Kathy Russell holding 2 yr. old Charlotte Addison D. Snow -

a.k.a. "Zuzu, Gardner Russell - Birthday Boy, Dorothy

Russell, 4 yr. old Winter L. Snow & 6 yr. old James G. Snow...the great-grandbabies!

Jordan Russell, son of Bryan and Peggy Russell, grandson

to G.H. Russell

G.H. and newest great-grandson, 6 mo. old Sawyer Matthew Harker,
son of Stacy Russell Harker and Matthew Harker. Stacy is Kathy
and Mark Russell's daughter.



















Eddie Aho, son of Elaine Aho, and his lovely daughter &
Jana Russell Hoppe (daughter of G.H. Russell)



















Dorothy Russell, Dr. Anderson and Susan Aho Anderson.

Friends Alyssa and Justin with Jessi.

Kathy Russell, Elaine Aho and Jana Russell Hoppe.

Randy Rollins and wife, his dad Robert Rollins, G.H. and

Dorothy Russell

The 1st of Dad's 90th B-Day Celebrations!

Ok, so the first celebration was at the Olive Garden , August 12th, in Melbourne, FL, with sisters Sheryl and Jana and Mom and Dad...Jana provided Dad with his B-Day finery..! Sheryl flew down from New Jersey and I came in from San Diego.

Then, Jana hosted a wonderful bash at her house in Tortoise Island, FL, Aug. 14th for friends and family!

It was the first time in decades that all four of us kids had been together! How terrific to finally be able to spend some time together and celebrate our awesome Dad's grand 90th B-day...an event, he informed us, he was planning to celebrate til' the end of the year?!!

Next was a quick trip out to San Diego in the beginning of Sept., 2010 to visit Mom's sister Atha Richardson Weaver Steiner and her brother John and wife Holly Richardson. We visited Aunt Atha at her very nice assisted living home in Santa Monica - Mom was concerned because she has lost ground physically and mentally since last Jan. - tough to see a beloved family member decline...John and Holly were doing great, the handsomest couple dancing up a storm at their lovely Country Club community event.

"Great-Grandad" Gardner duels James Snow at the Community event!

The top pix is from a Sunday trip to our favorite Chinese Buffet in San Diego. What a great surprise to have Jeffrey make it to our UC 2 Fast and Testimony Mtg., then when he bore his testimony speaking of his love and appreciation for his Grandma and Grandad! Grandad followed suit, commenting that Mom had never, ever told a lie...and expressing his love. I also bore my testimony - what a wonderful meeting!

Family Visits Are The Best!!!

Jessi was able to talk her Dad into helping drive from Eagle Mt. to San Diego and they arrived April 16th with a car crammed full of kids and 'stuff'. We hit the beach right off, Chuck E Cheese (Evan and Taylor dove for a bunch of free tickets) and again to the beach later in the week while a veritable blizzard raged back in Utah...Evan and James became boogie board champs while Winter tried her best to surf the waves...

Christmas Cheer!

How terrific to be able to celebrate Christmas with grandkids, friends and other family! Mom and Dad, sis. Jana and husband Bruce and their son, Kyle.James giving little sis. Winter a big hug at the Ward Christmas party.Baby Zuzu (Charlotte Addison December Snow) and I show off our Santa hats.

Big traditional Christmas Eve Dinner (in San Diego) with turkey and all the 'fixins' with the kids waiting impatiently for the moment when they could finally unwrap their one gift...Winter (2 yrs. old) l-o-v-e-d her miniature wood guitar - now she can play along with big brother James who takes guitar lessons - and James said "This is just what I wanted!" when he opened his talking dart board game. Sure miss being with my other grandbabies, Quinton, Taylor, Evan, Sara and Scott but I sent them love and goodies! The dog is an English Shepherd I fostered for a few months - a great companion who helped James get over his fear of dogs.

After celebrating in San Diego it was off to FL on a 'red-eye' flight - leaving 10:pm and arriving 12:30 pm...the next day...is how it earned the nickname...BUT scored a $400 voucher by volunteering my seat to a very stressed-out traveler for whom much else had already gone wrong...Sweet!

WONDERFUL to see all you beloved friends and family and get to spend time with y'all! Fishing, boating...ok, so I didn't actually go out in the boat (Dad's clunker) but it did start and is now owl-pellet free...haven't touched the discarded snake-skin in the front bow under the seats tho', rather have a resident harmless yellow rat snake than rats...While fishing from the dock (with little to show for it) Dad finally decided to prop his pole for a minute to talk to the young handyman who stopped by for his payment. No sooner had he gotten a few feet away than crash! bang! SPLASH! and the whole rig went in. The six inch red-tipped white bobber was submarining across the canal and for the next few minutes we all watched as it zig-zagged the water, popping up here and there unexpectedly but not leaving the canal. Had no luck trying to bring up the rod and reel with various long handled tools. With little hope of success we tied on a 6 in metal lure with 1 1/2 inch treble hooks to my rod. Cast it out, and, shocker!, snagged the line on the first try! Was able to bring in both rod and fish - the fish was a huge 5 lb. catfish who was quite happy to be gingerly released - saltwater catfish have evil spines which are poisonous due to the bacteria-laden covering of slime. It was the second catfish of the day; meaning time to call it quits. All-in-all, tho', it was a fun way to spend New Year's Day, 2009, and certainly was great to enjoy the balmy weather.

Tomorrow, the 5th of January, it is back to San Diego and my fun "Sing'n Speak Spanish" teaching job. Looking forward to moving into my own apt. right across from daughter and family...The marriage turned out to be a bit of a mismatch yet enabled me to be in San Diego to help out with my daughter's health crisis, finish my bachelor's degree (begun back when the earth was cooling), and find a new career. SO, remember, "Mi casa es su casa." - there is much to see and do here in San Diego!

Crashed and burned...

Yesterday morning I 'chained' myself to my desk at home to finish my Term end Final Paper - due by 8 pm Monday night. About an hour and a half into the big push there was a loud metallic sounding crash and boom that rattled windows. Then I could hear a neighbor hollering so I went outside to see an ominously thick plume of black smoke rising just blocks away. Threw on my Red Cross shirt, grabbed my CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) equipment and jumped in the car. Arrived at the scene of surreal destruction...a two-story house already completely engulfed in a wall of flame and, between the flames below and smoke, the fuselage of a jet airplane. Flames were everywhere with neighbours checking on houses to clear other neighbors out, helping the petite little old Asian lady, Ms. Hsu out - her home was next to the one burning - but most stood in shock and horror at the unimaginable.

Finally, the cops, fire engines and firemen arrived to rush to pour water on threatened homes and secure the area. The bomb squad, Fire Crash Rescue - in their reinforced SWAT-like vehicle, the Hazmat guys in full silver suited protection gear, the naval air personnel, the Coast Gaurd; within hours there were hundreds combing, dousing, and searching through the wreckage. I watched as a gurney was unloaded and knew that meant bodies. Then the young couple directly across the street told me they had called the husband and he had confirmed his wife, two young daughters, and mother-in-law had been in the house that had been hit directly...Rescue workers were very solemn as they went about quelling the conflagration and containing the damage. The Battalion Chief conducted situation updates every 2 hours about 15 ft. from where I was stationed (distributing cold water and gatorade) - so many hazards to consider and so many efforts, resources and personnel to coordinate.

Once local Red Cross personnel showed up, I left, back to plug away at my Paper...the much shortened time frame left me profoundly grateful for my brilliant daughter Alysson's last-minute help to get everything in on time.

The young father is struggling to deal with this blow...comforted somewhat by knowledge that, as he said, "They are with God."

Makes me even SO much more grateful for all my wonderful family and friends, each and every one!

Sheryl and Jennifer Come For San Diego Fun!

What a treat it was to have Sheryl Finch and Jennifer Westbrook come out to S.D. for an all-too short visit this summer. Armed with their "GoSanDiego" Passes, Sheryl and Jennifer went to a record number of attractions - I joined them to hit Embarcadero Bay, the Wild Animal Park and the San Diego Zoo all in one day...What a blast! Lions and tigers and bears...(esp. those adorable Pandas)...oh my, indeed! Even headed across the border for some shopping and a 'delicioso' meal while serenaded by strolling mariachis. Que divertido!!!

And they say ya' can't teach an old dog new tricks...

Inspired by my kids' great example, I am (finally...kind'a kickin' and screamin'...) venturing into the cyber adventure of blogging...I am hoping this will get me off the hook for my truly lousy correspondence skills...and in my defense beg that the past few months of having to take 8 exams and write 8 papers each month plus the final Senior Thesis has me a bit burned out on anything resembling additional writing... I DO miss all my family and friends in Florida even as I meet some great new folks out here in San Diego and, of course, thoroughly enjoy being 5 minutes away from some of my grandkids and a whole lot closer on the West Coast to the rest.