It's Leap Day!

When Dan woke up this morning at 5:30 a.m. I said: It's Leap Day!  

He got very excited.  Did you say it's Sleep Day???  

So fun to have a day that only comes once every four years.  

It seemed like we should have a party!

First, you had to "leap" through the entry way on these green lily pads.

 And then it was Play-Dough time!

 What a cute bug Amelia made!

 So fun to have six grandkids all working on creations!

 And the seventh one, little Michael (sporting a new hair cut) had fun trying to see what he could get into while we were distracted!

Now it's time for some sleep on this Leap Day!

Daily Life!

Heidi hasn't been blogging for a while (well, until yesterday!) but she has been sending me lots of pictures from her phone.  It has been very fun to receive these almost daily for a couple of months.  It has given me a glimpse into their daily life.

Elizabeth playing Primary as soon as they got home from church!

Sarah preparing gift bags for her party!

Elizabeth at school working on a math game!

Courtney and Elizabeth getting ready for the daily dancing!

Courtney working on and then presenting her project on a famous Kansaan!

Balmy winter weather!

Waiting at the doctor's office for checkups!

Snowy winter weather!

Post haircuts for the two oldest but all wanted to pose!

Thanks!  It's been so fun!!

Celebrating Great Presidents!

What better way to celebrate greatness than to spend time with great people and seeing some great art!

Joshua loves to pretend he's a pirate!

More fun at Fairy Tale Town!

The queen!

The Crocker Art Museum

(The longest continuously operating art museum in the West)

Right now they are featuring an exhibit of the works of Edgar Payne (1882-1947) an early American Impressionist.  He had about five favorite places that he traveled to in a Model T Ford so that could paint in those areas.  Here are some of our favorites:

The California Coast

The Sierras

The coast of Brittany

The American Southwest

My Valentine's Day!

After working all morning on a presentation I am giving tomorrow and receiving these photos of  Elizabeth and Courtney at their school Valentine parties...

...Dan came home from work early to take me up to our temple grounds.

This Folsom-Cordova School District Administration building was recently completed at the bottom of the road leading up to our temple.

 This afternoon our stake hosted an Open House for the employees, many of whom can see the temple out their windows and many walk up and around the Temple grounds during their lunch hour.  It was a chance to give some explanations and become better friends with our new neighbors.  Dan was invited to welcome the group of about 25 and speak to them briefly.  After a 3-minute video about the purpose of temples and remarks by a member of our temple presidency...

 ...they were given a tour around the Temple.

 I tagged along with one group led by our friends, Rod and Shari Barbour.

 We love our Oak Tree!

 Afterwards they came back to the Cultural Hall for punch and cookies.  It seemed to be a very successful event and glad I could share it with my sweetheart!

 Then we headed to MaryAnn's house to surprise them with some goodies.  What a surprise for us when we discovered they were in the middle of a Valentine's party with Amanda's family!  We joined in the fun!!

After dinner at a favorite place we went home and watched  a favorite video.  It was a good day!

Random Photos!

While we were in Tucson, everyone went through the photo albums and was able to take some pictures.  I already had copies of most of them but here are some fun ones that I didn't have.

Mother's Day 1992: Our family surprised Vovo by showing up at her Sacrament meeting that day.  She loved it!

 Dan and his Dad standing at the corner of Dan and Harrison streets in Odgen, Utah!

 These were a fun surprise!

1973: My parents and grandparents attended a ward dinner with the Harrisons in Alameda!

(Check out the bow tie and side burns!)

Again in 1973: A visit to Alameda

1975: Heidi and Josh in Alameda

 2004: Vovo with Courtney and Elizabeth

Great memories!

Final Snippets!

We finally made friends with Sophie! It took most of the time we were there.  At first Sophie told her Mom she just wanted to see us on the laptop.  I'm glad she decided we were fun in person too!

 This is a close family that likes to hang out together.

There were more chess games...

...and more "Cut The Rope."  Josh wanted to see what everyone was talking about.

 Julia will be playing in a piano recital soon (Emma too) and here she is playing one of her recital pieces: "The Forgotten Melody" which she composed herself!

Julia and Katie are always willing to pose for the camera.

Can't wait until we can go there again!