Snowbird in Summer

Whit and Laura plus the four kids visited last month. We spent an evening in the canyon, riding the tram at Snowbird and loving the beauty of our Utah mountains. We saw a number of deer as we rode the tram. Our time at the summit was cut short as a thunderstorm was rolling in. You do not want to be on an 11,000 foot peak when lightning is afoot. Note little Ty is now on solid foods. He thinks Papa Hugh's backpack is especially tasty. Whit, of course, has summitted much higher peaks. His climb in Africa of Mount Kilimanjaro was a 19,000 foot "hike." Whit will also climb Mount Owens (Grand Tetons) on Labor Day weekend. He has a group of friends from all over the country that climb with him each September. Whit and Laura have moved an incredible 12 times in 12 years of marriage so they have friends everywhere.

Oh me oh my! I started scrapbooking!

Yes, I did it. I started scrapbooking digitally. It is pretty fun and so easy. About 8 years ago, I thought I would be such a great grandma and make some scrapbook pages for my grandkids. Well, we all know how that turned out. The first four grandkids got a couple of pages just because Kate needed a summer job and helped me out. The other 12 grandkids, zilch! Just recently, Becca got into the memory maker stuff and also taught me a few of her tricks. I found it fun to place a grandchild on your lap and let him help you create the page. The photo posted here is an example. Davis picked his own photos, paper, font and mat. Well, okay, I added a few things too. I think it looks out of the galaxy cute.

Jedi in a Bathrobe

I can't for the life of me figure out where they get it, but Whit and Ty got all costumed up and staged a Jedi Training at Davis' 5th birthday party. (If you've been to Disneyland lately, you know the drill.) Check out the cute little Jedi trainees. Yes, they are my grandchildren.

Ever Caught a Fish with Your Bare Hands?

You've met Jeneseri before. My 13 year old friend from Africa. He is in our local scout troop and is the smallest scout by at least a foot. Jeneseri went backpacking with the scouts last week. He loved it. The Scoutmaster said he was like a mountain goat carrying his giant pack up the mountain with no problems. Apparently he loves trout. He ate 3 for dinner the first day and 8 for lunch the next day. He didn't want anyone to throw the fish back because he wanted to eat them all. One of the biggest fish caught was by Jeneseri but unfortunately he had to put it back because he caught it with his bare hands.

Birundi Ballerina

Many of my readers may recall I am helping to mentor a refugee family from Birundi. Meet Stella who is seven years old. She is taking ballet lessons at our home this summer. A young woman in the neighborhood is earning money for a trip to China by teaching ballet to some little girls and she scholarshipped Stella. I love it each morning when Stella knocks on the door dressed in her leotard and tutu. How changed her life is now. From searching for and hauling firewood (on her head) for cooking daily meals to plie and pirouettes. We love you Stella.

Happy Birthday Hugh

We celebrated Hugh's birthday at Newport Beach. Note the reunion tee shirt is "The David" Hughesque style. (They do have similar bodies.)It is too small to read from the photo, but the caption under The David statue is: Families are Forever scripted in Italian. We are all so lucky to have such a wonderful man in our lives. He is the best husband, father and grandfather ever! We all love you Hugh!

Sweet Sixteen at Newport Beach

We had a great reunion at Newport Beach last week. The sixteen grandchildren were all there as well as the moms and dads. We are 35 total now. We spent most of the time on the sand and in the water with one outing to Disneyland. Jason was our Disneyland coordinator arranging for all the FastPass tickets and organizing all of us to get to go on all the rides. The meals were amazing. No, we didn't brave 16 grandkids at a restaurant...realizing that they are all under the age of nine. Nearly, half of them are under the age of two. Each meal was chaired by two couples and we ate like kings. It worked great because after the kids finished eating, they just went out to the sand to continue their baseball game, football game or sand digging activity. Thanks everyone for all you contributed to make this year a rowsing success.