What a fun afternoon we, Grandpa and I, had in Mansfield this past Tuesday. We drove over and got caught by a car fire and got to spend some quality time on the George Bush Tollway, but made it just in time to pick up two little dinos as they call them at Martha Reid Elementary. There is nothing better than catching their eyes as they come out of the school building and having them run over to me. Grandpa Great and I both LOVED the hugs and kisses. We read the book The Little Red Hen when we got home and ground some wheat into flour and made bread. It was DELICIOUS! What good little helpers I had, nothing like those characters in the story, everyone wanted to help and everyone got their very own loaf of bread. Thank you Becky for letting us make a mess in your beautiful kitchen. Grandpa Great promised the girls if they would eat all of their dinner, he would make them one of his famous Milkshakes. He did not disappoint, YUMMY!
Our Charlottesville Granges
Early Saturday morning, Jake and Tatia were woken up by the sad sounds of Maxwell throwing up in his crib. A stomach bug moved in and has left all in their home on Williamsburg Road feeling queasy and yucky. Everyone was assigned their very own special bowl to keep handy during the day. Jake was on call and had to be at the hospital so Tatia did a good job of cleanups and loving service while feeling badly herself. I was so wishing I could make them a pot of Chicken soup and take over and then I remembered cousin Pammy telling me that Jason's deli would deliver and Tatia has one five minutes from her house. It was so nice to be able to have chicken soup delivered to them. I'm praying that after some chicken soup a good nights sleep, everyone is feeling better this morning. On a brighter note, Miss Penny interviewed for Preschool on Friday. Yes you read that correctly. It's pretty tricky to get into preschool in Charlottesville and they only accept those who they think will excell in their program. I would have LOVED to be a fly on the wall and watched Miss Penny. I think any preschool in the nation would love to have her join them.
Our Carmichael Thiots
When Charlie Thiot was born back in 1982, I knew from the get go that we had a special spirit from our Heavenly Father. What I didn't know was how very right I was. Charlie and my dad were best friends when Char was a little tiny boy and something wonderful happened, lots of my dad has rubbed off onto Charlie, which is a very good thing. They are neither one afraid of tackling any project, big or small. With the recent closing of the Carmichael Thiots new home, there have been many project that he and Mackenzie have wanted to complete prior to moving in. One was the ceilings, and another refinishing the hard wood floors and another remodeling the bathroom with the baby blue fixtures. I am totally impressed and amazed with all that has been accomplished in the past week. Thank for Char for sending photos. It's been so great to watch this miracle take place. I have a feeling Mackenzie, Keelie and Callum have been wonderful workers too. Keep those photos coming! This is one of my favorites. Charlie having a tubby in his clothes in the garage in the blue tub that is no longer in the bathroom. :)
This has been an incredibly busy and difficult week for Pierce and Stacy. Maybe the incredibly busy part made the difficult part a little easier to bear. Pierce's best buddy Anthony passed away early Tuesday morning and returned to his Heavenly Father. We have all been so sad but also so glad to know Anthony. I truly believe that Pierce was called to the Missouri St. Louis Mission to meet Anthony and to have him be such a profound influence on his life and in turn, all of our lives. Stacy, Pierce and Adelaide flew in early Friday and Sky went early Saturday. Dick was so sad that he had already had a business trip to San Fran that he could not get out of. We all wanted to be there to support Pierce and Anthony's family. Sweet Stacy was able to tape Pierce's talk and Grandpa and I loved listening to it last night. Thanks Stacy! I wanted to share with you what Pierce wrote about Anthony.
W Anthony Leggett is one of my best friends, and is the best influence I could have asked for in my life.
I don't say that lightly because I have great parents, great family, great friends, and a great wife.
But Anthony is incredibly special. Few people have the power just by their mere presence to make you want to be a better person. I'm not an eloquent person, but man, Anthony is as good of a human being as they can be. And it's not like he was just born that way. No, he worked hard to be that way. He knew exactly what kind of person he wanted to be, he knew what it would take to be that kind of person, and he strove every day to be that person.
Anthony passed away within the last couple hours.
And this wonderful quote from Stuart Scott has stuck with me and resonantes more and more. I imagine people all over who have gone through what Stuart and Anthony have gone through can relate to this quote
"When you die, it does not mean that you lose to cancer. You beat cancer by how you live, why you live, and in the manner in which you live. So live."
And while doctors, scientists, and people far smarter than me search for a cure for cancer, I think every single one of us can beat cancer by the way we live all our lives; honoring the lives of our friends who have passed by living a life like Anthony.
And again, Cecilia, thank you for sharing this experience so openly. Your example, your story, and your actions are powerful beyond words.
I've been lucky to have had Anthony as such a close friend. I don't know why I was lucky enough to be so close to him, but I count it as one of life's true blessings.
Our Dallas Thiots
What a week it has been in Plano, Texas. It's been great having my dad here with us and we have packed a lot into this week. I'm so glad that he still has one more week. I'm afraid it is going to go by too fast, We are going to enjoy every minute.
Monday: Institute Class. Dad loved learning more about Elijah and Elisha from Brother Kevin Hinckley, our wonderful Institute Teacher. We also went to see Annie that evening with Dick and enjoyed Arby's fish sandwiches. YUMMY
Tuesday: Dad was my hero and fixed a clogged drain in my upstairs sink. He was right in my sewing room while I worked on a special project. We drove to Mansfield after lunch and loved spending the afternoon with our little Brooklyn, Addison and Harper, and their parents too.
Wednesday: Dad came to my writing class with me and we had a good time sharing stories and getting ideas on more to come. Everyone loved Dad in my class, We had El Fenix for enchilada night. YUMMY!
Thursday: We worked on a fun idea we had of recording dad's cars that he has owned. (Pictured are the first seven.) We found pictures of similar cars on Google Images and I LOVED hearing all the stories associated with each of them. Oh what a tell cars tell. Thursday afternoon we went to my shift at the Family History Center and found the name of a little two year old boy who needed to be sealed to his parents. We were able to print off the sheet and take it with us. While I attended Family History Consultant training in the evening, Dad and Dick moved a queen sized bed to our friend Laura's house who is having her daughter and son in law move close by for a few months. Yipee We love family close.
Friday: Dick left early Friday morning for a six am flight to San Francisco for an auto show there. He and his partner Ross are hoping to make some connections to sell their soft ware they have been developing. Good Luck! Dad and I went to the temple. My shift coordinator let us come a little later than usual and dad and I got to go on the 10 session. Dad as a patron and I as the first follower. It was a very sweet couple of hours. Afterwards, we were able to have that little boy sealed to his parents. Dad acted as two year old Edson Whipple and I got to be his sweet mom and another brother was proxy for his dad. It was a very tender and sweet experience to do that with my dad. I loved it. When we got home from the Temple, I took Rocky to the vet. He has had as sore on his let that he won't quit licking. He is now the proud owner of antibiotics and he gets to wear a lamp shade looking thing for a few days until it heals up. Poor Poor Rocky.
Saturday morning I had to attend the Carriage Hills Home Owners Association Board Meeting. I am acting as Membership Chairman and need to get my fanny in gear and start doing a better job. Dad took Rocky for a walk while I was gone and Rocky tried to take off after a pick up truck. Luckily dad saved him. Dad fixed my ice maker in my fridge. It's been playing the fool for a while and I keep asking Dick to fix it. He tells me that he is NOT my dad and doesn't know how to fix ice makers. It's great having Dad here, who knows how to fix EVERYTHING. Thanks dad! Dad made us delicious BLT's for dinner and we got to listen to Pierce's talk at Anthony's funeral. We also listened to Mom and Dad's missionary homecoming talk on the cassette tape I found a while ago. Unfortunately, dad couldn't understand it very well. There was lots of back ground noise and it made it hard to for him. I loved hearing it again.
Now it's Sunday morning and the sun is just coming up. I Love Sundays and especially with our later church starting time. I hope you have had a nice week. I'm thinking about you and I love you. SLY Robynn
