Drenched in Two Grandchildren

I promised myself that I would never forget how joyful it is to have pre-schoolers. Nor would I forget how hard it is! We remembered the joyful part this week as we were the sole care-givers for three-year-old Zara and nine month old Dean for seven days. . But we have to admit that we forgot how totally time-consuming and demanding it is to provide for the 24/7 needs of little kids without the help of older kids! Our appreciation for parents who are willing to sacrifice so much of their lives and the daily demading needs of these cute little packages which includes a test of their patience, durability energy to care for these totally dependent little people.

Our appeciation of young mothers and young fathers has increased by about a thousand percent this week. It’s one thing to go into the homes of these little people and play with those cuties when their parents are around but it’s totally another thing to be in charge of their welfare hour by hour and even minute by minute for seven days. 

We had so much fun, but I have to admit that we are just a bit tired!  The baby was up at at 5:30-6 a.m every morning and our three year old had a cough that kept us up from about 2-5 a.m. for a couple of mornings (we took turns). After seven days we were sad/ready to turn them over to our daugther Saren and her five “helper” children for a couple of days while we flew off to a speech in Texas. Their parents will fly in from Costa Rica about the same itme as we get back from Texas and we’ll have a happy reunion with those adorable cherubs before we send them home to New York City the next morning. 

Our son Eli and his wonderful wife Julie are truly amazing parents!  Besides having two full-time pre-schoolers, they live in a four story walk-up (which for those of you who are not city-dwellers means no elevator) in the middle of Manhattan. I have written about them before as we have visited several times and have marvled at how they get those kids and their “car” (a Rolls-Royce style stroller) and two kids, not metiom their shopping purchases up those long flights of stairs to their 700 square foot apartment. Somehow they manage and we adore them for it!

I just have to post some of the fun we’ve had this week with these two exciting, creative, pizzazy, strong-willed children:

The night they arrived at our house, Zara managed to find her favorite dress-up…a Rapunzel dress…in our little play room which she slept with that night and refused to take off except to sleep and to swim for the next three days!  Despite our very best efforts, there was no way to talk her out of wearing that princess dress to church the next morning so Julie managed to put a sweater over it and off we went!

After church while we were talking to old friends in the foyer, Zara took it upon herself to do a little snow shoveling outside the front door. She mostly got the snow back on the sidewalk and lost one of her shoes in the snow in  the effort, but she was pretty proud of herself!

The parents stayed for a couple of days so the kids could acclimate to our house and their grandparents whom they hadn’t seen for a couple of months.

The next day we visited The Children’s Museum and had a grand time exploring all the fun things there!’

  

Navigating her way throght the foam shapes in her pincess dress.proved surprisingly successful!

Is she cute enough?

Meanwhile Dean was happy to explore anything in sight! Man we love this little fellow!

The day after the parents left, Zara and I made cookies for Max, our oldest grandson who is a missionary at the Missionary Training Center in Provo. They have a next-day delivery service to the MTC near our house so we set out to make his favorite recipe.

Always anxious to help, Zara accidently moved the lever on the electric mixer to high just as we had poured in 4 cups of flour!  Somehow she still looked like “Elsa” (aka Rapunzel) here but I looked like Olaf! There was flour everywhere!

We didn’t eat any of the dough JK!

Meanwhile, GF spent a lot of time feeding Dean. I have to say that he didn’t always look this clean!

Zara was tickled to find another high chair and promptly organized this arrangement:

Zara loved the Pop Up Magic Castle Game that I had ordered from Amazon. After spinning the wheel through one game, she took over as the Queen of the Castle and had so much fun with it!

This picture below says it all about Zara. She is independent and fearless while riding her scooter through the streets of Manhattan and couldn’t care less where her mother is when she takes off in Central Park. Her strong will keeps her either thrilled or devasted, which was so fun for us to watch! Takes us back to our own eight (out of nine) strong willed children!  We love this amazing child! 

“Deanie Boy” as he is affectionatley known is also a delight! He had so much fun exploring our comparitively huge house and never got tired of it, as long as we were right by him in the room. Those big open spaces were a little scary at first.

And just look at that snow out there!  Just when it started to get ugly we were treated with a fresh coat of the beautiful snow we had missed while we were gone!

Dean got pretty brave as the week progressed and really liked jumping off the coffee table into his Grandfather’s arms!

Zara was high energy to the end….back in her Rapunzel dress. Just before we left to drop these two kids off to Saren, who has five kids and a great husband who simply adore little kids, Zara zonked off during dinner. We knew that a nap during the day meant a late night so we were worried that she wouldn’t go to sleep for a long time but she was really OUT!

Even when GF moved her to a more comfortable spot, she didn’t move a muscle!

The Looslis welcomed them with open arms and had so much fun with the for the next couple of days! Here are Saren’s instagram pictures of the fabulous cousins Isaac, Ashton and Eliza, bonding:

What an exciting week we had!  Fun and exhausting. And we just have to say:
“Hooray for parents!”  We have to admit appeciating our freedom as we flew off for a speech in Texas over the beautiful snow-covered mountains!

How fun to see this little family reunited!  With a four and half to five hour flight ahead with these two kiddos, I think I was as happy as they were for naps and Ipads!!!

It was a time to remember!

Soaked in Grandchildren!

FYI: When I checked my recent posts, I discovered, to my horror, that when I was finally able to restore my blog on Live Writer, I somehow lost spell check. Not only were there a ton of errors in that last post about Bali, but it was somehow posted twice!  Sheesh! Don’t know how that happened! Sorry about that!I fixed it but darn! Please excuse future errors until I get it fixed! You don’t realize how much you rely on spell check until you don’t have it! Please excuse other errors until I figure it out!

We were home for four days after being on the other side of the world from January 5th to February 6th before we had to leave again. But we took advantage of that time and were so hapy to be able to see Eliza’s state basketball game in Ogden!  It was a thriller! We thought Eliza had made the winning shot in overtime, but somehow the other team came back in the last few seconds and won! Still, it was such an exciting game and we were so glad that at least there was one family thing we didn’t miss while we were gone!

There were some terrific players on that team including Eliza and one of her best friends so it was a delight to see them play together!

Let’s take a closer look at those cuties:

It’s always fun to be with the Looslis. We adore those kids! We stayed for delcious dinner and terrific Family Home Evening which gave us a chance to see the “inerds” of that fantastic family and to have the opportunity to fill the in a little on our fun trip!

The next morning we took off for Los Angeles. We had a speech there but the very best part was that two of our families were within an hour and a half of the airport! Jonah and Aja and their five kids had been there with Noah and Kristi and their five kids for two weeks waiting for their cars to arrive from Europe. They claim that they had the best time ever, taking turns with meals (including a make your own sushi evening) and Jonah and Aja, as always were helping to fix and organize things and whatever they could think of to help those CA Eyres.

The best part for us was that we got to see ten of our grandchildren, all in one whack! It was so fun to see them bonding and doing so well together! Within fifteen minutes of entering Noah and Kristi’s house (on Valentine’s Day weekend) Grandfather went from this…..

To all ten grandkids huddled around him in his glory….and yes, some were happier about the 10th picture than others and yes, that is a small Monster Truick on Grandfather’s head and no, McKay’s knees are not two extra bald-headed babies! 

We had a great time with this little guy, who was about to have his 2nd birthday party…

It’s a tradition to take everybody out to breakfast on a Saturday morning when we are there so we packed the Sprinter and took off for the Cinnammon Stop (our favorite). Grandfather never lets that many kids actually order their own meal. He just orders two of everything making sure that there are no desperate requests. FUN!

 

The two babies stayed home with Aja so we took her a treat!

What a time we had with this crazy crew! Non-stop fun:

Since Ezra was pretty sick for his real two-year-old birthday last week, we celebrated while we were all together. He adores cars and trucks and acutally anything that moves on wheels!

I don’t know who was the most excited here but I do have to say that when Ezra opened that present on the right which was a double decker truck filled with cars, he just beamed and said in the cutest, most enthusiastic voice….”NICE, NICE, NICE!” What a Cutie!

 

On Friday night we did a presentation for a positively terrific Los Angeles EO group. We were lucky enough to be able to take Noah and Kristi and Jonah and Aja along to the speech and their special “Romantic Valentine Dinner” that followed!  Everyone was so delighted to meet these great couples and Jonah and Noah added a lot to the discussion! They even sang “The Family Laws Song” from the back of the room. I was amazed that they could remember it!  In addition they had the closing remarks which was the best part! Among other things, Jonah validated what we had said about “The Repenting Bench”  helping to create siblings who are best friends and added how much he liked being in our family. Noah quoted the “Theodore Roosevelt Quote” which most of our kids have memorized to a T.  It was so appropriate since a lot of the Entreprenuers there have been in the “Arena” a long time and have sturggled to do great things for buisness in LA.

I’ll include the quote below, which so aptly applies to both Jonah and Aja who have been traveling through Europe for five months with five kids including putting their kids in Spanish schools and on Spanish swim teams and Noah who has just completed a Master’s Degree in buisness at USC along with his incredible, supportive wife Kristi who had their fifth child duing the second year of Noah’s program, which was hard enough without the fact that the baby needed emergency heart surgery at birth (and is thriving)!  

How we love these couples (and all our other children and thier spouses’) for their efforts to be “in the arena.” (To our children: whoever handed that person your camera to catch all of us together on that memorable night, will you please send it to me? I’ll slip in in here for great memory’s sake!)

Here is the quote:

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

On Saturday afternoon, we took off for the airport  where Rick headed for Las Vegas to speak at a Young Single Adult Confernce for 1400 YSAs and I headed back for Salt Lake to greet Julie and Eli, Zara and Dean who were flyiing in from NYC to stay with us for a couple of days and then leave Zara and Dean (3 and 9 months) for a well-deserved bonus vacation with Eli’s company to Costa Rica for 9 days! (They will  be joined by Noah and Kristi who work with the same company). 

If this week was soaking in grandchildren, I have a feeling that we will be drenched in the next!

Perth and Brisbane

It was a bit of a sweaty palm situation getting from Bali to Perth!  We arrived at 5:15 p.m. and needed to get through customs and out to our hosts who were anxiously awaiting to whisk us off to a six stake fireside (a large gethering on LDS members) which was to begin at 7 p.m. We had been worried about getting there in time ever since we first realized that it was going to be very tight. The flight from Bali was scheduled before the meeting was scheduled so we were crossing our fingers.  As luck would have it, our fight was a big early, we got through customs in short order and we had a few minutes to stop by our hotel, drop our things off and were at the church by 6:45!

It was a terrifc group of about 500 plus in the audience plus webcasts were being carried to four other stakes (like a dioses) to remote places in the area. Perth claims to be the most remote large city on earth and they seldom have vitistors from the US, so we had a lot of fun enjoying their company and enjoing their glowing faces and the lovely spirit that was there! 

These good people on each side of us, along with many others, did a lot of work to reach all the good people who came! It was such a fun evening!

Memories of World War I is still alive and well in all over Australia and New Zealnad. Many good soldiers were lost and it was gratifying to see miles of tree-lined streets with a commemorative plaque at the base of each tree with the names and dates of a fallen soldier. Literally hundreds of trees had been planted after the war, each with a maker to honor of all those young people who were lost! !

 

Our hotel was right on an aqua beach where we enjoyed some sun and watching the incredible feats of sail surfers and kite surfers in that beautfiul spot on earth! If you look carfully you’ll spot many of them below!

The next day we enjoyed Perth. We had seen this beautiful bell tower with the high spire below but had forgotten the histoy: twleve bells, cast in the early 1700s were give to the city of Perth many years ago. They had originally been used at St. Martin in the Fields in London. It is still the main attraction of a newly renovated central Perth. We were here about seven years ago and had actually been able to watch the bell ringers practicing which is quite an usual and fascinating sight!

The love locks that we’ve seen in Venice and Paris also prevailed in Perth. Lots of people have locked in thier love near that Bell Tower!

Ferries are always useful to get the big picture. Here is the view of the beautiful city of Perth from the water:

We also had a birds’ eye view of some beautiful homes!

Our host Phil Baker treated us to a walk through a fascinating museum, the highlight of which was the remians of a shipwreck. The arch you can see in the background and the bricks placed around the remains were all found in the belly of the boat!

 

John, another new friend, joined us at the museum and for some fish and chips with about 100 seaguls on the ocean front!

We enjoyed another stellar hotel and an evening with the Perth EO (Entrepreneuers Organization) before we left. The unique venue for the meeting was at an Audi car dealership  Although I neglected to take any pictures we had a delightful evening with a group of terrific, committed parents who were hungry for new ideas. Unfortunately, the only picture i got was one of the Hyatt Hotel where we stayed!

The next day we were off to Brisbane. It was a 4.5 hour flight from Perth (about the same as flying form LA to NYC). That evening we were blessed to do a 10-stake fireside. There were about 400 people in the live audeince and six stakes were webcast into the chapel. I have to say that it was a memorable evening as we enjoyed speaking about Raising Responsible Kids in an Irresponsible World. Their questions were insightful and thoughtful.

Afterward we were mobbed by young mothers who had met Saren and April when then visited Australia and did a Power of Moms retreat. Some saying that POM had changed their lives and others who also had been following Shawni’s blog and were wondering if Shawni was surviving Max’s departure!  What a small world!

This bright young mother traveled a long way to say hello. She had been helping us with the Joy School Lesson Plans and will be coordinating Joy Schools in Australia. Thanks Anita!

This great mom adores Saren!

And this couple drove 16 hours to get there!  (They had family there and were leaving for the US the next morning).

Our hosts, the Bakers took us on a tour of Brisbane the next morning. Brisbane is quite a sight from a ferry on the river!

 

We soaked in all the green and beautiful flowers we could, knowing that there was a serious snow storm back in Utah!

Above is a Napalese pagoda left over from a Wolrd’s Fair in Brisbane in 1988. And below was our nightime view of this beautiful city and our Mormon Temple right in the middle of the city.

 

On our last night in Australia, we spoke at The Australian Family Association. A gourmet dinner was served to about 80 pople who are dedicated to preserving the place of the family in the Australia which is quickly being disrupted as it is in all parts of the world! We discussed The Turning and had so many good questions. Good people working on a great cause!

We sat next to a Member of Parliament and his wife who have seven children and were obviously terrific parents! The Dinner organizers did a superb job!

We have had a magnificent month in Australia and Bali but I have to admit tht we were glad to get on that long 14 hour flight across the ocean to Los Angeles. During the two hour lay-over we did a radio show for BYU Radio, which we usually do every Saturday morning but had missed all month, and then flew on home to Salt Lake. We missed our family and were so happy to see our grandchildren and their  parents…and even the ice and snow!