Grandma's Big Birthday Party!

This is our beloved Barbara. She grew up in Evanston Wyoming until she was six years old. Then her father Scott passed away when his appendix burst. Penicillin hadn't been discovered yet.

Her mom Ella was hobbit-height, had grown up in Bunkerville, and had graduated from college before she got married. So Ella moved with her three daughters, Norma, Barbara, and Carol, back to Southern Nevada. Ella got a house across the street from Las Vegas High School and taught Business classes at LVHS (typing, stenography, etc.). Ella never remarried but was self-sufficient her entire life and was able to provide for herself and her three daughters. Barbara graduated from LVHS as a Salutorian. One of the only B's Barbara ever got was from her mom Ella. The principal decided Ella was bending over backward and straining to be too strict to give this B and he made her change it to an A.

Ella had a rule, because of how important it had been in her life for her to be able to work, that her daughters had to graduate college before they could marry. Barbara had a boyfriend named Vern who got baptized when he was about 18 years old and wanted to marry Barbara. Ella wanted Barbara to finish college so she arranged for the Stake President to make sure Vern was called on a mission. He went far far away to South Africa and Barbara was safely able to finish college at UNR.

Finally, after years of waiting, just like Jacob, Vern was able to marry Barbara. He flew planes in the Air Force while she taught elementary school. Then Vern went to Law School in Washington D.C. while Barbara taught elementary school. So her education paid off as she was able to help support her family in the early years of their marriage.

Barbara and Vern's first few children were born in weird States like Texas and Maine because they were living in different places while Vern served in the Air Force. One of Barbara's children, isn't even sure which State he was born in because he was born near the border and has two birth certificates.

Finally, Vern and Barbara settled down in Las Vegas Nevada where they raised their four children. Barbara made them all attend college. Vern and Barbara had lots of exciting adventures with each other throughout their life, learning how to snowski and snowmobile and going on hikes in exotic lands. Now Barbara has lots of grandchildren and lots of great grandchildren.

We love her very very much because she taught us to have testimonies of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, taught us to work hard, taught us to love reading and learning and to value education, and taught us to be happy.

Allison's Sewing Class

Allison has really been enjoying her sewing class. She sewed everything you see in this picture: the tote bag, the apron, and the pillowcase!

First Home Track Meet

The boys did well in their first home meet at Centennial on Monday. Scott was especially excited because he got a Regionals Qualifying time in the mile, and he also won his heat in the 800. Dallin did great too and now knows his first "best" times in these events to work against.

Dallin Takes First in His First!

Dallin's first High School track meet was tonight. It was a newcomer's meet for Freshmen and Sophomores. Dallin ran the two mile against about 15 other runners and easily took first place with a time of 11:18.

Sadie's Pro Photos

More photos from Sadies. These are the professional photographer's shots. We really like the photographer these girls always use. She does a really good job.

San Francisco Day 3

Saturday was our last day in San Francisco. We walked from our Hotel up a long steep hill to Coit Tower, only to find out it didn't open for another hour. So we went and rode a cable car down to Union Square and got a cup of hot chocolate. Then we drove back to Coit Tower and took lots of pictures of all the views.

Then we went and ate pizza at a great restaurant in the Italian North Beach part of town and went and looked inside the Catholic church there. Love the architecture and artwork and stained glass windows of those buildings.




The sun finally came out just before it was time for us to leave, so we ran by and got some pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge before we went to the airport.

Our trip to San Francisco was great! But we need to go back for all the things we haven't gotten to see yet.

San Francisco Day 2

Friday was our only full day in San Francisco. That morning we took a Segway tour around the Fisherman's Wharf part of the City. This was a blast and definitely the highlight of our trip. We did have a little trouble though when they let us goof off at the end of a pier that had a center area you could zip around. Chris was going one way and hot-rodding a little too much when another member of our group, from England, was going the other way. They realized they were going to have a head-on crash: Chris, as an American, instinctively swerved to the right, and the Englishman naturally swerved to the left, so they still hit each other and toppled. Chris was a little sore the rest of the trip but no permanent harm was done.

After the Segway tour we went and ate at Scoma's, Bishop Creer's favorite restaurant in San Francisco. Great seafood! Thanks for the recommendation. Then that afternoon we went to the Oakland temple. This brought back many memories of living in Carson City and attending the Oakland temple with the youth and by ourselves. To know there are now two closer temples (Reno & Sacramento) to our friends in Carson is exciting.

The man we asked to take this picture of us turned out to be the Oakland/Bay Area Mission President. He had been practicing with his missionaries in the Multi-Stake Center next to the Temple to sing the National Anthem. They were going to go sing it that night at the beginning of a Jazz/Golden State Warriors game.

You can see the San Francisco skyline, including the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate from the Oakland Temple: Beautiful.
After the temple we found a great Chinese restaurant to eat at in Chinatown. (Elaine was very good at asking the locals where the best places were to eat in each neighborhood). R&G Lounge on Kearney street didn't look like much from the outside but it had a long line and after a one hour wait we found out why. The food was great!

San Francisco Day 1

We first arrived in San Francisco on a foggy Thursday afternoon. We crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and went over to the Muir Woods National Monument. The redwood trees are so thick there it stays dark even when the cloud cover breaks. It was beautiful and peaceful with the stream running through the middle and we enjoyed the nice walk. That night we hung out at Pier 39.