** RORY AND OTHER THINGS **

Hi there, Alert Readers! It's been kind of a weird couple of weeks!  The Mesa Temple is closed right after the 1:30 Session every day due to the Easter Pageant. That means those of us who serve on the evening shifts (3:10 PM – about 9:00 PM) have these two weeks off. We had a little list of things we wanted to accomplish with the extra time, and –with a week still left- we have finished almost everything!!!!  I even got to go over to Kristin's with Krissy, Ali and Rory for a fun "Craft Day".  Rory slept through the first part, and I got about half of a hat put onto my loom, but once Rory is UP, crafting comes to screeching halt!  We pretty much just sit around watching her. She is pure entertainment!!!!! 

Ali let me feed Rory some lunch (green beans and carrots) while we ate OUR lunch. I'd rather feed Rory than myself. She is a LOT more fun!!!!!  And what a good eater! The minute she sees the spoon, her mouth flies open and she just slurps down her food.   She's the best-eating baby I have ever fed. She doesn't even spill on her bib! And NOW- finally- she is CHEWING!  It has taken patience on Ali and Andrew's part, but Rory now will chow down on Ritz crackers and other "hardish" things. No, she still WILL NOT hold her own bottle. She just stretches out on our laps, throws her arms out to the side and opens her mouth. And we, like the lovesick serfs that we are, put her bottle in her mouth and feed her. OH MY! I mean, WHY should she feed herself? She's a princess, right?

We met Chris and Krissy for lunch at PF Chang's on Friday. YUMMY! They get such a kick out of going to restaurants with us . . . because we always want to go EARLY in the day, and most of the customers are like us: white-haired and slow!

We did actually see a couple of younger groups at the restaurant, but MOST were our age or older (is that even possible?). Chris and Krissy feel like a couple of teenagers!  Ha ha! It is so fun to go out with them- it gives us a chance to "catch up" on all of their news. They are wonderful company!!!!  ;)

After PF Chang's, Denny and I went shopping for a new mattress and box spring. One of the brothers who serves with us in the Temple (Greg Lee) owns six mattress outlets, and we went to check his stuff out. We found a GREAT mattress and box spring for a TERRIFIC price!  It is very comfortable!  Greg delivered it today, and took our old junky pieces away. Ah! Lookin' forward to a good night's sleep tonight!  

Trevor has been in New York for the past few days. His school choir was chosen, along with a few choirs from all around the world, to sing at CARNEGIE HALL! A world-renowned composer (whose name I have completely forgotten) held auditions and selected the best choirs. Trevor's choir (Red Mountain High School) was chosen! The kids are coming home tonight . . . and from all reports, they have had a BALL!  Jazlee Fenn, a lovely girl in our Ward and in our Sunday School class, is also in the choir, and auditioned for a solo, and GOT IT! So she sang a solo in Carnegie Hall! What a thrill!  We are so happy that Trevor has had this opportunity.

We went to church with Ali, Andrew and Rory yesterday. Rory was really "on one"! We don't know if it's because WE were there- giving her an audience- but she did not want to settle down and be quiet. Ali took her out for a while, then Andrew took out her for a while too. She wasn't being a brat at all- just a tad noisy. We appreciate the fact that Ali and Andrew are aware of the distraction, and take her out quickly. They are very good parents.

Rory adores her family- all of us . . . but her Mama and Daddy are the heroes of her world. She smiles and giggles for all of us, but when Mama and Daddy come in, she lights up like a firecracker, and crawls right over to them. Ali almost always sits on the floor when they come here to pick Rory up, and Rory is all over her. Sooo cute!  She's not much of a cuddler anymore- too busy to want to be snuggled.  . . . sigh . . .  but someday there will be another infant from Ali and Andrew or Nick and Emily. THEN we can cuddle and snuggle to our hearts' delight! YAY!  I must mention, however, that on her own volition, Rory gave me a great big sloppy kiss when she left the other day.  M'WA!!!! I had to wipe my whole face off!  Bwahahahaha! And it was worth it!

Rory is VERY close to walking! She stands all on her own for a loooong time, and of course sidles along the furniture all over the house.  She will take a few wobbly steps if we hold one hand. The other day, Denny and I were SURE she was going to just take off and take 2 or 3 steps from me to him . . . but she looked around, decided it was too scary, sat down on her bottom and crawled to him. I don't know WHY we are all encouraging her to walk- it's just going to be harder to keep up with her!  AAARGH!

Ali and Andrew understand that it getting harder for us to keep Rory. We absolutely LOVE it, and DO NOT want to stop . . . but we are very tired when they come for her. She is the joy of our lives. Ali told us the other day that when she and Andrew have another baby, they will bring the baby over by her/himself for us to love on. They are very sweet to think of this. But, but, but what will we do without our Rory????  I think the arrangements will be that she will come by herself too, another time. We LOVE that little stinker! We would miss her horribly if we didn't "tend" her frequently.  FREQUENTLY! PapaGG LOVE Rory!

*&^%$#@$%^%$!!!!!!!  My left knee is really bothering me again. Hurt! Hurt! HURT! Denny made me an appointment with my orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Matthews, this Thursday. I am not happy- because I am afraid he is going to suggest another surgery. He is, after all, a SURGEON!  But we do need to go find out what's going on. I'm sure an ex-ray will be taken in his office, so we should know something Thursday.  ACK! 

This is all for now, Alert Readers! More later!  Love ya all!  Sue  ;)   (see below)

****Hi, my GG's reeders! This is Rory! I wanted to tell about sumthing eskiting that happened to me! Saturday night, my Mama and Daddy went out on sumthing called a DAYTE . . . and I met two brand-noo peepul! My Mama said that two gurls were coming to "babysit" me as a prawject for their award! I have been tended by my family many times, but this was my verry first time with sumone I didn't know! Mama and Daddy were a little bit wurried- because sometimes I can be a "handful", whatever THAT meens! But I liked the gurls! They played with me and gave me a bath (PapaGG had given me one earlier, but I LOVE my bath, so I was happy-happy-happy!), and fed me. When Mama and Daddy came home after three hours, I was happily sitting on one of gurls' laps, being as kute as I could possibly be! I think that Mama and Daddy may let some gurls take care of me sumtime. I don't know if Grandma and Grandpa, Unkle Trevor or PapaGG will be happy about that! I KNOW they love me verry much. They keep telling me how kute and fun I am. And they keep pressing their lips on my cheeks! 

Anyway, that is MY big noos . . . I'll write again later. Luv you!  Rory

"THE SCREAM"

Dear Alert Readers! So, here I sit, for the fourth day in a row, bawling my eyes out listening to the Broadway cast perform “Les Mis”. Oh my . . . .

Did you wear GREEN yesterday???? Not too many people had green on at Church. I’m not sure St. Patrick’s Day is a big deal anymore.

We are “on leave” from the Temple for a couple of weeks due to the Easter Pageant. The last Temple session begins at 1:30 PM. So we evening workers get two weeks off. Denny and I are going to try to use the time to good advantage. It’s sometimes hard for us to get some things done because TWO days of the week are already “lost”, and we are so tired on Thursday that we don’t WANT to do anything! We have doctor’s appointments (oh joy!) on Thursday, and, on Friday, an appointment with a Temple friend at his bed store to buy a new mattress. Ours is AT LEAST 20 years old!  YIKES!  Saturday is going to be our FAVORITE DAY- Rory Day!

WARNING! WARNING! IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO HEAR ABOUT

RORY-RORY-RORY, STOP HERE!!!!!!

Rory came last Friday to stay with us, and she was just a brilliant ray of sunshine from the moment her Daddy brought her in.  She said “Hi!” to us with her usual huge smile and hand-clapping, and then crawled off to her toys. She entertained herself for an hour and a half with her toys and crawling around the floor –with frequent “stand-ups” by whatever piece of furniture was nearby. She is getting more and more ready to walk. She can stand all by herself for quite a long time, but she hasn’t yet mastered putting one foot in front of the other. The whole time she was playing by herself, she was giggling, talking and laughing! We might not even have been in the room!  Sooooo stinkin’ cute! 

We finally put her in her high chair and fed her a container of green beans and a container of carrots- which she ate without spilling a drop! The minute she sees the spoon, she opens her mouth really big. She’s the easiest baby to feed that I have ever seen! After lunch, she got her bath- which she loves. We bathe her with the sprayer in the kitchen sink, and she loves to stick her hand under the water from the faucet when we’re not spraying. Sometimes, of course, she will splash water onto her face and eyes, but all she does is blink and look a little confused. After her bath, we lay her down on some towels on our kitchen island and, after putting a diaper on her (self-preservation, you understand!), we rub baby lotion all over her. OH! She smells soooo good! After she gets dressed (which she does NOT always enjoy!), she gets her bottle. No, she still WILL NOT hold her bottle! Grandpa “Baby Whisperer” Chris got her to hold it for a few minutes the other day, but the rest of us are total washouts! She almost always falls asleep while taking her bottle, but for only about 20-30 minutes. I love that part, because I get to hold her, something she doesn’t allow much anymore. She’s too busy exploring!

When she woke up, she was rarin’ to go!  Back to her toys!  She’s also trying to get through all of our “babyproofing” things we have around the living room to keep her “contained”. She got through one right next to me, and I couldn’t catch her! Papa had to go get her! She’s fast!

I decided to have some Fritos and dip while she was crawling around. Well, of course, she was instantly interested, and crawled right over. She stood up, patting my knee and opened her mouth! So I gave her a tiny taste of the dip. She pulled a face like I had POISONED her, but kept coming back for more! Every time she got a taste, she grimaced, but kept coming back with an open mouth. Funny girl! 

And then, to top off our day, we put her in her bouncer –which she absolutely LOVES! She was bouncing and laughing until her Papa had the absolute NERVE to go out the front door to get the mail! Her bouncer hangs right by the front door- maybe 6 feet away. She can SEE him clearly- but he was moving AWAY from her! Now, I did not SEE this myself (I was behind her), but Ali and Andrew arrived right then and saw her face. You know that famous painting “The Scream”? THAT’S how she looked! The poor little girl! She was being “abandoned” by her Papa! And that girl has a pair of lungs! WOW!

We so much love having Rory come to visit. It is getting harder for us now that she is so mobile. But she is also a lot more fun. We don’t know we are going to handle it when there are more great-grandchildren. We’re going to have to figure out a way to bond with them like we have with Rory- but we can’t imagine ourselves handling 2 or 3 children all at the same time. Duct tape, maybe?

I may actually write a blog NOT exclusively about Rory one day- but that’s a chancy proposition at best!  We LOVE that little girl!!!!!  Nine months old tomorrow!  

Farewell for now, Alert Readers! Talk to ya all later . . . .   Sue  ;)

** FOR TIME AND ALL ETERNITY **

Two days ago, at this very time, our Nicky and his Emily were kneeling at the altar in the Mesa Temple to be married/sealed for time and all eternity.  ** heart **  NickEm were so cute in the Temple. Both of them teared up, as did most of the spectators. Sniff!!!  Just hearing those inspiring eternal covenants spoken again was wonderful. We are so happy to welcome Emily into our little family.

When they came out of the Temple for greetings and pictures, Emily looked absolutely stunning in her lace wedding gown, with white flowers in her hair. And Nick was a very handsome groom. It was a gorgeous day with bright sunshine and blue, blue skies. I can't wait to see all of the pictures the photographer took.

We didn't stay at the reception for long. It was beautiful and there was a lot of good food, but neither one of really enjoys crowds any more. And we don't love outside parties. It is hard for me to walk on uneven ground. So after greeting the happy couple and getting a bite to eat with our friends Harry and Geri Hall, we decided to go home. We took Rory with us.

Rory was a real trooper all day long. She was outside of the Temple with her Uncle Trevor and Grandpa Bowler during the ceremony. Ali had found her a very pretty coral-colored dress to go the colors of the reception, and she had a little flower in her hair. So cute!!! She also wore her new shiny white shoes for the first time. They looked so good with her dress . . . . . and really finished off the "look". It was a very long day for her, and by the time the reception was in full swing, Rory was sooo ready to leave. She didn't fuss or anything, but was so tired. Ali sat down for a few minutes to give her a bottle, and that helped.  When WE were finished eating and visiting, we brought Rory home with us. She fell asleep in her car seat before we even got to the end of the block. But when we arrived home, we had to take her out of the seat, and she didn't much care for that. THEN we had the nerve to take her pretty dress off and dress her in something more comfy. But she HATED having her arms removed from the new dress- it must have hurt her.  Putting the other clothes on was no picnic, and she really let us know that she was NOT happy. That poor baby let out a howl that raised the roof! And she kept it up for a VERY long time. We tried rocking her, giving her bottle, bouncing her, and Papa carried her around the house a bit. But she just couldn't be comforted. We have never heard her cry/scream like that for so long . . . but evidently Papa got her to settle down. We changed a dirty diaper, and Papa talked to her and made her smile (finally!). Then she was completely content to sit on the floor with her toys and just crawl around. She entered new territory (the kitchen), but Papa was with her the whole time to make sure she was safe.

Papa and I have been nervous about this stage of her life since we started keeping her one day a week.  Now that she is so mobile, it's hard for us to keep up with her. We do set up chairs in front of our bookcases to keep her out of them, and use a chair as a blockade to keep her out of the kitchen, but she is no dummy! She figures out ways to get where she wants to go regardless of the barricades. She squished between my big rocker and the little table for my computer and escaped into the kitchen area before I could catch her! Whoosh!

Yes, she is a mover and a shaker!  And SOOOOOOOOO dang cute!

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE OUR FAMILY!!!!!  From the man of my dreams, Papa, right on down to sweet baby Rory- YEP! Love them all, heart and soul. 

"FUN AT PAPAGG'S"

Hullo, Alurt Reeders! HI!  It's meeeeeeeeeeeeee!  Rory!  My GG s verry bizzy today and asked me to rite for her again. I have a lot to tell you! My Unkle Nick gitting merried on Thursday! That means my Ant Emily will REELY be my ant!  I luv her, so I am so eskited! I have a brand new pritty dress to wear to the party after- I think they call it a "resepshun"? Tomorrow morning, my Mama, Grandma, GG and I are going shoe shopping! My GG –who is my all-time favorite person (ahem!)- is going to buy me some "church" shoes to go with my new dress!  I think they all want me to be reely cute at the resepshun, and I will try reel hard!

I had a good week. I got to go to my PapaGG's house TWICE! Friday my Mama and Daddy went to the Tempul with my Ant Emily and the rest of the family. My poor GG had a weerd kind of thing on her leg they called "sell-you-lite-us". She had to stay home for several days. So PapaGG played with me while everyone else went with Ant Emily. They put my toys all out on the floor, and I played and played.  GG fed me something called "green beens" and some "karrots". I ate one whole container of eech of them. GG always laffs and is happy when she feeds me. I LOVE my dinner, and open my mouth the minute I see the spune coming towards me. GG says I am such a good eeter that I don’t spill even ONE bite on my bib! She says I am a better eeter than my Grandma was!

After my dinner, PapaGG gave a me a nice warm bath and dressed me in a cute dress with munkees on it! GG called me her "little munkee", but I didn't know what she was talking about.  (?)  I think I'm a cute little gurl! At leest, that's what people say!

I always get a bottle after my bath. My GG rocks me in her big chair while Papa fixes my bottle. She snugguled me in her arms and Papa put the bottle in my mouth. I think they wanted me to hold my own bottle. GG kept putting my hands on it, but I don't know why I should hold my bottle when one of my grown-ups will hold it for me! I am, after all, a PRINSISS! Rite?

GG rocked and rocked me, and I took a little power-nap. I like to snuggul with my grownups after I take my bottle- but when I wake up I REELY WAKE UP!!! I krawled rite over to play with my Papa. But before too long, my mouth began to reely hurt! Mama and Daddy told me that I have sum teeth "cuming in". I already HAVE teeth- why are there more? It feels like about 14 are trying to "cum in", and it HURTS!  So I tried to tell PapaGG what was wrong, but they didn't understand at first. I cried and cried as hard as I could! Papa finally understood me, and he told me I need to chew on something. He put one of my little toys in my mouth. I clamped down on it, then took it out of my mouth and banged it on the ground, which is my favorite thing to do with my toys. But my mouth still reely hurt, and I cried again. GG rubbed sumthing soft in my mouth, but I just likked it off! Finally, I just krawled over my GG's big chair, and she picked up and cuddled me. I was still crying, but after she rocked and rocked me for a while I felt better. I laid on her chest and watched TV for a while, then went to sleep. GG said I was snoring???  Mama and Daddy came for me not long after I woke up. I am always happy to see them!

Sunday, we went back to PapaGG's house again for sumthing called a "burthday dinner". It must have been for my Papa, because my grownups all sang a song to him. I wanted to sing too, but I didn’t know the words . . . or the toone. My GG had made lasanya for dinner, and a salad with froot and sum giggly red stuff. She also made garlik bred and bowls of karrots, callyflower and selry. My grownups ate the lasanya, but GG fed me sum more green beens and karrots, which I liked. Then she gave me a taste of the lasanya- which I wasn’t too thrilled with. But the verry WERST thing was when she put some of the giggly red stuff on my spune and put it in my mouth. UGH! How do you spell "awe-full"? I like my own food.

After dinner, Unkle Trevor came to get me and played with me. He and Mama put me in my jumper and I bounced and bounced! Wheeeee!  Grandpa took me out and we went back over to the dinner tabul for sum deezert. My Grandpa gave me a taste of deezert- sumthing called "lemun kake". I really twisted my face at first, because it was kinda sweet but kinda not. But then I showed my Grandpa that I wanted another taste and he gave it to me! I still squinched my face, though- so I didn't get any more.

Anyway, it's been a bizzy week. I wish these teeth of mine would quit "cuming in" and just FINISH already!  I'm eskited because I get to see my whole famly again on Thursday at the resepshun! I'll rite later and tell you all about it! Until then, bye! I luv you all!  Rory