Lucky Number 13

I have returned from a busy and joyous ten day visit to St. George.  I will highlight our different activities not in order of importance, but in chronological order. 

On Saturday the 24th, we had an early birthday party for Alvie.  We celebrated with friends and family at Pirate’s Island, a very fun themed restaurant/extravaganza. 

Alvie, who is absolutely OBSESSED with footballs, received three different footballs in gift bags.  Remember that fact…it will be important later in my narrative.

Monday was THE BIG DAY.  For Alvie’s actual birthday, Sarah and Sean decided to have a baby.  I would like to officially introduce our thirteenth grandchild, Ezra Michael Taylor, born at about 4:00 p.m. on the 26th.  He weighed 7lbs. 13 oz. and is 21 inches long.  For reference purposes, you should know that he was the same length as Alvie but 3 lbs. lighter.  He is a long, lean fellow.

Clare was at her sister’s side as official delivery room photographer and hair braider.  Because of the H1N1 business, only two designated people were allowed to be in the hospital with Sarah before, during and after the birth.  We felt like Sean should get a front row seat and gave the other to Clare, who wanted to check out the whole birth thing before she does it herself next month.

As you can see, Ezra is a very handsome young man and a wonderful addition to the Taylor line-up.  Ashton adores him.  He can’t stop saying how cute he is and loves to hold him.  So far, Alvie is pretty much pretending he doesn’t exist.

Unfortunately, but not unexpectedly, Ezra developed a little jaundice by the end of the week and had to spend two days under the lights.  This seemed to actually spark a little interest in Alvie.

On a couple of occasions, people came to the house to meet Ezra and bring him a gift…in gift bags.  Each time, Alvie grabbed the bags and started rummaging through the tissue paper, discarding baby blankets and outfits, saying, “Football…football!”

Of course, we celebrated Halloween while we were there.  We went with Sean and the boys to their ward’s trunk-or-treat and chili cook-off (Is there something in the church handbook that requires chili to be served on Halloween?).  That night, Sean’s band, Eric the Red, played a late show and they dressed as The Wiggles.  I did the shirts with the Wiggles logos for the five band members with a little long-distance formatting assist from Emily.

Finally, two funny photos before I move on to a different topic.  On the left, you have Clare and Sarah getting ready to go to the hospital.  On the right, you have Sean and Ashton, both just up from naps with the accompanying bed-heads:

On a serious note…during the past ten days I have been very inspired on several occasions by the faithful examples of our  elderly brothers and sisters.   The patience and kindness with which my Dad cares for my Mother is nothing short of saintly.   And my Mother, although she is slipping further into her dementia and disability, still clings to the importance of family and prayer.  I saw other examples which brought me to tears and near-tears.  As I turned the corner from my parents’ house one afternoon, I saw two ladies crossing the street.  They were both well into their eighties and were linked arm in arm, both of them bent over and walking with careful steps.  They were dressed up and one of them was carrying the current issue of The Ensign.  I’m sure they were doing their visiting teaching.  At trunk-or-treat, we saw several elderly couples who had gone to the trouble of decorating their trunks to pass out candy, although they had no children or grandchildren of their own in the ward.  It was wonderful to watch their genuine enjoyment.   On fast Sunday, in Mom and Dad’s ward, we listened to several moving testimonies born by older folks who have had their willfulness and egos burned off by the refiner’s fire and are now left with the pure love of Christ shining in their faces.  I want to be just like them…