Happy Birthday Zachary James!

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Happy Birthday, Zach!

We are going bananas over here because we never get to see you on your birthday! But that doesn't mean we don't think of you and wish you a very Happy Day! Most of my friends already know you but some new ones do not. So everyone, this is Zachary James and he is seven years old today. He is the second son of Christopher and Melissa. Just yesterday he finished the first grade.

This is Zachary with his teacher Mrs. S. She is so pretty, isn't she? Zach is really going to miss her and his friends from first grade. We got to meet her this year when we went to Zachary's class because he was the VIP of the week. He got to introduce his Mom, Dad, his Brother Connor, Sister Anyslee and Little Brother Owen, and Gramma and Grampa to his class.

He brought a little object that reminded him of each of us and told about it, then we told a little about ourselves to all his classmates. It was early in the year and we noticed what a good teacher he had and how she was able to keep the children's attention the entire time. All the kids sat on the floor in a semi-circle. When Zach said he had two brothers, everyone who also had two brothers would pop up and then sit back down. Brilliant. The kids kept listening and popping up and down throughout the whole presentation.

These are some of the things Zach really likes. He likes our family friend, Shelby that he has known for a long time and they got to be in the same class this year. He also likes his good friends Tyler and Brady. He really loves math! He is also excellent at the Wii and we love to watch him play it.

When his mom asked him what he would like to see in his birthday blog he said that he really loves to clean the floor, and bake with her. I see a great husband and father in the making, don't you? And he is wanting to learn how to sew so I bet he will be a good missionary someday too! He can then mend and sew on buttons, etc., right? Zach also enjoys their new trampoline and riding ponies it appears!


For his birthday Zach said he might like a little sewing kit, a Leapster Didj spelling game and maybe even some Pillow Pets? We hope he will enjoy what ever he finds in those birthday presents. He has some birthday bucks so will enjoy going to the toy store to shop. Zach is also going to go to see a movie for his birthday, it just came out yesterday and is Kung Fu Panda II.

Hope you enjoy it Zachary!

For dinner Zach wants rice with a special sauce his mom makes, it is his favorite dinner. I am sure she will make him a special cake or treat, he may even help her to do it since he likes baking with her!

He will really miss his Daddy as he is still in Africa but he is coming home tomorrow! Yay! But his Dad will call him today and that will be a great addition to his special day!

Zach, Dad has been helping these little kids
get clean water to grow their garden at the orphanage.

But his work there is done now and he is
getting his shoes shined and
coming home to all of you!
He is helping this man earn
some money for his family first.

Now that Zach is seven he will be preparing and learning more about Jesus and the Gospel for his baptism at age eight! That will be great, but he already knows a lot about all of that because in his family they read the scriptures every night together and that is how children and adults learn about the Gospel.

We are very happy that you are seven, Zach! You are a very fine grandson and we are so proud of how kind and loving you are. We look forward to seeing you in a few weeks for our big, fun, family reunion.

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Hope it is the best Birthday ever, Zachiedoodle!
All our love, Gramma and Grampa
XOXOXOXOXOXOXO
and one to grow on XO

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Happy Birthday, Spencer!

Spencer with his mom, his teacher,
his biggest fan along with
his entire extended family!

Spencer is having a big Birthday today. He is 12 years old. This is a very significant birthday for the boys in our church. It is when they are ordained to the Priesthood and when they begin to accept some of the sacred responsibilities of the men in the church. This marks a passage from childhood and Primary to the Young Men's program as well. So this is a big day in the life of an LDS boy and his parents. Congratulations, Spence, Laura and Robert! I can remember how exciting it was when this big day came for your Uncle Christopher, Spencer. We wish we could be with you this week.

This is the cake Laura made for Spencer last year on his birthday. Of course the military service of our Armed Forces is a big part of our lives and we love and respect the men and women who defend our country and our freedoms that often come with a high price. Of course his Dad, Robert, is at the top of our list, as is their entire family, for the sacrifices they make everyday for the rest of us. I wonder what the theme of the cake that Spencer is having today is?

Spencer follow your Dad's example
and you will never go wrong!

Maybe this year's cake has something to do with The Boy Scouts Of America? At 12 when a young man enters into the Young Men's Program of the church, the activity arm of it is the Boy Scouts. They will meet once a week with the other pre-teens and teens of the church and have fun, wholesome activities and do service projects for those in need.

Once a month they will have an activity with the Young Women. This program is so wonderful for the youth of the church and teaches them to be wholesome and responsible and good church members and citizens. They get a lot of guidance on educational pursuits, careers, etc. as well, in addition to that the goal for them is to become an Eagle Scout. They have wonderful camping experiences with their friends and adult leaders. Many do attain their Eagle and it is not an easy task.

They also work towards achieving a Duty to God award that requires them to do quite a bit and helps prepare them for adulthood and spiritual and civic leadership. They also have an opportunity at this age to start speaking in church on Gospel principles. It is a very big step forward for the youth of the church. So Yay! Spencer, we are very happy for you! Your Grampa has spent most of his time in Church over the last thirty-something years working with the young men. You have a lot of fun ahead of you in the next few years. These are the years you will save your money and prepare to become a full time missionary for Jesus Christ for two years at age nineteen.

It seems like just the other day
you were soaking in our tub!

And camping over here at
Gramma and Grampa's house.

Look at you now,
You and Ross are growing up
Right before our eyes!
He should be your best friend all of your life!

You are such a great student and a good inventor.
You remind us of Uncle Chris!
I have a feeling that secret invention to help
you know who, will one day be a reality.

You are a wonderful, thoughtful, fun and funny
son and grandson, and brother,
nephew and cousin for all of us.
We are so proud of you, Spencer!

Here you are with Grampa at Yale last fall.

What a fun day that was! And Yale! I am a Yaley! Well, I should clarify...after a Cougar, that is! I loved the campus at Yale! Just like Hogwarts, wasn't it with its "Houses" and stone walls. Remember that giant swing? That was such a great trip and the best part was being with you guys!

We are looking forward to seeing you very soon in Utah and then here with us in CA for a week. We are going to really have some fun! Spencer we could not be more pleased in your good choices and the boy you are. You have so many fun and important things ahead. We are very excited about your new school for next year. You will love it. What a privilege to have gotten accepted. They know quality when they see it. Congratulations and a very Happy Birthday! We love you with all of our hearts!

Gramma and Grampa Are Celebrating Your Great Life today!
We thank God you are ours every day!

XOXOXOXOXOXO
XOXOXOXOXOXO
and XO to grow on!

Twice as Nice!

Today is Chloe's Birthday. When she has her Birthday I am reminded that this day is twice as nice because Chloe is the most special gift to our family. You can read her story here. ( If you click over to the link, you can come right back here afterwards by double clicking on the picture of our street on the header of the blog...just like magic you'll be back.)

Six years ago today one of the most wonderful things happened and we were given the gift of this precious little girl, to have and to hold from that day forward and forever.

Chlo-Jo have a wonderful day, Honey! Here are some of the cutest pictures of Chloe. She rarely takes a bad photo. She is just so full of life and love and she has so many sides, like a beautiful faceted diamond! We love this spicy little girl!

Some people have said she looks like her Gramma,
what do you think?

This little face reminds me of an
Our Gang or The Little Rascals photo!
She just looks mischievous and gleeful.
She's a hat girl, isn't she?
They should have invited her
to the Royal Wedding!

Who gets a beauty mark just in the
right place? I love this little face!

Dressing Up with her cousin and our grandson,
Zach, for their "wedding."
Who cannot love this photo?
We have it framed in our bedroom.

Her serious, pensive side.

Her adventurous, fearless side!

Her goofy side!

Her sweet, lovable side!
I think she has the most beautiful blue eyes!

Her precious side!

Her spooky side!

She's Six and look!
Her toothless side!

Her Happy Side~
Her Happy Birthday last year!

Happy Birthday, "JoJo"
We love you with all of our hearts!
And we miss you and love
that we will be seeing you soon!

Hugs and Kisses, Gramma and Grampa

XOXOXOXOXOXO and one to grow on XO

Jen and Her Little Women

This is the first of 10 posts on Jen and the girls' trip to CA over Spring break 2011. There is one more to be added about the bike trips as soon as I get the photos from Grampa!

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Here they are roaring up the driveway!
They made it safe and sound!
(Yes they have the same
car we do, so do Missy and Chris!
An odd coincidence!)

The girls arrived last night right at dinner time. It was perfectly timed, we had made a big batch of spaghetti and everyone was hungry except sweet, Pipey who was having a touch of the flu. Honestly, no matter what, there is always the unexpected to keep life interesting. Fortunately tonight she is feeling pretty good, so it was short-lived. Apparently Hazie and Chloe had it earlier in the week. Fingers crossed no one else gets it.

Hazie loved sitting in Aunt Laura's high chair.
She also like the bumble bee plates!

After dinner the little girls initiated the use of our new bathtub. They were the first people to actually bathe in it. Neither Jim or I like baths much so we always have used the shower. But the girls made the soaking tub look pretty fun.

It became a family event,
even Molly was in there at one point.

Julia's sparkle toes

This morning we all awakened feeling refreshed and it is a good thing as it has been a long day.

We had a conflict for church today. My beloved teacher's memorial was at 1:00 as is our church time, so we got to go to a different ward this morning. It landed up being just Grampa and me and the Julia and Chloe.

Jen and Hazie stayed home with Piper.
Bring on the artwork!

Just home from church.

Piper feeling better after a shower and a bath.

Chloe Jane prefers being called Jo Jo right now.
I think that is sweet since it was my mom's nickname.

Had a few minutes for a walk this morning
before Jim and I had to leave
for Berkeley for the memorial.

"Jo Jo" brought her bike on the walk!

The memorial was just so inspiring and so tender. Many people ( a lot of faculty and some students from many of his 35 years of teaching at CVHS)) came from my high school days and it was really neat to see how all the teachers had changed. (Of course we students hadn't changed a bit!)

We had a nice reunion with Judi and Joel and my French teacher. She is amazing and must be in her late 70s or early 80s. We had a lovely meal with Judi and Joel and then came home. It was a wonderful nostalgic experience. Charlie Lynch receive a remarkable tribute from many people and was loved by us all. How wonderful would it be to be an influence in so many lives for good. A worthy aspriation of us all, hopefully.

While we were gone the girls just chilled and played in the yard and walked to the park. I got a text from Jen with a photo of Chloe, I mean "Jo Jo" swimming in our pond. I think she is the first kid to swim in it, but Jim seems to remember Christopher doing it. It must have been freezing! But Jo Jo is a Pioneer woman like her mom!

Well, that is it for the first full day of their visit.
It is just great to have them all here!
We hated to leave them for the memorial but
it all worked out and it was good that we went.

It was one of those days when life just felt so rich.

Spring Break~Girls' Day!

I have already posted several of the fun things we did when the girls came to visit for 8 days over their spring break. I still have a few more posts to do. I love that by going to the edit page and selecting options on the bottom you and change the date and put them in correct order when the entire week long event is finished. I just somehow ran out of time before the whole vacation was finished but eventually it will all run in a sequence on the blog. Magic! I also did the same thing on a few days of our New England vacation but I may never get to those. It is really hard to go back but having an accurate and complete record is the motivator.

The first full weekday they were here Jim designated as "Girls' Day!" He wanted to go to work at the Temple so he micro managed "highly suggested" this should be our craft, baking and shopping day! Isn't he clever in having us do the things he wanted to pass on, while he was gone? Of course we had to schedule out each day so we could fit everything in and keep the girls from getting bored.

These look a lot better and
smoother when they are done.

So we did crafts first thing on Monday morning. We made the tissue eggs and that was a lot of fun and took a few hours. Jen brought all the crafty stuff then Grampa boiled the eggs the night before and had them all ready to work on. He wanted to be sure his agenda items happened while he was away! By the end of the day he had over booked us and we were exhausted! Haha!

Back to the eggs...No cracks in the hard boiled egg is the key to making them last a long time. I have some I made many years ago. The yoke and white dry up something like the inside of a gourd.

Jen also brought fun things for the little girls to work on that were not as time consuming. This is the foam egg Hazie decorated with foam stickers. Chloe made one too but Hazie is the one I can always find sitting quietly when it is time to take a picture. Chloe is a moving target! LOL! It is funny how little kids run everywhere they go until one day they don't. Chloe can still be heard running around the house from room to room. I find that so interesting that one day they just stop doing that. She will be six in May but she still does it.

These eggs you are seeing above and this Mr. and Mrs. egg are in process. Since you are putting something flat on a curved surface you have to finesse the paper with gluing and drying and pressing it down and gluing some more. The girls did some and Jen and I did too. They were pretty cute when all finished. We meant to spray glitter them but ran out of time and energy by the end of the week.

The big girls made Easter cupcakes and cleaned up their mess! Yay! Jen and I finished up the egg and craft projects and cleaned up that mess! We were busy little beavers that morning.

This is what Hazie did!

Doing the decorating later in the afternoon!

So cute! Dessert for dinner!

Well maybe the big sisters let
Hazie try one before dinner!

We were expecting Great Grandma Gloria over for a taco dinner and a bonfire to roast marshmallows and tell ghost stories outside. It was a plan devised by Grampa and Piper.

In the afternoon we went to Stoneridge Mall in Pleasanton and looked around, did girl things and saw their Easter displays.

We took these photos because the store front window
was so pretty as a background.

Some of the mall displays.

So Sweet!

The girls had a little bit of money to spend and this Beauty Mask is what Chloe bought with hers. Love the hair's new arrangement! She wore it all day long! She had this one front tooth on the top hanging by a thread all week. Look what happened on their way home!

After dinner we went outside for the bonfire. Somehow I missed getting any pictures of Grandma Gloria with the kids. I think it was because she wasn't feeling too well at all and didn't stay too long after dinner.

Toasty warm and ready for the spooky stories.
I thought those were for Halloween but what do I know?
I found it interesting that one of the spooky stores involved
someone receiving scary texting on their cell phone.
Times have changed, huh?

What happened to the one where the girl's
head fell off and rolled down the stairs
when she took off her neck scarf?
Remember that one?

The yummy part!

We had a fun night outside. The spookiest thing was the frogs that serenaded us with such loud croaking it was overwhelming you could barely talk over them. And several times I tried to record it and they would immediately stop croaking when I would start. There were so many and they were so loud and we have never seen a frog in this yard. Where they were hiding is a mystery all together because they sounded like they were right beside us. I felt like all their eyes were on me when I would silently touch my camera to record! Spooky for sure.

This was the best I could catch on video!

Cacophony of Frogs and Humans...