A LOVE LETTER TO RORY

ONCE AGAIN, folks, my writing wouldn't stay in paragraphs. HELLLP! Anyway, the ***** means that what follows should be in a new paragraph.

Ali, will you please come help me fix this????????

And now, A LOVE LETTER TO RORY:

 Rory, when you entered our lives three months ago, you brought more joy and love than we ever thought possible. Fresh from your home with Heavenly Father, you came "trailing clouds of glory" as you came, just as the great poet William Wordsworth wrote. You, sweet baby girl, ARE a "cloud of glory" to your Papa and GG. We lost our hearts to you the first time we saw you. When your Grandma laid you in our arms, tears trickled down our cheeks as we looked at you. You turned your dark blue eyes on us, waved your tiny fist in the air . . . and that was it! We were hooked- forever!******

When your Mommy and Daddy bring you over for our "Friday Dates", our first hopeful question is "Is she awake?" And we pull back the cover over your baby carrier, peeking in hoping to see two bright eyes blinking back at us. Usually they are . . . and then, amazingly, your eyes light up and you GRIN! We love the little dimples/crinkles on the edges of your mouth when you grin at us. And we double-love the open-mouthed chortles and chuckles that emerge as we play with you. We LOVE the way your face lights up when you recognize us- our faces light up exactly the same way! ******

In your first two weeks of life, Papa and I were blessed to take care of you FOUR times! We remember the tiny bundle you were when you first came. We could hold you on our shoulder, and –with your legs still folded up under you in the fetal position- you were nothin' but a bitty bit of a girl. You barely reached the middle of our chests. Your sweet baby breath brushed against our necks, and your tiny baby noises were music to our ears. Now, at three months, you have become a "big girl". While we still love to cuddle you on our shoulders, your once-teensy toes nearly reach our laps! Wha' happened, Rory? You grew! Yesterday, after we had fed you, you laid your beautiful head on GG's shoulder, belched like a teenage boy!, and went to sleep. Two seconds later, we heard you snore! YEP! Just like Papa! *******

We know that you have a LOT to tell us –the memories of your pre-mortal life may not yet have completely vanished. Perhaps the veil is still thin for you. Whatever the cause, we get a huge kick out of you when you try soooooo hard (with your whole body) to talk to us. Do you have stories about "Eutch"? Did Grandpa Odie send a message with you? Grandma Cola? Did you bring us hugs from Grams, Grandpa Anton or Grandma Helen? We know how hard you are trying to share everything you know with us. And when we look at you, we see heaven in your eyes. ********

You are a special, well-loved baby, Rory-Girl! We can feel your sweet personality already growing. You are being raised in a loving, humor-filled environment with wonderful parents, both sets of grandparents, a loving aunt and two excellent uncles, great-grandparents from each side of the family . . . and even a GREAT- GREAT-Grandma! Five generations of people to love you, Rory. And these all live right here around you. You have other great-grandparents, aunts and uncles who live further away, but send their love to you every day. You are a fortunate little girl. *******

Thank you, Rory, for coming into our lives. We haven't had a new baby in our close family for nearly 17 years (TODAY is Uncle Trevor's 17th birthday!). You are giving us all a wonderful opportunity to expand our hearts and renew our relationships with each other. We love you from the very bottom of our hearts; you are our Bitty Boo! *********

With smooches and hugs, Papa and GG ;-]

OUR TEMPLE FAMILY AND US!

HELLO, ALERT READERS!!!! Something weird happened as I wrote this . . . and my writings wouldn't go into paragraphs!!!! wha'????????? SO look for the "***". That means it's a new paragraph! Yup! I am blogger illiterate! Yep! Denny and I absolutely LOVE serving in the Temple. We look forward to Tuesdays and Wednesdays every week. The wonderful, kind people on our two shifts are family to us. Many of the people are the same (work the same two shifts that we do), but many others serve only on one of the nights. This gives us a rich variety of good people with whom to share our lives. The sisters all seem to understand MY particular needs, and truly do take care of me. SERIOUSLY, they help me put my shoes on if I can't manage it; they pick up the many, many, many things I drop each night; they help me get up off a bench or chair when I get "stuck" and my knees won't cooperate; they "applaud" me for whatever new thing I am able to do; they do not look down on me or judge me because of my disabilities; they offer love and smiles all night long. I love them. *** And then there are the coordinators: Sister Madsen, Sister Taylor and Sister Justesen. Their kindness is beyond belief! Each Quarter, we workers receive a new schedule. These sweet coordinators are happy to tweak my schedule so that I can handle everything I am asked to do. ;-] Each evening, it seems they come to check on me, and make me feel special and loved. They are truly angels, and well-loved.*** Denny feels the same about the brethren who serve with him. He has less problems than I do, physically, but still requires a tiny bit of special care. His three coordinators take everything into account, and give him a GREAT schedule each Quarter. He is very happy there, and loves his co-workers just like I love mine. Denny was especially happy yesterday, because Ali and Nick, our (GRANDKIDS) attended the session he officiates each Wednesday. It was wonderful for them all to be in a session at the same time. He loved it!!!! *** This Quarter (ending next week- RATS!), I have been Init. Coordinator. Six wonderful months in that extra-special place has been paradise for me. (I was Asst. Coordinator last Quarter- that's why it's been six months.)I have so loved working with each of the sisters, and truly enjoyed the patrons who so selflessly come to serve. I have one more week to serve there, but in October must leave it behind and move on. My successor (also "Sister Smith"!) is wonderful and will do a GREAT job! But I will greatly miss the spirit and joy I found in Init. Of course, I will be serving in Init. as an Ordinance Worker on both nights- so that's a good thing! But I will MISS serving in there all evening long. . . . sigh . . . *** We both have some very special friends there in the Temple . . . THAT is where we most feel at home. We are so grateful to be able to serve there. Thank you, Mesa Temple. WE LOVE YOU!

PAMMY, NICKY, RORY AND A DIET!

Sooooo,YAY!, Pam came last weekend! It was so good to see a friendly face. I have missed her so much. She and I were part of a large group of friends in Santa Monica. There were about 8 of us. We'd go out to dinner once a month and just laugh (and EAT!). I miss that, and them. It's lonely on this side of the fence. But having Pam here was just great. She arrived Friday morning, then Kristin, Ali and Rory came by for lunch. An all-girls' meal! Krissy and Ali stayed a while to visit, then left Rory with us for several hours. Pam is a definite "Baby Whisperer", and had Rory right in the palm of her hand. Of course within three seconds, Rory had Auntie Pam wrapped around her tiny little finger! They were quite a pair. I practically had to wrestle Pam to the ground to hold Rory for a while. Pam does love babies!!!!! So cute! The three of us (Pam, Rory and I) watched "Downton Abbey"- and loved it.

Saturday, Pam and I picked up her friend Sandy and went to lunch at Sweet Cakes. Yumeroo! Pam bought a bunch of cookies to bring home (oh, so sad! ;-]), and after dropping Sandy off at home, Pam and I watched the rest of "Downton Abbey" and the sweet movie "Fly Away Home". We also made posters for our grandson Nick's return from his mission (more later).

Pam had to fly home Sunday evening, but she was able to at least attend our Sacrament Meeting. Now that our church times are 1:30 - 4:30, it's a little harder to arrange things on the Sabbath. We weren't able to take Pam to the airport, but her friend Sandy offered. It was hard to say "Goodbye" to Pam. Who knows when we'll be able to get together again? . . . sigh . . .

Tuesday, however, was a BANNER DAY for the family! Elder Nick Bowler returned triumphantly from his Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Mission. Chris, Kristin, Trevor, Andrew, Ali, Rory, Denny and I were all at the airport to greet him- bearing posters and hugs!  The rest of us hung back a little while he greeted his Mom and Dad. Yes, there were tears. Nick was introduced to his adorable niece -and it was very cute! He wasn't sure how to hold a baby, and Rory wasn't sure about the itchy fabric of his suit! *** We went from the airport to Logan's Roadhouse (our family calls it "Roadkill" for some strange reason!) and had a good lunch. Denny and I left from there to get to the Temple for our Tuesday night shift, but left the Temple a little early for the Welcome Home celebration at the Bowler home.

Nick has certainly matured over these two years! He was called to be a Zone Leader early on, and had that calling to the very end. He took a very lousy Zone and turned it into the TOP Zone in the mission. His enthusiasm is terrific, and we are so thrilled with his missionary efforts!

I've been sick (blech!) and had to leave our Temple shift early on Wednesday. It has taken three days for me to feel better. But today I feel almost normal again. ;-] Good thing, too, because Rory's Blessing is this Sunday . . . can't miss that! If they had to carry me in on a gurney, I wouldn't miss THAT!  And the following Sunday is Nick's Homecoming talk. Two big things in our lives!

DISCOURAGEMENT! DISCOURAGEMENT! DISCOURAGEMENT! I finally got the desire to change my eating style, and began to eat chicken, veggies, and some fruit. No cookies, cake, candy or fun stuff!  And -you're not going to believe this!- I actually GAINED nearly a pound!  What????  I should mention that we also started up my Physical Therapy again. My therapist serves in the Temple with us on Wednesdays, and he told me that I should be able to walk much better if I picked up the exercises again. So- diet + therapy = WEIGHT GAIN! Impossible, wouldn't you say?????  . . . sigh . . .
So I took this week off (but still not many goodies), and will begin again this week.

 . . . did you notice that the word "diet" begins with the word "die"?

Signing off until next time. I don't know who is going to read this- I may be writing just to myself. If you do happen to read it, please leave me a little note. It can be on the Facebook page! I just want to see if there is anybody out there! Bye!