We finally got everybody together. Nick's been home for a few weeks, but some of the gang have been off on vacation. So last night we got everybody together for a quick barbeque.
Nick had fun getting to know Sam, who is crawling and sitting up and generally being very cute.
These four had been up flying home from Hawaii all night and so were fun, but pretty tired. Glad they all had a lovely time.
Jake slept all the way home from Hawaii, so he was well rested, but dreamed of having oreo's before dinner. He loved talking about the airplane and the swimming pool, and the beach. He is a little traveller!
Even though I enjoyed my rest, when I saw these little ones I was excited to get back to to our routine. Playing, playing, playing, a little snuggling, singing and the blissful rocking to sleep.
Heaven.
My dad accomplished many things in his life. He fought in a war, he married my mom, he finished college and had a successful optometry practice. He had children, he coached basketball and softball. He was a land developer. He built a golf course. He traveled. He served in his church. He did lots of other things. But what I admire him for the most was the fact that he never gave up and that he loved to laugh and that he was a wonderful dad and grampa. He loved his wife, my mother, and he loved us kids and our kids. And, he had tons of faith that things would work out. He gave me a magical childhood with lots of love, laughter and fun. When I feel sad that he is gone, I just think of what he left me, his humor, his stories, his joy of life, his smile, his persistence, his love, and I feel happy. What a great inheritance I received from my father.
The father of my kids has accomplished many things in his life, but I know he would say his greatest accomplishment is his kids. He loves his 5 children and almost 7 grandsons. He shows his love for them by working hard, by doing anything he can to help them. Always interested in what they are doing. They are lucky to have such a loyal, hardworking, honest, loving man for their dad and I am grateful he is the father of my children. I am truly blessed.
Nick and I had the privilage of being taken to lunch
by Aunt Ginny today. What a fun afternoon visiting
with her and enjoying her company. Can't believe she's
almost 90! It's so interesting to hear her talk
about marrying Uncle Jack and loosing him in the
war and then how she waited all those years to
get married again, and finally found the perfect man
in Uncle Nephi. Also hearing her remember the
Grama, Grampa, Great Grama, Uncle Gus story
is always entertaining! She's got a great sense of humor
and I love hearing about mom when she was young.
Lovely Day.
"Summer afternoon - summer afternoon; to me those have
always been the two most beautiful words in the
English language."
Henry James
I have just such a summer afternoon ahead of
me. Not much to do but sit in my lovely backyard
with a book to read.
Sounds like heaven.
I've got an old notebook full of mom's outlines for Relief Society lessons. I love to go through and read how she organized her thoughts. I can just hear her give her lessons.
I love her distinctive handwriting and feel it is good to see her wise counsel. Thought I'd share.
What a lovely woman. Thanks for teaching life's lessons, not just by word but by how you lived.
Happy Birthday to mom.
After a long week with Jim being out of town and for some reason I was extra tired, we finished it off with a fun Friday evening out.
For our birthday's our kids gave us a dinner and tickets to see Jerry Seinfeld. We went to a fun restaurant with Ty, Melanie and Nick who got into town Wednesday, and then off to the concert. He didn't disappoint. We laughed at all his observations about all the silly things we do. Then spent Saturday doing absolutely nothing. Start to a nice vacation week.
It snowed at my house today! Eighty degree temperatures and you say it's snowing?!? Well, It's snowing from my snowball bush.
Whit can't resist when those beautiful white blossoms come out. Jake hasn't participated in this game yet, so it took him a minute to get the hang of it. First Whitney, beautiful form, got Jake right in the face. Wow, was he surprised!
It didn't take him long before he was after her with that funny little chuckle of his.
Revenge is sweet. Snowballs fights are the best, especially when it's sunny and warm outside.
I've been doing a lot of this (work) lately.
(artwork by Robert Duncan)
Hopefully, it will pay off and I can enjoy the fruits of my
labor later on down
the road. I'm thinking positively. With all
the rain and now getting some sunshine,
the vegetables and flowers should do
nicely.
