Grandpa Cunningham

My grandfather passed away this month. We will truly miss him.

I missed the funeral by one day but came out early for Christmas. It was good to see everyone that lives out west. His passing brought alot of us together. He had a full life. He was an Air Force pilot.

My mom was the his daughter, the oldest of 8 kids.

Because we moved around alot, I didn't see him often but,
I have fond memories of getting in the back of his "dump truck" with my other cousins and hanging on for dear life to see who could hang in there the longest before being dumped out.
He let us pick peas and carrots from his garden to go to our clubhouse (a large dog house) to make soup. We played in his irrigation ditch as he flooded it with water. I remember him having strong opinions about things....arguing with the tv alot. Makes me laugh even now.

I'll be ever grateful to him for joining the church and being our family's pioneer and for raising and loving my mother and for being a religious and patriotic man.

Christmas Concert AFC 2009

The girls with Grandma Annie and Grandpa John
Nathan and the Choir....posting to you tube.
My mom, Ann and Nathan Osmond....warming up.

Meeting Craig Jessop after the concert.

We went to see the AFC Christmas Concert that my parents were in last week. I took Tara and Emily. We shivered looking at the ice sculptures in the quad, tried to sip very hot cocoa and then enjoyed a fantastic concert with guest soloist Nathan Osmond (son of Alan). The girls and I took a quick tour of the art museum while waiting for the concert to start. Tara said, "Wow Mom, I've never seen stuff like this before." It was the perfect thing to put us in the Christmas "mood".
The Conductor for AFC is Craig Jessop (former conductor of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir). My dad is the Managing Director for the AFC, so of course we got to meet him and take a photo.
These were photos downloaded to my parent's computer. You'll have to wait for an update of the rest of our adventure when we get home....some time early next year!

Odds and ends

Tara's recent self-portrait after studying Modigliani .....elongated necks.

Jacob has been entertaining himself with boxes we've recieved through the mail this season.

You can't see him at all, but he is actually under these boxes. Tara put them together to cover him and make him a robot. They have made racetracks, stores, etc. Isn't it great how the boxes can keep them busy until Santa came with the goods?