GRANCHILDREN

I believe that grandchildren are a gift from God and a test of our patience from God. That they are a gift there is no doubt. We have just had a month long visit from our daughter, Alaina Hernandez, and her children, Auston and Rachael. They are very intelligent children and polite most of the time. Auston, 12, tried very hard to be helpful to me by not letting me carry heavy things. He likes to cook and he does make fine pancakes. He is looking forward to playing football next year. He is lively and very curious. Rachael,9,her mother calls "Ray-Ray," much to my confusion. We had an English Cocker Spaniel whose name was Ray and we often called he "Ray-Ray." Every time her mother called her I look for a dog. She very alert and likes to play the piano and other creative projects. She is very pretty and reminds me of another granddaughter Sara, who is married and has four children of her own. So I'm afraid I called Rachael, Sara several times. We have a dog, Aubrey, another English Cocker. The kids love her, but sometimes she has to run under an end table to get away from the attention. After all, she lives with a couple of old timers. Now the patience part. Sometimes the kids would do what kids do - argue and tell on each other. It's normal I know, because I did that with my three sisters (Dianne, Jackie and Joy). But I have done my duty raising three daughters. So I have to learn to be patient all over again. I think I did pretty well this time. I hate to admit that we miss them and the noise and clammer of two children running around the house. Aubrey misses the also and each morning checks their rooms to see if they had returned. We are very thankful for their visit and can hardly wait to see them again.