Birthday Boy Shout Outs For June

June is bustin' out all over 
(sorry, I couldn't resist - 
I think I say this every year in June!)

with BIRTHDAY Shout Outs

for four special boys!

Samuel Gabe has the knack of bringing zest 
into whatever he is doing - 
his cute spark makes life more fun!
His singing voice is beautiful and he can draw - 
he doesn't know what great talent he has!
He loves to talk to Grandpa Roger about airplanes!
Sam has a kind, tender heart 
and he adores his baby sister, Claire. 

Luke LeGrande, is
AKA Woody, Power Ranger, Peter Pan, Jedi,
Captain America, football player, Shepherd (in the Nativity),
and most recently, policeman, pilot
(which tickles Grandpa Roger),
and future missionary.
He tends to be the good guys.
Ever since he and his brother were toddlers, they have been dressing up in costumes - 
and wearing them all day long, 
even when it is 110 degrees outside!
They don't pretend they are these characters - 
they are each of them, one at a time!
Luke  ALWAYS has a huge smile on his face!
He is good at sports, Legos and putting together model airplanes, 
is tender-hearted, gives great cuddles
and Grandpa Roger and Grandma Pam adore him!

Maxwell Roger is,

AKA Buzz Lightyear, Power Ranger, Iron Man,

 football player, Captain Hook, 

Joseph of Nazereth(with a big black beard), pilot and Darth Vader.

Max tends to be the bad guy in his characters.

but definitely not in real life!

He is usually the first one to run up to Grandma and Grandpa 

when we come visit and smother us in hugs and kisses.

Max ALWAYS has a smile on his face, 

is a good artist, loves Legos, 

putting together model airplanes and he LOVES trains and cuddling those he loves. 

We adore this big teddy bear! 

Our firstborn, Rick, set the mold of character
 for each of our next four children.
He has always been straight-forward and honest,
tender-hearted and non-judgemental.
He is excellent at everything he does,
having a very bright mind and a knack for many sports.
He lives what he considers his most important roles, 
as husband and father, even surpassing 
this manner of excellence.
Roger and I love this boy dearly!

Blake has been a joy and a genuine blessing

in our Stratford immediate and extended family.

He has the cutest little personality!

He has learned so many songs, words, and games,

and if you catch him at the right moment,

he will recite them to you 

with a happy little grin on his face.

We love our darling Blakey! 

So there you have another month of Stratford birthdays!

Josh Is Made An Elder

A Priesthood Ordination, S'More Time, Hives And A Fat Lip And A Quick Trip To Logan

On Sunday, June 1, Josh was ordained an Elder 

in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

We were pleased that it worked out to be the same weekend 

as his HS Graduation, though we would have made 

a special trip to be there for this important ordination.

Josh is such a mature, outstanding young man 

and we are so very proud of him and the example he has set 

for all of our grandkids to follow.

They were able to have the ordination performed at their home.

 His dad set him apart . . .

. . . with Grandpa Roger in the circle . .  .

. . . and Uncle Jeff (Mindy and the kids came, too), 
 the Stake High Council Representative to Rick's ward
and a counselor in the Elder's Quorem Presidency were there, too.

Josh's parents are so proud of him and already are thinking ahead 

to when he will be at BYU and already missing him.

As our oldest grandkid,

Josh has always been special to Grandma Pam and Grandpa Roger.

Okay, so here's the rest of the story of the pics.

We forgot to take them right after,
the Stake High Council representative to Rick's ward 
and the ward Elder's Quorem Counselor had left,

and most everyone had changed into their comfy clothes.

"Oops, we have to get pics," 

so back downstairs went the boys and . . . 

We have a bit of a mish-mash in attire,

but we commemorated the occasion with pics!

Stones -fist bump for my bro!

After a delicious hamburger cook-out, 

we roasted marshmallows around their fire pit

and we made yummy s'mores.

Per-fection!

We had made plans with Grandma Stratford 
to pick her up on Monday morning, 
then drive to Logan to put flowers 
on my mom and my dads graves, 
then drive out to the cemetery 

in West Weber to visit Roger's dad's and brother's graves.

Roger woke up with hives all over his body

and a big, swollen lip!
We guess it was a side effect of the shingles.

I said, "Maybe we had better drive home 

and make an appointment with your doctor right now."

He said that he didn't feel that bad 
and he still wanted to go to Logan,

(I talked about his fortitude in my last post),

so off we went!

We texted this pic to Dr. Ryan and Dr. Tom,

Roger took some Benadryl,

and Tom called in a prescription that we 

picked up when we got back from Logan.

It was a gorgeous day in Logan,

and the cemetery still had many flowers on the graves 

from the past Memorial Day.

We got some pretty, pink ones for Mom (her favorite color),

and these lovely violets for Dad.

We had pizza at Fredrico's (our college hang-out),

and no trip to Logan would be complete 

without having Aggie ice cream.

Grandma just recently cleaned Grandpa's headstone.

She always has taken such good care of Grandpa.

Monday night, after Rick's family's FHE, 

these three generations were busy on their laptop computers -

 note, Rick has his iPhone in his hand, too.

Now that's a pictorial comment on today, 

if I've ever seen one!

Oh, and, at the same time, Blake was busy at work on the iPad!

When we got up Tuesday morning,

Roger's hives were much better.

We stopped by Mindy's and took her and the kids to lunch

before we headed home to St. George.

It was a whirlwind couple of weeks,

adding two high school graduates and a new Elder

to our grand kids' collective list of accomplishments -

big milestones in their blessed lives.
They each certainly bless ours!

Heroes

Our little grandson, Blake, recently had surgery on his hip.

As is sometimes a condition with Downs, 

his hip sockets are loose, 

and his left hip needed to be tightened up.

His leg was sometimes pulling out from the socket.

This requires six weeks in a body cast,

then another surgery to remove that cast

and then put him in another one. 

Blake has been walking and running around,

indoors and out, for sometime now, 

so his family looked forward to all of this 

with fearful apprehension.

Would he freak out with the confinement, 

not being able to get down and play/walk/run,

and not understand why?

The great news is, 

Blake is taking it like a champ!

His Primary class sent over this signed banner - 

Rick and Jodie's ward love Blakey!

Each member of Blake's family spends hours 

playing hand games with Blake, 

playing catch with different balls, 

and singing and reading to him.

But the real truth be told,

his VERY FAVORITE THING 

is the iPad!

He knows how to navigate games and sites,

and his favorites are Mickey's Clubhouse and Daniel Tiger.

A hero is a man/woman who is 

admired for his/her courage and noble qualities.

This woman (Blake's mom) is hero personified.

She lifts and carries this little guy (50 lbs. worth)

constantly, cares for him in every way

and does it all with a big smile on her face 

and in her voice.

She, along with everyone in the family,

adores Blake!

And, speaking of heroes, here is another one, in my book.

My husband came down with shingles 

on the day before we left for Mesa 

for Syd's high school graduation.

On the 7 1/2 hour drive from St. George,

he kept grabbing his right ear, 

each time he had a shooting pain in his head.

He had a large, swollen gland behind his ear,

and the right side of his head was very sore to the touch.

Our doctor son and doctor son-in-law 

diagnosed him a couple of days after we got to Mesa, 

when he started breaking out with painful sores.

He took ibuprofen and Tylenol

and just kept going, not missing one thing,

including going golfing 

with his son, son-in-law and grandsons.

His stamina and mind-over-matter never fail to astound me!

He still has pain, and we hope it will eventually go away,

but he has not missed any scheduled event

or a day of work yet!

There are other reasons why I consider my husband a hero,

but this is just the latest one!

And here is another hero - our son, Rick.

He also spends countless time with Blake,

who absolutely adores him!

And, he is a wonderful father of his children

and the father of his ward as their bishop.

Roger and I had fun selecting some gourmet cheeses, 

meats, Tony Caputo pepper shooters and pickly goodies 

and making a basket for him for his birthday.

I think, the older we get,

the more we fully appreciate the heroic qualities of those we love,

and there are others I love who have heroic qualities, 
but these are the latest.

 I just wanted to share.

Mesa Memorial Day

Maddy's Birthday Party, A Celebration Dinner For Ryan's Birthday/Syd's Graduation and Memorial Day at the Youngs

I wanted to keep our two grandkid high school graduations 

back-to-back in my blog,

so, hang on, 

we're traveling in the Blogosphere (the what?)

back to Mesa!

Our Maddy hit the double-digits 

with her 10th birthday.

Stacy, Maddy and I went shopping,

and Roger went with Ryan and Emily, looking for new space 

for Ryan's doctor's office - they have outgrown where he is.

Stacy, Maddy and I had lunch at Zinburger.

Maddy got a free birthday milk shake!

That evening, her friends started arriving for her birthday party.

A family in their ward owns a nail salon,

so all of the little girls were treated to a fancy pedicure.

Grandma Pam got to go to the party, too!

Wow, aren't those toes be-u-ti-ful!

Then it was Maddy's favorite, Panda Express, for dinner.

Back to the house, Maddy opened up her presents.

Oh, to be ten-years-old again!

Next day, I got to go to lunch at a yummy French cafe,

 then shopping again with this fun group!

Tom took the adults to dinner at Pita Jungle.

I think I'll dream of my chicken shawarma!

Sunday we went to church with the Youngs,

and Roger and I went in the Primary to watch darling Stacy, 

who is Primary President, interact with the kids.  

She is so cute with them, and the Primary room is fixed up 

visually so welcoming and appealing. 

A big bonus was seeing Brother Johnson lead the kids in the music.  

I have talked about him before; 

he is the MASTER Primary Chorister!

When we got home from church, we had to capture

a few shots with Max and Luke.

Tom and Stacy have the missionaries over 
a couple of times a week, and Luke and one of the elders 
have formed a special friendship.

He gave Luke a Future Missionary badge,

and he not only wears it unfailingly to church, 

but whenever the family cleans up to go somewhere;

he runs up to his room and puts on his white shirt and tie 

and the little badge.  

Stacy planned a wonderful feast/celebratory dinner 

for the graduate and for her brother, Ryan's, upcoming birthday.

We didn't think to take a pic until we were finished eating, 
and we should have gotten pics of the kids, 
all set up in The Diner.

We had a delicious grilled salmon and chicken dinner.

Emily brought a homemade Key lime pie, 

Ryan's favorite, for his birthday.

We are so proud of our hard-working, wonderful son!

Next day, Memorial Day,

Roger went golfing with Ryan, Pete, Tom and Jake.

They had to break into two foursomes,

and Roger golfed with Ryan and Pete,

and Ryan snapped this pic.

Roger loves to golf with his sons and grandsons!

We didn't take any more pics, but we had a fun hamburger 

and hot dog cookout in Stacy's backyard with all of the Youngs 

and Ryan's family, and they swam in their pool 

and had a great time!

Stacy took these pics as we were leaving Tuesday morning.

We always have such a grand time when we visit 

our two wonderful families in Mesa - 

they always make us feel so very welcome and loved!