Grandson Jake Graduates MVHS

That figurative Life Train rounded another corner in our lives.

It seems it's picking up speed as it chugs along.

Stacy and Tom's oldest son, Jake, graduated Seminary May 24 

and Mesa's Mountain View High School May 25.

Roger and I got to be there. 

We arrived the night before Seminary graduation 

and Stacy and her girls prepared a delicious lemon linguini with shrimp and asparagus 

and a yummy salad for dinner.

After dinner we hurried to the Seminary graduation ceremony.

.

Grandpa Grit and Grandma Sherry and Uncle Ryan, Aunt Emily and cousin Pete also came.

It was such a nice program with lots of violin, cello and piano music.

Jake earned his Eagle Scout a few months ago, but opted to not have a Court of Honor. 

Fellow Eagle Grandpa presented him with a silver dollar with an eagle on it. 

We are proud of Jake for accomplishing this difficult task and sticking with it until he finished.

On Graduation Day, we took a pick with our graduate grandson.

Stacy said the N popped in her sign,

so she figured out a solution!

Stacy's good at doing that!

She had some of Jake's stained glass he has made on display.

He has also made several mosaics, including a DJ's face, Flume, that I posted last year.

In the black and white mosaic below, there are only straight lines - an optical illusion.

Jake has played every major sport through his growing-up years and played them well. 

He finally had to choose just one to play his senior year and he chose baseball. 

Each senior player had one of these banners hanging in MVHS's baseball field.

Jake was chosen for the coveted Gold Glove award.

And, as has been the case each year on whatever team he has been on, he won Most Valuable Player. 

These are amazing accomplishments, because his high school has over 3,100 students.

Jake was kind of embarrassed by the fuss being made over him, but he well deserved it. 

He is very talented. 

We gave him a basket of goodies with a card with money in a little leather mitt and baseball.

He likes spicy hot in his snacks and doesn't much like candy except Snickers.

We love our Jakeman!

(Note in Stacy's kitchen, her cupboard doors are all being redone because they weren't painted properly 

when their house was built, but luckily the builder stood behind it!)

That night before the 8 pm graduation, Tom and Stacy treated us to dinner 
at Jake's favorite, Outback Steak House.
He had a great big steak!

Emily and Ryan came with Ben; Tom's brother, Jimbo, came with wife, Sham and son, Chad; Grit and Sherry; all of the Young kids minus Syd and husband, Jake; and Roger and I.

Tom ordered bloomin' onions for appetizers, the kids' favorite!

Max says, Whoa!

Then on to the football stadium, where they held the graduation!

Okay, true confessions here!
Stacy came up with a brilliant scheme for the grandmas and grandpas.
Instead of the four of us and the twins sitting through the entire ceremony in 90 plus degree heat,
we hung out together at their home, then she texted us when it was getting close for them to walk.
We got there in time to cheer for Jake.
Brilliant, huh!

Fireworks concluded the ceremony.

Grandma Pam and Grandma Sherry waiting for the graduate to join us for pics

The precious Tom Young family (missing Syd and hubby, Jake)

Proud parents

Londyn is going to miss her big bro!
He's off to summer school at BYU, then on to his LDS mission.

Proud grandmas and grandpas!

We love these great young men!

Cousin Pete will graduate next year and be the Student Body President next year at Mountain View.

Emily is the Young Women President in their ward and brought candy leis for all of their graduating senior girls.

Jake was off on a trip to San Diego with his friends next morning and Grit and Sherry had to fly to two more grandkids' graduations. 
Roger and I were staying for the Memorial Day Weekend, so it was shopping day for Stace and I. 
Tom and Roger went golfing.
I LOVE to shop with my girls!
 I had Mother's Day money to spend - so fun!
Stacy treated me to lunch at a yummy place in Scottsdale.



Friday night, Ry and Em met us for dinner at Red, White and Brew.
Roger and I shared the most delicious mixed seafood scampi!
Next morning Ryan's whole family flew to meet up with the entire Gilbert clan 
on a church history tour starting back east and ending in Nauvoo.
We're so glad we got to get together with them before they left, give Ry his birthday present (May 31) 
and celebrate with him!
Can you believe our second son, Ryan, is 46 years old?
Yikes!
How old does that make us!

We were able to kill lots of birds with one stone while we were in Mesa!

The twins' birthday is June 2, so we took them shopping at Toys R Us and Target to pick out their presents. 

They were so careful to pick out things that cost just the right amount of money. So cute! 

Before we started shopping, we took them to lunch at Freddy's.

They hadn't eaten there before, 

and they got a big kick out of reading about Freddy and his brother, the founders, 

and looking at all of their pics on the walls. They served in WW2, which they thought was cool!

Max picked out a Lego London scape and Luke picked out a Nerf Dude football set and a baseball video game.

Max had this put together by that night. 

It is a set for 12 and older and he is just turning 9. 

He's also done 14 and older Lego sets.

This London skyline includes the Tower of London, the Tower Bridge and the London Eye, which turns.

Tom treated us to dinner at their favorite (and now ours!) sushi place.

Oh my goodness, they make delicious sushi!

We had to wait a long time to be seated, but it was worth it!

On Sunday, we went to their church block, starting at 8:30 AM, then changed 

and after both Tom and Stacy had Ward Council, we made dinner. Tom grilled salmon and we had mashed potatoes, asparagus, delicious salad with raspberries, 

pistachios and homemade balsamic dressing, homemade bread, and watermelon with fruit dip for dessert.

We ate very well this long weekend, as we always do in Mesa!

A little later that afternoon, Roger and I went for a ride to check out the Mesa Gateway Airport, 

where our Mesa kids fly out of for really cheap prices. 

It is much bigger than we thought it was and still growing. 

Roger was tickled when he saw this mounted T-38, a plane he used to be an instructor for in the Air Force. 

On Memorial Day, Roger invited the Youngs to go to Famous Dave's instead of us cooking. 

They had never eaten there before, 

and Roger and I first ate at one with Missy and Jedd when they lived in Minneapolis and we like their ribs.

We had a late, big yummy breakfast, then planned to go get ribs about 4.

We all did some shopping at Nordstorm Rack and a couple other places before we went to eat.

We got a fun shot of the kids trying on sunglasses.

Holy bug eyes!

At Dave's, our server demonstrated each of their sauces . . . 

. . . making a pig face on the plate, then we tried each one on their homemade barbecued chips.

The twins especially loved the ribs - 

they were so cute about being there and they kept thanking Grandpa!

We bought some kettle corn at the movie theater (their family loves this certain theater's kettle corn), 

then returned home and watched The Founder about McDonalds' Ray Croc. 

Good movie.

Tuesday morning, it was hard to say good-bye to this darling family!

We talked, we laughed, we played, we shopped, we watched movies, we swam, we golfed and we ATE!

Such a memorial Memorial Day Weekend!

What a great Train Ride we're on with our family!

May's Fun Holidays

I actually remember celebrating May Day on May 1st in grade school 

by dancing around a maypole holding a pretty ribbon, 

but those days are long gone for us!

So the first holiday we get into every year is Cinco De Mayo!

While we really have no connection to Mexico or the Mexican heritage, 

it gives us a great excuse every year to have Mexican food 

and maybe a party!

This year we treated Jim and Kathy Jensen to Mexican food, 

then they treated us to a great comedy night at Tuacahn.

Brian Regan headlined and was hilarious, and just as funny was his warm-up act, Taylor Tomlinson.

They are both pretty clean comics and we laughed so hard our cheeks hurt!

They performed to a packed crowd in Tuacahn's beautiful outdoor amphitheater.

Just to throw in a little real life humor to this post, 

look who ambled through our backyard recently!

Roger always takes pics of me after church on Mother's Day.

Our meetings were extra special with great talks 

and a beautiful duet by two sister missionaries in Sacrament meeting, 

then a duet by our Relief Society teacher's daughter and granddaughter, 

accompanied on the cello by her grandson. 

It was all excellent music!

I got lots of lovely cards and gifts from my great kids and wonderful husband, 

then he made me a delicious dinner of shrimp cocktail, Alaskan crab legs, baked potatoes and asparagus.

He brought home my favorite 25 Main cupcakes for dessert.

Then the rest of the evening I spent chatting on the phone with each of my kids and families, 

my favorite part of Mother's Day!

I remember in years past when we were raising our kids, 

I used to feel somewhat guilty on Mother's Day while listening to the talks, 

thinking of all the things I hadn't done right. 

Now I just focus on the positive, feeling such gratitude in my heart 

for the opportunity that the Lord gave me 

to get to be the mom to 5 wonderful kids!

I think I must be the luckiest mom in the world!

Mesa Beckons Us

Time has rolled around again for this inspiring, mind-blowing concert.

I guess this will show our age, but while youngers buy concert tickets months ahead 

and travel distances to see pop and rock groups perform, 

Roger and I travel to Mesa 

to hear this concert of over 1500 voices. 
I told Ryan and Emily I would drive to NYC to hear it. 
It's that good!
Its purpose is to teach and encourage excellence in quality of sacred and classical music, 
with a focus on God and country.

Ryan and Emily graciously treat us to up-front tickets with them each concert.

A big bonus is our grandson, Ben, performs in one of the five choirs. 

Now in their tenth season, they do two concerts a year, 

at Christmastime and Eastertime, 

and they brilliantly highlight those seasons for us.

I got a quick hug from Ben before he left for the concert hall.
The time commitment for the kids and their parents, who help make the logistics happen, is huge!

The choir performs twice two nights in a row, and we arrived early for the 6 pm concert. 

Roger took a quick pic of the concert hall.

Here are the lucky family members who attended. 

We always come out of the concert nearly overcome with joy 

after hearing the beautiful music performed.

Ben's proud parents . . . 

. . . Grandma Pam and Grandpa Roger . . . 

. . . Cousin Maddy (Ben's Best Buddy) . . .

. . . .and Big Fan Aunt Stacy!

As luck would have it, this weekend it was also Pete's Junior Prom.

And as the Junior Class President, he was in charge.

He has been growing taller lately and is nearly the same size as his dad. 

It's a good thing because when he put his own suit on, it was too little, so he wore Ryan's.

Doesn't he look spiffy and what a pretty date!

Pete says she's a fun friend.

Emily's parents were on a tour of China, but they graciously offered their home for Pete and his friends 

to have a dinner before the prom there. 

Eight other couples were invited and their parents provided the food.

Emily, Ryan, Roger and I hurriedly drove to Scottsdale to set everything up. 

It was such fun picking out dish ware, silver ware, placemats, goblets and napkins from Susan's lovely cache. 

They celebrated with glasses of Martinelli's.

Almost all set up. 

Pete's cute little sister, Sarah Kate, came with us, and she thought a great touch 

would be to scatter flower petals on the table. 

She also made colorful hand-colored signs on the door and the pillar to the kitchen saying, "PROM."

One of the moms brought flowers.

I love their happy smiles!

Here are all eighteen posing in the backyard.

Such a nice group of kids!

I took this pic of the girls taking a selfie. 

I thought the girls all looked so pretty!

Roger was busy grilling the marinated chicken.

He is a Master Griller, you know!

The kids are enjoying their feast in the gorgeous dining room.

We didn't get to see him prom night, but Stacy and Tom's Jake, 

who is a senior and graduating from Mountain View High School this month 

and preparing for BYU summer school, then an LDS mission, 

invited this cute friend from one of his classes.

On Sunday, after Ryan's ward's three-hour block, Tom, Stacy and kids came over for dinner at Ryan and Emily's. 

After a tasty dinner, the cousins put on a little show for us.

Becca introduced the cast, who did some kind of spoof of Studio C.

Sarah Kate did some routine about, "Naw, I don't do mornings!"

I'm not sure who Max was supposed to be and Luke came bounding in as Spider Man, 

but they were having wrestling matches and giggling fits by the end of the show!

There are always so many things going on in our two Mesa kids' families' lives 

and it's such fun to touch in with them. 

This was definitely another great trip to Mesa!

Aggie Dinner Night At Our House

I kinda look forward to Roger and I hosting our Aggie Dinner Night 

because I have fun planning what we're going to eat, 

trying to make something I haven't served them before, 

and then it's fun 

figuring out how I'm going to set up the table.

I plan all of this early and work on things a bit at a time, two or three days out, 

then I don't get stressed out and I actually enjoy my own party. 

And probably the #1 reason all of this works is because Roger is such a fabulous sous chef! 

He works side by side with me as we prepare and he does most of the bending and lifting, 

which there is a surprising amount of when you cook and entertain.

I wanted to make the table be about Spring, and I had these little daisy napkin rings, 

so I used fresh daisies in this hand-painted vase I have had a long time as the centerpiece. 

And I found these cloth napkins with bright purple hyacinths we received as a wedding gift 

that I have never used! 

Roger took a few pics of the table all set up before our friends arrived.

We served the food buffet style.

I brined thick pork chops overnight, then Roger grilled them outside.

We served them with candied yams, sprialized and baked French fries 

( I wanted something crunchy with the soft yams and I got to use my new spiralizer), 

and fresh haricot vert green beans.

Mary brought a delicious green salad with yummy dressing 

and Anne baked a delicious Bundt chocolate cake she served with various flavors of gelato.

Okay, I've gone on about the food and decor, but here is why we love Aggie Night!

Jay and Anne Taylor

Bob and Mary Brady

Sorry Bob, quit chewing, we've got to get a couple pics!

We cherish our long friendships with these great people! 

Those friendships have spanned five decades!

"Make new friends, but keep the old, 

The new ones are silver, but the old ones, gold!