Look at these guns!!! Dustin, Abbie and Jed thinking they are all that!

4TH OF JULY watching the fireworks in Cortez,

Colorado. Oh, to look as young as Abbie, now those were the days.

San Antonio Abbie poses with Steve Erkle. . . better known as the new graduate of boot camp. (Tyler) -2007-

Pretty sunset tonight

First Day of Spring in Woodland Hills

New Snow and the Snow Dog

Here are a few of the exotic species I get to work with.

This is a Galapagos Tortoise that was hit by a car.

A cheetah with kidney failure.

A tapir that had pneumonia.

It is fun to see some of these animals up close.  They are so beautiful.

UFO

Photos of John

Again, for the snowless: Jeff, Paul, and Christy

Sam and Maren and Friends

A bad picture of a picture, but you see Sam in his element. Coming home in July!


Maren and me at Ben's wedding, and below, Tom, Maren and Tim at the same.

Nate as Chimneysweep, Tim as a Shark

Tim, Ben, Tom, and Joe at Sundance the day before Ben's wedding.


Tim the day before.


Tim the day after. He's had his hair cut and dyed for his role as a Shark in West Side Story. Maren's boys Kadon and Jaron.


Nate's living in Pittsburgh with his wife Ellie and son Simon while Ellie is doing a nursing degree. Along with taking good care of Simon, Nate is also doing construction, including the renovation that took down a ceiling and all the soot trapped in it over a hundred + years.

Catching Up on Family

One of my favorite photos of Mom.

All my children but Sam (he was in India) at Tom's senior recital at the New School University on December 1, 2007.
Tom's BigbangBigband playing at Sardi's Restaurant in Manhattan.
Tom playing at the Bayou in SLC in January 2008 (Callie Capps manages this place and got us the best table in the house!)
Ben last summer at the Toolik Research Station north of the Brooks Range in Alaska. He and Rachel will both work there again this coming summer. They're in Fairbanks this semester while Rachel finishes her class work for a Ph.D. in folk lore; and next fall they'll return to Logan where Ben will finish his degree in Watershed Science (English and French minors).

Just in Case You've Forgotten: for Christy, Paul, and Jeff

The kids at Christmas time.

The boys on the trampoline in our backyard.  Do you recognize the lemon tree in the background.  I almost dug it up because it was right in the middle of the yard and it has some mean thorns on it.  Luckily Christian noticed the fruit when he was mowing the yard.

Carol and Kaitlin (12) in her newly redecorated room.  Carol did the design and painting.

Rosie, our Scottish Terrier.  
Here is ethan with his Flag Football team this fall.   He had a lot of fun and loved playing quarterback.

Brian at his Pinewood Derby.  He made a great car and won first place. 

Virtual Reunions

What if, I was thinking this morning, we communicated more often? And what if we did it in a way that allowed us to share more than the occasional joint email? And what if it involved more than the biannual reunion?

So here's a possibility: a family blog.

We can post comments on the weather in Hong Kong or Arizona or Colorado or Idaho or Florida or Woodland Hills and Utah Valley this morning:










We can share stories and plan future events.



We can link to other sites that might be of interest -- Tom's jazz site, for instance: http://www.bigbangbigband.com/live/

Or Jeff's home page:

http://patho.vetmed.ufl.edu/faculty_abbott.htm

We could post surprising and little-known facts like this:

OPERATION GRADUATION REQUEST – Carol Gilstrap asked the board for funds to help support the annual alcohol free party after graduation. She stated that the Operation Graduation started as a pilot program in Dolores years ago, and since that time, Dolores has had over a 90% participation rate. Operation Graduation for Dolores will be held at the Rec. Center again this year.
A motion was made by Ann Swope and seconded by Sandra Pyle to donate $250 to Operation Graduation. Votes: Phillips-aye; Pyle-aye; Swope-aye; Thayer-aye.

Don't vote nay. Contribute!