Junie Pearl

I am a little late in posting this, but I figure what the heck. I love the pictures and I love to brag about my new grand-baby. Enjoy!

A week before her due date, Junie Pearl made her appearance. She came with all ten fingers and toes, weighing in at 6lb 13oz.  She is a sweet little darling and even though she was in the hospital a little longer than planned, because she and mom had a fever at birth, she is perfect. 

 She came with a nice head of brown hair, blue eyes and a calm personality. 

Uncle Kyle came down from BYU-Idaho to meet her and I came in by way of Las Vegas with grandma Bec. Bec is my dear friend and my grandkids are her grandkids. Kerin wanted to make sure Bec was coming and every time she would call to check plans I was reminded that she expected Bec to be with me for as long as she could. Junie Pearl is named after Kerin's dear friend Destiny Pearl, that died as a result of a car crash a few years back.  I love the name and I think it fits our new little bundle perfect.

 Junie came home from the hospital on my birthday. There is nothing like holding a new baby andI loved I present.

 Uncle Kyle was a sweetheart and stayed with us through the weekend. He even had the joy of hanging out with the old ladies! He is such a good guy and it was great to see him.  (p.s. he is still single ladies! what a catch!)

Within 5 days Junie was back to her birth weight and  was soon past it and hasn't stopped growing

I love these last pictures. I took them just before I left to come home. She really is a sweet angel. 

Prometheus

Through all of our comings and goings the last few months, Karly managed to find time for Prom. It's at moments like this I realize what a "girl" house we live in and feel a little sorry for my boys, but only a little.

For the first time in my life, a formal gown was purchased for prom. You read that right, we bought Karly's prom dress. It was a harsh reality and Karly and Kim were very patient with me as I had my multiple melt downs. Only I could have melt downs over not spending hours at the sewing machine, with expensive fabric, doing detailed sewing. With visits to see grandpa and new baby Junie, it was the best choice. I did get to make some adjustments to the dress, that can not be machine washed or dry cleaned, augh! Who buys that kind of dress?

Kassey came over and helped with make-up and hair, and her specialty, pictures. She didn't take any of these pictures, though; I still haven't loaded hers on to our computer.

Karly looked beautiful and was actually ready early, I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact that we bought her dress. 

Her date was a little late because he couldn't find the house, happens all the time, so she and Kloe had a little wii bonding time.

 She went with a friend from school, Jake Dahlberg and they had a BLAST! Jake was voted class clown, so when the two of them get together Karly is her silly, goofy self and fun is had by all. They have all sorts of inside jokes that keep things hopping, note the candy cane on Jake flowers.

The friends all gathered at one house for pictures and our kids were the funnest and best looking. 

A party van and stretch hummer were their rides. I don't know how many kids were at the house, but when it was time to leave, they just kept come out of the house. Of corse Karly and Jake were the last to stop taking pictures, they're a couple of hams. They ate at Buca di Beppo's and almost filled the whole place, then on to prom at a yacht club down in Seattle on the Puget Sound. One of my favorite things about the night was cost of prom tickets, $15 a person, what a deal. It's nice to have a prom that the kids can actually pay for themselves. I don't even think tickets were that cheep back in my day.

Goodbye Grandpa . . . .for now

On January 21, 1935 Richard Allen Porterfield was born, on May 7, 2010 he went home to his Father in Heaven. 

He was born and raised in Bellflower, California when it was still a small city with lots of open land that was wonderful for a curious young man to explore.

He grew up with a fishing pole in his hand and a rife on his back. He loved nature and shared that love with all. Roads and fences were meant to be ignored, and as far as he was concerned, fishing licences were an unnecessary detail. Life was meant to be lived and we were meant to laugh while living.

He was an old time skier, back when there were only rope tows. He told stories of skiing when you had the mountain to yourself and you knew the owner. I remember going to dinner with him to the restaurant at Sundance ski resort and seeing Robert Redford come in with his daughter. After dinner, he went over to Robert Redford, and as only he could do, talked to him about the ski resorts before it was Sundance. Grandpa was a ski instructor there, while going to BYU and just wanted to tell him how much he like the

 improvements that had been made to the resort. Mr. Redford was very nice about it and they had a very sincere conversation. I remember standing next to him so nervous, but he talked so calm and could have cared less that he was talking to a famous person.

Grandpa's family meant everything to him and he was great about spending as much time as he could with his family.

 His children all have great memories of family times together, camping trip and hunting trips to Mexico and Idaho. Great memories were shared at the funeral services of road trips, ski trips and scout outings. He loved music and was known for his massive stereo system. It was not uncommon to drive up to the house on Pecan and hear the stereo blaring outside. He loved good food, malts and his cars.

He adored his grandchildren and told each of them that they were his favorite, and he meant it and they believed him. When they called to talked to him he always listened and was very interested in what they had to say. He sincerely cared about their activities, their friends and their feelings. When my daughter's friend was baptised, he and Jane attended, because it was important to my daughter. When my son was playing college sports, grandpa would await his call to talk to him about the game.

When it was grandparents day at the elementary school, he and Jane were there every year, as long as grandpas health permitted. He was Santa Claus for my daughters 3rd grad class, and taught my boys about the stars and birds for scouts.

He had a contagious smile and a wonderful laugh. He loved to play jokes on people, sing, dance and wrestle with his kids, grand-kids and their friends.

While we were living in Germany we were lucky enough to have lots of visits and we will cherish those memories of time spent with him. 

Grandpa had not had good health for the last ten years or so and was diagnosed with a brain tumor in April. I am sad, but also grateful for the time we were able to have him in our earthly lives.

The only thing that grandpa loved more than his family was the Savior. He loved to talk to people about the Savior and share his testimony with them.

His funeral service was more of a family gathering with lots of memories shared by the people that loved him most.  One of my favorite quotes from the funeral is from Kraiger,  "My dad was my John Wayne". Grandpa will be missed by all he knew.

Sweetness

So maybe it's not "Us, day to day", more like now and then, but you get the idea.

I must share the sweetest thing of the day -

Two of our grandsons, Mack and Henry, are staying with us while their mom and dad are on a business trip. We came home from church today and did the normal stuff. After lunch, Henry (age 2) had decided to take in a little golf with his grandpa. He walked into the the living-room where Kim was watching the Masters and happily shouted "GOLF", and climbed up next to grandpa Kim to watch the game. He looked tired so I told him it was time for a nap, he replied "NO" and laid his head on a sofa pillow next to grandpa. I went and got his blanket thinking it would help him give into the idea of a nap, but I was told no again and this time he held his little pudgy hand up when he said it, but he took his blanket. He just wanted to watch golf with his grandpa; within 5 minutes he was sound asleep.
I wish little ones could stay sweet like this forever!