Week #2 in Utah

It was our first time to attend Education Week on the BYU campus in Provo. During the day, there were so many wonderful presentations. It was hard to make a choice. 

Brad Wilcox was one our favorites.

Another favorite was Susan Easton Black.

We also loved Daniel Peterson's lectures.

One of the highlights of a the week was a devotional with Elder Bednar. 

One evening we attended a fantastic concert by award winning pianist William Joseph.

It was nice meeting William Joseph in person after the concert.

At the end of each long day, we were so excited to see this sweet face again.

Week #1 in Utah

(Still trying to catch up with events on the blog!)

 In August, Carl and I spent two weeks in Utah visiting Andy, KayLynn, and Emmett, and attending BYU Education Week.

When KayLynn picked us up at the airport, we were  greeted with a smile from 7 month old Emmett. We were amazed because he had just woken up from a nap, and he hadn't seen us since April. 

Indi was happy to see her "grandpa" too.

We picked Andy up at Dowdle Folkart, where he works as an artist.

Andy and KayLynn showed us the home they are buying.

Philip, who is living and going to school in Utah, showed us where he worked (he now works elsewhere), and his bachelor pad.

Indi likes Philip too!

We were amazed at the progress made on the new Provo Temple.

We spent an afternoon at the L. Bean Museum on the BYU campus.

Grandpa didn't mind carrying Emmett around.

On Saturday, we went for a hike in the mountains.

Emmett was a happy hiker in his backpack.

Carl and I were happy that our knees are still good and we can keep up with the young folks!

We finished up week #1, with a Sunday dinner at the home of our dear New York Rochester Mission friends, who served with us in President Christianson's office staff (our office was in our car)-- Richard and Maxine Jensen. Anne Allred, who was the mission secretary, was also 

there.

Summer fun in Houston

Before summer 2014 ended, Carl and I took a few of the school age grand-kids on a "date" to the children's theater production of "Mulan" in Hermann Park. 

Aunt Jessica joined us.

After the show, we enjoyed a picnic lunch by the duck pond.

Evan, entering kindergarten, was so excited since this was the first time he was able to join his older sisters as an official school kid for this annual "back to school" date.

It was really hot out there,

so we really enjoyed a shaved ice treat before heading back home.

Goodbye for now Sam Houston.

Summer fun by the water

Still reflecting back on this summer on the blog. Hopefully by 2015, I'll be caught up with events.

 Due to high volumes of stinky seaweed on the beaches, the family made it to Galveston only once. We had fun visiting Emily's family while they had their annual Ochoa reunion, which was in Galveston this year. We had fun exploring the old home, in the East end historic district, the Ochoas rented for the week. 

It had a pirate themed basement.

Baby Rae slept through her first beach outing.

It's always fun to see the little cousins get together. We had a fun day with the Ochoas in Galveston.

Dahlia especially enjoys her baby cousins.

Our other water fun this summer (besides the neighborhood pool and Galveston) was in Jeremy's backyard in Tomball. 

Which pool was more fun, our neighborhood pool in Friendswood or Jeremy's kiddie pool? Maybe next summer Jeremy can splurge and get a bigger pool.

I think the kids had more fun in Jeremy's yard -- at least Jeremy did!

So what did Grandpa do this summer?

Carl never had a dull moment. 

He fought a never ending battle getting rid of two overgrown Crepe Myrtle trees which were causing problems with our garage foundation. Here he is with the huge root ball that took hours of toil to dig up. The trees refused to die after having been cut down and the stumps ground down. 

Grandpa had a working vacation, going to Nauvoo on the youth trip with our brother-in-law Bill, who is the Stake Young Man's President. This photo was taken at the end of the trip, when they were both exhausted, but still smiling.

 Carl was part of the kitchen crew. Besides burning several trays of Italian bread and causing a red stain on the ceiling of the mess hall, caused by tripping and falling while carrying a huge container of salsa, I hear he did pretty good job. Between chopping fruit and cooking bacon, he managed to sneak off and see the Nauvoo Pageant.

It was fun for him to be with our oldest grandchild, Elayna, who was part of the huge youth group.

Grandpa stays pretty busy for an old retired guy!