Today I worked on Georgia's dress for most of the afternoon and early evening.  I wish I knew what I was going to do....  Decisions! Decisions! Decisions!

So far Georgia seems very mellow.  She and Heidi could be twins in that arena!  I think Felicia is bracing for a change as she nears the two week mark.  It remains to be seen what she'll be like.  I don't know either but I can certainly understand her anxiety as Noah changed substantially about that time but they moved then too!

While Felicia and Tom took Noah and Georgia out to the park to fly kites this afternoon, Rich and I watched a movie, Against the Sun, the true story of three navy guys who are adrift at sea for over a month during WWII.  It was good and I was glad to be able to watch it while I sewed.

I guess I need some tech lessons, especially if this is going to become a habit😉!  I think a pic here or there would be nice.

Today Felicia and Tom took Georgia in for her check up.  Things are looking good and the Venus issue isn't getting any worse.  That's good news, although they will be keeping an eye on her for a few months.

I worked some on Georgia's blessing dress.  I love to create as I go along but sometimes I wish I knew what I was doing before I did it.  I need to get hopping on it as it will takes some time, regardless what I do.

We had major thunder storms today...and will again tonight.

Poor Noah threw all his dinner up just a few minutes ago...Tom was the perfect target...and so was the bed.  It may be a long night.

Sweet Sabbath...

Today was Georgia's first day at church.  She slept through it all😊!  It was fun to go to Felicia and Tom's ward and put faces to people we hear about once in a while.  Tom taught Sunday School and did an excellent job and Felicia conducted Relief Society...it is always so fun to get a peek into your childrens' lives!!!

We came home and made sandwiches for lunch and Tom and Felicia tried with all their might to get Noah to take a nap...they were successful for about 1/2 hr.  But I took one!  It was disturbed by heavy rain and massive lightening and thunder.  The cliffs here are green...I'm sure all the rain has something to do with it.

Tom grilled hamburgers and brats for supper and Felicia made Rich a spice cake and we sang Happy Birthday again.  They also presented him with a biography of the a Wright Brothers.  I think he was quite touched.  We've been to the Wright Bothers bicycle shop in Ohio...maybe we'll take the opportunity to go to Kittyhawk now!

Desi called tonight to wish Rich a belated Happy Birthday.  I know he appreciated her call.  We continued to text for a few minutes afterwards.  I hope this week will be as productive as possible for she and Mike!!!

The Big Sixty-Six!

Today is Rich's 66th birthday.  It was a bit anti-climactic, I think.  Although peaceful in a good way too.  We woke to a call from Felicia asking us to come to the hospital ASAP.  I dressed quickly but Rich wanted a quick shower, so I woke Noah and got him dressed while Rich showered and got ready.  When we walked into Felicia's hospital it was obvious that there was something they had been hatching.  In a very large box there was a very, very large donut with maple frosting and inscribed with, "Happy Birthday!  Old Fart!"  I think he was pretty surprised.  We sang happy birthday and then  all of us had a piece of the donut...even at that there was half of it left to come home with us!  It was super special and I know it meant a lot to him to be remembered.

We hung around for about an hour and then brought Noah home, via the Dollar Tree.  I picked up, vacuumed, did a couple of loads of laundry and Rich and Noah watched Tarzan AGAIN!  Lol!

A little bit after we got home Felicia, Tom, and Georgia arrived.  I think Noah will be glued to them for the next few days.  It has done very well but it is obvious that he's missed his Mom and Dad.

We did a late lunch at Cafe Rio.  It was nice to get out a little, I think, for Felicia. The food was good and we were so full that no one wanted any supper, even though we'd planned on doing brats and hamburgers for Rich's birthday dinner...well save that for tomorrow, I guess.

I had been wanting to get Rich an Alexa Blue Tooth but hadn't known how to go about getting it, especially since we've been in transit.  But it is something I want to get him as I think it's something he'll really enjoy.  I wish I hadn't been so hesitant...now he knows what I would have liked to do but its never as good as having done it!!!  One of my reasons is how much he listens to music.  It seems he has dozens of homemade CDs with music for all moods and occasions.  It is one of the many things I love about him...he has a song for EVERYTHING!

As I watch him with Noah I am reminded of him as a young father...always excited to be with his kids, patient, kind, and supportive.  He has always been able to live in the moment and to enjoy the little things...to teach without being preachy, to correct without rancor, to love without condition.  He has always put us first...and we have always been able to rely on him.  What great qualities for a husband and father!!!  I love him so and look forward to many more birthdays...I wonder if we have birthdays in heaven?  Happy birthday, Sweetheart!

So...I've made this resolution many times before...but I hope to try and blog every day.  We all know how this has gone before...but perhaps it doesn't hurt to try again.

Today we dressed and I quickly made a trip to the local Walmart for some groceries as Felicia had signed up to take funeral potatoes and a tossed salad for a funeral...before she had Georgia!  Actually it was probably that commitment that brought on labor! Lol!  So I made the potatoes and salad and took a quick shower.  Tom came home and we put the food in the car and ran it to the church and then Rich, Noah and I followed Tom to the hospital to see Felicia and Georgia.

I had the opportunity to sit and rock Georgia for a little while.  Felicia is looking good and will probably be discharged tomorrow morning.  Georgia has a few worries but we're praying that they'll turn out to be nothing at her screening tomorrow morning.

Rich and I brought Noah home to try and get him to take a nap...but that was a no go.  He watched the animated Tarzan and the Curious George movie and then we headed back to the hospital and then over to Green River for some dinner at the McDonalds play place.  We thought Noah would be all tuckered out...but as soon as he would start to doze off he'd jerk himself awake.  Tom just walked in and has taken our little man to bed.  Hopefully with his daddy home he'll give in!

My Mom

Today is a very special day...it is my Mom's birthday.  She was born June 11, 1931 in Ethel, Washington.  She left this earthly existence nearly 11 years ago and it seems I mourn her passing more each day.  She is perhaps the person who had the greatest influence in my life, in helping me become who I am today.  She is the voice in my head.  She is the great example of compassion, love, kindness, and wisdom that I aspire to emulate.  She taught me doctrine, sewing, crocheting, cooking, mothering, grandmothering, forgiveness, understanding, and discipleship.  How I wish I could relive her last year...how I wish I could give her the kindness, understanding, patience, love, and devotion she so deserved and I have learned so late.  The truth is, I can't go back.  It is my biggest regret.  All I can do is to try and live in such a way that I might honor, in some small measure, the legacy of all she was and is, all she taught, all that she blessed me with, and all she means to me.  Frequently I ask my Heavenly Father to tell her how much I love her and wish that I could talk with her.  I hope to live worthy enough that someday I will have that chance.  Happy, happy, happy birthday, Mom!

Today I also celebrate the birth of our grandson, William.  He's six years old today.  He loves learning.  He is so kind.  He is tender-hearted.  And he is all boy!  Yesterday his Momma texted me that he had asked if we could come for his birthday.  Ahhhh!!!!!!!  I just love that little guy!  He is growing up way too fast!

Today we also celebrate the birth of our newest addition, Georgia Marie Bibber.  She was born at 8:30 this evening and weighed 7 lbs. 1 oz. and is 17.5" long.  She and her Momma are both doing well.  Her brother, Noah, struggled for a little while as his parents left, but a trip to McDonald's for fries in Green River seemed to help him and he was able to come home, get in his jammies, sip his bottle and drift off to sleep.  He will be happy to see his Daddy in the morning and take a trip to see his Mommy and sister.

Veterans Day

Yesterday was spent in preparations for my "RS Meeting" - making pies, shopping, making cookies, a few phone calls, Rich bailing me out by providing nursery with one of the YM, set up, clean up, and of course the meeting.  However, it was Veterans Day and I only had a few minutes to reflect on it and the service of so many, through the years, have given for our great country, some paying the ultimate price.

It is easy for me to love the military men and women of our country and appreciate, in large measure, their sacrifices, and the sacrifices of their families...after all...Rich served in the Air Force for 22 years, and if truth be told, he'd probably have stayed for more if health had allowed it.  Today Joey and Dan both serve, and are making careers of the Air Force.  Joey is stationed at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, Cailfornia and Dan is stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska.  Robert served in the Marines.  And, while loosely associated and not technically military, Mike works in the defense industry on many military projects in an effort to provide the support our military needs to stay cutting edge, strong and safe.  Rich's brother, Bob, served in the Navy during Vietnam.  And Rich's sister and brother-in-law both made careers of the Navy too.  Three of their sons have served as well.

As a young child, one of my earliest memories is that of my Uncle Vance returning home to California in his uniform.  He was my favorite uncle, that may be because I saw the uniform and thought he was my Dad who was serving in Korea and then Japan.  Mom and I were living with my Grandmother while Dad was gone.  Not only did my Uncle Vance serve, but so did my Uncle Ted (he served in WWII), Uncle Jack (also WWII), and my Uncle Gayle, and his family, paid the ultimate price when he was killed in Korea.  My Grandfather, Gilbert Roskelley, also served in the army during WWI.  

Rich's Uncle Romanus was killed in action in Europe during WWII during the fighting at the "Bulge" and today there is a memorial to him and others from their small North Dakota town, who fought and died serving and defending our nation.  Rich's father also served during WWII.

As I stop and reflect on the service of so many to our beloved country, I have to realize that these men and women are just those in my conscious memory...the reality is that there are countless more that served that I'm just learning about or realizing of their sacrifices as I contemplate how deep and long the love for our country is, how much freedom has meant to the men and women in our families, and how often they have been willing to pay the ultimate price to defend her...and how grateful I am for their sacrifices because, even though I get discouraged about where our country is heading, the fact is, she is still the most divinely inspired country on the planet, and it is precisely because good men and women, throughout our history, have been willing to lay it all on the line to birth her and defend her that I have the freedoms I do, and count myself truly blessed to have the opportunity to be an American.

There is Capt. David Perry (1741-1826), a soldier of the French and Revolutionary War.  He wrote a book, Recollections of an Old Soldier, that is quite rare (only two copies are still known to exist) that details his "experiences from the time he was sixteen years old until 1776 - during which period he was a soldier with Abercrombie at Ticonderoga, then with Wolfe at Quebec, then in 1762 with the British in Newfoundland and finally with Washington at the siege of Boston."  He truly saw and experienced the birth of our nation first hand.  He is of the line that Joey used to become a "Son of the American Revolution" this past summer.

There is Rich's great-great- grandfather, John Bainbridge, who was an immigrant from England who answered the call to serve by enlisting in the New York 64th Volunteers during the Civil War.  He lost his life following the battle of Fredircksburg, VA and is buried in Washington, D.C. leaving his wife and two young sons.

I think of my great-great-great grandfather, Erastus Bingham, Jr., and UnclesThomas Bingham, Thomas and Elijah Freeman of Company B and David and Lott Smith of Company E who enlisted in the Mormon Battalion to fight for the United States in the Mexican War, even though the Saints had left the boundaries of the United States and had been so cruelly treated by its government and some of its citizens.  There will be some who believe they only went for the money, but there is ample evidence that the Saints still felt a loyalty and allegiance to the United States and belief in her and her cause that compelled them to join the fight.  

As a girl, living in Germany, I often had opportunity to be on a military installation during retreat or taps. I frequently visited military theaters and always thrilled as the audience stood for the national anthem prior to the movie.  I loved living in El Centro and going to the fireworks display for the 4th of July and hearing Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA" over the speakers.  Etched into my memory forever will be the streets of Elizabethtown, KY all the way to Fort Knox lined with Americans and American flags proudly and solemnly waving following 9/11.  I understood the surge of patriotism that rushed in our hearts and the desire of so many to defend her.  

I've been working on my "Moroni Quilt" for a very, very, very long time.  It is nearly done.  Today I hope to finish the quilting in the border which reads, "The Title of Liberty".  Along two of the borders I have quilted CTR shields.  It reminds me that we are a divinely established nation.  Unique in all the world.  And that we have been great because we have been good.  We have loved The Lord and tried to do the right thing for the right reason, not unlike Moroni of long ago.  And, gratefully we honor the men and women who have and continue to defend us.  May we always strive to be worthy of the Lord's blessings.