Lily Love's 6th Birthday!

Greg had a borrower to see in Jackson on the day of Lily's birthday, so I hopped in with him and we spent a great day together! Have I mentioned before how much I love being retired and able to travel with the love of my life? (Yes, I know, just a FEW times!) He finally decided after a little friendly persuasion from Matt and several others that a Smart Phone would be a good purchase to help keep him organized and more accessible.  He bought a Droid like Matt's which was a good idea because Matt was of infinite help in getting it set up with the apps he needed and teaching him how to use it. Curious person that I am, I wanted to learn how it works so we spent our travel time with me getting acquainted with his new toy! I must say, I like it! We had breakfast in Jackson, saw his customer, used the Droid's GPS to find the County Court House (so very nice!), and then headed to Logan by way of Freedom, Tin Cup Pass, and Soda Springs arriving in Logan earlier than we expected. Oh, we love these little Allen kids so much! I could just kiss their cheeks off! Cannon always gives me such big loves and kisses and they all make us feel so welcome! Our little Lily girl is such an individual and so comfortable in her own skin! She asked for cheese pizza for her birthday dinner which is not that unusual, but she also wanted a birthday cake that looked like a cheese pizza! Julie did a great job even putting it on the pizza stone and Stanton cut it with the pizza cutter. She was completely overjoyed with it and with the fun gifts she received...most fun of all...a beautiful blue bike! Happy Birthday, Lily Love!

Have you ever seen such an adorable birthday Lily?

                            Love the puppet theater and Brig's show for us!

                     Miss Chloe with Grandpa! Love the look on Chloe's face!

     Lily was just this excited over everything she opened that night! That's just Lily!
     She makes you feel so good!

  

Cutest little pizza cake face ever!

                                                                       

Non-Stop Energy!

At my request, Julie met me in McCammon on Thursday so Grandpa and I could have a little time with Chloe and Lily. Please, girls, can't you share some of that energy?!!!! We had so much fun with them from Thursday until Saturday when I delivered them safely to their Mom at Amy's wedding shower! I'm sure that any who are grandparents out there will identify with that "safely" sentiment. It is such a big responsibility to keep these precious little visitors well and whole while they are with us without also being too overprotective and not letting them be kids! You will see from some of the following pictures, that we held our breath but trusted that they would be okay. (I love morning prayers begging for safety!) We went to Grandpa's office to say "hello" after returning from McCammon after which he met us at Rupe's for lunch! For some reason, there is something about Rupe's Drive-In that all the grandkids think is top-notch fun!

Other happenings over the three days:
1. Trip to the library
2. Fun at a cute little bead store called "Timely Chunks" so the girls could create their very own bracelets!
3. Time at the park with Kathy Murray, Marcus, and Grandma
4. Swimming, climbing trees, and catching bugs in the backyard
5. Snuggles and movie with Grandma and Grandpa
6. Picking peas in the garden

What a joy to have these precious little girls with us for a couple of days! We wish they lived closer but are so thankful for each time we get to see them!

Can I Run Slowly?

Monday, Sept. 21st, I went down to Julie's to watch the kids while Lily happily flitted off to have tonsil/adenoid surgery! I didn't get to see her before Julie left but apparently she was ecstatic at the prospects of getting those tonsils out! That is our little Lily Love--just a bright outlook on life in general! While waiting for Julie to call, it was fun to see Chloe off to school. She looks so grown-up slipping on her little backpack and bouncing out the door, looking both ways before she crosses the street. The school is a hop, skip, and jump away, across the street and through the field. Cannon was just happy to play with Brig and me until his nap and then Brig and I had quiet time and played Mr. Potato Head and read books.

We are glad that things went smoothly and that Lily is through the worst of the pain. She was quite pale as the pictures show and was content to lay and watch TV and wanted to follow doctor's orders exactly! Once, however, she came out and asked if she could "run slowly" (as opposed to "walking slowly" which she must have been advised to do). Julie asked her for a demonstration. I wish I had a little video of it! Very cute. That's all there is to it, just cute!

Grandma and Grandpa love you, Lily!

What we Love About Chloe and Lily!

Thank you, Julie and Stanton, for trusting your sweet little Chloe and Lily to our care during your ordeal with Brigham. We grew very attached to them. I won't pretend it was easy, because it wasn't! But nothing worthwhile is easy, now is it?

Things we love about Chloe in no particular order:

1. Her sensitivity to what was happening to Brigham and an interest in seeing all the pictures and videos.
2. Her attachment to her mom and dad and the desire to watch their wedding video every Sunday before church.
   
3. Her beautiful dimpled smile and twinkling eyes!
4. Her love of being read to and the ability to figure out the ending of a book at the beginning!
5. Her desire to be a peacemaker even though that desire did not always win over.
   
6. Her love of the bathtub!
7. Her head-strong personality which when channeled is an amazing force for good!
8. Her teaching me to stop and really listen to what she is saying!
9. Her awareness of nature...the robins for instance.
10. Her preference for the princess movie "Pocahontas" when I told her Pocahontas was a real person!
11. Her social awareness.
12. She is a great sleeper!
13. She knows exactly how she wants her hair done each day and will tell you!
    
14. In many ways she is old beyond her years. Sometimes very profound things come out of her mouth, like when she saw her mom after three weeks and saying "Mom, it is so good to see you again...No, it is so good to TOUCH you again." (She had seen her on web am several times.)
15. She gives the best squeezes and loves when in the mood.
16. Her sweetness in volunteering to me, "Grandma, I am really going to miss you." And then recounting all of the fun things we did while she was here.
17. She is an amazing little athlete! The girl can kick a soccer ball around rarely missing and getting it to go just where she wants it!
    
18. She loves all kinds of sports and is not a bit intimidated to try anything new.
19. She is a FISH in the water and loves to try to dive in the deep end or just cannonball off the edge. Thank goodness for great water wings!
20. She is great at memorizing books and songs.
21. She loves (and knows) the Brite CD's and loves to dance to them.
22. Chloe loves to figure out a moral to every movie she watches.
23. Her forced laugh when something really tickles her.
24. Her amazing agility with the computer mouse and playing the online games in the Friend on the Church website...amazing watching her do the puzzles and matching games particularly!
    

Things we love about Lily in no particular order:

1. She looks as much like Stanton and Chloe looks like Julie.
2. Her darling sense of humor and the hilarious things that pop out of her mouth!
3. Love to watch her ride the bike or her scooter! No fear!
4. The sound of her little footsteps coming up the stairs first thing in the morning.
5. She always wakes up happy and ready to be snuggled! (Grandpa's time with her!)
6. She is very head strong. That will be a good thing someday as she learns to control it.
7. She loves to dance.
8. She especially loves to sing and can memorize on a dime!
9. She sings right on pitch!
10. Lily is dramatic!
11. She loves to look at herself in the mirror. (Doesn't every child?)
12. Her manners. When you ask her to do something she says, "No thank you!" Hilarious! I quickly learned not to ask!
13. The lilt in her voice!
14. Her ability to quickly forgive.
15. Her love of "panpakes".
16. Her ability to tell me what color her day of the week panties were no matter what the day. I had no need to look or second guess! She had them down cold. (So did Chloe for that matter.)
17. Her adorable smile and laugh.
18. No fear performing!
19. Her adaptability.
20. Her love of books.
21. Her love of ALL of the princess movies on my DVD. The girl LOVES PRINCESS MOVIES!
22. She loves to dress up!
23. She got just as much joy out of watching Chloe succeed at the online games as if she were playing them herself. This was one time when she was okay just to watch and they got along famously!

We love you, Chloe and Lily, and will always treasure the time we had with you here at Grandma and Grandpa's.

When We're Helping and Playing, We're Happy!

Lily cleaning the mirror (and admiring herself!)

Chloe doing a great job on the windows!

Chloe loves all of Grandma's bunnies!

The bear Lily has adopted!

Chloe was SO excited to get another robin picture this morning!

Playing Disney figures

Helping Grandma change the sheets

Watching a movie with Grandpa!

Fun in the Sun and More!

Playing Poly Pockets on the 4th of July for hours and hours!

Before church on Sunday

Chloe loves the robins in our yard and we tried for a long time to get a picture. Finally!!!!

Dancing to "Cleanliness" Brite music CD with Marcus

Zooming down the slide together!

Running down the hill at Jensen Grove

Chloe and Lily got to play with this dog at Grandpa's customer's home in Rigby.
The dog followed them everywhere.
He followed them into the backyard where they played on the swingset.
It's fun to go with Grandpa!

This is where we played in the backyard while waiting for Grandpa!

Here are some more pictures of fun times with Chloe and Lily. The little boy in some of the pictures in Kathy and Ron Murray's grandson, Marcus (Kelly Murray's son). Enjoy, Julie and Stanton. The girls are wonderful and we are enjoying our once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have them with us for such a long time.