It's Great to be 8!

Pictures of Kate on General Conference Weekend

Isn't she a doll?

A beautiful girl in a beautiful dress in front of a beautiful painting!

Riding Trax - a favorite!

"Open the Gates of the Temple!"

A picture of the Salt Lake Temple from this vantage point is a tradition now!

She loves the story of John Rowe Moyle who carved "Holiness to the Lord
The House of the Lord" (etc.)
on the temple at GREAT sacrifice so she took a close-up picture of it.

We had a great visit with three of the sister missionaries on temple square!
They challenged HER to go on a mission!

The Easter bunny brought her a little replica of himself. She loved teasing Grandpa with her little furry "Niblet"!

Little "Katie Bug" as we have always called her is our newest little 8-year-old grandchild and with that milestone birthday comes the opportunity to attend General Conference with Grandma and Grandpa. We thank Lori and Brad for sharing her with us for the weekend. She was an angel and we had a most wonderful time with her. She was completely enthralled and in awe of the Conference Center and wanted to see it all before Conference started. We, of course, did not have time to tour all of it, but thanks to Grandpa saving seats, we saw quite a bit. You will see pictures of her at several of her favorite spots. We looked at all of the Arnold Frieberg Book of Mormon paintings on display there and without hesitation, Kate could tell me the story behind each one. It was impressive to say the least. For the sessions themselves we were blessed to have seats on the Plaza (first) level and only about 12 rows from the front and in the section left of the pulpit. She was thrilled to be so close and enjoyed counting the organ pipes as well as seeing President Monson and the 12 Apostles that near to us. She seemed to enjoy conference which was aided by the Conference packet her mom had prepared for her from lds.org.
Grandpa, Kate and I also spent some time in the brand new flagship Deseret Book directly south of Temple Square before he headed to the Priesthood Session. I think she may have a little claustrophia like her Grandpa because a little of that went a long way! It is an amazing store, however! But it was VERY crowded as you can imagine! During Priesthood Meeting, Kate and I spent time in the Joseph Smith Building even enjoying some yummy Chocolate Cinnamon Cake at the Garden Room. The Joseph Smith Statue, looking out at the temple from the 10th floor, and looking at the gorgeous chandelier from the mezzanine were some of her favorites there.
Adventures on the Plaza and Temple Square included the reflecting pool, enjoying the gorgeous spring flowers, the fountain south of the Church Office Building, visiting with three of the sister missionaries, and spending lots of time in the North Visitors Center where we visited the Christus statue, watched the Testaments movie, and enjoyed all the dioramas and interactive scripture story displays. She was a bundle of energy and just a delight.
Oh, another thing Kate thoroughly enjoyed during the weekend was eating two meals at Sizzler! We found out this little girl absolutely LOVES watermelon and chicken wings...but especially watermelon! She could have made a meal on just that!
Greg and I are so blessed to have this opportunity to attend Conference in Salt Lake and to take our little grandkids with us. We will enjoy this privilege as long as it is available to us and take as many of our little ones as we can.

Things we love about Kate in no particular order:

• beautiful red hair and a constant reminder to us of her mom as a little girl
  
• contagious smile and sweet attitude
  
• boundless energy
• love of good food - especially watermelon!
  
• love of stuffed animals
• love of the scriptures
• love of her parents
• love of her brothers
• her willingness to forgo one session of conference so we could go out and visit my brother, Craig.
• her complete honesty
• her sense of humor
• She'll still hold my hand
  
• her good attitude about a not so wonderful hotel room!
• She loves Grandma and Grandpa and lets us know it!

Love you tons, Kate! Thanks for spending special time with Grandma and Grandpa on Easter Sunday!

Loads of Goodies and Cousin Fun!

These pictures are just too cute not to share! Last Saturday, March 27, 2010, was our annual Rose Family Easter Egg Hunt. Though it is usually at our house, Julie and Stanton had offered their home this year so we could also attend a joint wedding shower for our niece, Chrystal Sandall, and Kelley Argyle, the fiance of our nephew, Mitch Sandall, that afternoon in Tremonton.

We missed Luke, Emma and Gavin, our little Florida kids, and Lori's Todd who was also not able to attend due to a scout function that day. But though not present, they are never forgotten as it is our long-standing tradition to dump the goodies all together after having been hunted and found, and divide the spoils evenly among ALL the grandkids! Grandpa saves his loose change all year and that also goes into the pot. When there were only a few grandchildren it used to go a long way...but among 16, not so much! Just all part of the fun and the kids just have a ball watching their sacks fill up with all kinds of goodies. You can't tell from the pictures, but the lawn and flower beds were absolutely loaded with eggs and treats.

Regan, now almost 12, and growing into a beautiful young woman decided she just wanted to help us stuff the eggs and divide the goodies. She was so much help I honestly don't know how we could have accomplished it all in such a short time without her. Thanks, Regs! Thanks to Julie for hosting and thanks to Cindy and Lori for making the supreme effort to gather all the kids and be there in good time that morning. We were blessed with a beautiful day for traveling and outdoor fun! It is a joy for us to see how much the kids all love to be together. It makes us very excited for our family reunion this summer at Lori and Brad's.

As I expressed to Cindy, I am grateful that we held the "hunt" the weekend before Easter so that our families can concentrate on the real "reason for the season" this weekend. I love that Easter Sunday falls on General Conference weekend this year. We are again attending Conference in Salt Lake at the Conference Center and are able to take our newest little 8-year-old granddaughter, Kate, with us. How fun that will be!

I remember several years ago when we were at Conference on Easter Sunday and we heard such beautiful messages on the Atonement. I am looking forward to that again. How grateful I am for my personal Savior, Jesus Christ, who suffered unbelievably for my thoughtless, selfish ways. How I want to show my appreciation to Him! All I can do is repent constantly and try to do better. I am so ashamed of my "natural man" ways of thinking, speaking, and acting...I am so thankful that His arms are "stretched out still"! He is so patient and loving and just wants us all to be obedient and take advantage of his great atoning sacrifice. I am so grateful that we recognize and appreciate his suffering and death, but that we CELEBRATE His Resurrection on Easter...that He lives again that we may also live again! What a great gift He has freely given us. My heart is full as I approach this weekend. We love you and wish all of you a very wonderful Easter weekend!