Catch up on families and my birthday 2026

August 3, 2026 First Day of School for the Daly Boys.

I love the photos that Jess takes each year of the boys.

They are growing up right before my eyes.

So very handsome!

I celebrated my 69th birthday while we were staying with Corinne in her new townhome.

Shannon sent decorations to Fred so he could decorate for me. 

That was a fun surprise to walk into.

He did an excellent job!

We went out to eat at Longhorn Steakhouse to celebrate. 

Here I am with my Free Lava Cake Birthday Dessert!

Corinne is able to get tickets to attend General Conference every 6 months.

It is wonderful to get such good photos of her with her children.

Shannon and Brian took the kids on a 4 day cruise for Fall break. 

They went with their very good family friends the Harrison's. 

This is our first experience being able to see grandchildren grow up day to day.

It's a great blessing.

Blake has grown taller than everyone in the house.

Okay now who is this pretty little thing?

Fred and I have such beautiful grandchildren. They bring us joy as we watch them grow. 

 

July day trip to the Royal Gorge

Fred and I went on a spur of the moment day trip to the Royal Gorge in Cañon City, CO.

It took a little over two hours to get there. 

For July, the weather was a little overcast and the temperature just right.

We came away from this outing and recommend it for a day trip with children. 

This bridge was built in 1929 and took six months to build.

Total cost was $350,000.

It held the title of the highest bridge in the world from 1929 until 2001.

Here is one view of the gorge below.

We crossed the bridge and are now looking back over to the visitor's center.

It has a gift shop and a restaurant. 

Howard's Hangout is a family-friendly play area with ropes, tunnels, and climbing features.

This is the cable car available to ride across the gorge. 

There are two cars one on each side. The middle cabin has a glass bottom floor.

This is another activity we visited where I didn't take as many pictures as I should have. 

We also attended a live raptor show. Very cool. There were about six hawks that were presented. Very interesting information about these hawks. 

There are trails, ziplines, rock climbing, water rafting and a railroad train.

We really enjoyed day out together. 

 

Some summer highlights 2026

I've selected random pictures of our travels and events this year.

Each family is represented in a group.

Richard has been attending BYU-I studying Mechanical Engineering. 

He has been able to come home for weekends every so often.

Corinne enjoys attending the temple with Richard.

This is outside the Syracuse Temple.

Here at the Visitor's Center on Temple Square (I think)

All the kids except Garrett who is serving a mission in Peru. 

Corinne took the three children who still live at home for a nearby hike. 

                     Henry is turning 13 this year. 

He graduated from Elementary School in May of this year 2026.

This was taken outside the Utah State Capitol where they visited on the 4th of July.

During one of our visits at Corinne's, we finally passed on the Daly Family race car set. It has seen many miles of grandchildren play over the years. We were happy they were excited about keeping it.

We bought Clara this Frozen dress on our trip to Orlando in May. She is such a pretty girl. 

Super smart and sharp.

Our main purpose for this trip was to install security cameras around Corinne's home. She will be living there for the most part by herself with the three youngest children. It was very important to all of our family that she have this safety measure. It was a really big job for Fred. 

I was able to attend the first three days of Clara and Henry's swimming lessons. After just a week, Clara went from sitting on the side to a very powerful looking backstroke.  Super proud of them both.

During the security camera visit, Fred saw that the frame around this man door was looking like it was moments away from ruining the wood. Spencer and Henry were good workers alongside Fred. It wasn't a super fun job. We were glad of their help.

A fun thing we did while visiting Corinne, was to look at new townhome communities. Fred and Corinne look related here - same posture and concentration.

When we finally finished up the projects we came to do, Scott and Jess sent Fred a supply of his favorite snacks for the long drive home. They were right on with their choices.

We move onto Shannon & Brian's family. For Shannon's birthday both Shannon and Brian took the day off work and took Blake and Marissa to Elitch. It's a lot like Lagoon in Farmington Utah.

Marissa made Shannon's birthday cake. Marissa is no beginner when it comes to baking. She made this checkerboard design with two different flavors of cake. Tres Leche and Almond I think.

I thought this was a bakery cake. It was so beautiful. All her work. She did have some assist from Brian, but I'm positive she did most all of the work. 

Marissa made the volleyball team at her middle school. We were able to go to one of her games and watch her skills. She was a pretty good server. All decked out in her uniform and pads.

Blake's new hobby is mountain biking. He started out making a small course in the back yard. Then he made a big course in the empty house lot behind us. The course was visited by many neighborhood boys. They can thank Blake for their free course. Here grandpa is giving an assist on Blake's bike ramp.

                                                                    It passed the drive test.

Fred got 4 free tickets to the Mariner's vs Rockies. We brought along Blake and Marissa. They are so good and appreciative when we take them places. We really had a good time and had great seats.

                                                         Now on to Scott and Jess's family.

Participating in swim team is a regular activity in Phoenix. Evan and Graham are progressing so quickly. Whenever we see a video of them swimming, I marvel at how strong their strokes are and see how truly strong swimmers they are. It's a family commitment. Everyone participates. 

The boys and Jess attended the showing of Toy Story 5. Evan is a super fan of Woody. They both have a collection of all things Toy Story.

The family attended Jess's family reunion at Zion Ponderosa. This was one of the activities.

Oh Yes - and horseback riding for Evan was a dream for sure!

                  Here is the first day of school vs the last day of school for these two. They are growing so fast. They are both going to be over 6 foot. I'm very excited about having big boys in the family.                                                                                 

          Fred and I were invited to go to the Elizabeth Stampede with Lois and Vince DelaTorre. 

Very cute little town. A fairly small facility, but it was a very good time.

Mutt Bustin was cute.

               For Father's Day I found this blanket for Fred. Totally fits him, but I should have ordered the bigger size. This is about a lap quilt size for Fred.

We took Blake and Marissa to the Denver Temple to perform baptism and confirmation ordinances for their ancestors. We arrived very early so the temple workers took them right in. They were able to do the work for 8 males and 9 females.

It was so sunny that morning. The kids were squinting into the camera so they don't look their best. They were very good sports about it. We treated them to In n Out for lunch. It's kind of our burger joint.

So there you have it for random trips and events so far this year.