Sweet "Little" Gabriel - Sort of....

On Wednesday, August 7th, I traveled down to Springville to visit Hillary and Jake and sweet little Gabriel. Well, 'little' might be slightly misleading as this guy is 26 inches long and 20 pounds. That's a lot when you consider he is only 5 months old! He sure is a sweetie though! 

He is momma's boy..... until he hears his Daddy; then it's good-bye mommy, hello Daddio! 

He is such a happy little boy. He plays with his toys and entertains himself quite well. 

I think his favorite babysitter is his 'big brother', Toby the dog.

But he seemed pretty happy to have Grandma Cindy hold him and play with him. He would smile and coo and talk with me, and he especially loved to sing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and other songs with grandma.

I came home yesterday and I sure do miss him already. OH... and I miss you too Hillary and Jake.

Love you! 

Happy Birthday Darryl! - Congratulations Cody and Kristina!

August is here and today is Darryl's 59th Birthday! It seems like it was just yesterday that we had been newly married for all of two weeks and my new husband was turning 22. Wow how the time flies. Jesse and Tyree; Cali, Gideon and Parker; Cody, Kristina and I all helped Darryl celebrate his birthday. 

After a delicious dinner of Chicken Enchiladas, refried beans, Spanish Rice, salads, chips and salsa we had our little birthday party.

Darryl requested a cola cake. The first one crumbled into pieces but was yummy non the less. The second one held up and was good but not as tasty as the first one. 

Tyree went to church with us and spent the whole day with Grandma and "Poppy", her name for grandpa.

 Cali saved all of her sugar calories for a splurge on Grandpa's birthday dinner and cake.

Hey Parker! I love your shoes. Does Kristina know you are wearing her Tennies?

 Cody and Kristina were having fun and really enjoyed the dinner conversation.(Wink, wink; Nod, nod.)

 Darryl made quite the haul in the gift dept. Three pair of new work jeans, cologne, a basket of sweet treats, garden tools, animals for the "Sagebrush Ranch" and a new Stevens pump action 12 guage.

 It was a wonderful birthday celebration for Darryl!

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CODY IS ENGAGED!

Dear family and friends - meet Cody's future wife, Kristina Tieken!

She is a wonderful young woman and our whole family has fallen in love with her! Kristina is on the BYU- Ballroom Latin Dance Team.

 So yesterday when they were getting ready attend a wedding reception I talked them into letting me take a few pictures.

Yep, they're twitterpated.

Ah..... amore'!

Where Has July Gone?

Wow!! Today is August 2, and I can't figure out where the month went! It seems like it was just yesterday I was readying the stage at the Menan 4th of July Independence Day Festival as Cami continued her visit and stayed with the kids until the 6th. Two days later Hillary and Gabriel coming up and stayed for a week. I had surgery on the 11th and Cody went and got himself engaged to a cute young thing on the 19th and Darryl hiked the Yellowstone Petrified Forest.(I don't have pictures of that.)  I do have few pictures from the last month to share with you.

At the Festival the grandkids couldn't wait to get their faces painted. They showed off their artwork while waiting for the parade to start. Lily was a kitty, but Parker's face paint didn't last long. 

Ransom had a Spiderman tattoo complete with web and spider.

Gideon had a Spiderman face mask painted on. 

Cali did not get her face painted, but she did enjoy some shade while waiting for the parade. 

Tyree had stars on her face...

Finally - The parade starts.  We were very disappointed that there was no chocolate milk handed out this year. Sad.Oh well, the rest of our Independence was absolutely wonderful!

Our dear friend, Sonja Schaat was one of the Grand Marshalls for the parade. 

Shading myself with not one, but two umbrellas, I thought I would be safe from the spray of the fire truck hoses. Not so. They soaked me, but I didn't mind getting cooled off. Ransom did not like getting sprayed. 

The South Family Parade entry. 

In other July happenings.... My flowers are gorgeous this year. I love my Delphiniums,

along with all my other flowers. Pansys, Petunias, Geraniums, Violas, Rose Moss, Snap dragons, etc.

I made a flower container out of an old fountain ..

BTW- See the posts in the photo below? Darryl removed the posts from the old gazebo. 

My front yard looks so nice.

My Garden, on the other hand didn't do well at all. It was growing so slowly that most of my radishes and lettuces went to seed before they even matured. My green beans, on the other hand are looking pretty good. I will be adding more nutrients to the soil this fall in hopes of having a better harvest next year. 

Darryl added a new storage room to the upstairs back porch.

On the 11th I had my bunion removed on my left foot. I was on crutches for just over 3 weeks.

 After 2 weeks the Dr. Removed the pin from my toe.

And now, after several more weeks in a stiff wooden bottom shoe I should be back to normal. (I hope to be in normal "flat" sandals by mid September.

In the bargain of the month, Darryl picked up this beautiful piece of Hull Ebb Tide at the thrift store ....

Hull is not necessarily the most expensive of the art pottery, but the Ebb Tide line sells starting at $50 into the hundreds of dollars. He paid $2.00 for it! 

 Finally, thanks to our friends the Sullivans, Darryl and I picked 15 lbs. of their Raspberries. I put up 14 pints of preserves and 7 quarts of frozen berries.

That's pretty much it for the last month. Next post will be from Darryl's Birthday on Sunday and I will also get some photos of Cody and Kristina to post.

 

Zoo Pictures for Skye

When I put up my original June post I only had time to include 3 pictures from our trip to the zoo. It has donned on me that I have become a slothful blogger and I need to do better. My blogging was originally meant so family and friends far away could see photographic evidence of what our family has been up to but I have been taking short cuts and putting up only a few pictures. I have decided to make amends. 

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Skye has asked if I could put up more pictures from our trip to the zoo on June 24th. Along with Reagan, we took Gideon, Parker and Cody with us and met Lalo and Cintia at the zoo. Here is picture evidence of the fun we had! 

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 First of all, Miss Reagan loved to play outside, but when it got quiet it was time to worry. This is where we found her one afternoon. She was wanting to help Grandpa.

 When we went to the zoo the kiddos had a fabulous time not just looking at the animals but also climbing, running and playing.

 Skye was right at home at the zoo since she works at the zoo in Columbia, SC. Reagan had a great time with her mom. The Penguins were a hit!

 Petting Mrs. Tiggywinkle (a hedgehog).

 Cody, Tyree and Reagan resting and nesting.

 Peek-a-Boo, I see you!

 Time for a drink.

A little break for lunch and fun at the carnival.

This was just too cute, just like a mother hen and her chicks!

Tyree knew exactly what to do on the Merry-Go-Round, horses are second nature to her, even pretend ones. 

Lalo and Cintia met us at the park. Lalo took the little girls on the Ferris Wheel ....

 While Skye rode with Gideon and Parker .....

And Cody took a much needed nap.

It was a fun and exhausting day! 

COMING SOON... Independence Day and July fun!