San Diego

My Mom is in San Diego with Burke and she took this picture from her cell phone. Grandpa, Grandma and Uncle Burke look great. Grandma's hat gave her the perfect shade in the light. Thought I would share. Looks like a beautiful day in Southern California.

Catching Up with the Beaverton Bennions.

We have not posted for a while so here is our attempt at playing catch up:



Below is the family at Nathan's baptism (May 2). Note William's expression. The aversion to being photographed continues strong from child to child.



The two pictures below are of climbing Beacon Rock -- The second largest monolith in the world (1st is Gibraltar). Nathan, Gregory and I went camping 2 weeks ago and climbed Beacon Rock with a group from our ward at church. Note Greg's smile (similar though not as violent reaction as William's at the baptism).






Wendy and I got away this past weekend for our 10th Anniversary. WOW! We stayed in Leavenworth at Pension Rohrbach. This is the view from our room. Muchas Gracias to Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle Joe for taking the children (note the sincere smile on Wendy's face).

Happy Birthday Robin Burton!

Tomorrow Robin, our first born, will celebrate her sixtieth birthday.

I love Robin because she is happy, compassionate, loving, irrepressible, gutsy, lovable, and beautiful.
I love her for her courage and her fortitude in difficult times.
She is so talented in so many ways, but most especially when she sits down at a sewing machine to create lovely and practical clothing.
She makes everyone feel special as she lights up a room.
Mom and I are anxiously awaiting her visit on May 27 the day after her birthday along with her brother Burke.

Happy Birthday Richard

What a surprise came to Don and Margaret Bennion on May 24, 1949 when 2 baby boys, each weighing in at 7+ pounds arrived! How lucky I feel that one of those bouncing baby boys became my husband 24 years later! How I love Richard!
I love him because
he is the most generous person I know
he is unstoppable when he is sure that the thing he is pursuing is right. When all around him give up in exhaustion, he keeps on going
he is an excellent sounding board for ideas
he is interesting and intelligent
he is funny and witty
he is wise and I trust his instincts completely
he loves great art and great literature
he is a fabulous father - knows how to have fun and how to work hard and has been a part of most of the boys scouting adventures
he has taught each of us in our family how to serve others
he can fix just about anything
he is remarkably supportive in the political causes and church activities in which I am involved
he is a loyal friend
he is a first rate genealogist
he is a compassionate doctor who is dearly loved by his patients
he is a romantic and an optimist
he loves to give a "perfect" gift
he loves my family and would do anything for them
he lights up whenever our children are home
he loves my company and makes me feel like I light up his life
he is always ready to pitch in and help with the dishes and the laundry
he is the best thing that ever happened to me!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL YOU MOTHERS

We hope that all you mothers will have the happiest day imaginable. We are so proud of you all and your motherly instincts are amply demonstrated in your sons and daughters. We have taken such great pleasure in witnessing how marvelous you are.

fun times at usc

hi all! we went out to dinner as girls from the branch before lots of them take off for jobs, missions, etc. i thought i'd post a picture. this is in five points, the down town party area. there are lots of bars and bands and places to eat:

also, every wednesday this sports bar type restaurant has a trivia night. it's kind of like bingo--at 9pm they start the game. everyone has team names and they call out the questions over a microphone and every team writes down the answer. the team with the most points at the end gets gift certificates. some grad friends and i went a few weeks ago. alas, i don't have a picture. it was a blast--we were team northern agression and ironically the final question was to name all the states that seceded from the union. they also have amazing burgers--home made patties and everything.

so, can anyone name the 11 states without looking it up? we were super close...

Tivoli

Tivoli is like Disneyland, Botanical Gardens, an outdoor Concert venue (every day), a state fair, a restaurant megaplex and the Bellagio Fountains, all wrapped together in a tiny package. It is pretty small relative to American entertainment parks, but they manage to pack a lot into it and it is beautiful and so fun. There are gorgeous flowers everwhere you go. There are 40 restaurants and food stands, ranging from hot dogs and hamburgers to expensive Italian or traditional Danish cuisine. You can also bring in your own food, which will be doing most of the time. Last night we ate there--hamburgers and hot dogs, drinks and fries for only $50! Yikes. There are beautiful places to eat or just to sit and enjoy the weather and surroundings, like below.

There is four or five really fun rides, comparable to Disneyland rollercoasters, and the Magic Mountain Free Fall. There are plenty of little airplane rides, boat rides, vintage car rides, bumper cars...things for our kids to do. There was a ride similar to It's a Small World at Disneyland. Will loved this ride (in the picture) with his dad. We thought he might be a little nervous because it went high in the air, but he loved every second of it. The little girl next to Don was so cute. I don't know where her parents were, I never saw them, but she did this ride atleast three times in a row, and that's just what I saw. She would get off, go to the back of the line (which was very short), and was able to get right back on. Then she'd just scream on the ride. It was cute to watch. There are also all sorts of carnival games (shooting a target, throwing balls, skiball) where you can win prizes.

This might have been my favorite part of the night. It is about 9 pm in this picture--amazing how light it still is. The orchestra was playing a medley from My Fair Lady and they sounded really good! It felt so cheerful. The stage and the flowers are so gorgeous, and the weather is unbeatable. About a five minute walk from this stage was another stage where a big band was playing the coolest jazz music. The atmosphere was just so charming. Don and I bought season passes, so my thought is we have really cheap date nights for the whole summer. Just come here and listen to these concerts. Both the band and the orchestra play almost every day, and from June-August there are daily concerts from a Boys Guard Band, also. There are rock concerts every Friday night. There is a light, water, laser and music show every night, but since it doesn't get dark until late, that show is at 10:30 pm. Hopefully our kids will stay up late enough at least a couple of times to catch the show. They have special engagemens, and the New York City Ballet will be performing here for six nights in September. There is a pantomime theater with shows every day. There is also a 100 foot long aquarium here (the longest saltwater aquarium in Europe) and you can watch them feed the fish every day. There is also just a big playground with slides and a long air filled bouncy thing. This place is amazing. From how long I have ranted about it, I am sure you can tell I'm pretty sold on it.

Wild Life in SC cont...

Every night there is a racket of some kind in our backyard. I've always kind of wondered what it is (geese? ducks?). No, friends, it's frogs. And they are going CRAZY!!

I found out tonight when my two two dear friends dropped by to chat for a minute in the midst of writing papers. When I opened up the door there was a little violently green frog chilling on the other side right in the middle of the door and 3 more chilling on the wall outside. I live in the JUNGLE!