More Pictures

Here are a couple shots from Alena's baptism. The first one is of the whole family before the day. The second is of Alena the day after in her dress at home.

Here are some more vacation shots. There is Double Arch in Arches, Spencer climbing one of the ladders in Mesa Verde, and the last one is of the family in Dinosaur National Monument. We're all leaning up against a dinosaur bone in the rock.

Idaho Weekend

We had a great time in Idaho this past weekend. We went up for Stormy's wedding. She looked lovely, the room was decorated beautifully, and the food was delicious. It was fun to visit with family. I don't know if I was lazy or just too busy talking, but I didn't take many pictures. This first one is of Stormy and Bentley. The second one is a five generation of MarJean and Darrell, Dudley, Wendy, and Wendy's two little girls.

Sperry Vacation

Here are a couple shots that Spencer took of Mesa Verde. I haven't loaded the pictures from the other cameras yet. I had to do Spencer's because his memory runs on battery power and I didn't want to lose the shots. The first is Cliff Palace and the second is a long distance shot of one I don't remember the name of. It's not one they let people go to. Could be because of the cliffs. I can't imagine living in a place like this. We had the advantage of nice paved paths and stone steps.

The third shot is Spencer in the hotel.




We took it easy for the 4th because of my pneumonia. (And also because losing Calton in the park last year was just not fun) Jason got a package of fireworks from the store and Spencer lit them. The kids discovered that the flashing lights cast a funny shadow on the garage so Calton and Alena danced in the flickering light while Spencer tried to remind them that the fireworks were in the other direction. Then Spencer noticed how much bigger his shadow was, since he was farthest from the garage, and played the giant trying to crush Calton and Alena. People in our neighborhood are really into the illegal fireworks so we had fireworks going off all around us. Surrounded by my giggling children and the blasts of color, I thought about how grateful I am to live in this country and how glad I am that the owner of the field behind us cut back the weeds so I don't have to worry about fire this year. :)

It's Summer

We went to Zion National Park and Sand Hollow State Park for our vacation this year.

We traveled with another family with two boys, and stayed in a very beautiful house in Hurricane. (Thank You L's brother)

It rained a little the first day we were there, but after that the weather was wonderful.

There were snakes, deer, lizards (lots), birds, squirrels, tadpoles, chipmunks, red ants (big), big horn sheep, and a huge mean looking insect.

















































Sand Hollow State Park- We had fun swimming and - sigh - throwing rocks.

Oh weather, you are acting so very strange this year. A friend who babysat my house didn't have to water my plants. It's been nice to have a break from watering the yard this year. My raspberries, strawberries, and peas are so happy. Rainy weather makes me want to curl up with a book.

Speaking of Graduations

Christopher graduated from the Academy for Math, Engineering and Science last Friday. The graduation was held at the University of Utah and was similar to other graduations only the students and audience were better behaved. There were more student speakers, ten of them, and no long dignatary speakers. The student speakers represented a wide, politically correct, ethnic array with most minorities represented. There was of course the stereotypical self-proclaimed rebel, dressed in jeans and long hair, who gave the same speech every such self-important nut gives at such occasions. There were also some excellent well-prepared speakers and musical numbers by graduating students. These kids (71 of them) had an impressive number of scholarships to their credit. Chris has three!

We went on a tour of the new Oquirrh Mountain Temple yesterday. It's beautiful and we're looking forward to serving there. The wind was so wild while we were in the introductory tent, we were a little nervous, but other than a lot of noise, the tent was fine. The staircases and chandeliers are pretty remarkable. The paintings in the session rooms are nice, but a little dark and I was a little disappointed in the bride's room. The bride's room is nice, but a little more modernistic than I care for. Most of the decor is gold tones with some browns and sage greens. There's a stylized star pattern that appears frequently in glass, mirrors, and the chandeliers. I want to go through again soon.

More graduation...

So Brandon graduated from pre-school last Wednesday...sniff, sniff, sniff.Brandon and his friend Chelsea. These two even had ice skating classes together.

Waiting for his teacher to call his name.

Yeah!!!!!! It's over. Miss Tammy giving Brandon one last hug (and treat).

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

I know, I just posted last night, but I didn't mention that MarJean and Darrell just celebrated their golden wedding anniversary. They didn't want a big party, but just to go out to dinner with their kids and grandkids. Congratulations! In today's world fifty years is certainly a number to boast about.