March 23, 2009

It was a sad day when Melissa and Kate had to get on the airplane to return home to Washington, D. C. We loved having them spend time with us but we know that Justin is glad to have his family back home. After they left, I kept getting sicker and finally went to the doctor and found out I have pneumonia- what a way to end out a great month !!!

March 23, 2009

Kate, Melissa, and I toured the new Draper Temple.

MARCH 2009

March is one of our biggest birthday months :
My Dad- March 3, Jason - March 10,k Jeff - March 11, Joe - March 15
My Mom - March 20, Aaron - March 21, and Aunt Mary the end of March
We had a combined Sunday birthday dinner for all the "birthday boys" at our house and then also celebrated Aaron's birthday at his house in Tooele.

FEBRUARY 2009

On February 9 and 11 Duane and I turned the big 60. Just to prove I could still exercise I took Ava and Kate for a walk on a sunny February day.

JANUARY 2009

Here's an update on the 3 babes who were born within 6 months.

Joe, Michelle,Melissa, Kate, and Aaron enjoyed spending time with Ben and watching the entertainment.

Kate really enjoyed her time with her cousins and thought the party was great.

Ben was so excited at his party that he raised his hands and really started dancing.

Ben turned one in January and Alex turned 12 and is now officially a Deacon. Marize planned a really fun birthday party for Ben in February at Gymboree.

CHRISTMAS 2008

Ben looked like an elf in training with Santa Claus Duane.

CHRISTMAS 2008

At Michelle's house for brunch on Christmas morning some of the family joined in a Rock Band on Wii.

My favorite part of Christmas will always be our Christmas Eve nativity scene after we have our family dinner at our house. This year Ben starred in the role of Baby Jesus- Aliza was Mary and Aaron tried hard to hold still enough to be Joseph.

NOVEMBER BIRTHDAYS

We celebrated Dustin's and Zach's November birthdays at Red Lobster.

DECEMBER BIRTHDAY PARTIES

Two cute sisters celebrate their birthdays together with family- Ava turned 1 year old on November 30 and Aliza turned 4 on December 9.

ST. GEORGE IN NOVEMBER

It was great fun to stay at my Worldmark Condo in St. George with Michelle's family. I couldn't believe that we could swim outside in November. This photo was taken on our balcony overlooking the pool. Of course we traveled to St. George so Michelle and Jason could sell at the First St. George Scrapbook Expo.

ANNUAL FAMILY HALLOWEEN PARTY

The whole group together- it's always hard to choose a winner but Jeff in his white trash costume was certainly the most original. We always have a great time admiring the costumes and having a Halloween dinner together. It gives us all a chance to admire the costumes since it is so difficult to get together on Halloween. Our party is held traditionally the Sunday before.

Here are most of the grandkids having fun showing off their costumes. The hardest part is getting a photo while they still have their costumes on.

NEW YORK- OCTOBER 2008

In front of Linda's home with Riley. The fall colors in her yard were beautiful!!!!

We took Mom and Uncle Charles to our favorite restaurant- Appleby's for some delicious New York haddock and fries.

Here we are with Mom and Uncle Charles at one of my favorite places- Charlotte Beach on a cold windy day . This is the beach at Lake Ontario that is closest to Mom's and the one we always visit on our trips.

It'll certainly be hard to leave this little cutie behind when we get on the plane for New York tomorrow.

At Union Station we ate at Uno's Chicago Pizzeria - it was hard to decide between the deep dish pizza and the Haddock Fish and Chips. 

Here we are sitting on a turtle bench outside National Harbor.

In front of the Rappahannock river on the Marriott Ranch.  Kim said that both of her boys were baptized here.

Duane with Kim and Jerry's family at their new home in Warrenton.

We really got lucky as we were shopping at National Harbor- we ran right into our favorite Presidential candidate.

Here we are at the Old West Town on the Marriott Ranch.

Duane in front of the statues of soldiers from the Korean war.

On Monday we visited the 5,000 acre Marriott Ranch in Virginia.  This scene is looking out the front door of Kim and Jerry's house.

Here we are standing in front of the fountain with the state memorials- Duane found Idaho and I found Utah.

Of course we went to the Smithsonian Natural History and Art Museums on Thursday.

Justin and Kate love to watch Elmo sing on the computer- it really calms her down.

Justin is such a great dad and Kate loves to cuddle up to him and sometimes just stare at him.

Kate sitting on her leather chair.

Arriving home from church.

Here's Kate and Melissa as we left for church on Sunday, October 19.

It was so fun to give Kate a bath at night and get her into her jammies.  She is so cuddly.  You can really tell she is Melissa's daughter in this photo- see her trying to brush her teeth.

It was a sunny, cool, and windy day when we had our buffet luncheon cruise.

We took a cruise on the Potomac on Saturday, October 18.

Here's National Harbor at night.

We ate lunch and also dinner one night at a Seafood Restaurant at National Harbor.  A mall similar to Gateway Mall in Salt Lake is being built there.

Melissa and Justin live on Bolling Air Force base which is right across the Potomac River from the Reagan  Airport where we landed.  A block away from their apartment is a beautiful paved walkway along the Potomac where we walked many times.  Our favorite time was at night when we encountered many beautiful sunsets. 

The day after we arrived we hiked all over the Mall area to see the monuments- one of my favorites was the Jefferson Memorial sitting on the Potomac.  This photo shows the cherry blossom trees in the fall.

This is the number one reason I've been so excited to come to Washington, D.C.   I was anxious to see 2 of my very favorite girls - Melissa and Kate.

AARON'S SECOND BIRTHDAY

TOOELE- MARCH 2008

BEN'S BLESSING - MARCH 2008

Kate was blessed on June 29 at Holbrook's home in Plain City.

JUNE 29, 2008- KATE'S BLESSING