The Secret Life of Mom and Dad

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A smart(?) Squirrel and Hurricane Ike Visitors

Surprise, another post! Below are two pictures that show a very hungry squirrel and his or her attempts today to feed at the wonderful new bird feeders that we have placed in the back yard. In the first picture, the squirrel is on the cage feeder on the left, with his (or her) tail in the air. The second picture shows the squirrel on the top of the contraption trying to decide which feeder would be the best to attack. Mom is the photographer, but she didn't see how the squirrel got up on the feeders nor did she watch long enough to see how the squirrel got down.


I guess the squirrel isn't really that smart, because over on the big tree on the left, but not in the picture is a 3/4 full squirrel feeder with all types of goodies they like. Again, this is Dad posting even though it says Mom posted it.






We all remember Ike and the destruction it caused in Galveston and Houston. All of our cousins there were ok, and very little damage (mostly trees and fences) to their homes, but many days without electricity. So, on the Sunday night after Ike we welcomed Aunt Rosario, Robert Owen and Jenna and their children and Ruth and James and their children for a short visit to an air conditioned home. They wanted to give the children a break from all the mess at Houston and so came and spent Sunday night with us and then on Monday they met Aislinn and her children and Tara at the Natural Bridge Safari park near New Braunfels for a good time. We enjoyed having them.


Back row: James and David, next row, Caitlyn, Ruth, Aunt Rosario, Robert Owen, Jenna and Bailey, next row: Aimee, Tyler, Peyton, Lainey, Trey, and in front: Havana

Graduation and California, posted by David even if it says Pauline at the bottom

Finally, the post you have been waiting for! It has been very interesting trying to get all the photos arranged the right way, so, after many tries, we are just going to go with the way they are and include some commentary. Further commentary is at the bottom of this post. I could not figure out how to copy it and place it up here.


At Aunt Carolyn's, Aislinn taking the picture.
The two pictures on the right are of the proud Grads and the BYU sign and of course the symbolic ride on the Cougar!











While the pictures show the fun we had, what is not shown is the two flat tires we had on this trip. The first heading into California and the second heading out of California. We ended up with a whole set of new tires! They were in good shape before we left on the trip, but apparently we hit some rough road and caused the van to need an alignment, and extra wear and tear on the tires.



On the left is Jenny, Aunt Eliz, Margaret Halpenny (with whom we all stayed) and Mom.
Below is a picture of the ladies taking a break from shopping on Rodeo Drive.






This is Tom Halpenny who can really cook up a great steak! He is a farrier by trade (That means he is a blacksmith, kids).
On the right is Charite and me, taken in her condo. Below is a picture with Uncle Brendan in the chapel area of his church. We had a great visit with him. A great guy.






Above is Mom and Auntie Eliz in front of Tom and Margaret's home. To the left is proof that we found our way to Beverly Hills. Never did see the Clampetts. Below is Mom, Margaret, Jenny, Auntie Eliz and me on the back porch of Margaret's home.

The picture below shows that we were also able to find Tijuana, Mexico and the many fun things to do there, most of which included shopping and a long wait at customs when returning to San Diego. What a great "zebra"!

This picture is of Auntie Eliz, Mom, Jenny and Emma in front of "The Auld Sod" pub in San Diego. The owner is from Pee's area in Ireland and Auntie Eliz knows him. He wasn't there, but the photo opportunity was.

The following is what I wrote first, but couldn't get the pictures to add after the post.

Finally, the post you have been waiting for! We had a great trip this past August. We pointed the Safari north and west on the 11th of August, headed to Utah for Tara and Marcus's graduation. It was a grand time in Provo; BYU was great and the ceremonies were inspiring. Elder Richard G. Scott was the commencement speaker and he received an Honorary Doctorate.

Aislinn and Rowan were able to join us for the festivities and we enjoyed sharing our hotel with them. Rowan was great, but Aislinn was a bit noisy. (Of course, she had help from Mom!) We also had a nice visit with Marcus's parents and a delicious graduation dinner at an Indian restaurant. Aunt Darlene and Aunt Jean were able to attend and celebrate with us. It was good to see them. Unfortunately, everyone forgot to take pictures at the dinner. We were also able to visit with Aunt Carolyn in Logan. We really enjoyed our visit with her and another opportunity to see the lovely Cache Valley. After helping T & M pack up their belongings for their move to Texas, we saw them off to the south and east and we headed west and south to visit California and met up with Auntie Eliz, her daughter Jenny and Jenny's friend Emma.

All in all, we had a great trip (minus the flat tires) and of course, were happy to return home. The Safari clicked over 200,000 miles by the time we returned, over 5,000 miles on this trip.

Erin will love this...no, Dad will love it more...

Okay, while we're all waiting for Dad's annual post about the big road trip, here's something for ya. About a week ago, I had the MOST hilarious dream!! Seriously, I woke up laughing. Here it is: Aislinn and Erin and I were over at Evan Wilder's house for dinner. We were younger than we are now, and Erin was running around in her underwear first, and then all of a sudden had a pair of tights on. The tights were really saggy and wrinkly, like elephant legs, so Aislinn looks disapprovingly at her and says, "Fiona doesn't even wear those anymore!" (Thanks, A.) In my dream, I thought, "I don't remember EVER wearing those..." Then Mom and Dad come in, carrying some stuff for the dinner. Mom takes one look at Erin in those tights and says, in that voice she uses in those um...rare moments when Dad does something silly, "David, why in the world did you give her your tights?" And Dad, in the voice he uses when Mom uses HER voice, wearily says, "I didn't give them to her, she must have gotten them out of my drawer."

Hahahahahahahahahaha!!!! Okay, it's not as funny written down as if you were THERE, but still... I couldn't stop laughing!! I woke up at about 4-ish just cracking up, and then poor Z woke up and I told it to him, but he didn't think it was quite as funny as I did for some reason...I think he was kinda tired. I just could not stop laughing. It was great. I tried to find a picture of either Erin or Dad in baggy tights to illustrate this post somewhat, but amazingly, there are none. At least in my possession...

Things you only hear in Utah...

Today as I was coming home from work, a radio dj (on a normal radio station) was talking about something or other, that I wasn't really listening to, until he said "it's kind of like when you're sitting in sacrament meeting, and it's fast and testimony meeting, and you keep feeling like you should get up, but you just keep ignoring it until the meeting is over..."

It made me laugh, because you only hear stuff like that on the radio in Utah...

His Last Stand...

So, This morning, Marcus and I were randomly discussing General Custer, and trying to decide where his last stand took place. I was way off, guessing the Arizona or New Mexico region (I think I got that idea from a Louis L'Amour book DAD!) while Marc thought it was farther north, in the plains area. So, of course, we googled it, and found out that it happened exactly 132 years ago TODAY!! Well, yesterday and today, in June of 1876. I would type more about what happened, but that would probably take a while, so I'm just going to post a link to wikipedia! So, click here to find out more about General Custer and his last stand at Little Big Horn.

Happy Birthday Mom!!

Today is Mom's **th birthday! (I won't mention the real number here on the internet...) Happy Birthday Mom! Thanks for being such an awesome mother and for always doing so much for us. We love you!

UT drivers joke...

As shared by my BIL, John...

A man was being very closely tailgated by a woman on Foothill Boulevard in Salt Lake City. Suddenly, the light turned yellow, just in front of him. He did the right thing, stopping at the intersection crosswalk, even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection. The tailgating woman slammed on the brakes and really leaned on the horn. She opened her window, stuck her hand out and made that familiar gesture, all the while screaming in frustration as she missed her chance to get through the intersection before the light had turned red.

As she was still in mid-rant, she heard a tapping sound on her window and looked up into the face of a very serious SLC Police Officer. He ordered her to exit her car with her hands up. He took her to the Police Station where she was searched, fingerprinted, photographed, and placed in a cell.

After a couple of hours, another Policeman approached the cell and opened the door. She was escorted back to the booking desk where the Arresting Officer was waiting with all her personal effects. He said, "I'm very sorry for the mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping the guy off in front of you, and cussing a blue streak at him. I also noticed the 'Choose The Right' license plate holder, the 'Families are Forever' bumper sticker, the 'Follow Me to Sunday School' bumper sticker, and the chrome-plated Angel Moroni emblem on the trunk."

"Naturally, I assumed you had stolen the car."

Happy St Patrick's Day!!

Well, I decided that someone should do a St Patrick's Day post. Unfortunately, I have nothing exciting to report for the day. I hope that everyone remembered to wear green...that is, of course, very important. Here is a Wiki article on St Patrick, just to refresh your memories. Technically, it is no longer St Patrick's Day here in Brussels, but we'll let that slide. The day did provide me with an excellent excuse to wear my favourite green shoes. They have been retired from regular use, as they are falling apart, but St Patrick's Day gave them a bit of a reprieve. I will include, in this thrilling post, a picture or two from my most recent trip to Ireland, as it seems fitting (also, I am wearing exactly the same thing in the pictures as I wore for St Patrick's Day).

Happy Texas Independence Day!

In celebration of Texas Independence Day we made some extremely yummy Cookie Monster cookies (thanks, Aislinn) and decorated them accordingly. Since we can't actually share the yummy cookies with y'all, we thought we would at least post some pictures, so you can see how creative and artistic we are...

North Texas Irish Festival

On Friday, we went to Dallas with Aislinn, Curtis, Patrick, Maire, Aine, Declan, and Rowan. We spent the night there (after we ate at Souper Salad), so we could be at the festival when it opened at 10am Saturday. We managed to just about do that...a little after 10am. It was wonderful, albeit a bit crowded. There was storytelling, little arts and crafts for the children...they made shamrock headbands, bracelets, and coloured pages. We watched Irish dancing...it was SO good. We saw some of the Emerald School of Irish Dance performers too....this is where Aislinn, Fiona, and Erin took lessons when they were small and we lived in Lewisville...and I would drive them to lessons ....just remembering the drives makes me nervous....I'd have the five children in the van and hafta negotiate/cross about 5 lanes of traffic in quick order to get off Loop 635 (I think that's what it was called).... Gary couldn't wait till he was old enough to take lessons....he was almost old enough. I think he was 5, and Tara was 3.....so (since we moved to Harlingen in March 1989) both of them had to miss taking those lessons :( I asked about Emily Touzin, our dance teacher from Dublin, but was told she would not be at the festival till today (Sunday), so we weren't able to see her again.

Anyway, the festival yesterday was fun. It was held at Fair Park, and cost $15 for adults to get in (well, Dad and I were only $13, since we are over 55 :)) the children (up to age 11) were free. There were two great halls full of vendors, dancing, arts and crafts, etc.. Outdoors there were many food vendors, music, and other stalls. We didn't see it all, and we were there till nearly 4:30 in the afternoon. We met a lady who lives in San Antonio. She is from Limerick, and her name is Jane McDaniel. She was one of the storytellers...suppossed to be the best one in the U.S. (a Seanachin). She had a little stall also, where she sold dolls and other items. She had a good Irish accent. We enjoyed listening to two of her stories.

The children were all so good, and we had been dragging them about all day (well, we took some breaks and had refreshments)...they were SO tired! Aislinn and I sent the men and four of the children to the vans about 30 mins b4 we were ready to leave, as we wanted some time to do a little shopping w/o worrying about making sure all the little ones were safely holding someone's hand... though Aislinn had Declan asleep in the wrap on her back. We found some nice items at that time, and...since the first vendor willingly offered to let us have the items for a couple of $'s less...we decided we would ply our trade on the others, so all but one was willing to drop some $'s when we asked them.....bargaining isn't a lost art:) We also bought some good Irish Soda Bread, and some cookies.

One thing that was upsetting to me....we noticed a food vendor ....a rather burly fellow in a kilt... striding along with a young man in a headlock... It seemed the young fellow grabbed an item of food without paying for it, and ran off. The vendor gave chase and caught up with him. He was very angry, and yelling for someone to get him a policeman, as he led the guy about. The kid stuck his hand in his pocket and got out some money to try and pay the vendor, but the latter wasn't having any of that! He was determined to get the police....a security guard agreed to call them. I felt terribly sorry for the young man....sure, he did something wrong....and it did appear he had money to pay for the food, had he chosen to do so. Perhaps he didn't want to line up and buy food coupons .... or perhaps he did it on a dare.... I don't know. The vendor was correct to run after him and apprehend him. However, I wish he could've said to him "you see I was able to catch you.....I can now call the police, and have you charged with theft, and you'll have a police record...however, I am going to just let you pay for the food, and hope you learn some lessons from this... lesson #1: stop doing that! lesson #2: note that someone has cut you some slack and forgiven this offense, so please go and do likewise sometime in your future....."
Aah, the look on the young man's face....close to crying, but not.....he was clean cut, short hair, no tattoos or rings to be seen....just a nice average looking young man. I am thinking that if he had been treated with the eventual compassion, that he (and others with whom he would come in contact) would probably profit from it more than what likely occurred after the police arrived. I thought to myself how many times I have felt Someone cutting me some slack.....whether it was a traffic infraction that, mercifully didn't cause an accident, went unnoticed by the police, or whatever..... I am even sorry that I didn't go and suggest that course of action to the angry vendor. I have been praying for them.

Afterwards, as we were headed home, we tried to eat at Chili's.....but the wait would have been about 45 minutes, so we opted for Taco Bell, which was right across from Chili's. We arrived home about 11:15pm.... Aislinn and family about 2 hours earlier. It was fun, and the weather was beautiful....not too hot.
(We took some photos, and I will try to figure out, soon, how to post some....unfortunately, however, after a few pics, my camera ran out of battery power, and I didn't have the spare battery {ejet}....I had just tried to video the Irish dancing, when it totally died out..)

El Tigre

So, I got a phone call at about 1:30 in the morning a few weeks ago...Marcus was at work and rescued a kitty in the snow and wanted to bring him home...despite the fact that he's allergic and we aren't allowed to have kitties here...so now he lives outside. Our upstairs neighbors made him a little box with blankets, and we feed him and play with him, etc. A woman was supposed to come see him and take him home (I posted him on craigslist) but she stood me up the day she was supposed to come, so we decided to keep him...We were going to name him Cliff, but went with Tigre instead...


He's a little cross-eyed...






Don't worry Mom and Dad, we won't make y'all add him to your collection if we bring him to Texas ;)

Hot and Not-so-Hot Texas

On Monday the temp was 92F. That was a record high. The other was 91F in 1917. Wow! This morning it was 27F....so I worried that my hanging impatiens flowers would have frozen....we'd been so good at rescuing them when we expected a freeze. We forgot last night....but they look like they may be ok....sorta protected on the porch...we'll see. We have beautiful blue skies...it's so wonderful to go for walks/jobs in the neighbourhood :) No photos....that'd just be too much to expect (?)...

In case I don't get back to this blog soon (my visits to it seem to be fairly infrequent....need to fix that...)....anyway, I want to wish my favourite son a very happy 25th birthday on 9 March. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Gary!!!

More Baytown Pictures

So, I'm having some difficulty formatting the pictures and words on this post, apparently it requires a FULL college degree, not just an all but two classes one, to successfully post on our blog...anyway, I'm just going to put the pictures up and hopefully you can all figure them out without the words...

Baytown Reception

Since none of you wanted to go to the Baytown reception, I thought I would post some of the pictures from it...the photographer didn't have the best lighting, but some of them are cute...

Here's the food you missed...














And the dancing...








(I know you're all shocked that there is picture proof of Dad dancing not once, but TWICE at the reception)