Christmas 2012

                                 Erika and Julia made Christmas cookies to deliver to friends.

Christmas morning just after Santa filled the stockings and left a pile of presents.

Everyone kindly sported the hats I made them. Bonus: Julia was wearing her scarf from last year. :) We had a very nice, relaxed Christmas with family here and calling Kara's family in Denver and James and Tammy in Seattle. A great day to celebrate all that Jesus has given us!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Digital greeting generated with Smilebox

Gingerbread Houses 2012

Trip to Logan

Dave and I flew to Salt Lake on December 12th to attend James' graduation from Brigham Young Univeristy-Idaho in Rexburg, Idaho. We rented a car and stopped in Logan to see my Dad and his wife Susan on the way. And, of course, his dog, Olie.

My dad seemed to like the wool hat I made him and kept it on. It was so nice to get to see them since we're across the country from each other.

James' Graduation

James graduated in Mechanical Engineering from BYU-Idaho on December 14th, 2012.

We enjoyed a nice graduation lunch that afternoon.

His graduation was held at their beautiful new I-Center for about 1000 graduates.

James, in line to recieve his diploma from his college.

James just received his diploma.

Wait!  Where is the diploma?  Oh, it will be mailed.

Graduate with proud wife

James and Tammy with friends

James was congratulated by a professor

We spend Saturday together and drove and flew home on Sunday with Julia who was coming home for Christmas break.

  James and Tammy then packed their apartment, put things in storage and drove to California for Christmas.   After their break, they drove back to Idaho, rented a moving truck and drove up to Seattle in terrible winter weather to their new apartment a mile from the bay.  We are so pleased that he had a great job waiting for him designing for airplanes.

Dave's Dad: James Meiners

When we went to Cincinnati over Thanksgiving, it was very fortunate that all of Dave's siblings were there.  His father, Jim, was in the hospital, and it became apparent then that his condition was very serious.


 We were there when he was moved a few days later to a much more comfortable place with hospice.  Andrea was with us and we each had the privilege of saying our goodbyes to him at that time.  We felt that he was able to hear us and give some acknowledgment, even though he slept and was not responsive much of the time we were there.

 A few days later he passed away peacefully.  We returned to Cincinnati with Andrea and Erika for his funeral.











Kara and Luke and their boys Jacob and Blake braved a 19-hour drive from Denver (each way!) to also be there--although Blake didn't mind driving. :)

Kara did a lovely job telling about her grandpa and the whole event, so I will refer you to her post.

Kara's Blog--Deckerbabyblog

                                                Kara and family with her Dad and Grandma.

a recent picture of James and Joyce (Erika's wedding)

James, a WW11 veteran who flew 50 missions! over Germany, his ancestral homeland,

at age 21 as a gunner.

 He was a wonderful man, and father to the greatest man ever--my husband, Dave.

Andrea's Marching Band Season

These pictures offer convincing proof that Andrea was in Marching Band this season, and that Dave was in the pit crew.  OK, they are really blurry.

Andrea had 8 hours a day of band camp for two weeks before school started.  During the Fall they marched at home football games at halftime, and cheered on the team during the game with fight songs. 

She also performed at four competitions--taking first place in each. They then  played at the Naval Academy Stadium in Annapolis for the Nationals, where they ranked 7th place.

A Scout is Reverent

Dave was asked to man a booth at a Boy Scout conference last weekend.  Their booth was titled "A Scout is Reverent" [I made the sign :) ]. It's purpose was to promote the Duty to God awards offered by various religions, and a Religion in the World merit badge that requires visiting 3 churches others than one's own. 

 

 He enjoyed working at the booth with people of various religions who were united in building faith and understanding in young men through these Boy Scout activities.  They passed out many materials including a card inviting people to visit the Visitor's Center of the Washington, DC temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints as a possible choice in working on their merit badge. 

 

 Those who are interested in learning more about Mormon temples may click here.

Our Favorite Cougar in BYU's Marching Band

Daniel seems to be enjoying his second season as a BYU Marching Band trombonist.  Go Cougars and Go Daniel!

'New' Chairs. Yay!

Well, here's our dinner group without the group.  In preparation for this, and also having our whole family together over the summer, I wanted to get some chairs.  Dave and I bought the four without the 'x' at a second hand store.  We worked together on them-- cleaning and touching up the stain, and adding a new fabric cushion seat. I'm enjoying the way they go with the other four chairs--so we can bring them in when we have more of us together.

The Temple

Andrea took a nice sunset pic of the lit temple.

 

Andrea and Daniel came with us to the Visitor's Center of the Mormon Washington DC temple in August to see a free concert. Alex Boye, a favorite of mine, sang with the Mormon Choir of Washington --of which I am a former member.  The most exciting choir performance for me was Ronald Reagan's inaugaration on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC--despite the freezing weather that day--January 17, 1985.

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Deep Creek/Reunion 2012

It was the first time in over four years to have all of our children together with us.  All 13 of us-- were together for the first time in over four years for our family vacation.  We headed off in a van and a car to a house we rented in Deep Creek, Maryland--a 3- hour drive.  The house had a scenic view and lots of room.

The day we rented jet skiis on the lake it was stormy and started to lightning and thunder, so we returned the next day to finish out time.  It was much smoother and more enjoyable--although Daniel preferred it bumpy :)

 

 

 Swallow Falls is a beautiful waterfall nearby...

(Hi there Blake!)

Kara with hubby Luke, Jacob and Blake

Everyone but the two little boys and I went white water rafting one day.  It sounds like it was quite an adventure.  Sorry, I wasn't there for a pic. :)


One night we went to the county fair.  Everyone got to go on rides together.

Jacob enjoyed seeing the animals.

Right now we are spread out in Maryland, Colorado, Utah and Idaho (maybe adding Arizona soon. ) I hope we will all have a chance to get together again soon. 

Happy Birthday Dave!

Dave celebrated his birthday in August. Julia was still home from BYU-I. Daniel had gone back to BYU. And we had our usual residents: Andrea, Erika, Tyler and I.




I won't say how old he is, but if you see any clues, don't believe everything you see on the internet. :)