Family Fridays...Casey

It seems only appropriate that today's Family Friday is dedicated to Casey. (hold that thought!)

aka Kissie Cassie (ok I called him that), aka Casey Charlie, aka Casey Charles 

Grandma & Casey May 1983

Many years ago I struggled with having children (hence the 8 year gap).  It was with knees knocking and totally scared beyond reason I went to my doctor in England and said I wanted more children. (Remember I had two and that was pretty normal for England).  That sweet older German doctor, Dr. Meerapfel, said "Ok, let's send you to Chelsea Hospital for Women in London."  Needless to say it all worked for the best.

The first time I saw Casey...ultrasounds were a new thing in England in 1982.  Only a few hospitals had them and I was sent to Hammersmith Hospital in Hammersmith, for them to have a look to see if it was a viable pregnancy.  My first sight of Casey was this  '    If you blinked just now you missed it.  He was no bigger than an apostrophe!  For 16 weeks they gave me weekly shots in the hip to help hold the pregnancy.  One morning at 1 a.m.,  I awoke and spent the next several hours praying that having come this far it wouldn't end that morning.
The next glimpse I got of Casey was at 36 weeks by which time my local hospital had an ultrasound.  They asked if I wanted to know what sex the baby was..."Wow, you can do that?"  Certain he was a girl...they said "It's a BOY"  Well that took me by surprise and off to the Mothercare store I went to buy the cutest little boy outfit I could find.  Cringe now all you modern moms but it was a pair of light gray velor short overalls with a white sheep on the front and a little white shirt.  It was cute!

On the evening of March 15, 1983, Casey Charles came into our lives and has been a constant joy ever since.  There are a stories around every birth...they make you laugh, they make you cry, and they make you grateful for the miracle of birth.  Casey's birth was all three but as the midwife elbowed the doctor out of the way to unwind the cord from Casey's neck we again experienced another miracle surrounding his birth.

Memories of Casey:

Casey's 1st fish

James & Casey 1987

• Losing him in the house and hearing him crawling through the hanging beads to the laundry room.  I'd found him.
• Stumbling when crossing the road to go to his 6th month check up and tossing him through the air into the road. Another miracle...neither were there any cars on that road, nor was he hurt. (me, I was a basket case!) 
• When feeding him as a baby he would not tolerate me reading, watching t.v. or doing anything but look at him.  He also hung on tightly to my blouse.  (Just recently I was feeding his daughter Lucy and she did the same thing.  It was a very sweet reminder to me).
• With his arm extended straight out in front of him and his hand raised palm up saying "ut, ut, ut, we'll talk about that later." (age 7 or 8 and to this day I do not know where he got that from)
• Mid-term report cards in high school...C's, D's, and incompletes.  It always seemed to be on a Friday or Saturday night when I would get these and Casey was ALWAYS out.  The phone call would go something like this "Casey Charles...those grades are unacceptable and as for the "U's" in citizenship. What's going on?" "Hey mom, it's fine.  She/he just didn't get the corrections in before they were sent", or "not a big deal it's only midterms. It will be fine at the end of the term."  Sure enough he was right, at the end of the term they were great grades...but remember Casey "What goes around, comes around!"
• Recorded phone messages that went something like this "Today your student missed one or more periods of school...." or "Hello, this is Bountiful High Seminary calling.  We haven't seen your student in class for several days!" (not every message was erased by James before I got to them.  I can't imagine how many were!)
• His very bright orange bedroom!
• Sports, Sports, and more Sports!!

Things I love about Casey:

• He is so smart! He is my go-to guy on any history question, church history question or political question.
• Remember the "ut, ut, ut we'll talk about it later?" You can have an opinion about something and in the space of a 5 minute conversation he will have you taking the other side of the debate and believing it.
• He is a hard worker.  He has spent the last several years studying hard at the BYU, working, being a husband, and just recently a wonderful daddy to Lucy.
• His cute, sweet wife, Cindy, and of course their daughter, Lucy!

Remember my opening comment about it seems only appropriate to dedicate this Family Friday to Casey...

Well shout Hooray! 

Today he is graduating from Brigham Young University Law School!! 

(stop cringing Casey) 

April 22, 2011

April 22, 2011

There are many miracles I have witnessed in Casey’s life and several he has witnessed himself and for those reasons and many others I am grateful to call him my son. 

We love you Casey!