6th Grade for Haley

Haley started the 6th grade this week. She sure grew up fast. I can remember following her school bus on the first day of kindergarten, making sure she got there safe. I followed it back home again to make sure she got off on the right stop. Now she is a the big kid of the school. She loves school and couldn't wait to go back. She looks so grown up and pre-teenish.

Just Talkin' to the Old Folks

My dad has a summer party every year for his friends. My mom and dad had the same group of friends for about 65 years. They all knew each other from high school or the neighborhood and all got married around the same time. They played poker every month and alternated the place. At 1 cent for 2 chips, the winnings were usually $1.25. My dad being the social director of the group holds this annual party since the poker games have ended. At 85, there aren't many of them left. So we also invited the family along to help fill in. My dad had a great time, a little scotch always helps. His friends seemed to have fun too. Josh, liking any party, joined in and sat right down with the crowd and talked with them. I asked him what he was doing and he said "Just talkin' to the Old Folks" they all laughed. Dad is still thinking about the party, now we are just reliving it and eating leftovers.

Throwin' Rocks

A couple weekends ago, we went to Oakley for lunch. We stopped at the Road Island Diner which is a box car diner and 40's style diner. The waitresses had cool hairdos and names like Flo and Dottie. So fun. They had really good shakes, and music boxes on the tables. Then we went to Smith and Morehouse Reservoir. It was nice, quiet and made me want to go camping. I thought well the kids might be bored, but they started throwing rocks in the lake and looking at the difference in the rocks. It's always fun to throw rocks ! We took this family photo, with niece Candice in there. I was amazed that everyone was smiling.

Vacation in Boise

A few weeks ago (sorry I haven't updated in a while) we took a little road trip to Boise, Idaho. I know I know, you are saying, Boise, Judy, can you handle the excitement. Well, I can only try. We went there for Uncle Tom's birthday party and we had a great time; Even though the kids were asking if we were there yet when we hit Bountiful. Oh the joys of family bonding time in the van. I said to them in my most loving way, No dear children, we have 4 hours and 45 minutes to go ! Ugggh. But somehow we made it there, the kids were surprisingly good. But they don't sleep. Max usually falls asleep when I drive to the store, but on a long road trip....hell no. Troy got sleepy though.. (cough) wuss. So I drove some of the way. I like my driving better anyway. But we followed Tim and Mary, or should I say lead foot Tim, and lost him somewhere after Gooding. Yet I digress. So the trip was fun. Lots of family dinners and gatherings. Troy's family is wonderful. I love to get together with them because they are fun to hang out with and talk to. I haven't ever seen cousins get along like they do. They are more like brothers and sisters. Which is great. We did a lot of swimming. When I say a lot... I mean I started to grow gills. Josh was a swimming machine. He has no fear and just jumped in and swam all over. Max wanted to stay on the stairs and just chattered his teeth. Haley had fun jumping in the pool and swimming like a pro. We would swim all day, sometimes twice if time allowed. The good thing about swimming is that once they got in the room and in their jammies, they passed out. Wherever they were, eating, going potty, whatever, they just fell asleep so fast. That is a good thing, because I was tired too. It was fun to be there to wish Uncle Tom a happy birthday and to be with the fam.