He's a Classic! (Grandpa Rose's 80th Birthday Party)

I am backtracking and catching up! And I just can't forget to honor our sweet and funny Grandpa Gary Rose on the occasion of the celebration of birthday #80! We met at Christie and Scott's...the perfect gathering place for such family parties...and we had a ball! As Grandpa has a real propensity for Coke, it was a perfect theme to build the party around. The place cards read:  "Grandpa--a Classic for 80 years! You're the real thing!"  On the back, it read "Never Artificial" and  "No sweetener added since 1930" and lastly, "America's best selling GRANDPA for over 80 years".  Oh, and "100% Love and Support". After a wonderful dinner of beef, corn, fruit, green salad, and desserts, each family gave 16 reasons why Grandpa Rose is a Classic and, of course, 16 times 5 families is 80 reasons! We thought there would be many duplicates, but surprisingly not as many as we anticipated! Some I remember off the top of my head were:

• A true cowboy!
• Never been wrong in his life!
• Calls all his kids (including inlaws), grandkids, and great-grandkids on their birthdays!
• Makes each one feel so special!
• Sings goofy birthday songs 
• Silly dance moves especially when he used to wear jumpsuits!
• He's all about family!
• Loves the gospel
• Loves Coke and black licorice
• Loves Grandma and takes great care of her!
• Has a long rope and a fast horse (so you had better take good care of my granddaughter!)

Whenever we get together with the Rose family, it is "A Great Time Is Had By All" and this was no exception! I loved the cake Christie had someone make for Grandpa! It was amazing and the picture does not do it justice. Thanks to all who worked so hard to put this celebration of a great life together!

This picture was supposed to be first!  Oh well, last the best of all the game!

Happy 80th, Grandpa Rose! You truly are A CLASSIC!
and we love you with all our hearts!

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!

Grandma Dorothy Rose's 80th Birthday Celebration

Yesterday, November 28th we all met in Logan at the Coppermill Restaurant to celebrate Grandma Rose's upcoming 80th birthday. This time, I remembered to take pictures and though I am sure I have missed someone inadvertently, I truly did my best! This was such a memorable day. I am not sure of the total number of Grandma and Grandpa Rose's posterity, but the ONLY ones that were missing were Matt and Sara and their kids who, of course, were unable to attend as they live in Florida and are coming for the big Rose Family Christmas celebration! I think it is pretty amazing that everyone else was there...that the rest live close enough that they could be there with a little effort and that they all made the effort. It meant the world to Grandma Rose. She was just beaming the whole afternoon! Matt wrote a beautiful letter which Greg read so she knew that every one of her posterity was either there in person or in spirit!
We met at 2:30, visited, and had a delicious dinner of roast beef, paprika chicken, cheesy potatoes, pasta salad, fruit salad, green salad, rolls, and dessert. Brent served as master of ceremonies and gave each of Grandma's five children the opportunity to share a memory of something that their mother taught them or did for them. Sheri, Christie, Brent, Nancy and then Greg each took a little time to pay tribute to their wonderful mother who crocheted afghans, made beautiful quilts, clothing, doll clothing, taught them how to work, nurtured them, prayed for them, and taught them to love the hymns of the church and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Each was so personal and heart-felt. Greg wrote his tribute inside a hymnbook he bought for her. He has told me for 38 years off and on about listening to his mom sing alto in church and wanting so much to learn to sing a part like she did. He learned to do that and also felt the truthfulness of the hymn messages as they sang them together each week. He credits much of his testimony to the hymns of Zion that he learned to love sitting and singing by his mom at church ... and also to her faithful attendance in spite of many odds that could have kept her away. His last phrase of tribute to her was: "Like the sons of Helaman.. 'I never doubted my mother knew it'"! I loved that Greg also paid tribute to his Dad for taking such good care of Mom and saving her life on more than one occasion making it possible for her still to be with us to celebrate such a milestone as 80 years of life! I am very sure that none of the kids ever thought their mother would still be here at 80 as she has endured many years of very severe health issues. Dad deserved that little tribute. He loves Mom so much and has plead with the Lord to spare her life so many, many times! His prayers and those of the rest of the family have been heard and answered in the way we selfishly hoped. She is such a blessing to all of us, to our children, and to our grandchildren. We enjoyed listening to both Mom and Dad speak to us all for a few minutes after which we took group pictures of them with their 5 children, them with their children and spouses, them with all their grandchildren, and one with them and all their great-grandchildren. We then visited some more and said our good-byes. How grateful we are that she has been spared so that our children and grandchildren can feel of her spirit and grow up with memories of this wonderful, courageous, and faithful woman! We love you, Mom (Grandma Rose)!