This blog is sort of out of order. Even though it is before August in the grand scheme of things I posted August intending to put the summer all together but my computer was slow so I ran out of time and had to do two posts to record the summer events. So here we go with summer part 1.
Our summer started out with a bang! My parents decided that they were going to sell their home of 10 years in Grants Pass Oregon and move home to California. My brother, Larry and his wife Becky asked them to move in with them in their home in Brentwood California. We are thrilled to have them so much closer so that we can have family events together and just get to see them often. My Dad celebrated his 92 birthday shorly after their move down and we were there to have a great weekend. I'm taking this picture of my parents (in the middle with two of their dogs) Richard to the right of my Dad, Larry next to him and Becky on the other end in the back. There is Emily and Chris kneeling in the front.
On the 2nd of July, our son Dave and his beautiful family arrived for a weeks vacation. This is Carter (age 3)on the day they arrived learning how to catch a ball. See his hands ready to receive?
On the 4th of July we joined Dave and Brook and the kids at their dear friends, Vince and Nancy's home with Brook's parents too. We had a lovely afternoon and fabulous barbeque food with all the trimmings. Makes me hungry just to remember... My contribution was this heart shaped cake with strawberries and blueberries decorating the whipped icing. 4th of July and family....you can't beat that!!
In Santa Rosa during the summer they have what is called "Wednesday Night Market". It takes up two full blocks of the downtown area and the side streets with all kinds of fun things to see, taste, and experience. Dave and Brook and the boys met Richard and I there. My job at that time was on 4th street smack in the middle of the market so I was already there and just walked out into the excitement. We ate dinner together each selecting what sounded good to us. There was a great selection to choose from. It was a very enjoyable evening. This "hand" sculpture is at the entrance to the mall at the end of the downtown area. Carter was fastinated with it.
Carter loves the Peanuts comic characters so Dave and Brook did a Peanuts treasure hunt whenever they had a spare hour or so. Because Charles Schultz lived in Santa Rosa for many years and was a big part of our community doing a lot for people here, we have decorated statues of Charlie Brown, Lucy, Woodstock, and Snoopy all around our fair city. They are very individual in their design and fun to find. After the "market" we went to Yogert Farm for an outstanding frozen yogurt dessert and there right in front was Snoopy all decorated as a dairy cow. Carter is posing and saying "cheese" for his picture with Snoopy.
On Friday of that week I took a half day off work and i went with the boys (and family) to the beach. It was Carter & Jude's first time at the ocean. Carter loved the sand but didn't like the moving water and wouldn't venture anywhere near it. I brought along some beach buckets and sand toys so, as you can see, he was happy playing in the sand.
We also brought along our patio umbrella so the little guy, Jude, wouldn't get burned. Dave is feeding him so he can take his nap.
Grandma ventured out into the water and brought some ocean water back in a bucket to Carter and Daddy Dave so we could build a castle. The toys were little molds of fish, a crab, and a seahorse. Daddy filled them and Carter put them out on the sand. He loved it! We did make a castle tower with the bucket too but didn't get a picture of that one.
Speaking of pictures, Carter loves to see them as they are taken. Daddy is showing him the picture that is posted below. Can you tell that Grandma Joy is having a great time?
After the Beach we all headed to Sebastopol ,which is on the way home from the beach, to meet up with Richard at Mark and Kathleen LaGrave's home. They are our step children and grandsons Joshua and Lucas. Here you see Joshua (age 10) meeting cousin Jude for the first time while Grandpa looks on. We spent the evening together and enjoyed a fabulous meal and great conversation but most of all just being together.
Here are the other two cousins, Lucas and Carter. Carter is exactly two weeks older than Lucas. They had a great time playing together.
The parents of the cousins left to right: Kathleen, Mark, Brook, Dave. What beautiful/handsome kids we have!
Here we are together with Brook and Jude and Dave and Carter.
It was an incredibly fun day.
Saturday the 9th of July they headed home to Utah. We had a little birthday celebration that morning on their way out of town for our son Dave whose birthday was later in July. Carter loved the ribbon that was around his daddy's birthday gift, especially the fact that you could wear it and see through it. Can't wait until we see them again.
Also in July near the end, our grandson, Shawn and his lovely wife, Karlena came over from Fairfield and had dinner with us. We were happy to be able so share some time with them. Karlena is expecting their first child in November near Thanksgiving. This will be great- grandson number 2 and grandchild number 22. We are very happy for them and for us. A grandchild that is closer to home!
The rest of that month was just working at our jobs until the post below about August.
Our son, Chris, graduated with honors from ITT tech in Sacramento this March. We are so proud of his accomplishments. He is now enrolled in the continuation of his education at Sacramento Institute of Art in pursuing his career as a Game Designer. He has tremendous skill and talent and really enjoys his classes.
In May we traveled to Utah for a weeks vacation and some more wonderful family events. Our son, Jeff, graduated from University of Utah Law school and took his Bar exam in July. We are waiting for the results and he is enjoying being home with his two boys as Mr. Mom without having to study while looking for a job with a law firm. We are very proud of him too. 
This is Emeric's Stepmom and our son, George's wife, Urasia, with her daughter Maycie and their daughter Brooklyn who is 2 years old. It was so much fun to have them there sharing in the family fun with us. We got to know them better this time. George was working in Arizona so he couldn't be there with us. 
This is our great grandson, Jordan. He is four and his mom, our granddaughter Beth, came up from Provo for the last weekend we were there to be at the reception for Jeff's graduation and his baby's blessing. 
These two cute Utah Mann boys are Carter age 3 (above) and his new little brother Jude, (below, born on December 16, 2010). They belong to David and Brook. We had such fun meeting sweet little Jude and playing with him and Carter. Being a grandparent is one of lifes nicest blessings. We wish we lived closer so we could see all of them more often. 
Next we see the two sons of Jeff and Rachelle, Lucas Mann (age 19 mos in this picture) and his new baby brother, Ethan James who was born on April 15, 2011. Ethan was just a couple of weeks old when we got there and it was so much fun to hold the newest Mann grandchild. He is a very good baby who sleeps really well. 
Then on that incredible weekend of wonderful, very special family events, we witnessed the baptism of our granddaughter, Emma. She is the middle child of John and Noelle's family of 5 children. She was so excited to be baptized and I had the priviledge of giving the talk on Baptism at the service. 
