Newport Beach, CA 2012

The Tiptons made our way out west once again this year to Newport Beach, CA.  There were 34 total in attendance, plus two pregnant people.  I took a lot of pictures and on the last day I went to get my camera to take a picture of our cute beach house but my camera was gone, gone, gone.  I figured, hoped and prayed that it had been packed away.  Once we got home and unpacked, I realized it didn't make the trip home.  The night before we left, Rick and I had visited his cousin, who had just arrived with her family, and were staying a few streets over from our pad.  Luckily I left my camera there and was able to get it back the following week.  That could have been bad.

 Balboa was fun, as usual.  This year we took the ferry over to the actual island and walked around.  It was lovely.  We hadn't done that in years.  Next year we're going earlier so we can shop longer!

 Why do I have two pictures of a pelican?  Because I can.

 'Nuff said.

My beach boys.

Quinn turns 11, and Happy Father's Day!

This year we combined  Father's Day breakfast and Quinn's birthday breakfast, which meant I was able to kill two breakfasts with one skillet!  The day was hectic and full of family.  Both Quinn and Rick requested crepes with bacon and sausage for their morning food.

For our Father's Day dinner, I set up a beautiful table in the dining room with our nicest goblets and curry bowls from Japan, since curry was on the menu.  Emily made a Happy Father's Day banner and put it up in the dining room as well.  However, when then father's arrived, they meek-ish-ly said that they would prefer to sit at the women's table because it was in the family room where the TV was and some sports championships happened to be on.  What else is new?  So the men got their wish, and the women sat in the dining room.  Emily and I waited on the men, filling their drinks and getting them seconds, basically catering to their every need. 

Then it was time for cake; cheesecake (two of them), Texas sheet cake, Jello/lookathecake cake and pumpkin bars.  I'm not kidding.   

I made strawberry and blueberry topping for the cheesecakes.  I also made two different kinds of cheesecake because I was worried that one wouldn't be enough and I didn't know how good they would be.  How obnoxious is that?! 

 Quinn had a wonderful time opening presents. 

 Quinn specifically asked for Sparkling Apple Cider for a present.  He ended up with four bottles.

Bama was able to make it.  The little girl cousins, and sometimes Winston, ran around screaming most of the time.  They were so loud even Bama could hear them.  (Please note the TV is on in the background the entire time.  Again, a Father's Day miracle.)

 A few of he Fathers and Violet relaxing, watching some kind of sport thingy.

 Danny and Kelly showed up.  Emily made ties for the dads to wear too.  Kelly has his on.

When it was all over, I felt like I had Post-Traumatic Father's Day Syndrome.  Unfortunately I couldn't recuperate because the following day was Quinn's actual birthday.  This year he didn't have a party but chose one friend to got to lunch and a movie with.  We ended up going to Johnny Rockets for lunch and then on to "Madagascar III" .

 Quinn marked his cider, don't you worry.

Quinn enjoying his cider.  He had to get a special glass for the drink.  It kind of looks like I have an 11 year old lush.   

After the birthday lunch but before the movie, Quinn and Cooper jumped on the trampoline with a water sprinkler underneath.  They had so much fun!  I felt a little, shall we say white trash-ish, but the boys didn't care and jumped and laughed until it was time to go to the movie.  Afterwards they said it was the best time ever.  Take that swimming pools.

A few days after Quinn's actual birthday, Rick took the boys to Jump Street.  A place with lots of trampolines.  I was at work so there is no pictures to present.  However, Rick did video Truman, my 16 year old, completing a double back flip on the trampoline.  Just as well.

Writers block, or May is crazy!

When May was on its way, just about the only thing I was thinking about was...the phone call.  The one we would receive from Cole, who is on his mission, on Mother's Day.  Other things happened in May, a whole heck of a lot, in fact.  However, once we communicated with Cole, my mind shut down into this happy little world and I haven't been thinking blog straight since. Not only did we get to talk to him, but we got to see him as well on Skype.  Who invented that by the way?  I need to give them a big hug or something nice.  It really changed my world and made it so much better!  Cole has been able to call home 3 times now (two Mother's Days and one Christmas) and this was our first time being able to Skype. 

I uploaded my pictures from my camera to my computer this morning and saw some images that I had plumb forgotten about.  Life did indeed move on and lots of fun stuff happened before and after the call.

 Emily turned 23!  Oh my.  See the wonderful card I got for her?  So funny. I love unfortunate family photos.

I found a sweet pitcher for her, among other items.  We ate at Liberty Market in downtown Gilbert.  I had never been there so I didn't know what to order.  I chose a burger and it was out of control delish.  One of the servers had to be over 7 feet tall....not exaggerating!  My mom is all of 4' 8" and was astounded by this boys height.  I wish I would have gotten a picture of the two of them side-by-side now that I think of it.

Quinn started cleaning out his desk and school room during May.  He brought home all kinds of projects.  I chose to take a picture of this one and then throw it away.  It was hard but he was fine with my plan.  One less thing to store away.

 A Sunday afternoon sometime in May after church.  Someone loves somebody.

Quinn had a Famous American report he did in May too.  He chose John Hancock and as part of his grade, he had to dress up like him.  So, for part of his costume, I put a lot of time, effort and money into making him an awesome powdered wig.  When he tried it on at home, he looked more like the professor from "Back to the Future", which gave the family a full evening of entertainment.  He didn't wear the wig.

The last day of school was May 24th.  What's up with that?  I remember I didn't graduate until June 5th.  Sheesh.  Truman will be a Junior next year and made it onto Student Body Student Council, a big feat!  There was a banquet for that too.

Quinn's last day photo.  He reminds me of the the bad guy in one of those old James Bond films.

End of the year orchestra concert.  At least that was short and sweet.  Although, what's up with the orchestra parents who start waiting in line 2 or more hours before the concert just so they can get a seat up front?  This is elementary school people.  Chill.

Isn't this normal in your home?  I see this every night.

We finished May celebrating my Mother-in-Law's 73rd birthday at Crackers.  Yum.  Later that night I took Truman and Cameron to see Fun., the band.  It was awesome!  I was plugging my ears during the warm-up act called, Now Now, and some sweet white-haired usher lady saw me and handed me some ear plugs.  I was wondering right when she handed them to me if I should go get some toilet paper to stuff in my ears.  I mean, I didn't want to loose my hearing to a band I didn't even know.  That would be bad.  Goodbye May, even though it was super busy with the end of school year, Mother's Day and birthdays, I loved it.

Skype it to me! Happy Mother's Day.

Each Mother's Day, all of the male figures in the family put on a Mother's Day dinner where the women (18 and older mothers or not) eat in the dining room without the interruption of tiny feet.  This may sound odd since it is motherhood we are celebrating but oh, how we love it!  While we sit in the dining room enjoying each other's company, the boys/men sit and eat with the kids.  Our only interruption comes from our servers whose only wish is to make our meal delightful.  

Each year we pick the menu and so far we haven't deviated.  On hand we had fillet mignon, baked potatoes, a green salad with spinach, goat cheese, toasted almonds, and craisins, topped with a raspberry vinaigrette.  Talk about good stuff!  For dessert we had a build your own ice cream sunday buffet with tons of toppings.  We actually had to get out of our seats to make our own dessert, but it was worth it.  

Twice a year we get to actually speak with our missionaries, Christmas and Mother's Day.  It brings a whole new meaning to Mother's Day!  This is our third actual conversation with Elder Tipton since he's been gone but our first Skype session.  I must say, I much prefer to Skype!  It was amazing and awesome to see him!  A small group of us gathered to see, hear and talk to Elder Tipton.  We were allotted 45 minutes from his mission president and got pretty close....we talked about 50 minutes or so.

 Cole said his cheeks are fuller due to all of the rice he ingests.  You can see the crowd viewing on the bottom right of the television.

 Cole and his companion were using Skype at the church in Hiroshima and during our conversation, a member cam in and spoke to Rick (in Japanese) telling him how wonderful Cole and his companion are and how much they love them and don't want them to leave.  After her conversation Cole agreed that Hiroshima is his favorite place and people so far!

 Here we are talking to Cole on the big screen.

It's the first time that Cole has seen Winston since he was one month old.  We had so much fun I hope we get to do it again at Christmas!

We're all crowding in to get in Cole's view.  I hope he had as much fun as we did!  Having a son happy and on a mission is the best Mother's Day gift ever!

The best obituary, ever.

I read this great obituary yesterday.  I don't typically read obituaries for sport, but sometimes when I'm looking through my Wednesday paper, if I happen to turn to the obits, I'll see if I can find a good one.  Yesterday I found gold.  I found the type of obituary I think anyone, especially me, would want written about them.  Please indulge me.  In part it said:

"....a kind and gracious woman, died.  She was a mother, wife, daughter, sister and aunt.  She had more friends than we knew.  Perhaps in her fondest role, she was a grandmother to 8.  She bought crazy socks at Christmas for her grandchildren, some with bells and individual toes.  She held a Camp Grandma at Mormon Lake every summer.  And she was fun.  She kayaked and zip-lined; at Disneyland she rode the teacups and even roller coasters, though she disliked them. She took the kids to movies and always bought popcorn.  She cheered at their baseball and soccer games, swim meets and ballet recitals.  She would read the same book to a grandchild over and over, for as long as that grandchild deemed necessary.....


And cards.  She was always writing notes and delivering flowers to someone who needed a friend.  She loved meeting new people.  She loved her book club and hosting friends for dinner on her patio.  Her guacamole was legend.  She like traveling, skiing, camping and hiking.  She skied in the Swiss Alps and hiked the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim.  She went scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef and walked on a glacier in Alaska.  She saw a bear.....


When her daughters were young, she sewed doll clothes and then matching Christmas dresses, and finally prom dresses.  Later, she sewed Halloween costumes, including a vinyl Evil Knievel suit that is still the talk of at least one neighborhood....Her Easter egg hunts were the best, and the birthday cakes she made were always special.  She kept her Christmas tree up through January.  Every year....


She was a nurse for many years...She loved her job, her patients, who became friends, and her co-workers.  And then she found out she loved retirement even more.  Nobody was surprised.  


She was loved.


Please bring a flower from your yard, or someone else's - she would love it."

See, great obit, right?!  I wish I had known this woman.  I know I would have liked her!  That is what you call living.  Even though she's gone, her family, friends and co-workers will keep her memory living for the rest of their lives.  What lucky grandchildren too.

It all stems back to Weezer. Happy Birthday to Emily Zoe!

Today is Emily Zoe's 23rd birthday.  This isn't her birthday suit.  It's just a little something she wore while at college.  Not everyone dressed like this, just Emily.

It was a great outfit for poses.

She played with Weezer one October, while in college.  Her friend, Steven, drove down from Vegas to see her play.  I knew it was over...her single life, that is.

They got married 5 months after that Weezer concert and now they have this little nugget:

Mr. Winston, the cutest little boy in the world.

Happy Birthday Emily!

May all your birthday wishes come true.

A bicycle built for two.

Last weekend my work had a 10 mile bike ride for the Women's and Infant Services department and their families.  It was a warm morning and hardly anyone showed up but we still had a good time.  Rick and Quinn rode the tandem bike.  I like how Quinn's helmet is hanging from his handlebars, lota good that will do.  For some reason, Rick looks like a German in his helmet.  He's not.

 I dragged everyone in my household to the bike ride and surprisingly, they enjoyed themselves!

We rode all around the San Tan Mall area.

Our team name is Team Push.  Get it, we're labor and delivery nurses....Team Push.