Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Fun with Claire and R

Claire and R came to town for the 4th of July holiday. We had a great time enjoying their company and participating in some fun activities. They arrived Tuesday night and we got underway on Wednesday. Claire and I went to IKEA to do a "little" baby shopping and then we headed to the Park City outlets to check out Gap, Baby Gap, Banana and Old Navy. R gave me instructions to keep her spending to $50. I failed miserably. Oops.
They also enjoyed the pool, playing tennis and visiting with R's family and just enjoying some down time. Wimbledon was on and they enjoyed watching many hours of the competition. Thursday I did a lot of grocery shopping and food prep with Claire's assistance. Mary Ann and Stacey stopped by for a visit and we put them to work helping us make the baby shower favors. It was so nice of them to come and see Claire and chat for a spell. We then headed up the canyon to the property of R's family and enjoyed gourmet pasta prepared by R's dad. Pat and Vern went with us and we had a great evening.
Friday we got going early (thanks to Claire's advanced planning in getting us some tickets) and headed to the new Oquirrah (pronounced Oak-er) temple open house along with R's brother and father. It was so beautiful and different in lay out from any other temple I've attended. We coincidentally ran into Rick's cousin Bob who also happens to be the stake president of C&R. We talk to them and Rick's aunt Beverly for awhile and snapped some pictures. After that we headed downtown SLC to attend the SLC temple. Claire has never had the opportunity to attend an endowment session in the Salt Lake temple, so we enjoyed that experience together. The flowers were beautiful around the temple grounds and it was just such a sweet experience. Afterwards we were treated to lunch at the Lion House by R senior. The prime rib was excellent and the rolls and pie can't be beat! We headed home and arrived just an hour before the bridal shower was to start. Who should be sitting in our drive way with his HUGE horse trailer/camper but the Cam Smith family. They were just returning from rodeo activities in Gallup, NM of all places. It was fun to see Cam and his family and we appreciated him stopping by. They headed to Cafe Rio for dinner and we pulled the food out of the fridge/freezer for the shower and we were underway on time. Mom and David arrived along with Dave and Courtney, Madi and Taylor. After the shower, Madi and Taylor got busy playing the Farming Game and the rest of the crew settled in to watch the two Andy's duke it out at Wimbledon. Mom was totally into it as was everyone else.
The next day was the 4th (already highlighted) and the final activity was a trip to the MTC on Sunday morning to attend fast and testimony meeting with the missionaries. It is always a wonderful meeting full of the spirit. Claire and R packed their lunch and headed for home after that. It was wonderful to have them with us and we look forward to our next encounter. BTW - I'm STILL washing sheets and towels.







Monday, July 6, 2009

Claire's baby shower

Thanks to all who attended
and/or sent a gift!!!
We appreciate your love and support.
























Sunday, July 5, 2009

4th of July traditions

Click to play this Smilebox scrapbook: Fun on the 4th
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~ 10K run (this year Rick and R's brother Westin ran it)Rick beat out Steve Young and Chad Lewis and was 14th out of 35 in his age group...wow, impressive!)
~ Freedom Festival grand parade
~ BBQ in the park (this year Claire and R, R's dad and brother, Dave and Courtney, Mom and David, Madi and Taylor, Pat and Vern, Kelms, Doug's family, Coils, Philipps & Elder Meza joined in the fun)
~ swimming and tennis, snow cones
~ Stadium of Fire
~ Fireworks!!

AND the best part of the whole holiday:


Tuesday, June 30, 2009

RIP MJ

I wasn't a huge fan. I thought the kid could dance like no other though. Too bad he imploded and turned so weird. I always loved this video written by MJ and Lionel Richie and I think the singing is great by some of the best artists of the 80s. I could name all of them but two. See how you do and then check this web site to see the list of performers.
The song is a good thought. Maybe someday.

Monday, June 29, 2009

some June happenings

We've had some great adventures over the last few weeks.

Last Friday night we attended the world premiere of "Battalion," a musical written, directed and produced by my brother-in-law Trace Skeen in Huntsville. It was great to learn more about the Mormon Battalion and what they and their families went through. It was a story of faith, courage and romance and it was very enjoyable. Trace is very talented and creative and he did a great job bringing his dream to fruition. Congratulations to him and his family, many of whom participated in various ways over the weekend. Way to go Skeens!











Here is a picture of some of the main actors and actresses.

We had the Lindley kids over for dinner and a rousing game of beach ball volleyball. It was so much fun. Haley and Devin came a couple of weeks ago to attend BYU camps and visit cousins and grandparents and Megan will go back to Australia with them next week. Robyn and Chris live just down the street from us. They're great kids and a credit to their family. Janis and Corey should be very proud of their children. Also visiting was cousin Kaylee who is the daughter of Dan and Angie.



I also got to see Sister Erica Lindley every week at the MTC. She is leaving today for Taiwan. Her Chinese is great and she is excited to get going. In just one more year, the Lindley's will be back from Australia. We look forward to seeing them again in the neighborhood and the ward.















Jordan and Jake flew back up two weeks ago to attend the wedding of Jake's brother Matt. We got to see them for a whole week and we enjoyed every minute of it. Jord and the girls came for visits in April, May and June for a total of five weeks! It's been heaven on earth to have them around. Here are the girls with their cousins enjoying the wedding!
































We spent a fun morning feeding the ducks...













playing on a great playground...












visiting a wonderful new park in the valley called Nelson's Grove...













wading our feet...













feeding more ducks...












spending Father's day with Rick's family and jumping on the tramp with uncle Dave...













playing with Grandpa on Father's day (does it get any better than that?)











Lauren and I attended the production of Beauty and the Beast at SCERA. Wow, it was so well done and so fun for her, she loved it and so did I!













The costumes and set were amazing...













and Belle was PERFECTLY cast...












Another day we went to Mimi's with our kids to celebrate our 30th anniversary with them...












and the next day Lauren and I attended a Princess Party hosted by Belle the morning before the play complete with...













lunch served by Belle....












she got a princess crown and she got to make a bracelets and win a ring in a game...











Wow, Belle even posed like a princess...so funny...so Belle... Isn't she beautiful? She had a great voice as well...











she was so sweet to Lauren and Lauren was trilled to actually meet a real princess. She also enjoyed making crafts...
























posing with Mrs. Potts. Costumed people are NOT loved by Lauren. They make her nervous...but she was very brave...











story time with Belle and all the other little princesses. It was a magical day for Lauren and her Grandma and we had a great time. She came prepared and wore her own princess dress. I wish I had one of those...










We also went to the Jim Brickman concert at SCERA and took Jordan, Pat and Vern as our guests. It was a lovely evening at the outdoor theater and the concert was enjoyed by all. Check out Jim's web site here to hear his music and learn more about him if interested. We have many of his CD's and we love his music! He had two vocalists perform with him and they were great, especially the man Mark Masri. Jim is a versatile and talented pianist.