Bowl of Ice

Here are some pictures of a family dinner at Bruce's house. It was fun to have Joe, Scott and Paige, Aunt's Ruth and Helen, my folks, Bonnie Terry, Bruce's family and us together. We just wish all the family members could have been there. The boys had fun ATV-ing. We watched Mama Mia on Bruce's big screen. Jim's' comment after it was over: "It's good to know that my initial instinct to avoid that movie was correct."
(Aunt Ruth shirked her duty when it came to the bowl of ice.)

Cousin Bonnie

This is our darling cousin, Bonnie Terry. She joined us for dinner at Bruce and Louisa's house. She is the assistant concert master for the San Antonio Symphony. After dinner she thrilled us by playing a couple numbers on her violin. It was wonderful. She's terrific and soooo funny. Her father and Arlo Terry are first cousins. Bonnie's grandfather and my maternal grandmother (Geneva) were siblings. If anyone knows what that makes Bonnie and me I'd like to know!!

Churchill High School, San Antonio, TX

Joe, Scott and Emily, do you recognize this place? Good grief it's grown.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PAIGE!!!

Happy Birthday to our sweet, talented daughter-in-law, Paige! And thanks for putting up with the "crazy middle child". (I didn't have anything to do with his craziness. It's all his "middle childness".) Hope your special day is loads of fun and not just a lot of studying. Well, maybe the weekend will bring time to party. I meant to celebrate your birthday when we were all together in Houston/SA last week and completely forgot. Duh. I don't have many pictures of you on my computer. The ones at Opryland got accidentally erased. I forgot how old you are??

BLISS!!!

Perfect bliss. I'm eating Mexican food at Pappasitos! We're in Houston with Scott, Paige and Joe. Yuummmmm. Lots more about our Texas trip to follow so check back soon.

DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS!

Our ward had a social where people could sign up to represent a country or state that they have either lived in, knew something about, or were just interested in. Of course, several returned missionaries displayed their fields of labor. I decided to do Texas since it is THE most fascinating state in the union. After I signed up I realized I didn't have a single Texas artifact in my home. Hmm, this was bad on a number of fronts. Well, I was going to cancel but remembered our neighbors are from Texas and I'd seen plenty of paraphernalia at their house. So, the boots, hat, flag and basket (with spoons) are theirs. Much of the other stuff is thanks to good ol' Hobby Lobby. We also were supposed to bring typical food. I made chili, with chips and cheese. Next year, maybe brisket. Anyway, I secretly thought our table was the best. Dad and I were pretty decked out if I do say so myself. Isn't Dad cute touting the glories of the Lone Star State. It was a really fun night and I recommend it as a great activity.

Calves Checking Out Short Dogs

These cows may look big compared to Sonic and Penny but they were really only about "teen-aged" calves. They really wanted to check out the dogs but Sonic and Penny mostly just felt the urge to try to herd them by running back and forth along the fence. The calves weren't very interested in me. The Mom cows were keeping half an eye on what was going on. It's been fascinating to me that all the farm animals (horses, pigs, emus,) are very curious about Sonic and Penny. Most of the time the cows looks like their thought bubbles are completely empty. Cute, though.

IS THIS DOG DEAD?

That's what I thought when I saw Penny. I had just let her out the door a few seconds before and wondered how she could be in this position so soon. I thought maybe she'd had a seizure. Seizure or no I had to take a picture and then she saw me. Stay tuned for another post soon of calves wanting to play with Sonic and Penny.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOSEPH!!

Happy Birthday to our favorite first born in the wilderness of Austin Texas, 1976. We considered him our centennial baby since America was celebrating hers all year long. We've been amazed through the years at all the talent you have, Joe: tennis, clarinet, piano, composing, singing, inventing, and all that stuff you do with electricity. We've always loved your sense of humor and fun, too. Thanks for being you!!! Tons of love from all your family.

TRAIN SHOW

Dad and I went to downtown Nashville to a train show in the the convention center. It was really crowded but you can see Dad was thrilled to be there! The other picture is me in front of the Grand Ol' Opry which used to be a church a long time ago.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EMILY!!!

Happy Birthday to our favorite daughter and Valentine's baby! Not only was she born on Valentine's Day but there was an earthquake while I was in labor. (I didn't feel it. People told me.) Emily, your dad and I think you are awesomely wonderful in every way. You've brought oodles of joy and laughter to us over the years. Best wishes for a great birthday. We love you tons! (Boy, did I have to search for some pictures of you by yourself! I think the one with Nippers was the only one you left in our photo albums!! True, I haven't unpacked all our photos but I think I need to make some copies of the ones you must have, uh hem, swiped??)

Visits from kids and grandkids

Joe and his son, Ian, who looks just like him, were here for a short visit this past weekend. Emily, Elle, and Will also came. Maddie stayed home with Tyler to attend school. We visited Grandma Harris and Leslie. We also made a trek to the Opryland Hotel. We had a lot of fun just hanging out, watching The Music Man and eating cheesecake. Of course the visit was too short but I'll take what I can get. Joe left Sunday afternoon and Emily will leave in the morning (Mond.)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, IAN!!!

Actually, Ian's 7th birthday was yesterday, 02/03/02. You could say his other name is Houdini. We're so happy he is coming to visit us tomorrow!! We love you, Ian!

A Few More Mission Pictures

I like the arms on the snowman and his eyes made out of atomic fireballs. One of the Elders is from Tonga. See if you can guess which one.

Swingshift

Talk about a flashback. I think this was probably 1986 in Pleasant Hill, CA. This was our Andrews Sisters style singing group which we called Swingshift. We mostly did songs from the 1940's, including music popular during World War II. Liz Forsyth played piano and Heidi Botts, Marcia Damiano, and I sang. We had a few paying gigs before I broke up the act by moving to San Antonio, TX in 1987. It sure was a lot of fun. Hey, grandkids, do you know which one is your grandma??

Elder Kyle Harris

Finally, we got our scanner fixed. Dad downloaded a bunch more drivers. Here are some pictures Kyle sent recently. Someone knitted the white hat he's wearing. He seems to really love it. I'm not too sure about it. Last photo is of a tired missionary.