Garden Update #3

For the last month I haven't spent much time in my yard and my garden has gone a little crazy. I've never been very good at the "harvesting" part of gardening. I finally made it out there today and got a huge zucchini and cucumber. I took a picture with the salt shaker so you could see how large they are. Apparently, I need to learn a little about pruning or thinning the garden as well!

Labor Day

We had a fun Labor Day this year. The Hammers and Coxes came on Sunday for a BBQ to celebrate Rich's 55th birthday (coming up tomorrow on September 5th) and they spent the night. We had fun at home playing games and watching old home videos. In the morning the couples decided to try out our amazingly comfortable bed:


Then we all headed to Riverside for the Labor Day lunch and carnival. It was pretty cold, but we had fun anyway.

Sophie

Ayden

Snow on Timpanogos on Labor Day!

Mary made pizza for dinner and it was AMAZING! BBQ Chicken, Alfredo Chicken, and Pepperoni ~ YUM!

It was a really fun family day and we're thankful to have such fun kids to share it with.

Michael Starts His Junior Year (and yes he loves having his picture taken in the morning)

Switzerland

Right after the wedding Rich and I got to take a trip to Switzerland with Tahitian Noni. We stayed at the town of Montreux on the shores of Lake Geneva and it was both beautiful and "old-world" charming.

The views from our hotel room

Our Hotel

On our free day we took the train to Zollikofen and went to the Swiss Temple. It was a confusing ride since Switzerland already uses three languages: French, German and Italian - so they don't bother to translate any signage into a fourth language: English! But we did make it and were able to do a session in the first temple to have the film, so that all the languages could be used. It was an expensive temple trip: (compared to our usual visit to Mount Timpanogos Temple) $90 for the train tickets and $31 to rent temple clothes!
One evening we had dinner up in the hills at an old Swiss village. It was very charming.

These folks in costume serenaded us during our dinner

These guys are playing cowbells!

One of the things that I found so charming about Switzerland was all the beautiful windows with window boxes overflowing with flowers. I took lots of pictures of interesting windows and doors:











This last picture is of us in front of the church we attended on Sunday in Lausanne, Switzerland. The services were in French, but fortunately they had a translator doing English.


It was a lovely trip and it was fun for me to add another country and temple to my list (yes, I keep a list) and spend some time with my sweetheart.

The Buchanans' Visit

Part of the fun of Jenny's wedding was having Laura and her three kiddies here for four whole weeks! It was fun getting to know the kids again and it's always inspirational to see what a great mother Laura is. Here's a sample of just some of the fun:

Bubbles in the backyard

Abby and Andrew out for a stroll

Papa, Connor and Abby at the Tintic Days Parade in Eureka

Swimming at Riverside

Connor and Abby riding my office chairs in the backyard - who needs bikes?!

Jenny and Trevor's Wedding

Jenny and Trevor's wedding turned out beautifully ~ just a perfect day! (Of course any day that you spend months planning and several thousand dollars on really should be perfect!)

Here are just a few pictures of the wonderful day, August 15, 2008. It started with the sealing in the Salt Lake Temple. Rich did a most beautiful job. Then there were pictures and a lovely luncheon hosted by Troy and Jeanette Cox. After that we all headed to Riverside Country Club for more pictures and the reception. The fun continued on Saturday in Layton in the Coxes' lovely backyard. And now Jenny and Trevor are all settled in their townhome in Logan and going to school at USU.

Our beautiful bride

Rich, Janet, Jenny, Trevor and Jeanette in the lovely Cox backyard


My handsome sons: Michael, Todd and Brian

My beautiful daughters: Mary, Jenny and Laura
The Hammer Family: Ayden, Logan, Mary & Sophie


The Buchanan Family: Connor, Laura, Andrew, Alan, Abigail

My Sister and Cute N&N

It was great to have my sister, Laura, and her cute kiddies here for a week. It was so fun to get reacquainted with my neices and nephews. (aka N&N) Cameron, Caitlin, Chase and Chloe are really delightful kids; kind, polite, helpful and really just a joy to be around. I'm so glad that they came to visit and we got to spend lots of time together and make some family memories.