Christmas 2011

 This Christmas fell on a Sunday, so everyone opened their stocking from Santa before church. Then we had a big brunch. It's the one day of the year that we have bacon, sausage, eggs, grapefruit, orange juice and pastries. For some of those foods it is their only appearance all year. (When asked one year what she liked best about Christmas, Andrea answered, "Bacon". Maybe that is why her brother-in-law Luke, who drew her name, mailed her pre-cooked bacon for her present.)

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After church we opened presents. We like to take out time and open them one by one so we can all participate as each person opens a gift.  We had a great time together.

Julia, Andrea, Erika and Tyler were with us this year.  We got to talk to Skype to Daniel, who is a missionary in the LAs Vegas Spanish speaking mission.  James and Kara called in and listened in and were able to talk with him and us also. It was fun to get to "see" him after 18 months.

Christmas Eve

For Christmas this year, Julia came home from her semester at BYU-Idaho. Erika and Tyler were here--they have been living with us, and Andrea.  Our centerpiece were gingerbread houses we made earlier.  After dinner we had the traditional Danish rice pudding.  The person getting the almond gets not a marzipan (almond paste) pig, but at our house an almond chocolate bar.  Andrea was slipped the almond this year--her first win.
Then we read the Christmas story, as is our tradition, and shared our favorite parts of the history of Jesus' birth.  Our world would not have been the same without Him!

Thanksgiving in Cincinnati

We traveled to Cincinnati for Thanksgiving. The trip itself was memorable because we left at 7pm and hoped to travel through the night and reach our destination by 5am. However, our alternator went out and the car died just as we crossed into West Virginia about 12:30am. Our roadside assistance was not actually able to assist us for several hours. We eventually were able to get the car to a safer spot at a rest area and then a tow truck came, and a West Virginia policeman drove us 22 miles with the car to a dealer. We waited in the (cold) car at 5am until it opened at 7:30am. Then, thankfully, they fit us in, got a part and had us on our way at 10:30 am. So, we did reach our destination about 5:15 like I predicted--except it was PM, instead of AM. :)   Notwithstanding the inconvenience, we did feel that we were blessed in many of the particulars that could have been much worse.

Once there we had a nice visit with our family--Dave's parents, 3 of his siblings and their families. We had a great Thanksgiving dinner.

The next day, Black Friday for shoppers, and Birthday for me was a nice day. Dave helped his parents with some items around their house. I went to the Mall with some of the shoppers. That night Dave had bought a cake and icecream for me--which was fun to celebrate with lots of family. I was excited to receive a new iPAd and accessories, and a Vera Bradley apron.

Saturday was Erika's 25th birthday.  We shopped together that day for some clothes for her.  Here she opened a tiny present--that holds hundreds of songs-- an ipod shuffle.

Sunday we attended church where Dave still knows a lot of people from when he was younger, and then we headed home--a much shorter, uneventful trip back.

Nationals

 Andrea participated with her high school marching band in the national competition at the stadium of the Naval Academy in Annapolis. It was a great day for it, and they put on an awesome performance, winning 12th place among bands from many states.  She is with the piccolo section above, and shots of her in the show below.  Congratulations on the opportunity to showcase your hard work!

Future Interior Designers

Julia with her Interior Design group at Brigham Young University-Idaho.  (Bottom row, left) They all seem to know how to color coordinate and look amazing.

New McDonalds Opens

Everyone is excited to have a new McDonalds near us, and near the High School.  Andrea performed with the Marching Band as part of the Grand Opening Ceremony.  They had pizza for the kids afterwards, and non-McDonalds food in a big tent for other guests.

Halloween 2011

It felt a little different this year with our children grown, and no one to take trick-or-treating.  Andrea did go out with a friend, and loaded up on candy.  She made a cute cowgirl at school, and that night she was a ladybug.

Anniversary trip 2011

Dave and I have wanted to take a trip for awhile to celebrate 27 years of marriage, so even though it isn't our anniversary until April, this seemed like a nice time for a getaway.

Our agenda was basically:
*Fly to Phoenix, Arizona,
*See the Grand Canyon-- including a short hike into the canyon and a mule ride-- and to see both the South and North Rim (which are 5 hours apart by car);
*Take a boat trip on Lake Powell,
*Tour the Glen Canyon dam,
*Visit various ancient Sinagua ruins (Tusayan, Montezuma's Castle, Tuzigoot, and Wapatki)
*Look at lots of Navajo jewelry and eat frybread,
*Visit my childhood home and school in Glendale.


Here are some of our pictures.

Scandinavian smorgasborg

Some friends came over for lunch bringing delicious foods.  We are in a dinner group together.  To prepare for our Swedish dinner, we decided to have lunch to plan.  Some of these yummy breads made it to the dinner menu.  Then we watched an episode of Scandinavian Cooking, where the host visited a rural town in Norway and made the traditional foods out in the snow! Fun times.

Daniel in Nevada

Here's Daniel with some of the other missionaries he works with.

Daniel loves children. It seems like he is doing well there.

Homecoming Parade and Show

Andrea was in her first Marching Band Prade for the high school Homecoming this weekend.  She plays flute, but is picking up piccolo for Marching Band.  Then during halftime at the football game, the Band performed their show.  They did a great job!  Way to go, Andrea!

Jewelry Designing

I have been starting to display some of my jewelry on Etsy.  (Click this post title to see my site.)

Here are some of my new pieces in various styles and materials.

Mormon Night at the Orioles

 We had Mormon night a couple weeks ago.  Erika, Tyler, Julia, Andrea and I drove up to Baltimore. 

  Why wasn't Dave there? He planned to go standby courtesy of a friend to participate in our grandbaby Blake being blessed in church in Denver. I dropped him off at the airport before the game. As we neared the stadium I gave someone his unused ticket. Then during the national anthem we got a call from Dave saying he had missed the last flight for the day. So, he had to wait at the airport during the game, and we picked him up on our way home. Seven hours at the airport and no flight. And he is the one that likes baseball!  I was sorry he couldn't be there.

Tyler got his Orioles hat signed by the Bird.

Still, it was a family tradition, and a very nice night--despite the fact that the Orioles lost. 

And here is Kara's family with little Blake at church after he was blessed.

Family Reunion in Tennessee

 Thursday, July 14 we drove to Chatenooga, Tennessee-- a 13-hour drive-- for Dave's family reunion. No one lives there, but it is a central place to meet.  Erika, Tyler and Andrea were with us in our van. We arrived that evening in a huge thunderstorm and had dinner with relatives at their cabin. We stayed in a cabin with Dave's parents, 3 sisters and 2 nieces. It was in a pretty setting and was a charming, rustic cabin with plenty of room. (Click the title for more pics.)

 Friday I went with a group on a lunch cruise down the river.  This is us before boarding.  Dave, Andrea, Erika and Tyler were more daring and went white water rafting.  They had a great time--some falling out, some jumping out.  I'm glad they had fun and were all safe.

 Friday afternoon we also hopped a free bus in Chatenooga and saw where the Chatenooga Choo-Choo was.  This pretty hotel was once the bus station.

 Andrea and cousin Christine had a good time together.

 Friday night was a barbecue in a glass pavillion in a pretty park here.

  (Christine and Erika)  The lights were pretty at night, and it was right on the water. 

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Here's Dave with his sisters that night.
Saturday night all 70 or so of us ate at a restaurant in town.  We saw a family slide show and everyone took family pictures.  It was fun to see everyone again.  It's a nice family to belong to!