Please Pray For Your Cousin, Hazel!

Hazel Jo

Our littlest munchkin is in the hospital getting antibiotic therapy for a blood infection. Please pray for her that the infection will be under control soon and the Abs won't fry her little tiny veins. Please pray that she will not be afraid and unhappy as doctors have become very unpleasant to her with all the poking and sticking that goes on in the hospital. Please pray that her Mommy and Daddy and sisters can hold up well under all the worry and pressure.

For Hazie and Jennifer!

This morning I posted a link to Linda Ann's post about Lanette. I hope neither one of them will sue me for snagging the lullaby that Lanette sang at camp. I wanted little Hazie to be able to hear it in the hospital over the laptop. She loves music and I am sure she is very well-acquainted with her angel friends. Maybe it will bring her comfort, anyway that is my prayer. Thanks everyone...we will keep you posted!

I Am An American!!

From Jen~ to her iPhone ~to Facebook ~to me ~to you
~as if by Magic...

"Mom: Wow! Chloe, you are so fancy!

Chloe: I'm not fancy. I'm an American. ...

Mom: Hmmm...what is an American?

Chloe: It's when you have a dress and a necklace
and curly hair and a build-a-bear and you are smiling.

From the mouths of babes..."

You've Come a Long Way Baby!

Was this really nearly two years ago?

Presenting Miss Hazie Jo
Kicking Back ~ at 22 months old.

July Family Reunion For the George Family

Hiking at Cedar Breaks during their wildflower festival...really beautiful!

Aynslee lovin' her marshmallow at the campfire.

Aerial shot of Wii tennis tournament.

Connor at Bryce Canyon.

All the cousins (minus Owen who was strapped
to our back) posing at Bryce Canyon mid-hike.

Connor on the water slide in Cedar City...
he barely touched the pool otherwise. He and his cousin,
Nathan, went down the slide something like 67 times.

Chris, Missy, Greg and Carrie outside one of
the theaters (the coolest one by far) at the
Shakespearean Festival in Cedar City.

One last shot with grandma and grandpa George.

Home Safe and Sound

View from Jen and Lowell's garage arriving at
8:04 Mountain Time zone! All is well!

Family Farewell

Last night we had what turned out to be a family reunion for some of the extended family to say hi and bye to the kids. Some had not ever met Chloe or Hazel so that was fun. Of course they were all surprised at how much Piper and Julia have grown and what lovely young ladies they are.

All Jen's Aunts and Uncles were here , her cousin, Nick and some first cousins once removed and some second cousins as well. Our family and our close friends, the Leals, enjoy a four-generation legacy of being friends now. The fourth generation met and had fun together in our pool. I am sure that when Jim and Bill met as cub scouts in their childhood, they never dreamed their grandchildren would swim together one day and be friends. Nor that Jim's mother and Bill's father would enjoy doing things together in their 80s after each losing their spouses. Life is always full of surprises, isn't it?

Not the best photos but they are action photos and Aron only stayed in the water about 2 nano seconds~too cold! But he was prepared with life jacket and goggles. Wilsey (William) did not want to go in at all, but he observed from the side of the pool.

Jim and Lowell did the BBQing and
Uncle Gary kept Lowell company.

To accompany the Tri-tip we added:

Gramma Jo's famous potato salad and a jello salad and
a green salad along with baked beans and
San Francisco sour dough bread.

Bethy, Andy, Barbara, and Paul

Grandma Gloria
Aunt Marilyn and Lola (their grand dog!)

Nick, Mara, Aunt Marilyn

Aunt Emily and her grandson, Sebastian

Uncle Steve, Jen, Aunt Gail

S'Mores made by everyone and
brownies made by Jen for dessert

Julia all dressed up in some clothes
Aunt Gail gave her,
sitting with Grampa at the end of
the evening and holiday together.

Aunt Barbara and Hazel playing with the tether ball.

Just before it started to sprinkle
and everyone went home.
I can never remember it raining in July before!
It was like heaven was shedding a few tears
because the kids were leaving and there's a
Gramma and Grampa left behind here
with empty arms again!

What a Fun and Busy Week!
We Miss You All!

It is going to be hard to get a back to 'business as usual' tomorrow!

Hiking~Grampa Style

Chloe Jane

If you have been reading my blog for any length of time you know that Jim is quite the outdoor enthusiast. He is also a person with an unending supply of energy and is always on the go. When he has worn out every adult, he can always find willing kids to pick up the slack. While, Jen, Lowell, Paul and I were sleeping off our exhaustion he was busily planning his next adventure.

( As an aside, it is good for me to realize he can tucker out people in their 30s just as much as he does me! I always think it is my own personal failing when I can't keep up but, I have living proof it is not!) The kind of energy Jim has, I am beginning to think of as a "talent." If you can envision a busy, busy, two-year-old's energy, you are beginning to get the picture. It is the kind of energy that if you could bottle and sell it...you'd be truly rich. I'd forgo the riches just to have a little more of it myself!

Anyway, yesterday morning he took, Piper, Julia, and Chloe out for a hike in a nearby canyon. He had packed some snacks, given each girl a walkie talkie and a walking stick. They grabbed some water and a hat and off they went.

Here they are with their walking sticks at the trail head!

Here they are testing their walkie talkies!

Piper~the Stylish Hiker!

Julia Mae exploring a spider web in a knot hole of a scrub oak.

Chloe peeking out from behind a tree

The sure reward for being very good girls!
How many kids get ice cream cones before noon?
Only a few and only on special occasions!

Thanks Grampa for ensuring the girls had a fun day trip!

Fun With H2O

Friday was another fun packed day. The guys actually went Kayaking and had a great time. Here are a few photos of the beautiful San Francisco Bay and them in their kayaks.

Jen and the girls and I went to San Francisco and had a lot of fun too but all those photos are on her iPhone so I need to have her send them to me when she wakes up this morning. Jim has taken the three big girls on a little hike so the house is very quiet and everyone is still asleep. We girls went to Sausalito via the Bay Cruise. The girls loved riding on the ferry boat.

Weird and wonderful sculptures of San Francisco

Vaillancourt Fountain

Cheese Shop at the Ferry Building

Overlooking the Bay where the men were kayaking
and our ferry boat as it approaches the dock.

Ferry Boat Cabin

Ice Cream in Sausalito

When we got home we have some backyard fun and rested.

Here is the extra bedroom!

We bought this pool for the kids but the adults enjoyed it too. Well, the men anyway! We thought we'd have hotter weather but it has been just beautiful and pretty mild all week.

Grampa gets in on it~
Our "Solar Heat" hasn't really kicked in yet.

All of the above diverted all the little people from
accidentally falling
in the pond to get near some H2O.

Hazie loves this ball!

Hazie and I had fun with the ball. She is so cute she is talking some and learning to sign. She knows the sign for ball and is quite intrigued with them. Her breathing is just great here at sea level. Maybe they'll just leave her here with us maybe? Not holding my breath on that one though.

Thursday Tibits

The men went to San Francisco this morning They stopped along the way at Treasure Island and took a few photos from a marvelous vantage point.

The Buddies!

Whaaat? Jimbob?

Today the guys were suppose to go Kayaking. Somehow the dates got messed up and they are really scheduled for tomorrow. So they went out to lunch and then came home so we girls could have some time. They watched the two little girls and we took Julia and Piper to lunch at El Tapitio's. It was fun giving them all of our attention for this short time. They are such good girls!

We love Mexican Food!Playing with Hazie~Our little rapper!

We all relaxed in the afternoon and then headed over to the Farmer's Market and Beatles Concert in the town square. We bought some veggies for our dinner tomorrow and meandered around the Market. I have never seen it so crowded!

The Flag of Flowers!

I can never resist taking photos of the flowers at the market.

Hazie eats a locally grown, beautiful, organic peach!

This little girl is pretty much always smiling!

Julia Mae started dancing when the concert started revving up!
Pretty soon lots of people were dancing too.

Jen and Piper

Paul and Chloe

Soon our whole little corner of the Market was gettin' down!

At 8:00 the concert and market were closing down so we decided to go to Skipolini's Pizzeria for dinner. It is just down the street and while walking we came upon this great mural.

Julia @ the Mural

This one reminded us of her Daddy!

Skipolini's and it's fountain

The End!