Hughes Family Fotos

Nathan was baptized and confirmed on Saturday. Alexander was blessed on Sunday. Steve gave each of his sons a wonderful blessing. We were so happy to be able to be there.


Proof that we were there.


Adorable Alexander on his blessing day.


The whole crew, with a TA-DA by Brandon.

Bowling in Brooklet

Nathan's party took place at the local bowling alley/laser tag place. These next photos are to give you an idea how the game is played.


Great form by both Sue and Brandon.


Celebrate even the little victories!


Steve's style.


Ditto.

Georgia on my mind

Sue and I had a wonderful time visiting the Hughes family in Brooklet. If you don't know, Sue is the official promoter of Brooklet on the West Coast. It is a beautiful place but it wouldn't be the same if the Hughes family moved.


The most important thing we did was attend Nathan's baptism. I got to be one of the witnesses. Turns out that Steve raised his left arm to the square when he baptized Nathan. I didn't notice because some toddler was banging on the glass barrier while they were getting set. I think it will be OK but I might not be allowed to be a witness for the foreseeable future in Brooklet.


Your mom made a delicious two story cake.


Nathan's laser tag party.

Some other fun photos

Krista headed off with the Buchanans to her new adventure in Rexburg, ID


Norah is such a beautiful baby.


Moms and their girls..with a Zach sandwich.

Christmas Morning at the Old Allreds Home

A little sleepy, but the Skinners arrived.


Evan was excited...you know how he gets.


Krista trying to help the elf (Davin).


Jessica got the sweatshirt she wanted from BY....wait, she was ambushed. We will make it all right.


More shining faces.


Here some are!!!!!!


The darling chillins.


Do you think there were enough presents to go around?

Family forever

It really warms my heart when I see my grown children being friends with their siblings, and going out of their way to help them.

This month Alicia, our oldest, took Krista, our youngest, to BYU-I and got her set up and comfortable. Kind of a deja-vu for Alicia, I think. We took Alicia there when she started college and 3 of our other kids have loved it there. Krista will have a wonderful time doing well.

Also this month, Evan will go help Teresa as her fifth son is born. I offered to go, Evan was chosen (he has a more flexible schedule since he is off-track at BYU-I, plus he is more fun). They will have a great time!

A few years ago Jessica cut her European vacation short to help Teresa, who lived in Germany, when Jacob was in the hospital.

And, Laura's house was the house of choice for the kids as they were growing up and got tired of Roger and I and our boring house.

I love it when I call a child and they say, "Yeah I just talked to (a sibling) about that."

There are many more examples. Thank you, kids, for loving each other.

December Fun

This is what we have been doing this month, before the real party begins.


You all know that I love the voice of Andrea Bocelli. He came to the Staples Center in LA and Sue said that we should go for our Christmas present to each other. Obviously, it was more of present to me, so I thought it was a great idea. We paid a lot of money for the tickets. We sat down and waited for the show of a lifetime. He sang his first song and I was thrilled. Then, things went downhill when he then walked offstage. We heard a lot of beautiful music, but Andrea only sang for about 1 hour of it. He was more expensive than my attorney!


The concert got out late, so we stayed at a nice hotel and went to the temple the next morning. I love this photo of the girl who married me at this place on July 19, 1974.


Just hanging with the homies at Vons.

Thanksgiving in Bakersfield

Russ and Nancy invited our whole herd to their house for Thanksgiving. We also celebrated Gma's 79th birthday. It was a great day.


The first round...


Then, the hosts get to eat.


From one end of the table.


To the other, everyone was enjoying the delicious feast.


The hostess and her parents.


The birthday girl chatting up Brooklyn.


The curly heads...love it.


The cousins.


The Russ and Nancy Allred family.

hint.....

SNOW!

Everyone knows that I am allergic to snow, so this is what the weather fairy did to us.

OK, OK, it is beautiful, but it is also cold and wet. And not in a pleasant way like Piko's nose.


Who knew? There is some useful thing that can be done with it.


Scott is a creative and a fun dad.


This is the way I roll. You can stay inside and enjoy the grandkids as long as you can find Disney songs on Youtube.

Utah Thanksgiving

Landon and Sarah were the gracious hosts for our Thanksgiving dinner in Utah. We got to see their new house and eat on real china. Everything was wonderful.


Wonderful Desert- It is shown first because this is the first time I double downloaded pictures on one blog. WHOOHOO!


Wonderful baby Norah and her big blue eyes! Nuff said.


Wonderful grandkids eating in an undisclosed location.


Wonderful meal and wonderful company. I don't know where Scott was, but he is wonderful too.


Our wonderful hosts!

Mothers and Their Children

On our recent trip to Utah, we got to see the Buchanans, the LA Allreds, Tawna and Evan. I like these pictures.


All was well as Alicia prepared for a Primary Sharing Time. Then she walked away and a darling daughter thought she would finish the coloring.



Sarah and Anne preparing for the Thanksgiving Feast.



Sue and Landon chatting before dinner in Landon and Sarah's new house.

Christmas Exchange 2010

Laura has been super busy and passed the drawing onto Alicia. So Alicia drew from the hat and Tawna and Scott were witnessees.

2010

Alicia........Krista
Scott.........Laura
Teresa......Landon
Steve........Jessica
Laura.......Evan
Brian........Teresa
Jessica.....Scott
Landon....Alicia
Sarah.......Bryce
Bryce.......Tawna
Evan.........Brian
Tawna.....Steve
Krista......Sarah

Bakersfield Business Conference

I still can't figure out how Alicia can post 50 pictures in one blog. I could only upload the previous four. These are some more from my phone.

The Skinners and we attended the Republican love-fest we call the Bakersfield Business Conference. I was so impressed with the talks given by Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich. When you live in The Socialist Republic of California, it is hard to find someone who has real answers to the mess we have in our federal and state government.
I will also fascinated by the talks given by Laura Bush, Dick Cheney, Rudy Giuliani and Karl Rove about the activities on 9/11/01. Sarah Palin spoke - not impressed.


A blurry picture of the podium from inside a tent for 10,000 people.


The BHS Choir - the highlight of the day for Sue.

Phone Pics

I am sure that you have packed your camera to make sure that you had some nice photo memories of your trip. I do it all the time. The only issue is that my camera never escapes from the luggage. These are some pics that I took with my phone of the St. George Marathon and then a couple just for Brian Skinner.


The key to getting Ava to smile is covering her face in something very sugary.


Sarah is obviously impressed. Way to go Landon in your first marathon.



The multi-marathoner Scott waves to the adoring crowd at mile 23.


These two are for Brian...you must be so proud. We all think that they look just as good on Davin as they do on Tawna.