Our Oldest Grandson, Todd, Turns 12 - A Momentous Birthday!

How can 12 years ago seem like yesterday in so many ways? We remember so vividly the day our little Todd was born !  Never had we seen a more beautiful baby boy, and never have we seen (before or since) a baby with more dark hair! It was thick and came way down over his ears! Then, there were those sideburns...he looked like Elvis!  We all commented he was the first baby to need a haircut the day he was born! So adorable! And now 12 years later, it is such a thrill to see how this amazing little baby boy has grown into such a fine and handsome young man--ready and eager to receive the Aaronic Priesthood and take on those duties that Deacons are called on to do. We are excited to be with him for his ordination.  I did my part in giving him an opportunity to serve when the three kids came to spend a few days with us last March. I needed help cleaning up the yard and getting ready for spring and the kids very willingly came out and raked leaves, cleaned out flower beds, and took turns jumping in the big city garbage can to make room for more debris, etc. We had more fun that day! They also helped me clean the food storage room and put away several cases of canned goods. It was such fun having them here and I was totally impressed with their hard work and non-complaining attitudes!  I'm thinking it sounds like a good plan for this coming spring...don't you?

It has been fun over the years to see Todd's personality develop. He is so intelligent and articulate. He has the mind of an engineer and has always loved to build and create with Legos, Imaginext, and other such toys. He is a good student in school and tries to be kind to everyone. He has a great voice and has been a willing (well, most of the time) participant in many Rupert and Burley musical programs. He was in the chorus of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" with his sister, Kate, because Lori had the Narrator role and Brad was one of the brothers. They decided to make this a family project and though it was very time demanding, I think they all enjoyed it very much. Todd has played baseball, and golf and is an amazing swimmer! He is taking piano lessons and is heavily involved in scouting where he has been progressing steadily through the ranks. We are so happy he received his Faith in God award and will now be starting into the Duty to God program. We know he will be well-prepared to serve a mission because of his diligence in accomplishing these goals, but also because of the blessing he has of being raised in a gospel-oriented home where scriptures and prayer and gospel application is a natural part of each and every day. We love to watch the way he treats Kate and Jack. He is quite kind and patient and seems to love to play with them even though there is such an age difference.

On the afternoon of his birthday, we were able to arrive by about 3:30 and have some time to spend helping the kids with homework, playing games with them, visiting with Lori and Brad, attending Todd's first choir concert, then coming home for delicious Taco Soup and ice cream and watching Todd open his gift from us.  We gave him the "Why" book, the same gift we gave Regan for her 12th birthday.  We love you, buddy, and are so proud of you!  See you Sunday for the big day!

The Spirit of God Like a Fire...Part 2

It took me awhile to get back to writing about our trip to General Conference...hence the "part 2". Having Todd with us was a joy as we knew it would be. We played travel games on the way down and broke up the trip by stopping to eat midway down to Salt Lake. We stayed at the Hilton Airport and enjoyed Saturday morning conference in our room. The afternoon session we watched "live" in the balcony of the Conference Center where there is no bad seat. That building is still such an architectural amazement to me! Three levels of seating and not one support beam...and the acoustics are perfect! Do you think there might have been a little divine direction in those plans? We were so thrilled to hear of five new temples in planning stages and one of them in Brigham City! Who would have ever thought? And another temple in Florida...we were, of course, thrilled to hear that. We were so interested to hear Pres. Monson say that 83% of the members of the church live within 200 miles of a temple now and that percentage will just continue to increase over the years as more temples are planned and built. This was just another reminder to us that the temple IS at the center of all of our worship.

We ate dinner at JB's before Greg took off to the Priesthood session and then Todd and I thoroughly enjoyed each other, temple square, and the Joseph Smith Building during that time. We went to all of our usual "haunts" in the JS Building as the pictures indicate but really loved the statues in the foyer outside the Legacy Theater that one of the guides told us about. The much larger than life statue of Joseph Smith reading from James 1:5 is amazing. You can see the knitted ribbing in his socks and read the words in the bible. We just loved it. There was also a great statue of Joseph and Hyrum that I had not seen before. We enjoyed the reflecting pool and while there got a phone call from Sara telling us that Luke had something exciting to tell me. So Luke got on and told me about his catching two ground balls and tagging out the runners for two outs in a row in his ball game! That was so exciting! Thanks, Sara, for calling because those little achievements are so fun for us to hear about. We love to hear about all the things our little grandkids are up to!

Anyway, we then headed to temple square where we enjoyed the beautiful landscaping still very much in evidence, I might say! Todd noticed that they had already started stringing Christmas lights in some of the trees. We were lucky enough to get in toward the beginning of the film "Joseph Smith and the Restoration" showing at the North Visitors Center. I hadn't seen it for awhile and, of course, shed buckets of tears. That movie is such a testimony to me of the reality of the First Vision and the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ through Joseph Smith. Todd loved seeing it again and felt the spirit as we enjoyed it together. We took a picture by the Christus upstairs and then headed over to wait for Greg. Todd really noticed the protesters this time and asked more than once why they continue to stand there and shout when no one pays any attention to them. His grandpa told him that sadly, many of them are paid to be disruptive. We talked about the difference in the spirit felt from them and that which we felt during conference and listening to those who were singing hymns along the temple block...such a stark contrast!

Sunday morning we met Brad, his sister Michelle and her husband George at Denny's for breakfast at 7:15. We were so excited that he had been able to get three tickets for the Sunday morning session and we were all able to sit together. It was a joy to have him there with us and it was an extra bonus for Todd! As Greg had a business conference Monday and Tuesday after Conference, it worked out well because Brad was able to take Todd on home and we were able to get checked into Little America in time to watch the Saturday afternoon session.

Some things we love about Todd:

1. His manners - he opened every hotel, store and car door for me all weekend! What a little gentleman! (Lori and Brad, thank-you for teaching him these important courtesies!). We were duly impressed!
   
2. His desire to please and obey. His mom had told him not to be an "ipodaholic" while he was with us and he made sure he was not. I'm sure that being with a couple of old fogies made it tempting to use it much more often than he did, but he resisted!
   
3. His intelligence and interest in all kinds of things. His understanding of technology leaves Grandpa and me behind in the dust!
4. His desire to look sharp and like a missionary while at Conference. We and he loved his new suit, tie, and belt! Even though it was probably not too comfortable to stay in his dress clothes until 8:30 at night, he did so willingly and turned many a head in the process.
5. His love of school and desire to excel. We hope he always cares about his grades as he does now!
6. His love of scouting and desire to continue to progress. It is hard to believe he will soon be an 11-year-old scout!
   
7. His love of music. We love that he loves many different kinds of music and also wants to play the piano.
   
8. That he will try most any good thing at least once.
9. He is a GREAT swimmer!
   
10. Todd loves his family so much and cares about each one of them. We love to see him play with Kate and Jack and be perfectly happy doing so. He is very proud of his Mom and Dad and his siblings.
11. We were proud that he paid such good attention to the speakers during Conference. Even he commented that the time went very, very fast because he really tried to listen and learn.
12. He is who he is and is comfortable in his own skin.
    

Todd, you will always be a leader for good if you remember who you really are! Don't let anyone change you because we love you just the way you are! Thanks for spending time with Grandma and Grandpa!

The Spirit of God Like a Fire ...

Buds!

These ducks crossed the road single file almost in the cross walk as
Todd and I were driving towards our hotel Saturday morning. We
just couldn't get stopped and the camera out in time to catch them!
It was hilarious!

Watching the Saturday morning session

Taking notes in his Conference Journal

In the Conference Center plenty early (Grandpa's famous "lead time") for
the Saturday afternoon session

See? I'm really here!

Gregory Guy Rose with his grandson Todd Gregory Wilson
outside the Conference Center!

What a happy time! Isn't he handsome?

The tour guide kept commenting that Todd looked like a missionary!

Another fun picture tradition from the 10th floor of the Joseph Smith Building!

Todd and I loved this statue of Joseph Smith reading James 1:5
by the Legacy Theater. It is much bigger than it looks in this picture!

The reflecting pool.

The Christus was our last stop before meeting Grandpa after the Priesthood Session!

I wanted to get these pictures posted. I will write about General Conference and our wonderful time with Todd when I have a little more time.

Talented Todd Turned Ten!

We spent a wonderful last Friday night and Saturday morning in Rupert in celebration of Todd's 10th birthday! When we arrived, Todd was standing outside waiting for us and ran down the sidewalk to give us a hug! Talk about feeling loved! Lori then fed us delicious chicken soup and we proceeded to party for the birthday boy! Along with the new scooter his mom and dad gave him, he received several little sets of Legos that make into specific things. He had every one of them put together by the time the evening was over! We couldn't believe it! The guy is amazing! I fully expect to see him build a robot in one of those big Lego contests sometime in the future! It was so fun to spend a little time with Chloe as well as Todd, Kate, and Jack! And you can see from the pictures that she was having a great time at Aunt Lori's. We decided she is enjoying being the "little sister" for once! I had fun playing Strawberry Shortcakes with Kate and Chloe. Wow, that was a trip down memory lane as these are Lori's from when she was a little girl...with a few additions as gifts to Kate in the last couple of years. I must say, however, that the new dolls aren't nearly as cute as the old ones. I know, I admit it! I loved these dolls as much as Lori did and made her collect them whether she wanted to or not! Good thing she liked them, too! Anyway, it was fun to see little "mini-me" play with them. It was a step back in time! I also enjoyed watching Jack ride his Radio Flyer scooter and Grandpa enjoyed snuggling with the girls! All in all, we had a great time and are looking forward to having the three Wilson kids with us at the Condo next week while Brad and Lori are in Washington, D.C. Thanks again for a great visit!

Fun with Lori, Brad and the Kids!

You go, Todd! Now this is a scouter! We are so proud of you!

Keep it up!

Jack and Dad!
Todd and Kate singing their Primary Sacrament Meeting songs!
Todd reciting his part for the program! Great job!
Kate reciting her parts for the program! Such good memorizers!
Little Jack sound asleep!

After Julie left about 4:00 pm on Sept 20th, Greg and I jumped in the car and headed to Rupert to stay overnight and visit with Lori, Brad and kids. Todd and Kate had their Primary Children's Sacrament Meeting on Sunday and Greg was scheduled to speak in two wards. Hence, we could not be there for the actual program. But, not wanting to miss out all together, we drove over and spent the evening visiting and letting the kids say their parts, sing their songs , and play the piano for us. What wonderful kids. What a wonderful family! We had a great time visiting and catching up and also enjoyed going out to dinner at their newly remodeled restaurant in Rupert. We also enjoyed seeing the remodeling that Brad is doing in order to make another bathroom in their home. You are amazing, Brad! After staying overnight, we got up early and headed back to Blackfoot for Sunday meetings. Thanks, Brad and Lori, for a great time. Each time we have the opportunity to be with any of our children's families, we are more grateful than ever for the gospel of Jesus Christ and your choices to adhere to its principles. We love you all very much! Thank you for bringing so much peace into our "golden years!"

(Julie, I think I finally figured out how to do pictures and post them correctly! Are you proud of me?)

A Wilson Family Visit

Last Thursday night, August 14th Lori, Brad and kids came to visit. Lori had graciously consented to put on the program for the 5 Stake Single Adult Party in Riverside. Our stake was in charge of the program and I can honestly say (with no prejudice) that the entertainment was the best part of the evening. Lori with the help of Todd and Brad, did a great job...such a variety of music and all sung to perfection! We can't thank you enough for coming and especially for staying overnight! If you haven't seen little Jack get the giggles, you have missed something! Grandpa was tickling him with his toes and Jack was begging for more! I didn't have my camera close by so missed that photo op! (I know you can't believe it!) I played games with Todd and Kate and we all enjoyed cheering on the USA as we watched the Olympics--Jack included! We had breakfast together and they left for Idaho Falls to have family pictures taken by Kara Peterson, Cindy's friend. If you haven't logged on the Wilson blog to see some of them, please do so! My favorite is the one of the three kids on the bridge! Oh, I told Todd I'd post this picture of his and Kate's new hang-out place---the truck cover. Are they not adorable kids?

Anyway, thanks Brad and Lori and kids for the fun time and for sharing your talents! It was so fun to hear Todd sing some harmony with his mom--what a great little voice! And Brad and Lori singing together is just further evidence of their great marriage--their love for one another is obvious!