Nov 27 2008

Jason, I think this one below is one on my top favorites of all the pictures you took! I just love it.

Trophy Wife

The forgotten trophy. I can't believe we forgot to bring it to the cabin! What do you think? Tacky or a really cool decoration for your home? Vic and I will be sporting it on our counter top this season...

Until next time

(when we get judges that aren't from small town Utah and drive pick up trucks and hunt). The real winner will be revealed once and for all.

Thanksgiving Happy

I thought this photo of Vic and Molly was nice. Too bad I didn't have a nicer lens at the time (you can tell if you click on it). I only came home with a few photos on a card after having erased the others after they downloaded on P&K's computer. Most of the photos here were shot with the cheap zoom lens I brought. Here is what I have...


OK Kristyn, the free world hangs in your hands. Process and post!

(P.S. Joy here now... we had a great drive home and the kids did wonderfully. Drive time 8 hours 26 min., stopping time 2 hours and almost 30 min. We were home by between 10 and 10:30pm. Half way home I remembered the trophy! We almost turned around to go back for it. Vic and Molly, you will have to post a picture of it sometime so we can all look forward to it for the next exciting and highly competitive gingerbread contest. You guys really did deserve it).

(Does anyone know how to get pictures really big on blogger??? I used to do it one way, but for some reason it will never work for me anymore. Please! Help me!)

So Sam's bday was yesterday! Happy birthday to you! Above in the first two pictures in the top row you can see a 'pretend' surprise party for the man. Sam, note to self, when someone invites you over for something on your bday, you should never arrive early. Paul and I showed up early to beat him, and lo and behold, he came there right after work. Next time we'll ambush you the day before your birthday when you'll never see it coming.

So the guys went and played laser tag (Chris' brothers came too, which was awesome) and then they all came back for THREE different desserts. Thacker now has diabetes, but it was a super fun night anyway. And we found out Thacker has a love for wearing high heels (which you can only partly see in the above pic).

Happy birthday Sam-bone! We love you tons!

To Sam from the Robinsons

To Sam from your parents

Happy Birthday Sam

Sam,

I'm sorry... we seem to be absent a camera.... its around here somewhere. For now I hope you will accept our written wishes of Happy Birthday! You are so great Sam! I don't think you have any idea how great. We're excited to see next week. We love you. Thank you for being so wonderful....

see you soon,

Vic, Molly & Lucy

Happy Bday Sam from the Thack-meister

Eat your heart out, Shirley Temple. There's a new singer in town. :)

Birthday Wishes from the Payne Family

To Sam from Wendy and Pete

To Sam from Pegster

Sam, Happy Birthday brother! I hope you have a great day and know that I love you! I cant wait to see you soon, and maybe I'll even put my bad feelings aside and play a rousing game of Scrabble with you. I will do that just for you man. And you know how much I hate the game, so this is really special. Love ya. -Peggy

Birthday Bash

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to this lovely Halloween witch! Joy, you make purple hair look good! Happy birthday (even if it's a belated wish, sorry!). Hope it was fantastic!

"Trip" down memory lane

Our vacation trip to CA was so fun and so great for so many reasons. What I did not expect was how much it made me feel like a little girl. Shafter, the little town outside of Bakersfield where Jay and Ilene live, the temperature, the rural community... it felt almost like Colusa! Jay and Ilene live in the middle of the pistachio orchard. We took a walk town by the canal to go fishing the first day we were there. We walked by a row of walnut trees. Do you guys remember the smell of Walnut Trees? I do think I even realized that they had a smell!!! I stuck my face in the leaves and branches (getting my face all dusty dirty in the process) and inhaled. Whoosh- I felt like I was back on the church property (and funny thing is I was since the church owns the farm down there). Do remember picking the walnuts and breaking them open while trying to keep the nut as big and whole as possible? And the cotton mouth you get from eating it? Dad- what can you tell us about the walnut orchard there. Were the members supposed to care for it and sell the nuts? How did that work and what happened to it?

And speaking of the branch- Jay and Ilene attend a branch in Wasco. I sat down in the little chapel and looked over to my right and there was Bro. Clark (Sr.) It looked just like him other than Bro. Clark Sr. is now dead. But the profile was spot on. It was crazy! And then- did you know they still sell Thrifty ice cream?! I was so tempted to buy it at the counter in order to get that round cylinder scoop of ice cream but instead Ilene and I bought a half gallon and a box of Thrifty cones to take home to the men who stayed with the kids. I bought mint 'n chip. That was the kind I always ordered (although bubble gum was a close second because you not only got ice cream but after sucking off the gum balls and saving them until the end... you got bubble gum too). I remember always wishing I could get 2 or 3 scoops. The rich people bought that. I remember it costing $0.35 for a single scoop. Is that right Mom and Dad?Remember the trip back to Colusa in 1990 (is that right?) when we stopped at Morro Beach and played with the sea weed that had washed up on the beach? There is a photo of me with the sea weed on my head. It was crazy to go back there (that was where we stayed the night in that little hotel- it's on our blog) and now as an adult with three children of my own. Could it really have been 18 years ago? This picture below is from Pismo beach. Allie LOVES the ocean and Luke started to really play this time around. Wesley crawled around in the surf a little too. I think one or two of the bigs waves got him and scared him. That is also why his shorts are off.
A few more shots from Yosemite National Park.
One of my favorite parts of Yosemite was visiting the Sequoia groves. What HUGE and majestic trees. Jason and I commented after about how almost sacred and spiritual that place was. Ok, maybe not "almost". These trees are thousands of years old. The things they have witnessed.... wow. We were literally standing among giants- the largest living organisms on earth. Jason is standing next the one that fell over in like 1983.

Let me just mention again the fall colors. They were BEAUTIFUL! Notice the yellow-yellow, orange-orange.
The above shot is just after crossing the bridge on the trail to Vernal Falls. A little refueling station. And of course a little boy who had to test each water spigot.Sunset on El Capitán. And my capitán.
So many more pictures to share.... so little time.