Catchup #3 -- The Zoo

As you can see, it was a beautiful day at the zoo -- well, actually a little hot if we weren't in the shade. But look at the blue, blue sky.

I love this picture of George holding Aaron's hand and walking him along the path.

There were 17 of us in all, plus three strollers. We were a little unorganized at times, but Rachel kept us moving along. Is that Isaac in front going through the door? If so, I think that's the only picture I got of him. I don't think he was camara-shy just busy seeing everything.


Yeah! We're at the zoo!

I'm not sure the babies were as happy as Samuel to be there.



The rest of the kids -- except Isaac. :(



Mallory was not too excited about getting her picture taken. This is the best I got. I think she's saying, "Grammy, don't take my picture."


Adam was the only dad there -- he took it in stride.

How could I post about a zoo trip without some pictures of animals. I'm pretty sure I have a whole box of pictures of animals from zoos, Sea World, etc. -- thanks, Dad!

What's the name of these? I can't remember, but they're pretty.

This is a picture of giraffes not being fed by us. There were signs all over about their new giraffe exhibit where you could feed them. We walked a long way up a hot, dusty trail to find out that we had to pay an extra $3 to be able to get close to them and feed them. That would have cost us $42 so we watched from afar.

I was pretty amazed at how lush and beautiful many areas of the zoo were. Is Isaac in this picture?

Where in the world is Isaac???


Goodbye, Zoo. We had a great time.

Catchup #2 - The McDermotts

One of the first events of my October 2009 trip was a joint birthday party for Evan and Nathan. Here they are in front of the decorations in anticipation of the arrival of gifts and of eating birthday cake.


Grammy and Nathan ...

Madi and Evan ...
Little Eliza ...
I took a few shots of other guests. Amy and Sally ...


Max and Adam ...
The next event was Evan's baptism. Here's the McDermott family after the baptism.

Another photo with the grandmothers.


It was really wonderful to be in Arizona and share in these special occasions.

Catching Up #1

Now that I'm about to travel again, I thought I'd better add the rest of my pictures from my August 2009 trip to Washington State and my October 2009 trip to Arizona and Iowa. The week after Mom-Grandma-Nana's birthday celebration, we went back again for Brent's 69th birthday. Here he is with one of his gifts -- a barbecue cleaning brush. He was excited. Notice the beautiful flowers in the background from Eydie's garden.

Here's a closeup of the flowers. Eydie is definitely a skilled flower gardener.

Now back to Grandma's house. I took pictures of a couple of her paintings. The first one she's not using right now and is available if anyone would like it. She thinks she is going to be selling her house and moving this summer so she might have more paintings and other items to give away -- depending on where she decides to move.


This is her cute house ...
with a nice little porch and of course pretty flowers. She had her house on the market when I was there but had very few lookers. The market in the Tri-Cities is supposed to be better now.

Here she is in her great room.

This is her dining area looking into her TV room (or den). All those cabinets are full of beautiful crystal, tea sets, vases, etc.

Her bedroom ...
and master bath. Her house was specifically decorated for the parade of homes.

Lastly, remember the flowers from Grandma's birthday cake that Eydie made -- the basket of flowers made from frosting?Here's one of the bouquets we made from the flowers.

My posts are rather boring, I'm afraid. Oh, well. Next catch-up post ... McDermott birthdays and baptism.

Geri Lage's Bithday -- At Brent & Eydie's

The day after Mom's birthday, we went to Brent and Eydie's for dinner and her family party. Bob went with us, and Traci and her family and Sheri and her family were there -- a much smaller group than we had planned but it was a very nice day.

When we arrived, Eydie was putting the final touches on her special cake (see my next blog) so we took a walk around outside.

Eydie's beautiful backyard

Mom, Traci and Tyler in the apricot tree ...

behind the tree you can see Eydie's huge flower garden.

Mom and Bob at the back of Brent & Eydie's

Bob's carrying the bag of apricots we collected, which Mom and I later made into pineapple-apricot preserves. Yummy! The overhang over the back patio contains the addition to the house which enlarged their dining room. On the patio you can see the barbecue where Brent barbecued salmon and seared tuna for our sumptious dinner -- well except the tuna in Dennis's salad was actually raw. I could only eat a couple bites of it.

Eydie's beautiful table setting with Dennis's salad.

Of course, Mom got presents ...

Does this look like a 90-year-old to you?

I didn't get many pictures of Traci, Sheri, and their families, but here's one of Sheri with Evan and her new husband, Roger Rigby. He sure is a nice guy.

And here's Chloe dressing up in a couple costumes from her grandma's great collection of costumes.

This is a new costume Eydie bought when she was in Egypt.

Still to come for August 2009 ... the birthday cake, Brent's birthday, Grandma's house inside and out, and maybe one more. Are you excited???

Geri Lage's Birthday -- On August 8, 2009

Happy 90th!!

On the actual day of her birthday, we went out to a late lunch and then to the grand opening of the new Richland Library. It was a beautiful building--lots of glass, but we could only go into the large foyer, where they served cookies and punch -- the rest of the building was closed. We stayed until after dark and listened to two different local bands play. The music was pretty good and I would have liked to dance but alas only one couple and a few little children were brave enough!