She said "YES"!!!!!!

 Our Mansfield Thiots
For Family Night on Monday, we met the Mansfield Thiots in Copell at the Dairy Queen there and shared a nice warm evening and good visit about Uncle Jesse while eating a delicious Blizzard.  Ricky has some great memories of Jesse and even breaking his arm at their home one easter.  Ricky and Becky brought their girls to our house while listening to the funeral on line and were able to attend the burial for Jesse.  I was glad they could come.  Dick was asked to dedicate the grave and what a tender sweet experience that was.  Becky and Ricky came back to our house and we enjoyed our Pie oneer day Pies together.  We whipped some cream and they tasted great!  Jesse would have approved to have eaten dessert before we had lunch.

 Our Medford Granges
Tatia's family has been finding some new ways to be entertained this week as the pool is awaiting parts to fix the filter system.  Penny told me it's going to look like a swamp soon.  The twins are learning to sit up and Simon has mastered it, Gracie is still practicing and these three photos Tatia sent made me smile.  It almost looks like Simon gave Gracie a little push to help her tip over.  Tatia assures me that no in fact Gracie did it all on her own.  So fun to see these two growing up and learning such great tricks.

 Our Carmichael Thiots
On Friday night, Charlie sent our group family text a message asking us all to take a vow of silence.  Oh my goodness, he showed us the photo of the gorgeous diamond ring he had bought for Jen and told us soon he was going to ask her to be his wife.  We were all sooooo excited and thrilled.  We all got to meet her and we all gave our 46 thumbs up in favor.  We love her already and can't wait to meet her three children too.  Charlie reassures us that we will fall in love with them just like we have Jen.  They took a drive to the beautiful Lake Tahoe where Charlie proposed on Saturday.  Can't wait to hear all the details.  No date is set yet, we hope it's not too far away.  We love you Jen!

 Our LA Thiots
What a fun week it's been in LA.  The LA Thiots arrived home late Sunday  night in time for Adelaide to start her Summer camp on Monday morning.  She has loved every minute.  I loved the photo's Pierce sent of the sleeping quarters.  They have turned the family room into a dormitory and with cousin Darci there, they are having a ball.  The waterslide has been a hit with everyone this week and maybe the happiest news, Pierce has his right sock back.  He can now wear his favorite pair of socks.  Dick found it under the bed in the sleepover room at our home.  So embarrassed that I don't clean under the beds a bit more frequently.  I mailed it home to him with two crispy pops from Harper's baptism that I saved for them.  So Fun!!!

 Our Oak Lawn Thiots
Kara took a quick trip to see her friend in Austin on Tuesday and Sky had some work he needed to get done, so I got lucky and Miss Elie came and had a asleep over with me and graypa, or paypa as she lovingliy calls him  Elie loves to play with play dough.  We had fun putting out our Pioneer day decorations.  She loved driving the covered wagon picture frame about with one of my favorite pictures of my mom, my sister Lani and my daughter Tatia and me all in our pioneer bonnets in Nauvoo many moons ago.  I loved telling her all about our fun trip together.  I've got 3 peach pies saved for Sky's family in hopes they might drop by today.

We Plano Thiots
This has been a mighty hard week thinking about the great loss of Dick's best buddy, Jesse Martin Taylor.  What a great loss this has been.  I'm glad we've had Pioneer Day to think about and pies to pass out to loved ones and with Charlie and Jen's great news on Saturday, it turned our sad and frowny faces upside down into a smile  just like the old primary song says.  Congratulations to Charlie and Jen! I've known Charlie Jay Thiot all his life and I can honestly say, I've never seen him so happy.  Jen, you are just who we have been praying would come into his life and turn his frown upside down too.  Thank You!  Oh how we love you already!  Sure Love you, Robynn

Happy 134th Birthday Grandpa Birks!

Orval Edwin Birks

July 19, 1886- December 4, 1982  

Orval Edwin Birks was my father Orval Jay Birks’ father. He was born on the 19th of July 1886 in Farmington, Utah. When I knew him, he lived in Nampa, Idaho with my sweet Grandma Birks. He and Grandma had ten children. Five girls and five boys. Grandpa Birks was seventy one years old when I was born and so in my memory, he was always old. That may sound funny, but he had the prettiest show white hair. Not curly, just a nice wave to it. He wore glasses and it seemed like one of the things I loved to do for him was to clean his glasses for him. He was a dear man that I can remember sitting at the breakfast table and enjoying a bowl of bread and milk. He loved Grandma’s home made bread and would break it into pieces and pour warm milk on top. Then he would cover it with salt and pepper. Sometimes he would have a fried egg on top but usually just the bread and milk. I’ve tried bread and milk a few times and it is good. I remember when Grandpa turned ninety years old. Many of the grandchildren were there and I remember baking a big cake and walking over to the little grocery store with a few cousins and buying birthday cake candles. We bought four boxes to have enough candles. I remember joking that we needed to have the fire department on call when we lit them all as it might cause the cake to combust into a fire. Grandpa was thrilled to have so much family close by. One of the great things about the home where Grandma and Grandpa lived was that it was very close by to the stadium where the Famous Rodeo, The Snake River Stampede was held. What fun memories I have of going to the rodeo with cousins and aunt and uncles and grandparents. I remember one year Grandpa let us let cars park in their yard for the rodeo. We thought that was the neatest thing ever to earn a few dollars. Grandpa died on December 4, 1982. He was ninety six years old. The funny thing that I always remember grandpa saying to me when ever we left after a visit was he would tell me that the next time I saw him, he would probably be laid out in a box ready to be buried in the ground. That always really upset me and I remember crying for many miles as we journey home. On Grandpa’s ninety sixth birthday, he decided that he thought he might want to make it to 100. He was close and I’m sure is making heaven a funner place to be.

Life is uncertain, Eat Dessert First!

 Our Mansfield Thiots
Becky's car needed new brakes, pads and rotors this week  Instead of taking it to the shop and paying lots to have it done, he decided he could do it himself.  In only four hours, he had the job done and it's stopping on a dime.  I'm so proud of you Ricky for attempting the job yourself.  You are amazing! I asked him if he wore Grandpa's coveralls to do the project and he say, that he didn't want to mess them up.  I don't think he knows coveralls are meant to be messed up.  I loved the photo of Harper and her doll Mary both dressed in their baptism dresses.  What sweet girls.  I loved being able to be at Harper's baptism day. 

 

Our Medford Granges
Tatia's had a fun week getting ready for Charlie's family to come for a very quick visit.  She finished decorating the twins room with their new cribs and she got her darling ABC's on the wall. It looks so fun and I know those babies are going to love their room. Everyone had a great time.  Penny loved playing American Girl dolls with Keelie.  Keelie is great on hair dos and gave Penny some great tips.  Everyone loved swimming in the pool and taking a hike to the park and picking wild blackberries on the way home.  They loved the splash pad and it sure felt good.  The only problem with the entire weekend was how quick the 33 hours passed by.  Next time they promised to stay longer. Max lost his first front tooth.  Uncle Charlie pulled it with his pliers he told me.  WOW!

 Our Carmichael Thiots

Charlie's family arrived home last Monday morning from their 54 hours in Dallas with us last weekend.  Then after a busy week back to work, they packed up again and drove to Medford Oregon to spend a quick weekend with Tatia's family.  They left right after work and drove very safely all the way to beautiful Medford.  They arrived just before midnight and jumped right into bed.  Charlie got to bunk in with Charlie and Oscar,  Max and Callum shared Max's bunk bed and Keelie and Penny were room mates.  Jen got the nice guest room.  With even a top sheet included.  Much better set up than in Texas:) Charlie brought supplies to make  Shirts to DYE for.  aka Tie Dyed Shirts.  Everyone got to make their own and they loved it!  What fun!  Uncle Jesse asked me to treat all of my kids and grands to a BLIZZARD in his memory.  They enjoyed the Blizzards and keeping with Jesses tradition they ate dessert first before eating dinner!  Way to go! They left early this morning to head bck to Sacramento.  Callum had a commitment he had to be back for this afternoon.  Tatia told me how much she loved meeting Jen and she said it seems to her that Jen brings out the very best parts of Charlie! 

 Our LA Thiots

Pierce and Stacy and kids have been in beautiful Utah county for the past month.  They arrived on June 18th just in time for Adelaide's 7th birthday and have pack in a lot of fun.  Pierce has been able to work remotely as has Stacy and so they've enjoyed Stacy's family who all live in the same fun coldisac in Orem. They've loved going to the lake many times, on hikes in the canyons, puddle jumping in the rivers and on Friday night they had a camp out just above Vivian Park in Provo Canyon.  On my blessing day, we had a picnic at Vivian Park and that made me happy that they were camping close by.  I loved watching a video of Jackson leanring to ride his two wheeler bike with NO Training wheels.  WOWSERS!  He is good! Pierce discovered he is the same age as Pierce was when he learned to ride without training wheels and was run over by the trash truck.  OOOOOH My.  I made Pierce promise to watch him closely on tash day! They are heading home to LA today and taking Adelaides' cousine Darcy with them for a few weeks as Adelaide is signed up for a summer camp she wants to attend.  Safe Travels!

Our Oaklawn Thiots

The first half of Skylers week he was not feeling well.  We've all been praying that the crazy virus hadn't caught him.  We were sure grateful when he started feeling better just in time for his next t-shirt order to arrive on Friday.  He and Kara have gotten really good at organizing all the shirts and processing the orders and getting the shipping and handling department busy getting them ready for the mail.  I've loved getting to help fold the shirts.  This time they arrived and were still warm in the boxes just like laundry right out of the dryer.  Loved getting to fold some and then I loved getting to play with Miss Elie.  We filled up the pool and had a very fun time playing together.  We enjoyed a BLIZZARD on Saturday in memory of Uncle Jesse.  

We Plano Thiots

Last month, our dear friend Jesse Taylor was diagnosed with stage 4 Esophageal Cancer.  The doctors started radiation and chemo almost immediately but it was just too late.  We said goodbye to our dear Jesse at a Family gathering on Wednesday night.  At 7:45 Thursday morning, Jesse took the Highway to Heaven and was released from this earth life.  The hospital couldn't believe he was wanting to leave the hospital and he and Cathy insisted that he wanted to go home to see him family and be able to tell everyone goodbye.  He had a wish that everyone that came could have a blizzard to enjoy and so Dick and I picked up 40 Blizzards at Dairy Queen.  Sky made these great stickers to put on the cups and it was  very good thing.  Jesse was the oldest of 11 children growing up.  He always had to have a clean plate before he could have dessert.  When he grew up, he would always order dessert first before dinner.  I always loved that about him. We had so wished and prayed that Jesse could get better, but Heavenly Father must have needed a great dentist in heaven and so he took him home.  We're going to miss him like crazy.  The last thing I heard him say, was "How am I going to get along without all of you?"  I'm sure they was a loving group welcoming him home to heaven.  Both of his parents are there as well as his younger brother Don.  His funeral service will be next Saturday with a viewing on Friday night.  Dick was invited to help dress his body in his Temple Robes.  What an honor to get to serve him one last time.  Jesse is like the brother Dick never had.  They were such good friends.  We love you Taylor Family. 

What a Week!

 Monday

My favorite day of the week is Monday.  I get to do laundry and study Come Follow Me.  There are two different things I love to listen to; Don't Miss This, and Sundays on Monday.  They help me to understand and love the scriptures even more than on my own. Monday was also my neice Krista's oldest daughters 14th birthday.  They had been working to surprise her by finsihing her bedroom in the basement.  It turned out so amazing.  She was thrilled.  My friend Judy sent me a photo she had found of her son Ben and my Sky when they were about 5 years old.  So fun to look back into time. I got to help my friend Doretha put together some storage for her Grandchildren who come and stay some weekends at her home.  I wish I had a photo of the chests with their names on them.  They turned out great. Monday we got some sad news about Dick's best friend Jesse Taylor.  His cancer is kicking into full steam ahead and he is in the hospital.  These comfort scriptures have been a great help during these crazy times. 

 Tuesday

Kara has been learning to bake some amazing things.  On my birthday I asked her if she could teach me how to make Chocolate Eclairs some time.  She called on Sunday to see which day this week would be best.  I picked Tuesday and she and Elie came and spent the day teaching me to make them.  Oh my goodness, it is not fast, but it is oh soooo good.  We blessed many of our friends with a taste of heaven that afternoon.  What a fun day! Thank you Kara!

 Wednesday

On Wednesday, I got a message that there was something sweet for me on my front porch.  My friend Alice Chen put together a fun birthday package and left for me.  She is such a dear friend.  Tatia sent me this photo of her company, Jakes sister and her husband and baby.  They had an extra fun weekend with company and loved having them there.  I got to make some baptism favors for Harpers baptism on Saturday.  I loved the stickers with her darling picture to put on them.  Soooo fun! 

 Thursday

On Thursday, Sky invited us to go to the Jurasic Park Quest drive through at Fair Park.  There were sooo many dinosaurs that we got to drive by.  It was so fun to see them all and to watch how thrilled Miss Elie was to see them.  Sky let her drive for a few minutes and she was great.  We picked up the yummiest pizza on the way there to enjoy as we drove through the exhibit and it was a very yummy way to see dinosaurs.  Kara made a heavenly desert called Pavlova.  Oh my goodness, it was amzing!

 Friday

Earlier in the week, Charlie had  told us about a surprise he and Jen and Keelie and Callum were planning.  They were coming for Harper's Baptism and we couldn't be more excited.  Their flight arrived at midnight on Friday night, and Sky offered to pick them up at the airport and bring them to our house to spend the weekend. They had a layover in Las Vegas and Jen has a friend there who picked them up at the airport and brought them chick fila and gave them a driviving tour of the city.  They all loved that too.!  For Christmas Tatia and Jake gave their kids a trip to the Enchanted Forest.  Its an amusement park that Jake's family used to go to when he was growing up.  The crazy virus has had it closed until now and so they booked aq three hour block and headed north.  They had a magical Friday there.  I love elie's hands playing in the goop that Sky and Kara made for her enjoyment.  What fun stuff.  

Saturday

Saturday we woke up and everyone got dressed in our sunday best including masks and headed for Arlington Stake Center for Harper's Baptism.  Becky always knows how to make things so special and this was just perfect.  We loved getting to be there.  On our drive over, we had Callum and Keelie with Graypa and me and we shared the memories of our baptisms.  Callums was only last year, and Keelie 3 years ago but Graypa and I had a few more years to remember.  We loved that time together.  

One of the hard parts of Saturday happened in Woods Cross Utah.  My Aunt Deanne suffered a massive stroke almost a month ago.  She has been struggling ever since and they have finally learned that she will need more care than they can give her at home and they need to find a place where she can go to stay.  Here sweet daughter Tina, has been trying so hard to help but it's just more than they can do on their own.  She planned a 60th Anniversary party for her parents, the actual date in a few weeks away, but they celebrated together before she had to go.  What a sweet and kind and loving thing Tina did.  She is such a thoughtful daughter.  

I need to go and get dressed and get some french toast in the making for breakfast.  Charlie loves my french toast and I love making it for him.  I hope Jen will like it too!  Thanks for sharing this week with me. SLY Robynn

Happy 4th of July!

We had a very fun July 4th!  We served all you can eat Kneaders French Toast and it was delicious!  The Texas Thiots joined us for breakfast and for a Scooter Parade.  The girls decorated their scooters and paraded around our cul-de-sac.  What a great parade,  short and very sweet.  We even got their early enough to put our chairs in the shade.  I hope you had a happy 4th too!  SLY Robynn

Our Carmichael Thiots

Charlie's Family had a great July 4th weekend.  His bank was open on Friday. On Wednesday they set out to make some patriotic tie dye shirts.  They turned out better than expected.  WOWSERS!  They were invited by Jen to attend the Folsom City Fireworks display which were held drive in movie theater style in a big field. Everybody parked their cars and trucks 6 feet apart.  They decorated Jen's pick up truck and took a blow up mattress to be comfortable in the back of the pick up truck.  It was great to watch the sun set and then the kaboom begin.  I love the flag parade that came first.  I loved the Let Freedom Ring Plaque that Charlie made me for my birthday.  Pretty amazing Charlie!  On Saturday morning they were invited to a pancake breakfast and bike parade at their Bishops home.  The kids loved decorating bikes and getting to celebrate with yummy pancakes too!