It's Hard to Say Goodbye

This is the time of year that our ward starts to deflate.  All of the students that have been attending the various schools on the Navy Base, are finishing up and leaving in the next few weeks.  It is a very bittersweet time.  We watch the young naval officers leave ready to go out into the world to make it a safer place.  On occasion we get to know their families.  It is hard to see them go.  I get so attached to so many of them that it is like losing family.  The only thing is that since the Newport Naval Base houses so many of the schools, on occasion we see some of them again and that is pure joy.  This is also the time of the military transfers so our families that are up for new duty stations are leaving.  That is hard too.  So for the next few months - except for the influx of military students that are  here for short courses - our ward will have the numbers of a branch.  It happens every year.  We will miss the families and students that leave.  Those that come and immerse themselves deeply in the ward (and most do) will be remembered with fondness and will always be a part of the Newport Ward.

Happy Birthday Andy - A Day Late!

In the middle of the night it hit me that I had missed Andy's birthday.  I am sorry.  My only excuse is that my dates are lost because of being so sick with this cold that Dutch gave me.  I have now share it with Clyde and yesterday we both literally slept all day and felt miserable.  The only good thing is that we will probably be feeling better about the same time!

Happy Birthday Andy.  We hope you had a wonderful day with your family and this year is a year of promise and dreams come true.  We hope that as you move forward with you education that you feel the Lord's hand and promptings in your life and see the good you are doing as you are fulfilling your dreams.  Lots of Love

Reading

I come from a family of readers.  One of my earliest memories is seeing everyone reading at my Grandma Tuttle's house and wishing I could too.  One of my Grandma Tuttle's favorite books while growing up was "Lavendar and Old Lace".  It is a sweet story and I could download it free on my Kindle so very early on, when I first got my Kindle, I read it.  The other day out of sheer boredom, I decided to see if Myrtle Reed had written any other books and she had.  I just finished reading "The Master's Violin" and thoroughly enjoyed it.  You have to get used to the old fashioned language and rhythm at first but then it flows pretty quickly.  According to Amazon this not available on the Kindle but it is - because of the Guettenberg Press and Mobi, as are most of Myrtle Reed's books.  If you want a fun read - go to one of her books.  They are a bit like Francis Hodgson Burnett's books but not nearly as tragic (and not about children).  Both the books I have read so far are about the class system in the US - even though we supposedly don't have one - and how we dwell on it.  They were written at the turn of the 20th century.  Quite interesting.

The Last of the Pictures

These are pictures of Dane and Thomas.  They are a week apart and were about a pound apart to start off.  Thomas has also started stretching in this picture whereas Dane is still very curled in the fetal position.  It is interesting that by the time I left, Dane was starting to stretch out too.  Carianne is now with Pam and I am sure they are having a wonderful time.  This is probably the time that Pam needs someone more than when I was there but I still had wonderful time.

Dutch - My First Day and My Last

The top two pictures are of Dutch my first full day in Utah and the bottom pictures were my last full day.  Dutch has a tool set his Grandpa Neal gave him and he plays with quite a bit.  He had spent the day playing with the tape measure and the goggles.  That is what the last 3 pictures are - Dutch playing with the goggles.  

Our Visit With Sara

We had a really fun visit with my niece, Sara, the day before I left.  She stayed for several hours and it was a wonderful day.  She gave Dutch some time just for him and he loved it.  He thinks Sara is just his anyway.  She is such a sweetheart.  When it is her and Dallin's turn to start their family - they are going to be such wonderful parents.  Pam had been on kind of a adrenalin rush for the first few days I was there.  It was wearing off by the time Sara arrived.  My visit was wonderful.  I loved every minute of it.  I am not sure how helpful I was but it was fun to be a part of the first days of Dane's life.

Everyone Admiring the Babies

When I was visiting my sister, Marianne's ,  we put the babies side by side and took pictures.  Then we stood around and admired them.  These pictures tell everything.  They are of Annemarie, Julianna, my daughter Pam, Christina and my sister Marianne.  The daughter that is missing is Sara.  I will feature her tomorrow.

Today, I received my Mother's Day gift from the Bahlmann's.  It was pictures of the family.  When I was growing up, I remember my Grandma Brugger being thrilled when she received pictures from family members.  In fact I remember her saying that was the best gift ever!  I remember rolling my eyes and thinking she was crazy!  Now I understand that it is the best gift ever.  I really don't need anything else.  Nothing makes me happier than seeing my family every morning as I get up or as I am preparing a meal (I have pictures in my hall and on my refrigerator).  I love the fact that a long distance phone call is not a special occasion anymore like it was when I was a child but can be just on a whim.  And now we have our blogs.  Everyday I can see what my family is up too and that is a blessing too.  I am so thankful for this time I am living in!  Thank you Bahlmanns.  I love the pictures.

Two Grandma's

On Wednesday, while I was visiting Pam, we drove down to see Marianne and her family.  Here are pictures of just the two of us with our grandsons.  This is my sisters first grandchild.  Thomas is one week older than Dane.  Dane is our 11th grandchild and 6th grandson.  

We had a marvelous visit.  I was able to see Annemarie, Julianna and Christina, too - so that was nice.  Plus I was able to see my sister's house in Provo and I had not had that opportunity yet.  It is beautiful.  I will post more pictures of the visit tomorrow.  These will suffice for today.  Dane loves to be free and unwrapped, whereas Thomas loves to be swaddled and held tightly.  Funny how different each child comes into the world.

Dane's First Day Home

Pam with Dane just before Chris got home with her Rx.  She was in quite a bit of pain still here.  Thank heaven Dane is good baby.

Dutch trying to figure out what he is going to do with the baby.  I have to say Dutch is really good with Dane.  He suddenly will stop what he is doing and go to check where the baby is.  If Dane is not where Dutch thinks he is, Dutch becomes very concerned.  

Dutch - who is currently wearing a size 4.  I have big grandchildren.  Dutch was playing on the playground and mowing other children down.  I told one of the older children to be understanding because Dutch was only 2.  She looked at me and said, "Two!  He is bigger than my sister and she is 5."  She was right, too.

Home Again, Home Again...

For the last week, I have had the wonderful blessing of being at the home of our youngest daughter and her husband, Pam and Chris Davis.  They welcomed their second son, as I announced earlier but there has been a name change.  He is now OFFICIALLY Dane Neal Davis.  Chris said that Redford just wasn't sticking but Dane did.  Dane is beautiful and very mellow.  He fusses a little bit every 3 hours when he wants to be fed and that is about all we heard from him.  The day before I left, he started being awake a bit more.  He is growing and very content.  Pam is doing well, on all levels.  I was able to let her sleep quite a bit, so that was nice.  Plus she has much more support in Utah than she did in Pennsylvania, which is a good thing.  Dutch is kind of indifferent to it all.  He loved having his dad home and pretty much had Chris's undivided attention most of the week.  We will see what happens when Chris has to go to work next week.  It was fun to see how much more confidence Chris has on so many levels with the his children now.  He was quite timid with Dutch when Dutch was first born because he had never been around babies before but now because of his profession and his rotations, he has much more confidence and it shows. 

I had the most amazing plane ride out to Utah.  It was clear skies all the way out.  I saw the rivers flooding, and then I saw these erratic paths and realized I was seeing the destruction of tornadoes - quite a sight from way up in the air.  Then as we were crossing the mountains just ready to land in Salt Lake, I saw a snow cloud, sprinkling what looked like confectioners sugar over a field.  I know it was snow but from above the cloud it looked like someone sprinkling an even layer of white sugar on the fields .  It was awe inspiring.  You just have to know that there is a God when you see something like that.  It was just an amazing flight.

I will post pictures tomorrow or the next day, but Dutch had a cold all week and of course I caught it, so today I am feeling crummy and just want to sleep.  When I am alert enough to post more, I will.  In the meantime just tap into Pam's, Julianna' or my sister Marianne's blogs to see what I was doing.