The Beach 2009

Just cute!

The dare devil!!

Our little home is behind the loving child and ancient one.

Grumpaw and I thought it would be a great idea for Emily and Bella to join us at the beach this year and then come home with us to Glendale for a week or two. We are in day 16 and could not have asked for a better adventure. The 4th of July Ryan and Michelle left and we put the girls to bed in the cottage and they have not once cried to go home, attribute to us and their parents.

We're sharing some of the wonderful pictures we took when my battery wasn't dead.
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Billy slept on the air bed on the floor in the living room and the 2 princesses slept on the futon in the living room. Every morning Emily got in bed with us, and continues to. Bella has slept till 8 or 8:30 every day. Even if Billy slept till 9 or 9:30 he never even once complained about them being 2 feet from his head and coloring and eating and talking. They were very kind to each other. He played with them and teased them until it was time to go get the other cousins from the beach house.
Beach Cottage - about 400 sq feet. You can emagine how big the bathroom was.

Our fun mornings with Billy sleeping at their feet.

Things we did at the beach:

Inside we read silly poems, sang songs, watched movies, played dominoes (I really hate getting beat by a 7 year old more often than I win. She is so darn cocky about it too.)and a few other kid games.

Outside we walked on the beach, hunted for shells, went to the Shell Shop, went to Cow-a-Bunga, ate at the Peir for my birthday (Fisherman caught a big shufflenose.), went fishing, played in the sand, played in the water (I couldn't take pictures. I had to watch Emily like a hawk or she would have been out with the surfers.), played in deep sand holes (The Jr Life Guards dug holes 10 ft deep by 15 across.), went to the park (Chased the motorized cars like robots.), went to the Lifegaurd monument.

Playing on the wall was something they all had to do. They had to see if they could kee from falling off on to the rocks.

Emily made a new friend at the beach.

I think the little ones were happy not leaving the beach the whole week. I certainly was.

Fruits of the Earth

Here is a whole meal from our garden. The wonderful part is Nana is the only one who will eat any of it. Nana can't even bribe anyone to eat them. What strange people the Rodgers are! No wonder Nana is so healthy. She just can't understand why she is so fat.

Have a veggie day.

One More Great Moment

We were up till 2 on Thursday night watching movies. Another story.

Friday morning Nana was dreaming away in a very pleasant dream. In my dream I had run into an old friend (from an old Ward) who in the past had always been a little sour but now she was very contented. I didn't ask her what had changed her, but she started telling me anyway about a program that centered on a book about positive thinking and forgiving. She had been married and divorced, sour before and sour after, but this book had shown her how to forgive and go on with her life and be HAPPY.

(This is where it gets good.)

Derek just happens to be sitting next to me in my dream. In my dream my thought is "I should get this book and maybe it would show me how to forgive and forget and be happy."

STOP!!!!!

At that moment I think "I've done that", and I'm roused out of my dream in the fetal position with my prayer hands under my cheeks and a smile on my face and mouth "My life is perfect. I don't need that book."

DaDa!

Next moment, the whistle blows and it is Richard blowing the whistle at the bottom of the stairs for me to come to breakfast. Remember the Princess in the movie 'Enchanted' flowing around the room? That is how I looked when I came down the stairs in my green print Pj's and Derek, Savannah, and Brooklyn were already seated at the table and Richard was putting one and half inch thick French toast made with home made bread on the table with hot syrup and juice. He is the best!! What else can I say? Of course the story goes on. It was about 10:15 and we were meeting Richelle at the movie at 11:10. Needless to say we were out of there and Grandpaw did what he always does and cleaned up after us. We love him.

Another great day in my GREAT life.

Quote from the Parents

Saturday morning, May 30th, was a little different. Nana was still lying in the bed at 9:30 (no comments please) and Grumpaw had come upstairs. The phone rang and he lay down on the bed to talk. It was his friend Gene Saunders calling from Logan, Utah to check on one of their home teaching families. After they talked about that they went on to other subjects and Grumpaw says "Dianne had some of the grand kids here the last couple of days playing with them and having a good time. They're going home today. Talk to you later." Sounded like a normal conversation. I'm flattered. He didn't even know what happened. Of course 15 minutes later he had to make it up to me and go to Safeway and buy donuts for all of us, which he did without any complaint at all. I got apple fritters which I love.

HAPPINESS

You are the flowers in our garden!!!

This past week we had the start of a discussion on being happy in this world in spite of the difficulties that we encounter and the trials we face. I mentioned I had read something recently that was encouraging and I would look for it.
I found it.
April 2009 General Conference, Elder D. Todd Christofferson, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. The Power of Covenants -
"We need strong Christians who can persevere against hardships, who can sustain hope through tragedy, who can lift others by their example and their compassion, and who can consistently overcome temptations. We need strong Christians who can make important things happen by their faith and who can defend the truth of Jesus Christ against moral relativism and militant atheism."
My perception on this is simple. These strong Christians have a smile on their face. Having HOPE suggest we see the bright side. Everyone faces tragedy. We just have to keep picking ourselves up one more time. Don't we love to be around people who are good examples or who are compassionate toward us? When someone put their arm around us or touches our hand doesn't that tell us they love us and are concerned for our happiness? When we do that aren't we expresses our love and concern? When a little child says "Thank you" or "I Wove Vue" its because you have been a good example in saying those words. When we get up and go where we're supposed to and practice what we're supposed to and stop ourselves from saying things we would like to say when it would hurt someone we're overcoming temptations. We all have to do that.
And boy we better have a STRONG faith in Jesus Christ and stay away from those last two things. Nana had to look them up; moral relativism and militant atheism. I would rather play in the pool with the 3 year olds. I may have to grow up. Heavenly Father protects the simple minded but YOU are not simple minded.
Gain all the knowledge you can and be "Strong Christians" and finally endure to the end. Enduring to the end requires more than just being here till the end. We need to endure WELL to the end. Put a smile :) on your face. Poop happens. We all go through it. We've got each other. There is always a haven and someone to talk to (Heavenly Father and Grumpaw or Nana.)

FUTURE ROYALTY

These pictures depict what a prince and 2 princesses look like. They're party animals; they play, they swim at 9am or 9pm, they eat, they watch movies, they sleep late, they stay up late, they look beautiful and handsome and their slaves adore them. We want to know when they will be back to their summer castle?????? We'll be pining for them till they return.

(Please refer to Richelle and Randi's blog for other pictures.)

Birthdays

Hayden celebrated his birthday today with two of his Primary friends. What a fun day for him and his friends and his sisters and his cousins. Grandpaw and I were up and out of the house before 8:30 to pickup Derek, Carsen, and Jake to take them, along with a Pokemon cake and a Poodle cake and a cotton candy machine, to Hayden's house. We had a great time. Regina and her friends had a water slide, bubble machine, pizza, and ice cream. The kids were wet and happy. Hayden had a great happy smile on that sweet face and McKenna was happy to set on our laps and let us love her.

We had a great week and weekend and Memorial Day with kids and dogs and swimming. Thank goodness for Sunday and rest.

TOGETHER FOREVER

We love each other and we love our children and grandchildren and great children. We love the Lord and are truly grateful to Him for the great life we have and for blessing us so abundantly.