Family Time

It has been 110 for the last four days here in Phoenix. It is a bit of challenge for me when it get this hot this early, but that is the price we pay for beautiful, snowless winters here in the desert. We spent most of last week in Utah (where the temperatures were much cooler) with family. Our oldest grandson is now eight years old and he was baptized, so we were all very happy to be able to be part of this milestone in his life.

Here is my son-in-law and grandson ready for the baptism. They both looked so handsome all dressed in white. My son-in-law did the honors and baptized his son.

Big brother is such a great example to his younger sister and brother.

My daughter, her husband and children (baby #4 on the way). By this time, my oldest grandson was sick of the picture taking and had started making faces.

There were six baptisms at the church house the same day. This chart showed guests the rooms in the church where each baptismal service was being held.

Here are the grandchildren ready for the service.

Great grandma, Charly's mother, was able to attend. She has late stage Parkinson's Disease and has a great deal of difficulty getting around, but thanks to Charly, Josh and Charly's sister, she was able to come share this special time with her first great grand-child.

Great grandma brought a gift for the Baptism Boy...

...a new set of scriptures.

After the baptism, there was a brunch for family and friends back at my daughter and son-in-law's home.

Everyone ate and visited and some people took the opportunity to take a little nap...

There were more gifts to help this guy remember his special day.

It was nice that Charly's mom was able to come.

Everyone had some special moments with her, but it was apparent that she is becoming weaker and more frail day by day.

We took lots family pictures since we don't know when we will all be together again. This is Charly's sister, Charly and his mom.

Josh, Charly and Charly's mom.

Josh, his sister and their grandma.

Charly and I with two of our four - youngest daughter and youngest son.

Also on this trip, we were able to spend some time at the temple. Here is Josh at the Bountiful, Utah temple which isn't far from the home where my parents lived when I was in high school.

We had fun eating out...

...and eating in. This is our youngest grandson eating strawberries with ketchup on them. Hey, why not? He likes strawberries and he likes ketchup, so why not combine the two? He seemed to think it was a pretty good idea.

We went for some walks...

read stories...

and just hung out and enjoyed each other's company.

We left Utah after church Sunday afternoon and drove as far as Las Vegas. We stopped for the night and stayed in the Wyndham time share resort, of which we are members. I am not a huge fan of Las Vegas, but I do like the Wyndham resort there. The rooms are large and luxurious, which great views, unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures this trip. We did make it to Vegas early enough in the evening to visit the Las Vegas temple grounds. It was a nice way to end our long drive from Utah.

Josh liked walking around the temple grounds and feeling the special peaceful spirit there. He also enjoyed meeting and talking to a couple of Mormon missionaries, especially since he will soon be joining their ranks.

The missionaries took a picture of our family in front of this beautiful temple.

After a night in Las Vegas, we drove back to Phoenix through Flagstaff and stopped and ate lunch at one of our favorite places, The Dog Haus. By this time, Josh was tired from the long drive and sick of smiling for pictures. Charly tried the Slaw Dogs which were on sale for only .99 cents. He liked his so much that we all tried the slaw dogs and agree they are very tasty indeed!

The day after we got home, I took Josh back to his old high school to pick up his grade transcripts. He asked me if I wanted to walk the campus with him while no other students were there, so we did. I took picture of him at the table where he ate lunch almost every day during his senior year.

Here is Josh on the campus where he spent so much time during the last four years of his life.

Lots of memories here - good and not so good.

Josh especially like this sign which was hanging on a fence by the football field. While he did well and had some good times in high school, he didn't really enjoy his senior year and is happy that he doesn't have to go back. He gets to move forward with a new life adventure!

There is much to do today. We have another little family outing coming up that preparations need to be made for. Josh is going on a fishing/camping trip with the Boy Scouts from church this weekend and he needs to get ready for that. There is house cleaning to be done, clothes to be washed, laundry soap to be made, the pool to be cleaned...the list goes on and on. Still it is good to take a few minutes to be grateful for family and the time we are able to spend together enjoying each other's love and companionship.

Joining today with Lisa at Home to 4 Kiddos for the Hearts to Home blog hop.