Happy Birthday Pamela

 Pam in North Carolina at about 18 months.

 Christmas in Kerrville about 1995.

Carianne on the left and Pam in the right and "Queen Bee's Tea Room" in Kerrville, Texas for a combination of Carlye's and Pam's birthdays December 2011.


The whole time I had been pregnant with Pam, her name was going to be Diana Eloie or Cynthia Eloie.  About 2 weeks before she was born Clyde came home and said he like the name, Jenny Rebecca.  I just thought he was telling me he like the name - not that he wanted to name our baby that.  The morning of the day I delivered Pam, and even all day long, I kept thinking the names I had picked out were wrong.  I kept having a nagging feeling I needed to pick out a different name.  I finally actually prayed about it and the name that popped into my head was Pamela.  I hadn't even considered the name until that minute.  I went and spoke to my mom about it.  I have a cousin named Pam that I hadn't seen in years.  I wanted to make sure I wasn't naming my child after someone that she would eventually be ashamed of.  It turned out the Pamela Walton Pepperoni was/is an neonatal nurse and well respected in her hospital.  Later that evening when I held Pam in my arms, I knew her name was Pamela Eloie Bailey.  That is the name I put on the birth certificate.  Clyde says I went behind his back but that story has gained momentum as the years have gone by.  When I suggested Pamela in the delivery room, he said he was fine with it.  


Pamela means 'all honey or golden'.  Pam has been our platinum blonde growing up.  She and Carianne have stayed the lightest of our daughters (our bookends).  There are times Pam's personality can be 'all honey or golden' but she can be full of 'vinegar' like the rest of us too.  Pamela completed our family.  I knew that she would from the first minute I was aware I was pregnant with her.  She has been a blessing, as have all of our daughters are.  Happy Birthday, Pam.  I hope you have a wonderful year.

A Very Belated Birthday to Marcus!

 I literally woke up in the middle of the night last night and realized that I had not blogged about my oldest grandson's birthday!  I am so sorry, Marcus.  I knew your birthday was on the 14th because we called you but for some reason I spaced posting about it.  I kept having a nagging feeling all weekend that I had forgotten something and now I know what it was.  So here we go.  Marcus is my oldest grandson and is 10.  He is the only grandchild that I have lived in that same city as his parents when he was born - in fact he lived just around the corner.  I got to go and see him every day.  I have never been able to do that with any other grandchild.  Then his parents went on for their higher education and moved to Cedar City, Utah.  That was fine because a year later we moved here to Rhode Island.  Marcus is kind and tries very hard to please everyone.  He does have a temper but he works very hard to control it.  I learn a lot when I am around Marcus and I am proud he is my grandson.  Happy Birthday, Marcus!  I hope you have a wonderful year.  (The above picture was  taken at Hogle Zoo last summer over the 4th of July weekend.)

Watching Videos

I think everyone knows that for Christmas, I received a Kindle keyboard and Clyde received a Kindle Fire.  I just wanted a Kindle to replace the one I had because mine would no longer hold a charge (it was going on 3 years old!)  I am now a very happy camper.  My daughters and husband gave me the best gift ever.  Our daugthers also helped with getting the Kindle Fire for Clyde.  He loves it for so many reasons - especially since he can check his email while I am in seminary and take care of his bishop responsibilies.  He loves reading on it and he loves watching movies on it.  I finally got tired of him watching the fun movies he has been able to watch for free and made him share with me today.  By going through the computer instead of the Fire - we were able to watch "Murder by Death" this afternoon.  I forgot the big names in the movie - David Niven, Peter Sellers and others.  The 'bit players' are Alec Guinness and Maggie Smith - though they have parts as big as anyone else.  But at the time they were less well known.  Now they would be the big names because of "Star Wars" and the "Harry Potter" movies.  It is interesting how things change with time.  One of the things I had forgotten about the movie was that it was just filled with puns.  The whole script is nothing but one pun after another.  It was a fun afternoon.

A Picture Heavy Post!

 The day after the Davis family came, we had our Family Christmas Celebration.  This is the table that Carianne set.  We had a smoked turkey for dinner with all the trimmings that was delicious.  We were joined by Carl's mother, Pat Pfiester.  It was a wonderful evening.

 Dutch found a submarine.  Aunt Carianne let him play in the kitchen sink for hours.  She forgot he was on the garbage disposal side and when dinner was over there were tiny toy pieces in the the disposal.  Fortunately there was no lasting harm done.

 This next sequence of pictures is of Dane.  How he could be on that stone floor was beyond me but he kept crawling off the rug onto the stone.

 Dane's 'toe push-ups.'  He bear crawls more than he knee crawls, I think.  Actually he had little time on the floor at all with all the people that wanted to hold him in Texas.

 When Dutch laughed as a baby - everyone in the room laughed.  When Dane smiles - everyone in the room smiles.  

 By this point he was tired of the camera chasing him around.

 Carlye eating something good enough her mother wanted a bite.

 When my sister, Marianne and I were little - we would get into all sorts of contortions.  Our daughters did the same thing.  This picture just reminded me that is must be in the genes.

As I mentioned the other day, Dutch fell asleep at the table before his dinner was over.  This is after we finished opening presents.  Pam is holding Dutch and the sisters are enjoying the company.

As Promised...

 This was the morning after we arrived.  You can see all of the packages we still have to unwrap under the tree - once the Davis family arrived.  Carianne had decorated the house so beautifully.  You will see just a few glimpses over the next few days.  This is a great back shot of Noah.  The Operation game on the table is Star Wars Operation.  Noah and I played it several times together and he won every time until one time he took pity and LET me win.  

 Noah in his natural state.  He loves playing games of any kind.  He reminds me of my brother, Bob.

 Carianne never wrapped this gift of Dane.  He LOVED it.  He especially loved sucking on the nose. In the top right hand corner you can see a glimpse of Dutch and his "frog boots."

 Of all of the pictures Clyde and I took, I think this is my favorite.  It is just such a sweet picture of Carl and Carlye - Father and daughter.

This picture of Pam was taken just little while after they arrived.  It was so much fun having two sets of my grandchildren together.  We had such a wonderful time.  Pam is petting Emmaline - Carlye's Yorkie if someone is just tuning in.

We are Home!

 While we were in Texas, Pam, Chris, Dutch and Dane came down from Sandy, Utah to be with everyone for a few days.  I have other pictures but I thought I would start my blog with this one.  It is the only picture I have of all of the grandchildren I had there.  I was sad because I didn't think I had one!  I was so thrilled when I downloaded this one this morning and I can see all of them plainly.  This is at the Bass Pro Shop in San Antonio.  If you can't tell - we all had a pretty good time.  Beats an amusement park any day and it is free!  (Well not really - I bought a great pair of shoes and some wonderful black licorice there!)

This is a group picture of everyone as we entered.  Unfortunately it is everyones side views or back but nonetheless it is the group.  We has so much fun.  My favorite memories were how much the Pfiester children watched out for the Davis boys.  I don't think they were ever impatient with Dutch or Dane and they constantly worked at keeping the little ones entertained.  It was wonderful.  At our 'Christmas' Dinner - Dutch was so tired, he literally fell asleep at the table.  He didn't fall asleep in his plate like Bella used too but almost (and yes, there were a few time when Bella would literally fall asleep in her plate when she was little.)  There were occasions when Nathanael would put his arm around Dutch to help him at Carlye's birthday party and Noah would try to let Dutch play with him whenever he could.  For as many children as there were running around - it was a beautifully peaceful time.  Full of joy and love.


After the Davis family left, Noah would pray that Pam and Dutch would come back and Grandma and Grandpa wouldn't have to leave.  We only assume if Dutch and Pam came back that Chris and Dane would too.  My other favorite memory was after Pam and Chris left, Abigail Carpenter - a little girl that is 4 and like a granddaughter to us - came in and asked, "Where is Ditch?"  Carianne and I looked at each other puzzled and then Jodi, her mother said, "She means, where is Dutch?"  We laughed over 'Ditch'.  We don't know if she misunderstood or her little Texas accent got in the way.  


Be patient with me - I have so many pictures to blog - I don't know where to begin.  This barely scratches the surface.  I am going to try and go chronologically.

Our Trip So Far...

 This was taken the morning of Carlye's 11th birthday.  We are having breakfast.  On the left is Carlye's cousin, Cassie, then Carlye pouring milk for Dutch and Noah.  Pam is standing in the background to the right and Clyde is in the background to the left.

We have had such a good time in Texas.  I can't believe we leave the day after tomorrow!  The time has just flown.  Last week was go-go-go but this week with school starting back and schedules resuming - Clyde and I have had the house to ourselves more.  Clyde is currently building a loft bed for Carlye.  She has wanted one for a long time and he should be putting in her room for her tomorrow or Friday morning just before we leave.  I have read a lot and spent some really fun quality time with my grandchildren.  That has been so special.  Yesterday evening Noah read me his homework assignment.  I loved it!  I can't believe we will be retiring in 18 months.  Then only the Lord will know what we need to do next.