Birthday Girl

Why is Jen looking so happy with 7 week old Sarah?

It's her birthday and the candles didn't set off the smoke alarm!

Here's what it looks like without the candles and with the lights on. Delicious!!

Cowgirl Granny!

Here's our favorite cowgirl riding the range on her new horse.

She even has her grandkids Conner and Corby in farmhand training to help out.

Bryce's job is to hold down the hay so it doesn't blow away.

Spring Break

It's spring break time so you know what that means! Go to the sea--Sea World, that is, with the grandkids. Here we are with Conner, Brenna, Maren, Corby, and Bonnie.

Of course, Grandpa had to see the famingos.

We had to get splashed by the jumping dolphins and whales.

We saw lots of fish.

Grandma had to see her horses, sea horses, that is.

We had a great time and now have season passes for the year so we can go for free with anyone who comes to visit.

Blessing Sarah

Today we blessed grandchild 23 Sarah. Here we are walking the three blocks to church. Only 15 of our grandchildren came to join the traditional walk with our red wagon. Momma Jen with the baby drove to church so you'll only count 14 kids here.

We filled two rows. How full would the chapel have been if the entire family had made it?

You can see that Jen and the baby made it in time.

Here we are gathering for the walk home with David doing most of the pulling and carrying.

Here's proof that I was there too.

Black Velvet

We have a new horse, a Welsh pony. Do we look happy? The official name is Trixie, but since that name has already been taken in the history of Thompson-Powell horses, we've decided to name her Black Velvet, though that name may change.

Aren't Braden and Bryce doing a good job brushing off the winter hair?

Ella is checking whether "velvet" is a good name.

Does grandma look excited to saddle her for the first time?

Here you can see how she compares in size with Choco and Monte.

Six weeks

We've been off our missions for almost 6 weeks. Tatum is six weeks...

and Sarah is four weeks old.

Don't they look great?

Grandma duty in Savannah

Grandma got a call to grandma duty in Savannah for the next few days while bishop Joe takes 8 teenage boys from the ward skiing in North Carolina on their annual high adventure leaving mom with a new born...

and three energetic boys.

Grandma was greeted with a trumpet duet by the Two Joes...

accompanied by Blake on the piano.

While grandpa is back in Florida, grandma will be taking kids to school and supervising homework.

She'll also keep an eye on the animals...


and keep in shape on the trampoline.

Spencer will help her get acquainted with the public transportation...

and of course, she'll have lots of baby bonding time.

Mary's 5th Birthday!

Mary had her fifth birthday today!

There was lots of fun for the cousins and friends in a bounce house on the front lawn...

flying dragon kites in the street...

playing with remote control trucks and boats...

eating lots of pizza, cake and ice cream...



and just being together.

New football helmets?

Braden and Bryce are showing off their latest headgear!

Roadkill delight?

The nearby Chiefland Ward has an annual "Beast Feast" where they suggest how you might augment your food storage with roadkill--various wild animals common along the highways of Florida. Here is the selection that Caroly and I tried.

The numbers we attached to our plates as we made our selections are keys to what we ate--which was announced by number when we were done. You can see by the number of attachments to my plate on the right that I was more adventuresome than Caroly--though she says the racoons and yam were heavenly (at least the yam was).

Can you guess from these selections what things we ate?

Some things look like the buzzards picked them over first.

This year there were no frogs, snakes, or alligators, but plenty of squirrel, possum, deer, raccoon, rabbit, chicken, wild pig, and of course "rocky mountain oysters" (fricasseed pig testicles). They say that the ward members save up their "delights" in the freezer through the year. The place was packed with eager learners picking up road kill tips.

What did you expect?

We haven't been home one month and guess what?

We have a new horse for the grandkids! If you know grandma, would you expect anything else?

All shapes and sizes

One thing about Florida is that you see people of all shapes and sizes.

Even the public transportation has some surprises.

Actually, Ella and Braden are with grandma and grandpa at the annual medieval fair in Gainesville.