Tonite was Avery's family birthday party. Dad and I and Don & Donna came and his
Grandma Kay (Don's mother) and she brought her other gr. grandson with her.
We had presents, of course, and cake. Just a small gathering which made it easy for Erin to do. He loved the skateboard he got probably the best - I think Jeremy & Bodee loved it almost as much too.
The garden was so green and pretty this morning that I thought we needed some pictures of it. This is the raised bed which has tomatoes, green peppers, swiss chard, carrots onions and lettuce in it. - all doing very well. The metal rooster is a weather-vane planter that has yellow flowers growing in it. The Hardings gave that to us as a thank you to Dad for his tilling and planting their garden.
By the way, John is home now and recovering.
You can see the corn stalks and beside that are bean plants and then zinnias.
Dad was sure in the garden mood this summer. Everything is so full and green. That's what I love about summer. In the background you can see the cherry tree and beyond that is the grape arbor.
This is taken as I was standing under and inside the grape arbor. These are Concord grapes and they will turn dark purple and be ready to pick in about October for juice.
Quaint little shops and ice cream cones to eat. What more could you ask for?
Here is a link for more pictures:
http://www.point1.us/T_UT_GarnerVillPhoto/GVillPhotoIndex.html
On our way to the airport, we and the girls decided to visit Gardner Village. It
is where a grist mill, mattress factory, broom factory, blacksmith shop and general store once existed. Today it is rebuilt into a restaurant and small shops. This is the original water wheel I think. Archibald Gardner was an immigrant from Scotland and had 11 wives and 48 children. It's a very fun place to wander around and look in the shops. It was a 90 degree day but it was fun anyway.
We took a minute to sit in the shade on this cute little bench. We had just
finished eating ice cream cones which helped cool us off. There are so many cute little shops to browse in. I loved the one that is in the large building by
Archibald's Restaurant. It had tons of stuff to decorate your home with and it was
a real temptation not to overbuy. Actually I only bought one thing and that was
a quilted table runner. I love it.
Mercer and Logan had to do the pony ride as soon as we arrived at Gardner Village
It was such a hot day but that didn't keep them from riding.
On Saturday, Dad and I ventured up to Ogden to attend the Hales Reunion. It was held in a park by the college and the program was held in the auditorium on campus.
There were so many people attending and just to think that we were all related in one way or another all from our gr.gr. gr. grandparents Hales.
The picture is of Henry William and Eliza Ann - my gr gr grandparents.
As you climb up the stairs to the second floor of the auditorium you see these
cardboard figures greeting everyone. They are the children of Stephen and Mary Ann
Hales - the mother and father who first accepted the gospel in Toronto Canada and
were taught by the Pratt brothers and baptized there. It was awesome to have
them so life-like. Mary Isabella had a real shawl around her shoulders which made
her come to life. All in all, the reunion was very fun and I was able to get a
picture of my gr gr grandmother which I had never had before. The auditorium was
full which surprised me and I didn't know a soul there. That's okay though, because we were all related in one way or another.
I want you to meet my gr. gr. grandfather - Henry. He was a pioneer, saw the Prophet Joseph Smith when he was going to Carthage Jail, saw Joseph and Hyrum in their coffins, lived in Nauvoo and received his endowments in the Nauvoo Temple,
moved to Garden Grove and helped plant and build for the Saints there, in the spring of 1851 he came to Salt Lake valley in the Harry Walton/Garden Grove Company.
His two wives were Eliza Ann and Ewing and Sarah Jane McKinney. My gr gr grandmother was Eliza Ann.
Elder Robert D. Hales was the main speaker for our Hales Reunion. You can get his talk on the Halesgathering.com website. What a privilege it was to listen to him
speak to us about the Hales family.
This is one of the family antiques that was on display. It is a small piano - called a Melodian.
These pictures were taken during our last visit to Provo. We drove into Salt Lake
and spent a morning at the Liberty Park Aviary. It is a large area in the park that is devoted to all kinds of birds and some animals etc. I would highly recommend it for a family day trip. Take the kids, the lunch basket and a camera and have a fun trip.
We thoroughly enjoyed all of the sights and sounds plus seeing the Park and
the pioneer history associated with it. We have ancestors who settled here with their covered wagon and spent their first winter. That makes it a special place to me. This picture is Dad watching the Pelicans.
These are Flamingos and also Black Necked Swans in Liberty Park. I found this beautiful recording of "The Swan" and thought it appropriate. Listen to the full recording because it is gorgeous.
These geese came right up to us while we were resting and sitting on a park bench. They were hoping for a snack I think but we didn't have anything with us to share. They seemed to be so tame and use to people. It was fun to actually seem them up close.
This was our Pioneer Day float in 1978 - - a long time ago. Mindy is about 2 and she
is sitting in the back - Sorry about that Mindy. I remember we had to go out west of town to gather the sagebrush. The kids worked on making the covered wagon though.
Do we look like real pioneers? Andy, do you remember Elise Harrison? It was her
Dad that drove the truck for our float. (Dad remembered that part.)
