A Wonderful Time in Omaha

We got home from Omaha about 1 PM yesterday. Tomorrow, we leave for Hawaii. Boy, this retirement thing is grueling. We had a great time in Omaha with Liz and Brad and Ashley and Sarah and Becca. What a super family they are: super busy, super fun, super organized, super hosts! Ashley is reading "Fun with Dick and Jane" and it is truely amazing how well she is doing. She worked on two notebooks with Vicki and learned to play checkers with me. Sarah is such a clever and kind little girl. She rewrote her preschool greeting song to include, "Hello, DumDum," which is a great hit with her fellow students. I believe her teacher is looking for a new greeting song. Becca is so much fun. She is crawling great distances and jumping like mad in her jumper. She is beginning to pull herself us, so walking can't be far away. We were fortunate to be present at the very moment she discovered verbal communication! She has been mimicing expressing for a long time, but what an event this was. We were all at a round table in Red Robin and Becca was right up at the table with the rest of us. She did something and Ashley and Sarah started to laugh at her. She looked back and them and tried to laugh back, but in came out as a high pitched squeal, roughly appoximating the song of the Humpbacked whale. We all laughed, so she answered again and again and again. Soon everyone in the restaurant was trying to see what was going on.
Liz threw a wonderful birthday party for Vicki while we were there. A fun cake (not chocolate) and tasty chicken (not creamy) and a nice drink (not carbonated). Vicki's GE must have been thrilled! The drive home was lots of fun, because we had a good book playing on my new iPod.

Cruzes cruise into Utah

The summer finished with a tremendous visit by the Cruze family. The main event was the blessing of Stephen Benson Cruze by his father ( a very nice, inspired blessing). This was a big deal, since we planned on about 25 guests and 47 showed up. So we cut the sweet rolls and ham a little smaller and almost had our own miracle of the loaves and fishes (the sweet roll Poppa wanted was gone before he got to it.) The new deck and the stream were packed with relatives old and young. Everyone appeared to have a wonderful time. Benson was blessed in "the dress" which has now survived not only 150 years since my grandfather wore it, but all of our children (except Steve) and all of our grandchildren. The great grandparents were there, of course, and were thrilled with the occasion. Meg and Steve were great hosts. Ella's third birthday was next on the schedule. Meg made a very cute "Elmo Birthday cake" and Ella got tons of presents, receiving them for days after the actual event. Ella went with us to "club" most mornings and she and Poppa watched "Island Princess" and "Cinderella" every morning during Sunday School lesson prep-time. Even the Greats got to watch "Island Princess"with her. Do you all know that, "Cinderella's stepmother is not a nice girl"? Baby Benson was seldom seen out of Vicki's arms. He learned to grab things with his hands and kick his feet while he was here with us. It was so good to have two weeks with Meg and her wonderful children.

Noels come to Utah

The Noels came to Utah to escape the heat of Arizona and to celebrate Hannah's eight year old birthday. The birthday was lots of fun. Emily, Rie Rie and Monkey all tried to blow out the candles. Hannah was babtized here in Provo (hooray) because their stake was too busy to do it and we wanted it done here anyway. It was wonderful to Great Grandma and Grandpa with us for both occassions. The babtism was highlighed (other than the spiritual aspects, of course) by Rie's loud small voice saying, "Get out of my seat," and "Why is my daddy all wet?" What a great visit we had with them.

New Mexico Clarkes

We've seen the New Mexico Clarkes quite a bit lately, but we can't prove it because we don't have digital pictures of events. We've been to White Rock to help move the family into a great new house and to celebrate Kevin's five year old birthday. We went to the Boyack reunion together and had a good time. Rachel and Monica connected with cousins on the Boyack side of the family and were seldom seen by parents and grandparents, except at the square dance where they were great dancers and fun to watch. Kevin and Mike had fun at the B. Olympics and the old folks sat in the shade. Margene came up with a great family talent presentation that involved everyone, including Gayle and Max and their families. Monica was a featured scottish dancer, to everyones delight. The stayed with us in Provo for a few days during which we played games with the boys and the girls broke in the new Wii.

Crashing a Party in Arizona

Soon after arriving home from Chicago we crashed the party that Stacey and Liz had planned in Phoenix. We had a great time! We did bubbles in the backyard, went to "Somebody's Jungle" and held all of the six cutest granddaughters anyone could imagine. They were all so fun. Poppa was especially thrilled to see Becca with a more civilized "do" than she wore in Omaha when he first visited her. Sarah had a little trouble keeping her soap bubble bottle upright.


We all got tired together sometimes.

Spring in Chicago

We went to Chicago to help the Cruzes' get baby Benson safely into this world. In the meantime we had a great time, both before and after his birth. Ella learned to swing in her own backyard and she and Poppa walked all over the neighborhood. Benson finally arrived and Gramma Vicki was very happy to hold him. Steve took Poppa to a Cubs game: two hours getting there, 4 innings (no score) and two hours getting home--but it was fun!