Lizards --- Now 'BUMBUMS'!

The Saga continues . . . yesterday Laila came over to see us and immediately wanted to go for a walk. So we loaded up the stroller with her Care Bears, a water bottle, and her purse with much paraphanalia. We got about 2 blocks away, and decided to sit down on the cool grass beneath the shade of a tree. As we are chatting, a HUGE 'bumbum' bee slowly buzzed around our faces. I finally flipped it away, and it landed in the grass DAZED! Laila and I are down on our hands and knees (which isn't as far for her as it is for me!) looking at the bee, who is just laying there. When she saw the stripes and fur on it, she said "It's just too cute, isn't it?" So we picked it up with a leaf and put it into her purse, so that she could take it back to show her Momma and Grandpa. I then thought it most appropriate to teach her the song -- 'I'm bringin' home a baby bumblebee, Won't my Momma be so proud of me?' She thought that was GREAT! We set it down in the flowers out front, so that it could maybe crawl up into one of them and get some nectar, and checked on it a couple of times.

Then, later in the day, when I went to see Taylor & Weston, I was telling them about the bee. Well, Taylor called excitedly this morning to tell me that my bee had blown over to her yard, and that it was in their flowers. I couldn't believe the energy in her little voice and she described the stripes and fur on it!

Kids! The simplest pleasures from life. Maybe we should take a lesson.

Connor, the Lizard, & Kindergarten

Had a call from my oldest grandson this afternoon. He spoke excitedly of a lizard he had caught and is holding captive, that is a boy's color (brown, I assume), and whose name is Sketch; that his Mom lightened his hair and is doing the same to his Dad's today; and that he has already started Kindergarten and has lots of friends! This pix was taken the 2nd day of school. How much better can life get than that of a child? He is a Dynamo of Energy, 5 year old Wisdom & Wisecracks!

Love you Connor!

Anniversary

Not too long ago, Michele expounded on the Lucky #13 for the Smith family. We noticed a similar number epiphany way back in 1984. In that year, Mike turned 13 on the 13th of July, Matt turned 10 on the 10th of July, and Heidi and Heather turned 6 on the 6th of October. We never were able to figure out something for Curtis that year.

Woody and I also celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary on the 16th of August that same year. It was like the worlds were colliding, or something -- to have that many ocurrances that would coincide with the date! Anyway, here it is some 23 years later, and our anniversary is fast approaching.

The young man that I married is not the same today.

That youthful carefree spirit now seems so far away.

But the years reward endurance with pleasures all their own.

With time to build a future together . . . not alone.

And so my love, I mention the times we two have shared.

Have made my life worth living -- just knowing that you've cared.

This is a picture taken on our wedding day --- you'll notice we were not allowed to have pictures taken around the Temple grounds in our wedding dresses. I've always regretted the fact that I didn't have any of those beautiful pictures for keepsakes. Happy Anniversary, Woody.

Blogging Addiction

71%How Addicted to Blogging Are You? As you can see, I don't have the addiction problem that Heather has, but it's fun to see just where a square peg can fit into a round hole!

40th Class Reunion - THEN & NOW!

I'm the one with the short hair and love handles!
Well, it's over; and it was 'Mahvelous!' I had so much fun reconnecting with classmates, and renewing friendships. Some people I hadn't seen since the day we graduated, and plans were discussed to try to get together in small groups to further indulge ourselves with stories of mayhem and hi-jinx that took place in our younger years! The first night we attended a dinner at the Timbermine in Ogden, where we had pix taken and a program featuring the "most famous person in the World", who just happened to be in our class --- Santa Claus! He then introduced groups of 4 people on stage and read 4 things each of them had done in the 40 years since we had graduated, while we tried to guess which one he was talking about. Saturday, they had a golf tournament, a car show, a BBQ, and another program that featured a band -- the Barracuda's -- that included guys from the 1966 class. Danced to music from our era until the lights (which are on a timer) started to go off! By the time we finally got everything down and out of the building, it was pitch black! Sunday they had a Reflections program, where we honored the classmates who had Military service. A lot of them got up and thanked us, saying that it was the first and ONLY honor they ever received for being in the Military during the Viet Nam conflict. Can you imagine? No heroes parade -- no one saying 'thanks' to them for all they went through -- 50,000 of them died! We also had a fellow classmate, who is researching Alzheimer's, give a slide presentation and tell us that in the near future there will be a vaccination for this terrible disease. Trust a "baby boomer" to find a solution to losing our minds! All the events were very well thought out and planned, and there has already been many responses to the success of it. It was a real fun experience! After 40 years, everyone finally seems to be comfortable in their own skin, and really don't care who has achieved riches in their lives, who drives the most expensive car, who looks the best, etc. It was more about empathizing with those of us who have had some very tragic things happen and wondering who will be returning for the next reunion. I’m including a link to a website where you can view my story and see picture that they are including from the reunion. I'm including a link to a website that was set up for the purpose of informing us of the events and having classmates add their stories. http://www.dhs67.com/