Sunday, June 13, 2021

Memorial Day 2021

 

There is a running joke in our family that Memorial Day happens more than once a year.  The kids think it's the holiday that come around in the calendar way more than any other holiday.  Now we say it's always Memorial Day and never Christmas! (a reference to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.  

We are grateful the younger generation seem to appreciate and love this tradition-- even if it does come around so often.  They are learning the stories-- they chuckle over some things and some relatives, but they love it and and sinks in. 

Greta and Jules-- the littlest cousins.  
Cousin love
Uncle Lane and Aunt Diane with a few of the Clark cousins-- me, Brig, Chip, Richie, and Christy

Sharing more stories at my dad's Richards grandparents gravesite.
My dad sharing stories of his parents at Valley View cemetery
A quick stop at Abe's great grandparents at the same cemetery
Two Jolley Foxes
Lunch with the whole gang at Apollo Burgers
These two had a table all to themselves
Next stop-- Brigham Young's gravesite and memorial.  Just a few of his grandchildren:)
Peter and Peter at Memory Grove.  This is often our final stop on Memorial to visit the marker for my dad's Uncle Hugh who died when his ship the U.S.S. Johnston went down in the Pacific.
Dad recounts the story each year and the grandchildren are enthralled.





You can never have too many pictures---- Cannon's face would suggest otherwise



It was a perfect Memorial Day.



Cannon's 13th Birthday at Stratford Ranch

 

Cannon turned 13!!!  Abe and I took him out for a birthday lunch at JCW's.  What a great kid he is!  He is now officially a teenager and he's agreed to go easy on his parents:)
Later that day we packed up and headed to one of our very favorite places...

...Stratford Ranch!!!! It had been too long since we've been and it is such a happy, peaceful, relaxing, healing place.  It is so good of Andrea and James to welcome us there so willingly.
A very good way to spend one's 13th birthday!
Adventures in the side-by-side



A laughter filled dinner and birthday brownie celebration-- including the Fox family tradition of going around and saying what we love about that person/roast.  Cannon was such a good sport.  My favorite contribution was Clark saying he loves Cannon because he waited through four sisters being born to finally get Cannon for a brother and Cannon was "Not a disappointment".  What a nice thing to say about someone-- they are not a disappointment:)
We played games,
games,
and more games.
The four of us hiked up to the top/back of the property-- it was awesome!

Abe found this flower for me:)

It's a treat for our boys to get to use Michael's bb gun.
Fishing with the boys
An evening walk with my dear friend.
A gorgeous sunset
George on fire watch duty
We worked in this very enjoyable 1000 piece puzzle (thanks, Camille).   It was a good one for Memorial Day weekend.
Roasting hot dogs for dinner
James took these guys on a long ride in The General.
We love Stratford Ranch so much and can't wait to go back!  

Sunday, June 6, 2021

All That Jazz Piano Recital

 

We had such a fun piano recital towards the end of May-- an outdoor jazz and blues backyard concert.  The library rooms we usually use still aren't available to reserve and I wanted us to be in a place where we could all be together.  So Abe was so kind to set up the tents and help get everything ready.

I enjoy them all so much and feel so blessed to get to know them and teach them.
Greta played "Let's Boogie" .  So cute!  We set up the microphone and hooked the digital piano up to the amp so it was plenty loud.  The drum set was for after the official recital was over, anyone who wanted to jam with George could.  
Peter played "The Banana Boat Song"  The boy has pretty good rhythm.
And talk about rhythm-- George slayed his "Kansas City, 1928".  He gets it.
I loved Cannon's number--"Bear Cat Boogie".  Cannon also served as excellent tech support for the evening.  
Faith is not my piano student, but she gets to play in the recital anyway:) She played "City of Stars" from La La Land-  which is one of my favorite movies.
George and his buddy Dallas jamming:)