Grandpa P and the Big 60

Grandpa P turned 60 in January. (You look good old man!) To celebrate we went to dinner as a family on his birthday and then did another party at our house a few days later. You can't have too many parties.

(Alison admiring the cake.) Uncles to entertain.
Cousin Gavin was a fan of the icecream...

...knives, and Grandpa.

Stuart and Alison were not the most cooperative in getting a picture with the birthday boy. This was as good as we could do.

The next party, at our house, the pictures are taken from an odd angle, as our only photographer that evening was Stuart. He's 38 inches tall.

A lot of the photographs from that evening were of these two subjects. I guess that is what happens when you rely on your three year old to document family occasions.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DENNIS! We LOVE you!

We're So Glad

When Daddy Gets Home!

Alison, showing her Daddy what she did today. That there, is Stuart. He didn't want to be purple, so I made him blue.

Faux-FHE at the Temple

Stuart and Alison have become Family Home Evening's strongest supporters. We've drawn little four person families in each Monday's square on our calender and they love anticipating the day. We make special treats during the day and have a lesson, songs, and prayers. Alison told me once, "Daddy goes to work and meetings, Mommy goes to meetings (primary meetings), and I goes to family meetings!" Often they ask to have their family meeting multiple nights a week.

In January, when Ryan had a half day off on a Monday we thought we would do Family Home Day and then Ryan would go off to work. Ryan and the kids rode the Trax (our public rail system) downtown where I met them for lunch and a look at the Temple. Everybody had a wonderful time, but it didn't fulfill the requirements for Family Meeting. Alison and Stuart insisted that we still have a real FHE that night.

Warthog Art

We checked this book out from the library last time we visited and upon reading it the first time, knew we had found a gem. The cute warthogs in this story are bored on a rainy day and decide to paint their kitchen wall. Though they start with red, blue, and yellow, they are delightfully clumsy and fall into making purple, orange, and green too.


A few days ago, on a not so rainy day, we made warthog art. We read the book page by page and followed their example to make our own warthog art, mixing our primary hues to make additional colors. We deviated from using the kitchen wall (sadly, I insisted that our canvas be taped to the wall, not be the wall) and the weather described. Everybody enjoyed themselves. (I sense warthog art parties in the future.)

Expedition

Sunny spring thaws accommodate these marvelous fashions.

I love this picture because it reminds me of one of the things that Alison has done since she first learned to toddle. When she has something very important to say (demand) or inquire (also, demand) she comes very close--for added emphasis, I imagine. Then, because of her proximity, she is forced to hinge her little neck to properly position her face for direct and piercing eye contact. The overall effect is that I laugh at her sunny little face perched upon her broken little neck. Which makes her angry.

Happy Valentine's Day Folks!

We celebrated Valentine's Day with some friends yesterday. Stuart and Alison love parties. We made chocolate strawberries,mice, and decorated hearts for the window. They were so excited to wake up, anticipating the day.

This was the night before. I let them hold a little chocolate mouse. I imagine they had little mousy dreams that night. They were that excited. The next morning I found them admiring the goodies in anticipating. They didn't want their picture taken.

Stuart was a bit more convincing.