Rickety

Mostly about Utah

Caption Competition

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I can think of some captions for this photograph of my grandchildren Aurora and Bryson. But I will leave it up to you. I will update this post with the winning captions. There are no prizes but your wit and intelligence will have an opportunity to shine.

Photo: Mike Willoughby

Winners

As judges, mine and Jill’s captions were excluded. Thank you all for the excellent captions.

First — Alright, I put the batteries in, now what? Sean
Second — Bryson: What do you mean she has more teeth than I do? Melissa
Third — What’d you just call me, woman?! Mark
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Aurora Eliminates Paparazzi Camera

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Aurora, my granddaughter, endures her grandparents taking photograph after photograph and the occasional video. Aurora finally got sick of me videoing her. She took out my camera faster than her grandpaparazzi could say, “Smile!”

If you cannot see the video click here.
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Aurora Is Blessed

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Steven holding Aurora in the church foyer before the blessing
Steven holding Aurora in the church foyer before the blessing

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Today family gathered to the Pleasant Valley 6th Ward for the blessing of Aurora Willoughby. With all the babies being blessed and extended family in attendance it was virtually standing room only in the chapel. For my readers unfamiliar with the naming and blessing of children I will explain. Under the direction of the presiding authority (in our case today it was Bishop Scott Hill), brethren who hold the Melchizedek Priesthood may participate in the ordinance of naming and blessing children (see Doctrine & Covenants 20:70). When blessing a baby, brethren gather in a circle and place their hands under the baby. Normally the father follows these steps:

  1. Addresses our Heavenly Father.
  2. States that the ordinance is performed by the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood.
  3. Gives the child a name.
  4. Adds words of blessing as the Spirit directs.
  5. Closes in the name of Jesus Christ.

Steven, Aurora, and Adelaide
Steven, Aurora, and Adelaide

There were five babies to be blessed. The order was alphabetically by surname so Aurora was last. I stood in the circle along with 10 to 15 brethren from Aurora’s extended family. Aurora’s father, Steven, gave her a name and blessed her that she would feel the love of family and that as she grows the Spirit will be with her. Among other things, Aurora was blessed that she would benefit from going to the temple and that she would be a servant of the Lord.

Aurora was attired in the same dress that Adelaide wore when she was blessed. Aurora was quiet throughout as were all the other babies that were blessed. At the conclusion of the blessings and passing of the sacrament there was twenty minutes left for testimonies.

After the meeting we relocated to Steven and Adelaide’s apartment for some much needed sustenance. It reminds me of the question:

Question: How can you tell it is Fast Sunday?
Answer: The guests eat twice as much food.

Fortunately we had three times the food and everyone was able to get into the apartment, which was quite large. It was a happy day for all.
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Adelaide Gives Birth to a Baby Girl

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Adelaide, Steven, and Baby 4110
Adelaide, Steven, and Baby 4110

Today at exactly 11am Adelaide gave birth to a 7lb 11oz, 21 inch baby girl. The new arrival hasn’t got a name yet so she is known as Baby 4110 for now, named after the number of the hospital room where Adelaide is recovering. Adelaide delivered very near her due date of Valentines Day. The lovely Marci was by far the closest in predicting the arrival day and hour with a time of 2:15pm. Marci wins a $25 gift certificate to Applebee’s. Now Marci, do you have any predictions for the stock market you want to share? Jill and I are very happy to welcome our second grandchild. 4110 has a beautiful head of black hair and if we held her in a darker part of the room she would try to open her eyes.

Baby Photos

New ArrivalAurora Weighs 7lb 11ozAurora closeupAurora eyes open4110 being heldAdelaide holding 4110Robert holding 4110Jill holding 4110Rick holding 4110Melissa and 4110

Updates

14 Feb 2009 Little 4110 has a real name now: Aurora Jewel Willoughby.
15 Feb 2009 Check out a Hi-Res Aurora (4.7 MB 4288 X 2848 pixels).

She will be a Girl

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Adelaide and Steven expecting a girl.
This afternoon I was in the basement and I heard a-whooping and a-hollerin’ from upstairs. It was my wife reacting to some great news from Adelaide. I sensed what it was and it was so — our second grandchild will be a girl, expected on Valentines day. So Grandpa Rickety now has, or will have, one of each. About time we had some more girls in the family. I might mention that Adelaide smiles beautifully for every photograph whereas Steven contorts his face as much as he can at just the right time to ruin the picture. So we are really lucky to have this photograph.
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Grandpa Rickety Twice Over

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Adelaide and Steven

This is a family blog so it is appropriate to post once in a while about birthdays, new births, and pregnancies. Speaking of which you may recall that I blogged about Sarah and Derek expecting a boy in October, their first child. Of course some family members decided to fire up their creativity and contribute to naming the baby and came up with mossly good suggestions like:

  • Pete Moss
  • Forrest Moss
  • Chris Moss

I am really looking forward to being a grandpa. To make things even better, on 29th June Adelaide and Steven announced that their first baby is due in February. We do not know the gender yet. Last week they said it was OK to let everybody know. If the photograph is anything to go by this is going to be one beautiful baby.

So now I will soon be a grandpa twice over. Awesome!