~MARCH-AQUAMARINE~

The clear, Caribbean Ocean-colored gem, the Aquamarine, is aptly named.  It looks just like clean, clear water. The March birthdays are lucky to have this gem as their birthstone because it looks so good in jewelry 😃

March came in like a lamb, for a change.  It has been gorgeous! Then on the very last day, the wind came up and March blew out like a lion.  The old saying is just the opposite...that March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb, but March doesn't care.  It does what it wants.

These precious March Lambs are gorgeous too...and they mostly do what they want! Also, their aquamarine birthstones really look good in my mother's ring!

Soren turned 9 on the 7th.

Esther's birthday was the 8th.

Jenn's birthday was the 14th.

Harvey's first birthday was March 17th.

Crew turned 15 on the 19th.

Shauna's birthday was the 22nd.

Daniel's birthday was the 26th.

Emma turned 11 on the 29th.

Levi's birthday was the 31st.

SIGNS OF SPRING 

The cardinal who lives in Thomas' trees, paid us a visit.

Flowers in pots on our back porch and in front.

Dad enjoying a lovely spring morning.

Flowering trees in Thomas' front yard; Tony's car wash; El Charro.

The sunset from our front door.  Dramatic with the storm clouds.

~Our March~

March is the time of the first Temple Maintenance Closure for the year.  Notice I put it in capital letters 😀  It actually worked out perfectly for when Daniel and his family came.  We were off for two weeks so we had time to visit with them and do things with the family while they were here.  The next closure is in September. Be thinking about what we can do.

These are Melissa Brooksby's kids all dressed up to perform in the "Lehi Days" musical.  Melissa said Thomas Biggs was one of the main characters.  I wish we had known about it sooner, we would have loved seeing it.  Notice the pictures on the wall behind them. I think the one on the left is of your great great grandfather's house.

When Nathan and Shauna were here for Jovie's blessing, we went to Joe's BBQ with them.  Jeremy and Erika and their kids were able to go with us as well.  I'm not sure why Josh and Hannah didn't come.  We worked in the temple that day and then had to rush back to work the rest of the next week, so we weren't able to  arrange a big family get-together while they were here.  I hope the next time they come we will be freer and can have a steak fry or something.

Getting ready to go to Glendale.  Esther came over to ride with us and Nathan and Shauna stayed in the condo with us. Palmer's parents stayed with Bethany and Palmer.

Jovie's blessing day.  March 5, 2017, in their ward in Glendale, Jovie Evangeline Jeppesen received a beautiful blessing at the hands of her father, assisted by her grandfathers, Nathan, and Palmer's dad, and by Dad, her great grandfather, as well as Joshua, and Palmer's brother and members of the bishopric.  Joel, Stephanie and Crew came, Jeremy and his family also came and so did Esther.

The first picture is of Palmer's niece who was so crazy about Jovie, and then Joel and Steph and Crew who I knew would not be able to stay for the luncheon.  I wanted to get their pictures before they left to go back to take care of their Sunday responsibilities, so much to Dad's dismay, I snapped a quick picture in the chapel. 

Gathered together at Bethany's ward in Glendale.

They served delicious grilled hamburgers with all the trimmings after church.  You can see Joshua with Ahlin, his girlfriend, who came from Utah to be with them, and Hannah with Palmer's sister-in-law.

Proud parents, grandparents and great grandparents.

Here are Palmer, his dad and brother; Nathan and Shauna helping with lunch; Jeremy and boys, also with Reygan, then Erika and Tayte with Ellie, and Bethany holding Jovie.

Four generations.

Ahlin volunteered to take a family photo, so I took a couple of her just to be sure we got a picture of her.  Look for the family picture in Nathan and Shauna's section.

When Mary was trying to get ready to go to Hawaii for their big Edward Jones reward trip, I kept the two little boys so she could.  They had fun on Grandpa's playground and watching Paw Patrol and Dora with Grandma.

The next Sunday was  Stake Conference.  We attended as members of the stake, but the Allreds were assigned as members of the  Temple presidency.   They spoke on Sunday and did very well.  The visitor was Elder Willis of the 70, from Mesa.   The twins sang in the Primary choir.  It was so beautiful and was one of the highlights of the conference.

The next day we had an etiquette dinner with Thomas and Jenn's family.   Jenn and Thomas prepared all the food and just asked us if we would give the kids a little coaching.  Actually it was more in the way of being a manners dinner.  We didn't go into all the detailed rules for using multiple forks, etc., just basic good manners.  They did very well and I would be proud to have them eat with anyone.

The 14th was Jenn's birthday and they invited us over for lasagna and pie.  Her birthday is always pi day, so she has cream cheese pie and this year she had a chocolate peanut butter pie as well.

I took this picture of Brad from Instagram.  He is supervising on Carrie's farm and doing very well, I think.

Rachel went to Karen Cutchen's house to have Laura do her hair, and she saw this "Seasons of the Heart" decoration on Karen's wall.  I gave it to her for Christmas way back in the 80's, I think.  It has wooden seasonal charms that a hang in the center.  I'm actually surprised and flattered that she still has it because she is a decorator girl like Rachel and I was sure she would have discarded it years ago.

On St. Patrick's Day, when the Richins kids were in New Mexico and the Evanses were in California, the Biggs and Alder Kids came over to hunt for Leprechaun treasure. By the way, the Brown family was in Mexico at the same time. 

That night, Daniel and his family came in from Colorado to spend a few days with us.  We had Daniel, Connie, Albert, Shannyn, Analynn, Emma, Syrina, Raymond, Alonzo, Porter, Alta, Aila, Devynne and Theo.  It was truly a full house.  His kids loved Grandpa's playground and Grandma's pool.  It was all new to them, so the local cousins enjoyed them all over again, seeing them through the new cousins' eyes.

The next day, to add to the mix, we went to Duncan to pick up Mary's kids from the Richins, who had kept them all week.  They slept in the living room and Alex slept in our room in a porta-crib.

I think Alex was just through being without his mom.  He got mad at Jared for sitting where he wanted to sit and refusing to move, so he bit him.  I put him in time out and he just stood there, knowing he was guilty and deserved the punishment.  He tried to get out of it after just a few seconds, but I told him to turn around and stay there.  He did ok until his soft-hearted Aunt Rebecca came and made a big fuss over him. This happened to be while Daniel and his family were at the movie.

As we were just sitting around, enjoying a visit, preparing lunch, Rylie came by; Rachel came and brought Sara Konopnicki.

 

The whole time Daniel and his family were here, life revolved around holding babies.  I have to say I really enjoyed watching Daniel love his grandchildren.  And they seemed to love him back.   Little Aila would just get so excited whenever she saw him.  She would wrinkle up her nose and flash her dimple and he would always pick her right up.  Then, of course, we had Ethan and Alex too.

The kids wanted to spend as much time as they could in the pool.  Luckily, the weather was warm and wonderful.  It was so much fun...but exhausting.

Lifeguards

And casual observers.

Pool fun. Notice how the pool looks like the March birthstone, aquamarine. That's because Dad is vigilant in keeping it clear and ph balanced.

 When they got too rowdy, Daniel got them involved in a game.

The babies had their first swimming experience.

On Saturday night, Daniel and his family wanted to eat at El Charro.  Dad and I invited ourselves to go along.

They spent Sunday with Connie's parents, Jess and Karen Nevin.  Mary and Tyson got home on Sunday, as well.  Their kids were so so happy to see them!

On Monday night we had a family steak fry and birthday party.  What an opportunity to be a first-hand observer of the creation of an Amazing Connie Cake. She made a double one, for Daniel's and Emma's birthdays.  It was German Chocolate and my contribution was the coconut pecan frosting. 

An Arizona Desert, complete with saguaro cactus, and rattlesnake!

Thomas lent us his huge events grill that he uses to grill fajitas for Salsa Fest, and Daniel cooked the steaks with everyone looking on.  They were so delicious and tender.  We didn't even need steak knives.  The little plastic knives cut right through the tender steaks with no trouble.

They left on Tuesday morning for Mesa where they had tickets to some Spring Training baseball games.
We actually had Jennifer's birthday sister lunch after everyone had gone.  It was Rebecca's day to have Sara, so she got to come too.

We followed Daniel's family the next day.  We stayed in a hotel and went to see Beauty and the Beast.  The bandaid on Dad's nose is to cover up a chemo therapy treatment he was doing on a skin cancer on his nose.  Fortunately, it was healed when we went back to the Temple.

At the ballgame. Diamondbacks vs. Cubs.

We had a family steak fry at Joel's house.  Jeremy and his family came, Bethany and Palmer and Jovie came, as did DeWitt and Deanna.  Of course Joel and his family were all there and Daniel and his family.  We really missed Esther.  She had sick kids and didn't want to expose anyone, especially Daniel's family, just before their trip home.  But she still sent her rolls and ice cream cones.  What a faithful sister.  The party was so nice, even though it was a little cool; we all enjoyed Joel's heaters that were scattered around the porch.  Dad and I reminisced about the old steak fries we used to have at Grandmother's house.  We think we would like to keep up that tradition and try to have them a little more often. It's especially worth whatever we have to do to see cousins and siblings reconnecting.

3 of my 5 great grand babies...Jovie, Aila and Theo.

We played a game that Joel learned at the Polynesian Cultural Center.  The kids loved it.  I think it's called "Ooga Booga."

We drove Devynne and Theo to the airport.  Dad walked in with her so she would have help checking her bags.  I don't know how she thought she was going to do it by herself.

When we got home from Mesa, we just relaxed and I actually had time to go see Polly play in the Thatcher Invitational.  She won, of course. 😉 

Daniel found this slide in the organ he took from Grandma's.  The friend looks familiar, but I can't remember who he is.  But this is what Grandpa looked like for most of my childhood...probably until I got married, in fact.

~NEWS FROM AROUND THE FAMILY~

NATHAN AND SHAUNA

Nathan and Shauna's family is full of exciting news this month.  They started out the month with the blessing of darling Jovie, their first grandchild, and ended the month with the announcement of Hannah and Seth's engagement.

What a precious baby.  You can tell how loved she is.

When Palmer was cooking the hamburgers, I asked him where his apron was.  He put it on just for me. 😉

Hannah loved her time with her sister and niece.

Josh and Ahlin had some time together too.

Hannah with Seth and a friend.

Dinner with the Biggs family and boy/girl friends.

When they were in Mesa they went to a Diamondbacks game.

Then Palmer and Bethany went another time too.  In fact, I think they were there one of the days that Daniel's family went but they didn't know it.

Josh went to Utah to visit Ahlin and got some SLC "Preservationist" pictures.

He and Ahlin went to a SLC soccer game.

His name is Seth Hackleman.  Aren't they cute?

They're engaged!  July 15th in the Winter Quarters Temple.  Hannah Hackelman...it has quite a ring to it.

JOEL AND STEPHANIE

Docker and his "Morp" date.

Remember the cute little puppy Stetson and Lindsay got for Christmas? Well....

Spring break out on the lake.

Docker always ties Crew's tie on Sundays, but when he saw his mom taking a picture, he tried to move out of the way.  Ha ha.

Crew's 15th birthday on the 19th.

Lindsay went to Washington to the baptism of her little brother and sister.

At the ballgame.

He shaved!  His beard was cute, I admit, but I love seeing his whole handsome face.  

Levi's birthday, the very last day of March, is one he shared with Grandma Hiatt.

DANIEL AND CONNIE

They got a little Shetland pony to add to their farm.

Theo chilling with Grandma Susan.

Grandma and Aila.  She wants her Papa, I think.

They went to the movie and saw Beauty and the Beast.  Belle even came out to greet them.

The evolution of an Amazing Connie Cake.  Notice the rattlesnake.  Made from donuts.

We invited the Nevins to our steak fry.

Ballgame babies.  I think they kept all the surrounding crowd entertained when the game got slow.

These girls keep in touch through texting and face timing.

"Goodbye!"  We were leaving to take Devynne and Theo to the airport before we headed back to Safford, so they came out of the condo to say "Goodbye."

They went through Monument Valley on their way home and stopped to take a few pictures.  Porter sent me these beautiful ones of his family.

REBECCA AND SCOTT

Silly Silly.  They have been face timing these funny bunnies.

Rebecca, Scott, Polly, DeWitt and Deanna went to California to watch a professional tennis match.

They took their kayak out to Roper Lake and treated the Alder girls to some Spring Break fun.

They climbed  Camelback Mountain too.  They're all in such good shape!

Dallin and Sara went to South Carolina to a wedding of some friends.

Parley's traditional birthday cake bash.  His birthday was the 29th of February, so his party was in March.

Ok.  Here's his real birthday cake bash. That's more like it 😃

Parley's birthday presents.  Notice the card in front.  He's trying out his new outfit by taking a stroll on the front porch.

Harvey's Leprechaun birthday cake bash.  A literal "bash" it looks like.

How fun to have a leprechaun birthday.

They captured a moment of pure joy.

DeWitt and Deanna at a Diamondbacks game; Deanna has been accepted to Dental Hygienist school!

Tennis season is starting!! And Polly is already making news.

At the Thatcher Invitational.  The championship match was a good one.  She played President Shumway's granddaughter.  Sherry and Vince Greer live in Central, but obviously she goes to Thatcher High School.

Holland? No.  Washington State.  Allison posted this.

JEREMY AND ERIKA

Erika and Ellie (and I don't know who else) went to the renaissance festival.  They met some friends and cousins there.

They've been doing some landscaping in their back yard.  Notice Hayden's writing on the wall.

One of the things they did over spring break was to go to the State Capital and have a hands on government lesson.

Then they did some shopping and eating in Phoenix.

When they were buying plants at a local nursery, they were greeted by the resident fowl.

Reygan's best friends.

Ellie is playing softball and I think she's pretty good 😃

RACHEL AND TONY

At the farewell of one of Rylie's best friends, Barbara Hargis.

I think this was in Mesa.

Rachel has been having a lot of work decorating for local people as well as Ashley Furniture.

These are a teenage girl's room.

St. Patrick's Day

Kayaking with the Evanses.

Isabel helped lifeguard while we had so many kids swimming.  She even jumped in, fully clothed, to rescue Alex.

How lucky are they to have a professional interior decorator as a mom!

At Denny's after the Women's broadcast.  They were just going to watch it at home because Isabel had clinicals, but Rylie insisted they go to the church to watch it.

ESTHER AND SHAD

Soren's 9th birthday on the 7th.

Miss Esther's All Stars Preschool.

For Esther's birthday, the Safford girls went to her house to redecorate her guest bathroom.

Before:

Work in Progress; The backpack station Mary made; Out to lunch.

The finished bathroom.

The only picture I have of any kind of birthday celebration for Esther is a forked lawn.  I think the young women paid her this compliment. 😏

Harrison, waiting to leave for his band concert where he plays French horn in the honor band, but his first love is the piano.  He loves their grand piano and plays every chance he gets.

They went to Rocky Point for Spring Break, with some friends.  They went to the same resort Rebecca always goes to...the one we went to with them several years ago.  They had a wonderful time .

Everyone...but Harrison...loved the huge pool(s).  He has ear issues so he spends pool time reading.

This is Bridger (extreme right), exercising with the old ladies.

A whale bone?

I love the Mexican John Deere (Juan's Deer) shirt.

Some of Harriosn's beautiful digital photos from their trip.

Chef Harrison.

Girls' night out after the Women's Broadcast.

By Sunday, they were all sick again!  The boys had been sick the week before, when they couldn't go to the steak fry, but they got well...for a few days.  This time, even Esther and Marlie got it.  The hairdo at the bottom Esther calls her "sick hair."  Poor thing, her shirt is even wrong side out 😜

THOMAS AND JENN

Kirtlyn and some of her friends, at the Temple to do baptisms.

Then she and Brianna and their mothers also went another day.

They worked hard to get their guest room/office ready for guests.  They had to strip the wallpaper off the walls.  Their friend, Heather Van Houten came to help.

The kids got in on the action, too.  The finished room.  It is so restful and sleek.

At the manners dinner.

A birthday gift...a computer desk for their newly redecorated office.

Jenn's pies for pi day.

Her family always has a big St. Patrick's Day celebration.  I guess, as O'Kellys they really should!  Her mom's maiden name was O'Kelly.

They had a Knudsen family reunion at the cabin in March. It looks as if they had a great time.

Jenn's sister even got engaged while they were there.  Romance at the cabin.  What could be better?

MARY AND TYSON

When the girls were in Mesa decorating Esther's bathroom, she and Rebecca helped by taking care of Mary's little boys.  They even dressed Ethan in a Build-a-Bear outfit.

Their school had some dress up days for reading week.

Culminating in the celebration of Dr. Suess' birthday.

At the Temple with Kirtlyn and Jenn.

Ethan got to go to Hawaii with his parents.  The only one of the kids so privileged.  He enjoyed the experience, I think.

It was an Edward Jones reward trip and they went to Maui.  It was so incredible and they saw so many amazing things, including whale watching.

This is one tree.  Wherever it's branches touch the ground, it puts down roots and another trunk springs up.

One morning they got up at 3:00 to drive to the top of a volcano to see the sunrise.  It was cold...cold in Hawaii?  Anyway they were so high that they were above the clouds.

They saw the sun and the moon at the same time.

Snorkeling; at this dinner, a Hawaiian server held Ethan so they could eat.

They were amazed to see black sand beaches and red sand beaches all in the same vicinity.

While their parents were in Hawaii, the kids stayed with their Richins grandparents...who had built a rollercoaster and a zip line in their back yard! How fun is that!  When I showed Kirtlyn the pictures, she said, "you're going to have to step up your game, Grandma!"😁

I don't know, maybe she's right.

Mary took a picture of Jared because he was all twisted up and Alex, the camera hog, ran over and plopped himself down in front and said,"No Jawy picture, Ahwy picture."  

In spite of bites and other things, his siblings put up with a lot from him...it's a good thing he's so cute!

Watching the Women's broadcast.

MISSIONARIES

From Lillian in the Philippines.

From Shadrach among the Hmong in California.

SOMETHING TO SMILE ABOUT

Jaredism for March.

Palmer got the slippery pacifier problem solved!  Perfect!!

I think Palmer is having way yonder too much fun with his beautiful baby!  Bethany left him to babysit one evening and then returned to find her sweet baby turned into an alien! Jovie looks as if she's trying to decide whether or not she likes her new look.

Do you remember how excited your little ones got over bubbles and strange, dancing green lights?

I saw Thomas and  Carson sitting at my counter and remembered a picture I had taken of them several years ago.  Then, they looked more like brothers than cousins...almost like twins.  Now they definitely have more differences, but still handsome and happy.  This "Then and Now" picture made me smile.

LAST WORDS

Sometime this month the girls were teasing me about how I don't follow stupid rules.  I'm so embarrassed to admit it, but it has always been true.  For example, going out of the Walmart parking lot there is a sign prohibiting left turns.  I know why, of course.  If there is a line behind you and traffic in front of you, a left turner holds everyone up.  But if there are no cars behind me and no traffic in front of me, I just go ahead and turn left in spite of the sign to the contrary.  But I have been thinking about honesty lately.  That was the subject of some Sacrament Meeting talks one Sunday this month and I was very uncomfortable with myself during the whole meeting.  Of course the obvious things like not lying, not cheating, not stealing, are easy to recognize, but there are some not-so-obvious aspects of being honest that I have to think more clearly about.  What about obeying the speed limit? What about telling the whole truth and not concealing part of it? What about obeying the law, not just the ones that don't seem stupid to me? What about lying for convenience sake or not to hurt someone's feelings?   There are a lot of areas where we bend honesty to suit our circumstances.  I remember when the Temple Recommend questions started including "Are you honest in all your dealings with your fellow man?"  I half-jokingly told my Stake President that I tried to be but sometimes when the kids asked if there were any treats I would say "no" because I was hiding them for another time.  I thought he would laugh and say, well, don't worry, we all do that.  But he didn't.  He said "Are you going to repent, Sister Biggs?"   At first I was a little offended, but I realize that honest is honest is honest and anything else isn't.  So, I'm sorry I have misled you and let you think it's ok not to obey stupid rules.  If everyone thought they could do that, just think of the chaos.  People might decide it's okay to kill someone who may hurt another.  It's okay to steal to feed your family.  It's okay to lie to keep from getting in trouble.  It's okay to run a red light if you're in a hurry.  You can see that the list can be endless if we are allowed to decide which rules to obey and which ones are stupid.  I was hurrying to Polly's tennis match the other day and I was late.  I got behind a guy going 20 miles an hour on a 35 mph road.  It was the back road beside Home Depot, going to Thatcher.  There was a double, solid yellow line down the middle of the road, but he was going so slow and I had a "good" reason to be in a hurry.  I watched until there were no cars coming and then I passed him.  Ooops!  There was a policeman behind me.  He pulled me over and asked "Are you really in such a big hurry?"  I said, "Yes.  My granddaughter is playing in a tennis tournament and the guy in front of me was going too slow."  He didn't give me a ticket, but gave me a frown and a stern verbal warning.    My heart was pounding as I drove...not one mile over the speed limit...the rest of the way.   And of course, I was later than I would have been if I had just stayed behind Mr. Slowpoke.  That  was Saturday.  Then on Sunday we had the talks about honesty.  I was so sad and humiliated for myself and decided to try to teach all of you a better lesson than I had previously done...if it's not too late.  In fact, I had told Rebecca at the tennis match, "don't tell Dad."  but in the interest of honesty, I decided to go ahead and tell the story even knowing that he will read it.  I  know this message comes across as a "do as I say and not as I do" situation, but I am going to try to do better.  Although, if I have to be perfectly honest, I still might turn left out of Walmart...don't judge me, but don't follow me either.     😇😉