Return to Paradise

Terri and I flew to Utah to see some of our children-- before they scattered around the world again! Our oldest son, Michael, retired from the Marine Corps after almost 15 yrs of service (he enlisted when he was 17). He, his wife Pri (from Brazil) and two children (Robbie and Gabe) will be moving to Brazil once all the visas and paperwork is ready-- so we thought we would go see him before he leaves (he was staying in Utah while all his paperwork was being processed).

Here is Mike and his family. He is an honorable man and has faithfully served his country for many years. Now he is moving to Brazil so Pri can return to school, and so that he can pursue a career in economics.

Several other family members were able to gather to Utah at the same time. Our second son, Jeremiah, and his family came from Sacramento. Here is one of the grandchildren (Ben or Kael?) watching the new TV Mike bought to take to Brazil with him.

Robbie and Ben found a corner of Kim's house to play (Terri and I stayed with our daughter Liz in Terri's sister Kim's house, while Mike and his family stayed at the Clawson condo in Salt Lake).

One of the items of family business was to celebrate JJ's birthday. We went to his favorite restaurant: Chucky Cheeze! Here our daughter Liz shows us her best side as she celebrates the birthday.

Mike with his party hat on. It just doesn't seem right seeing him without his uniform on!

Mike's wife, Pri, waiting for the pizza to arrive.

Terri is attempting to take a picture of Gabe with her new camera phone.

JJ watches over Robbie as he plays one of the many games at Chucky Cheeze

Finally, JJ steps in to save the day. Remember... this is where JJ wanted to go for his birthday! He likes to play the games more than his kids do!

Robbie riding a small merry-go-round

I think Robbie is unsure about this ride!

Ben and Kael try their hand at driving. It won't be long before they are stealing their dad's car to go joy-riding...

Mike and Gabe, Pri and Robbie, challenge each other at a car race.

Finally! The pizza arrives and their is a mad rush to get one's share of the food before it disappears.

Jamie is holding Kael... and pondering whether she could escape out the door before someone missed her...

Kael tries his hand at the ferris wheel. He seems to be having more fun than Robbie did!

Ben and Kael peer out from behind the plastic window in the playtower.

JJ looks on as Mike and Robbie play a game.

Robbie and Kael look on while Ben shows them a new cartoon website he found.

The next family priority was to go to Little America for brunch... a long-standing Clawson tradition! JJ and Terri wait with Ben and Robbie until our table is ready.

Robbie comes to tell us the table is ready!

We finally get to the table and eat. It is a large group, but we are still missing my Dad, Isaac and Jackie (living in Mexico), and Seth, Meg and Joshua (living in PA).

Mike rests as the kids play at the Clawson condo in Salt Lake.

Terri and Liz take a break from lots of shopping! Once again, Liz shows us her best side!

Liz and Robbie make some brownies in Kim's kitchen.

We didn't have enough time to do everything, but did get to say hello and goodbye to Mike and Pri and Robbie and Gabe before we lose them to Brazil for several years.