Fridays with Kimball

For the time being, I (yes, me, me, me!!!) have the awesome and lucky privilege of taking care of Kimball for several hours every Friday while Ashley and Jordan are off doing something un-Kimball-ish, thus un-fun, like boring old work and/or school. Who's the winner in this equation? (Yes, me, me, me!!!) Here is today's edition of the most darling grandbaby ever!
Just what, exactly, do you suppose he's dreaming about with that sly little grin on his face? Oooo, he is so cute!

It Doesn't Get Much Better Than This, Folks

Baby Kimball is all set for his first car ride as he heads home from the hospital. See how he revs up his infant car seat and shifts it into gear--he is very advanced for his age.

Kimball absolutely adores his mommy and daddy. He turns his head toward them whenever he hears them talking; he is such a smart and alert little boy. He has won my complete heart already.

Look at Kimball checking out his mom and dad. He's just making sure that his mommy and daddy are following through with their part of "The Contract." Kimball's part of "The Contract" is to eat, sleep, cry, mess, melt hearts, create smiles, prompt laughs, and bring boundless amounts of love into his family. Mommy and Daddy's part of "The Contract" is to feed, change, rock, never sleep, worry, bath, wash, fold, (take a breath), feed, change, rock, never sleep, worry, . . . AND receive an inconceivable amount of joy and love, never imagine life without this spirit, give thanks for such a miracle, enjoy, enjoy, enjoy, relish, marvel, oh!, and cough up a sweet little roadster in about 16 years. (Kimball whispered that last part to me.)

Great Grandma Bea had a lively "get acquainted" visit with Kimball, but I swear I caught her telling him all of the family secrets when we weren't watching . . .

This is when Great Grandma Bea was telling Kimball what an exceptionally wonderful Grandma Dee he has, and she was also warning him not to jump off of rooftops with an umbrella or a kite like one of his great uncles did--twice! (Great uncle shall remain nameless).

I'm telling you, it just doesn't get much better than this. A miracle has happened. It is so wonderful, so spiritual, so miraculous, so joyful. It is difficult to describe the enormous blessing of expanded love that Heavenly Father so freely gives to our hearts. Just when you think that you can't possibly love anyone any more than you love your family, . . . boom!!! . . . there is this new, tender, sweet little spirit that fills your heart with unspeakable and indescribable amounts of love, and you wonder what you ever did without him. Honestly, it is a miracle. That's all there is to it. It makes me weep with joy. I can hardly believe how blessed we are.

The "High Society" Jet Set

Turning 16 years old is something of a marker or milestone in one's life, so I asked Christian if he would like to have a party to celebrate this significant birthday. I threw out suggestions of typical teenager-ish stuff to do, but when I said we could host a very lovely and very formal dinner at our home, he was all over that! So, Dave and I were sous chef and chef, respectively, and Christian played the perfect suave and debonair host. It was a magical evening, and the guests were on their very best behavior and showed perfect manners and genteel upbringing (for the most part . . . the whoopi cushion? Well, we could have done without that . . . jk). Here, then, is the menu as well as some photographs of the latest crop of jet setters:

Chez Sagers

December 12, 2008

MENU

***

Salad Course

Fresh Exotic Greens, Colored Peppers,

Grape Tomatoes, Seasoned Croutons, Choice of Dressing

***

Soup Course

Creamy Cheddar Broccoli Soup

or

Hearty Chicken Pasta Soup

***

Palate Cleanser

Trio of Miniature Raspberry Sherbet Balls

***

Entree'

Breaded Chicken Cordon Bleu

Twice Baked Potatoes with Bacon, Cheddar Cheese and Herbs

Crisp Pears and Globe Grapes

***

Dessert

New York Cheesecake with Caramel and Chocolate Drizzle

or

Mile High Chocolate Cake with Dark Chocolate Icing

***

Sparkling Grape Cider

Sparkling Apple Cranberry Cider

***

Happy 16th birthday

to my handsome boy!

Cheers!

Baby Kimball is Here!

Baby Kimball was born last night at 7:51 p.m. weighing in at a whopping 8 lb. 12 oz. and measuring 20 1/2" long. Ashley and Jordan are giddy with happiness, as am I! Isn't he beautiful! More details and pictures to come . . .

A Very, Very Wise Man

Wise beyond his years. Mature beyond his years. And he looks adorable in a crown!

Counting Down the Hours . . .

Doesn't Ash look so darling! I think that being pregnant has totally agreed with her. She has been glowing and looking so radiant throughout the entire nine months. But now I'm ready to get this show on the road, although I'm still gunning for December 30. If you haven't placed your bets about the delivery date, there is still time, but you better do it soon (obviously)! Remember, this lovely prize or this lovely prize awaits the winner.

I CAN HARDLY WAIT!!!

For that Special Someone on Your List

Yay! I know all of you have that one person on your list that is sooooooo difficult to buy for either because you don't dare guess their size (major offenses could be given and/or taken), or they are so crazy picky about their stuff that even a darling trinket arriving in the famous pale blue box from Tiffany & Co. wouldn't satisfy. Your troubles are over, my friend, because have I got just the thing for you (and your impossible-to-buy-for special someone)!

My local newspaper basically did my shopping for me when it recently ran this advertisement for . . . are you ready? . . . "A Thoughtful Gift--Give someone you love the added comfort of an extra tall toilet with the beauty of fine European design." SOLD! Say no more! This item just screams "thoughtful gift," does it not? I especially like the "elongated seat design" feature. Nice. Ooo and looky! It comes with a beautiful red bow perched right on top so your gift wrapping chore is done. What more could anyone ask for? You give this little beauty away, and you and your gift will be the talk of the family for years, guar-an-teed!

16 Has Never Been Sweeter!

CHRISTIAN IS 16!!!!!!

BRING IT ON!

BRING ON THE DRIVING!

BRING ON THE DATING

BRING ON THE CRAZINESS!

BRING IT ALL ON!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HANDSOME, HANDSOME PRINCE!

Can I just say for the record that I must be the luckiest, most blessed, and certainly the most grateful mom in the whole universe! It is a PRIVILEGE to be the mom of Christian--to be able to learn from his steady and mature example, to watch him grow in his faith and abilities, to see his compassion and care for others, to observe his natural leadership in action, to have the unbelievable joy of being with him and his happy personality every day. It is almost too much to take in and certainly more than I deserve, but I'll take it, for sure. I thank my Heavenly Father every day for my sweet Christian whom I absolutely adore with all of my heart.

I LOOOOOOOVVVE YOU!!!!!!!

Quote of the Week

As we walked into the room and greeted my mom, she thoroughly and deliberately looked Christian up and down and authoritatively declared that he wasn't completely dressed. My head immediately whipped around, and I glared at Christian to see if by some chance he had missed something when we left the house: Shoes? Check. Shirt? Check. PANTS?!!!! Thank goodness, this time, check.

We both looked back at my mom and at the same time said something really intelligent like, "huh?" She grinned back at us and said, "Well, Christian, you aren't fully dressed without a girl on each arm!" She is a master of the bon mot, my mom!

Epilogue: What makes this hilarious is that we had met my mom for a BYU basketball game the night prior and yes, you guessed it--Christian had a girl on each arm!

Dear Santa

Dear O Mighty One, Deliverer of Many Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifles (you'll shoot your eye out, kid), and Wetsy Betsy Dolls, and Mercedes SLKs, O Supreme Ho, Ho, Ho-er, and Master of the Twinkley Eye and Finger Aside One's Nose:

What was I thinking with it being so close to Christmas and all?! Mr. Santa, you know that I was just kidding! about the bowling lawsuit that I blogged about in my previous post, don't you? I mean, seriously. Jk there! Heehee! Good one! You know that there never was a "Wally Griswold v. Bowler #2" Complaint No. 19043 filed with The Fourth District Court to be heard before the Honorable Judge David Sam, don't you??? Please don't put us on your naughty list. Please don't put us on your naughty list. Please don't put us on your naughty . . .

She Puts Me to Shame

Can you believe this woman? Mom is about two months shy of being 91 years old (or young!), and yet she keeps up with the perkiest of us. As is our tradition, we went bowling over the Thanksgiving weekend to work off the thigh-clinging whip cream and the gut-busting gravy, and Mom wasn't about to be left out of that classy activity! She is one amazing gal, let me tell you: after bowling, we went over to her house where she soundly beat everyone at the table at Yahtzee, and she didn't even cheat (as far as I could see . . . although we played with her dice, and her dice had some holes drilled in them . . . is that something we should be concerned about? holes in the dice? . . . maybe that's why Mom has suddenly been driving off to Las Vegas a lot . . . and maybe that explains the new 62" flat screen she has hanging on the wall in her bedroom . . . jk about the 62-incher, but not about the holes in the dice . . . .) She even scored a Yahtzee while the rest of us had to fill in with great big bloby ZEROS. And so the thing about it is, that she doesn't even realize how phenominal she is. She just continues on her cheery way cruising around like she was a spring chicken of 65. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, pleeeeeeze, I beg of you, for the love of Pete, let me have her genes!

The girl in the background is totally trying to memorize Mom's technique

Christian was the big bowling Kahuna, outscoring us by almost double--and he didn't even need the bumpers this week!

Look at the twinkle in Jordan's eyes--he can't wait for baby Kimball to pop out and join the Professional Bowling Tour for 2009

Heehee. It looks like Ashley accidentally swallowed one of the bowling balls Check it out: they're identical in size, about the same weight, . . . hmmm . . . oh my . . .one of the balls did turn up missing. Waaaaaite a minute . . . wha . . . "Calling Dr. Bombay! Calling Dr. Bombay! Emergency! Come right away!"Marian makes any occasion a reason to laugh and be merry ("Merry-an!)In an effort to avoid another lame-O lawsuit (so annoying), Dave has started taking the precaution of bellowing, "FORE!" as he hurls his ball down the lane with enough force to bust through the wall and pin down one of the food court workers by her hairnet on the other side I'm not telling my score. But please note the darling hot pink ball I'm heave-ho-ing, so no worries.

MoMS

While acknowledging that I totally ripped off this idea from a friend who lives out of state (thanks!), I decided to form my own little support group of moms who have children serving LDS missions or serving in the military. Hence, MoMS: Mothers of Missionaries and Servicemen. My goal is to have a blast. Oh. And to also share stories and ideas, eat, hang out, commiserate, boast, rejoice, party hearty, and help each other as we navigate our way through the years that our kids are off serving.

We had our first lunch n' gab at Barbacoa. It was WAY fun as most of the moms had pictures or emails or stories to share from their kids. I've decided that being able to blab, blab, blab until our tongues nearly freeze up is kind of a woman's thing, but as Martha Stewart would say, "It's a good thing."