

Wanda's Lasagna Casserole

Wanda is my visiting teaching partner and good friend,
and since this is her recipe I knew it would be wonderful.
She says it's been in her family for years!

Here it is straight from my notebook/cookbook.
(I just cut and pasted it here so these are Wanda's words.)
Oh and I've never been able to find these miniature lasagna noodles, so I just use regular curly ones.
When I doubled this I just use 1 1/2 lbs hamburger, rather than 2 lbs and it works great.


I have made this many times but I have never tasted it since I have the Rozier milk/cheese allergy. 
But everyone I've made it for says they love it. 
I've seen little children practically inhale this stuff.

So last night I was feeling bad, again, that I can't make dinner for Rich and Grant's parents in Utah
....my newest 2 grandsons. 
I was there in bed thinking about this for a long while when 
I suddenly remembered how it was when my sons were out on their missions. 
I prayed everyday for those 8 years combined, 
that they were eating well and that good families were inviting them over for dinner. 
We would have our local missionaries over often for dinner...
thinking that our sons would be fed well where they were serving. 
It worked!

So I thought today I would make these casseroles for 2 families here 
in honor of my 2 new grandsons in Utah. 
It won't help them directly, but it makes me feel less of a slacker.

I doubled the recipe above to make these 2- (8 x 10 size)
I've doubled it before and made a very hearty nearly overflowing 9 x13 for a larger family.

I was also able today to make Dennis a little taster. So I baked his up just now and presented it to him.
He came back in here 5 minutes later and said it was excellent and wants more. Uh oh.

Below is one of my most favorite pictures of Wanda.
It was the day we got to meet Bonnie Parkin (our general Relief Society Pres at the time)
Wanda was SO excited and it's written all over her face.


PS  McKenna and baby Grant got to go home yesterday!!
More on that in another post.

Grant McKay's first bath

I was looking through McKay's baby scrapbook, and I had written down 27 1/2 years ago,
my very first words, on seeing him for the first time:    
"You better marry a nice wife." 

I hadn't realized he listened to me even though he was just seconds old at the time! 
McKenna is a sweetheart in every sense of the word. 
We have been praying continually for her recovery. 
She is still in lots of pain, but McKay says she is better than yesterday. 
We love you McKenna!

Take a look at their little cutie pie.
The edited version of course.

He has a name!

Grant McKay




To me, he sure looks like McKenna! But I see McKay too in him. These were just taken by phone so I know we'll have more to come.

Talking with McKay today, I think they had the hardest birth experience I've ever heard. Except not the worst, because little Grant is doing so well. He does have a very high white blood count and they think it's because McKenna was running a fever during labor...so they are keeping a check on that. He also had very low blood sugar but so did his Uncle Logan when he was born and it went right away....so hopefully Grant's will too.

Doesn't he have such a cute name? I love it!

Who do YOU think he looks like?
If you have forgotten what McKay and McKenna look like, go here.

He's finally here!!!!

He was just born about 30 minutes ago. 7 lbs exactly 20 1/2 inches. After about 3 hours of pushing they did a c section. McKay sounds very happy but McKenna was still getting stitched up so I didn't get to talk to her. What a trooper she was. What a very rough 27 hours total I think it was. But he's here and McKay says he is healthy and so cute. I could hear him in the background and he sounds so strong and good. It didn't even sound like a newborn cry, but a hearty older cry.

What a relief.

More details later. I have not slept yet so I'm going to try to get a few hours before the twins arrive this morning.  :)

2:25 am

She reached 10 about 1am and has been pushing!
I'm going to bed with the phone.

What will the baby look like?

 I am wondering if he will look a little like this:

Logan and McKay the newborn  1984

The picture below looks so sad. I took this one of McKay when he was exactly 3 weeks old, before he got his little heart fixed. I didn't realize it at the time but I found out later his heart rate was near 350. I didn't know at the time what tremendous stress his little body was going through.


Last week when Dennis was out cleaning the garage he came in with these clothes and asked what they were.
I had put them in a zip loc bag about a year or 2 ago waiting to give them to McKay when he had his first son. These are the clothes he was wearing in the picture above. Don't know why the picture is sideways.

I'm going to wash them up and ask McKenna if she will take a picture of their son wearing them.
Just a Grandma thing, I know.

McKay just texted me 15 minutes ago and said she is at a 7.

No one is suppose to post this many times in one day, I know. And I can't say I'm going to slow down before the baby arrives. It's how I cope with the stress of being so far away from them....

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 ...