Hi All! It's me again. Wasn't able to post all the pics on the first post, so here's the rest of them. We enjoyed a nice picnic too, and the weather was great, so was a nice day and of course, no one wanted to go home!

Love you all

Till next time!

Sassy Cassy

Hi All! Thought I would post some pics of Shawnna, Drew, Ninha and yours truly enjoying a day at the Stonehill Park during their spring break visit. I was so surprised at how well Drew took to the rope ladder. I put him on it and right away, he knew where to put his feet and scurried right up to the top and then, down the slide. Of course, Shawnna could do everything - it must be that 'gymnastic' training she had! Anyway, a good time was had by all. Made me realize I'm not as young as I used to be and that I need to get out and work my muscles more or the next time they come to visit, I'll be sitting on the sidelines.

Love you all!

Till next time,

Sassy Cassy

Dear Jocy,
One of the reasons the USA is so disliked by the rest of the world and more importantly the EU is that we are so engrossed with what is happening in the almighty homeland that we take very few opportunities to look outside ourselves and see whats happening in the rest of the globe. So as one who surfs the 11 o'clock news of cbs, nbc and abc I can honestly say I have never heard of the man you mentioned. I have only heard a few snippets about Mitt Romney so I have heard nothing about the French elections. Now Nathan who is much more politically inclined will tell you that if I were watching fox or cnn I would be better informed because those news peddlers are much less myoptic and tend to cover more of the globe and even some of Mitt Romney. I will have to say tho that abc hates Bush so much that we get a fairly complete suicide or truck bomb report and body count every night.
My report for you Jocy.
Come on Nathan tell us your view from the eastern slopes of the rocky mountains. I doubt that the rest of you even care.
Love Dad

I don't know if I was clear. I meant that I don't know how the American media has portrayed Sarkozy and I would be interested to find out.
Jocelyn

Yeah for Nicolas Sarkozy!! I know we are SUCH a political family (!!) so I'd love to hear what you think about Sarkozy and how the American media has been portraying him. We watched the debate this past week and we much preferred Sarkozy to Segolene Royal. We think he has a much better approach to improving France's economy etc. I have a hard time explaining it... considering how politically well-versed I am (not!!).

Hope you had a great Sunday. I'm feeling a little better. After my 'perfect' day last week I got sick and spent Th, F and S on the couch with a fever. Sometimes at the end of a normal day, I don't feel like I've accomplished much. But when I spend 3 days without doing anything, I realize how much work it takes just to keep the house from falling apart. So I recognize that normally I must be doing something! Patrice paid me a nice 'male' compliment. He took care of lunch and dinner Th, lunch on F and by Friday night he said, "I don't know how you do it." What a guy! It's true that normally I cook 3 meals a day and that takes effort too. So, all that to say that there's nothing like a little illness to be VERY thankful for my good health. And all I need is a little illness because I can't take any more than that.

Have a great week. I'm looking forward to finding out the names for the people in the photos.
Jocelyn

Sorry about the spelling it is Natalie Ginn

Thank You Jocy and Cass for playing my game with the old pictures. I will give the answers on Tuesday so any other guesses will be appreaciated. Here are a couple of pictures of Naalie Ginn getting her hair cut just like the others have recently.
Love ED

GOSH, THAT WAS SO DUMB OF ME!

I READ JOCELYN'S NOTE WRONG AND

THOUGHT SHE SAID 'GRANDMA'S MOTHER,'

SO WAS TRYING TO GIVE YOU ALL A BETTER SHOT.

I DON'T THINK ANY OF YOU WILL GUESS THE FIRST BABY.

HE'S NOT MENTIONED MUCH IN FAMILY STORIES OR HISTORY

BUT KEEP GUESSING.

TILL NEXT TIME

LOVE, SASSY CASSY

GOSH, MAYBE I SHOULDN'T TELL WHO THE PICTURES ARE OF?

MAYBE A LITTLE GUESSING GAME WOULD BE FUN

BUT I'LL GIVE A LITTLE HINT -

AS ED SAYS THEY ARE ALL GINN'S

BUT THEY ARE FROM GRANDPA GINN'S SIDE OF THE FAMILY!!

Till next time!

Sassy Cassy

The top one looks like Uncle Hal. I don't know for the brown eyed baby. The second baby is Jimmy - I cheated and read the caption! I don't know for the headshot of the adult male. The last one I'm assuming it's Grampa's mother?
Those are my guesses. Keep the photos coming!
Jocelyn

Hi all!
Thank you Cass for posting for the Dufforts. I love to see their pictures and read about their daily activities. I love to see the input from all of you.
Anyway-with Ron Holts help I am getting into this family history thing. Last Sat and Sun I started scanning old photos from dads white suitcase. I am going to start sharing them here on the blog and ask you to try and identify them. Later I'll post the answer. Here are some for your amusement. Hint: they are all Ginn's
Love ya Ed

Hi All! Jocelyn is having trouble posting again, so she asked me to post the following:

Today was a PERFECT day. I wish there were a recipe to follow to have all days turn out like today. It was a vacation day so Alienor was home from school. It’s amazing how much less stress we have in our home when she stays home. (Patrice thinks that’s not true, just my warped homeschooling opinion!!) The kids played well ALL day long. We did art, geography, and science this morning. Then we took a bike ride down the hill, stopped to feed the horses, and continued on to the park. We came back and had lunch at 12:30 and then Perceval took a long nap. He was sick this weekend and isn’t feeling 100% yet. I went over music with the other kids while they continued their projects for the day. Alienor was making princess slippers. Guillaume got into making Roman swords and head gear plus a tunic for Alienor – all out of paper. The girls ended up changing into sheets for their Roman-wear. In amongst all that I got to take a NAP!! Just long enough to get rested but not long enough to wake up groggy. Perfect. Then I whipped up a lasagna and carrot salad for dinner. I tried to call around to invite someone over for dinner but Patrice and I couldn’t decide on who (he never wants to share lasagna!) and the people I ended up calling weren’t home (Gerouville, Marichal, Elders had RDV, Sisters had plans). I even got some housework in there too – I cleaned the bathroom and vacuumed. And through it all there was NO stress (I mean I wasn’t running around trying to get stuff done). That’s probably the key, no stress, plus the willingness of the children to cooperate. I always say, when Guillaume is happy, everyone is happy. The only thing that didn’t end perfectly was that the kids didn’t get ready for bed as nicely as I would have hoped given the day and I didn’t read to them. I had Patrice get them in bed because I was going to get mad and didn’t want to ruin my day like that. Tomorrow is no school as well, although I’m not sure what the reason is, so I can only hope that tomorrow will go as smoothly as today!! (I can dream can’t I?!)
Hope your day goes as well as mine did!!

Hi All! The 'short hair' craze must be catching because Ninha has joined the ranks of the 'easy care' life of a short hair wearer! Actually, because of some of the really strong kinds of medication Ninha has to take, she's had a difficult time keeping her hair long and beautiful, so this Saturday she went 'under' the scissors and had it cut. I'm a short-hair fanatic so I think it looks great! I think it takes 10 years off anyone and makes everyone look bouncier and happier! Probably not everyone thinks that way, but oh well.....

Love you all - Till' next time,

Sassy Cassy

Congrats to Bobby!

Bobby got a killer job today! He will be the executive Director of Utah Youth Soccer Association. I am rather jealous. I will not spoil much else as i believe he should be the one that shares with everyone all of the perks.

I finaly bought tickets for Utah. I fly in on Wednesday, May 23rd at 11:05pm MST and will return to Iowa on Tuesday, May 29th at 10:25 am MST.

I am very excited! it is going to be a great weekend of family and relaxing.


Life is soccer here, nothing too special...my 14 year old girls placed second in a tournament. They are good, could be great, but do not get what it means to be dedicated. Otherwise they are great!

Love y'all!

Hi All! Well Thursday morning before going to work, I got a phone call from a distressed Shawnna telling me that she was in the hospital. Of course, that's not what Grandma's like to hear. Those first moments of thinking what's happened, what's wrong are soooo upsetting - my heart was in my throat! Through her tears, she was able to tell me that she got a tick in her ear - that she had been climbing the tree and must have picked up a tick. It was sometime over the weekend, so the little 'Tic' guy had some time to really burrow deep. Shawnna said, 'Why is it that they always have to use needles to fix things?' Yes, I don't like needles either but sometimes it's the best way to help. I spent time on the phone comforting her, and of course, the medicine was beginning to take effect, so Shawnna was calmed down and let the nurse help. They weren't able to get the head all out, and it's the 'bad' kind of tic, so they are giving her antibotics and in a couple of days, she will have to go back and have minor surgery to cut the little guy out from behind her ear. What it's like to be a kid, and the jobs of being a mother - many of us can relate to both!
Til' next time, love you all,
Sassy Cassy

Easter 07

5yr old Stacia---becoming our active daughter. Here seen as a dance star, performing at the Lehi spring festival.

Stacia had swimming lessons this spring so everybody had fun!

Hi All! Here's some pics of Shawnna and Drew enjoying their visit to Grandma TaTa's over spring break. First - the airplane ride. Looks like they enjoyed the food; Ninha said they did good and I was sooo excited to see them all. The next day was spent resting up after the long trip. The kids spent time outside enjoying the warm weather and blowing bubbles! Ninha and the kids took a walk around the house, played up in the V-ditch. That's such a 'typical face' for Shawnna - so cute! There I am with the grandkids and Rod Hopkin, my neighbor and home teacher, the kids call him 'Grandpa Rod.' I took off that Friday and all of us enjoyed working in the 'garden' planting flowers in the back planter. Even my neighbor, Tina (Nona Tina to the kids) got in the act. Saying hello and give pointers on the best way to plant the flowers. It's so nice now, I look out my kitchen window and see all the pretty flowers and think of Ninha, Shawnna and Drew and all the fun and laughs we had working together. Great memories and pics too! Til' next time - Love you All! Grandma TaTa / Grandma Cass!

Yesterday was Sant Jordi. Which in Catalunya is like our Valentine´s day. Except here they give roses and books. So on all of the sidewalks of Barcelona there were thousands of stands selling books and real roses and fake roses and more books etc... So, tons of people came out to buy books and flowers. I have never seen so many people in Barcelona before. I wish I had had my camera to take pictures. You know those movies of New York (or big cities like that) and they show the mob of people on the sidewalk going to work or whatever? That´s what I felt like. I felt like I was in a movie...I was in a hurry and I had to go weaving in and out of people to get anywhere. David came to pick me up and like a good boy (that´s finally learned after a few years) had a rose for me. AAWWWWW......

Just an interesting experience. Love you all.
OH! Marion, do we know what it is yet? do we have a name?

Yea Marion!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's so good to have you back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WELCOME The pitures were great. It looks like the bishop still has hair!
This is good. Im glad to hear that the pregnancy is going well. Still need the side shot
for proof.

And finally thank you to Nathan for finally taking the time to make it possible for everyone to be on the blog again.

So lets keep the stories and pictures rolling.........................Yessssssssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!
Love to all Ed

More pictures.
Our day at Disney Paris with the Duffort family was wonderful. The kids all got along great and we just had an all around fun time.

I guess we are the last ones to get back on the blog. Things have been pretty busy around here so this is really the first chance I have had to sit and make a post. Things are well here in New Jersey. School, Work, and Church are pretty much our lives. A member of our ward asked me last week when the baby was due. When I told him the first of August he said, "Wow, that soon." When I looked at him funny he reminded me that August is only three months away. Honestly, there is so much going on that I haven't really had time to think about when the baby is due or much about baby at all. We did manage to get our pictures loaded from our trip, so happy viewing.
The first picture is at Angelina's. Angelina's is a famous tea house in Paris not far from the Louvre. Their hot chocolate is served with a huge dish of real whipped cream and it is like drinking a melted chocolate bar. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
The next picture is of the kids on the Pont Neuf bridge.

Sorry Spencer how could I have messed up so bad. Maybe your mom will tell me how I did it?

¡¡¡GRACIAS!!!

Thanks to Nathan for helping the

rest of the clan get back to blogging!!

I love the pictures and stories and everything!

love you all.

keep smiling

Hope everyone had a nice Sunday and is ready for a new week. It was great to see posts from Cassy and Jocelyn. It look like the only one missing now is Marion. I know Nathan re-invited you Marion so give it another go and lets see some of those great pictures of Paris Disney and some comments on how the pregnancy is going (love a side view )and how wonderful and dedicated your husband is (love a graying or receding hairline)to his family, the ward and the firm. Most of all we want Abby! Stephen! and by all means John! pictures. Come on Abby show your mom how it is done!!! We want you all to be part of the growing Ginn Family Record which is now a binder and a half thick.
As of now with the help of Ron Holst we have 410 names in our family history and we are working to get temple ready 20 sealings for a sealing session to be held in the Manti temple
room 5 at 3pm Thursday the 24th of May. It is a large room and will hold 14 to 16 people. We are hoping for a strong spiritual experience as we seal these members of our family.
Love to all Ed

Bobby and Gina

Thank You Very Much

The invitation to our
40th wedding anniversary
is beautiful!

Oh, looking at the Easter group photo reminded me... other BIG news in the Duffort home. We finally installed a light fixture in the dining room. No more Italian lighting!! (We call the light bulb hanging down Italian lighting) Anyway, it took us awhile but we finally got it done! Light fixtures aren't our thing, we just don't really care. Luckily almost all the lights already had fixtures. Overall home decor is not my thing and I don't really care about it but Patrice tries and helps me. He has much more style than I do.
And looking at Patrice in the picture made me remember that he was REALLY sick that weekend, which is why he looks a little unkempt!
Well, that's all folks.
Jocelyn

These are pictures from Easter Monday at my in-law's house in Nancy. Do you celebrate Easter Monday in America? Don't know what religious event it relates to though. Anyway, the weather had been beautiful all week which is so rare that we were afraid it would turn and rain on Easter weekend. No, we lucked out and the weather was really warm. As a matter of fact it has not rained in over three weeks now which is very rare for Luxembourg. There will probably be MAJOR water rationing announced in the near future! As always, we got enough chocolate from Easter to last us all year long. Chocolate is not considered a candy here. It's its own food group! So apparently you can't have enough of it. Not being a real chocolate lover, I use it to bake with - I crush it up and make my own chocolate chips.
So that was Easter Monday here.
Jocelyn

This is the group that we had over for Easter Sunday after church. It's kind of a long story but here goes... Last year in January we had our American friends from Kaiserslautern come visit us for the weekend. Kurt and April Andreason and their 5 kids - they are the couple standing next to us in the picture. April and I were talking and come to find out that she grew up with Troy Bankhead who is in our ward. Nancy and Troy Bankhead are standing next to the Andreasons in the picture (with 3 kids). We thought it would be fun to have the Andreasons over one weekend and then invite the Bankheads to surprise Troy. But we never got around to it. This year April's brother Clark (next to Troy in picture) and family were planning a visit to Europe and he wanted to make sure to see Troy. It just worked out that in their trip, the day to get together was Easter Sunday. The Bankhead live in Belgium, about a half hour away, and the Andreasons live about 1.5 hours the other way in Germany. Everyone came to church and then our house was the meeting place in between. So we had 8 adults and 16 children (one of Clark's is missing in picture) and everything turned out great. Everyone got to 'catch up.'

It's a small world too because Troy Bankhead served in Marion and Bryan's mission around the same time as they did.

That was Easter Sunday at our house.

Jocelyn