Graduation Day for Liz!

Elizabeth Bowler Griffith graduates from Brigham Young University - Idaho, December 18, 2009 with a BS in Performing and Visual Art! What a wonderful day for Liz and Josh. We love having the college graduates in the family and she did an exceptional job, balancing school, a job, and new marriage life. Now it is Josh's turn, as he was just accepted at the Art Institute of Seattle and schedule will graduate with a BA in Audio Production and will begin an action packed three year program that begins April 2010.

Happy graduation Day!

Liz working the line!

Josh greets his happy wife as she comes off the stage!

What a great day for a happy couple!

Tasha made Liz a graduation cake and hosted a post graduation party!

What a great cake. . . . by Tasha "Duff" Griffith

Thanksgiving 2009!

Thanksgiving 2009 was wonderful because we were all together and we met Patti's new friend Steve. Our hope is that we did not scare him away, and that he understands

our humor and Dad's way of seeing if he will fit in. . . . . . .

all was good. Sheri did an amazing job organizing two

days of meals. We have so much fun when we are

together, it is truly something to be thankful for.

Our Heaven

Jordan's first day of his last year of High School! Our Last year of school conferences, band concerts, early morning Seminary, homework, proms, homecomings, lost homework, spring breaks, girl/boy friend breakups! After six kids and 35 years of school kids. . . . oh my gosh, a light at the end of a really long tunnel.

John ROCKS at a reunion concert! Check out the family album website for more pictures! http://johnandsheris25thanniversary.shutterfly.com/

We had a busy August Vacation. We attended the Peck reunion in Twin Falls and were able to spend some time with Grandpa and Grandma Griffith. Both are looking well for 91 year olds. Uncle Harvey LOVED Sheri; he asked her for a kiss on the cheek and then said it actually set off high noises in his hearing aid! Then off to Sun Valley to spend a nice weekend with Sharon and Jack. We went to the top of Baldy and Sheri made her mark on having fun with hats! Then it was off to Rexburg where we attended a baseball game and then we rode some of Braun's Razor's. If you have never ridden one, don't take your wife because she will call you names! We drove to American Fork and spent some quality time watching the Monkey's while Patti attended a youth conference. It was a nice change to the summer and we very much enjoyed seeing everyone. Pictures of the trip can be seen at http://johnandsheris25thanniversary.shutterfly.com/

Click on 8/09 Vacation to see the rest of the photos!

Doug Griffith has a beautiful home and a wonderful backyard! We took the Monkey's there for a quick swim. We were only there for about 45 minutes when the sky opened up and it poured!

25th Wedding Anniversary

Even though our wedding anniversary is not until October, our kids surprised us on July 31st by all being at Kathy's home, all six kids and all 15 grandkids! We had a great three days of fun and laughter!

You can view our 25th Wedding Anniversary Photo Album at: http://johnandsheris25thanniversary.shutterfly.com/

Summer Fun on Payette Lake

So far the lake has been fun, but COLD! We have had an unusually cold summer so far with few days above 80 (last night our low was 37! So, the lake remains on the tab bit cool side. Robbie, Jake, Ellie, Josh, Liz, and Sheri have braved the cool water for a dip. John is holding out for something near 70. The Fourth of July on the lake was nuts, more boats than usual and North Beach was "Girls Gone Wild" in McCall. The City Beach, which was under construction last year, was packed for the fire works. We are looking forward to JD and Tasha coming at the end of the month; we would love to see them water ski in this lake, dodging the ice flows! So far Sheri wins the award for being in the lake the most, Josh wins for doing a flip off the boat, Ellie wins for being the first one in for the Epperson's, and John wins for dangling his feet.

PATTI AND THE KIDS!!! YAHOOO!

Patti, Robbie, Jake, Ellie, Luke and JohnJohn came rolling into McCall and boy did we have fun! The weather was great, the kids were good and we went out on the boat a couple of times, went to a hot springs called Gold Fork, and pretty much vegged on enjoying everything. Robbie and Jake used the three and a half foot grass between the house and the creek to hide and shoot each other with the air guns. We sat on the deck and watched the deer and the elk come down to drink and eat. We laughed, we cried, and we simply had a great time! Oh yeah, and the twins found Sheri's home made pickles in basement and, sure enough, we have one less jar now! Carpet and pickle juice. . . . . nice! We now get ready for Josh and Liz, and then the end of July we will be getting ready for the Griffith 7!

Abby Rose Rinker

6/22/2009

Welcome to the world Abby! Kathy brought Abby into the world at 10:00 pm on Monday, June 22. The neat thing about this is it is also Liz's birthday too! Both Abby and mom are doing fine, and so is Craig. Ava has fully accepted her new sister and she calls Abby her baby. 

A very happy family! Congratulations to Kathy and Craig!

This makes grandchild number 15! 

I HATE MOVING!!!

There's no place like home!

Well, Sheri and I got to spend a nice week in Seattle, going to dinners, lunches, shopping at Bell Square, and visiting Fred and Mary and a quick visit to see Janet and the kids. Then it was MOVING DAY! Yuck! We spent an entire day packing and loading our Uhaul truck; fortunately we had Brian drop by to help with the sofa. Brian had just flown in from Boise, helping out Craig and Kathy at the hospital to help us. We left Bellevue on Thursday, spending the night in the wine country town of Prosser, WA., then on to McCall on Friday. It's so good to be home, there's no place like home. 

I can't believe these people are smiling! I got 8 miles to the gallon and the only thing I could get on the radio was Spanish Speaking stations and Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck (which was an education because I really had no idea how much hate they were spewing until I listened to them for 8 hours!)

Typical Saturday in Seattle

This was a spectacular day in Seattle, low 70's, no clouds, the flowers in bloom and too many things to see in just one Saturday. Josh and I were going to go to see a Zack baseball game, but got the times mixed up somehow, so we ended up going to Snoqualmie Falls. Snoqualmie is the English pronunciation of "sah-KOH-koh" or "Sdob-dwahibbluh," a Salish word meaning moon. As a spiritual place, it gave birth to many legends. One tells of "S'Beow" (the beaver), who climbed into the sky to bring trees and fire down to earth. The Native Americans who roamed the valley were known as people of the moon. So much for the history lesson. It is just flat beautiful. Josh has decided to move back to Rexburg to be with Liz, gee I wonder why? As hard as it is for "Oldie Weds" to be apart, it must be much worst for newly weds. He has tried his hardest to find something here in Seattle and it just has not worked out. So, John will be living in restaurants and delis again starting after Labor Day, "Oh the humanities!" Josh is an excellent cook. One of John's favorite is a chicken breast with maple syrup caramelized over it, yummy! It has been nice having him here with today as an example; we went to Snoqualmie Falls, to Pikes Place, to the Rock and Roll Museum, and then back to Mercer Island to throw the baseball to each other. Hopefully Sheri can spend more time in Seattle with John this summer, but she's going to have to learn to catch a baseball and cook caramelized chicken. 

An ancient indian camp grounds is now over taken by Asian tourists. We didn't see any beavers or moons, but lot's of cameras!

I'm sure Sheri knows the name of this tree. Seattle has this most beautiful flowering trees. 

Downtown Seattle Alley with great shops, music and, best of all, food.

Sleepless in Seattle

John and Josh are living on Mercer Island, which is nice, but has it's major drawbacks because, frankly, it would be nice if our wives were here with us. Josh prepares John some very amazing dinners and has the ability of getting fresh seafood, fruits and vegetables from Pike's Place Market, which is only a short 10 minutes from the apartment. It is really nice that John can go on his long walks on "The Island" (that's what the locals call it), and when her gets back, da da, dinner is ready. It's a little like the Odd Couple, Josh being Felix and John being Oscar, because John better not be late for dinner or he is in deep trouble! Josh has been working as an intern learning the wireless cell site acquisition business and searching for a job. Brian got him an interview at really nice restaurant in Seattle, he has been into several other locations, but finding work is still very illusive.  They attended a Mariners game, which was cool because it was "Throw Back Night" which meant the M's and the A's were both wearing the 1939 uniforms or the Seattle Rainiers and the Oakland Oaks. John may get on the M's payroll soon, he has been to two games and they have lost both, so they may pay him to stay away! 

View from Summerset taken while looking for a cell-site location.

Flowers at Pike's Place. Note the prices! 

It is fun to go to Pike's Place and see all the fresh sea food.

Josh on a roof top checking out a possible site for a cell. 

Batting practice at the M's game. I'm sure that this is one of the nicest stadiums in baseball. The vendors and the food is amazing. We were at the game two hours before it started to watch BP and walk the stadium. It was great.

YIKES! John actually felt pretty good before he saw this picture. Note the Seattle Rainiers hat, it was a give away hat night.

Gracie Dog - Jan 13, 2001 - April 19, 2009

Gracie, 2001 - 2009

Gracie developed a liver issue and her organs began shutting down. John had to make a decision to allow her to stop suffering. There are difficult decisions in life, this was certainly one of them. She was part of the Griffith family, she loved the grand kids, she loved sitting on the deck overlooking her domain, she loved laying on the kitchen floor wanting food to "accidentally" drop, and the favorite part of her day was saying good morning, which was a joy to us.  She will be missed by us all. Sweet dreams Gracie Dog, we love you.

JohnJohn and Gracie Dog!