Derek's graduation

Here is a shot of the graduate as he is getting ready to enter the Marriott Center in Provo. It happened August 12th and 13th 2010

Here Mark reaches up to his son whom he is so proud of! We'll see you inside D.

Derek is on the phone with Chad so we can find him in the masses. There he is!

Derek receives his diploma

Outside, Eva is happy to see her Daddy. She tries on his funny hat!

It takes the love of a whole family to get through school and then graduate. What a great family and great support from Tara!

Tara planned a great party for Derek. Here are some tasty dishes from 5 Latin countries. Yum. They were all delicious! So fun to try new things. I am a fan.

I loved her cupcake arrangement!

Everyone is having fun testing out Tara's great foods, and giving congratulations. Way to go Derek we are all very happy for you.

Gardening

This year's garden started slow. I had to replant my beans due to SLUGS eating all the beans as soon as they emerged from the ground. Frustrating. So, replanted and then this! Beautiful beans and lovely Zinnias.

I love to plant marigolds around the permimeter of the garden for color and they help keep the bugs down.
The tomatoes are fair. There is a huge plant up close to the fence that just didn't want to get fruit. The closer plant did and they are just now ripening. That took a while. We had a wet spring, making for a slow start for many gardeners this year.

Summer Trip to Omaha

Mark and I went to Omaha to see Loralee, Mike and the kids. We had a great time. Mark worked with Mike on installing all new doors on the interior of their home. I forgot to get pictures of that project, but perhaps Loralee will share her pictures on her blog.
We didn't make it to the zoo this trip but we did go to the Air and Space Strategic Air Command Museum. One area had these giant soft blocks. Kaitlynn made this little house and Hailey came in for a visit!

While we were there, we happened upon this area with information on the Doolittle Raids in 1942 on Japan. Here is one of the sixteen B-25B Bombers used in that Raid.

While reading the information about the sixteen Bombers it hit me when I saw the name "Dean Edward Hallmark" listed as shown below. His picture is in the upper left corner. He was the pilot of the Green Hornet. He was related to my Dad, James David Hallmark. (sadly to say I need to read more about how he was related)

Kaitlynn is pointing to his name listed below. It was so sad to read and see pictures where he was imprisoned, tortured, and finally after a few years executed. His plane was running low on fuel after they bombed Japan, and had to fly to China, where his crew was captured. It was very educational and made me want to learn more so I Googled more about it. His remains are in Arlington Cemetery in Virginia.

On a lighter note, the kids love their pool! Kaitlynn and Hailey are showing us how they play! They run down their hill and throw themselves into the pool. They play out there for hours! Kaitlynn's lips turn blue and Hailey shivers, but they still just love it.

Loralee came and got us so we could see how Mikey fell asleep one night. What a funny guy! It is amazing how kids can fall asleep in the strangest positions!

We made our trip to Winter Quarters Temple and Visitors Center. It is beautiful there and with the Winter Quarters Cemetery adjoining the Temple grounds it has a very sweet spirit there. What a great looking family!

Another shot with the Temple in the background.

At night I would read to the girls. We always read books to the kids while they were young, and the Bernstein Bears books were some of their favorites. Just overlook that elephant sitting in the little pink chair!
Loralee and I spent time together working in her beautiful gardens, playing with the kids, and getting a pedicure. We had a great time!