the circus came to town!

The girls spent 6 days with us while their mom, dad and baby brother were in Utah. The heat, humidity, and mosquitos kept us indoors most of the time (except for going swimming), so we really enjoyed it when the circus came to town!

During the "pre-show" the kids got up close and personal with the clowns, and got to try on some clown clothes.

They also got to try out their acrobatic skills.

I missed Kyla's walking the tightrope, because she came across so quickly behind Avery, while I was busy snapping pictures of Avery. So super-acrobat Kyla got to have her picture taken with one of the pretty circus performers.

 The girls got so close, they could have reached out and touched this gentle giant.

   She painted a picture during the "pre-show", using her trunk.

Some of us enjoyed parts (the intermission) of the circus more than others.

But I know we all agree, it was the "greatest show on earth"!

 Grrrrrrr! Grrreat fun for boys and girls of all ages!

a lot has been going on this month (part 2)

At the end of June, we flew to Utah for Andy and KayLynn's  wedding. The celebration began the evening before the wedding, when the bride-to-be's parents hosted a wonderful barbeque at their home for family and friends who had flown in.

Andy enjoyed the reunion with several of the guys he has grown up with who had flown in from out of state.

We sure enjoyed meeting KayLynn's sweet family. Here's her mom and sisters . (Her Dad and brothers had to leave for a while to play in their baseball team's final tournament.)

While everyone enjoyed visiting, the bride and groom had fun unwinding and relaxing before the big day.

 The wedding was beautiful. I was so happy that our four other sons got to be there for their brother.

Our oldest daughter,Emily, was the fantastic wedding photographer.

The youngest member of our family group to travel to Utah, was grandson Colby, accompanied by his very loving and patient Daddy, Mark. (Colby's mom stayed in Minnesota with newborn sister.)  Here is Colby enjoying the lovely reception.

The day after the wedding, the newlyweds had us over for lunch and then for an outing up in the mountains. Then they were off on a honeymoon trip. We are so blessed to have another awesome daughter-in-law, and we're so happy that Andy has such a sweet, loving, supportive wife.

a lot has been going on this month (part 1)

The first part of June, we drove for 8 hours, through the heart of Texas and to the panhandle to the college town of Lubbock for several days of our youngest's freshman orientation at Texas Tech University.

                                                                   Go Red Raiders!

He'd die if he knew I was taking this picture. This was the last hour of the last day we were there, and Carl was pulling up the list of books he'll need in the Fall.

It was a great orientation, with lots of informative sessions for both parents and students. Carl got to meet with his advisors in the college of mass communications and with their guidance, registered  for his fall classes. Everyone was so friendly and helpful, and we met some wonderful folks.

Back to humid Houston, after enjoying the dry, cooler weather in Lubbock. (Dad had fun spending time at the university he graduated from. Although I didn't graduate from Tech, I was really impressed with the place and think it's the prettiest campus next to BYU.)

finally, a quilt for Aiden!

Aiden has been patiently waiting for this quilt. He really really wanted one (he never got a baby quilt because I was working on a twin size quilt for his older brother at the time he was born).  I thought he'd never notice or even care if he didn't get one. Someday I'd get around to making him one.  But he noticed, and he let me know. So on his 6th birthday two weeks ago, he got his quilt (twin size).

a tragic accident that almost included us!

TWO people died in a fiery accident in northwest Houston about 9:15 a.m. Tuesday when a UPS van slammed into a Saturn on northbound Tomball Parkway near Greens Road, police said. The Saturn had stopped in a moving lane, authorities said. The UPS driver got out safely, but the Saturn’s driver and passenger were killed.  (Houston Chronicle, June 8, 2010)

Carl and I were immediately behind this collision when it occured. We were almost to the Houston Temple exit, where we were planning to spend the rest of the day, doing work on behalf of many of our deceased ancestors.  We noticed a stalled car, which was sitting right in the middle of the freeway. We were in the lane to the left of it, and were a few car lengths away from passing it, when the UPS truck slammed right into it, going 65 mph. Debri came flying at us. Carl immediatley slowed down and veered off to the right when he saw that the truck, with the car underneath it, was careening to the left, where it came to rest against the median. Flames were darting across the road from the fuel tank of the crushed car. We knew that the passengers would have died instantly from the explosive impact. We were hoping that the car was vacant, since it was just sitting there, without  any emergency flashers on. When I looked over my shoulder at the wreck, I could see just a small part of the front of the car, (the remainder being totally under the truck) and could see no passengers. The UPS guy must have realized too late that the vehicle he was approaching, wasn't moving.
After we passed by, Carl was wondering if he should have attempted a heroic rescue of the UPS guy and was feeling bad he didn't. I told him that due to the fire racing across the freeway (and the vehicles potentially about to explode), and the fact that he would have had to cross the freeway with oncoming cars approaching, that would have been too dangerous. We helped by immediately calling 911, and were the first to do so. When we arrived at the temple minutes later, both of us feeling very shaken up and in shock, we could hear the sirens of the rescue vehicles. We felt very sad about the way that those poor people in the car had to die, and prayed for the UPS guy. We were so grateful to find out later on the news that he made it out O.K. We felt deeply grateful to have been protected and watched over and to still be alive on this earth. We were literally seconds away from being crushed in that accident. If we had been just a little bit ahead of where we were on that highway, the truck/car would have plowed right into us, since we were in the left lane and right in their path. I don't think we would have made it out alive. Luckily, there were hardly any other cars on that portion of the normally busy freeway, so no other cars were impacted, and Carl was able to move quickly over to the right and get around the accident.
When we pulled up to the temple, I expected to see the front of the car charred and damaged, but wasn't about to complain if it was. However, there was not a dent, or scratch or anything else on that car to indicate we had just driven through flames and flying debris. The freeway was shut down for 1 and 1/2 hours.  When we were driving home six hours later, the traffic was still badly backed up and hardly moving on that section of the freeway. The charred wreckage and police cars/firetrucks were still there.

summer days in Texas

Philip flew in for a few days of fun in the heat and humidity.

The fish weren't biting, just eating all the worms. Grandpa almost caught the big one -- a 5 foot alligator

who swam away with the hook and worm in his mouth. (There goes my alligator purse.) That gator kept trying to sneak up on the farm dogs who were cooling themselves off in the pond.

Walter caught a little bass.

The guys had better luck in Walter's dad's chicken coop, where they killed two 5 ft. long chicken snakes who had been eating all the eggs. Philip, finished this snake off by slinging it againist the fence post, almost hitting me in the face.  To quote Walter's dad: "Just another day on the farm."

Before flying back to Utah, Philip enjoyed a day at the beach, along with some of his nieces and a nephew and his doggie niece Lady Gaga,who sported a new swimsuit.

Graduation Day

Tomorrow, our youngest, "little" Carl will be walking across the stage at Moody Gardens in Galveston to recieve his high school diploma. Then, in August, he'll be a "Red  Raider" at Texas Tech University in Lubbuck (same place his Dad recieved his college degree 41 years ago). All eight of our kids have graduated from Friendswood High School. It's hard to believe that soon we'll officially be empty nesters.