Neal's Birthday 2009

Happy Birthday Neal! I took just a few pictures before giving the responsibility to Melanie. That is why there are few photos of her on this day. We'd had a wonderful day visiting with our friends at church. Mom and I joined the Gospel Essentials class which was taught by Sister Bravada and Sister Barnard. They did a wonderful job teaching about the Atonement and Baptism. Mom said that she really enjoyed the class. She had also enjoyed Colleen Houck's RS lesson on the Beatitude "Blessed are poor in spirit". Mom complemented the Sisters on their use of an object lesson.

When Don and family arrived we were so excited. Little Emma ran right past me to give her Great Grandma a hug and nearly knocked her over. That was a perfect way to begin the afternoon.

Courtney and Great Grandma had a nice conversation about Courtney's classes at school.

Don got the children to sign the birthday card that went with their gift.

Emma, Dayton, and Melanie were acting so silly and they made me laugh as I took these pictures.



At dinner Don kept asking Dayton to say, "I love Daddy", but Dayton loved the groans that Don made when instead he would say, "I love Mommy". Soon everyone at the table joined Don in his groans and laughter. Gaylynne, naturally loved getting the accolades from her little boy.

We decided to share trivia at dinner and almost everyone came prepared. Neal shared information he'd learned about the clothing that a chef wears. He had been curious about that because of the movie "Ratatouille" which we had watched one evening last week. He taught us that the name of the chef's hat is "toque". And that the taller the hat, the more important the chef. There are 100 pleats on the hat signifying that the chef knows 100 ways to prepare eggs. The chef's jacket is double breasted so that if he gets a spot on it, he can just rebutton it to cover the spot. The chef's pants are black and white, mostly houndstooth which is very good at hiding spots. This way if the chef is asked to the customer's table for compliments he will look clean and tidy. We all thought this was interesting trivia.

I decorated the house for February which means besides birthdays - Valentine's Day. The kids loved it and I was able to use the new red tablecloth that Teresa and the kids gave me for Christmas. It's fun to see what Melanie deemed as worthy of picture taking.

This is Great Grandma's shell collection which she gave to me when she moved to her apartment. The kids all love looking at the shells.

Gaylynne shared trivia about various Temples. She said that since it was Sunday she decided to keep her trivia focused on the Church. Good idea. It was fun testing our memories about Temples. Like which Temple looks like a fairy tale castle. Go see if you can guess which one that is!

Don asked if we knew where the people from Australia originated. Do you? He also talked about what the Apostle Paul looked like. Joseph Smith gave a description of him. And he talked about where Cashew Nuts come from. Very interesting. He pulled up a picture of one on his IPhone and passed it around the table.

Melanie and Courtney shared trivia questions from the Book of Mormon. I have been reading the Book of Mormon for "umpteen" years and I have taught Gospel Doctrine class for 5 years and other various classes. I had a really difficult time remembering the names of the people in the Book of Mormon. And she wasn't asking for obscure characters either, Zeniff - Samuel - Noah. All recognizable names from memorable stories. Talk about Brain freeze! Melanie was sitting on my lap answering the questions before I could even get the stories organized in my mind! Yay Mel. Even Emma answered one question before me!! Way to go girls! Excellent trivia questions, Courtney. Thanks.


Dayton is such a little clown and as sweet as can be. Emma and he love to play with my kitchen tools.







Dinner at Grandma's and Grandpa's means getting pretty much anything you want. A cup of Hot Chocolate with marshmallows in Aunt Lori's Doggie Cup is Emma's favorite.

I love the angle of this shot. It shows how little Melanie still is.

Courtney loved to play with her Palm Pilot which she inherited when Don got his IPhone.



Melanie and Grandpa enjoyed a moment together. I don't know what they were talking about.

We had so much fun getting caught up on the lives of Teresa, Stuart, and Audrey. We haven't seen them for a few weeks.



When I noticed that Audrey is fast approaching the same height as her Great Grandmother I asked them to pose for a picture. It also shows how tiny Mel still is. By the way, Melanie reports that she has two new teeth coming in. Yay for Mel.

This last photo is for Gaylynne. We enjoyed reading about her struggles to get her Christmas pillow cases made in time to give as gifts. Neal saw this sign at JoAnn Fabrics and laughed, "C'mon, Gaylynne, how hard could it be?" I took this picture just for you Gaylynne. Of course we both know that the pattern you used was much more intricate than that used for this class. Still I thought Neal's comment was pretty funny.
We enjoyed Neal's birthday dinner so much. Incidentally, he cooked it all himself while I played with our grandchildren. He said he enjoyed himself cooking while he and Don talked.