Grandchildren . . .

There's nothing quite like the joy of being a grandmother. Maybe this is why -

Grandchildren give us a second chance to do things better because they bring out the best in us. ~author unknown


 Usually I am the one with the camera - so I actually don't have too many pictures of me with my grandkids.  Michele was sweet enough to accommodate me while I was out visiting her right after Rowen was born.  These were taken when she was one week old.

Few things are more delightful than grandchildren fighting over your lap. ~Doug Larson

The idea that no one is perfect is a view most commonly held by people with no grandchildren. ~Doug Larson

I have no idea who "Doug Larson" is - 

but he summed up what I feel in part about being a grandmother pretty well. 

 I think I have the most gorgeous, amazing, funny, delightful grandkids on the planet.

The month of December I will get to see every single one of my 7 grandkids - Grandma heaven!

It will take 3 different weekends and flights to 3 different states - but I can't wait!

Landon earns his Eagle Scout Award

 Landon has earned his Eagle Scout Award.  Nice job Landon.  He worked hard and deserves to be proud of what he's accomplished.

Thank you also to EVERYONE that donated to Landon's project to gather toys for Ethiopian orphanages.  Thanks to all of you he had over 2900 toys donated.  

 But the very best part of his project was this:  Seeing the smiles on the faces of these kids in 8 different orphanages that were the recipients of all the toys the Landon helped to gather.

 Also we appreciate the help from some very supportive Scout Leaders and friends.  We are lucky to have friends that went above and beyond in their support to help Landon get the final preparations and details done before he appeared before the Eagle Board of Review.  At that level Scouting becomes sort of a foreign language to me - I'm glad we have friends that can "speak" it.

  You all know who you are :)  - thanks a million!

That smile on his face must mean he passed!  It's official :)  Good work Landon!

My 10 days in Utah -

My 10 days in Utah were a lot of fun - starting out with a beautiful Sunday afternoon drive thru the canyon - gorgeous colors -

Then the kids opened presents just for them to take to the hospital the next day -

They were excited - can you tell?

The next morning was REALLY exciting as Michele went into labor as she was getting prepped for her C-section.  Rowen was a beautiful baby . . .

her brother and sister were excited to meet her -

So cute!

The first few days I kept the kids busy at home and made visits to the hospital -

Once Rowen and Michele came home the main goal was to keep Boston and Naomi off of Michele's recovering tummy and off of the baby.  We went on exploring walks to give Mom time alone with the baby, rode go-carts, had a dance party (wish I had videos of that) and learned Halloween songs and played with my I-phone (Naomi loves that I-phone!) and gave Rowen her first bath. 

 It was non-stop action.

Usually I take literally hundreds of pictures - and some turn out.  Not anywhere close this time.  It was a full time job keeping Boston and Naomi busy and Rowen safe and sound :)

I got a few pictures of the kids that I loved their expressions -

Luckily Michele had someone wonderful lined up to take adorable pictures so there was no pressure.

She got shots like these . . . 

Thanks for sharing this wonderful time in your lives with me.  It was the best!

Welcome to the family - Rowen Faye Cloward

Little baby Rowen arrived Monday morning - she is adorable and I am in Grandma heaven :)
Her brother and sister love her and are pretty excited to have her come home today.

 She looks a lot like her brother Boston did and a lot like Michele as a newborn.

Michele is doing well after her C-section - the biggest challenge so far is keeping excited Naomi and Boston from jumping on her or Rowen :)  I'm enjoying being here at this special time - life is good!

The Clowards visit to California

Michele, John, Boston and Naomi came to California for a quick 4 day visit.  We spent that first Saturday at our obligatory visit to Pixie Playland . . .

That's Boston with his hands up on the roller coaster - he's a dare devil!

Sunday we went together to our Nephew's homecoming talk, hung out with Tanner and Josie at the house -  Tanner trained the kids to surf on his back (I think he gets a free back rub in this deal)

 Naomi surfing on Tanner too . .

Do these photos indicate how wound up we had the kids at this point?  They LOVE their Uncle Tanner and Josie.  They can never get enough of her :)

A fabulous Sunday dinner at my Mom's (it's always like Thanksgiving when we have dinner there)

Then we spent 2 quick days in Tahoe - the guys golfed, we rode bikes, hung out, ate and had a picnic.

The time went by way too fast.  Then it was back home - I started my new job and that explains in part why this blog post is 6 weeks late and there has been nothing to post since.  Waiting for grand baby #7 - (can you see Michele's prego tummy/)  I expect to be off for that next big event in the next few weeks.  Photos to follow for sure.

Here's all of us at the Wisconsin Dells - How did Landon get so tall?!!

The Deer Park

The problem with taking a billion pictures - which is what I do when I'm with my grandkids - is I can't narrow my pictures down.  I wanted to do a quick re-cap because I am so far behind and this is what happens - I pulled up a ton of pictures from this cool deer park we visited in the Dells and it seems faster to throw them up on the blog than for me to decide which ones to use.  So in the interest of time - here's all of us at the park . . .