Busy month!

Hello, everyone! Well, all my travels are over and, you know, I am kind of glad. Nikki's baptism was beautiful and one of the most spiritual experiences I have ever had. It looked like the entire single's branch was there. Her parents, brother, uncle (preacher) and his family all came. Two of her high school friends also came. Just by the looks on all their faces, I feel they were really touched by the Spirit and left wondering about everything they had seen and heard. Ever since then Nikki has just been beaming. She bore her testimony the next day about how glad she was to finally say she was a member of the Church. Nikki doesn't realize she has been living the Gospel for a long, long time. She is definitely a special daughter of God. Two friends sang "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" with an accompaniment only a concert pianist could play. It was unbelieveable. While Nikki was dressing our director of CES stood up and told the Joseph Smith story. I don't know what made him do this, but it was well received by the non-members present.
The next big day(s) of February were spent with Zack, TaMara, and Matt. We had a great time.
Zack is such a loving, obedient child. If TaMara tells him to go to time out he'll go sit on the couch, fold his arms, and get quiet. When we first walked in the door, he hugged me and just snuggled up around my neck until Dennis had to put his hands on him. It was sweet. We played and read a lot with Zack. He is wide open all the time. Friday was mostly preparation for his party on Saturday. Lee and Dianna, Zack's paternal grandparents, hosted his party at their home. All of Matt's family was there and some of the people who work with TaMara. The football pinata was quite a hit with the kids....all ages. The party really turned out nice. Zack really had fun with all the attention he was getting. He is so friendly to everybody. He walks up to every person in the room usually and says either "hi" or "hey." Even at church or in the nursery he makes sure everyone knows he is there. Matt said the other day while in the nursery Zack had all the kids in a corner just talking their ears off. You can't really understand, but it is still cute. The goodbye was really hard as expected.
Bear with me on the length of this blog. So much has been happening. This past weekend we went to see Shane's Coast Guard graduation. The whole trip started as a nightmare. We had to go through Detroit on the way to Philly. The next leg of our flight had been canceled. After pleading our case to a few people we were able to get to Philly by 1:00 a.m. Of course, the largest snow storm they had had this year came in overnight. It took us 2 1/2 hours to make a 1 1/2 hour trip. We made it with 5 minutes to spare. The ceremony was short, sweet, and to the point. The remaider of the trip included Atlantic City, New York City, the Statue of Liberty, Independence Hall, and the Liberty Bell. We packed it in and had a ball! Pictures will follow.
Thanks for taking the time to read through all this. Love you all! TaWanna

Great news means busy times for our family.

After almost 10 years of investigating the Church, Blythe's best friend Nikki is being baptized Saturday. One of the first things Nikki believed in was President Hinckley as a prophet. It is almost ironic that she be baptized on the same day of his funeral. When she learned of his passing she cried for over an hour. She will be baptized and then we will all watch the funeral.
What a spiritual day! Nikki asked Blythe and I to speak and Dennis and Shane to assist on the confirmation. We are all thrilled. I have been busy getting my talk ready, framing her one of the "Living Christ" documents, making her a glass block that says "Return with Honor" and other things. It has been nice to be busily engaged in such an event. I contacted some of those who worked with her over the years in YW, the young adult ward, and Institute and they all want to attend. My sister and mother are even coming. Just an example of Nikki's testimony: she has gone to the temple many times and sat in the waiting area while everyone else went in and worked. It didn't matter to her. Just to know she was at such a peaceful place uplifted her. I will update soon. Love to all. TaWanna

What is going on in my life.....

Hello everyone! My life consists of going to work each day, calling Dennis and each one of my children, Mama, and of course Zack! Zack will be two years old Feb. 8th and we are going out to be with him and TaMara and Matt. Can't wait for that! He can talk now and makes his SC grandparents smile every day with his sweet disposition. Around Feb. 24th Dennis and I will be going up to Cape May, New Jersey to Shane's Coast Guard Reserve Graduation. Yep, he did it.....joined the reserves on us. That is fine. He will enjoy it. No marriage prospects though. That is okay too. Blythe moved out in November. That has been weird not to have her around after all these years. We miss all our children, especially Zack! Blythe hopes to graduate this summer or next fall. We hope she does too or we are not going to have any retirement money left! Hope you have enjoyed this little bit of news. Love to all!