Turner Family

Friday, August 14, 2009

Salt Lake City, Utah

You can't go to Salt Lake City without taking a tour of the LDS Temple Square! The gardens are so beautiful and the temple is gorgeous!

Standing by the SLC Temple doors. (The doors are so big!)

We found a sister missionary (Leslie McKinlay) who is serving from our ward on Temple Square!

Brigham Young University - Provo

We did a total brainwash trip and took the gals to BYU Provo! (mu-hahaha!). Of course they fell in love with the campus and some even said,"Oh I would rather go here, that BYU-I". We are pleased they all feel the determination to go to a BYU. They each know they need to work hard in order to attend a BYU and that it's not going to be an easy journey.

While on campus we took the girls to my old stomping grounds in the HFAC (Harris Fine Arts Center). I took them down to the KBYU-TV News studios and gave them a tour of the newsrooms, production, FM radio, the tunnel, and the studio. It was so much fun to see it all again!

We took the girls down to the front of campus and took their picture by the sign. I have always loved what is written underneath the signs... "The World Is Our Campus" and "Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve" I remember thinking to myself the day I graduated and stood in front of those signs, that I would apply all that I learned on BYU campus and use it to serve others. The spirit is so strong on campus and BYU is such a great place to be educated.

Famous Y Mountain! As a freshman, my FHE group decided to hike the mountain one evening by moonlight (none of had flashlights)...little did we know there was an actual path...uh, ya...we hiked to the Y, straight up the mountain in the dark!

Our First home in Provo after we got married! (we lived in the basement apt) 300 West, near the Provo Hospital.

Our second home in Provo. We moved here right before Victoria was born. Again, we lived in the basement apartment. (Elm Avenue, above 900 east in the Tree Streets.)

Our third home in Provo. We actually lived upstairs! This is the home we brought the twins home to. We lived here when Ron was hired by Compaq/HP and when we moved to Houston. (Cedar Avenue, still in the Tree Streets above 900 E. in Provo.)

Sander Family Reunion

We were so excited to be able to spend some time with my Mother's side of the family (Sander)in Salt Lake City. It was so good to see aunts, uncles, and cousins that we haven't seen for many, many years! As I looked around the reunion, I couldn't help but think about our Grandparents, Owen and Janet Sander, and how proud they would have been to see all of the family together again and to see their many great grandchildren.

Ron & Danielle with Aunt Judy (My Mother's sister)

Uncle Steve with Gail

Cousin reunion! From left to right: John (Judy' son) & Chrissy, Danielle (Mary's daughter) & Ron, Todd (Mary's son) & Karen, David (Ann's son) & Trista.

View from above Steve's home.

The identical twin cousins! The last time they saw each other, they were two years old. They all hit it off, and talked to each other all evening. I heard a lot of...."Don't you dislike it when people mix you up?"

The view from Steve's front porch...check out the steep driveway. (yikes!)

Victoria and Katelyn.

The Twinnies....or as someone called them...the two packages of Twinkies.

David's five boys, Danielle's five girls and John's twin boys. If only Aunt Ann could see this photo. She would be so happy.

Judy and Steve.

Katelyn, Megan and Victoria

The whole Sander Gang!

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Grandview, Washington - Visiting Grandma & Grandpa Avery

Grandview, Washington is a small town in Eastern Washington. I believe the population is around 8,000 people.

Here's a little background on this little town... "Local tradition tells us that on a bright Indian summer morning in 1905, two men on horseback, Elza Dean and F.L. Pitman, pulled their mounts to a halt halfway between then new towns of Sunnyside and Prosser. They saw Snipes Mountain rising in the foreground, and the snow-capped peaks of Mt. Adams and Mt. Rainier were outlined against the sky. “It’s a grand view!” one of the riders exclaimed. The other nodded. They unfolded a map of the Sunnyside Railway and Granger Land Company and one of the riders pointed to a spot on the north part of Section 23 while the other made an “X” with a stubby pencil and wrote “Grand View” and on April 25, 1906 the plat of the new town site was filed for record."

We enjoyed our time with Gary & Carol (Ron's mother and step father) in Grandview. They returned from their mission from South Korea in early spring and had their new home finished just in time for July family reunions! The pool, hot tub, deck and home are just wonderful! Behind their home is acres of cherry orchards and hay. Down the road are grape vineyards, hops, peach orchard and many other produce that we all enjoy in our local grocery stores! I enjoyed sitting on the deck in the evenings watching the sun set and smelling the fresh cut hay. The temperatures were perfect and there wasn't a lick of humidity! Got to love that! Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for the FUN, FUN memories!