Soaking in the Grandkids

After depositing our little charge (see previous post) into the arms of her loving parents, we headed for the airport and a quick trip to speak at an unusual venue with eighty people in Minneapolis at a gorgeous furniture store. Somehow they managed to arrange chairs and couches in the owner’s beautiful store so we could talk with some fascinating people who are entrepreneurs about the importance of relationships over achievements and how crucial it is to  “Leave a Legacy.” 

 

Before the event we made a quick stop at a fascinating a Swedish Museum…..since Richard is thoroughly Swedish. This was the home of a Swedish immigrant who became a newpaper magnate in the early history of Minneapolis:

 

We made a quick stop at the biggest mall in the world, The Mall of America which was complete with an amusement part with many varieties of roller coasters and a stunning aquarium.

And then we were off the real fun!  Shawni and Dave had left for a week in Costa Rica and we flew to AZ to take over for the babysitters for a few days until they returned. What a difference a few years make in the lives of children!  To go from the 24/7 care of a 13-month-old to five kids from six to fifteen was about as different as life can get! Both fun. Just totally different!

Luckily we landed there the night before Valentine’s Day so I got to put out the Valentine morning breakfast surprises!  Shawni had left notes, special plates and little cups with a little candy for everyone since they were going to miss being with the kids on that special day.

Lucy was especially excited about her non-candy gift!

We had pink pancakes and everybody was all smiles, even though it was 6:30 a.m.! 

The night before we had helped Claire make her valentines for her class and Josh helped Grace make some cookies for her class:

Grace and Claire had  so much fun creating their “Valentine Lips”!

Being were sucked into the whirlwind of the world of five kids from teenagers who are immersed in volleyball and tennis (and homework) at the high school to friends galore in the house on Friday afternoon and trampoline dancing to the music of Annie was incredibly fun!

Suddenly three meals a day became very important and the wild comings and goings and emergencies and giggling was delicious. I have to admit that we slept well at night!

When Shawni and Dave arrived we had that night and the next morning to do a quick catch-up and dash over to see the demolition of their “new” house. Even though it was sad to see much of it coming down, it was exciting to see what it will become!

After a quick visit to Josh and the Pothier’s church meetings, we headed for the airport, filled with love for our darling Arizona family and our staward son Josh. I must admit that we were also pretty happy to go back to the freedom of our own responsibilities!

Fun in Baby Jail!

Our youngest son and his wife Julie just had their first little baby with a spectacular birth December 30th chronicled here. We had to laugh at them because, knowing the total commitment that parenthood is, in the months previous to the birth they kept taking their last trip, going to their last movie and having their last fling before they entered what they lovingly called “Baby Jail”. They were right to know that life as you know it changes drastically once a newborn enters your world. I might add that they are surviving very nicely!

Another son and his wife who entered “Baby Jail” thirteen months ago with an adorable little girl gave us the opportunity (we asked for it) to enter “Baby Jail” for nine days while they went to Hawaii to visit our son Jonah and his wife Aja who are living a creative lifestyle in Hawaii (details here) and to be with two other brothers and their wives. All three brothers had won trips to Hawaii through the company they all work for called Imagine Learning.

What fun we had in “Baby Jail” with our little treasure! Having said that, I have to say that I promised myself after having every baby that I would never forget how hard it is to be sure a little one is fed, changed and most importantly out of danger! But once again, I did!

After flying from NYC for the delivery, her mom and I carefully went through every drawer and shelf that she could reach to make sure that everything dangerous was out of sight before they left her with us.  A “great start” came when I left a gallon spray bottle of weed killer at the top of the stairs to be taken to the garage before she got there and I promptly forgot about it. Of course she found it almost immediately and began sucking on the nozzle!  Grandfather called poison control and the nice person the phone assured us that that even if she had drunk some it was so diluted that it would only cause a tummy ache. The memories of all those days calling poison control flooded back! What great grandparents we are!!!

Coming from a three room apartment in NYC, our house with four flights of stairs and big rooms with lots of “interesting” things in them kept her busy for quite a while. She learned to navigate the stairs almost immediately and went up and down them at least ten times a day! Every morning after an enormous breakfast, she went to work pulling everything out of every drawer and every wastebasket. She was delighted by the new things to manipulate and “fix”.  

She had hardly ever ridden in a car but she survived several long car rides like a champ. We managed to get through two three-hour church meetings at nap time, a delightful family baptism in Ogden with a fun crowd of forty afterward for dinner at the Loosli’s home, a couple of speeches and a TV show with that adorable child either in tow or with the help of the wonderful Loosli kids.

The fun part was that she was just learning to walk! Her parents had seen her first few steps before they left and though she still preferred crawling she did took lots of cute little steps while they were gone. What fun to see her try to get both legs in position.

 

By the time the nine days were over we had definitely bonded with that little cherub!  Here are some scenes from our week in Baby Jail….with some help from the Looslis!

Above: Ashton and Isaac taking turns with her a the baptism. And below, Eliza having fun iwith her on Sunday.

On Friday night we had a speech to give at the Northern Utah Marriage celebration in Ogden so we took her to the Looslis where they put her to bed and we stayed overnight. Because snow was predicted through the night and morning and Rick had committed to give a speech in Logan on Saturday morning. Rather than fight the snow, he drove to Logan after the Ogden speech and we followed that afternoon so we could see Grandma Ruthie and get some pictures of her with the baby.

As it turned out she was horrified when she saw Grandma in her aqua “hat” and was not about to sit on her lap. Eliza managed to get her close enough to get a shot or two! Grandma has totally lost her short term memory so I’m sure she’ll not remember that her great grandbaby was not about to sit on her lap!

 

On the other hand, Silas had a chance to show Grandma the cute baptism suit that she made for his grandfather 60 years ago and which he was baptized in last week!

Isaac and Eliza each spent part of Sunday with us to help entertain! Ashton tended her while we went to Isaac’s basketball game on Saturday. Those kids are so amazing with babies! This was Isaac’s hair creation:

And this is part of the fun she had going through the drawers!

As much fun as we had, the reunion of parents and baby was priceless! Have you ever seen happier faces?  (Grandfather back there, ready to take the back seat!)

There is nothing like the bonding that goes on with a grandchild when the parents aren’t around! We loved it! We’ll miss hearing her little voice around the house but we “sprung out” of baby jail and back into our world with a trip to the airport a few hours after they left. Minneapolis, here we come! 

Eight!

In our church, eight is a very important age! It’s then that kids reach what we call “the age of accountability”,  are formally baptized and become official members of the church.This is a choice they make on their own and they take it very seriously! Last Saturday our little twins Oliver and Silas who just turned eight, went through their own very serious right of passage. And were they ever excited and prepared for that commitment!

Oliver

 

Silas

Even though we knew they were well-prepared for the big event, we brought a book about baptism to read before we went to the church which grandfather promptly read to them. There is a scripture reference on every page and the cute guys scurried to get their scriptures to look up the references and read them to each other. So cute!

Luckily we had our little Annina (Tal and Anita’s baby) with us since her parents are in Hawaii. She is adored by her cousins and she was delighted to see them too.

Finally the big moment arrived.  Since the twins’ Dad is a brand new bishop of their ward he had the opportunity to interview them, give a talk, baptize and confirm them and pretty much everything else, including rescue his sister whose car broke down at 2 a.m.as she was trying to get to the baptism from Northern Idaho.  Jared got up and traveled about an hour to rescue them which included getting a new part and getting the car to the shop before the baptism. Crazy day! That Dad is a true champion!

 

 

Their Mom, Saren is way past amazing! She had these brilliant little guys ready in every way plus accomplishing the small task of not not only getting their other three kids to their basketball games and birthday parties before the baptism (at 4:00) as well as preparing her home and a wonderful meal for about 40-50 friends and relatives after the baptism. 

It was a pretty amazing day! One that we’ll never forget! There were about 30 members from the Loosli Family, since our kids are all over the country as well as four couples who just happened to be in Hawaii. One family lives there and the others were sent there as a reward from their company (Imagine Learning) since they all reached their substantial sales quotas this year (along with several other people in the company). Anyway, the bottom line was that Grandfather and Grammie had to hold down the fort the Eyre Family.

Silas (on the left) is wearing the baptism outfit that Richard’s mother made for him 60 years ago when he was baptized. That’s because his whole name is Silas Richard Eyre Loosli. Oliver is named for his Dad’s father who passed away a couple of years ago. They were both happy with that arrangement! 

What fun we had reconnecting with the Loosli family though. They are a stellar bunch!

The food was scrumptious (desserts especially appreciated by the boys) and everything together made it a wonderful day to remember!

To see more and read the adorable letters that the twins wrote in their journals that night about their special day click here.

Realizing Dreams

What a stellar evening we had last Wednesday night with 82 amazing mothers who gathered to talk about their dreams! The Power of Moms sponsored the evening with amazing Whitney Johnson who just released a book called Dare, Dream, Do along with several authors of the Power of Moms new book Deliberate Motherhood.

There was electricity in the air as we heard from Whitney, Saren and April who started the wildly popular Power of Moms website and were inspired by our wonderful friend Macy Robison, producer of a delightful CD last year for moms called Children with Listen who sang for us.

I felt privileged to be standing with these wonderful women (I said a few words at the end).

Below:  Macy, April, Saren, Saren’s Mom, Whitney 

What a delight to see all those committed mothers together, not only thinking about their dreams but also talking about them. The group divided into about 5 groups of 12-14 and with a discussion leader in each group talked about what dreams they were pursuing, what dreams they were saving for later, what dreams they had decided to let go, and what they were doing to pursue our dreams now.

 

 

 

Here are a few of the team of 40 women who keep The Power of Moms Website reaching hundreds of thousands of mothers!

And here are some of the 60 mothers who helped to create Deliberate Motherhood: 12 Key Powers of  Peace, Purpose, Order, and Joy available at Powerofmoms.com.

Sponsors provided some terrific treats:

As the evening progressed, many moms were almost startled to realize that they were living their dream! As hard as it is when you’re “in the trenches”, it is, for most women what they have dreamed and wished for most of their lives.

Saren (who has about ten new dreams a day) told us that, as she was tucking her kids in bed the night before the meeting, one of her son Isaac asked what the meeting that she had been working so hard on was about. When she replied that it was about dreams that moms have, Isaac said, “What is your dream?” without a moment’s hesitation she realized and said with conviction, “YOU are my dream.” She proceeded to tell each of her children the same thing as she tucked them in that night.

Sometimes that’s hard to remember! Congrats to everyone who worked on this wonderful project and especially those who revived old dreams, appreciated the ones they were living and dreamed up some new ones which they are now anxiously pursuing!