February Faces

What a month! It may be the shortest month of the year, but we managed to pack it full to overflowing. I think I just need to leave my camera home and not take so many pictures! I know that Docker, at least, will agree with that. Even though none of our children or children-in-law have birthdays in February, it is the month in which more grandchildren were born than any other. Here are the birthday babies, in the wrong order, of course. I keep forgetting that the first picture I put on goes last. Oh well, you get the idea. Some of these kids we got to see for their birthdays and some we only got to talk to on the phone. But we love them all and appreciate their valiant, loving spirits.









Of course, the month started out with Daynen's play, which I already blogged, but want to acknowledge once again. The Demon Prince? Our angelic Daynen?

Marlie wanted to come to Safford to celebrate her birthday, so she even got to have a cake by the famous cake decorator, Rylie Alder...a hippie cake. It was also Brianna's birthday, but as she had celebrated her birthday at the end of January, she was willing to give the day over to Marlie.



After the birthday party, we played games and everyone had a good time laughing at Lillian.


While they were there, everyone went swimming, in spite of the 60 degree weather. The pool was 83 degrees and cozy.



Dad planted a winter garden, early in the season, and the birds ate all his seeds! So he tried replanting a few more things, with the help of Brynlie and Camille.

We had Temple service the week of the 8th of February, so we just stayed the whole week so we could be there for Marlie's baptism. While we were there, we took advantage of the opportunity to do some things with the family. First of all, we had Family Home Evening with Joel's family when we first got down there on Monday. Great FHE at the steak restaurant...we even had a lesson right there. We also went to see "Percy Jackson" which I was so excited to see, after having read the book,(thanks to Albert). Erika had even made "Camp Half Blood" shirts for all the kids. Mary and her family also just happened to be there when Brianna lost her first tooth...it's a good thing the tooth fairy knew where to find her! Dad also got to go to a Suns game with Joel and Jeremy (he didn't take any pictures, sorry). Dad got to watch one of Docker's scrimage games. And some of us bought Panda Express for lunch one day. Jenn said that we shouldn't tell Thomas because he would really feel bad since it is one of his favorites. I told her he would just have to deal with it because I was planning to blog it! So there, Thomas.
It's been fun to have Jenn and her kids in Arizona, speaking English, for a while. I know Thomas misses them like crazy, but we are enjoying them, and the cousins are glad to have them around...they have all missed Kirtlyn and Thomas and Hyrum.




One of the most special things about February was the baptism of Marlie Ruth Brown. She was baptized by her dad and then confirmed by him as well, assisted by Grandpas Biggs and Brown, Uncles Joel, Jeremy, Tyson, Chad and the Bishop. The Bishop also invited the mothers of the two kids from their ward who were baptized, to bear their testimonies to their children. That, in my opinion, was one of the highlights of the meeting. Marlie was lovely in her dress that her Grandmas Brown and Biggs made, and especially in her lovely smile.




Esther and Shad invited everyone to their house for refreshments, and of course, one of the best things about baptisms is the chance for cousins to get together.


Valentine's Day was the day of Connie's parents' farewell. They are going to Kenya on their mission and both gave great talks. We were proud to represent Daniel and Connie.
We went to dinner at Rebecca and Scott's house for Valentine's Day. Her girls had set the table with red decorations and beautiful dishes. When we got there, we saw Scott mending his pants. I was so impressed that I just had to take a picture to record it for posterity. We also saw their new baby "baby goats." The newest one Scott delivered because it was having trouble making its entrance into the world. They were so cute. I can't believe I, the family paparazzi didn't have my camera! Lillian took a picture with her phone, though. Of course, one of the best things about Valentine's Day is Rebecca's sugar cookies! Thanks, Rebecca.

Dad has been trying to get things pruned and trimmed and ready for spring. He even climbed up in the apple tree to thin it out so we could have apples this year. I guess he doesn't remember that he is almost 69 years old! He thinks he is still a kid. Goodonya, Dad.

One Saturday night, Dad and I were sitting in the family room, watching the Olympics, when we heard a loud crash. We jumped up and searched the house, trying to find the source of the crash and finally found that Dad's glass shower door and totally disintegrated into a billion pieces. The door was even still closed. No one was in there, or anything. It just crashed of its own accord! Thank goodness Dad wasn't in it at the time!



Jeremy and Erika invited us on a double date last Thursday. We went to see "When in Rome." It was refreshingly innocent and clean for this day and age. Actually it was a double date and a half because Ellie came along too. Of course she slept through the whole movie. Every once in a while Dad says how nice it is that our kids even want to spend time with us. Some parents aren't so blessed in their children.

On Friday night, the 26th, we went to Pine to help celebrate Nancy's 50th birthday. It was pretty funny to see all the "over the hill" signs and the black balloons and everything, knowing that she was the youngest person there!




We went with Joel and Stephanie's family to watch "Mary Poppins" on Saturday afternoon at Grady Gammage. I was pleasantly surprised with the new things that have been added to the play to make it fun and interesting even if you have seen the move 350 times as I have. We really enjoyed it. The music was peppy and the dances original, even dancing on the ceiling! Of course, no one would let me take pictures, even discreet ones, but I finally did talk Docker and Crew into standing in front of the curtain before it went up...even though Docker threatened that if I put his picture on the blog he would hurt Joel. So watch out Joel. Here it is. Stetson and Levi and two of their friends also went. We sat on the 4th row. Perfect! We could see everything so well. It was really a lot of fun...especially to be with them.

We rushed home from Mesa, after picking up Jenn and the kids, to try to catch the end of the Young Ambassadors' performance in Safford. We had committed to keep two young men for the weekend and needed to hurry back. We could have just made it home in time to pick them up and that would have been okay, but we wanted to get there in time to see Leslie Hiatt who is a member of the cast. Karl told us about her while we were in Pine. We didn't get there in time to see her solo, but we saw her after the show and took some pictures. They will be performing in Gilbert, so those of you who can ought to go. It is a very energetic program of song and dance that everyone will enjoy.


These are the Young Ambassadors who stayed in our house. One was Jordan from Utah and the other was Matt from Rancho Cucamonga! He walked into our kitchen and saw Josh's picture on our refrigerator, (the one where he is standing in front of the Temple) and he recognized it and asked about it. We told him where Josh was serving and Matt said that not only is he from there, but his dad is the bishop of one of the wards. Of course, I hurried and wrote to Josh to see if that is the one in which he is serving. On top of that, just as we were sitting down to eat, Dad brought in the mail and there was a letter from Josh, telling about the area, the people and the work in Rancho Cucamonga. So Matt was so interested to hear all about it.

Also, notice how Dad and the "Bachelors" (as Polly calls them) spent some of their time.


On Sunday night, the Young Ambassadors did a fireside in Pima and Dad took Rylie. The Evans kids also went with the 4 "Bachelors" they hosted.

Jenn and her kids rode to Safford with us so that Kirtlyn could visit the dentist.
Don't Thomas and Carson look like cousins? Maybe even brothers?

Kirtlyn got her tooth fixed in Safford. Dr. Bushman put a crown on it and she was so proud to have a crown on her tooth. Jenn said she was very brave, also very curious about everything the dentist did.