BYU Graduation

We had a fantastic time in Utah. The weather was totally unpredictable. The first two days there it snowed and rained and was bitterly cold even with some sun. Then it gradually warmed up and by Monday when we left it was in the upper 70"s. I guess when they talk about the Utah weather and say, "Wait 5 minutes and it will change." is pretty true. We had a very nice visit and lunch with our good friends, Judy and Charlie Prosser Wed. afternoon on our way to Orem. We hadn't seen them in a few years so it was great getting together and sharing our families news. In Orem, we stayed with the Dunford Grandparents in their beautiful home. They are very hospitable people and now good friends. We thoroughly enjoyed visiting with them each morning and evening before and after our days activities.



The Commencement exercises on Thursday were uplifting and inspirational. Elder Bednar and Elder Samuelson gave really good talks, but what would you expect. We recorded it at home so that we can watch it again and make a copy for Jeff. George, Seneca, and Emeric came down from Idaho Falls for the two days ceremonies and got there about 30 Min. before it all started. It was wonderful having them there too. It has been 3 years since we saw the kids. They are great and we had a blast together. We all went out for a Mexican dinner at Casa Rio (I think?). Good food and great company with all the families there. Jonny Koehle and Ryan McAdam were there too.
Friday was when Jeff "walked" and received his diploma case with a sample diploma inside. It was quite exciting seeing him receive his bachelor's degree. What a thrill for his wife and parents and all who love him.
The speaker were excellent and I was wishing that we could have recorded that too. The topic of one was "Love is a Conversation" where he talked about how important relationships are that you make throughout your life. Really great food for thought for all who listened. That night we went to Draper and to the home of Jeff West and his wife and family for a big Taco Salad dinner. It was fun meeting a few more of Rachelle's family. They were celebrating the graduating from BYU of their son and his wife too, so we all celebrated together. George and his kids headed back to Idaho and Jeff, Rachelle, Richard, Jonny K. and I all headed up to the trail to hike the Y!. We didn't hike but enjoyed the view.








Saturday we went with Jeff and Rachelle to SLC and to the Cemetery to see the resting places of the prophets. We hiked all over with a map telling us where they were. It was a fun but also special experience paying honor to those extraordinary men and their wives.







After that we went to the Lion House Pantry for Lunch and then to Brigham Young's Beehive House for the tour. Wow, what a beautiful home.









I took a few pictures but my favorite room was the formal dinning room.





Went to church with Jeff and Rachelle in their branch and got to lead the music in Relief Society as Rachelle was conducting. She is the RS president. It's a small group of Saints who all live in their Apt. complex but really nice people. After church we played games and talked at the apt. and then went to the Dunford's for a delicious chicken enchillada dinner, dessert with more of the Dunford Family we hadn't seen yet, and a lively game of Mexican Train dominoes until midnight.

Monday we packed, spent some time with Jeff and Rachelle and then all went to Deseret Book before we left for the Airport. It was a fantastic trip. We really do enjoy Utah every time we are there.

Awesome April Continues

Saturday the 19th of April (Happy Birthday, Christy)
was the first BIG outing for the newest of the Mann family. We all gathered in Sacramento to participate in and witness the Baptism of Abigail Lynne Philpott so
David and Brook took Carter on the first long trip of his new life and theirs with a new baby. He did remarkably well. They sure are a cute little family.







David gave the talk on the Holy Ghost and Carter slept "like a baby" through the whole baptismal service. He was as good as gold.












Abby was one very excited young lady. Here she is with John in her very special baptism dress that her Grandma Ford made for her mom, Noelle, and her sisters to wear. It's a very special family tradition. They sure look happy! She is one very prepared child. She was glad that the water was warm in the font when she felt it.


During the Baptismal service, John sang a beautiful song that he had written for her baptism. I hope that I can convince him to record it for the family to hear often. I would love a recording of him singing his songs that he has written for the members of his family. It means a lot to all of us.
After the baptism was done, Abby got dressed in her beautiful new white dress complete with a special necklace and bracelet. What a very happy family on such a wonderful occasion. There were many family and friends there. Abby received several special gifts to mark the occasion and then we all shared refreshments and watched a video that her Aunt Emily Mann made with pictures from her first 8 years of life. Then we all went back to the house and had a yummy Lasagna dinner together. What a fantastic Saturday.





So today, Tuesday, Carter is two weeks old and now he has a new cousin. Yep, today Kathleen and Mark had their new little boy. Richard and I were hoping that he would be born before our trip tomorrow and here he is. Mark called this AM to say Kathleen was in labor and we kept touch all day and then went over to Kaiser here in Santa Rosa about 5:00 PM. He was born just a few minutes before we arrived and so we got to see him right away. Their son, Joshua, was there for the birth and Kathleen said that he was a great help to her giving her hugs when she would have a contraction.


They don't have a first name for him yet but think that his middle name will be Lucas. He weighed in at 8 lbs , 14 ounces and was 21.5 inches long. He was very alert and looking around a lot at all of us taking his picture.









That's one more very happy family. Congratulations Kathleen, Mark, and Joshua!!





We are filled with gratitude to our Loving Heavenly Father for these abundant blessings in our family.

I love this April!

Last week was so fantastic and just a part of this amazing month.

I spoke with Christy on Thursday night while Richard was at High Council meeting. All is well in Texas. Aaron and Riki went to prom on Saturday night with a large group of friends in a limousine. I haven’t checked their MySpace pages yet to see photos but I’m sure they are great. Christy was in an rear-ender but didn’t get hurt…only her new van which is now fixed. I know how that feels. At least her’s could be fixed. I spoke with Jason too and he is getting all A’s except for one B++ in school. He is really smart! He’s into the gifted program at school now and looking forward to a field trip to Texas A & M university. Beth has just graduated from bartenders school and is working events, such as weddings and big parties etc. It’s tough being a single mom…you’ve got to do what you can to make ends meet.

Saturday we worked in the “VERY WARM” weather in the yard. It felt good but we had to turn on the sprinklers to keep the plants alive. Not enough rain yet this season in Santa Rosa.



That night was the Santa Rosa Symphony program that we had tickets for. It was wonderful!! It is the Symphony's 8O th Anniversary in Santa Rosa. Bruno Ferrandis is the conductor and so incredible to watch. He is tall and thin with very long fingers. He is young but I can’t help thinking he reminds me of “Icabod Crane” in stature. Richard agrees. He is extremely animated and the Orchestra responds beautifully. The guest artist was the pianist, Christopher O’Riley playing Bartok, Concerto No. 3 for Piano and Orchestra. The whole evening was phenomenal with 3 selections in all!! Our seats were front row balcony...Yippee!

The bass Horns, the Woodwinds, and Percussion are my favorites!!

Sunday afternoon we went over to Brook and David’s to see how the new little family was doing. They are doing great! We hadn’t seen them since they got home from the hospital late Thursday night, but we’ve been in touch everyday. Carter is a good baby. He sleeps well but eats all the time so Mommy and Daddy are trying to take naps whenever they can between feedings. David went back to work Monday and I helped out a little by doing some laundry for them. We love having them so close and look forward to watching Carter grow before they take off to Utah in the fall.

He is so precious!!

Carter Pierce Mann

He is here and he is beautiful! Carter Pierce Mann made his debut at 11:20 PM on Tuesday, April 8, 2008. Brook and David were fantastic in the whole miraculous process according to Noelle and Kysa (Brook's good friend), who were with them and helped with moral, emotional and physical support. The Labor was long starting at about 9:00 AM but was worth the work.



He weighed in at 7 pounds 3 Ounces and is 21 inches long. He was so alert and just perfectly content to look around and makes cute little baby noises as we all took our turns holding him. What a thrill to have this precious little one join our family.




I waited from 9:30 AM with Brook's mom Julie and gradually as the day progressed, more family members joined us. When he was finally born there were 9 family members in the waiting room. Chris was there with us too.

We love you, Carter!!

We had such a wonderful time seeing Abby in "Annie" with Chris and Emily and Noelle and John on the 29th of March. We totally agree with them... She was fantastic! Her great personality came shining through and as Emily said...she stole the scenes with the orphans. We are so proud of her.




Our visit with Mom and Dad and tour of Larry and Becky's new home and celebrating Larry's birthday with them was a great way to start our weekend. We are thrilled for Larry and Becky. Their home is lovely and we know they will have a lot of fun making it their own as they decorate it to reflect their personalities.

Last week I watched Aaron and Liesel Hall's children, Sabrina and Joseph. They are 3 and 15 months old. We had a great time playing, reading books, and watching Disney movies together.

Every week I blog, it’s one day later in the week than the week before. I don’t know what’s up with that but here goes this weeks happenings…

Thursday I went to lunch and a movie with Faye Clawson, Emily’s mom. We have a good time together and hadn’t done anything for a while so she took me to lunch a the East West Café and then I took her to the movies next-door at the Rialto theater and we saw, “Miss Pedigrew Lives for a Day” which we thoroughly enjoyed. Very funny and poignant at the same time. I recommend it for a good time.

After work last Friday I joined Richard at the Dunford’s for a 55th birthday dinner party for Ron. We had a blast!! There were other couples there from their ward who we don’t see that often but really delight in their company. It was a great group of friends. We had delicious food & enjoyable conversation, then played guessing games that were questions about Ron so we all got to know him better than before. One of them was guessing his age in about 20 pictures from his life. It was very entertaining analyzing the clothes and surroundings as well as his appearance in trying to figure out how old he was in each one. Cindy had gotten some really cute prizes for all of us. They were all wrapped and we could have traded for ones already opened as we each chose one, but we all liked the ones we got. Dad got a mini, battery powered, light saber. (We have to guard it from Chris.) Then Ron opened his creative and amusing gifts from all of us. It was a great and very fun evening.

Saturday we did yard work in the beautiful warm weather, shopped for Easter dinner, and enjoyed the day. Easter Sunday we had the privilege of singing in the ward choir, “This is The Christ”. John, Noelle and Abigail were in town to spend Easter with her sisters so they were in our ward and John came and sang next to Dad. The song was perfect and the Spirit strong making my tears flow, especially with his beautiful voice behind me. Then I had the thrill of substituting as chorister in Primary and loved every second of it. We shared “The Missionary Game” and dinner with Chris and Emily, barbecuing steaks I had marinated over night. Yummy! Brook wasn’t feeling too well after church so they came over later and the 6 of us visited and had a fun time together. It was a beautiful Easter Sunday.

Tuesday night we went to Sebastopol and had dinner with Kathleen, Mark, and Joshua. Delicious food and great company. Their home is beautiful and in a gorgeous area with a fantastic view. We are so thrilled that they are putting down roots just a short distance from us. We are standing ready to help out when the new baby boy is born in the near future. We took a game to Joshua, (Looney Toons “SMASH-UM” that used to be Christopher’s) with a new package of Playdoh. Mark and Joshua played it after we had dinner and they both had a “smashing” good time. Joshua won. Sorry I forgot my camera as I was planning to put pictures here…darn! Next time.

Today was book club and as always I had a wonderful time with my good friends. We discussed the book, “These is My Words” (1st of 3 volumes) by Nancy Turner. We all had a great time reading and discussing the book.

This morning I received a surprise phone call from Larry and Becky, according to my caller ID, but when I answered it, my mom was on the other end. They have been down from Oregon since last Saturday to help Larry and Becky move into their new home. I knew they were coming down this month but wasn’t sure when. The surprise part was a wish of mine that my parents granted…they are moving back to California soon and are going to be living in this big, beautiful new home with Larry and Becky. I couldn’t be happier. They will rent out their home in Grant’s Pass so they will have additional income. I can hardly wait to see them hopefully this weekend on our way to Sacramento.

Get out your Easter Bonnets!

Well, St. Patrick’s Day is over and Easter is just around the corner. Can you believe it?
Dad/ Richard and I are doing great, enjoying the beautiful weather and keeping busy.

Saturday night was our annual Stake Single Adult Saint Patrick’s dinner and program. We hold it at the institute building and put corned beef in crock pots at 10:00 in the morning so they cook all day. We had about 20 people there including 3 children (Iris, Lily, and Jasmine) of one of the singles. We had really good food with the potluck items all the singles brought, together with the corned beef and cabbage, potatoes, and drinks the stake provided. We played some word games, Dad told jokes, and then we put in a DVD of Lord of the Dance. Everyone had a good time. Do you know why the shamrock is a symbol of St. Patrick’s Day? Well, Saint Patrick taught the principle of the Godhead using the three leaves of the shamrock to signify the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost, and then how they are unified "as one" in one leaf. Cool huh?

Sunday was an adventure for me as I substitute taught the "Sunbeam" class for the first time ever. There are five 3-year old boys in that class. You know me and little boys…I had such a great time. The lesson was on "Fish". I went to the library and took out two books…one was a story book about "Swimmy". It was a very cute story and they loved it. The other was book about fish with great colored pictures of all kinds of fish. We had a fantastic time learning about Gods beautiful fish and how we eat them too. We had a snack time too…what did we eat? "Goldfish" of course!! The last ten minutes we played with cars and trucks. They had a great time shooting them across the table to me and seeing if I could catch them and shoot them back. I did pretty well considering there were 5 of them and one of me. I’ll substitute in that class any time. Next week I get to sub for the chorister and it’s Easter Sunday…I can hardly wait….

Monday night was our Single Adult FHE here at the house and even though it was the 17th, we decided to forgo St. Pat’s day cause we already did that on Saturday and focus on Easter instead. We decided to show them "The Testaments" DVD. Half of them hadn’t seen it and they loved it as did we. It is a very special movie to see at Easter time…perfect actually. I’m very grateful that Chris and Emily gave it to us last Easter.

Last night was American Idol. Yes, we watch it. Did you know there are two LDS contestants? Their names are David (not Cook, the other one) and Brooke…pretty easy to remember. During the show, Brooke said "Hi" to her husband whose name is…yep, Dave. They are doing well. I voted for both of them last night too. I hope they are still there after tonight.

Hope your Easter is extra special this year!!