Dallen's Graduation

A while back we went to Dallen's graduation from High School.

 Here we are with Dallen after the graduation ceremony.  He graduated from Mead High School in Spokane.

 Dallen dressed in cap and gown waiting in line waiting to get his diploma.

 Dallen at the graduation.  We had a good view.

Dallen with his mom.  Congratulations Dallen, now is's on to bigger and better things.  We love you and we're proud of you.

New Grandchild Calista

Last month we went to the Baby Blessing for Calista.

 Here we are with Doranda and her family.  Can't believe she has five children now.  They have a wonderful family.

 Little Calista all dressed up for her baby blessing.

 Big sister Penelope all smiles.

 Scarlett is the one that seems to love holding her little baby sister.  (I didn't take a lot of pictures so I borrowed a few from Doranda's blog.  But I couldn't leave out Scarlett since she is the one that is always wanting to hold Calista so much.)

 Brothers Leon and Tucker with Calista.

Welcome to the world Calista.  You have a wonderful family.  Great parents and four loving siblings.  You will have a good childhood.  And we are happy to by a part of it as your grandparents.

Minnesota trip to see Isaac and family

Last month we made a trip to Minnesota and got to have a long visit with Isaac and Kim and their little children Joslyn and Dorian.

 We had never met Dorian in person before and he's already walking.  And Joslyn grew a lot while we where on a mission.  She can carry on quite a conversation now.  She loves to have people read to her and she is learning Japanese.

 One of the first days there we went to the Minneapolis zoo.  They have a great zoo with lots of natural habitats.  I especially liked the baboons and gorillas.

 They had this bronze statue in memory of these giant turtles they used to let walk around the zoo.   Jacquelyn remembers seeing them as a little girl and sitting on them.  We weren't sure whether or not to believe her when she told us the story, and then we saw a plaque about it.

 Here's Isaac and family with Goldy the Gopher, mascot of the University of Minnesota, where Isaac is attending graduate school to be a professor in economics.  Did you know the University of Minnesota is the second largest university in the country?  Isaac just finished two years, which are the academic classes.  Now he has to do his research on a dissertation project.

 We saw the mighty Mississippi river.  Quite large even up in Minnesota near the source of the river.

 One day they took us out for a hike in the park by Minnehaha Falls.  Minnesota is so green and beautiful this time of year.  It really made Jacquelyn feel a little homesick, if you can believe it.  She said she wouldn't mind living there again for a while, just not in the winter.

 We went to this ice cream store where they don't understand the concept of small.  This is actually a child's size, which some of us had a hard time finishing.  We went went there twice.

 This is the famous spoon at Sculpture Park.

 A new sculpture, the blue rooster.  The park was closed so we couldn't get too close but we walked around it.

 Joslyn and Cousin Bella.  One Sunday after church we drove down to Rochester where Rosemerry was hosting a family get together.  They must of had 20 relatives there.  The food was great, pulled pork and sirloin and lots of side dishes and desserts.  The weather was great and we played "corn hole".  Jacquelyn and I beat Roger and Marilyn in a contest, then we played against Isaac and Kim and we even beat them.

Isaac and Joslyn at Teddy Bear park in Stillwater, Minnesota.  The kids loved climbing on the statues.

 Dorian on one of the giant teddy bears.  They look cuddly but there are actually made of concrete.

 One day we went to see a Twins games.  They lost to the Houston Astros but it was a lot of fun seeing the stadium and the game and all the excitement.

Almost every day we were going on a walk somewhere.  We put in a lot of miles and had lots of fun.  We had a great time.  Kim and Isaac were wonderful hosts and we had a great time.  Joslyn and Dorian are so much fun.  We are so lucky to have such wonderful grand children.