Happy Day to the lovely Miss Ella - and our good friend Sue!!

Happy day today to our own Miss Ella!!

I had fun this summer spending time - and traveling with her - she is fun to have around!!

She's creative and hard-working, along with her other accomplishments!

Popular with all the relatives too!

She is the birthday queen today!!

Along with our good friend Sue C. - shown here a few years ago - goodness, it doesn't seem like time has flown until you look at a photo!!

Have a great day ladies - and a wonderful year ahead!!

Teeth

Annika finally lost one of her top teeth. Now I am itching for the other one to go. I like a matched set.




- Posted from my iPod so please excuse any typos and weird auto corrections. :-)

Another weekend wrap-up!

After I weighed in at Weight Watchers, we indulged at IHOP!! The "fit" menu involved egg substitute and turkey bacon, so I just went ahead and blew my activity points!

Porter scored at the toy store when he chose "Bionicles" - they were buy two get one free. He was a happy boy!

Tonight we headed to GH and enjoyed a meal and a visit with Mom and Donna - always fun to do - although I caught Mom with her eyes closed!

When I came home from the broadcast - which was great - this is how things looked - some of you are not going to recognize the place - hopefully it gets finished soon!

Too bad tomorrow is Monday - I'd rather have another weekend day!!

Newest Great-Grandbabies!

Congrats to Paul and Camille on the births of Owen and Malcom.

And congrats to Joan and Fred - who are now the proud grandparents of 6 grandsons!

An Early B-day Celebration

Since we are not sure how things will be in October, we decided to have Porter's birthday sleepover this weekend. Next week is General Conference, and the week after that I may need to be helping with all the kids, so I picked up Porter after school. We have been having a fine time!! (Porter usually doesn't want his picture taken - this time he said, "Sure. I'll hold this big pinecone.)

After dinner at Subway, we headed over to the Krikorian to see Dolphin Tale - and can I just say that this is a delightful movie?? I think I need to buy it when it comes out on DVD - it's worth seeing more than once!! (Harry Connick, Jr. even plays the saxophone for a few minutes!!)

The minute he got to my house, he asked for the Harry Potter Legos!! They were buried deep in the family room - but he wasn't taking no for an answer. And it turned out they were accessible!!

When I asked about breakfast he said, "Let's go to IHOP. And after that we can go to Toys r Us." Gotta love Porter's no-nonsense approach to fun, food, and good times.

We snuggled up with The Witch Who Was Afraid of Witches, and now he's listening to Primary songs - my tape player is at school, and I only have Scripture Scouts on tape - maybe I need to get them on CD.

I can't think of a better way to spend a Friday night than with my man Porter, especially when Harry is working at the temple. (He did lament Grandpa's absence - I just can't seem to do the Grandpa Bob stories!!)

He's an early riser, so I think I will turn in now!!

The chaos goes on

Life goes on around here - in an ever-smaller circle!! The rooms are filling up with all the stuff from the living room.

The guest room is full to the brim!!

You may not recognize this - but it's the family room.

And this is my little corner where I can use the computer. Does not encourage blogging - that's for sure!!

The new floor job starts Monday. We'll try to keep you posted!!

"Saturday IS a special day" - at least this one was!!

Yesterday was full of activity - this was at the end of the day - Donna and Mom came out with Erika and Felipe - all the group shots I took were grainy and full of alien red-eyes, so I hope these shots will do!

Harry was commenting that Dawn never took any pictures of him - so I told him to come in and sit down by Dawn - there wasn't a spot to sit, so I said, "Well, just kneel down beside her." So he did!

This was his other response!! Maybe we know why Dawn doesn't take lots of pics of him!!

I watched the kids while Harry and Dawn took Eve to her gymnastics competition in Chino, so Isla was with me all day - and we had a great time together!!

Dad joined us in the evening.

This was the only clear shot of Erika and Felipe - sorry about catching you eating Felipe!! It was really great to see them and visit with them.

Karolina and Amalia had a great time with Eve.

Eve scored at her competition - first place on the floor program in her age group!!

Noah had a gig, but he came by in the afternoon and lunched with the boys and me - we are devotees of Market Grill!!

Victor - called Vector by Porter!! - is a hat-wearing man - his grandma's boy!! The visit was short but enjoyable - we love visitors!!

The passing of a friend

Dad was able to attend the funeral service today for Desirae's mom Diane. She had been ill for some time, and in fact had moved up to Utah to be near Desirae.

He said he had a great visit with Desirae - who said, "We have a family just like yours - a girl, then a boy, then three girls, then a boy!!" He also said it was a lovely service, and that it
was done entirely by the family.

Jan in the office at Clifton lives on the same street - says the house has been fixed up and "staged" so it can sell. She said it really looks great.

Old days - old times - old friends - the years go by quickly. Diane was always so supportive of Desirae and her membership in the church. A fine woman, and though her abilities had declined with her illness, she will be remembered fondly.

And doesn't that photo look like Desirae???

Blind Pilot

Last weekend I got to hang out with the Nebekers at the Blind Pilot CD release concert. It was an AWESOME show and it was amazing how many people were there- completely sold out. I was able to say a brief hello to Israel after the show, but there was a long line of people (girls) waiting to take a picture with him and get an autograph- he is certainly a popular guy! If they are in a show near you, you should at least to a drive by and check out their re-furbished tour bus. It's pretty fun.

Anyway, today their new CD, We Are the Tide, came out and it's available on iTunes and in stores. My recommendation is to check it out! You can also look it up on NPR and get a sneak peak.

Monday Night at the Movies!!

Our good friend Rene "treated" us to the movies tonight. (She works at the theater and can take up to 4 guests.) Harry and I talked about seeing it after reading the various reviews - some good, some not so good. Rene wanted to see it too, so we made a plan - and we even walked to the theater, so it was good exercise!!

I thought the film was well done. Some critics have said it was too clinical - but I felt that went with the theme and added to the effectiveness.

It's a creepy though, since it seems possible that it could happen.

Maybe just see for yourself!!

Saturday Fun in the Valley

Dawn and the kids and I drove out to GH today. We've been trying to pamper Dawn, so she went for a mani/pedi and a facial while Mom, Donna, and I tended the kids.

Eve and Donna playing "Hollywood!"

The kids took baths and then wore shirts of Donna's. Funny how kids love bathing in "other" tubs!

As long as her mom's not around, Isla is willing to be with me!!

Eve - showing her "stuff" for her upcoming competition.

Isla loved the Polly Pocket stuff.

Mom fixed a great dinner for us - Donna said, "Does this all seem familiar, kids underfoot while you cook?"

And Mom said, "These kids aren't in the way!!"

Old habits never die it seems!!

And kids still enjoy being at Grandma Mary's!!

From Ella

Ella thinks this makes her look old. Correction, she thinks the photo looks old. This is good. Since the app is one from 1977. :)

The many faces of Harry F.

Happy Day today to Harry Francis - a man of many talents!

A super hero!!

An artist of sorts.

A good big brother.

A great missionary.

A good sport!

A fine family man.

Ardent T.V. watcher!

Good with babies.

Treats his mother well.

Has dramatic flair.

Pretty good musician.

Sometime runner.

Good little brother.

Treats his dad well too!

Happy Husband to Dawn!!

A good Scout!

A hard worker!!

Have a great day - enjoy the end of this decade - 40 is on its way!!