Alison is in Utah and Stephanie is busy at home so I am going to attempt to post a new blog all by myself... and catch up for two months! Here goes.
Sara graduated from BYU!! Hurray! Hurray! (Most of these pictures are on A & S's blogs, but just incase you missed them...) Yes Sara graduated and we (most of us) were there to celebrate with her. We rented a friends motorhome and went to Provo. It was such fun. We are so proud of her. She just moved to St. George and started her internship at the hospital there, working in the lab, until December. Then she wants to move somewhere that has a beach.
CONGRATULATIONS!
Caleb cools off in the sink on the way home. The boys were pretty good on the trip, watching videos and trying to hang on when Grandpa changed lanes. Patrick liked to sit up front and point out the moto-cho-cho's as they went by. (All 729 of them...)
My Mother's Day lei from my great kids. How did I get so lucky?
In May we went to the Strawberry Festival in Oxnard, took a trip through the Strawberry Shortcake Tent (I won't go into details but you can guess how glorious that was) and then spent the afternoon at the beach. We flew a kite and dug holes, chased waves and seagulls...you know the rest. It was a great day.
For some magical reason everyone was able to come home on Labor Day - also Jerry's birthday. That doesn't happen very often and we love it when it does. This is after breakfast at Lorene's, before Ben and Janae left and took Sara to the airport.After school got out, (I quit my job after being an aide for BCSD for 11 years.) I went back to Provo for my mom's birthday and to see Sara participate in a Triathalon...which turned into a Biathalon because of the wet, rainy roads - no biking. A big disappointment for Sara who had worked so hard training for it. Here she is getting ready to go into Salem Pond (I actually played there when I was very young) just south of Provo. It was a cold wintery day (June 7....!!!) but she said the water was warmer than the air. 
After the swim and run with her friend Elizabeth. (A couple of weeks later they both went back over and did the whole thing together in good weather... so now Sara can cross 'Triathalon' off of her Life List.) Yea!
Patty and I decided to take a road trip together. So she came back with me to California. Here we are after church getting ready to leave. (Not in this car - my midlife crisis car - which we just sold - haleluja!) I now have a more practical car - which every grandma needs. Bye bye convertible.
On the way home we stopped in Las Vegas to see Ryan, Allyson and Lucy. ( And Ryan's golf course- he is a college graduate and is an assistant superintendent there) . I might see Patty a little bit more now that she has kids in Nevada. We got to see Lucy's new bed and go to breakfast with her and her mom.
While Patty was with me we went to Orange County to hear Ben perform in the Orange County Mormon Choral Organization Orchestra. It was started by two amazingly talented young men that Patty knows (of course - doesn't she know everyone) She is a great friend of their mother from back in her Idaho days. The concert was patriotic and inspiring. Ben was using his new horn. It was so fun to be there with him and Janae.
Patty helped clean my house for a RS activity, made salads, made me get in the swimming pool which I sometimes forget to do, bought my grandkids surprizes... I want to be just like her when I grow up.
After the swim and run with her friend Elizabeth. (A couple of weeks later they both went back over and did the whole thing together in good weather... so now Sara can cross 'Triathalon' off of her Life List.) Yea!After the 'biathalon' Sara and I met the Standifirds - my sister's famliy - in Park City. The men went golfing and we girls went shopping. Need I say more ladies... We stayed in an fabulous condo with them. Thank you so much! The celestial kingdom could be eating, shopping and laughing in Park City with the Standifirds (and anyone else who wants to come.) It is one of the most beautiful valleys I have ever seen.
Patty and I decided to take a road trip together. So she came back with me to California. Here we are after church getting ready to leave. (Not in this car - my midlife crisis car - which we just sold - haleluja!) I now have a more practical car - which every grandma needs. Bye bye convertible.
On the way home we stopped in Las Vegas to see Ryan, Allyson and Lucy. ( And Ryan's golf course- he is a college graduate and is an assistant superintendent there) . I might see Patty a little bit more now that she has kids in Nevada. We got to see Lucy's new bed and go to breakfast with her and her mom.
While Patty was with me we went to Orange County to hear Ben perform in the Orange County Mormon Choral Organization Orchestra. It was started by two amazingly talented young men that Patty knows (of course - doesn't she know everyone) She is a great friend of their mother from back in her Idaho days. The concert was patriotic and inspiring. Ben was using his new horn. It was so fun to be there with him and Janae.
Patty helped clean my house for a RS activity, made salads, made me get in the swimming pool which I sometimes forget to do, bought my grandkids surprizes... I want to be just like her when I grow up.
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Going out to dinner with two-year olds is always an adventure. This was for Aunt Wendy's birthday.
Then I had a birthday! Which we kind of celebrated all weekend - thanks to Jerry. Dinner out, then breakfast with my friends, then lunch with Cory, Stephanie and Caleb. Jewelry... and a coupon from my kids to have my mother-in-law's platform rocking chair recovered. Which I will need in September when my TWO granddaughters come! This is a picture of the darling birthday cake Glen and Ann Pitt's brought to me - made by their daughter-in-law.
Last of all. Jerry and I just got back from a conference in Las Vegas. This is the botanical garden at the Bellagio Hotel. Not great shopping there unless you have money to burn but it is a gorgeous, fancy place to stay - when CBIZ is paying for it. And the mall at Cesars Palace is right next door...
The end. If this works...and Alison sees it...I hope she doesn't go into early labor, she'll be so shocked. Hurray for me!
