Random Acts of Kindness

Three Years ago today, June 26, 2014, was the day that my Mom, Gram departed this earth life and was bound for heaven above.  I’ve missed her every one of those 1,095 days and I’m sure you have too.  I was wishing that in her honor tomorrow, we could have a “Random Act of Kindness Day”.  Can you think of something you could do for someone who might be in need of a little extra tender loving care tomorrow?  I don’t think it needs to be something big or expensive or difficult, that is not what Gram was about, she was about the little things, something to let others know they are loved and being thought of. I can’t think of a nicer way to remember her on her departure date, can you?

If you could, I would love to hear what you think of to do.  I would love to share them with Grandpa.  I know it will be a tough day for him too.  I love you all so very much!  Let’s wear a little something pink and a string of beads in her honor too.

Sure love you ALL,

Robynn/Mom/Grammy/Auntie Rob  

 Today Ruby thought it would be nice if we, she and Noah, wrote notes to Aunt Glenys and sent them to heaven on a balloon!  We also took flowers to a woman in our ward who had an emergency appendectomy yesterday.  Sweet Day Remembering!

 Today Miss Penny taught the Sister Missionaries how to make Cup Cake Wrapper Flowers.  Gigi loved doing crafts and Penny thought she would love these flowers too.

Lani and Grandpa Great delivered a beautiful bouquet of Hollyhocks was just perfect to take to the cemetery today.  I love Dad wearing his Pink shirt to honor mom today!

 Tatia and her kids made homemade salsa and delivered them to the many new families who have moved into her ward family.  YUMMY!

Chip, Elycia, Taylor, Devin, Paige and Calvin enjoyed a snowcone and made PINK cookies to deliver to neighbors for some Random Kindness!  YUMMY

 Jamie and Laurie baked banana bread and took to special friends today

And they made a bunch of super hero masks and hid them at the playground.  What a fun random act of kindness. I bet you put lots of smiles on faces in Gram's memory.

 I got my stitches out today and made bread and jam to take to the doctors office as a random act of kindness.

Keelie wore pink in memory of Gram and on Sunday they baked cookies and took to her dad's hometeaching families.  YUM!

It's Moving Week

Our Mansfield Thiots
This has been a crazy busy week in Mansfield.  I'm not sure there is anyway possible to make moving from one home to another any different. Moving is hard if you are moving far or even if you are staying close by.  The Girls came and stayed for a couple of days and we packed in a LOT of fun while Becky packed and packed up the house preparing for the Friday/Saturday move.  I'm happy to report, they are IN, and spent their first night in their new home on Saturday night.  They have until Friday to get everything finished at their old home when the new owners move in.  Then Saturday will be a WONDERFUL Day as it will be Addison's Baptism Day.  She turns 8 on Thursday and is planning her Baptism on Saturday.  Happy Birthday in 4 more days! We can hardly wait.  Grandpa Great and Aunt Lani arrive on Friday! Becky's Parents, Nana and Papa will be there too!

Our Charlottesville Granges
Without even skipping a beat, Jake graduated from his Residency and began his Fellowship this week.  That means one more glorious year in Charlottesville, Virginia.  They have loved their four years there and are glad they have one more left.  With the new baby being just seven weeks away, they are in full swing for rearranging bedrooms.  They were given some bunk beds a few months ago and are going to put all 3 kids into one room and make a nursery for the  new baby in Penny's room. Oscar is on the list for potty training this week and life is not dull at their house.  I have a feeling, Oscar Henry is going to be a rock-star at getting on the Potty Train!  All aboard, lets go!!!!

Our Carmichael Thiots
Keelie and I have been counting down until Wednesday.  Only 3 more sleeps until she will board an airplane and come to Texas.  She will be here for Addison's 8th birthday and for her baptism on Saturday.  I'm so excited and proud of her for being brave enough to come.  One of my Primary girls flew alone to her Grandma's last summer in Californian.  She wrote Keelie a little note telling her about it.  I'm going to share it here as it is so dear and I don't ever want to forget it.

Hi there Keelie! 😃
This is Tessa Treese, I know your grandmother, (Sister Thiot, she is my activity days leader in our ward and she is amazing! ) and she told me you were going to be flying to Texas alone! I have gone through just about the same thing when I was nine ( I am ten now ) ! Except I left Texas to go visit my grandmother in California! I know it can be very, very nerve wracking and scary at some points but just know the Holy Ghost is always there to comfort you and guide you at any time. He is always watching you to make sure you are happy and safe. Anyways, I have three tips that you should think about to make the airplane ride awesome!

1. Be prepared. It is going to be a long flight. You should bring a device to watch movies or play games. You should also have lots of snacks, games, coloring books, etc. All of that entertainment will help the ride go by faster.
2. The Holy Ghost. Always listen to it. It will tell you that everything will be okay. If you feel uncomfortable just talk about it with the person who will be assisting you on your flight. Just know that the Holy Ghost is always watching over you, is making sure you feel safe and not nervous.
3. Focus on the positive. You will have such a fun time in Texas! You will be able to do things you never dreamed of, you're independent! The positive can take you many places. I was scared like you on the flight, but I thought positive so it changed everything! I became excited! I could not wait! That is proof the positive can change everything.

I cannot wait to see you at church one Sunday and I want to hear all about your flight! Just remember be prepared, be positive, and remember the Holy Ghost.

Your friend In Texas,
Tessa Treese


Oh Keelie, Grammy can't wait to see you!

Our LA Thiots
I love this picture of Pierce and Jackson.  I love the matching expressions on each of their faces.  You can just feel and see the love they have for each other and for life it's self.  You two are amazing!  It's been a busy week in LA and Adelaide is still loving swimming lessons and gymnastics.  She is such a fun girl and finds joy every day in life.  This Tuesday will be Pierce's birthday.  What a happy day that was just 31 short years ago.  Oh, we are sure glad to have you and your sweet family part of our lives!  Happy Birthday in two more days!

Our Down Town Thiots

On Tuesday, Skyler invited Jacob Crandall and his fiance' Sara from Sandy Utah to come to town on the train and he would take them on a VIP tour of the Dallas World Aquarium.  You see, Sky and Elinor are VIP's at the DWA.  They go at least once a week, sometimes twice or more.  They know every nick and cranny in the place and the animals recognize them and love it when they come.  The sloth is especially attached to Sky and the Otters and Penguins adore Elinor.  They had fun showing them around.  Kara finished Summer school on Wednesday and this week she will do a little training in preparation for next fall when school starts again.  Maybe the happiest news is the fact that Sky has the Dallas Maps to the printer.  He spent too many hours to even count on this project but is very happy with the end results as are the customer, Dallas Inc.  Go Sky!  This has been a big week of firsts for 4 month old Elinor! She tried her first Popsicle on Monday and couldn't believe how cold it was, but couldn't stop licking it! Then later in the week she peaches, lemons, plums and her favorite, avocados! Each time she got a bit of avocado she just wanted more and more! She is a big fan! Her face is showing more and more expressions and emotions as she experiences more and more, and she just can't stop smiling! She loves getting older and eating new foods! Now she's just waiting for some teeth to arrive so she can try even more things! (Not everyone is so excited about  about teething though)

We Plano Thiots
This week has been an extra fun one for me with getting to spend so much time with my little girls. While driving about on Tuesday, we made up a song to the Christmas Song, Do you know what I know? only we changed to words to "Do you know who Grammy Loves?" I wish I had been recording it as the girls sang the echo in the backseat.  Oh how I love being a Grammy.  We had a first on Saturday morning.  Kara and Elinor had a sleep over too and four little Thiot girls had a tubby together.  Elinor looks like a baby doll in the photo and she truly is a baby doll.  The girls all adore her and it was fun to have her here with us.  Kara was a great help on hair dues on Saturday morning. She picked Elinor and Addison to do, I I got Brooklyn and Harper.  It was fun to play beauty shop with them. We packed a bunch of fun into our times together.  A trip to the American Girl Store, a visit to the Dallas Temple Grounds, a trip to the LDS Bookstore, we went to see the new Cars movie, two trips to the libray and trips to the playgrounds and we dined out at Mcdonalds, maybe two times and played on their play ground too.  The girls played grocery store at Grammys and zoo too with all of our stuffed animals.  On Saturday we went to the movie Born in China which I highly recommend. We met three animal families, Snow Leopards, Monkeys and the Pandas.  Beautiful photography, it was wonderful.  It was a little sad to say goodbye on Saturday night when Ricky and Becky met me half way to return them.
Dick had a quick and hot trip to Phoenix this week on Thursday.  He has a new customer there and all went well and his flights were able to take off and land just fine.  The news reports made you think all flights were cancelled but not the case.  Dick was a great moving helper to Ricky and Becky.  He is good at loading trucks and knows how to fit the most stuff into a space.  Always a welcome member of a moving party.
It's been a good week and I'm looking forward to tomorrow when my stitches in my hand come out.  It's been kind of  a pain to not be able to do everything I would like one handed.  I hope it heals up nicely.  I hope you have a great upcoming week.  I'm surely looking forward to mine.  SLY Robynn

Happy Birthday Adelaide and Happy Fathers Day Dads!

Our Mansfield Thiots
What a week this has been in Mansfield!  Ricky and Becky closed on selling their home on Tuesday and then closed on buying their NEW home on Wednesday!  Yahoo!  Let the Moving FUN Begin! They are so excited and we are so happy for them.  They have been on 2611 Country Grove Trail for almost 11 years.  Their new home is just lovely with more room and a lovely backyard in a brand new neighborhood with two, yes two community swimming pools, a pond to fish in and the elementary school just a hop, skip and a jump away.  Just right for their fun family.  I loved this picture Becky took of Ricky and the Girls on Sunday before church.  The last Fathers Day photo in this home.What a fun daddy Ricky is to his three beautiful girls! So many memories were made here.  Three baby girls brought home to this home.  It's Moving Week!

Our Charlottesville Granges
The Granges had a great, well mostly great week in Washington.  The stomach bug that began with our little Oscar, made its way through the whole family which gratefully was a quick bug, but not a fun one.  They had a trip to the coast planned and they went but the weather was not cooperative and brought story, cool days, but fortunately, the hotel where they stayed, had a lovely pool so the kids didn't mind one bit and they still found lots of opportunities for fun and making good memories. I'm happy to report they returned early Sunday morning and got home in time for Jacob to attend his Graduation from Residency!  Tatia said so many kind and complimentary things were said about him. What a great man you are Jacob Grange.  We feel so blessed to have you in our family!  Congratulations to you!

Our Carmichael Thiots
I loved this picture Charlie sent me of him and his kids on Father's Day.  They had a delicious picnic in the back yard and grilled steaks and corn on the cob.  It was fun as we were able to face time with them and it felt almost like we were together.  Charlie is such a good dad and those great kids are the world to him.  He is doing his very best and we are sure proud of him.  You are sure a blessed Dad Charlie!

Our LA Thiots
Just like Dick and I sometimes share Dick's birthday and Mothers Day,  Pierce and Adelaide do the very same thing for her birthday and Fathers Day!  Adelaide turned four years old on Fathers Day.  I can remember so clearly June 18th 2013.  Our tiny little angel came into this world a bit early and so tiny.  She has been a miracle girl for sure and has done so great every day of her life.  We couldn't be happier to have her in our family.  She is delightful.  Happy Birthday Adelaide!  Your Grammy loves You! I loved the picture of Pierce and his kids Stacy sent.  What lucky little kids to have the Pierce as their daddy, and what  a blessed Pierce to have Adelaide and Jackson Boy!

 

Our Down Town Thiots
This was Skyler's very first Fathers Day as a Daddy.  Elinor, if you had looked the world over, you could not have found anyone who loved you more and loved being a dad more.  Fatherhood has been a perfect fit for Skyler.  About a month ago, I received an E-mail asking if I could speak in our ward Sacrament meeting on Fathers Day.  I didn't have to think about it for long and was happy to respond that I would love to.  I was blessed with the very BEST Dad and I married the very BEST Dad for my children and have 4 sons and 1 son in law who are the very BEST Dad's to their children.  What a joy it was for me to think about them all as I thought about this talk.  The very best part of the talk was when I looked out and saw the sweetest little family walk in during the opening song and saw that they were mine!  Sky, Kara and Little Elinor had come to sit with Dick so he didn't have to sit alone on Fathers Day.  I LOVED it!

We Plano Thiots
I don't know when we have had a nicer Fathers Day Sunday.  I wish everyone could have been here to celebrate with Dick, but we were able to visit with each of our family members on face time which is such a blessing.  Oh how I love my family, each and every one of them.  Our week had a crazy start with me driving Dick to the airport at 4:00 am on Monday morning.  He had a business trip to SLC for the week.

I had a 7:30 appointment at the MOH Dermatology Clinic to have a skin cancer removed from my hand.  It was just a small sore on my hand that had not gone away for several months.  After my dermatologist biopsied it, she sent me for more fun.  The MOH clinic has you come, they remove the spot and then have you wait in this lovely, but very COLD waiting room while a pathologist looks at it to be sure they removed all the cancer.  If they didn't get it all, they bring you back in and remove some more, then check it again.  It only took two tries and then they were ready to stitch it up.  I asked if he could give me a little applique heart, but instead it's a wonky smile across the back side of my hand.  Then they put a big bandage and an ace bandage to cover it up.  With Dick being gone, I was able to just take it easy, and rest up. I had been home about an hour when my garage door opened.  I was a bit nervous and I knew Dick was in Salt Lake, and what a great surprise it was when in came Skyler and Elinor with a big Balloon and a bouquet of Sunflowers!  Oh  my goodness.  I told Sky the balloon was darling and the sun flowers so pretty, but my very favorite part was Miss Elinor who he sat on my bed next to me and let me enjoy her for a bit. Oh my goodness, what a sweet and thoughtful thing to do Sky!  Thank you Thank you!

While Dick was in Utah, we had planned a Birthday Party for my little Sister Lani.  It was her Double Nickle birthday and it fell on Tuesday.  We turned it into a Taco Tuesday Party at the Park and many of our family were able to attend.  Lani is beloved in our family.  She is everybody's favorite and is so kind and thoughtful of all of us that it was very fun to get to celebrate her special day.  Even though I wasn't there, I got to make the invites, take the taco orders and make the party favors and even got to face time at the party.  I Loved it!

Dick had a good trip to Salt Lake and enjoyed getting to spend a little time with my Dad and his brother Bud who is in town visiting for a few weeks.  Brothers are good company for sure. I was sure glad to have him come home early Friday morning.  He climbed in one side of the bed and it was almost time for me to climb out the other side to head to the temple for the morning.  Welcome Home Dick! He was a great helper to me on Saturday preparing for Fathers Day. He helped me do all the things that I just needed an "extra" hand for.  One handed is not that helpful in household chores.  We were invited to a Baptism that was for three great sisters.  One is named Lily and she is in my Primary Activity Days. I just love her already.  The other was Lily's grandma and you know how I love Grandmas and the other a lovely sister from Iran.  I love her already too.  Dick was invited to speak on the gift of the Holy Ghost.  He did a terrific job.  Oh how blessed we are to have the Holy Ghost with us always.   Hope you had a good week.  SLY Robynn

Oh what do you do in the Summertime?

Memorial Day at Uncle Sky's pool

Dancing the night away at the concert

Harpers breakfast in bed last Sunday morning

Our Mansfield Thiots

The first week of Summer Vacation has been a great one.  The girls have loved getting to sleep in a little later and stay up later at night.  Lots of fun memories in the making.  The City of Mansfield has some great summer ideas to help families enjoy the outdoors and get to know their neighbors better.  Saturday night was just such an occasion.  It was an outdoor concert at the park where the entire city was invited.  Our Mansfield Thiots went with their neighbors across the street who they LOVE and will surely miss when they move in a few weeeks.  They had a great time and the girls danced the night away on the grass.  When I saw the video, I think they should have been on stage.  They were AWESOME!!!

Max's first and last day of preschool

Penny's first and last day of Kindergarten

Last day of school, out to lunch!

waiting to board the plane

Tatia and Oscar seat mates

Penny, Jake and Max seat mates

Our Charlottesville Granges
This was the last week of school in Charlottesville.  Penny loved Fun and Field Day and enjoyed every last minute of Kindergarten. Yeah!!!  Jake left early Monday for a trip to Tampa, Florida to take his Medical Boards.  This is a test you start studying for the day you enter medical school and so for the past 8  years, Jake has been preparing for this exam.  He was gone until Friday night and came home feeling good about the exams.  Way to go Jake!  The Granges woke up Saturday morning and completed their final packing for their trip to Gigi and Bumpa's home in Washington.  They drove to Baltimore Maryland to take off which ended up being a LONG drive with bad traffic, but the made it in time to catch their flight.  I'm sure they will have a wonderful week.  I can't wait to hear all about it.

What a great build lego man Callum

Go Keelie!

Swim Keelie Swim!

Go CALLUM!!!!

Our Carmichael Thiots
This was the next to the last week of school in Carmichael and I'm sad to report that Fun and Field Day was rained out.  I'm not sure if they will reschedule or have to wait until next year. A bit of a disappointment for sure.  The second swim meet of the year was yesterday and I'm happy to report that both of our swimmers did a swimmily super job competing.  I'm so proud of their commitment to go to practices daily and all the hard work they do.  They are both really good swimmers and have really enjoyed it this year.  Way to go Swimmers!

The Birthday Amigos!!

What a fun backyard!

Look what's back, Pierce is THRILLED

Our LA Thiots
Every since Adelaide turned three years old, last summer, she has been planning for her 4 year old birthday.  She knew she wanted to have a BOUNCE house in her back yard and she knew she wanted to celebrate with Jackson too since their birthdays are pretty close together.  So Stacy and Pierce worked their party magic and planned a very fun afternoon in their backyard, complete with bounce house, a ball pool and lots of pizza.  They had a great time and boy did Jackson enjoy his nap after the party.  He was worn right out.  Happy Birthday you two cuties!  Stacy was able to take a quick trip to Seattle to visit with her sister Katie and her new baby boy!  She has two little guys now and Stacy and Jackson had a great time helping out in Seattle!  Pierce and Adelaide had a great time together and she loved going to work with Pierce one day and went to gymnastic camp the other days.  FUN!!!

Elinor's foot and our new lion cub

Our Down Town Thiots
Summer school has started for Kara and she is enjoying her classes.  Its only half a day which is quite nice.  I got to have Miss Elinor come to play with me on Monday and Tuesday and we loved seeing the new DART bus with the Hippos on it. I LOVED the back of the bus, hmmmm  Elinor loves the Zoo and she and her daddy try to go at least once a week for an visit.  There is a new baby Lion who was born a few months ago and has just been put out so everyone can see her.  Elinor loves to roar like her.  Elinor has discovered she has a voice this week and she can make such fun sounds.  I'm sure she thinks I can understand everything she says, but she could use an interpreter.  I love our times together!  Dick and Sky took a mighty bike ride on Saturday morning.  They road to white rock lake and all around it.  Dick showed Sky the boat house where Mom Mom used to keep her boat and told him all about the day the storm came and sunk her boat.  That must have been quite a storm as only Texas knows how to do.  They road over 20 miles and loved every  mile.

White Rock lake's boat house

Picture of Dick's mom's boat prior to sinking

Dinner with the Schellenbach's 

We Plano Thiots
This was a good week and it went by so quickly as good weeks tend to do.  Dick had a friend that he sees when he goes to trade shows during the year.  He has known him for about 30 years and talks about him often.  They were coming to town to visit a son who had just moved to Frisco, just north of us.  We made plans to get together for dinner and met at Costa Vita which we all enjoyed.  It was so fun to meet his wife Janet, who is just lovely and so fun to visit with.  We loved their son and his wife who is from Sweden.  What a fun story she had of how they met.  They left their two tiny girls home and we missed getting to meet them, but hope we will another time soon.

We had some rainy days and some sunny days and one of the nicest Friday nights I remember in a long time.  I had made plans to go to the movie with Kinsley, Luke and Owen and we went to see the new Smurf movie.  We gave it 8 thumbs up.  That was really good.  Then Graypa joined us at Mcdonalds for dinner.  Then he told us about a new playground at the park where Jack Carter Pool used to be.  We headed that way and stayed and played for two hours.  The temperature was perfect. I kept saying, "Am I really in Texas?"  It was so pleasant and comfortable.  We loved watching the kids play and have so much fun. I hope you too have had a nice week.  Sure love you, Robynn