HAPPY NEW YEAR TO OUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY

Aunt Judy's 2nd week in Salt Lake

During Aunt Judy's 2nd week in Salt Lake, Dave and I tried to balance out various activities and days of rest for her.  On Saturday evening, we went up to Park City with two other couples (George and Tammy), (Dean and Jane), and rode the horse drawn sleigh up to Snowed Inn for a cowboy dinner.  We were entertained by a guitar playing cowboy, and Judy had a great time.  She thought the young cowboys who drove the sleighs were all good looking and knew how to "wear their jeans just right".   Then on Sunday evening we met up with our grandsons and their mom and step-dad and had dinner at Goodwood Bar-B-Que.  Lots of laughs and good conversation was had that evening.  We stayed late and had such a good time.   On Monday Judy was tired and wanted to just rest, so Dave and I went to work.  She enjoyed the quiet time alone at home with Roudy, just resting and reading.  Dave came home early from work and took Judy to lunch at Olive Garden.  She has always wanted to go to Olive Garden.  She said that she loves the lasagna, like Garfield the cat.    Tuesday, Ian, Judy, Dave and I went to Desert Star to see "The Bi-Polar Express".  Judy said that she had never been to a play before and that it was a great experience.  She laughed so hard, even though I don't think she got all the references and jabs to Utah in the play.                                                                                                     


Trevor, Ian and Judy at Goodwood





Desert Star Playhouse



Here we are at the table at Snowed Inn



On Wednesday Judy again rested .  On Thursday, Dave and Judy road the Trax train downtown to my office.  Judy met the people in my office, then the three of us road over to the Lion house for a great light lunch of soup and rolls.  We then toured the Beehive House.  Judy loved see the house with the furnishings and hearing the history.  We did a short walk around Temple Square, and inquired about hearing the choir practice that evening, (Judy has always wanted to see the Mormon Choir).  But, sadly there was a performance in the conference center that evening and the choir would not be do their weekly open practice.  By now it was time for our reservation at The Roof Restaurant at the Joseph Smith Memorial bldg.  We were fortunate to get a table by the window to be able to watch the lights come on at Temple Square.  They were breath-taking.  Judy was in awe again at the display of food and the friendliness of the people in Salt Lake.  When we got home, we had time to take a short 2 hour nap, then off to the airport to catch the red-eye flight home.  This time, I accompanied Judy on the flight home.  We left Salt Lake at 1:00 am on Friday morning and arrived at the Charleston, WV airport at 10:00 am on Friday.  We rented a car and drove to Aunt Judy's house.  I only had enough time to visit with Judy and my 87 year old Aunt Mae for 2 hours, then had to make the 70 mile drive back to the Charleston area.  The snowy weather would not permit me to stay in Sutton overnight.  It was a good thing Dave reserved me a room in Charleston, my 11:00 am flight was moved to 6:00 am and without cell phone and Internet service at my Aunt's I would never have known about the flight change.  There were so many weather delays getting back home, but thanks to Delta, I was able to find a connecting non-stop flight in Atlanta and got home by 2:00 Saturday afternoon, rather than the anticipated 8:30 pm.  I was so exhausted after being up for almost 2 straight days. 

But, overall the visit with Judy was fun, and as she kept saying "A once in a lifetime event".





Cruising with Aunt Judy

My Aunt Judy lives in the geographic center of West Virginia in the tiny town of Sutton.  She will turn 64 on January 5th, and has never been away more than 100 miles from home.  She has never flown, has never been on a cruise, has never been to Utah and has never had a real vacation.  In October, Dave and I talked and decided to forgo any large Christmas gifts for anyone and treat Aunt Judy to a trip of a lifetime.  We called her and offered her a one week cruise and one week vacation at our home - all expenses paid by us.  She was so touched.  Judy takes care of my 87 year old Aunt Mae, and Judy said that as long as nothing happened to Aunt Mae - YES, she would love to come visit us and go on a cruise - provided she did not have to fly alone.

So, on Friday, December 3rd, Dave flew to WV and on Saturday, he and Judy flew back to Salt Lake, (with a few minor weather delays - they arrived on Sunday night, but that's a whole 'nother story).  On Monday morning we got up drove to SL airport, flew to San Diego, boarded the Carnival ship "Carnival Spirit", and set sail for Cabo San Lucas.  A 5 day cruise to warm sunny Mexico.  Judy was in awe, to say the least, of the size of San Diego, the ship, the amount of food served, the friendliness of the people, etc.  She had heard all kinds of stories about cruises being nothing but drunken parties - so she was quite surprised at how pleasant it was to cruise and how nice the people and staff were.

When we arrived in Cabo, she fell in love with the little town.  We took her to the resort that Dave and I stay at every year.  She walked along the Pacific ocean beach, (picking up seashells - a first for her).  She sat beside the pool soaking up the warm Mexican sun, (another first).  When the resort staff saw Dave and I, and they came over, (they are very familiar with me, (I've been going there for 14 years), gave me a big hug and asked if we were staying there for the week.  Sadly I said no, we were on the ship and just visiting for the day.   I introduced them to Aunt Judy, they gave her a hug, had photos taken with her and made her feel so very welcome.  We then walked down to the pier and had lunch at the local vendor.  A BIG FIRST for Judy.  She was so surprised at how safe it was to eat and drink in Mexico - once again being told stories about Mexico that were untrue.  She bought gifts to take home, then we went back to the ship.  She wasn't ready to leave Cabo.  And she wants to return.  Cabo has that effect on many.

On the return trip home, Judy was called up on the Bingo stage by the entertainment director to "check his balls".  She hadn't paid attention to what he asked and when she wnet up on stage and he again ask, "are you ready to check my balls", she said "you want me to do WHAT ?".  Of course the audience laughed, and they all remembered "Judy from West Virginia".  For the next 2 days, many people came up to her and said, "are you Judy from West Virginia?"  I remember you from Bingo.  She just loved that attention.  She thought she was a real celebrity.

The real highlight of the Bingo was getting her "Ship On A Stick", (from Pip), the Entertainment Director.  She was so happy to get that genuine piece of Ship.   When I asked Judy what was her favorite part of the cruise, she said that there was just so much that she can't name one thing.  But - I made her keep a daily journal during her whole trip.  I knew that she wouldn't be able to remember every detail when she got home, even with all the photos.  And she said that writing in the journal was a big help.  Even when she was writing in the journal, she would have to ask us about certain details, since her mind was swimming with so much stuff that she had experience.  On Friday, (Dec 10th), we returned back home - ready for a much needed rest.  And, of course Dave and I had to return to work Monday morning.

Stay tuned for details about Judy's 2nd week at our house.  We kept this little lady on the run.

What Happened to Fall ??

 Yesterday we bought our Thanksgiving turkey, prepared our menu for next Thursday.  Spent the afternoon in the backyard having a "play date" with the CCI trainer and another CCI puppy and 2 other rescue dogs in training.  A little windy but not too bad.  I woke up to take the dogs out this morning and this is what I see - CHRISTMAS SNOW.  No joke, we got a foot of the white stuff over night.

 Here is a picture of our birdbath and you can see for yourself, there's over a foot of it !!

The view looking towards the Wasatch Mountains as the sun was just starting to break.  There's still some more activity to the East.

Then 15 minutes later when the sun came over the mountains you get the full effect of what our neighborhood looks like this morning at 8:00.

 While it was lovely and serene, I don't think Dave was too happy about having to deal with it.  I bet the next house he builds WON'T be on a corner lot.  He now has 3 times the sidewalk to clear.

 Our young flowering pear trees were doing their best to stand upright under the weight of the snow.

But, Dave gave them a shake.  Our neighbor across the street his branches were almost touching the ground.

On the bright side the one who truly ENJOYED the whole event was Balsa.  It was her first real snow fall and she had a blast running and jumping.  Trying to pick up the snow and carry it around.  It was up to her belly, but she didn't care.  I would bring her in to warm up, and she was ready to go out as soon as she warmed up.  She is our little snow dog.  Good thing she's black so we can find her in the deep stuff.

Stockholm Sweden

In September, Dave received an invitation to speak at a user's group that was being held in Stockholm.  It was being held on the day of our 7th anniversary, so Dave said "guess what, we're going to Sweden for our anniversary this year".  The company that asked Dave to speak paid for his ticket and the hotel room, so we only had to pay for my airfare.  We decided to stay an extra 2 days and make it a mini vacation.  We left Salt Lake on Tuesday and came home on Sunday.

Because of the time change, we arrived in Stockholm on Wednesday afternoon.  After checking in at the Diplomat hotel, we walked around and found a small local restaurant and had a lite lunch of soup and sandwich.  We relied on the waitress' limited English and luckily it was a delicious meal.  On Thursday, while Dave was in conference all day, I walked around Stockholm taking in the sites and doing some souvenir shopping.  The exchange rate was not very good and things are so very expensive. The first photo is the fountain at the center of town.  Our tour guide said whenever the country wins their soccer games the men all dance in the fountain naked and drink champagne to celebrate.  The city is quite a mix of centuries old buildings and modern new buildings.  A lot of Russian influence is everywhere.

At the lower end of the center there is a huge train center called Central Station.  It is very much like the NY Central Station.  The 2 upper levels have shops and restaurants, and the lower level has the trains, and bus depot and many fast food eateries.  The people are moved very efficiently by water taxi, bus, train, and autos. 

The second photo is looking across the water inlet towards our hotel.

 As I was walking back towards our hotel, I came across a large outdoor market.  There were farmers selling fresh fruits, vegetables, flowers of every kind, handmade clothing, dried fruits and dried vegetables, nuts and everything imaginable.  The farmers were from every nationality, and it was a melting pot of different languages.  Very few spoke any English.  I purchased a small bag of trail mix.  And looked at some handmade woolen gloves.  Now I wished I had purchased the gloves, they were so well made and would have been very warm.  I made my way back to the hotel with my souvenirs to share with Dave all that I saw that day and what all I purchased.

On Friday, Dave and I took a Viking history tour.  Our guide picked us up at the hotel early in the morning.  We drove out through the small towns and made lots of stops at areas where Vikings lived and learned stories about how they lived, worshiped, governed the societies, and had their stories on stones translated for us.  We learned that their religion was mostly based on Hindu.  They were not ones who were sailing around raping and pillaging the countryside communities, but rather farmers and merchants who lived peaceful lives.

We stopped mid-morning at a quaint farmhouse for a snack of coffee or hot cocoa, homemade apple juice, fresh made chocolate brownie cake, apple crumb cake and cookies.  The cost was 50 crown each person, the equivalent of about $8.50 each person.  Not being a chocolate person I only had the apple juice and a couple bites of the apple cake.  They were all made by the farm owner and her daughter.

 Later we stopped at the town of Sigtuna for a lunch break.  Dave and I ate at a small Italian restaurant.  We had a cup of soup, sandwich, and a juice drink.  Our bill in US dollars was $70.00  YES you read it correctly seventy dollars for 2 lunches.  I told you earlier, everything is every expensive in Sweden.

While we were in Sigtuna, we also visited the Viking museum.  It was interesting to see the various items that they had on display.  All the pieces were in excellent condition.

We also made a stop at a couple of churches build in the 1500s.  And were able to visit some grave sites dating back to the 1500s.  We heard some wonderful stories about some of the people buried at the various churches and saw the different architect features as the churches were expanded over the centuries.

On Saturday morning, Dave and I visited a Vasa Museet.  A museum build around the Vasa ship.  This is a ship that sank in the Stockholm harbour in August 1628.  In 1961 the ship was recovered and reconstructed.  Our tour guide, (the same guide from yesterday), said that because the ship sank exactly between where the salt water and the fresh water come together, it was preserved because none of the salt water or fresh water creatures would swim in that area and eat at the items.  The ship was recovered and the museum build around the ship.

A you can see from Dave standing next to the anchors it was a very large ship.  Here I am next to a small replica of the ship.  Only one item was gold was on the ship, it was a very small ring.  But everything was in excellent condition, even the china survived the sinking.

Next we toured the castles of Sweden.  There are a total of 7.  We were allowed to take lots of photos of the exterior but no photos of the interiors.  We saws fantastic artwork, and our tour guide told us the history behind the paintings and what the painting meant.  We found out during one of our snack breaks, that our tour guide used to be an art appreciation teacher at one of the high schools.  It all made sense to Dave and I then why we were getting so much history with the tour - ahh.

This is the current castle that the prince and princess live in, when they are in town for Parliament duties.  It is located in downtown Stockholm.  We arrived in time to see the changing of the guard, but didn't get any good pictures, because of all the crowds.  It draws a lot of people, just like when we were in London.

At the end of our tour, the guide stopped in "old town" at a pastry shop that has been in business since 1524 and still operates today.  This is a photo of the coffee pot that they have used since 1524 and it still works.  Our guide heard us talking about it being our anniversary, and he inquired of the shopkeeper about the availability of any "Princess Cake."  It is the specially of Sweden.  They had only 1 piece left in the back, and he purchased it for Dave and I and had them box it up and gave it to us to take back to our hotel room to enjoy.  He told us and anytime we could get "Princess Cake" to buy it and always remember Sweden.  It was very good.  We enjoyed that evening after dinner, while watching TV in our room.

On Sunday morning, we left Sweden around 11:00, and arrived in SL on Sunday evening around 6:00 pm, (because of the time zone changes).  We spent 17 hours traveling to get home.  It was a long flight, but we have lots of photos and many memories.  It was a good anniversary.

Ian's 12th Birthday

This year our grandson, Ian, turned 12.  He is now officially a Tween!!  How will we ever survive.  He now is entering the age where for the next 10 years, he will start to think he knows more than any adult.  For his birthday celebration, he picked his favorite restaurant - Texas Roadhouse.  We had a gathering of 25, seated at 6 tables.

 When it came time to saddle up on the birthday saddle, Ian is not one bit bashful.  He milks it for all it's worth.  He is the life of his own party.  Afterwards we went back to his other grandparents house for Ian's favorite birthday dessert - pie and birthday presents.  OH BOY.

 The first present Ian opened was from grandpa Dave and grandma Barbara.  And guess what - it was exactly the gift was was hoping, for the brand new Halo game.  Wonder how we knew??

Ian got a lot of good gifts from everyone.

 He was so happy to get exactly what he wanted.  But then, he always gets what he wants from grandma and grandpa.  Somehow they just always seem to know what Ian and Trevor wish for.  They must be mind readers.  Or maybe mom sends them emails - hmmm.

Here's Ian and grandma showing everyone how to "hang loose" like they do in Hawaii.  These two are best buds.  Have been from the time Ian was only 1 hour old.  Will be FOREVER.

It was a pretty good birthday for Ian.  It was a good day for everyone who attended.

Open House

Dave and I held a small open house for our friends and family.  Everyone has been asking when we were going to invite them over to see the house, so we opened up the calendar and just picked a date - Saturday, October 2nd.  It didn't occur to us until later that it was also the weekend of General Conference and most people go out of town, until we had already sent out the invitations.  But oh well !!  A few people sent their regrets.

 The day arrived and we were a little worried that the weather wouldn't co-operate, we had planned an outdoor B-B-Q.  It called for rain, but  mother nature smiled down on us and it was a glorious day.  The sun was shining and there was a slight breeze, (just enough to keep everyone cool).  We went ahead and set up the deck and prepared the food, (grilled shrimp, pulled pork sandwiches w/ cole slaw, veggie tray, tomatoes from our garden, salad, lots of different drinks, cupcakes, and eclairs).

 Right on time at 4 pm the guest started arriving.  We had friends travel from as far away as Layton and Spanish Fork.  In total 14 guests made the trek to spend the afternoon with us.  We all ate, told stories, laughed, and had a great time.  A few had to start heading out around 5:30 for the evening conference talks and mass service.  A few stayed until 7 pm.  And the weather was PERFECT.  Our table umbrellas came in mighty handy.  Dave had a wonderful time giving everyone tours of the house, explaining how we came up with the design layout.   And at the end of the day, no one noticed that I forgot to put out the cocktail sauce for the shrimp and the eclairs.  As everyone was leaving their comment was, "Let's do this again".