Celebrating Christmas with the whole family 2014

 Because Julia was getting married two days later, we had all our children and most of their families here home! Dave and I;   Kara, Luke, Jacob, (5), Blake,(3):   Erika:   James, Tammy, Audrey, (10 mo.):  Daniel, Meg:   Julia:    Andrea

We all hung out together Christmas Eve.

                 Dinner together!

 

                                         rehearsal for our sing along/ music performances

                                               Guess who got the almond in the rice pudding

                                 Daniel is a good sport about never ( in 24 years!) getting the almond.

 Santa always pulls through.  And here I caught him without the red suit.  Usually about 4:30 am on Christmas morning the stockings are filled and the presents are wrapped.

 I had to get a picture because it looks like this for a few brief hours before the exciting time of opening gifts together. My Mom arrived later that day.

Christmas morning, Jacob is the first to check it out.                          Merry Christmas!

 

My birthday 2014

 We had Julia and Andrea home to celebrate my birthday with Dave and I.

The next day, Wednesday, the four of us drove to Cincinnati to see Dave's Mom and siblings for Thanksgiving.  Looks like Julia and Andrea enjoyed the ten hour car ride.  :)

Kara visits with her children

Kara came from Denver with Jacob, 5, and Blake, 3, to visit us.  I took a day trip with them down to Washington, DC to see the White House.  We also went to the Air and Space Museum.  I was working on my book, Dream On!, where the main character is a boy that dreams of a career in space, so I got some good pictures of Jacob, who is the age of my book character.

Jacob, reading the Metro map                                             



                                            first time on the Metro for Jacob and Blake

                                          in front of the White House

                                                       lunch outside

                                     inside the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum

We also spend a day at Wheaton park

Celebrating Robert

My brother Robert  was born January 28, 1961, and passed away August 12, 2014 in California after an extended illness.

                                               Our family about 1968      


Robert was gentle and fun-loving--always a peacemaker.

 

Rob, in the center.  Christmas dinner, 1974 in Idaho with cousins

                                   1975.  Our whole family.  Taken on a visit to California

Rob, on the same California trip...

Our brother made a beautiful mosaic for Rob based on his age in the last pictures

 I went to California in May and was able to visit Rob for two weeks while he was in the hospital.

 My Mom and her husband came in from Southern California, and my other brothers have lived in the same town.  It was nice to be all together as a family.

      

Rob back home in Santa Rosa with family

 A memorial was held for Robert in Santa Rosa, and he was buried August 23, 2014 in Logan, Utah, near the gravestone of our father.  Logan is also where I was born, and where our mother's grandparents settled when they came from Switzerland.

I love you, Rob!

30th Anniversary--Rome!

Here are a few shots of Dave and I celebrating our 30th anniversary in Rome.  We also had Julia and Andrea with us, but that will be in another post.

Here we are at the Colliseum and Forum--part of ancient Rome--about 1900 year old buildings.

It was a hot day and we bought hats from vendors near there.

These fountains at Villa D'Este in Tivoli-- an hour train ride from Rome were part of the estate of a Cardinal a few hundred years ago.

Here's the Pantheon, outside and in.  The structure is original-- 1st century AD.  Very awesome.

Here's a bridge not far from where we stayed--near Castel St. Angelo.

A view from the mountain town of Orvieto--an hour north of Rome by train.

Taking a stroll on a beautiful summer evening with the best husband ever!

Our vacation in Rome

We were in Rome for over a week!  I had been before with my parents and brothers when I was younger, and then on a study abroad experience for a week.  I also lived in Italy for a year and a half as a missionary.  I remembered a lot of the language, so it was a city I wanted to show Dave.  We decided to share out 30th anniversary with our youngest daughters, Julia and Andrea. 

                                We saw the old city first: the Colliseum and Forum.

 We took a train out of town a bit to visit the lovely fountains of the Villa D'Este in Tivoli.  The girls remembered this and several of the sights from The Lizzie McGuire Movie, which was filmed in Rome.

 We spent a  full day at the Vatican Museum and St. Peter's Cathedral.  My favorite part is Michaelangelo's Pieta statue of Mary holding Jesus.

The square outside St. Peters

One day we took a train to Orvieto, an ancient hilltop town where the Pope and others would come, at times, for safety.

We had a LONG walk to the Borghese Gallery that wasn't too close to the subway. 

We said goodbye to our great landlady where we rented our apartment.

The apartment was awesome, and had a cool courtyard inside.  There was so much more that we saw and tasted and experienced.  Probably too much to take in and remember, but we had a great time!

Happy Fourth of July!!

While David and Andrea are still returning today from girl's camp,  Julia and I sat on our lawn chairs this year to view the neighborhood 4th of July Parade go by our house. I feel very blessed to live in the United States, and to live under our Constitution.  God Bless the USA!!

Spring Visit

Dave's Mom and sister Julie visited us this last week.

In the middle of their trip they saw other family and took in 'The Carol King Show' on Broadway.

While Mom and Julie were here, Dave and I also went with Julia and Andrea to the Mormon Temple Visitor's Center where we heard Lindsey Stirling (a dancing violinist) play and speak to us. We had lunch one day with David in Baltimore near his work. The World cup soccer game was televised. We were there for a US game, and there was a lot of excitement at lunch. The staff actually stopped serving for awhile to watch the end of the game!