Helping out in El Paso and Queen Creek!

 Its GREAT to be needed!

Back at the end of November we went to El Paso to help Mark & Holly. They bought a really nice house and needed some electrical work done before they moved in. They have an amazing back yard!

 Then December 12th-18th I spent a week with Lisa and helped with their new baby, Lucy. She had some projects she needed help with, like organizing her kitchen cupboards and her closets. We had fun too, we went to the Mesa Temple Christmas lights!

 Lucy is such a good natured, adorable little baby and Lisa is such a good mommy!

 Then Kari and boys came from Flagstaff to spend a couple of days which made things even funner! Elijah loved baby Lucy!

 Leo thought feeding her was fun!

 Hot chocolate time!

 Elijah, Rivers and Kingston

 Lisa took us around her neighborhood to see all the cool lights.

This was amazing! A garage full of these little villages that are all lit up and 2 trains going through. So cool!

 Lilly sure loves her Auntie Kari!

 One day we ventured out to Bass Pro Shop because Santa was there! They had lots of fun things set up for the kids to play with.

 Its always fun to go see cousins right next door! Ivory and Lilly having fun together. 

 It was a fun week and hard to leave. Spending time with my kids and grandkids is always GREAT!

NOV. 18th LUCY GRACE IS BORN!!

So Saturday morning as we were getting off the boat, Lisa was on her way to Flagstaff to get their new baby!! Megan was in labor! While we were at our last breakfast on the boat, my phone rings (first time in a week!) and it was Lisa telling me Barry had gone off to the dunes with some buddies, but was supposed to be home, but he wasn't!  She was upset because they needed to be on their way to Flagstaff! It turns out he was there, just in a different bedroom! She was all stressed out for no reason! They made it in time for the delivery. Megan was a champ, Lisa even got to be in the delivery room with her and got to cut the umbilical cord!  Wow!

And little Lucy Grace was born!!  Weighing in a 8lbs. 7oz.

This is what Lisa had to say!!  Lisa Crosby Keime is at    Northern Arizona Healthcare Flagstaff.

November 19 at 12:25am · Instagram · 

"Today was a very special day for our family. We got to finally meet our daughter! Our hearts are full and the experience has been beyond description. We feel so blessed and eternally grateful for the opportunity to welcome another sweet spirit into our family. Happy birthday to you sweet baby doll! You are so loved! 

|| Lucy Grace Keime || 

8lbs 7oz 

20 inches

11/18/17 @12:58

She came a week before her due date!! I think she knew Barry didn’t want to miss Thanksgiving dinner!! Today happens to be National Adoption Day. I don’t think that’s a coincidence. The birth mom is seriously a champ! She is amazing and doing well!"

Daddy and baby sleeping peacefully!

 

We were so glad Lisa & Barry brought Lucy Grace to see us over Thanksgiving weekend! And Lilly of course too!!

Lucy is so beautiful and such a good baby!

Daddy with his two little girls.  Poor Lilly was running a fever all weekend!! She just wanted her Daddy!!

So now this is their little family! Two adorable little girls!

 We all feel so very blessed that her amazing birth mother loved her baby enough to give her a wonderful life with a mommy & daddy to adore her and raise her. As I was holding her I told Lisa that I wouldn't feel any differently toward her own flesh and blood as I do this baby!  She will be loved by all!

Cruise Day 7- FUN FAREWELL DAY AT SEA! Day 8- MIAMI, FLORIDA

FRIDAY NOV. 17th

Our final day on the cruise! It went so fast and we saw so many beautiful places. We got to spend time with some of our kids and make lots of great memories!! Friday we just relaxed on the boat, we played cards for hours at the Blue Iguana while listening to all the music and partying on the deck. We just relaxed and ate and later that night, some of us watched Spiderman-Homecoming on the huge screen at the back of the boat!! 

This was the 'Black & White Library', a nice place to read and relax and play games!

Our last and final fancy meal on board!  Wow, I'm sure going to miss all that wonderful food being prepared and served to me!!

SATURDAY NOV. 18th

When we woke up the next morning---we were in Miami!!

Debarktation didn't take long. We all had to have our last meal on board, so we ate at the buffet for breakfast. Then we just grabbed our suitcases and headed down off the boat.  Our plan was to all go to the Ft. Lauderdale Temple.  We called a couple of Ubers and off we went!
Our driver missed the right turn, so everyone else beat us there!

 It was a little embarrassing going in the temple in our street clothes with all our baggage, but they were all so nice to us. We changed in the restrooms in the front lobby area and put all our suitcases on the shelves meant for the baptistry patrons. 

We all got to do an endowment session and I was excited to do some of our own family names. In our session there were 7 new endowments, so our session was big, 77 total. We were told we broke the previous record of 72! There were other cruisers there too, only they were just leaving. They speak at least 3 languages in that temple, English, Creole and Spanish. 

Kirk and Kari had an earlier flight than the rest of us, so they had already left when we took these pictures! 

This was our last BIG Hoorah! It was a wonderful way to end an amazing trip! The Ft. Lauderdale temple is gorgeous! It has a tropical theme and is decorated very elegant and beautiful!! So glad we got to go!!