General Conference

This weekend we had General Conference.

This is the Prophet and President of the Church, Thomas S. Monson.  They broadcast from Salt Lake City and we watch talks from the prophet and from apostles and other general authorities of the church.

 We set up both monitors on the computer so we could see it from anywhere in the kitchen or family room.

 One good thing about watching from home, you don't have to get dressed up and you can sit in really comfortable chairs and relax and really concentrate on what's being said.

 After a few sessions we came up with some games to help the children pay attention.  Here's Ashton playing M&M Bingo and he only has one square to go.  Can't get his last word, "Trials".

 And of course we had the family tradition, which Mary-Anne started for us, of waffles with ice cream and toppings.

It was great to have Tianna and her family with us to watch conference.  Their family is smaller now with Jarom and Amery both off to college but they still keep us busy whenever they come to visit.  Never a dull moment.

Tulsa Central Class of 73 Reunion

I went to the 40th Reunion of my High School class, 1973.  It was also an opportunity to visit with my brother Mark who still lives in Tulsa.

 This is Central.  It was the first high school built in Tulsa.

 It was a large high school and we had close to 500 in our graduating class.  The school grounds cover one complete square city block in downtown Tulsa.

 This is Lee Elementary School in Tulsa where I went to 4th through 6th grades.

 A side entrance view.  The junior high school I went to, Horace Mann, has been torn down.

 The first event of the reunion was a dinner at a Mexican Restaurant, Campadres.  If you look hard you can find me.  Hint - wearing a black shirt.

 Here's a group picture at the main reunion event.  I'm in the back row.  There were four close friends I would really like to have seen but they didn't come.  I did get to see and talk to a lot of people I knew, so that was fun.

They had tables and a band and the reunion was at Micki's All Occasion Ballroom

This is the Great Spirit Statue in Woodward Park, an Indian praying to the Great Spirit.  We had a smaller one in the halls of Central and it was kind of the symbol of our school.  We were the Central Braves.

Visit with Mark and Angela

I was in Tulsa for a class reunion and the best part of the visit was the time I got to spend with my brother Mark and his wife Angela.

 Mark and Angela by a statue they had made out of sheet metal of an Indian shooting an arrow into the sky.  Mark made the design himself by copying a statue and then making an outline.

 They have a beautiful home in Tulsa on a hill by Gilcrease museum.

 The house is all made out of native limestone and it's really nice.

 They have a deer feeder in the backyard and it shoots out corn twice a day.  Here's some deer with their fawns.  This picture was taken right out the back window of their dining room.

 A large buck with big antlers.

 A scorpion we found in the house one day.

 This is my old house that I lived in during High School.

 The house I lived in before that when I was in Junior High and the later half of elementary school..

 I went on a couple of walks, one day on my own and another day with Mark and Angela.  This is a bike trail through town.

 A shot from the Riverside Walk along the Arkansas River.

 Tulsa is an oil town.  The refineries are across the river.  Notice the burning flame on that one tower.

 I was fascinated with these wood carved statues.

 They were in the Utica Square shopping center, which is by the second house in the previous pictures.  Mark and I used to ride our Stingray bikes to Utica Square with friends and hang out and play there quite a bit.  The security guard would chase us out of this one department store any time he saw us coming.  I guess he didn't like all the bikes parked at the front door or us running up and down the escalators the wrong way.

 The statues are incredibly detained and smooth and not at all rough like some of the chainsaw statues I see in Washington of bears and eagles and other animals.

 Really nice I thought.

 We ate dinner one night at Jamil's, a favorite steakhouse that we've been going to with our family since we were children.

Also had to make a stop at Braum's.  They are the best for ice cream sundaes.  I had a great visit with Mark and Angela.

Andrew's Birthday

Andrew had a birthday party.  It was at his other grandparents house (Inman's) in Graham.  He had both sets of grandparents and a great grandparent there, besides his own family.

 Andrew got to pick the meal.  He had hamburgers and french fries and pop.

 Little sister there to celebrate with Andrew.

 Andrew opening presents.  We got him a shirt and a book.

Andrew made his own birthday cake.  It was great.  I really liked it.  Happy birthday Andrew, we love you.

Penelope's Birthday

We went to Penelope's birthday party over at Doranda's house.  Talitha and David came too.

 She is four years old.  This is her birthday cake which looks like a giant cupcake.  It was cool looking.

 Penelope opening birthday presents.  We got her a treasure chest box.

 All four children at the table.  Tucker, Scarlett, Leon, and Penelope.

 Penelope got to pick the dinner menu.  We had pancakes with frosting and sprinkles.

 Look how big Leon's getting.  They grow so fast when they're babies.

Happy Birthday Penelope.  Grandpa and Grandma love you.

Dad is 90 years old

We went down to Arizona to be with our Dads on their birthdays.  Jacquelyn went down a week earlier than me and got to be with her Dad on his 86th birthday.  My Dad was turning 90.

 Here's Dad at 90.  He's doing great and I think he had a good time on his birthday.

 Dad and Mom with their two sons - Mark and I.

For a birthday present we had this tree planted in Leisure World in honor of Dad's 90th birthday.  It looked good, larger than I expected, and he was really surprised and liked it a lot.  The tree is across the street from Rec Center 2 and just past the driving range.  You can see it from the road or the golf course.  The tree was from Mark and I, Angela and Jacquelyn (even though they got left off the card), and from the grandchildren (who were mentioned on the card).  I think he was pleased it was from everyone.

Mark made him a $25,000 Birthday cake.  It was a recipe from a cooking contest where the winner got $25,000 as a prize.  Mom used to make it for him for his birthday every year.  It had pecans and lots of chocolate in it.

For dinner we went out to the Texas Roadhouse, their favorite restaurant.

 Dad and Mom at the restaurant.

Besides Jacquelyn and I, Mark and Angela were there.  And Kristen came also who flew back from a business trip in Japan.

We had an extra guest with us at the restaurant, little Elijah, who is Conni's grandson.  She had to take her other grandson to the emergency room (Eric was sick but was okay) so we watched Elijah.  Anyway, Elijah ran away at the restaurant and no one could find him anywhere.  We searched the restaurant and the parking lot.  He was setting in a corner booth by himself pouring salt on the table and playing in the salt.

After the meal they sang happy birthday to Dad and he got to ride the saddle and got a free chocolate sundae.

 Here's a picture of Conni with Eric, one of her two grandson's that's living with her.

 A better closeup of Eric, who is 18 months.

Here's Elijah again.  They call him Eli for short.  He's a big 2 1/2  year old and is at the 97th percentile in weight for his age and height.