1st Gem of the Week

I want to start a new Blog Tradition 

~ Gem of the Week ~

I've had a picture of Fred and I with all of our grandkids on my blog since last Christmas and titled it "All of our Gems so far". I was updating my blog today and decided I needed to update that picture, but I have no new pictures of everyone. I decided I would start highlighting each of our "Gems" and share my feelings or things I know about each grandchild and what they are up to. We will see how long I can keep it going.

Richard will be first. He is our first grandchild. He was born 6 weeks early and on his Grandpa Fred's birthday. A pretty special way to start out I would say. Of course, being that early he was a teeny little thing. I remember when I walked into his bedroom for the first time and he was sound asleep, I tell you that was a brand new excited feeling that I've never had a second time. All I wanted to do was pick him up and hold him. I was surprised how excited I felt. It totally came out of nowhere.

I don't envy Richard being the oldest. I think being the oldest child is a hard position to have in a family. I think we tend to make all of our mistakes on that first child or should I say test out our parenting methods?

Richard takes a lot of pride in the things that he does. He does have a tendency to become distracted in his pursuit of perfectionism which makes life difficult at times. He loves to build with Legos when he is at our house. I know he does that at home along with a bunch of other things. He loves to read and draw. He is not too excited about practicing the piano. He loves being a big brother to Henry and is in charge of Henry when his parents go out on dates. I think Henry is in good hands with Richard although I don't know if Richard changes diapers yet.

What I appreciate most about Richard is he is always the one of Corinne's boys to come to Fred and I and give us a hug. He never needs to be prodded. I think he genuinely wants to express his affection and appreciation to us. We are grateful for that. 

Here are a few pictures of Richard over the years. 

I'll get better at my format, but for now it's a start.

 This was May of 2011 while visiting our house and helping Grandpa Fred in the garden.

 Lego time at our house in Bremerton.

Pinewood Derby car construction at our house in Utah

 Richard took a community class on fishing.

 I managed to crop a picture from our Disneyland Trip with just me and Richard.

So to you Richard our firstborn Grandson.

We love you and are thankful you came to us first to teach us how to be grandparents. 

We are still learning.

We love you!!!