Matt's Party

Here are a few of my pictures from Saturday. Click on them to view larger image.

"The keys are in there, and we're out here."

Lora and I went to our almost weekly dance instruction up in Tierrasanta. Welcome home Elise! Then we had to wait a bit, so we finished our costco hot dogs, talked, turned off the car, set the keys on the dash, etc etc... Then we got up and locked our doors and closed them.
>_< Grrrrrr.....
Apparently Carl had some concert and apparently all the drivers in our family went and turned off their cell phones... Ben, our instructor, had to call AAA. Oh and we had to dance out in the rain because Ben forgot his key. Tired, wet, stressed, still hungry. Thats my story. Welcome home Elise!

Iris Garden

Hello Family
Tonight after dinner we all went to the Iris garden. It was a little late in the year. Two weeks ago would probably have been better but the flowers were still lovely. The garden has flowers that are five hundred years old as you can see from the picture of the sign. And they are still blooming. It was so beautiful. Here are some pictures of it.

Check out how big this bloom is. And you all know how big my hands are.

1500 is the year (approx.) it was collected.

Me and My Girls

If I were a better photographer you could see how purple this flower really was. It was much more red-toned in real life.

I miss you all. Keep posting.
Love,
Karen J.

Here are Josh, David, and Carl, dwarfing their choir conductor, Jackie Abernathy, long-time family friend. Jackie was asked to lead a Boy Scout choir made up of LDS Scout from around San Diego county. Their task was to perform several numbers at the "Duty to God" breakfast at the annual Boy Scout National meeting, which was held this year in San Diego. On Thursday morning, 5/22, the choir of about 40 Scouts, sang to about 2000 people and received a standing ovation. It was awesome to have the three cousins all singing in the choir. It was a very demanding task, as they had less that half a dozen rehearsals and the music had to be memorized. The audience consisted of professional Scouters and executives from all over the country, and they were "blown away" by the performance. The keynote speaker for the breakfast, who is the director of the San Diego Rescue Mission, called them "the mini-Mormon Tabernacle Choir." If you'd like to hear what they sound like, they recorded all their songs at their last rehearsal -- you should be able to download MP3 files from this link: http://www.driveway.com/p8s8z0h1r7 (they may not be available indefinitely)

An Update From Karen

Hello family! I miss you all so much. I just wanted to post some of what has been going on in New Jersey. This picture was taken at a park in Hoboken (a city right across NYC on the Hudson River) on a day off from school that the girls had. I am still loving it out here. The winter is over and the trees and flowers are blossoming. It is so beautiful. The only down side it that with leaves on the trees I no longer have such a spectacular view of the city from my bedroom. The girls keep me busy, I teach them new card games all of the time and they love learning them. Sarah, the baby, is so cute and I am amazed everyday by how fast she grows. She is at the stage where she loves to coo and laugh as long as there is a smiling face above her that coos and laughs back. I've enjoyed hanging out with Beth during the day and after the girls go to bed. But she'll be going back to work in the beginning of June. I will miss spending time with her while the girls are at school. I had my first real bout of home sickness a few days ago and as much as I love you all it was actually spurred by my roommate from BYU whom I am missing terribly. But other than that and a minor cold I just recovered from I am doing so well. I hope everything is great with all of you. Happy Mother's Day to all the women! And Congratulations Chris and Vanesa! I can't wait to see everyone when I come home in July! I love you!

Your Granddaughter, Daughter, Niece, Cousin, Sister, and Friend always,

Karen

Ride Across California

Hi everyone,

Noah and I (and 100 other kids and parents) rode bikes from Yuma to Carlsbad during their spring break in early April. It was awesome, one of the best things I have ever done. I'd download pictures if I knew how to do it. Steve and Jackson came along as support drivers, so it was a great family vacation for all of us. If anyone is interested for next year, please let me know so I can talk you into it.

Love and hug
Christiane

Hello

Hi,
This is Kay, I'm seeing if this works.