4th of July in Provo Utah

My Aunt Della Mae was in Norway and offered her backyard for our 4th of July BBQ. We played a little and ate a lot. It was great to be with family; my brother John (Skip) and his family, all of the MEP children and grandchildren, grandma Nani and granddad Reid, Mark's sister Mary and her David and his wonderful Jessica, and then my older brother Tony and his family came later.

And ate some more. We had a short game of Scrabble (an Ivins favorite). Smart Mark and his sister Mary were a team, David and Jessica were a team, my father and I were a team and Steve and Travis were a team. My father was thrilled that we won!! Mary said that she and Mark let us win, hum - I think that sometimes clever beats out smartie pants.

Uncle Skip brought his cotton candy machine to the BBQ. It was a hit with the kids as you can well imagine.

He had lots of flavors and a long line of kids waiting for their treat. Skip is like the ice cream man. Uncle Skip loves stuff like this. He has a popcorn machine and even a big snow cone maker. He's one of a kind and a great baby brother.

YUM YUM!! Ava was trying to sell us the cotton candy for a profit.

Ethan and I found a great grassy spot to watch the fireworks outside of the Credit Union where Grandma Nora used to work. We took our blanket and camp chairs there earlier in the day and walked from my Aunt Della Mae's home. Aunt Mary and her son David and his wife Jessica were able to join us for the fun. We could see the Jonas Brothers on the jumbo screen and all of the fireworks. It was a late night for Petersons.

On Friday morning EARLY we went to the soccor field by Provo High School. We watched the 20+ balloons get filled with hot air and take off. What a thrill to be among those big balloons. We went to breakfast afterwards.

Ava wanted to be tall.

Saturday morning is the 4th of July parade. It starts at 9:00 am but you can be there as early as 7:30 for the pre-parade. Travis and Ethan got our spot set-up the night before. Unfortunately it rained hard that night and our blanket got wet. The big people got to sit in chairs.

Easter 2009

Happy Easter from the "Big" Easter Chick, Grant
This photo of Grant was sent to all in the family, I had to share.

Easter in Utah with the Willis family was very eventful. I left Arizona for Utah to take care of my Willis grandchildren while Ashley and Ethan were in Hawaii for a week celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary. We did all of the fun Easter egg coloring and Easter egg hunts and Easter pictures. Meanwhile, after being in Maui for five days, Ashley was in the hospital having an emergency appendectomy - she's 12 weeks pregnant. Needless to say the doctors would not allow her to fly home on the appointed day. I extended my stay for an additional week so that I could help her out when she came home. I am happy to report that she is doing very well.

Breinholt boys on Easter morning. These boys couldn't be any cuter!!

Springtime Visits - Natalie, Steve and Grant - Gavin and Ashley

Steve surprised Natalie with tickets to fly the family to Arizona for two weeks in March. She was getting a little blue with all of the cold and gray weather in Utah and mentioned to him that she needed the sunshine. We had a great time in the sunshine on walks, on bikes, festivals and parks. Natalie and I were also able to get in some lunching and power shopping:-) Steve and Natalie also got away to celebrate their wedding anniversary and a few extra date nights. Natalie is expecting our grandchild # 10 in August.

Ashley allowed her son Gavin to come with Natalie and Steve. These are our six grandsons for a day in Jessica's backyard playing in the splash pad and riding all manner of things with wheels. For two weeks we had only the boys around. Jessica and her four boys even came to stay with us for three days while Travis was away as a captain on the pioneer trek with a youth group from church.



Lest you think that I have lost my touch, I was determined to help a couple of grandsons learn to ride their bikes. I don't know about them, but I sure got a workout. Gavin in his pj's in the morning jumped on his bike and Nathan trying out his two-wheeling magic.

The day that the Wirigs and Gavin went home Ashley flew in. Ashley and Jessica have a dear friend who was in town with the traveling "Les Miserables", she plays the part of Cosette. Both of the girls went to her performance and said it was wonderful. Ethan took care of his four children and since Travis had been away for days on the trek he offered to take the boys up to their cabin for a few days so that Jessica could spend uninterrupted time with Ashley. We went shopping, to lunch and dinner, we had a great time together.

Ava Wants to be "Melody"

Ava, 5 year old grandchild number 4, informed her mother that she wants to be known as "Melody" from now on. She believes her given name is ugly and boring. She proceeded to make signs for her bedroom door - "Melody's Apartment" and a door knob hanger "Do Not Disturb". Ashley said that on her walls she has made signs listing "Melody's" attributes: "She has sparkling eyes like diamonds", "Skin that sparkles" and "She is beautiful like a flower". She is some kindergartener!

Ashley took her to Costco by herself and said "Melody" was singing "opera" at the top of her lungs all through the store and smiling at all who looked at her. Her mother commented that the Willis family has a houseful of characters. (The spelling of Ava's words is mine, I'm sure her version was very different).

Alone Time With Dad and Mom in St George

It was great to spend time with mom and dad in St George. My Aunt Chris was visiting from Zurich Switzerland. Mom and her sister wanted to take a little trip together for a couple of days and I was able to stay and help out with dad. Dad is recovering from a quadruple bypass and has physical therapy three times a week. He's doing great and getting stronger every day.

After therapy dad and I would go to lunch and drive around St George and even went to the movies. On one afternoon we were taking a back road and noticed a bald eagle on the mountain not 50 feet from us. Luckily I had my camera and took a few shots. Look how magnificent. This is a big bird.





Dad and I had a couple of wonderful days of alone time. We talked a lot about his childhood. I was able to write many things down. I have so much more to ask and he has so many interesting and funny stories yet to tell.





My mother is very close to her sister. Aunt Chris is the baby of the family and is about six years younger than my mother. I went to Thailand with these two ladies and it was a blast. I never got a word in with these two! They also both speak several languages and would speak them all in one conversation. How do you like that :-)

Nathan - Granddad and Grandson Conversation and Another Funny Episode

Nathan and his big brother Jacob received hand-held video game devices for Christmas from their granddad Mark. Five year old Nathan's was a Leapfrog Digj which didn't work correctly. So we sent it back and received his new one and delivered it the same day knowing he was terribly anxious to get it back. A few days later Granddad and Nathan had a couple of email conversations that went like this:
Granddad: Dear Nathan, is your game working OK? Love, Granddad

Nathan: Dear Granddad, it's working fine. I passed the first level, but then I died on the second. Love, Nathan

Granddad: Sorry to hear that you "died" on the second level, but glad to hear that your game is working. Good luck on that second level. Second levels can be very hard. Love, Granddad

Nathan is a funny boy. The other day Travis had Nathan in the car and they stopped to help a lady who had driven her car into a ditch. The lady was very appreciative of the help. When they got home, Nathan was telling his mother the story and was trying to describe the lady and said "Well, I think she was a democrat". What do you think he meant by that? I guess we all drive in the ditch a time or two in our lives, those on the left, those on the right and those in the middle.

More MEP Holiday Family Traditions

Every year for 31 years the MEP family would wake up on Christmas morning open gifts and look forward to making Grandma Nora's Swedish pancakes for breakfast. Grandma Nora was not known for her good cooking, but we love this recipe. Nora would spend every Christmas morning with us since her move to Arizona in 1993. When she couldn't drive any more we would pick her up and bring her to us. She was always so proud that we used her recipe and loved to be involved in making this annual breakfast. My married girls carry on this MEP family tradition.

Grandma Nora’s Swedish Pancakes
(Crepes)

¾ Cup Flour
1 Tb Sugar
½ tsp Salt
3 Beaten Eggs
1 ¼ Cups Milk
2 Tb Oil (or melted butter)

Combine all in a blender until smooth. Melt a pat
of butter in a non-stick frying pan on med-high, pour
a small amount of batter into pan to make a
thin round crepe. Cook until edges are
lightly browned then flip with a spatula. You can use a crepe
pan, be sure it is a good one. Serve rolled with your choice
of filling, powdered sugar, preserves, bacon, sausage,
cinnamon sugar - whatever you prefer. This recipe makes
approximately 10 crepes. This recipe also works
when doubled or tripled. You can make these the night

before and put a sheet of wax paper between the cooked

crepes and refrigerate. Just re-heat crepes as needed.