Grandma X 9

My ninth grandchild is making his way into this world as I type these words and his imminent appearance has got me thinking about things like life, family and grandparenting.

Life is such a miracle!  As each of my own children and now my grandchildren have made their way to this earth I can't help but marvel at the miracle of the human body and soul.  This little boy who is struggling to push his way out into this marvelous world has been loved since the moment we all knew he was in his mommy's tummy.  We have been speculating as to what he would look like and what fun personality he will contribute to our ever expanding family.  He is real to us and has been since we knew he was coming.  There are so many things that babies learn inside the womb that I had no idea about until we were blessed with sweet baby Rylie who came way too early to learn lots of those things and is now trying to learn them on the outside which, apparently is much harder and takes much longer than doing it the natural way.  The natural way is perfect and not an accident or a haphazard jumble of events.  God made spirits and bodies and they are perfect and wonderful and miraculous.  I can't wait to meet my next best buddy:)

As we all gather around our phones awaiting the news of our new arrival I also marvel at the miracle of family.  I love the people who share my last name so much that I know I didn't just know them in this life.  I'm sure I knew and loved them before because our bond is so strong and so sweet that it must be celestial.  I have no idea how it works but I'm sure that the Moore family was destined to be made up of the 22 people that currently make up who we are.  Family is forever and in our case, Forever Moore.

Lastly, I'd like to touch on the miracle of "Grandparenthood".  This is such a different love from the love of a parent to a child.  There is definitely a sense of knowing each other before this life.  None of my grandchildren live close to me and it always amazes me that no matter how much time passes between their visits the bond between those babies and me is instant.  Even when they are too little to know or remember who I am, they come right to me and aren't afraid at all.  When they should be clinging to their moms because a "stranger" is slobbering all over them, they come right to me and snuggle me.  They KNOW how much I love them.  They can sense it and they feel the bond of family, I'm sure of it.  To me, there is nothing stronger than the bond of family and I love mine with everything in me.  I thank the Lord daily for giving me these people to spend the rest of eternity with.

Family Favorites

I may or may not have shared these desserts on here before but since I am of a certain age I can't remember so I am either doing it again or doing it for the first time :)  These are a couple of our family favorite desserts and they are both super easy so I am sharing them with you.

The first doesn't have a name so you can name it whatever you want.  The ingredients are:

Ritz crackers
Peanut Butter
Dark chocolate dipping chocolates

All you do is put peanut butter between two Ritz crackers and then dunk the whole thing in melted dipping chocolate and let it sit for a couple of minutes until it's dry.  You can do this with any combination of cracker or cookie (Oreos would be good) but the combination of the salt in the cracker, the peanut butter and the chocolate is out of this world!  Makes a ton and is super fast and easy.

The second is called the Homemade Oreo.  The ingredients for this one are:

2 boxes of Devils Food cake
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups of shortening
favorite flavor of frosting

Mix up the first 3 ingredients and then roll them in small balls and bake on a cookie sheet for 8 minutes at 350 degrees.  Let cool and then put two cookies together with your favorite frosting in between.

Just in time for the holidays!  Enjoy:)

Football Funeral

This past spring my son got released from the BYU football team and I think it will come as a shock to some that the predominant feeling I had was....relief.  I had feelings of sorrow for him and the loss of his dream but overall I just felt overwhelming relief that he would never have to suffer an injury like I've seen in every single game I've ever watched.  I had a feeling throughout the whole last season, which was his first season, that I should appreciate every moment that he was on the team and I can honestly say that I did.  We went to every home game and a few firesides and all of the Cougar Walks and the pregame festivities.  We were there when he got to actually play in Lavell Edwards Stadium and feel the thrill of watching him run out onto the field with the rest of the team at every home game.  I absolutely loved every minute of it and felt like we had been with him for an entire 4 year career so when they released him I didn't feel like we had missed out on anything.  I still felt bad for him because his dream of playing and even going on to the next level had come to an abrupt end but when he decided to stay at BYU and not pursue a couple of other schools that showed interest in having him play, I knew that he was done and that his heart had actually switched teams to his wife and daughter.  He now works as an assistant recruiter for the team which is a little bittersweet for him.  He is helping to welcome kids to come and play in his spot and while he loves still being connected to football and getting all the perks that working for the school provides, I'm sure he still dreams of playing starting quarterback for the Cougars on a regular basis.  I will be forever grateful for the experience we got to have of being parents to a BYU quarterback but I'm also very relieved that he was able to walk away from the game in one piece and to be able to enjoy his life in full health.  I'm super proud of you, Hunter, and will always be your biggest fan.  GO COUGARS!!

Funny Blessings

Since officially becoming an empty-nester in August I have been praying for opportunities to serve and make good use of my time.  I have no desire to get a full-time job because I travel to see my kids too much and I don't like having a super rigid schedule every day but I find myself having a ton of spare time and wanted something worthwhile to fill it.  So.... the Lord, in all his wisdom, called me to be the Young Women President in my ward.  This is possibly the busiest calling a woman can have in a ward and I've already done it before, in this ward.  Nobody in their right mind would actually want this calling because it is so time consuming.  And yet, I am thanking the Lord every single day for knowing me and for letting me serve in this capacity at this time in my life.  The women I picked to serve with me were the same girls I taught 15 years ago when I had this calling before.  I am, by far, the oldest person in the program except for my Laurel Advisor who is just a few years younger than me.  Every other leader could be my daughter and I am LOVING serving with them.  They are so energetic and creative and just downright good!  I also LOVE the girls that we are serving.  They are extremely diverse and cute and fun and I look forward to being with them all the time!  Most people would think I was crazy for being so grateful for such a hard calling but this is exactly what I need in my life right now and I know God knows that.  He works in mysterious ways and I'm so thankful that He does.  Bring on TOV YW Pres. 2.0!  I'm ready!!!

Talia

This little doll is 2 today!  She is the third daughter of my son, Tanner, and his wife, Alana.  She is hilarious and adorable and I love her to pieces.  Happy Birthday, sweet Talia:)

Ante

24 years ago a 17 year old boy from Australia came to stay with us for a couple of weeks as an exchange student.  We had never met him and knew nothing about him but he quickly found a place in our hearts and we all loved him.  He came back to visit us 10 years later for a few days and we had a couple more kids who also grew to love him.  14 years after that (a couple of weeks ago) he came back to visit again and it was wonderful!  He has grown into a smart, kind, handsome man and we love him even more.  We were able to take him to Disneyland, on a tour of the Midway in San Diego, to all of our favorite eating places, the Mormon Battalion Visitors Center and Old Town and then up to Las Vegas and Utah.  He had never been to any of these places before and had an absolute blast!  He got to go to the buffet at the Bellagio in Vegas, the Conference Center, temple and Mormon Museum in Salt Lake and then to a BYU home game where he got to go down on the field with the players before the game.  He brought us gifts and we gave him gifts but the greatest gift he got while he was here was when he went up to Seattle for a weekend to see a Seahawks game and met the love of his life!  He went on one date with her and just "knew" so he extended his trip by a couple of weeks and is now trying to figure out how to get over here permanently so he can be with her.  Best. Love. Story. Ever! Since he's like a son to me I can't tell you how happy I am that he has finally found someone he can spend the rest of his life with.  Selfishly, I am also thrilled that he will be in Seattle and not Australia so we can see him a lot more often than every decade or so. Ante, you have made our lives richer by being in them.  G'day, mate!!

Miracle!

No, the miracle isn't that I'm finally posting on this thing again, ha ha!  The miracle is that my eldest son finally broke down and got married!  He's the last of the six boys to do it and we couldn't be happier for him.  He married a saint named Ashleigh who we all love to death.  We all, (Ashleigh included) have been waiting for about 7 years for our dear boy to open his eyes and see her as his eternal companion instead of just a cool family friend.  Ashleigh is a very easy going and smart young lady who has a great job and loads of friends.  All of that doesn't really matter though because she loves my son and that's all I care about:)  The wedding was wonderful and they are as happy as can be living up on the hill right above us.  I've had a VERY good experience when it comes to marriage so I am super happy that all of my boys are enjoying this wonderful institution now. Welcome to the family, Shlee!  You are finally "Forever Moore"!