February Celebrations

Saturday morning began with Dad heading for the bakery. He had special ordered chocolate raised donuts. Having a special order made meant purchasing 3 dozen donuts. Since there were only 12 of us at dinner... Everyone went home with donuts! They were almost perfect!. Copper Kettle donuts were a bit more "yeasty" and less like cake so they were lighter. I remember them being darker, almost a black. I am not at all complaining, just explaining the differences. They were very delicious.



On Sunday morning after having stayed up until midnight. Courtney and Audrey got up on their own.

They were such a delight to be with. I had a real "Grandma Moment" when we three were watching a video Daniel and the Lion's Den.

Audrey sat on my lap and then Courtney did too. It wasn't too long before my legs were throbbing but I wasn't about to ask them to move.

Some pains are just too exquisite to stop. How I love these little girls. I am sure I don't know how Neal got any rest while we were making so much noise downstairs but he never complained.



I took their breakfast orders which turned out to be scrambled eggs, toast, bacon and milk. Unbelievably, Courtney ate 8 pieces of bacon. Audrey only had 2 pieces and I laughed because she had asked me for a belt for her skirt which kept sliding off of her hips. Remember the commercial "Eat Something!"

It didn't take long for them to get dressed for church and they looked beautiful. They primped and brushed their hair for a long time.

Neal was unable to attend Church with us because he still hasn't gotten over that cold. I sort of wonder if it has been a cold or the flu. He has had a fever of over 100 in the evenings for several days.


Though I wanted to finish cleaning the kitchen and have the girls help pick up the mess they had made, there was just not enough time.

I figured that "Good Housekeeping" wasn't coming today and besides it was the Sabbath and I thought that everyone would forgive me for leaving the house in disarray.

The sun was shining and we were all having a good time. There was lots of giggling and joking. As we left through the back door we noticed that Teresa's car was in the driveway.

She must have figured that we had already left for church or perhaps we just never heard the doorbell!


I snapped a picture in the kitchen just as we headed out of the house.

There was a dent in the fender of the car parked across the street which Courtney decided to check out.

At first she thought that it was our car but when I told her that ours was parked in the garage she was relieved.

Still, you can see that she is quite troubled by the possibility that our car had been hit.

Sometimes she can be so serious.



I was struggling carrying my two heavy church bags and trying to take pictures.

I wish that I had used the telephoto lens when I got this next picture but still the shadows and green grass prove that the sun is shining and that it is not long before we will be enjoying lovely spring weather.

How can it be that these two young ladies not long ago were just babies? Audrey is clutching her jacket which she never felt the need to put on and Courtney is prepared for her classes by having with her the Book of Mormon. I was certainly feeling the role of "Proud Grandma" as we went into the church.

When we got to the Primary Room we found Sister Forcht busily organizing the things she would be using during her class. She greeted them by name having known each of them all of their lives.

Hiding behind the door was Teresa who gave Audrey a great big hug.

The girls later reported that they'd had a good time in their class though neither of them had ever been in such a small class. I think they said that there was just one other kid. I believe it was Nathan Plock.

The teacher was deaf and so Nathan interpreted for Courtney and Audrey. The Plocks used to be in Don's and Gaylynne's Ward in Camas so Courtney was already friends with Nathan. Audrey makes friends quickly so all was good.

Neal was sitting on our bed when I got home and so I came through the bedroom door just prattling away about all the neat things that had happened at church. I was putting my things on the bed and noticed that his eyes were still closed. So I talked louder. Nothing. I looked at his chest to see if he was still breathing and then grabbed him by the foot and shook him.

Has anyone every startled you awake? Poor guy. We laughed so hard.

I'll pretty much let the photos do the talking for the rest of this posting. We had such a wonderful time.

We were celebrating the last bit of Christmas, Neal's birthday, the announcements of two new family members, Valentine's Day, our little family's anniversary of being sealed in the Oakland Temple 27 years ago, and Don's 34th birthday.

Though Lori, Matthew, and ? couldn't be with us they called just before we all sat down to dinner. Brian is in Texas and called a few days ago.

Dayton performed his newest words for us: Water, Dada, Mama, No, Juice. There were some others I can't remember just now. What a cute little voice he has. And the "proud parent" looks on Gaylynne's and Don's faces as he spoke ... perfect!!!

Melanie is our resident photographer. This next photo is her self portrait. What a cute expression.
















Often, the pictures she takes are not exactly flattering and I just delete those. But sometimes flattering or not a picture just has to be posted.

To her credit though, sometimes Melanie is able to capture really wonderful photos like these:

Grandma's homemade blackberry pie, her blackberry syrup over the Dreyer's vanilla ice cream, and chocolate raised donuts finished off the night and all those who over indulged. Way to go Stuart! I saw him enjoying pie and ice cream and at least two donuts and that was right after dinner! He never complained about being uncomfortable either!

Happy February. Thanks for sharing!