It's Already the End of November?!!!

Yikes! It is November 29th today! 
We had a wonderful time over the last couple of weeks since I last blogged. We had a great time at the Cattle Convention and an even better time in Jackson if only for two days.  We ended up meeting Lori, Brad and family and the Tribes in the afternoon at Bubba's for a late lunch/early dinner and then took Todd shopping that afternoon for his 13th birthday. I can't tell you what a thrill it was to have all the kids come running when they saw us and especially for Todd to come unprompted to take my arm to help Grandpa help me  across the street, up the stairs and into Bubba's. And that's the way it was the whole time we were together. He was always there to help me in and out of the truck (if Grandpa didn't beat him!), take our belongings up and down the condo stairs and to help me on the slick steps. What a wonderful young man he is and how we love him! We told him he could go look for anything he wanted for this special birthday and we were surprised that he chose to go to Jack Dennis and look for some additional camping equipment for his scout outings. He ended up purchasing a fancy water bladder with pockets to hold other necessities on day hikes and a pretty high-tech compass. Pretty great choices for a 13-yr-old boy, I would say. Thank you, Todd, and we love you so much! We spent Wednesday evening visiting with Brad and Lori at our condo and then joining the whole group at Brad and Lori's condo. It was so fun to discuss the gospel and the handbook with them. Brad was recently ordained and set apart as Bishop of their ward in Rupert. We know he will do a great job because he is not afraid to take the sometimes very painful steps necessary to depart from generation-old traditions which are not in keeping with church policy. He has that beautiful combination of a great love for the members of the ward and a great love for doing things the Lord's way realizing that there are tremendous blessings that result from strict obedience. He is a good man and Lori will be a tremendous support to him.
We packed up Friday morning to come home (in a big snowstorm) and were so grateful we had decided to bring the truck. It took us a long time to get home but we made it safely thanks to my husband's driving skills. But he freely admits he detests driving on bad roads and in nasty conditions and will avoid it at every cost! We are not as young as we used to be and are certainly more cautious!

Anyway, we unpacked and headed to Brigham City to see Mom Rose in her new "home". We were surprised and VERY HAPPY to see how well she is doing and the progress she has made in just the last few days. She is capable of walking even without a walker, but she is supposed to use it! Just ask Grandpa! She recognized us and seems to be regaining at least some of her memory. The hallucinations and paranoia are gone, truly gone! We know that she was having panic attacks because she was unable to breath properly and the medicine prescribed to her for those attacks was causing her mental anguish. I just shudder to think what she has been through but am ever more grateful for those caregivers who realized she had a problem and got to the bottom of it. We have our dear Mom Rose back. Yes, she still has a form of dementia and gets very confused, but she is pleasant and happy most of the time and realizes that she is getting good care. Our hope is that if it is Heavenly Father's will that she can again return to Park Valley, her home. But that certainly remains to be seen.

I love this picture!

After a good long visit with Mom and Dad and some of the rest of the family, we headed to Tremonton for Natalie's reception. It was great to see the Jex family again! They will always be dear friends! Natalie looks so happy! It was a dicey drive home as far as Malad and then not too bad from there.
Saturday was Kate's ballet! What a beautiful little ballerina she is! The Hansel and Gretel ballet was so professional...amazing sets and gorgeous costumes! Kate was a town's girl and a ghost this year. I'll post the pictures I was able to get. We love this little girl so much...Katie Bug with her beautiful red hair and sweet, caring personality...Katie with her love for stuffed animals and dolls, Polly Pockets and Littlest Pet Shop...a little "red-bird"  with a twinkle in her eye and a smile that melts our hearts...a beauty with a talent and definite love for ballet!

Isn't she lovely?

Tangled Sleepover Part Deux

After returning from Rupes, we set up sleeping bags in the family room downstairs and prepared to watch my personal favorite animated movie of all time ("Tangled", of course) from start to finish! Grandpa and I laughed so hard at Rupe's because the girls were quoting lines from it with accents and all, especially Chloe, who brought back memories of her Mom doing the same! I'm sure all that knew her in high school and beyond remember that she was a master at popping off movie lines one after another and with the most perfect accents and inflections! Anyway, it was hilarious listening to Chloe do it with the same polish! It was a fun moment with the girls which made it obvious that this movie holds a special place in all of their hearts! Grandpa had meetings so the girls and I enjoyed every minute of the movie with only 1 break in the middle to put together our traditional "fruit kabobs" for snack time! We also finished tying the quilt we started last Thanksgiving to take to the Bingham Crisis Center (Women's Shelter in Blackfoot) See pics below! All five girls were amazing little square knot tie-ers and all stuck with it until it was finished!

After the movie we came upstairs and watched videos from China because the girls were missing their Rose cousins who live in Shenzen, China right now! Their favorite is of Luke, Emma, and Gavin riding these motorized animals around a big plaza area! I am not kidding, we all laughed so hard we about fell on the floor! Grandpa had returned about then and had to come and see what all the commotion was about! And he, too, joined in the raucousness! Want to join in the laughter...see the following link: You'll wonder for awhile what is so funny, but don't give up! Keep watching! Listening to Matt and Sara is half the fun but then watch Gavin as he really gets confident! Yes, yes, you have to watch to the end! http://www.onetruemedia.com/share_view_player?p=ed0d98044a5952a03121e9. The girls wanted to watch it over and over...I am serious! Then they requested to watch all of the Allen Family Christmas Videos of the last three years which we also LOVED and watched twice each! Here is the link to those:  http://allenfamilyupdate.blogspot.com/search/label/Christmas%20Movie.  I predict all of the Allen kids will have many acting opportunities in this life...what do you think?  Anyway, just a fun and laughter-filled time with our little girls staying up waaaayyyyyyy late!  However, once it was time for bed, we read scriptures with Grandpa and had family prayer and hit the hay! All were asleep within about 1/2 hour which I thought was pretty miraculous!

The next morning we awakened and while I fixed breakfast Kate and Morgan played Legos completing their work of art shown below, while Jordyn, Chloe, and Lily danced and played the piano. Chloe turned on the Demo on my electronic piano and proceeded to look like she was playing every note while the other two showed their stuff! Then they all helped to set the table for our traditional manners breakfast at which time we use the chargers, china, cloth napkins, napkin rings, etc. and TRY to use our best table manners. It doesn't always work, (you know, the occasional toots and burps followed by laughter and then, the "okay, that wasn't mannerly...excuse me!") but we have a good time trying! We had crepes this year with fresh strawberries and whipped cream, syrup, jam, powdered sugar, etc. as well as sausage, bacon, juice and chocolate milk. Yum, yum!!!! 

Later that morning after cleaning up and getting ready for the day, they all wanted to play outside! They asked me for rakes and told me not to look outside while they did something! Jordyn wanted her own separate projects to do as there were not enough rakes and she proceeded to clean out our outdoor toybox (no minor feat!), clean up the sandpile and sweep the porch. I was in the house doing a few things when I heard singing from the back yard and just couldn't help myself! I had to videotape out the window of my bedroom and out the backdoor. I'll include a video if I can make One True Media work. It was too cute not to share, so wish me luck! They all "surprised" me with raking and filling two boxes which they decorated themselves with raked-up blossoms that have fallen from our Little Leaf Linden tree...the favorite climbing tree in the back-yard! Such sweet little people...they never cease to amaze me with their goodness!  Thanks girls for doing such sweet and helpful things for Grandma! We then had lunch and took the finished quilt down to the women's shelter where they welcomed us with open arms and thanked the girls for all their hard work! You will make a sad child's day much happier through your unselfishness! Thanks, Julie, for driving all the way to Blackfoot to pick up your girls, and to Cindy and Lori for the driving they did as well to allow this to happen. You are all great parents and can know that you are raising very find young ladies! Thanks again for sharing them with us!

 Forgot to mention a little "makeover" party...just these two!

 Lovin' the movie!

 Use your creativity!

 Yummy fruit kabobs!

 You can't not dance to the music at the end of Tangled!

 boogyin' to the music!

 My princesses at our manners breakfast!

 A lego house with huge add-on garage, etc.! This photo does not do justice!

 It will never look this neat again! Thanks, Jords

 Love you, Grandma! Love you, too, girls!

 Picking vegetables from the garden

 A little swim fun

With the staff at the Women's Shelter who were so thrilled with their sweet donation!

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)!