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!