Happy Birthday Chandler!

Chandler turned ten today! What a great responsible grandson he has turned out to be. Chandler is the oldest child in his family and this last year he has changed in both appearance and attitude. He has grown into being very handsome and it seems to me he is a rather easy going child. When he is with me I see that he takes responsibility for his younger sister Tatum and sets very good examples for both Tatum and Cooper. He is acting just like a big brother should and all the nice things he does doesn't go unnoticed by Pa and me.

For his birthday outing with us we went to Chase Field and had a tour of the Diamondbacks facility. It was pretty interesting. Chandler said he really liked the dugoutCooper didn't have a specific outing on his birthday so Chandler let him tag along to the ballfield with him. Just another example of what a fine young man he is becomming.


We went to Floredino's Pizza after the tour. I had expected he would want to go the Texas Roadhouse because he loves that place but he said he was going there Saturday night with his family.

Then it was off to Target where we looked at Wii games, XBox games and DS games. It was a hard decision to choose just the right one.

Thanks for a fun evening Chandler. I hope you enjoyed your birthday and Pa and I enjoyed spending the time with you. We are very proud of you!

Easter Picnic

We had the Hamilton Family Annual Picnic at the same park as in the past. A great park for everyone - fishing, bike riding, climbing, falling in the water, and just plain exploring. And, that is what ten kids from the ages of 10 to 2 did.

The kids ate pizza and the adults had BBQ with lots of very tasty side dishes.


We had an Easter Egg Hunt thanks to niece Jacquie for all her preparation of the eggs. We always have a big "golden egg" and Tatum found it and inside was $20.00. Our Easter bunny must of had a very good year.



Here are some picks of the kids.






We played games: duck walk - egg bowling, egg toss and the egg on the spoon.






We had a great time gathering all together.


Three years of hunting eggs. 2010, 2011, 2012

Week in Seattle!

We just returned from Seattle and spent the week in the downtown area. Alvin attended the "National Education of Ceramics Arts" conference and of course I tagged along. We arrived on Sunday afternoon and rented a car to visit art galleries in the area having ceramic exhibitions. The conference didn't actually start until day of registration on Wednesday. So, Monday and Tuesday we drove from place to place with my handy ipad navigation system guiding us pain free. (most of the time)

We visited galleries, museums, design centers, store fronts and the University of Washington. The university has absolutely gorgeous grounds and buildings. Cherry trees were blooming along this walk way as we headed to the art building. We also saw an orchid tree that had huge flowers with no leaves on the tree.






We saw areas we hadn't seen before so it was very interesting to go from place to place. Seattle Art Museum had lighted cars hanging from the ceiling.



We saw lots of beautiful handblown glass.I loved these cake plates and usually get what I want but not at the price of $1300-1500. Now the cakes I make could very well deserve a beautiful cake plate like these to sit on but just a little too much for me to make the purchase.



We were walking a street in downtown Seattle and came across a little bit of Arizona in a picture window. They had prefect "defoliated short staple cotton stocks" planted in the ground of this display window waiting to be picked and put into the baskets of already picked cotton. Did you notice my correct verbage of describing cotton? Remember I am a farmer's daughter.



Of course you always have to go to Pikes Market which was only five blocks from our hotel. I wish we could buy flowers like these here in Arizona.





Alvin spent all day Thursday and Friday at the convention center which was right next door to our hotel and I kept myself busy reading books, practicing my drawing, and shoe shopping. I actually enjoy doing nothing on these trips. I spent some time in the hotel lobby reading my book and people watching on the street below.

The weather was sun shining up until Thursday when it rained a little part of the day. However, on Friday and Saturday it rained most of the day. That was OK - I like rain and the temperature was just right - low 50's. So, now we are back to reality! Dealing with some old MIL issues I would rather forget, planning a Easter picnic with my niece Jacquie and resuming my drawing class at the college. Oh, I forgot - and waiting for my shoes that I bought to be delivered by UPS.
(don't ask how many OK?)