Where Have All the Flowers Gone?

I LOVE flowers. Two and a half years ago, we planted dozens of bulbs that we have enjoyed for three springs now. They are so beautiful. The sad thing about tulips is that they only last a few weeks. I wanted to post some pictures to help me remember how beautiful they are.


Here are some of our beautiful flowers that will last a little longer!

Two Pianos Find New Homes

Today was a pretty exciting day at our house. Shortly after Travis got home for lunch, we had a knock at the door. When I answered the door, one of the men standing there said they had a delivery for us. We stepped outside and there was a Bach Builders truck and trailer by the driveway and a beautiful piano sitting in the driveway.

Grandma Renae told her husband that she wanted to set aside money when she rented her Ogden condo and get the grandkids a new piano. A couple of days later, he told her that a new piano was being delivered to us. It came today. It is beautiful and sounds great. What a thoughtful thing to do. We REALLY appreciate it.

Great reactions from the kids as they got home from school. They were completely surprised and very excited.
Bruce stood at the front door for several seconds, looking around and wondering why I had a camera pointed at him. He kept saying "What? What? What?" as he looked around. Finally he saw it and this was his reaction.
It's a beautiful black piano with a matching bench.
Veronica couldn't wait to play it, of course.
One nice bonus was that we had our old piano. Travis and I almost immediately decided it would be nice to surprise Veronica's best friend Andee. She's been taking piano lessons this year at school, but the only thing she has at home to practice on is a toy keyboard. I called her mom and they were thrilled. They came right over and we loaded it in their pickup and they took it home. Her Mom got teary-eyed and hugged me. They were very grateful. So two families were surprised in a wonderful way today.

I Can't Wait Until I'm Eight!

On Saturday, May 3, 2008, Joseph and his cousin Anna were baptised by their fathers. It was a very special day. We were so happy to have Grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins in attendance along with their families. We missed those that couldn't come. We enjoyed a delicious lazagna dinner at our church before the baptism. Thanks so much to everyone for coming to share this special day. As you can see from the pictures, the event was accompanied by a great deal of cousins playing together, a quick trip to Shoshone Falls. The guys watched some sporting events, and some people even swam (sorry, I don't have any photos of that). It was such a nice day. We are proud of Joseph and Anna for deciding to follow Jesus's example.

There are a ton of photos. Look at your leisure. When there are this many people, it requires a lot of pictures to capture the fun!
Joe and Anna just before their baptism.
Joe with his parents.
Scott, Anna, Travis and Joe
Joe, Hannah and Lulu flexing their guns!
Travis, Joe, Veronica, Karey, Hannah and Elise
Jacob and Joe
Veronica and Stella play follow the leader
Happy cousins
Travis and Angus
Savannah and Caroline on the fountain
Karey and Stella

Sophie
Lily
Jacob, Nairn, Joe, Bruce and John play ball
More follow the leader
Sam (I think) and Stella enjoying the fountain. That was a very popular feature over the weekend.

Lauren, Nairn and Ethan
Travis, John and John watch the Derby
Alison and Emily
Sam doing what mothers love
Sam doing his little dance

Anna's funny face
Anna's cute face
Julia
Caroline
Kids at the falls

More at the falls
More at the falls
More at the falls
More at the falls

And still more at the falls.

Congratulations, you made it to the end.

Happy Birthday, Veronica!

Veronica celebrated her 14th birthday. Shocking that she is already 14 years old. Sadly, Travis was out of town on business, so the traditional dinner out with parents and a friend became dinner out with Mom and Savannah and a friend. We were joined by Andee, Veronica's good friend from school. Dinner at Outback was delicious. Because there were no appropriate movies out this weekend, the girls watched a video at home. We had a nice evening.
Let me tell you a little about Veronica.

Things she IS:

• Veronica is smart--she's loaded with both book smarts and common sense.
• Veronica is beautiful--not only is she pretty to look at, but she is a beautiful girl inside.
• Veronica is helpful--she has been a good helper since she was a little girl. She even pitches in without being asked.
• Veronica is a great cookie-maker--really she's good at any kind of baking, but she's amazing at cookies. Her repertoire includes snickerdoodles, the cookies Bruce calls the best in the world, Great Harvest (my personal favorite) and many others. She also makes an amazing banana bread.
• Veronica is great with kids--kids love Veronica. She's a wonderful babysitter and her cousins adore her.
• Veronica is frugal--she's so careful with her money and spends it very wisely and with much thought. Because she is so careful, she always has money on hand and has been our own personal petty cash fund for a few years now. (We pay her back.)
• Veronica is good--she's a good girl, always obedient, with a desire to do what's right. She reads her scriptures and a section of For the Strength of Youth every day. She's a great example to the rest of us.
• Veronica is an admirer of flowers, yellow, children (especially babies) and paper products. She takes after Grandma Higginson--the one thing she will buy, even if she doesn't need it, is a box of pretty cards.

Things she is NOT:

• Veronica is not a procrastinator--if she has an assignment due on Friday, it is finished on Monday. She starts a project early and is rarely working on it at the last minute.
• Veronica is not boy-crazy--she's perfectly content to wait on the boy/girl thing and can't imagine, even in two years, there being any boys mature enough to think about. This is fine with her parents.
• Veronica is not content with anything less than her best--everything she does, she does her best.
• Veronica is not lazy--whether it is homework, chores, or practicing piano, she works hard.

WE LOVE YOU, VERONICA!