Grandpa Ricks turned 90!

Last July, my grandpa celebrated his 90th birthday. 

It was such a nice time to honor him.

He is a great, great man. I'm lucky to be his granddaughter.

He shared some inspiring words with us.

His 3 favorite words are:

Father, Grandfather, and Great Grandfather

Lloyd, his brother, has been his best friend his whole life.

As a father he had the opportunity to hold and comfort all 5 of his children,

when they were infants.

Then, he was able to hold and comfort all of his 27 grandchildren as infants.

Now, he has been able to hold and comfort almost all of his 45+ great grandchildren.

He believes it is important to make that bond.

One of the first and favorite pieces of furniture he and his wife bought was a piano.

He asked all those in the audience (his extended family members) to raise

their hands if they've had piano lessons.

Almost everyone raised their hands.

One of his favorite songs is, Young at Heart

(The lyrics describe him and his life well)

"Young At Heart"

Fairy tales can come true, it can happen to you
If you're young at heart.
For it's hard, you will find, to be narrow of mind
If you're young at heart.

You can go to extremes with impossible schemes.
You can laugh when your dreams fall apart at the seams.
And life gets more exciting with each passing day.
And love is either in your heart, or on it's way.

Don't you know that it's worth every treasure on earth
To be young at heart.
For as rich as you are, it's much better by far
To be young at heart.

And if you should survive to 105,
Look at all you'll derive out of being alive!
And here is the best part, you have a head start
If you are among the very young at heart.

He comes from great ancestry.

His great grandfather is Thomas E. Ricks, pictured center in bottom row.

We can't honor grandpa without remembering his sweetheart.

A map was on display of all the places his posterity has been throughout the world.

Grandpa Ricks' influence has touched many, many lives.

His son, and all of his grandsons served honorable LDS missions

throughout the world. Many of his granddaughters served missions too.

All of his children, grandchildren, and great grand children are active in the LDS faith.

His oldest child, and only son, Jim

2 of his daughters, Jody and Janis

Another daughter, Kathy

One of his best friends, Keith, his brother in law

Spending time with his niece, Lisa

His niece, Annette, and her daughter, Lisa

His grandson, Josh speaking about his grandfather

His brother and sister-n-law, Maida and Phil Spjut.

Grandpa visiting with his great grand daughter, Sadie

I love my grandfather.

How lucky we all are to know him,

and be part of his family.