Hawaii Post Script

Well, I had intended to blog yesterday and post some Hawaii pictures, but I could not download any pictures for some reason.  So, I posted the pictures on facebook instead.  I should have deleted some of them as there were dupicates and some not so good ones.


Of course, I had a great time.  Sherry and Jeff are very good hosts.  Jeff likes to be on the go, so we did lots of driving and covered the whole island before I left.  The Big Island (very original name) is different, I think, from the others I have been to.  There have been five different volcano irruptions over the years so many parts of the island are nothing but lava flows that are now rocks.   We drove to the top of the largest of the volclanoes.  However, the southeast side of the island is very tropical.  Now get this, they get 250 inches of rain each year. Amazing!  We visited rain forests, tropical gardens with very lush vegetation, beautiful waterfalls, etc.  The Kona district where we stayed is very dry and only gets about 10 inches of rainfall a year.  The weather was beautiful most days with only a few mornings of cloudy weather.  


I finally said that I would like to visit a beach so we did get to one for a half-day.  They surf was really high most of the time we were there so it was fun to watch all the water activity--surfers etc.
I didn't come home with a tan, which is fine.  I don't need any more wrinkles.  The one thing we didn't see was some of the nicer beaches which are located in the area of the big resorts.  We ran out of daylight on the day we were in that area.


The Thorne's condo is nicely located.  We are across the street from the ocean with no trees to block the view.  My favorite thing was sitting out on the Lani listening  and watching the waves roll in.


Anyway, I am back home now to take care of Brian.  It was good of him to stay home while I vacationed.

Gett'in Out

Saturday was a beautiful, sunny day so we drove down to Mesquite to a car show and chili cook-off.  Sounds  like something right down our alley doesn't it?  It was quite fun looking at all the old cars that have been renewed.  Some are quite amazing.  The one above caught my eye.  Did you notice the blender attached to the front left side?  I guess they can mix a drink while driving along.

Brian liked this old l936 Ford.  He said his Uncle Vern had the same car that they drove down to the field every day.  However, it didn't look like this one.

We saw some very snazzy paint jobs.  This one caught my eye.

How would you like to take this one out for a Sunday drive?

I took a picture of this 1957 Chevy because when I was in high school we drove this exact same car.  It is still a pretty-good looking car.  I know I was pretty excited about it back then.

We walked over to the chili cook-off competition.  This place had already sold out of their chili, and it was only 1:00.  It was pretty crowded so I only stopped at a few of the clili booths.  It was 61 degrees there in Mesquite so it was a good way to spend a few hours.

Out of Order Post.

These picture are supposed to be in the middle of the blog below.  I started doing the blog, then had to leave and when I came back I forgot to include these pictures taken Christmas morning.

We woke up Christmas morning to this beautiful sun rise.

Katie gets ready to attack her present pile.

 Not sure why I included this picture.  At least Becky and Maddy look good.

Oh boy, a new tie.  Too bad he didn't get anything else.  ha ha

Our two BYU-I students.
Be sure and look at the next blog for more Washington pictures.

Washington Good Times

Even though I am a little late in getting a blog going, I still wanted to show you what a good time we had in Washington for the two weeks  we were there.  We had a wonderful time sharing space at the Toolson's and Fluegge's.   We were well taken care of.   We saw Paul play in a couple of basketball games, and I was sure I took a picture, but since it wasn't there, I must not have.

 Christmas Eve at Becky's lovely decorated home.   Doesn't the table look lovely?

The "boys" enjoying themselves while preparations for dinner are taking place.

What a cute couple!  Doesn't seem possible they have been married 21 years.

Cousins getting ready for some Santa Bingo action.

 Let the game begin.

Becky checks out her winnings.  No, it wasn't some Hefty trash bags.

Family Photo time.  The Toolsons plus Kelly.

 Just two old folks enjoying themselves.

Now, that is a good-looking group of grandchildren.

The Fluegge-Richardson's plus Mia and Maddy.  Wouldn't be a family picture without them.

The day after Christmas we drove over to Seattle to get our first look at little Audrey.  She is even cuter in person.

It is too bad that we can't see the Richardsons more often.  Babies change so quickly.

Sean really enjoyed those chips and salsa.  He wasn't in a very good mood until the food arrived. I'm so glad we were able to get to Seattle to see David and family.  We spent the night with the Domans, who are always such great hosts.

Finally, we spent some time at the Kindrick's before going home.  The girls modeled their Christmas pj's and cute hats.

We had a great time.  We had good driving weather both going and coming home.  Only sad part was missing the family that couldn't join us.

By the way, we are still pondering what to do about our anniversary next November.  We keep changing our minds about the best plan.  More on that later.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

FAVORITES

These are a few of my favorite things right now.

A decorated Christmas tree.

A new Christmas decoration.

Nativity scenes--I didn't put up all of my nativity sets so I miss them.

Christmas cookies ready to deliver to shut-ins.

Christmas music.  I can't get enough of the music.

Christmas books.  I love reading Christmas stories.  Besides the scriptures, that is all I am reading until Christmas.  Oh, I will probably read the newspaper!

Another favorite of mine.  Isn't he cute?

What are your favorites?

Changes

Brian bought me these cute boots for our anniversary.  I am pretty excited about them.

Also, I asked my hair dresser for something a little fun so this is my new look.  Just a little different but a little sassy don't you think.

California Addendum

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Shareen has covered our activities, but thought I would add a few additional pictures and comments.

Monday was Disneyland day with everyone else in California.  Monday was also Brian's and my 49th Wedding Anniversary.  We had quite a romantic celebration.  I went to Disneyland with the Eberles and Brian stayed home.  When I mentioned this to Shannon, she said, "I guess you both got to do what you wanted."  It was a fun day even with the crowds.  It was all lighted up for Christmas so it was beautiful at night.

I had to throw in a picture of my favorite castle.

 We had mixed weather while there.  We had several days of overcast, but days of nice sunshine.  The temperature was in the low 60's so can't complain about that.  We chose a sunny day to take a walk on the beach.

We had some delicious chicken teriyaki for lunch.  It tasted really good to me as I have not seen one teriyaki place in our area .

The pelican seemed to be enjoying this beautiful day as well.


Mike was the chef for Thanksgiving dinner.  He did the dressing, turkey and gravy.  It was nice to be able to sit back and watch.  That was definitely something to be thankful for.  Doesn't it look lovely?

We went to visit Landel on Tuesday.  He isn't doing very well.  He still lives there in his home and one of his granddaughters helps out some.  Eric thinks it won't be long until he will need additional care.

Shareen and I went to see Breaking Dawn.  I wasn't expecting much as the comments in the paper were not favorable.  However, we both liked it.  I give it a B+.

Shareen and I made a very brief trip to Walmart for their 10 pm sale Thanksgiving night.  It was a mad house and we got out of there quickly, went home to bed and passed up all the midnight store openings.
We got up in the morning and I think we hit a lull when the early shoppers were gone home to bed and the lazy ones were not up yet.  Anyway, it was quite pleasant.  We were home by noon.

We are back home now, and the weather is very pleasant here.  So, we will be around until we leave for Washington State.  By the way, where did November go?   I hope you all had wonderful Thanksgiving weekend.

Oh, and of course it was great to see the pictures of beautiful baby, Audrey.  I really like that name.  Welcome to the family, Audrey.  Congratulations to David and Tiffany.

Anya's Special Day

Anya was baptized on Saturday.  We were so happy we could be there and participate.  I gave a little talk on baptism, Shareen talked on the Holy Ghost.  Anya played a little song on her guitar, and Grandpa performed the baptism and confirmation.  I wish you all could have been there. 

 Anya and Camille are decoration the sugar cookies shaped like 8's.  They were very tasty and disappeared quickly.

We are very proud of Anya for making a decision to be baptized.

Getting the Christmas Spirit

I was in Tai Pan the other day, and they are definitely ready for Christmas.  That store was decked out in every nook with the most beautiful Christmas decorations.  Every where I looked was something I would love to buy.  However, I settled on these little cupcake santas and snowmen to use for visiting teaching gifts.  I'll fill them with candy.  Oh, but it was fun to look and wish.  I keep thinking of certain items so I may have to go back.

West Virginia Glimpses

I am so slow in getting around to doing this post, but will give you a glimpse of my activities with Julia and family.

Isaac invited his Mom to join him for lunch at school.

Everything is a hat for Macey.  She is wearing her favorite princess dress.

Isaac has his game face on.

Macey is not too interested in the soccer games, but enjoys exploring.

Loraya was a force out there on the soccer field.  She even scored a goal.  Besides everything else going on at Julia's house, they were also tending a friend's dog, Lucy.  She is there with Jacob.

I got to go to the ward truck or treat and halloween party at the church.

Just the cutest little Minnie Mouse ever.

Macey loves her books.  Whenever anyone sits down on the couch, she is right there with a book.  It is so fun to have her climb up on your lap and get to snuggle a bit with her.

Julia mentioned the snow on Saturday.  I was a little worried about my flight being cancelled or delayed, but it all turned out okay.

Looks pretty doesn't it?   The fall leaves have to give way to snow.

Thanks to Loraya, Isaac and Macey for a fun time in West Virginia.  Okay, it was also nice to spend time with Julia and see Jacob for a bit.