Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Welch Cruise wrap up

Every night we gathered around the dining table and had to share a "best part of our day" experience that I recorded.  So this is the list of the/ a Favorite thing of each day ... (They also had favorite night activities too like salsa dancing, dive in movie  and stage shows.)







Jan 19. Addison/Bre:  Parasailing...Loved being up in air
Laila/ Wayne:  parasailing!
Alex:  picture at southern most point of US
Landon/ Melinda : chocolate dipped  key lime pie on a stick from Kermit's
Tru:  sun on "nice evenly tanned skin." Pushing Alf around and getting all of the attention.
Lexi: Parasailing and gluten free Keylime pie
Monson: Parasailing and finding lost wallet
Alfie: All the food. He just eats and eats.
( Bre found out her grandma Betty passed away and she will miss her funeral. I missed my Grandma Butters funeral because of our last family cruise)





Jan 20
Tru: Walking around with Alfie on ship
Laila:  Elevator guy ran into the wall with his jazzy
Lexi:  Creepy guy at dinner with the hat who wanted to make Alfie laugh but Alf just gave him the stink eye.
Monson: napping.
Bre: pizza for breakfast
Add: laying out in the sun
Landon: napping and getting migraine free
Alex :  working out overlooking  the ocean
Melinda: dancing to "that's amore" with Wayne and Karaoke with kids.
Wayne:   reading his book.
Alf:  Napkin dance in the dining room







Jan 21. Truman's birthday. ( room decorated, presents, cards, party hats, horns, cake and candles at dinner)
Tru:  salsa and salsa dancing and margaritas
Laila:  horse carriage ride
Wayne:  The horse jalapeƱo. Tooted. Went in horse drawn carriage.
Melinda: decorating the birthday room.
Bre: Watching pink Sunset
Addison: three amigo picture and eating  guacamole.
Lexi:  Mayan ruins then Beach with guacamole while in a hammock
Monson: buying bamboo shirt
Landon:  Salsa making and salsa dance class
Alex: making 6 different types of salsa. And watching Landon talk the guy down $ for a ring.







Jan 22:  Laila's birthday (book of pics and cards from family and friends, cake, candles, waiters singing to her and presents)
ALL:  Swim with dolphins !!!
Wayne: being able to get  on wifi while waiting for the kids.
Melinda:  Swim in bay with sharks? Possibly 4 of them.


Jan 23
Alex:  when Landon finally found me on the ship. It's easy to lose each other. So many people. So many decks and chairs.
Landon: playing cards at the back of the ship.
Lexi: getting Trus pic off the tv of him eating a hamburger
Monson:  eating pig patti at Hamburger place and fries.
Bre: Playing cards at back of ship and the ocean view
Tru: listening to the couple next to me on lounge chair fight was very entertaining.
Laila: being able to  Sleep in finally.
Addison: eating  4 cheese pizza which I had three times
Wayne: Tickling Alfie with beard
Melinda: Sitting out on room balcony with sun, ocean waves and a book.

Jan 24. We got off the ship in the morning. We planned on spending the day on sunny Fort Lauderdale beach. But after only one hour we were chased off the beach because of bad weather. We holed up across the street at Bubba Gumps with drinks and fries and finally had to give up on the beach idea. We went to a movie theatre instead and the kids all watched The Imitation Game.  
Wayne and I watched Alfie.  
Then off to the airport -- goodbye warm sandal wearing Florida..we are back to freezing toes Utah!




Alfie had been such a trooper this trip. He has a sweet, mellow, watchful personality. He's not much for strangers trying to get him to smile but as soon as they leave he smiles, laughs and claps with all of us.

Best food on the ship:  Guy Fiere's fabulous burgers and fries.  Fresh battered fish for fish and chips and fish tacos. The Formagio pizza- 4 cheese and garlic deliciousness.

   The nightly dining room experience was ok. It's nice to be fussed over and served but I just wanted the food to be amazing... It was fair. Fun to try different foods like frog legs, fungai, tartar, martini fish etc...  We always looked forward to the chocolate melting cake with extra ice cream at the end. They did good at accommodating Lexi's   gluten free diet.

Our Family cruise has come to an end. We ate too much. Laughed a lot. Enjoyed being and walking and playing with Alfie. Only had a few little tiffs which is pretty good considering all of the "big" Welch personalities.   It was good to be together, to relax, play games ,  live in our swim suits and forget about our work and school etc.   We definitely felt this as a vacation and not as a trip.  

Our kids are growing up and changing. We have gone from 7 people to 13 in just 5 years. Who knows what the next 5 years will bring.  

Monday, January 26, 2015

Two Birthdays...and we are done!

We have a onslaught of birthdays in our family in a short 24 day period....Monson (Dec. 29), Wayne (Jan 7), Alfie (Jan 15), Truman (Jan. 21), Laila (Jan.22)..... we are finally at the end of our Birthday extravaganza...

Truman turned 24 and Laila turned 13 while on our family Cruise!  We celebrated in style


Laila is officially a teenager and so knowing we were going to be gone for her big day I asked family and friends for birthday cards and letters of advice to give to her in a book as she moves toward adult hood.  We gathered many awesome messages.   Megan Call went the extra mile, she found a letter that Grandma Sheri wrote to her when she was a teenager and changed  it just  for Laila, knowing that Angel Grandma Sheri would want Laila to know these things too... It is a treasure.

To My Sweet Laila on her 13th Birthday-
13...I thought I was sooooo grown up, and that I knew just about everything there was to know.  Hindsight tells me that I knew just enough to be dangerous.  So I want to share with you a few things that might be helpful.
 First, do only those things that would please your Father in Heaven.  He has told us what to do to be truly happy.  Always be temple worthy in thought and deed.  Never put yourself in a situation of which He would disapprove.
Second, always remember that your parents really do know what’s best for you.  Counsel with them in all things, and then listen to what they say.  They will always look out for your best good.
Third, friends are very important, so always have the best.  You are a very tender girl, and that is a good thing, but remember that your friends come second to your family.
Fourth, you can achieve anything you set your mind to.  Have goals for you education.  It is important for women to be educated.  Women can make a huge difference in the world.
Fifth, the choices you make will always have a consequence.  That is how God planned it to be.  Weigh things out carefully in your mind so your decisions are good ones.  The most important decision you will make in the coming years will be your choice of an eternal companion.  I pray that you will choose as well as your mother and I did.
Sixth, Motherhood is a gift from God.  Honor it and seek always the help of your Father in Heaven.  A mother can teach her children many things, and one of them is how to be a happy, strong member of the church.
Last, our Heavenly Father sent us here to experience the joy of earth life…complete with happiness and sorrows.  My wish for you is that you learn from the sorrows that will come your way, and know greater joy always follows.
 Laila, you possess a rare spirit.  Your Heavenly Father has many wonderful things for you to do and accomplish.  I love  you (maybe  even more than your parents)  You will not realize how that is possible until you find yourself looking into the eyes of your own grandchild.
  Remember always that I am here for you.

XXX-Grandma Sheri


Friday, January 16, 2015

Dad's Christmas Picture

All my dad wanted for Christmas was a new family picture!  So that's what he got!  We all gathered at Marcie's home one Sunday afternoon. We had sick kids, snow worries, no way of doing the pic outside and we were missing Garret Brown..and our Angel Mother, but in the end we got a picture that's pretty decent.
Addison couldn't get his camera far enough back to get everyone in so he took a middle picture, sides, top and bottom shots then morphed 7 images together to get one good pic. He had to rebuild the edges and make everything look normal. He is a photo magician!!

A few observations:  My Dad looks like a General Authority... Baby Carson is not happy about this at all and Aaron, at the top of the stairs, looks like Napoleon. 

All the Grandchildren ( 23) and Greats (5).
Dad with his beautiful Grand daughters:  Laila, Bre, Sophia, Dad, Megan, Rachel, Jenna, Becca, Alyssa, Laurie, Lexi

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Being a Grandma

I treasure being a Grandma....
The old saying, "I wish I would have had grandchildren first" is true...

Alfie ( and Sophia and Andrew)  bring such joy to my life.  

Alfred Lyle  Welch is one today! I got to witness his cake smash photo shoot, and it was a riot.  He didn't quite know what to do about having a cake all to himself...then he quickly figured it out and made a mess!  Alfie loves cars and make the "broom broom" sound as he pushes them around.  Alf likes to walk around and say "dog" when he sees Baby.  Alf loves to pound on the piano and the drums.  Alf is a pleasant boy with a watchful eye.  He is an old soul and a thinker...which means if he grants you a smile, you feel pretty special.


Tuesday, January 13, 2015

My Treasured friend


Yeah...that's Laura and me in matching jackets on one of our infamous BHS choir trips.... we made sure we wore our jackets so the high school kids would roll their eyes at us.... we never cared.
We love each other like sisters.  She really "gets" me.
Laura is one of my besties and I truly TREASURE her.

We have been friends for 21 years and have gone through thick and thin and thick together. ( Although I know we were friends in Heaven too) Life is definitely a roller coaster and we have ridden it together either screaming, crying or laughing all the way.    Laura keeps me centered.  She is a great sounding board and has a lot  to share.  Laura is an amazing listener and secret keeper. She is loyal, warm and giving! She has wit and wisdom.  She's been tested and has a strong testimony.  She is fun and faithful.
I have a few favorite memories of this awesome lady.....

 I remember going to Yellowstone with her, Emilee and Tru.  Emilee and Tru thought it would be fun to pretend we were visitors from England as we toured the different sites around Yellowstone.  As we were putting on our best british accents discussing the falls and the beautiful colors and asking where the Loo was, all Laura could say was, "I want a banana."  That's the only thing that would sound even slightly british coming out of her mouth.  We couldn't stop laughing.  When some tourist asked where we were from, we all said, Manchester, or Liverpool...trying to keep up the facade... Laura said, "oh forget it we're from Utah!" Then we all laughed hysterically and ran to our car.

I remember Laura racing us all ( Me, Wayne, Eric, Bob and Kimi) out of the Silk Market in Beijing, China because she just had a squatter catastrophe and was so embarrassed.. we laughed and we keft as quickly as possible.

I remember this same, broken Laura after her head on collison with a  motorcycle while riding a scooter in China. She was such a sport, and was in so much delirious pain.  We sang hymns and any other song we could come up with as we drove an hour and a half to the Guilin airport in our toaster-shaped rickety van.

I remember Girl's camps where we would put each other in time out. And Girl's camps where she flashed the  other leaders.  And Girl's camps where we always had more fun than any of the girls.

We have shared a lot of songs.  Any song she starts, I join in and vice versa. At the solar eclipse a few years back we serenaded the park with Johnny Cash's "Burning ring of Fire" just because we couldn't stop ourselves.

I remember singing with her,  Billy Joel's  Piano Man at the top of our lungs in an Italian Restaurant in Canada.  We had most of the  restaurant singing with us,  and then the whole restuarant burst  out in clapping when it was all over.  It was thrilling....like in a movie.

I remember late night talks and tear filled walks....and singing in hospital waiting rooms.

It's Laura's birthday today!!!
I just want her to know how much I love her and look forward to many more  lunches, vacations, talks, laughs, crazy antics, songs and twin jacket days to come.

This is the Angel painting I did for her

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Wayne is another year older!

This was a text feed from the kids about what they love about Wayne.  I wanted to share this on his birthday.  Wayne is 53 today.  HE is an amazing man, father and friend.   He is greatly loved and appreciated around here.

Landon and Alex:  Poppa Wayne loves his kids and grand kids.  He is always so happy to see us/them.
He is a true example of undonditional love.
He takes care of his family - parents, silblings, wife, kids etc..
He is an avid reader.
He loves to try new things and have new adventures.
He knows how to joke around and does that.
He loves momma.
He has a great smile.
He has a good relationship with the Savior and wants that to show that  in his actions and deeds.
He wants his family and friends to also know their Savior.

Tru:  ....and when he is passionate about something he is all in--100% committed.
He looks for every opportunity to serve
He loves to tease and has a good sense of humor.
He has great hair.  Aisha says she would have dated him in high school.
He loves spending time with the fam.

Laila:  Dad takes me to the temple to do baptisms every Tuesday morning.  We have to wake up so early and he has to put up with me, but he does it any way.

Lexi and Monson: Ditto to the above....and.....one of my favorite things about dad is that nobody has ever had to question where he stands on anything.  Everytime I meet someone that knows him, all they have to say are the greatest things about him and that I have some big shoes to fill.

Addison and Bre:  I agree with the above ....and he is very willing to help and has helped me in desperate times with no questions dropping everything and going.  Running a mile on a dirt road to fill our car with oil after we broke the oil tank.  Driving all the way to Sugarhouse late at night after we locked our keys inthe Prius.  Drivng everywhere to get the key to get Alfie out when I locked him in the car.  He's always right there saying, "ok "..and has a solution.


I could say so much about my Wayne ...we have been together since we were 16.......but what stands out today is that Wayne loves his mom and is all about helping her. (He is also a great help with my dad) He is definitely a momma's boy....which around here is a GREAT thing.

Happy Birthday my love!