Emma's 4th Birthday

We had such a wonderful Sabbath Day. We contacted our counselors during the week to let them know that we would be in Washington with family. We attended the Stake Conference Broadcast with Don and his family. Gaylynne's mother, Marilyn, had flown up for the Birthday Party. It was good to see her looking so well.


We had the opportunity to chat with her about all of her recent travels and got caught up on where her kids and grandkids are living now.

She also told us about a trip to New York that she is planning with her sisters to see a show called "Wicked".

It sounds like a really fun vacation.

It was a very peaceful day for both Neal and myself. We joked about how we could count on our fingers the number of days we have not been at the Branch over the last 14 years.


I visited with the children while Neal watched Don prepare the food for our lunch. He cooked the corn in their husks on the barbecue. It was very good. We also had hamburgers, baked beans, and potato salad. It was all delicious.

The table was piled high with food. It is hard to start cooking for a smaller group of people. We are used to feeding about 12 at Sunday dinners but now that Teresa and the kids don't come and Lori and Matthew have moved, and Great Grandma Coates is visiting her son, Dennis, in California...well, lets just say that there was quite a bit of left-over food for another meal.


Both Courtney and Melanie played pieces on the piano for me. Courtney was finished before I could find my camera. But I caught Melanie singing and playing. She was very pleased with her performance.

She looked so tiny sitting on the bench as she explained to me that the song she was playing is the same as the exercise.

"Mom told me to play this exercise, but why should I play the exercise when it is the same and the song? It's crazy, Grandma".

The weather couldn't have been more perfect for me. It was overcast and on the cool side. I noticed that though Courtney dressed in fleece including fuzzy slippers, Emma dressed in a little cotton dress and no shoes at all. (So see, it's not just me).

As Emma opened her gifts Dayton got hold of Barbie's car and we all laughed when Don spoke for Dayton, "It's got wheels...it's mine".

When Emma wanted the car back, of course, his feelings got hurt and he shed many big tears until Emma got involved with her mother putting on the new lip gloss that Courtney gave her and the new jewelry.

Emma was "sparkly" and loving all of the attention that Gaylynne was giving to her. The earrings wouldn't stay on but Gaylynne worked and worked to get them to fix them. When all of the jewelry was on Emma posed for the photographs we were all taking.

Marilyn had her camera, Gaylynne was snapping photos with her camera, I had mine, and Don had his. As the flashes lit up the room Don laughed, "It's just like the Papparatizzi". (I'm sure I spelled that incorrectly but...well, right now I just don't seem to care).

While Emma got all dolled up Dayton played with the new car and Princess Barbie Dolls and Melanie and Courtney played with the princess paper dolls that we gave to Emma.

They all enjoyed the third "Princess" Birthday of the year. Who knew that there were so many different "Princess" themed toys on the market?

I had to laugh at how used to being photographed all 4 of the kids are.

All we had to do was call each of their names and immediately they put smiles on their faces and held a pose while the cameras clicked all around them.

Even when they were deep in conversation or their play they posed long enough for the shot and then went back to their games.

After all of the gifts had been opened and the wrapping paper was cleaned up we all went back to the table for dessert.

Gaylynne had made a beautiful birthday cake covered in strawberry icing and decorated with sprinkles and white chocolate. It was a perfect cake for a little girl's 4th birthday party.

We all sang "Happy Birthday To You" and Emma was clearly loving all of the attention.


With a great big inhale Emma blew out her four candles and we all cheered for her.


Dayton came back for seconds on his dessert.


It was about 4:00 and Don's head was hurting so badly we decided to go home and let him try to rest. We said goodbye to everyone and drove home in a little bit of rain.


Though it was raining in Washington and that gave us great hope that our lawn was being watered, when we arrived home we noted that no rain had fallen in Portland. Big sigh. Well, the forecast says that we should get rain tomorrow.

In the evening Lori called and after a nice visit we got on line to play Scrabble. We have so much fun and it helps us to not miss them so much.