July 2009

I learned how to make fantastic bread using my Kitchen Aid. No hand kneading necessary and the bread is fantastic. I can make bread every two weeks and as per Great Grandma's instructions slice the loaves and wrap each slice separately. Keep it all in the freezer and there is always good bread in the house.

Dad brought me flowers one day just because flowers always lift my spirits.

Emma greeted us with this welcome when we went to their house for dinner one Sunday after church.

Smoked, barbecued spare ribs that were delicious.

A big pot of beans, fresh corn bread, zucchini casserole, lemonade, and strawberry shortcake. You can imagine what a wonderful meal that was!

Our 42nd Anniversary Dinner 2009

Don and Gaylynne invited us to join them for dinner after church. The Missionaries were also there. Great Grandma had no difficulty making it into the house via the back door. That is a relief and she knows that she doesn't have to climb the many stairs that lead up to the front door. Note the tiny flowers that Emma gave to Great Grandma for her hair.

Courtney is very involved in knitting and Great Grandma bought her an instruction pamphlet, needles, and yarn for some projects. They sat together for quite a while talking about their knitting.
Emma was so funny. I asked her and Melanie to get some photos for my blog and they did a wonderful job.

Melanie took pictures of Emma and Emma took pictures of Melanie.

Look at all of the wonderful food.

It is important to Dayton that one refers to him as either "Daddy" or "Don". We had to laugh that he even dressed exactly like Don for the evening.

Gaylynne is feeling well and she is just full of energy as she puts finishing touches on her home. Yikes, just thinking of all that she does makes me tired.

Don and Dayton play with a Slinky on the front steps.

How about this perfect picture! Thank you Melanie.

This is our Anniversary present which they made for us. The words bring a tear to my eye. How lovely. Thank you all very much.

The Economy has Tanked

Whew! Thank goodness for us that Office Max has gone all out to help lower the prices during this downturn in our economy! Dad snapped these pictures with his camera at the Tigard Office Max where we were picking up a cartridge for our FAX machine.

Oaks Park Dance Recital

We were invited to watch the dance recital for Emma and Melanie at Oaks Park. We arrived around 2:30 and followed the children from ride to ride. Gaylynne and I went with Dayton while the three girls stayed with Don and Dad.

I really didn't like seeing such little girls on those rides. I guess when you are the parent things don't scare you so much because our kids rode on everything! But seeing the girls on those rides sort of scared me. I much preferred watching Dayton "zooming" in the blue car and the purple rocket.

There were no long lines and usually the children could just stay on the ride and go around again without getting back into the "line".


Emma joined us because Mel and Courtney began riding those rides that Emma wasn't tall enough for.

She had a good time and ran between the rides. I stood in the middle of three rides and just kept an eye on her and Dayton as they chose what to ride next.

This is Dayton on the ride before it started.

This is Dayton just as the ride was about to end.

Emma enjoyed the roller coaster and though Dayton didn't complain, he didn't want to ride it a second time.

The liked riding together.


The slowest train in the world! Dayton really wanted to go on the train and Courtney was very nice to go with him. Emma and Melanie were excited about the ride too.

So 'cheeky'. She and Melanie waited in line for a ferris wheel-like ride in cages that spun upside down.

Melanie wasn't sure what was going to happen and was sort of thoughtful but Emma...well look at that expression!

We were running to catch up with Mom, Dad, and Grandpa and I nearly got whiplash as they veered to the right to have their pictures taken.

I think this was the last ride they got to go on before the recital.

Courtney took such good care of Dayton making sure that he got to go on the cars etc. Here, she is taking a ride by herself in a hot air balloon ride.


Melanie was right on the beat and it was evident that she had practiced a lot.

Her movements were crisp and though I am her grandmother, I believe that she was the best in the troupe.


Using Michael Jackson's style of dancing Melanie was very focused. This routine won her group first place in a recent competition.



She just makes picture takin' so easy!

Emma and her group were just wonderful to watch. And, yes, she WAS the best one on stage!

Really...Do these pictures require any words?


"Mellie is the one in the tutu. She was fabulous. So serious about her dancing.

Look carefully and you'll see that she is being held in a lift. Now would you feel safe being lifted by 9 year-old girls?????

Gaylynne worked up until the last moment getting the sequins on this costume. It looked awesome.

Thanks to everyone for a really fun day!

Culture Shock!!!

I found that I had to return a video to the neighborhood video rental store. No car seats for the little ones. What to do?

Well, the option was to wait until Gaylynne picked them up or walk between the rain drops. You can guess what the kids wanted!

When we got on to Hawthorne I thought to myself, "Oh my goodness, this must be a real culture shock to these two little Mormon kids!"

We laughed so much at what we saw. Emma counted more than a dozen dogs and some really weird stuff. Hair in all the colors of the rainbow...and more. Leather, piercings, black lipstick etc.

I took pictures of the things they pointed out. We were gone an hour and a half!


Here they are at the Hostile taking a break.

They were intrigued by this utility pole that has had the posters removed but not the staples.

All of the water meters have eye stickers on them.

Emma wasn't so intrigued by the dresses as she was by the scary mannequin faces.

Dayton loved the idea of the bars on many of the doors.

They were surprised by the number of posters on the poles that have yet to be cleaned off.

Don't you love how they posed for this shot?

The Monkey King is a sort of variety store. We spent a lot of time looking in the windows but neither of the kids ever asked to go inside.

I gave each of them a dollar to buy a treat. The clerk at Safeway was awesome in his patience. And the lady who was behind us told us that her name was also Emma. She was enjoying this very long purchase as well.

Cute as a button!

Dayton lagged a little behind as he looked at all the different things in the window.

And of course, there is always the graffiti (and the water meter).

And... more posters.

We had such a good time but were all glad when we made it home. Thank you Gaylynne for letting me enjoy the company of two such fantastic kids.