I'm writing this on my phone - hope I'm not too mistake laden!

On the 13th of this month we received a phone call from Desi which seemed to indicate that her water had broken or was at least leaking. It was late that night but Rich and I were fairly certain that my flight to Denver would need to be changed.

The next morning Desi and Mike went into their ob and they were then sent on over to the hospital. Rich made new flight arrangements for me for the next day out of Atlanta and then I proceeded to make preparations to leave. Later that evening we attended the funeral of a woman in our ward who had lost a courageous battle with cancer - but as we sat waiting for the funeral to begin we received the news that Ruby Marie had been born and weighed 6# 10oz. Mom and baby were doing fine.

The next day I flew out as planned - got in to Denver at nearly midnight and was relieved that Rich made it home safely too - at about the same time minus the time change. Desi was home with two little munchkins nestled in their beds but sitting up with a very fussy Ruby. However, after a little bit of chatting we made our way to bed and the baby seemed to do better that night than any of us would have expected. Gratefully, she has continued to sleep pretty well and seems pretty mild in temperament. Emily is in love with her but Mordecai seems to be oblivious to her, except when she is crying and he can't hear his tv program. Lol

That first week here was full of birthdays - Mary, Dan, and Emily! This week was my Dad's. How blessed we are to have so many wonderful people to celebrate!

Every time I have the opportunity to visit one of our children as they welcome a new little one into their homes I am in total awe of the plan of our Father in Heaven. The fact that He even trusts us to care for his precious sons and daughters is a real act of faith on His part, I'm sure! Lol it is always amazing to me to see how unique these tiny ones are - their personalities just need to be discovered by us! I watched little Ruby's face one evening as she struggled to stretch and then get rid of the dreaded hiccups...it was so clear that this sweet little one was experiencing in a very small measure the effects of mortality - trying to gain some kind of control over her tiny little body. Little does she realize yet that will be a life-long endeavor! In a few short months she will have moved from the realm of complete helplessness to a bundle of energy at full gait! How miraculous is that? In the meantime those tender little smiles that come unbidden from her communion with an unseen realm are just an exquisite opportunity for us to touch eternity. It doesn't get much better than that!

On a sad note - Carlie's Grandfather Fairbanks passed away on the 14th (I think. It couldn't have been much more difficult as Joey is still TDY and was unable to come home. This left Carlie with having to make arrangements for the children to be left in the care of friends and neighbors so that she could take Reah and go home for the funeral. On the bright side, Carlie had a little niece born the same day that her Grandpa passed. Again, a tender glimpse into eternity.