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!!

TWO TRIBUTES FOR MOTHERS' DAY

Mothers' Day makes me reflect on two things.  The first is these six children.  They may hate me for posting this cute picture.  (It really is the worst of me.) The other day Ashley asked me why I was "encouraging" her to have more children.  The immediate short answer is that my children have brought me so much joy and happiness, I want her to have as much as I have had.

My children and my continuing experience at being a mother, in partnership with Alan and our Father in Heaven, is without doubt the best thing on this earth to happen to me.  I would have loved to have more children and they always wanted more brothers and sisters.  As my last grew up, the loss I felt at not directly parenting left such an empty place.  The love I feel for them knows no limits or boundaries.  It is the most eternal connection I feel on this earth.  As hard as infinite is to comprehend, I cannot imagine my love for them ever ending and I have a shadow of a memory that lets me know I have loved them before they came into this world.

Look who they grew up to be!  Could I be more blessed? 

The answer is a resounding YES!  Look who they have brought into my life, that I love also for all eternity.  We are 37 in this picture and we have grown to 41 and counting as of today. 

At the same time I have been missing my sweet mother today.  It is Mothers' Day and I have no one to call and apolgize for being slow mailing my card or gift.  I still have a file of Mothers' Day cards I did not get to send.  I can't tell her any more times that she was the best mother anyone could have and that she has been my example for all the good things I have tried to do.

Marjorie Paulson was 16 years old here.

After a whirlwind WWII romance she married Reed E. Price in the Salt Lake Temple.

A few years later Ron arrived followed by their favorite child:  Nancy Ann

Eventually, there were six of us.  Living in this family was and is a blessing in my life that I am so grateful for.

At their 50th Wedding Anniversary Party.

No one has made me feel as loved unconditionally as my mother.  No one else believed in me as much as my mother.  NO ONE has ever been as blind to my faults as my mother.  No one I know has been as consistently cheerful throughout their life as my mother.  No one was as genuinely interested in other people as Mom.  Her charitable, unselfish, loving life will always be my shining star example to try to emulate, as she emulated the Savior.  I am trying to pass that tradition on through the ages, though I fall short.  Luckily, I have daughters that see beyond themselves and are naturally charitable themselves.  I miss my Mom.  I know she is so happy where she is, because she was happy wherever she might be.  I hope to have enough time left to become worthy of being where she is.  I hope she can see this wonderful family she left behind and take joy in their many accomplishments.  She would be so proud of  her grandchildren that she loved so much and now great grandchildren.  I love you Mom. Happy Mothers' Day.

OUR PHD'S

I meant to post this during "my month" of posts, but never finished it.  There are some events that need to be memorialized.  So here I go.  Todd actually defended his thesis and was awarded his degree back in September 2008.  But MIT did not have a graduation ceremony for him to walk until the following June.  We were unable to go to the presentation of his thesis and Todd's parents were in Europe when he actually graduated.  It is nice to be covered by two sets of parents.  We were so proud of all the hard work and diligence that it took for Todd to receive his PhD in Bio Engineering from MIT, that it certainly warranted a trip back to Boston, even though he now had a great job with McKinsey Consulting and they lived in New York City.

Here is the scene and the pageantry.  We were so far away from the actual ceremony!

We could see him best by watching the giant Teletron in front of us.

He came straight down to where we were sitting.  MIT gave out every degree for the whole year in one ceremony.  One reader read the names from the first of the alphabet and the other did it from the middle of the alphabet.  Consequently, Todd was on about the last page of the graduates.  It was about two hours of reading names as fast as they could.  We left as soon as he was called.

They should give wives with three small sons their own PhD for holding down the fort while he is absorbed in earning a degree like this.

We were happy to celebrate this day with Todd.

I was trying to get the hood in as well in this picture.

The wise and not as wise solving the problems of the world.

PhD or not one of his main jobs is helping to raise these boys which includes stroller duty.

Then in July of 2009, Sam defended his thesis in bio-informatics at NC State.  Because the scheduling was changed so many times, Alan was not able to go with me back to Raleigh to observe this process.  I must say I was a long way from understanding all of Sam's presentation even though he went over it with me beforehand.  I didn't feel so bad when one of the statistics professors on the committee he appeared in front of did not seem to understand all of it either since it was in a different niche than hers.

This is one of the men on his PhD committee, a man he worked with at Glaxo, Smith, Kline and a great mentor for Sam.  He is also a member of the church and participated in writing Sam's paper with him.

Here Sam is calling his dad to report he had been given his PhD.  Not the terminology exactly and he still had some finishing to do on the paper, but it was a huge accomplishment to be finished.

Lindsay was probably even more excited and relieved than Sam.  Sometimes it seems like this process will go on forever.  It isn't like undergraduate work where you do all the requirements for a semester, take all the tests and write finite papers and then you get a grade and the class is over. 

He is the Man!

And then the man goes home and plays with his boys!

NC State had a graduation ceremony for Sam to participate in December.  In the meantime he was hired by Duke University by the department he had been doing work for as a PhD candidate.

Here is the set up and pageantry at the University.  We were thrilled when they only had the PhD candidates walk up to the stand and be awarded their degrees one by one by name.  All the others stood as a group and were pronounced graduated.  They picked up their diplomas later.  It was a much quicker ceremony but still had my son properly individually recognized.

We had good seats, but the Teletron was still the best close up.  This one is perfect for showing Sam!

Alan's camera was having serious problems with focus, but it did the telephoto lens pretty well

A little justified pride in his step!

Lindsay was home with a week old baby so we brought Reed with us.  For some reason, when the ceremony was over, Reed took off up the stairs through the crowds and was immediately lost.  Alan and I  went in opposite directions and searching for him.  It took at least 15 minutes before security notified us that they had him finally.  So Sam did not get much congratulations for a few minutes.  Then our camera was so bad that we only got this picture and a lot of blurry ones immediately after.

I took this one with my cell phone and it was a little better.

Sam, the PhD, is showing how brilliant he really is.

This new baby was a bonus for our visit.  She wasn't due until the day before, but was 9 days old when he graduated.  I think this is his real treasure.

If it weren't Christmas, we would have loved to stay longer.  But we were so glad we could be there.

What a great graduation/ Christmas present this little Ruby was!

We are so proud of the dedication, hard work and perseverance of these two young men and their families.  It will pay off for years to come.

KATE'S DAY!

Can you believe she is three years old today? She has grown up so much and fills our hearts. 

Here are some things I love about Kate Lindsey Tobler:

1.  She has such a beautiful little Tobler face.

2.  She is a happy, darling little girl.

3.  She is a smarty pants!  She has grown up so fast. Quick to talk, quick to learn.  3 going on 12.

Loves sunglasses and bathing suits.

4. She says funny things. "I need skinny jeans." and "Mom, that's the thing, you're not the boss."

A year ago when Kate turned two.

5.  Kate is a girl through and through.  She loves babies, dolls, and pink frills.

6.  She is growing out of shy and loves Nana and Papa.

7.  Kate is a very strong personality and continues to exert her will the older she gets.

8.  Kate loves her family.

With Mom

9.  Did I say she is cute? (Kate with her cousin Sam.)

10.  Kate loves her brother Jack and loves to do what he does.