One last California Post

This was a picture that Jamie took of all of us.  These kind of pictures always seem to turn out better than professional pictures.  Everyone is relaxed and it is always fun to set the timer, watch the light blinking, watch Jamie get in the picture all before the flash happens and the picture is taken.  This is yet another successful random family picture.  Love it.

One more post of our last night at the Beach House

Maren and family left about 7:30 to head home.  Neal and I and Annie's family decided that we didn't want to leave until Saturday morning.  So after Maren left we did some packing and then played games for the rest of the evening. 

 When I got up in the morning, I saw this note on the counter that said, "We love you guys!" written on a paper towel.  I had to answer back.

I left this message.  You know, mother always gets the last word!

More snow

Maren sent us this picture saying that yesterday we were swimming in the Pacific Ocean in California and today we are back in Utah sledding.  Cute picture of Brock and Boston enjoying the winter weather that settled in on Monday.  We got about 6" of new snow.  10" in Midway and 3 feet in the mountains.  We are expected to get another foot tonight.

This was a picture I took looking out at the pool from Neal's office window.  Neal had been out and cleared the snow once and you can see the driveway is covered again.  Snow storms are beautiful if you don't have to drive in them!

Emmi invites us to Sacrament Meeting

Emmi spoke in Sacrament Meeting on New Years Day.  She did an excellent job.  Talked about how education and schooling are so important in our lives.  I was proud of her.  After the meeting we were invited over to Annie's for dinner and games.  We played a few rounds of Shang Hi and had a delicious roast, potatoes and carrots.  Also a tossed green salad and Jell-O.  After dinner we played Mormon Bridge and then Neal and I headed home.  Nice way to spend a Sunday.  :-)

The end of Christmas

It is kind of sad when all the decorations have to come down.  Neal and I got up Monday morning with the plan in mind to put Christmas away.  It sure seems to come down much faster than it sets up.  We got everything down and put away except for the tree.  Neal is trying to find out why a couple sections of the tree don't light up.  It is a huge process but he says better to spend the time changing out filaments than paying $1,000.00 for a new tree.  We even got the Christmas dishes boxed and put away and Annette's china now on display in the china cabinet.  Always exciting to set Christmas up.  Always sad to take it down.

Yes, this mess was driving me nuts!  Good thing it only lasted for a few hours.

Salt and Pepper Shakers

Lynda Ann knows that I have been collecting salt and pepper shakers lately.  For some reason I've just become fascinated with all the different kinds, unique ones that are out there.  When she and her family were souvenir shopping she came across this set of whales and bought them for me.  I love them and they are already on display in my china cabinet.  Thanks Annie!  Love them!

Grandchildren in California

I love this picture of the grandchildren who were enjoying the beach house in Oceanside.  They are such a fun group and all such good kids.  Not one little problem between them.  I believe they get along better than the adults and seem to completely enjoy the different personalities.  Thanks for being the best grandchildren any grandparent could possibly ask for.  Love you all and thanks also for making our trip so successful!

The Adult Night Out

Last night was the night for the adults to go out to dinner.  It is nice to have the grandchildren getting older and more responsible allowing the adults one evening out.  Tucker was in charge of finding the place to eat.  He picked Phil's B.B.Q.  It was about 30 minutes away from the beach house.  Great choice, Tucker.  We all got filled up on delicious ribs, fries, onion rings and salads.  After finishing our food, we stayed at the table and visited for a good long time.  It was so nice to be able to reminisce, laugh and talk about current family issues and good family times. One of the cutest stories was Greg and Maren talking about Boston's parent teacher conference.  The teacher told them that Boston is very quiet in class, pays attention and does his work.  Her problem is the girls in the class are always talking about Boston and trying to get his attention.  The teacher has to keep reminding the girls to quit talking about him and to get their work done.  Apparently, Boston is not aware of the "girl magnet" that he is.  cute story.

After leaving the restaurant, we went to a yogurt place and had our dessert.  A nice ending to a great meal. 

While the adults were out Abby was in charge of the dinner and had fixed baked potatoes and baked chicken.  I think they were well fed.  Thanks Abby for cooking and feeding the troops.

Costco shopping

Of course we had to make our shopping trip to Costco for food for the week.  This was the first thing we did after getting settled into the beach house.  Abby and Emmi wanted to come along for the experience.  We ended up spending $480.00 for food for the week for 19 people.  We did this the first night but I forgot to post it.  So, yes, it is a little out of order!

Kidney stone surprise!

Neal has been dealing with a kidney stone since August.  Off and on he would have some pain and blood in his urine.  He had two cat scans, one confirming that he did have a kidney stone.  Last night he finally was able to pass the stone.  I couldn't believe the size and had to take a picture of it in comparison with a penny and a small sea shell.  The kidney stone is to the left of the penny with the shell below.  Glad he was finally able to get that stone out of his system. 

Another glorious day on the beach

Here are more pictures of a fun day just enjoying the ocean while sitting on the beach.  Lynda Ann and Jeff's family left this morning and went to the San Diego Temple so that the kids could do baptisms for the dead.  Annie had family names for them to do.  They were then going to Coronado Island.  Neal and I opted to hang around the beach house and we did go out on the beach for a while to watch the kids ride the waves.  Tucker and Maren along with Jaden, Jordyn, Peyton, Brock and Boston all tried to catch rides on the waves.  All succeeded.  It was a very fun, warm and relaxed day.

These are random pictures in a random order.  I wanted to take some pictures of the condo and they are mixed in with some of the beach pictures.  But will be fun to look back on and enjoy

Great day!  Lots of fun!

More fun beach pictures

kjkjk

 The picture above is Emmi and Andrew down on the street looking at a Pot Belly Pet Pig.  The picture below is Abby trying to do something with my 'beachy' hair.

 In the car, headed to the beach where there is more sand to play in.

 My footprint and Emmi's footprint. 

 We are half way through our vacation and are having a fabulous time.  We are sorry the Mindy and family couldn't come.  Derek in China couldn't come, and Lyndsy chose not to.  Taylor couldn't come because she had drill team practices that she couldn't miss.  We miss you all and wish you were here.

Wednesday - Day 3

Wednesday was spent mostly on the beach.  The kids in the ocean and building sand castles.  The temperature was about 69 to 71.  Not as warm as I would have like it but tolerable.  I don't know how anyone could go in the ocean but amazingly enough most of them did.  The grandchildren gathered lots of shells and even found some sand dollars.

Tuesday evening - Sunset pictures

These are just some random pictures that everyone was taking of the gorgeous sunset and walking along the beach.