Tom and Debbie's Mission Blog: 03/31/21

This blogpost covers the months of February and March 2021. We spent much of the month of February anticipating the birth of our new grandchild, Haivyn. She was due on Tom's birthday, February 25. What we experienced that week was much more than we had planned or could even imagine. We have no regrets, just surprises, wonderful surprises that come with the special role of grandparents.

During February Pollyanna invited us to go to Church with her. It was the day that Aria was invited to a Baptism Preview meeting for children turning eight this year.

We were pleased to attend with Pollyanna and her girls. It was a delight to be with them and to get to know their ward members a little more. We were impressed with the bishop and the primary leaders and their interest in including Aria in all of their activities. They were also excited about her upcoming baby and offered to bring meals to support the family when the day would come.

Three beautiful girls ready for Church

Aria with a large group of children turning 8 this year

As the day of Pollyanna's delivery drew near, she was told that she could not have the baby born on my birthday due to scheduling. It would be scheduled for February 24. We had planned on staying with her family while Pollyanna and Rick would be in the hospital. We made adjustments and waited. We had our first vaccination for the Coronavirus scheduled for February 23. On the morning of February 23, we awoke to a text from Pollyanna saying that she had labor pains and thought she might be going in that day. While at the gym for our morning workout, we received a text from Pollyanna stating that she needed to go to the hospital right away. She made arrangements for Rick's dad to come until we finished our vaccination. We went ahead and got our vaccination early which went very smoothly. We arrived at her home by about noon. Within a short time, little Haivyn was born. Pollyanna's water broke at the hospital and labor came quickly. No time for an epidural. Pollyanna had a natural birth, the old fashioned way, pain and all. Rick says that she was screaming so loud that the whole hospital could hear her. The good news is that it went very quickly. We enjoyed the time with our grandchildren. Due to Covid 19. no visits could be made to the hospital, not even for sisters or grandparents. We went home on the night of February 24 and the children stayed with Rick's sister for the second night.

Waiting after our Coronavirus vaccine at the Salt Palace

Painting Easter decorations while we watched them.

With their painted decorations behind them

Haivyn's published birth photo

We got back home for my birthday, which was celebrated with love from my wife.

Each of the presents from Debbie were wrapped with care and love

Debbie bought a Coconut Cream Pie to celebrate

On the morning of my birthday we received a call from Gina to wish me a Happy Birthday. She was in the parking lot of her doctor going for a prenatal checkup. She told us that she thought that her C-Section delivery would be coming sooner than expected, perhaps in the next week or two. We had planned to help out with her children before she comes home from the hospital so we tried to coordinate our calendars to be ready. She was going to update us after her doctor's visit. We never heard back from her that day or the next. We figured we would call her later and get an update. We discussed Gina's situation with Pollyanna when we visited little Haivyn on Friday, February 26.

Grandma with Haivyn

Grandpa with Haivyn

We have become late to bed and late to arise in our retirement years, especially on Friday nights and Saturday mornings. We often watch movies until the early morning hours on our Friday date nights. This week was no exception. However, on Saturday morning, about 8:30 am, we were awakened by a phone call from Gina. She was calling from the hospital and wanted to tell us about our new granddaughter. She had been vacillating between two names for her daughter, Quinn Colleen, named after Danny's grandmother, or Rylee Gene, named with my middle name. When she called, she said that Rylee Gene had been born the previous night. Her call was on FaceTime so we could see little Rylee. My response was "so you did decide to name her Rylee Gene?". She said yes and then said "Would you like to see Quinn also?" We were totally shocked as she showed us another baby being held by Danny. Yes, she had given birth to twins and had kept it a secret from everyone except one sibling on each side, just in case of any complications. For our side of the family it was Pollyanna, who had known all along, including the previous day when we were in her home.

Screen shot of the twins and their shocked grandparents on FaceTime

Another Screen Shot

A better view of the twins together

They proceeded to call all of the grandparents and siblings to introduce them to the idea of twins being born. They recorded each of the conversations which were hilarious, as everyone was shocked. There were some advantages of Coronavirus and quarantining. They were able to keep this secret. They turned these recordings into a wonderful video. Unfortunately, we were first and the recording didn't work. So we heard about it first but missed the video.

These twins were due on March 30, but Gina, knowing that they would be earlier, as twins, initially told us that they were due about March 16. The day that she went to the doctor, the doctor would not let her leave, as there were risks with the twins and Rylee Gene was breach. Therefore they verified that they would be okay and took them C-Section on February 26. That is why we didn't get a call back from Gina.

We had not seen Gina in person since Christmas and we thought that she looked big at that time, but didn't make a big deal out of it. After that she was in on several Zoom calls but kept her growing size a secret. The plan for secrecy had its disadvantages. They had a scare earlier in February about the breach status and thought they might have to have them earlier. However, they couldn't talk about it with either of their parents. All in all, everything turned out very well and both of the babies and the mom came through this without complications. The following is the birth photo that they shared with everyone on Facebook:

Rylee Gene is on the left in this photo. You can tell because she has a small skin "tag" on her ear, which has been helpful to identify which is Rylee and which is Quinn with these identical twins.

Not knowing what this week had in store for us, we had invited Giovanna and her family to have dinner with us on Sunday, February 28. They were coming down from Idaho to bring Giovanna's sister, Michelly, to Salt Lake before she returned to Brazil This dinner fit in perfectly before Giovanna returned to Rexburg, Idaho. With new babies everywhere, Gina and Pollyanna were not able to see Giovanna and her little girl, Sophia, whom they had not previously met in person. We love Giovanna and her family and her sister. They always treat us with so much love and kindness.

At least Sam was able to come over and meet his little niece, who was now 9 months old

Giovanna, Leo and Sophia with Michelle

With the birth of the twins, Gina was planning on coming home on Monday, March 1. We made plans to watch her kids while Danny picked her and the twins up at the hospital. Besides getting to spend time with our three wonderful grandchildren, we got to be the the first to see the twins as they returned from the hospital. That was a special treat for us.

Danny bringing the twins into the house for the first time

Three siblings seeing their new little sisters for the first time

Another view of the first encounter of the siblings

Quinn on the left, Rylee on the right

Enough babies to keep both grandparents busy

Addie getting her turn with Rylee

All these events, beginning with Pollyanna's birth until Gina returned from the hospital, happened in less than a week. Their three girls and Giovanna's Sophia bring our count of grandchildren to an even 50. We had thought that number 50 was still coming some day in the future. Our end of February birthday list is now February 23 - Haivyn, February 24 - Nick (now 16), February 25 - Tom, February 26 - Rylee and Quinn.

On March 25, we planned a visit with Gina for her 32nd birthday. We arranged for Pollyanna and Haivyn to come with us so that these new cousins could meet for the first time. This was a special day with some really special photos. Gina and Pollyanna are really close as sisters and these little girls being born just days apart make it even more special.

Three special women with three special babies. Gina has Haivyn, while Pollyanna and Debbie have the twins, not sure which one is which.

Some of the photos:

Several deaths of loved ones

As we moved into March, we encountered a string of deaths of friends and acquaintances. Within four days we lost: a next door neighbor of my childhood who was a very close friend of my mother; the wife of one of my Vice Presidents on the HOA Committee; and Debbie's sister-in-law, Lisa, wife of Gary Moeller. These three deaths directly proceeded our 23rd wedding anniversary. Within weeks we also lost the husband of a couple that we have ministered to over the past few years, Dick Russon. Just a few more weeks later, a dear friend, Doug Haslam, that I had home taught for 10 years passed away. None of these were totally unexpected, for they all had been ill. They represented a mass exodus of dear friends who were moving to the other side of the veil right after our dear granddaughters had arrived on this earth. This gave us much to ponder as we reflected on the purpose of life and death. Our life was quickly filled with viewings and funerals.

Debbie's brother Gary and his posterity at the graveside of his wife, Lisa

21 gun salute at the graveside of Dick Russon

Graveside Ceremony for Doug Haslam

23 year anniversary of our marriage

We celebrated our 23rd wedding anniversary under different circumstances than the previous year. Last year, it marked the beginning of Coronavirus shutdowns as we left from spending most of the day in the temple. This year, we were still not able to go to the temple. However, we did our best to remember that wonderful day 23 years ago. We had lunch at the same location where we enjoyed our wedding luncheon 23 years ago. It is now Schmidt Pastry Cottage instead of Maddox Steakhouse, but the location was the same. We then stopped by the Jordan River Temple and spent a few minutes where we took photos 23 years ago, even though we couldn't go in. Last year, we were unable to attend our scheduled play at the Hale Centre Theatre as the shutdown began. This year we were able to attend a play at the Hale Centre Theater, "Tale of Two Cities". I have often heard of this book, but never knew the story until now. Finally we decided to spend the evening in style at the Grand America Hotel, perhaps the fanciest hotel that we have ever stayed in. It was a wonderful day and evening to celebrate 23 years of marriage to my sweetheart.

In front of the Schmidt Pastry Cottage, physical location of our wedding luncheon 23 years ago

In front of the Jordan River Temple

At the Hale Centre Theater

Dessert at the Grand America Restaurant

In our spacious suite at the Grand America

Other February and March Activities

During February, I also was able to help Ben move to a new home, after 13 years at the Home Inn. This was a major change and included furnishing his new room. It took several days to get set up and a few more to move him and all of his belongings. This included clearing out his storage shed, sending several loads of things to the Deseret Industries and storing the remaining in a storage shed behind the home where he is now staying. This ended up being a very positive move, even though these type of changes are difficult for Ben. Once he got settled, he was very glad to have made the change. He is paying a bit more for rent, but is in a much more secure and comfortable place. This was a great growing experience for Ben and for our relationship.

Ben in his new room after we put together the first book shelf

We then picked up a new reclining chair for his room. I have always enjoyed the versatility of my previous Prius. The new car worked just as well. Unbelievably, with the seats folded down, we were able to transport his new reclining chair.

Prius with the recliner inside

Bringing the recliner out

The recliner that was in the Prius

Last year I discovered a distant cousin on Family Search that lives in Ontario, on the border between Oregon and Idaho. His name is Bryant Lyndaker. We have a common grandmother about 13 generations back. As we texted back and forth I discovered that he was not a member of the Church, but was married to a member. I thought it might be an opportunity to share the gospel. He finally sent me a text saying that he was going to be in Salt Lake City to visit with his wife's relatives. We were able to schedule a lunch with him and his wife. As we met he told us some additional news, he was getting baptized the next week. What a blessing! The following is a photo that we took of Bryant with his wife Carolyn and a granddaughter. It was a delightful lunch to meet them and hear their story.

March 24 was the 100th anniversary of Debbie's father's birth. We took time to visit his grave and show respect to this great man.

Debbie by her fathers's grave on his 100th birthday

That same night, our nephew Joshua opened his mission call. I was pleased to see his excitement as he found that he had been called to the Brazil Rio de Janeiro mission.

Josh Rueckert with is parents with his mission call to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Family Activities:

We continued our family activities that we had planned in our January family home evening. Two game nights were scheduled, one for the adults in February and one for the grandchildren in March. We played some Family Feud and Scattergories on Zoom on February 21 right before the babies were born. Both Gina and Pollyanna were able to participate even in their greatly pregnant condition. Only afterwards did we notice that Gina had kept her Zoom image restricted to keep her secret safe.

On March 28, Melanie DeVore hosted an Easter game night that she had organized for our grandchildren. This worked well as they moved to three different Zoom rooms in smaller groups. This included story time with Grandma, decorating a paper Easter egg, a getting to know Grandparents quiz game with Grandpa, and multiple games hosted by Melanie in Pennsylvania. We felt that this went well and thank Melanie for her excellent planning and preparation. This was our last scheduled Zoom activity as we hope to begin meeting in person in the second quarter of this year.