Great Grandpa's 94th Birthday Party

Great Grandpa turned 94 on February 28, 2011. We started having annual birthday parties for him years ago because we never know when it will be his last. In a way, I am closer to him than I was my own grandfathers. I never lived in the same town as my grandpas and never had real heart to heart chats with them. I love my grandpas, don't get me wrong. But Brent's grandpa has that way of making everyone feel good about themselves when they're around him. He has such a strong testimony and used to be a bishop. He always has wise counsel to give and has a way of making you reliaze what's truly important in life. He always grabs your hand and holds it, or gives you a hug, and he looks you right in the eye when you talk with him. And what's even cooler? He is the oldest facebook and Ipad user I know. Back in December, we thought we were going to lose him. He was admitted to the hospital and told he may only have a few weeks, if not days, to live. We all went to the hospital and spent as much time as we could with him. During those sweet hours, he shared his testimony with us. He shared how the gospel was the one thing he cherishes the most in life. His first wife, Elsie, died about 35 years ago. Although he remarried and spent the next 20 years with Janice (who died a few years ago), he still says how much he loves Elsie and how excited he is to see her again. When Elsie died, he made a promise to himself to be the best person he could so that he could be worthy to live eternally with her again. During those days we thought would be his last, he smiled and cried thinking about how excited he was to be reunited with the true love of his life.

But in usual great grandpa fashion, he recovered. Even though his kidneys are only functioning on a small percent, he's still with us. And I am so glad. My children adore him. He lives with grandma and papa dad, so every Friday when the girls stay with grandma, they always make sure they run into great grandpa's house and give him hugs. They climb on his knee and watch tv with him. And best of all, he shares his cookies and treats with them. I seriously don't know what they'll do once he's no longer with us. So we will savor every day more that we get with him.

The party was fun and another good excuse for the Foster clan to get together. Nothing the Fosters do is ever on a small scale. Check out the trebuchet papa dad built for entertainment value:

Kate - the happiest kid I know:

Blake & cousin Nathanael

Chloe & cousin Lilee. We laugh and can only imagine the trouble these two are going to get into together.

I told great grandpa that we need to decide on a special code so that when he dies, we will still know he's watching over us. Because I know he will. And once heaven is lucky enough to receive him, I know we'll have an extra angel on our side. We love you, great grandpa!