More Summer Activities

There is nothing better than waking up on a beautiful summer morning and going to the temple with some of your children and their spouses.  We love to do that when we get several of them together.  Kyle had meetings at work, but we had Kevin and Angie, Kent and Natalie, and John and Alison with us at the Mt. Timpanogos Temple on Friday morning.  It was so special!

Afterwards, we went back and got the kids and went to lunch at our favorite place to go with the kids--Chuck-a-Rama!

Later, we went to Kade's football practice.  Here it was the first part of August, and I finally had to go get in the car--I was freezing!  I am getting to be such a wimp!  Kevin is one of the coaches for Kade's team. 

Another thing we got to do on this trip was meet Carter, Jenna, and Brady's new puppy--Harley.  He is darling!  The kids really do love him--and I don't know what he would do without Kim.  She really watches over him!

Kent and Natalie didn't get to stay in Utah long, but while they were there, Ethan wanted to show me his new basketball skills.  Kent is his coach and they practice or have games several nights a week.  Ethan absolutely loves it!  Here he just used the indoor basketball net, but I definitely got the idea. 

After we got the kids calmed down for the evening, we all went to a movie together, including Kyle and Kim.  So we had a great day!

The next day, Saturday, Kent and Natalie had to go back to Washington, so we had to say "Good-bye."  We only got to see them for a couple of days, but it was so great.  Here they are loading up--Ella is already in the car and didn't want her picture taken.  Surprise! 

George, also, had to go back to Florida to work, but I stayed because I got to tend Kevin and Angie's five kids for a week while they went to Hawaii.  It was a crazy, fun-filled week which I will blog about on my next posting, but for now, here are the pictures of the girls saying "Good-bye" to their dad and mom.

See you in a week, Kevin and Angie!

Copeland Family China Reunion

With everyone except Jerry and Shelly and their family in Utah at the same time, Mary Conley and her daughter who had also gone with us to China, graciously planned a reunion party. And what a party it was! (Jerry and Shelly--we really missed you. You really missed a great event, too, and we're so sorry you weren't there!) We got to meet Mary's husband, Bill, and two more of her daughters.

We got to see Mary's beautiful garden--is there anything Mary can't do? What a talented girl she is!

And besides touring the beautiful 14,000 square foot house (sorry, no pictures--I was too much in awe!), we spent a wonderful evening in her pool area. Do you believe this diving area?

Taylor doing a backflip.  Wow!

Kade ready to jump. 

And the kids loved the slide!

 Lots of fantastic food--the kids hardly noticed that.  They were having waaaay too much fun!

I barely got the picture taken in time before the cake was cut.  This smiley face cake reminded us of all the wonderful times we had together in China.

Ella is carrying her plate so carefully. 

Cousins:  Ethan, Connor, and Parker. 

Grandpa George certainly enjoyed the food!

Carter and Kyle.  Kade and Carter had just come from football practice, so they were starved!

Kyle and Kim actually didn't go on the trip with us, but they were our invited guests. 

Little Preston swam so long, his little teeth were chattering. 

Our two oldest grandsons:  Taylor and Bracken.  What really nice young men they are!

Joyce's grandson, Jaden, was here for the summer working at their store.  He is, also, such a nice young man. 

Mary and Alison having a little chat together.

Natalie and Mary. 

My sister, Joyce, Alison, Kent, and George.

George and Doug.  We are so glad Joyce and Doug went with us. 

I think some of the grandkids never got out of the pool all night until we went home!

Bill and Mary, thanks, thanks, thanks, for allowing us to come to your beautiful home and for sharing your hospitality with us.  We had a fantastic evening that we will long remember! 

End of Summer Activities

After teaching summer school full time for the entire summer, it was so nice to have a two-week vacation time. So, I flew to Utah and Idaho here's what I did for the two weeks (in a nutshell!)

Class Reunion
I hadn't been to my high school class reunion for 25 years, so since it landed during the two-week break, I decided to go. I surely wish George could have gone, too, so that I could show off very attractive husband,but he had to work and could only come out to Utah for part of the time later on. I had a great time seeing so many "old" friends, (I guess I didn't realize how much older I must look now to everyone else until I saw that same thing in others), but I wish the evening could have been longer in order to talk to more of them. We had a graduating class in Rexburg, Idaho, of 142 of which 11 have passed away. Wow!


Barbara Thompson, Me, Jerry Madsen, and Claire Jacob (Former Names)


Jackie Randall, me, and Barbara Brock


Spending Time With My Dad
It was so great to stay with my dad and visit with him. He is such an interesting person to be around with his great wealth of knowledge and wisdom, but he is also a standard to the whole family of hard work and endurance. He has lived alone now for seven years since my mother died, so he completely takes care of his home as well as goes to the law office every day. At 86 years of age, this is pretty outstanding!

Visiting a new memorial honoring those who served our country through the different wars. My dad's name will soon be on one of the plaques for serving in the Air Force during WWII. He has made many contributions to help make this memorial possible.
My dad in his law office in front of some of the many awards he has achieved in his over 50 years of practicing law, serving as county attorney and state senator. This is my dad's office. From the look of it, he still has plenty to keep him busy for many years to come!

Hannah and Brady look at a picture of Great-Grandma Lola. My dad has many pictures of her at his office as well as his home.

My brother, Jerry, came by the law office after hours and showed us his office.


Spending Time With My Two Brothers and One Sister

My sister, Beth, is a professor at BYU Idaho; my brother, Jerry, is an attorney with my dad; my other brother, Blair, owns his own carpet and floor covering store. They all live within about a four mile radius of my dad, so I got to spend some time with each of them and their families. What a great time we all had together!

Other Fun in Rexburg

Alison and Kim and some of the grandkids drove up on Sunday and stayed with Jerry and Shelly. They had such a great time with Jerry and Shelly's children. They made yummy meals and the kids had such fun in their backyard.

We also went to a fun park to play in.

Then we went to Blair and Denise's and had a wonderful picnic, watermelon bust, and the kids swam in their great pool.

Kim with Blair's daughter, Melanie. She is expecting her third girl in about a month. It was so fun visiting with her and getting to know her two little girls better.
Melanie's two daughers - Haylee and Kaitlyn. So, after swimming, as we were walking back to my dad's house, we were passing by this little old white house and Brady said, "Ooooo, look at this haunted house, Grandma." I started laughing so hard! I told him that was where I lived after my dad got out of law school when I was five years old until I was a sophomore in high school. I told him no one lived there anymore. All of the kids were suddenly very curious as to what it looked like inside, so when we talked to my dad, he told them he would take them on a tour the next day. Let me just say, this might have been the highlight of the entire trip! They waited with such anticipation, I could hardly believe it!

We hurried and got ready and went to town to see the International Folk Dancers' Parade in Rexburg. It was so fun seeing dance teams from all over the world as they danced down Main Street.


Hannah walks with Grandpa to the parade.









After the parade, Lauren, Jenna, and Tyson posed with some of the Korean dancers. These were the exact same traditional costumes we wore at the Korean Airport.


The "Haunted" House
As promised, the next day, my dad took all of the kids into our little old house. Secretly I was afraid we might see some live creatures or one of them might fall through the floor, but luckily that didn't happen.


In this little tiny bedroom, we had a bunk bead where the four older children slept together until I was 15 years old! In my parent's room, they had a double bed and a baby crib where the two younger children slept together until they were 4 and 6. Amazing, as I look at it now! But we never knew we were poor--we had such a happy family and my dad was just getting his law practice going.

Yes, we did find a hole in the floor! And luckily, no live creatures--just a dead mouse skeleton!
This is the home we built when I was a sophomore in high school. The living room was almost bigger than the whole house we lived in before!These are the beautiful flowers my dad plants every year in honor of my mother. She loved flowers and made sure they always were planted. Now my dad has taken over the job and is doing wonderfully at it! Don't you agree!


Bear World
On the way home, we took the kids to Bear World. What a fantastic time we had! We saw about 30 bears of every kind--

Hannah found a nice little goat to pet--
until it started eating her hair!

Preston, too, thought he had a little friend--until he head-bunted him! Preston did not like that one little bit!
Brady loved the deer. Tyson liked to pet the chickens.
The rides were great!




On the way home, we went through Pocatello and saw my neice, Lisa, and her husband, Logan. We got to see their darling new baby, Ella Sophia. She is just beautiful, and they are so happy!
What a great time we had in Idaho. Thanks to everyone for making it so special!