Real or Pretend?

Last night Carynn, Ty and Melinda came up to help me with a project. We invited them for dinner (pizza-always a favorite) too. Note: Jamie was at class and Landan's still in the Middle East.

As Ty was sitting at the kitchen table enjoying his dessert he noticed the decorations I had out to celebrate Back-to-School and September. They're over my desk in the kitchen in the shelves. Some of the apples are "pretend" some are "real." The real ones came from our apple trees.

Ty pointed out the ones he knew were pretend, identified the ones that were real and then wasn't quite sure about another one. I told him it was pretend (It was an "old" wax apple-I've had it for a long time.) I took it down and handed it to him. He hefted it and then decided to take a bite out of it even though I had told him it was pretend. Well, you should have seen his face! He definitely found out that when Nana told him something was pretend, it really is!

The picture above is one that Carynn took this summer. Can't you just see the love in his face? I sure can. It's real.

Love,
NS

Michael and Shanna's Excellent Adventure 2010

We've been back in the beautiful Pacific Northwest for over 8 years and haven't been back to some of our favorite national parks for 35 years! It was more than time to do that.

Michael, also known as "He who plans wonderful itineraries," figured out that after visiting our newest grandson and family that we could meander home instead of doing our usual 10 hour drive straight home.

The first stop on our tour: Jackson-also know as Jackson Hole. Here's yours truly posing under one of Jackson's famous antler arches. Note: No elk are harmed during the annual antler harvest. They shed them yearly and the local Boy Scouts harvest them and then they're auctioned off.



Then it was on to the Grand Tetons. The pictures below were taken in what is known as "Historic Mormon Row." It's very interesting that you're supposed to maintain your distance from the wildlife, but that the wildlife doesn't always maintain their distance from you! I guess the buffalo/bison was ready for his (I think it's a he) photo opportunity! Talk about a beautiful backdrop.




One of our last stops at Grand Teton wasn't actually offically "in" Grand Teton, but is contiguous with it-The Laurance Rockefeller Preserve. It's a gem! On our way into the preserve we saw a moose drinking in a small pond. At the end of a brief hike we came upon Phelps Lake and this delicate butterfly.

On to Yellowstone! 35 years ago when Michael and I did our National Parks Tour we rated Yellowstone the most diverse. It has it all- wildlife, waterfalls, geyers, scenery. It did then and it does now. We took the time to do the park "right" this time, by taking more time. We saw lots and lots and lots of geysers (including Old Faithful), more bison, our first bear, the waterfalls and finished up the park by going to Mammoth Hot Springs and then through this huge arch that marks the east entrance to Yellowstone National Park and is inscribed: For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People. These people (Michael and I) sure enjoyed it!

We're not done yet. Stay tuned for more National Park Adventures!
NS

More with Ethan, of course!

Aren't they a good looking family? To me they look very happy, and with a brand new baby, they're also very tired.


This is me less than five minutes after arriving in Salt Lake. Happy Nana, Happy Mom (Laura) and Happy (Sleeping) Ethan.


I arrived Tuesday, Michael came into town on Friday afternoon. Here we are with the newest member of the clan!


Sunday afternoon at Laura's parents. Here are three generations. Aren't they all handsome?

I love them!

NS

Summer revisited

As promised here is a picture with Ty and his great-grandpa (Michael's dad). Great-grandpa was visiting this summer. He rented a spot at a local RV resort and was able to visit often. He and Ty had a great time connecting during visits to our home and also to the cabin. In this shot great-grandpa and Ty are playing with cars in the front yard at the cabin. Ty also loved to have great g-pa help him with bubble blowing.

Great-grandpa called Ty his "Little Man." They had fun and it was fun watching them together.

Yours for inter-generational bonding,

NS

Welcome Ethan!

I am very excited to announce the safe arrival of Ethan Thomas on August 26! Ethan came a week early and gave his mom (and his dad) a bit of a hard time getting here, but all's well that ends well! He weighed in at 7 pounds 10 ounces and was 20 1/2 inches long at birth.

I am very pleased (no, really, I'm very excited) to say that I made his PERSONAL acquaintance yesterday. It was just like it was with Ty-I felt this instant outpouring of love for him the moment that I held him in my arms. He is such a little sweetie! There'll be more pictures when I can get them downloaded!

Now I'm a Nana X 2! I love being a Nana!

NS

Summer FUN 2010

I've been very remiss in my blog posting. My apologies. We've had a busy and great summer. We've especially enjoyed going to the cabin this year. I'm away from home so don't have access right this moment to all of our pictures, but wanted to get this one up of Ty jumping to Carynn. He's got no fear when it comes to jumping into a lake or a pool. Thank goodness someone (usually Carynn) makes sure that he ALWAYS has his lifejacket on.
We also have some great pictures with Ty and his great-grandpa at the cabin playing with toy cars. I'll post that when I have access to our photos.

It's been a great summer!
NS