Holly on Stage at Taylor

Thursday, we gathered at Taylor Jr. High to hear Holly perform with the Treble Cleffs chorus. We continue to be amazed at her musical talents.

Holly's friend Kylie isn't always this glum - but we did like the expression on Holly's face!

Happy Birthday Eve!

We celebrated Eve's birthday a few days early with pizza, crazy hats and family in Countryside Park near our home.  Eve loves to dress up, so we all wore crazy hats to help her celebrate.

We ate Little Caesar's Pizza, which seems to go hand in glove with Countryside Park.

Eve had great fun opening her presents. She received lots of new clothes, new hats and dress-up costumes, which she loved.

All the new headgear had to have a turn!

Devlin was close at hand to help Eve whenever she needed it.

It's time to go ... all dressed up in a new swim suit, complete with gold lame sandals, new water bottle, cabbage patch doll, sun glasses and the old standby Nemo hat!

Happy Birthday, Eve!

Granny's New Hobby

Claudia has taken up a new labor of love.  Using frames provided by her mother, Claudia is making a baby quilt.  Yes - really quilting - with thousands of small, individual stitches carefully outlining the designs on the fabric.  Can't wait to see it when it is finished!

Thank Heaven for Little Girls

We love our little granddaughters. It is so fun to spend time with them and see them grow up. Here are a few recent photos you might enjoy.

Multi-talented Holly

Holly stole the show Friday night at the Taylor Junior High Talent Show with her piano and vocal performance of "We're So Far Away."  We're prejudiced, of course, but we honestly think it was the very best of the 24 individual numbers. The talent show was held to raise money for the Taylor Junior High choir trip to Disneyland, where they will perform later this spring.

Additionally, Holly joined a group of her friends singing "Only One," an original composition by one of the girls.

Claudia and Angie spent a lot of time creating decorations for the event, including the long string of hearts across the front of the stage.

All in all, it was a delightful, memorable evening for both performers and audience alike.  Way to go, Holly!

Free at Last

If you can look past Eric's momentary lapse into unconsciousness, do you notice something different about Holly? Yep, she received an early Christmas present. On Tuesday, her braces came off after a long two years. What a wonderful smile on a beautiful girl!

Holly celebrated this event on her blog with the lyrics of Brooke White singing " ... free, free, free!"

Christmas Eve Music

Following a long tradition, we gathered to share musical talents last night after Christmas Eve dinner. Maybe the big hit of the night was Devlin belting out "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" with a bit of coaching from his mother and helpful smiles from Eve.

We couldn't help notice how the earnestness of his delivery so matched the boyhood mannerisms of his father!

Claudia and Holly tickled the ivories with a great four-hand rendition of "Jingle Bells."

Thanks to everyone who sang and performed so well, even though your photo is not included here. We are were uplifted and inspired by the wonderful message of Christmas.

More family holiday photos are on Mark's Flicker page.