grandchild # 7

I was out running when Brian called saying Emily had the baby -- 2 weeks early. Philip took the message and mistakenly told me she weighed 6 lb. 8 oz. (I was worried about our little "preemie"). We headed out to Beaumont that day (after watching Carl run in the district cross country meet) to greet our healthy, 8 lb. 9 oz. new granddaughter, Laila Isabella. What a joy to hold her in my arms! She was so alert, looking all around, and making good eye contact. Emily looked great and didn't seem tired, just happy and relieved. I'm heading out on Monday to help Emily for a week, and enjoy those precious grandkids.

Here are the kids meeting baby sister for the first time. Dario takes his role of big brother very seriously and loves holding Laila. Aiden is very excited, while sweet Ava isn't too sure of what's going on. (Stay tuned for more photos in a week, and check out Emily's blog -- she's already made an entry her first day home from the hospital!)

Saturdays

Our Saturdays go like this -- Around 5:00 A.M. I wake up to fix a pancake breakfast for Carl, as he gets ready to board the bus at 6:00 A.M. for a cross country meet. Then Grandpa Carl and I hop in the car and drive out to the meet. We've been doing this for about 12 years, starting with Andy, then Jeremy and Philip . We've rarely missed a meet all these years (the exception being a few Saturday morning general conferences). We've been there for most of our young coach's career.


A sprint to the finish (Clear Creek meet)

Carl, a junior in high school, is happy to be running on the varsity team. He's been one of the top four runners of his team.