Memorial Day Weekend--Katherine

We had such a fun weekend in sunny Arizona seeing G.G and G.Gpa. The kids did really well for the 12 hr. drive with only 2 stops. Spencer kept saying, "next stop G.G's house in kleenex meaning Phoenix." It was so fun to see Grandma and Grandpa and have the kids be able to interact with them.


Our weekend was packed with fun things to do with the kids. We started off on Friday for a 4 hr. visit to Chuck E. Cheese. On Saturday we went to the zoo. It was super hot, but thank goodness for the little water park they had inside the park, where we spent quite a bit of time.
Spencer was getting a kick out of this gorilla so close to the glass. He kept trying to give it high five.
Next time we will remember to wear swimsuits to the zoo like everyone else.

On Monday we went to a place called Jeepers. It was one of those places that looked too good to be true for the price and sure enough it was too good to be true. It was only $7 for unlimited day pass on all the rides. They portrayed it as this big indoor amusement park. It turned out to be about 5 rides that you could go on as many times as you wanted. (Lucky us!) The kids actually did enjoy it, but after a couple of hours Ryan and I were ready to get the heck out of that dive.
Can't go wrong with the merry go round
This ride was pretty funny. We were all expecting a slower ride with a few turns in them like the other ones, but when this started it took off. I wish you could see Spencer's face in this one. Once you go around really fast a few times on this one, it stops and goes backward just as fast. Spencer thought it was cool he went backwards like Mater. This was Abby's favorite ride. It made me sick just watching them.
Playing games at night. Abby's favorite was Skip-bo and won 4 games! No wonder it was her favorite.
This is one of Ryan's favorite memories as a child. Drawing pictures on Grandpa's leg. Well, the tradition continues, here are the great grandchildren drawing on his leg. They thought this was pretty cool.

After a full day they still wanted to go swimming every night in the hot tub. What a fun week! It was so fun to be there with Jodi, Carson, Brynley and Dean. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for all your hospitality and providing such fun memories for our family!

Guess I don't have to be embarassed

One of the signs that we may be too competitive is how the posts fell off the wall, the minute the competition was over. Come on family, let's get with it! I am currently suffering great pain, no, not from my knee or my back or my feet (although they all hurt). I haven't seen any grand kids for way too long. I am about to call my attorney and see if I can file an officially complaint against my oldest two children, for grandpa abuse. I hope this abuse ends quickly.
One important thing; The Slater reunion is Saturday, June 20th, lunch at noon. I think that Mom will be gone on her trip back East, but I would really appreciate participation from any of our family members who can come. I will buy the picnic lunch. Please take a look at your calendars and see if you can work this event in. It is a big deal to Grandma Poll. Love you all.
DAD

Referral - Jodi

Look at the holbrook blog, cuz I put like a million pictures on it, so you can get the goods there.

I do want to remind Kyle he owes me dinner or something cuz I won the family March Madness and I need a little credit.

Having the best time ever with my family down here in Arizona.  GG and GGpa really know how to host a party.  Dean just won Golf, Mickey Mouse is on, Breakfast at the country club was great, Carson is loving cousin time and all the attention from the aunts and uncles down here.

Love you family, you are the best family in the world.

ibmom & gma

Dearest Friends,

I can't believe its been since May 5th since I posted. I didn't mean it to be that long. Monday came and went before I remembered. Gary called me and asked me if I had reviewed the blog. I hadn't, so I did. Thanks to Gary and Ryan for making me cry this morning. Their thoughts were poetic and covered so much territory on people I love. I guess I remember why I forgot to post. Diane & Ron came down. We had such nice visits with them. Thet took us on the longest drive we've been on down to Florence. We went around the town and then met Jeff at the Prison store which is just outside the prison. Then we went back to town to a nice Mexican restaurant. After we got home, we watched Murphy's Romance and other movies. We saw 2 or 3 a night. We also ate out at the CC 3 times. Jeff and Linda met us over there once. We went to Sac. Mtg and R.S. & Priesthood. Since I went to that ball game with Jeff, I decided if I could sit 3 hours through a game, I could certainly sit 2 hours thru R.S. We are looking so forward to your visit down here on the 23rd. So glad we will get to meet Brynley's fiance, Dean. We can pick you up if you need us to. Just call. Love you all very very very very very much. ibmom & gma

Day after Mother's Day-DAD

Just a quick note to express thanks to all in our family. Thanks for helping me commemorate the beginning of my 60th year in that short little 10 day celebration. I am willing to use any occasion and stretch it to the max to get the family together. I loved Mother's Day yesterday. I also love the mothers in my life. I am so thankful for such nearly perfect ladies as my own mother and my favorite mother-in-law. I truly feel that there is no more sacred calling on this earth than that of "mother." I so love and appreciate the mother of our children and my eternal companion. There has to be a special place in heaven for someone so wonderful signing in to be with me forever. I love her for her goodness, her unbelievable energy, and her ability to get things done. Marrying her is the best decision of my life. I am grateful for the excellent mothers of our grandchildren. Happy day after Mother's Day to all.
But, the most exciting news of the day is the upcoming wedding of my baby girl. Welcome to the family Uncle Dean! I thought that the ring on the finger yesterday or something made Brynley even more beautiful. How I love that girl! The next 2 months will go by oh so fast. There is so much to do and so much of the time is already committed. We will all need to chip in. Even me.
I love and appreciate all of you. I hope that Ryan and Kyle get feeling better fast.
DAD

To the Mothers.......rp

Happy Mother's Day to all! I unfortunately have had to sit this Mother's Day out with a cold, but have found a couple of extra minutes to draft a quick blog.

First thanks to my grandmother in AZ. How could anyone be a better example of living life to it's fullest, although somewhat restricted with various physical limitations? Rarely have I ever heard of word of complaint, but just sheer optimism about what the future holds. I certainly love you Grandma!

Like most sons, a large part of who I am today is directly correlated with how I was raised and taught by my mother. Mom, of all the good traits I can tie back to you, I'm very grateful that you prepared me for life in giving me the necessary tools and experiences to be an independent thinker and decision maker. My office assistant Brenda, who is a mother of 10, is always amazed at how quickly and decisively I can make decisions, as she spends a lot of her days at work on her cell phone helping her 10 adult children make simple every day decisions. Besides inheriting your crooked toes, I don't know how I could have a better mother. I love you.

And to my dear sweet Katherine, the mother of our children, I thank you for your sacrifices to make the lives of our children better. The first years of a child's life, in which all children experience such important molding processes, are so critical in preparation for what life will bring them. Having the love and stability that you provide will be such an asset for them as they continue to grow and mature. Thank you for your support of me and for giving up on so many other things, so that your time and energy can be laser-like focused as to what's most precious for both of us.

And to the other mothers or future mothers of our family, I thank you for what you've done in the past, are doing know, and will continue to do in preparation to raise a righteous and eternal posterity. As I recently attended a temple sealing and was able to gaze into the mirrors of eternity, seeing countless and endless posterity, I said a silent prayer of gratitude for the many good mothers that have sacrificed so much for us. I also said a silent prayer for the many good mothers in our family right now and for the future generations to whom we'll pass the baton to.

Happy Mother's Day!
rp

ibmom & gma

Dearest Friends,

I am ticked off. I was just finishing the last paragraph of the blog and must of hit something wrong cause I lost it all. Anyway, it sounds like you had a great time celebrating the father's, grandfather's, husband's birthday. Spencer and Abbey are so lucky to see you guys so much and it was nice to have Kyle home. I have been asked to serve on a committee for indexing. It will just last for about a month. They will send me out the improvement they want to implement and I will do them and let them know what I think. We will be able to pick Brynley & Dean up at the airport. I wrote and told her to just let us know. It will be only a half hour to get there. We're looking forward to you all coming. I don't hold my breath for Ryan and Kathryn and the kids. But hope they can make it. Diane & Ron are coming on the 7th until Mother's Day. Oh bytheway Happy Mother's Day to you all. Just show up here on the 22nd and that's my Mother's Day Gift. Dad and I are still hanging in. He went & picked up groceries today. The trouble is he always brings stuff we don't need. Got to go now. Love you all dearly ibm & gma

Fun week--Katherine

What a fun week it has been celebrating Grandpa's 10 day birthday and having Kyle in town! Our kids are still talking about the fun weekend of setting up swingsets, jumping on the trampoline, and going bowling with Uncle Kyle. Spencer always has to add that he didn't even cross the line!

Thanks to GG and Grandpa for their hard earned winnings from the blog victory that they donated to the little one! I feel a little guilty accepting this award.

We are within a week of having green in front of our house! We were supposed to have sod today, but with all the rain, we still haven't been able to spread the rest of the topsoil and rake it so hopefully by the end of this week we will have no more mud! Well, it has been such a fun week spending so much time with the fam! We will see you all soon.

Love ya,
Katherine

Continuation of a Habit- (mom)

Well, it has officially been completed. The winners were announced and the awards were presented. GG (G'ma) had requested that her award go to Katherine for quality and quantity of postings and Dad, as you see his request below, bequeathed his winnings over to little Jillietta, so yeah Kat!!!

Hopefully, those of you who were sooooo close to the top, will now have a wonderful habit of posting and we may continue to see those stories of your lives appearing on the now famous Poll blog. For the others, may this be a happy incentive to strive for just a few more frequent postings so we can all benefit.

Abby is the presenter of the "Poll Blog Contest" awards! (sorry for the fuzziness..forgot to turn the flash on)

Thanks for everyone to change your schedules to Friday to accomodate the rainy day on Saturday. True to the weatherman's promise, it has arrived.

Kyle, it is soooo good to have you around. The get togethers are just that much better when you are here. We miss you very much when you are not with us. Thanks for making that eye appointment!

Love you all- MOM