Grandpa Goes Punk Rocker

Halloween found Grandpa celebrating as a different character. Gracie wouldn't even give me a hug. I think Spencer was jealous of my tatts. Candee was afraid a ward member's boyfriend was coming to see the bishop for help or revenge. I think Josh was envious of the earring.

I must admit I have trouble seeing grandpa in that costume.

After a while I got the kids to have their picture taken with me.

Peter I and II Protest in D.C.

On September 12, 2009 the Washington, D.C. Subway was jammed.

Peter II protested with hundreds of thousands of like-minded citizens.
He found others with his 2nd amendment concern.
Peter I protested on the west lawn of the US Capitol against excessive government spending.
We were about 100 yards from the speakers podium.
Even the statues were covered with protesters.
Pennsylvania Ave. was crowded with a river of protesters for 4 hours all the way to the capitol building.
Peter II joined as they came from near the White House for 4 hours.
Peter I marched with the river of protesters.
Probably 15,000 protesters per hour marched to the Capitol.
We traveled to the protest by D.C. subway. It was incredibly crowded.
Watch this video clip to see what our protest area looked and sounded like.

Laura Graduates and Goes to Seek Her Fortune

Lots of family gathered for a photo after Laura's graduation.

Seven of Laura's 10 siblings gathered to celebrate her achievement.
Here the happy little family is happy for Laura's persistence.
Here's the happy young family at the airport on August 24, 2009 ready to strike out into the world.

Mom and Dad drop off Peter, Laura and Kaylee at the airport. We didn't even cry, because we know they'll do well in their great life adventure, and we hope to see them again soon.

Siblings United Aug 29, 2009

Finally, the children of Glen and Joyce Cannon found a time with their spouses to all get together for some fun. We went up to Jen and Ray Paul's cabin at Lava Hot Springs, Idaho for a Friday evening and Saturday get away. We soaked in the the hot springs, ate a great steak dinner, Ate a waffle breakfast, played golf and rode ATVs. There is no group I feel more comfortable with in the world. These are choice people.

Grandma and Grandpa Do Lagoon

Welcome to the Jumping Dragon!   This is where we spent 12 days in May 2009 working at the Lagoon amusement park in Farmington. What an awesome Grandma!

The first thing we did in the morning was check the ride, give it a test run without passengers, wipe the seats clean and sweep the walks and entrances of the ride.  Here Grandpa checks the checklist.

Of course we had to close and check all the lap bars before we could start the ride.  Doing this 80 times a day was a good workout for us.  The walking alone totaled about 1 1/2 miles while checking lap bars.

This is where Grandpa stood all day while he operated the Jumping Dragon.

Grandpa stood guard over the dragon while the riders got into their seats.  Or was the Dragon guarding Grandpa?

Do you believe Grandma really rode the Jumping Dragon?

This is what the riders saw as they approached the ride. The pagoda was impressive. We were very fortunate to be located in a wonderfully shaded area with gardens surrounding us where the miniature golf used to be.

Grandma at her post while the Jumping Dragon does his thing.

We think the Jumping Dragon liked us.  Here he gives us a kiss goodbye.

The artwork surrounding the ride was just astounding. There were two of these bronze Chinese guard dog statues at the entrance to the ride.

This time working at Lagoon has been challenging, but rewarding, fun but a little too much. We are tired and ready to do other things this summer.

Clark and Andrew's Tibble Fork Fishing Adventure

Cousins Clark Fox and Andrew Tesch were the next to experience an overnight with Grandma and Grandpa Cannon. The photographer failed to keep a proper record of the event, but there is much to tell. We started by eating dinner at Chuck-a-Rama in Draper. After dinner we went to the campground at Willow Park in Lehi.  We were surprised to find the large camping area filled with Fathers and Sons campers and no room for us. After much consultation, we decided to camp in the wild national forest near Tibble Fork so we could get on the water early the next morning.

We brought all the necessary camping gear except for any flashlight.  Fortunately we got the tent set up just as it got dark.  The boys were happy to sleep under the stars, but Grandma thought there would be a little more safety from the bears if they slept in the tent with us.  

We woke up a little after 5:00 am and started getting read to go fishing. We knew it was cold when we found frost all over the tent as we took it down. We got to the lake before anyone else around 6:00 am. We got the boat inflated and were on the lake by shortly after 7:00 am.  But...we were frozen. Luckily the sun soon came up and we thawed out. We fished for about 5 hours and had great success. Everyone but Grandpa started with worms for bait. But when Grandpa caught three fish in a row on a spinner, everyone changed to using spinners. Grandma caught the biggest fish. Everyone caught several. We counted a total of 20 fish brought into the boat. We only kept the 9 biggest. 

We found time on the way home to eat at Chuck-a-Rama again.  Clark and Andrew enthusiastically cleaned the whole stringer of fish together at Clark's house. Betsy was such a good sport to let that happen in her kitchen sink.

We have such a good time doing these overnights with the grandkids.  They are all gems and we look forward to overnights with every one of them.

Lizzie and Elinor Party at Grandma's House

Lizzie brought the flute so Grandpa contributed the harmonica and concertina.  What a band!  Talk about starting off with a bang!

The jam session tired old grandpa right out, so we put Princess Diary in the DVD player, Grandma made up a big batch of popcorn and we just relaxed.

In the morning before our pancake breakfast, the two little pigs held off the big bad wolf with some tough looks.

Then the girls got serious about searching for treasures in the great outdoors

What a haul! Everywhere they looked was another treasure. Grandpa tried to talk Lizzie out of the big rotten piece of landscape timber, but she was sure she needed it in their lumber pile at home.  I don't think they realized the layer of ice from the fountain with a stick frozen in it would soon be just a puddle of water.

Lizzie found unlimited rocks to climb, or was she leading the choir?

What beautiful spring flowers we have growing in our yard.  We especially love the Elinor and Lizzie flowers!
We love our sleep overs with each of the grandchildren.  It is the highlight of our month.