Happy Birthday "Shout Out" to Blake

Happy First Birthday Blake! It seems like we've barely blinked and time has gone by! For such a small guy, you've had quite an impact on our family!

You were born one year ago today in San Diego, California (or "Paradise", as we like to refer to it...if it's not Paradise, we're sure it has the same zip code.) If your dad had his way, your name would be "Diego". Lucky for you, your mom talked him out of it. Your parents had a hard time agreeing on a name, but once they thought of "Blake", it just felt right. (Although, a blue eyed, blonde haired Diego would have been a good conversation piece.)
You always have a smile on your face and make people want to pick you up and give you a big hug! Your smile can light up a room! You even smile when you have a severe ear infection. Hopefully those are gone for good! What a great year it has been...we've loved every minute you've been with us. There is a part of our hearts that is reserved just for you...we love you Blake.

So, How Was Your Weekend?

Elder Michael Teh, Bob, President Tipps, Pres. Newsome, Elder Tingey

We didn't know any of these men, except Gary Newsome, until yesterday. Interesting how fast you can make friends in the Church.

President Johnson 1st counselor, President Tipps, President Newsome 2nd counselor

(These men will be seeing a lot of each other over the next 10 years)

So...how was your weekend? I'm sure many of you will return to work tomorrow and be asked this question. Perhaps you may be the one to inquire. Whatever the case may be, you can ususally rely on a typical response such as "it was too short", or "it was a pretty good one". I'm wondering how Bob will respond tomorrow to such an inquiry (since none of his co-workers belong to the Church). He is sure to get little or no response from an answer like, "I was called to serve in the newly formed Nashville stake presidency". The explanation may take more energy than he will have left by tomorrow morning, so I think he'll stick with the typical response. Now we just need to hope they don't ask how he's sleeping at night. His response may be similar to that spoken of by Elder Tingey today where he told of a newly called stake president being asked how he slept the night before being sustained and his response was "I slept like a baby....I woke up every hour crying!"

My Sister

My sister Penni and her husband Rick came to visit for the Memorial Day weekend. Rick had to be in Tampa the following week, so they traveled through Nashville to spend some time with us. We had a great time together.

On our way to downtown Franklin, we stopped to show them the Nashville Temple. We hurried and took some pictures outside the temple as there were several wedding parties coming outside. The grounds are very small so there are very few places to take photos...so we hurried and took a few pictures and got ourselves out of the way.

It was fun showing them around the Brentwood and Franklin areas. We went to the famous Puckett's Grocery and Restaurant for lunch, visited some fun shops in Franklin, went to the movies, hung out with some friends in the ward on Memorial Day...in general, we just played all weekend. Bob was still suffering from a little jet lag, but we didn't let him get any rest. On Friday night, just after they arrived, we drove to the Bluebird Cafe for dinner and the show. We ended up at a table for six and sat with a couple from Tennessee. They were a nice couple who were on a date together and had never been to the Bluebird. The lady was quick to let us know that her husband had died several months ago and that this WAS NOT her husband. We were able to have some light conversation before the show began which led to all the questions about where everyone was from. Penni and Rick mentioned that they were from Murray Utah, which I found interesting to hear them say Murray instead of Salt Lake. I'm sure this couple had no idea where Murray Utah was...but the Utah part was totally understandable. (It's like us saying we moved from Orange County and not saying Placentia.) Penni then asked the girl where she was from. She said "Columbia". I could see the look of surprise on both Penni and Rick's faces as they both asked questions such as "What took you to Columbia?" and "How long did you live there?" The girl didn't think anything of it answering their questions with simple answers like..."Work"...and "Until my husband died." I figured out what they were thinking by where their questions were leading and figured I should pipe in with something that would let Penni and Rick know that there is a Columbia in Tennessee. I said..."I think I saw a sign on the freeway to Columbia when we drove to Lewisburg." This stopped Penni and Rick's quesitons in their tracks. I believe the next few questions may have been something like..."Do you speak Spanish?"...or..."Is that where your husband died?"...or..."Were you part of the drug cartel?". We laughed about it all weekend.