Simmon's Farm

While we were in Pittsburgh, we had ONE day that it didn't rain, so we took the boys to Simmon's Farm. We took a hayride, picked pumpkins, rode a huge slide, took silly pictures with Halloween cutouts, went through a corn maze, picked Indian corn, picked apples, went to the petting zoo, drank apple cider and just had a great time. There were dozens of apple trees to pick from, but I wanted to find my favorite - honeycrisp. So, Connor went to every tree looking to see if it had honeycrisp apples. He was so disappointed that we didn't find any. He had worked so hard to help grandma! He was rewarded with an extra glass of cider and extra play time in the cornbox (a sandbox with toys, but instead of sand it had hard corn kernels). Thanks anyway, Connor! We still bought some at $2.99 lb. Ouch!

Matthew and Kasey's Wedding

Congratulations! Matthew and Kasey were married on a beautiful fall day. It was held on the anniversary of their first meeting, last year. The weather couldn't have been more perfect. After the wedding, a dinner/reception was held at an Italian restaurant downtown right on the river. The scenery was breath-taking. Jen and Laura helped me with the flowers and table decorations at the dinner.

All of the "brothers" were able to come, so that made it even more special. We all stayed in a hotel suite for 2 nights and had a lot of catching up to do. It was great to be together, again. That doesn't happen very often.

Matthew and Kasey looked so good together and they were so happy. Her dress was gorgeous and Matthew looked so handsome. On the way back up to Pittsburgh, Matthew wanted all of us to stop by their bed and breakfast honeymoon location to see it. It was really neat and reminded all of us of a haunted house on the river.

It was a great weekend. Far to short. . .

Staying at Grandma's

Jen and Cameron went to Hawaii for a week, so Carson and Connor stayed at our house. Carson was sick for the first 4 days, so we had a lot of playing to make up for once he felt better. We had lots of activities, including candy tractors that were a big hit. We went out to eat and made special meals, even though Carson seemed to be stuck on turkey and cheese sandwiches with mustard (yum!?) We made peach ice cream and ate it with cute new animal spoons.
Grandpa bought lots of new legos, especially while Carson was sick and they spent alot of time building planes, trains, helicopters and buildings.

When Carson felt better, we were able to go to Sonic and get a quarter pound coney and then spend the day at Stapley Pool. All of us went down the big slide many times, including Connor.

Because of the heat, we filled up the small pool and played in the backyard while grilling hot dogs outside. They spent hours filling up buckets and shooting me with water guns! My plants also got a good watering!

We read books and slept together everynight, usually laughing ourselves to sleep. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, I had to get up at 3:20 to go to the temple and that didn't set well with Connor. He kept trying to convince me not to go and didn't understand why I had to.

We had a great time together and the week went by way too fast!

Stranded at the Lake!

Jen and the boys arrived in Arizona and one of the first things we wanted to do was to go to Canyon Lake and rent a boat. We took our lunch, life jackets, plenty of water and were looking forward to an exciting time. We got a little more than we bargained for! We had rented the boat for an hour. We drove for about 15 minutes to a cove and decided to stop, eat lunch and let the boys swim in the lake. We were there for about half an hour.
Cameron was doing well, despite the life jacket that we bought that morning for him to wear. He tried the water, but wasn't too crazy about it. As long as he had food and shade, he was happy.
The boys were having such a great time swimming, I hated to return back to the Marina. So, I decided to stay out longer. When we were drifting into the coastline, I told the boys to get in so that I could start the boat and move it out. Well. . . the motor would not start. We tried for a long time. Jen had to get the paddle out and try to keep us from hitting the bank. We tried to start the boat for at least 30-45 minutes and nothing happened.
Thank heavens the boys were very, very good. They thought it was a real adventure. Carson was blowing the horn on the boat and I was waving orange life vests yelling "help" at anyone that would come by. Jet skiis just kept ignoring us. Finally, a boat with some skiers drove by and asked if we could use some help! After they tried to start the engine and failed, we all figured we needed to be towed in. So, they tied a rope to us and took us back to the Marina. Of course, you can guess what happened when we arrived!! Yes, the boat started right up!! At least I was only charged for 1 hour. Because the boys were so good, we drove to Tortilla Flats and got an ice cream cone. No worse for the wear! Actually, it was a very fun day!

A Grandma Day

Ryan and I had a sleepover and a fun Grandma day. At least, I thought it was fun! We started off by sleeping in a bit. We had a fancy breakfast of oatmeal, strawberries and brown sugar outside on the back porch. We enjoyed listening and watching all of the birds. Then, we made Ryan's long overdue personalized garden stone. It will join the others in the garden. He did a great job and wasn't afraid at all of making his handprint in the cement, although we immediately had to wash off the cement! That was kind of tramatic. Afterwards, we went to San Tan to play in the water spouts. He was a little leary to begin with, but once he saw the other little boys playing, he joined right in. We had a very fun lunch and then it was nap time (for both of us)!

Happy Birthday, Connor!!

Hey my little buddy! You are four years old today and how we wish we could be with you on your special day. We were able to be there on your birthday last year, but will have to just wait a week this year! I really wanted to see the look on your face when the "fruit salad" man came to your house to bring you a special delivery! Momma said it was priceless. I hoped you really liked it! I know you did because I couldn't even understand you on the phone because you had your mouth full! Since you weren't able to go to Disneyland, I hope you enjoyed your "alternate" plans! You know, you just can't beat that lunch at Costco and time to play at IKEA. You are a funny boy!

I just want you to know how much we love you and miss you and can't wait to see you again in just a little while. Happy Birthday!

Marc graduated from the University of Rochester Medical School on Friday, May 14. It was held at the beautifiul Eastman School of Music downtown. Marc was notified the day before that he needed to attend the awards assembly to be held on the same day of the graduation. He had no idea but he was to receive the "Robert J. Haggerty Prize in Pediatrics" award. We were so proud of him! We even took his picture with Robert J. Haggerty!
Matthew was able to come up and Laura's parents also flew in to support Marc. The ceremony in the afternoon was very nice. We lucked out that we were sitting on the same side of the aisle that he marched down, so we got a good picture! The commencement address was given by Dr. Ben Carson, a family favorite. He spoke for about 45 minutes and we all felt he could have spoken for another hour. He was fabulous.

After the ceremony, the school had a nice reception for the grads and their families. They even served strawberries, but not as large as the ones we had at Erik's graduation! That has been a joke with us because we have a picture of Marc eating one of them (they were HUGE) at Erik's. So. . . we had to get a picture of Marc eating one at his own graduation.

It was a great day and we were so glad that we could be there to support Marc. We are so proud of you!!