Happy Birthday Christina

Today is Christina Dittmar's 19th birthday.  Happy Birthday, Tina!  I miss you and love you very much.  I hope you have a wonderful year.  These are pictures from Julianna's wedding.  The bottom picture is Annemarie, me, Sara, Tina and with his back to us, Nathanael Pfiester.  The bottom one was taken last year on December 19th in front of the San Antonio Temple. The top one was taken at the Winston's where the reception was.

A Day at the Zoo

When we lived in Texas, we always had a yearly pass to the zoo.  We would pick up and go whenever we wanted and that was quite often.  Sometimes we would stay for 45 minutes and other times for hours.  This trip we decided to to pick up my niece, Christina Dittmar and take her with us.  I think this was in Christina's phase when she was calling herself "Nina Nina Ballerina".  She would only wear dresses and they had to have full skirts so they spun around.  This was taken by an elephant statue in the zoo - which interestingly enough is by the elephants.  My girls were horsing around and posing and Christina stepped up and posed too.  I loved the moment and love the picture.  I have to say that trip to the zoo is still one of my favorite memories because we had a little one with us.  Little children and zoos just go hand in hand.  (Pam is sitting on the elephant and acting like the monkeys on monkey island across from the elephants.  Love you Pam!  I think this Pam's Gilbert Grape phase.)

Grandma Sarah Tuttle

Tomorrow or the next day is my grandmother, Sarah Anne Sessions Nielson Tuttle's birthday.  Though she has long passed to the other side, those of us who knew her, remember her and try to live up to the legacy that was hers.  She was an amazing woman.  She was widowed twice, once when her oldest daughter was 10 and her youngest was only 3. Yet she still made a pretty good living for her three daughters as a Home Extension Agent for different counties in Utah and eventually working for an insurance company in a similar capacity in Salt Lake City.  That is where she met the man that I came to know as Grandpa Tuttle and how we became shirt-tail relatives to the amazing Tuttle family.  The above picture is a picture of the 'Nielson Family' when my mother was little.  It is my grandfather, LuDeal Nielson, my Grandma Sarah (or Omi as she came to be called by the family) and my mother, Carolyn.  I have no idea how old Mom was in this picture but the mystery of some of our children and grandchildren not having hair for a while has been answered!

Cousins

When we lived in Texas, the cousins spent a lot of time together.  My sister lived in an open two story house.  Heidi and Pam with their Dittmar cousins all laid down in a circle on the dining room floor and my sister, Marianne shot this picture.  We were down there for the 4th of July - which is why everyone is wearing red white and blue.  I think this was taken about 1995.

Happy Birthday Doreen

10 years ago my father asked Doreen to be his wife.  It was a very smart move on his part.  She has made his life so happy for the last 10 years.  I will always be grateful to her for the joy she has brought him.  Happy Birthday Doreen.  We love you and are thankful to have you in our family.  

Doreen Brugger

Tomorrow is Doreen Brugger's birthday.  I have been going through pictures on my computer trying to find some of her and found this one.  This is a picture with my dad of her holding her grandson, Bobby Brugger.  

Christina Marie Dittmar

My niece, Christina, has a birthday the end of the month.  I ran across this picture this morning, looking for another one.  Since Tina's birthday is so close, I will start running pictures of her along with some others.  I love this picture.  This was taken one night when Carianne came to pick me up at the airport in San Antonio.  The thunderstorms were so bad we were literally stranded at Marianne's that night, so everyone found a spot to sleep and borrowed pajamas. Marianne and I snuck in and snapped this picture.  I have the printed copy on my refrigerator to this day and every time I see it, I smile.