Our Piece of Heaven for 2011- Part 5 0f 5 Visitors and Vacations

We were able to see some of our family this year and enjoyed that so much.  Hope to see more soon..

Luis and Kendy had a quick visit with us on on their way to Cancun. Kendy needed a break. She has been working on her bachelors degree and just finished mid December. She has been a registered nurse for some months and working as such. She is working at the Center for Change where they help patients with eating disorders. Luis is International Operations/Regulatory Affairs Manager at SISEL International
We were able to have Steve and Cheryl share their wedding anniversary week with us.  Dody took us all to the Medieval Knights for dinner and a show.  That was so fun.

We drove to Vegas for Olive Walker, my mom's, 50+ birthday.  We had a wonderful luncheon together as a family.  Brice and Angela had gotten her a crystal with their photo engraved inside it. 

We ate at Applebee's where my sister, Gayla, works.  

We stayed for 5 hours eating lunch and then playing games!

 

Lavar Johnston came to Dallas to watch the BYU vs TCU football game at the Cowboy stadium and to celebrate his 85th birthday.

Gayla and Shawn were able to visit for a few days.  we had a nice time going on the Grapevine Vintage Railroad.

Britt flew in with her two babies and Casey came with his family for Thanksgiving.  We ate turkey and all the trimmings and had a great visit watching the cousins play together.

Our Piece of Heaven for 2011- Part 4 Stefan

Stefan and I went to California this summer to attend camp. Stefan attended Young Actors Camp while I attended the parent camp. Joey Lawrence among others came to speak with us about how to be supportive to our talented children and help tem in their careers. Joey talked a lot about having a healthy balance in your life. He was a child actor and has recently started in a new comedy sitcom called Melissa and Joey. Stefan learned to sword fight, auditioned in front of cast directors, preformed his clogging routine to the entire group, got to meet a fun young singing group that have gotten famous via You Tube called Y I Yell. He got to see Roshon Fagen sing dance and present with his father tips for Hollywood. Stefan got to tour downtown both with the camp and also with me when we visited Ripley's Believe It or Not on Hollywood Blvd. When we got back to Texas Stefan worked as a great assistant when I taught art classes. Him and his grandpa attended Cub Camp. Marty was the Range Master for the BB gun shooting and Stefan was a jour camp leader. Stefan received a dancing scholarship this year and was selected to be in the Utah Valley Youth Symphony. He was in the Production of Pioneer Legacy were he did a dancing dual in clogging style. He received 1st palce in this years science fair at Timpanogoos Acadamy in Life Science and 3rd in the Elementary Division. He will be going to the Charter School District Science Fair to compete for State competition.

Our Piece of Heaven for 2011 Part 3- Olivia

Olivia turned two July 6, 2011. Now she can say and sing her ABC’s. Olivia can count to 12 with some variations. She started the year with singing “diddo diddo “for twinkle little star and can now sing it well although it is her own interpretation and can last over 45 minutes straight. She can even sing it when asleep! She is FULL of personality that charms everyone she’s around her. Britt, Cy, Olivia and I went to the Fort Worth Zoo in November. Olivia was awed by the sea turtles and a large gorilla which interacted with her behind a very thick glass. Later that day she built a sand castle at Lake Grapevine, which was in her to do list for Texas. We went shopping to buy Olivia black church shoes to go with her new Christmas dress. She found some pink leopard print sparkly shoes and looked up at grandma with her BIG brown eyes and proclaimed "I love them so much", so she got two pairs of shoes. Grandma and Grandpa love her so much. Olivia has matured from the world being hers back in May: “ my tree, my rain, my bus, my temple” and Cy was “my guy”. Olivia loves to paint and draw and create. She is particularly good at creating messes but can sing “clean up”. She loves to help care for baby brother, Cy. Olivia has a sweet quiet voice unless she is declaring her independence in loud wails.

Our Piece of Heaven for 2011 Part 2- Lux

LUX
comes to visit grandma and grandpa often.
Grandpa takes him around to all the photos in the house and teaches him all about the family. He visits when Ashley goes to school to be an audio engineer at Media TechInstitute while Casey works for Verizon as an application developer creating aprogram to stream video directly to TV. Lux had his first birthday and reallyenjoyed the cake and ice cream. He loves music and already has some dancemoves. While Britt visited we all spent the evening with Casey and his familyat their lovely home in Dallas near the Arboretum. Ashley introduced us to anew yummy salad dressing and a delicious dinner while we enjoyed watching thecousins play together. Lux danced wonderfully to his Elmo stocking tune andCasey sang to us while he played guitar. Lux loves to dance and he loves togrowl. He growls when he loves something or when he hates something or when hejust wants to play around. He was appropriately a tiger for Halloween. Lux hasstriking blue eyes and is a handsome mix of Ashley and Casey.

Our Piece of Heaven for 2011 Part 1-Cy

Cy Henry

Riggins

It wasn't until Cy was six months old grandma and grandpa got to see him

again. Britt and the two babies came to Texas for Thanksgiving. Cy had grown to 20lbs and 27.5 inches, he is a strong little BIG man. Now his eyes are still changing in color but his hair is still blonde. He likes to make squealing sounds and loves to eat. He has an adorable giggle. He’s happy when his holder keeps moving around. The other day a stranger walked clear across a store parking lot just to tell Britt that Cy was the cutest baby, “The Gerber baby”, he called him. He already crawls at 6 months old.

Our Piece of Heaven for 2011