Temple Trip

Julianne is thinking about when she'd like to go to the temple. We're looking at these dates: Aug. 23rd or 30th or Sept. 6th, either Friday or Saturday. Let us know who'd like to come and what dates are best.

Mission Call!

So most of you know by now that Julianne is going to the Fukuoka Japan Mission. She'll report to the MTC on Oct. 8th, so we'll keep you posted about going away parties, etc. Here's the "grand opening" (although she had already peeked!)

Pictures will be forthcoming as soon as someone smarter than me can upload them into something other than gibberish.

By the way, Suzy & I both guessed Japan.

Pioneers remembered

When I was young, we would go visit my Uncle Willard in East Texas. He lived in an old house that my great-grandparents had lived in after they sailed down the Mississippi on flat boats and came to Texas in covered wagons. Uncle Willard had kept everything just like it was – no electricity, no running water, only a fireplace for heat, no refrigerator. I thought it was a great adventure. When we visited, we pretty much operated like the mid-1800s. The women got up early and cooked on the wood stove. You just could not do that later in the day. Sometimes in the mornings, we would go to the fields and cut open yellow watermelons and just eat the hearts out of them and then go on to the next. Water was drawn from the well into a bucket with a dipper and everyone drank from it. We loved that! Mother was always afraid we would catch the creeping gomboo or something.

The Mission Call Has Arrived!

Come to our Grand Opening Celebration on Saturday at noon, Ginny & Jared & Julianne's house--free food! Please RSVP in the comments.

Where in the World?

President Hansen called this afternoon to report that Julianne's mission papers have been mailed from Salt Lake and should be here soon. Any guesses on where she'll go? I think maybe somewhere in the Far East--Japan or something.

Back from Alaska!

I know several of you have been already, but I totally loved Alaska and am already anxious to save up for a second trip! Here are a few of my favorite pics from the trip.

We started the trip in Victoria, BC, and despite Jared's cheery expression really enjoyed the tour of Buchart Gardens. In Ketchikan we hiked a mile up the mountain (1,500 feet elevation) and got a great view of the bay. We took a helicopter tour in Skagway and landed on and walked around on a glacier--definitely the trip's highlight.

Helpful Hint - How to Remove a Tick

This is a hint from a School Nurse. I have not had a tick in years, but they do show up sometimes, even on little kids and it can be very traumatic, so I am passing this on to all.

A pediatrician said that she believes this is the best way to remove a tick. This is great, because it works in those places where it's sometimes difficult to get to with tweezers: between toes, in the middle of a head full of dark hair, etc.

Apply a glob of liquid soap to a cotton ball. Cover the tick with the soap-soaked cotton ball and swab it for a few seconds (15-20), the tick will come out on its own and be stuck to the cotton ball when you lift it away. This technique has worked every time I've used it (and that was frequently), and it's much less traumatic for the patient and easier for me.

Unless someone is allergic to soap, I can't see that this would be damaging in any way. I even had my doctor's wife call me for advice because she had one stuck to her back and she couldn't reach it with tweezers. She used this method and immediately called me back to say, "It worked!"

More pictures of Lisa

Here are the pics taken when the 2 grandmothers descended on poor Lisa when she was just 15 minutes old. Randi looked really great even right after the birth. Welcome to the family Lisa!

Say hello to Lisa, number 4 great-grandchild!

Baby Lisa, weighing 6 pounds, 11 ounces, 19 1/2 inches long, was born on July 6, early in the morning. She appears to be quite an eater as you can see by the fists in the mouth. Missy will take some more professional shots in the near future. As you can see in the picture of her playing with Ben, Randi looks amazing. Way to go, girl! (C.J. is doing OK, too.)

Got Books?

The new Forest Hill Library opened two weeks ago and it is really nice. The interior is beautiful; the shelving is magnificent - it is just pretty empty! They need books - not just any books, but hardbound books published since 2000, except for classics. Now, “classics” does not mean old Encyclopedia Britannica sets. They also do not need old college text books. If you don’t want them, why would they? If you have adult or children’s books to donate, just let me know. They have about 5,000 new books and need 7,500 to be an accredited library so they can get funds (and more books) from the State Library System. Call me anytime at 817 881-8857! Also, please pass the word to other friends and family.

The Fireworks Concert - Supporting the Barnett Shale

As our family tradition has been, we spent an evening at the Fort Worth Symphony Concert in the Garden with spectacular fireworks. Some of those tickets were purchased with money from the royalty checks from the natural gas in the Barnett Shale - I hope this pleases Tommy Lee Jones who is the big spokesman for The Shale. We had lots of nibbly food and had a really good time. It is the ultimate in people watching.

Over 300 Posts and Still Going Strong!

Last week we passed over 300 posts on this blog and we are still going strong with lots of links to extended family and friends. Keep it up!

Somewhere Over the Rainbow...

Monday, June 30, was a great day for my friend, Jackie Allen, who retired after 13 years as Forest Hill City Secretary. She got lots of gag gifts, real gifts and had a special visit from Glenda Good Witch. Our Oz theme was wonderful if I do say so myself. We did not run out of food and she got to have crab legs and shrimp. Missy made the most wonderful poster which was definitely the hit of the party! Everyone wanted to know where we got it, etc. We will use the Glenda theme again at our Halloween party being held this year at the new library, due to elections. We are having storybook characters for the kids, so if anyone wants to volunteer, just holler.

Life’s a Beach!

We spent time on June 28 at Glaveston and had a really good time as demonstrated here. The kids loved the ocean so more trips will have to be forthcoming!

We’ve Got People!

I have decided our family is like the Verizon commercials where the spokesperson points out that he has “people” and behind him is a big gang of support. That’s what happened this last weekend in Houston. There were 24 of us on hand to see the blessing of Kenny and Texas’ baby and most of us were just there to support the Adams, not to participate in the actual blessing. Thanks, gang, for being so great!