ALAN IS HOW OLD?

Today is Alan's birthday.  But it is one of those crazy busy days and I have not made time to do a blog about all the things I love about him.  Check back later today.  I am off to my third Sacrament Meeting for the day.  He will be in meetings for six hours. 

Happy Birthday, Alan!  I love you.  Hope it isn't too bad going to meetings for the whole day.  Here are a few pictures of his life.  I will add more before the day is over.

Here is  the rest:

Alan has created this room with his hunting/cowboy trophies.  He is comfortable here.

Cute baby.  I didn't have the one that his dad got when he was overseas during WWII when he didn't even know whether he had a son or daughter.  The page of the letter telling what he had was lost the rest of the letter just said "the baby."  He said he looked like something that crawled out from under a rock.  I think he was cute.  He had as much dark hair as I did when born.  Consequently, we had six little hairy babies.

Alan, obviously on the left, had three brothers.  Dan was not born yet here.  John is the baby and Roy on the right with Dad, Burke, in the middle.  They were a rowdy bunch.  Mary was a wonderful boys' mother.  We miss her.

Handsome Alan before his mission.  If I were a good wife with lots of time, I would find an old picture from his mission.  He still tells many stories from his Southwest British mission.  It totally changed his life and mine.

Here is Alan, the returned missionary I married.

Here is our little family.  I have posted this before.  Wish I took the time to find a different one. 

Here are some random things about Alan that I love.  There are too many to put them all here:

1.  He is a true and worthy patriarch of a wonderful family.  He has been my partner in loving and raising our six plus one children.  We have not been perfect parents, but our children, their spouses, and our grandchildren are pretty great people despite our failings.  Alan ruled with an iron hand and a loving arm to draw them to him.  He used his priesthood often and with inspiration to bless our home, our health, our struggles, and souls. 

2.  Alan is passionate about his hobbies.  He has always been a hunter.  I did not know what that meant when I married him.  I found out when he was late to the temple because he couldn't miss the morning dove hunt and then left me six out of the first nine weekends we were married (1 wedding 2 honeymoon 3 move to Utah 4-9 hunting)

I only have pictures of bird hunting.  He especially loves bird hunting with his dogs.  But he does it all:  deer, elk, wild boar, bear (hasn't got one), antelope, caribou, whatever.  I have never had to worry about him being disappointed because he is a very good shot and gets what he is after if it is getable.

He has also had more dogs than most people can name.  He has specialized in  hunting breeds--just about every kind out there.  However, he has not limited himself to those.  We have had Old English Sheepdogs, German Shephards, Airedales, Cavaliers, and on and on and on.  He loves to breed, buy, study and search for dogs of all breeds.  Right now we have a French Brittany and a Pudlepointer.  They are both excellent hunting dogs.  They are enough for any dog lover/ hunter, don't you think?  No I didn't buy him a dog for his birthday!!

3.  Alan has kept my life from being mundane and routine.  One of our grandsons said with awe is "Our papa is a COWBOY and a HUNTER."  Alan does things that I would never have been exposed to without him.  We go to the National Finals Rodeo every year just before Christmas.  He loves all things cowboy and rodeo.  He goes on roundups and buys horses.  He tries to get me listen to cowboy music and learn to shoot.  He watches animal planet and bull riding and discovery channel and adds spice and variety to my world.

4.  He loves our grandchildren.  They love to cuddle up to him and he woos them with his love.

 

As with our children, Alan is my partner in loving, building a relationship with and being proud of our grandchildren.  He really goes out of his way to win the little ones over.

A few of them like Jack, below, especially seek Papa out and are so comfortable and safe in his arms.

He can be the fun Papa, too, huh Mackenzie?

5.  Alan love to travel and see things with me.  He will take side trips like Yosemite and enjoy whatever we are out to see.

He will go on tours with groups even though that may not be his first choice of travel methods.  It was so fun to have Jade with us in Israel a few years ago.

We walked where Christ did.

6. Alan  loves to check out the shops both when we travel and at home and especially loves to buy me things.  I have to put the stops on all the spending he loves to do on me.  He is very generous and thoughtful.

7.  I love that Alan is alive.  He was so sick three years ago this doctor, Dr Patel, who saved his life also told me he might not make it.  Luckily, I did not recognize that was what he was telling me.  As Alan fought to stay with us, I realized how much I loved and depended on him.  I am glad that he had the faith, strength, and desire to stay with me and be my companion for the rest of out lives here.

8.    I love that Alan is a good provider.  Here he is in his office.  (Oh, there are lots of hunting pictures and creatures on his office walls.  Just a note.)  He has provided a nice lifestyle for us and works still to give us what we need. 

9.  I love Alan's commitment to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  He chose to serve a mission in his youth despite a family that was not very active in the church and did not encourage him.  I love that he studied the gospel on his own and developed a testimony.  I love that he was been dedicated to the church all our marriage and served with diligence in whatever his calling has been from 11 year old scout leader to one boy to bishop or high counselor.  He is wise and seeks the direction of the spirit in all he does.

10.  I love that Alan has always made me feel loved and beautiful, whether I deserve it or not.  He is always willing to work on our marriage.  We have been married almost 42 years of the next eternity. We are best friends, working partners, share a church calling and still in love.  I dare most couples to try that. We are grateful it works so well.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ALAN!!

TRISTAN IS 14!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TRISTAN!

Our oldest grandson, Tristan has turned 14 years old today.  I can hardly believe it!  Although some of the unbelief is that he is big enough to be 18.  He is now towering over me.

Because of how time consuming it is to go through all the poorly organized,  non-digital photos that we have, I have some big age gaps in my pictures.  It is also very hard for me to choose which pictures to use, so I have lots more than I probably should.  Grandmothers (Nanas) are so sentimental!

Tristan is brand new here.  Isn't he beautiful.  He always was a big boy and he always had a ton of hair, as is the custom on our side of the family.  We are hair snobs!  Tristan is one of the winners in that contest.

Even as a very young one Tristan was a cuddly armful.

My dad's first great-grandson!  I think he was 2-3 months here.

Tristan may kill me for this picture.  Look at the legs and the cheeks on that baby

One year old now.  So cute!

Maybe 1 1/2 here.  Such personality!

With our first three grandchildren when Tristan was about 15 months.

Here are some things I especially love about Tristan Ross Orvis:

1.  He has always had great enthusiasm for the good things in life. He has a lot of fun and is always willing to try something new. Right now he is into music.  He has started playing the drums and been chosen quite young at his school to be part of an elite singing group.  I never know what new thing Tristan will be participating in, but it is usually something great.

Four wheeling with his mom, Sage and Riley.

2.  Tristan is kind.  He has a soft place in his heart for the little kids, for the dogs, and for others.  I will never forget the service he did in my name on my 60th birthday.  In school his class was supposed to split into groups and he noticed a couple of the "nerdier" kids didn't have enough members of their group.  Since he had committed to doing service for me that day, he joined their group to help them feel more accepted.  (He also got a good grade on the project since they were also smart.)  Tristan has always had many friends.  He has had kids at the door and on the phone (and now on Facebook) all his life seek him out as a friend.  I guess that means he is nice to them and fun to be with.

3.  Tristan is very loving and good with his little brothers and sisters.  That is a very good thing, since there are so many of them.  When Riley was little, his favored spot was sitting by her in the car or at dinner.  He has adored Baby Grace and...

(Holding newborn Gracie.)

(Here he has Charlie fresh from the hospital.)

...the twins.  And they just love him, too, because of it.  His mom really needs older kids that love the little ones and are willing to help out!

4.  Tristan is a natural outdoorsman and also is an expert at paintball, fourwheeling, boating, waterskiing and lots of other fun activities I don't have pictures of. He participates in Scouting and really enjoys the outdoor activities.  It is harder as you get older to do all the things scouting requires. I hope he sticks with it.

5.  I can get a smile and hug from Tristan at the drop of a hat.  I love his bear hugs when I arrive.  He used to greet me by saying, "Nana, what did you bring me?"  Now he just acts happy to see me and gives me one of those great hugs.  You don't know how much a grandmother needs that. Don't stop, Tristan.  My big grown sons still give me those kinds of hugs! 

6.  Tristan has been a hunter since he was very young.  He is a good shot and has had real success younger than some kids have even accompanied their dads on a hunt.

Papa loves to have his oldest grandson share his love of hunting and the outdoors.  He looks for ways to be with him in this interest as much as possible.

Axis deer in Florida.

Alligators? 

That is Tristan ready for the play in the very center.

7.  Tristan is willing to try new experiences. Tristan didn't start out loving athletics, but as he got older he tried football and put real effort into it.  His size and his sharp intellect make him a natural at the sport.  He learned to enjoy the contact and figure out the plays and strategy that are so important to this game.

With Steve to help coach and encourage Tristan, he really had a great couple of  years.  He also enjoyed the camaraderie with his friends as they work hard to build a team and beat the other teams.

8.  Tristan is a great example for the rest of the cousins.  Since Tristan is our oldest grandson, the choices he makes will have an impact on the younger kids, especially the boys, coming up. He is just the one to start things out right. He is our only grandson to have the priesthood, so far, and he honors it.  Though all the cousins close to his age are girls, he gets along with them so well.  There are many, many younger boys coming up who will look up to this good young man.

At our first Grand Camp with Papa.

Boogie boarding during Grand Camp.

Horseback riding was a new experience, but Tristan was a natural.

With Sage about to get wet at Magic Mountain.

9.  Tristan recognizes the Spirit.  When Sage was baptised, Tristan, who was twelve, bore his testimony in Sacrament Meeting.  It was one of my favorite experiences as a grandmother.  I was surprised when he went up to the stand, since Tristan isn't a person to seek out the limelight or attention.  He said he just couldn't stay in his seat. He said that he had felt the spirit three times in the past week.  One was right then when it pushed him out of his seat to bear his testimony.  Another was the day before when Sage was baptised.  He hadn't wanted to go see Sage get "dunked," as he said it, but gave in to his mother and went.  The baptism was fine, but then at the little family gathering between the baptism and the confirmation, his three grandmothers were asked to bear their testimonies.  He said he felt the spirit so strong at that meeting that it made it worth it to be there even on a Saturday afternoon.  The other time was when he had gone to do baptisms for the dead in the Bountiful temple earlier in the week with the ward.  Someone had discouraged him from going, saying that "baptisms for the dead are over rated."  But he had gone anyway.  He said when he came up from being immersed in the water the first time in the temple, that the spirit had washed over him and felt so good that he knew that it was the work of the Lord.  He said he wanted to feel that spirit often and be where it was strong like that.  I have never forgotten that testimony.  It is one of the best I have heard from someone that age and one of the most real.

10.  Tristan is very smart.  He grasps concepts quickly and understands.  I know he is a typical boy and hates to do homework and busy work, but his mind is sharp and his intellect is keen and he will make great use of it in his life, I am sure.  I am so proud of Tristan and who he is.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TRISTAN!!