Happy Birthday, Carson

I know, Carson's birthday was two days ago, but he was on a backpacking trip, so we celebrated it today.

Todd took the two older boys for a backpacking trip, so Carson's birthday dinner was fresh fish.  The candles were a nice touch.

Then, two days late, he had birthday pancakes...oops, I mean waffles...

dinner at his favorite restaurant, The Golden Corral, and back home to open presents.  He was so full from dinner, he didn't get to his cake until the next day!

Congratulations, Amy

After almost a year of research papers, lots of reading, and lots and lots of homework, Amy completed her masters today.  I am so very proud of her and her accomplishment.  It's hard to go back to school, but almost impossible to do it while working full time, being a mom to 4 very active kids, and for some of it, primary president!

Today, she turned in her final thesis...

 ...and then we went out to BJ's to celebrate. 

Happy Anniversary Bookgroup

What started as a Relief Society mini class has lasted for 35 years.We have been reading and discussing books for all that time, and decided that that milestone deserved a celebration.  So, off we went to Cedar City, Utah, for the Shakespeare Festival.  I'll admit, Shakespeare isn't my favorite author, so I really wasn't looking forward to the plays, but I knew that it would be fun to be with these friends, no matter what we did. After a 7 hour drive up, we checked into our hotel, had a delightful dinner and went off to see some Shakespeare.  Before the play, there was a delightful program on the Green, singing and dancing, and lots of fun.  And they sold the most delicious tarts.

The Taming of the Shrew was the play that night, and I have to say, it was delightful.  It was funny and very well acted.

I love the perspective of this picture, if only Lori were in it instead of taking it!

The next day, we had another great meal, lunch this time, with amazing Utah scones.

And then off to another play, this time, not Shakespeare, but a comedy names Charley's Aunt.  It was hilarious.  I laughed so hard, I cried in several places.

That evening, we went back to the Green program.  This times it had an English theme.  But the tarts, the real reason we all wanted to go back, were just as good as the night before.

After a good nights sleep, it was back home.  Short, but very sweet with many fun memories made.

Bowling

For a fun outing, out of the hot sun, we decided to go bowling. I'm not a huge fan of the sport, but it was really fun. 

Yes, I'll admit, there were bumpers involved, and at some point, used by all.  But I won!!!  I guess all that practice on the wii finally paid off!!!

Monday's Memory--Natural Child Birth

The other day, I saw a cartoon on facebook...something like, "Don't be fooled by this face...I had a baby without medication.  I will snap you like a twig!"  That made me laugh, because I  don't really think of myself as tough, but I too gave birth with no medication..."natural childbirth".  It was the "thing" in the 70's when Todd and Amy were born.  You went to classes to learn how to "breathe" and rub your tummy to relax.  My good friend, Barbara Davis was pregnant and expecting 2 weeks after Todd's due date, so she and Bob joined us for the classes.  I think we laughed our way through them.  Anyway, the big day came, and I am here to tell you, it worked. Sure, there was some discomfort, but certainly bearable. I actually enjoyed the experience.

One of the things we did to take our minds off of the pain was to have a focal point to look at during the contractions. This elephant was on one of the baby presents we received, and I thought it would make a good focal point.  It worked so well, I used it again for Amy.

The Piano's New Home

Mom has been telling Amy for a very long time, that she wanted her to have the piano as soon as she had a place for it.  Well, now she does...an entire room!  We took advantage of Todd's muscles while he was here, and the two Todd's moved the piano into it's new home.

Mom sat on the couch and said that it looked like the room was built just for the piano!

Todd's Visit

Look who came to visit grandma!!