Cousin Deb’s Wedding

On Saturday, June 25, my youngest cousin, Deb, got married. It was a beautiful ceremony, held at Log Haven up Millcreek Canyon. Here’s our family row before the ceremony started…Here comes the bride…Jason is a little emotional watching Deb walk down the aisle…During the ceremony…Parents of the bride – my Uncle Ted & Aunt Jean…“I now pronounce you man and wife. You may now update your Facebook statuses.” (No joke! He said that!)
YES!!!The wedding party...

Posing for our own pictures…The kids found where the REAL fun was!All of the cousins were together but one.The reception was held in the upstairs party room at Squatters. The food was AMAZING, but what else would we expect from Squatters?The quilt our family made as Deb's present. (The beer belongs to the dude that we grabbed to take the photo. Like how he features it in the photo? We did enjoy our personalized wedding glasses with water and soda.)

Marc took the kids outside for a break. Not sure who the break was really for.Congrats, Deb!!!

Cub Scout Day Camp ~ Camp Tracy

I have now been a cub scout leader for 4 years. The first three years, I was the Wolf den leader, and attended Camp Tracy with the Wolf and Bear dens (always on Monday and Tuesday). This year Ryan attended camp on Wednesday and Thursday with the Webelos. Since I am now the cubmaster, I was able to go with him again! (Don't let him kid you, he loves having me there. He just won't admit it in front of his friends.) :)

We currently only have three boys in the Webelos den, so it was pretty mellow. Here are the boys while we waited for our other leader (the Webelos den leader) to check us in...

The Webelos also go on a 2-mile hike. The Webelos leader asked me if I was able to accompany them. It was straight up the mountain! Here are the boys as we started on the hike.

We enjoyed working on the "Readyman" (first aid) pin...

We were reminded how to conduct an official flag ceremony...

I was also the one that took the boys out on the lake in canoes. Knowing we would probably not emerge dry, I didn't take my camera in the canoe. I'm glad I didn't! We were literally chased around the lake by some of the other groups! I mentioned earlier that this was a mellow group. I would ask them if they wanted to have a water fight with the other groups, and they always said no. So we enjoyed rowing around the lake, observing caves in the mountainside, a family of ducks at the side of the lake, and a lot of different fish in the lake. We were "the nature appreciation boat" instead of one of the water-fighting groups. I didn't mind that they chose that route AT ALL!!! Of course, some groups just couldn't understand that we didn't want to get drenched - or worse - dumped into the lake like one of the other leaders! Several of them insisted on getting us wet anyway. (The Webelos leader took pictures of us in the canoes. I'll have to get copies from her.)

We ended the day in the lodge with a relaxing game of chess. Once the physical challenges were over, they were ready for the mental challenges. Just look at that concentration!

Fun Summer Outings, Part 2 – Discovery Gateway Children’s Museum with MORE Cousins!

After the zoo on Monday, we all went to Rara’s & Papa’s house. Marc & Frances are doing some work on their house (Nana’s old house), so Alice & Claire had a sleepover at Rara’s & Papa’s Monday to Tuesday so Marc & Frances could get some work done.
My cousin and her kids were up from St. George for the week, so ALL of the second cousins (and the two grandmas) met at the Discovery Gateway Children’s Museum on Tuesday. Here are a few pictures from the museum…A couple of hours into our museum visit, it was obvious that Alice needed a nap. I spotted the “nursing corner” in one of the quiet-ish areas of the museum, so Alice and I snuggled on the couch and took a nap for almost 1 ½ hours. The rest of the gang finished at the museum, and then went and played in the Gateway fountains for a while.When they finished at the fountains and decided it was time for lunch, they came and got us. We joined them in the food court for lunch and a group picture.

Fun Summer Outings, Part 1 – Hogle Zoo

Since I had to take time off of work to go to Dallas, and since I had a couple of other things going on the following week that I needed time off for, I took the entire following week off of work! Poor Ryan has been a little neglected lately (i.e. we haven’t been on as many fun outings) due to my school pressures. So we made up for it!

Monday, June 21, we went to the zoo with Marc, Frances, Alice & Claire. They have an annual pass, and go every couple of weeks. Ryan has gone with them a couple of times, but I’ve always been involved with work or school responsibilities. It was fun to be there with them!
We spent a lot of time watching the tigers…
And the elephants…We rode the train…Climbed on the gorilla statue…And played “Hey, you!” by the crazy giraffe.Whew! What a fun day!

Father’s Day 2010

My flight from Dallas was supposed to land at 4:15 pm on Sunday, June 20 (Father’s Day). We planned to have our family Father’s Day celebration at Rara & Papa’s that afternoon/evening. We thought the timing was perfect – Rara could stay at home with Marc, Frances, Alice & Claire, while Papa & Ryan came to the airport to pick me up. Since Frances went on call at 7:00 pm (and basically had to be home by then to be in range), we knew it would be tight, but it would work.

Well, of course, my plane was an hour late. Papa had forgotten to take his phone, so when I called as we landed, Rara picked up his cell phone at home. Since Papa & Ryan were just going to pick me up, they circled several times watching for me. When I didn’t come out, they parked and went in, and found that my flight had been delayed. We missed each other as I came through the airport, but they found me at the curb watching and calling Rara again to see if she had heard from them.

We had a great dinner, and had fun talking and playing with the girls. Papa received a cute picture of Alice & Claire with a mat around the picture with their handprints on it. We gave him the Larry H. Miller biography (and a couple of Texas souvenirs).Here are a couple of cute pictures of Papa and his grandkids on Father's Day.

PhD Residency ~ Dallas, Texas

My PhD program requires three residencies (also referred to as colloquia), which consist of several days of intense face-to-face courses. My first residency (Track 1) was held in the Washington, DC, area, and Ryan & Rara & Papa went with me.

I went to Dallas by myself…kind of. A co-worker has recently started the same program, so we were able to meet up in Dallas. It was fun to go, already knowing someone who would be there.

Our classes were Thursday through Sunday. Friday and Saturday we were in courses for 11 hours, mostly research methods and statistics! Here is our “team” that worked together all week.We did have a couple of hours of free time on Friday and Saturday evenings. A few of us spent Friday night in Grapevine (known for its wineries and fun statues along Main Street). We walked along Main Street and ate dinner at Esparza’s. We watched the USA vs. Slovenia World Cup soccer game at the restaurant.Saturday evening was spent in Southlake (one of the 25 top-earning towns in the U.S., also known for its shopping and national championship high school football team). We enjoyed walking the town square, admiring the artistic longhorn, and eating dinner at Thai Chili.It was intense, but productive. I am actually now excited about my comprehensive exams and dissertation!