So far this new year

 Today we went to the rodeo with Shannon and the family. Brian was able to get free tickets from his work. That makes it extra nice to have a somewhat free activity. Minus gas and food. 

That's M's head there between Shannon and Brian.

They put on quite a show. Besides the competitions, they provide extra stuff. I remember a lot of this from last year when we attended. I'd like to someday stand next to a Clydesdale just to see how really big they are. 

It was Girl Scout Day at the rodeo. About 1,000 girl scouts attended. We met most of them in the line to the women's restroom after the rodeo.

The strangest thing. Fred and I applied for a PreTSA "permit" or whatever you call it. We went to the office to have fingerprints and our picture taken. Honestly, this was the motiff of the entire office. Not just the waiting room, but in the rooms and hallways. In the room we went into, there were two unicorn busts on the bookshelf. 

The pictures really don't do justice. 

There has been snow on the ground for a long time. I don't mind the snow when I don't have to go out in it. 

We went to the Denver Zoo last weekend. Fred and I went with Shannon and the kids. They were teasing me that this is my doppleganger. Ha

We took a break from walking to enjoy some sunshine. 

I finally tried out a recipe for white hot chocolate with the kids. Not a hit. 

But they did like my banana bread.

The whip cream made it all worth it. 

Shannon and I hit the stores a few days after Christmas. 

I bought these gingerbread houses for $3.80 each. 

This is usually B's face for pictures. He really isn't mad. Just being a 10 year old boy.

More Holidays Happenings

Last year we had a girl's night to the Nutcracker. 

This year Shannon bought tickets for Disney on Ice.

It was a great night.

M choose Chili's again for dinner.

Can't go wrong with their chips and salsa.

I wasn't expecting to be impressed, but I was.

It was very well done and not at all as I expected.

Wonderful music, skating and costumes.

 We were able to attend our ward Christmas party this year. Last year we were out of town. 

Our new  best buddies here - Angie and Brian Erickson.

I decorated this year all the way. It's been several years since I've done that. It has been very nice.

Fred was finally able to get the hanger on the door so I can start hanging wreaths. I've missed that.

We finally got some decent weather and roads to drive to Corinne's. 

It was awful between Price and Spanish Fork. I had to close my eyes for a lot of that part.

We had an early Christmas with them. I suggested that.

I thought it would be nice for a change to see the kids actually open our gifts.

We were able to attend school Christmas concerts for Garrett and Spencer. Haven't been to a school concert in so many years. Garrett's concert was especially fabulous. Lots of talent in his high school. 

This is the first time I think Fred and Richard were together to celebrate their birthdays. 

Nineteen years in fact.

Henry was happy with our gift. I was happy to see the little kids play with the toys. 

We gave gift cards to the three older boys. 

Had some fun moments with Clara. She is full of sass. Really a cutie.

We were able to meet up with Rick and Wendy Cloutier. We met as newlyweds in Bremerton. 

They were married a few weeks before us. We have managed to stay in touch over the years. 

This was a very nice time together. 

This is my most favorite moment from our time with Corinne. Richard smiled more than any other time we have had them visit. It was very nice to see. He has since received his mission call to Lansing, Michigan. He starts his at home MTC on February 27 and will enter the MTC in Provo on March 8.

2022 Early Christmas Phoenix

We had an extra early Christmas this year with Scott and Jess. 

After the boys were in bed, we got to play Hand and Foot.

We got pretty silly. Their decks of cards were super stiff. 

It was a real work out to shuffle them.

We got to attend Evan's Kindergarten Reading Night at his school

We sat and listened to a few people from the school read to us.

They had some of the different learning centers set up for all of the families to experience.

One of the days while both boys were in school, Fred and I drove out to the Phoenix Temple.

It's a beautiful temple.

The boys both got Elf PJs for Christmas.

This was the Garbage Truck we got for Graham.

He was pretty pleased with it.

Graham wore his PJs and hat more than Evan did.

We originally got these Squishmallows for the boy's birthdays.

But our trip was delayed so we saved them for Christmas.

Fred sat the boys down and taught them how to play a card game.

We also got to attend their last T Ball game this year.

The boys were on the same team and Scott was their assistant coach.

It was freezing. 

We were able to attend church with them on Sunday.

I'm sure glad we got this picture taken with them.

We spent some good times lounging on the couch watching movies.

I'm so glad we have this special time with Scott's family.

Jess always has their home decorated beautifully.

We have good food and a nice easy time together. 

 

New England Cruise 2022

We were finally able to go on our New England cruise. 

Originally scheduled for October 2019.

Our cruise took place right after Hurricane Ian.

Like days.

We flew into Newark Airport.

This is Fred standing onboard with New York in the background.

Statue of Liberty as we cruised out of port.

Because of wind and waves that reached 26 feet during the night, 

we were unable to disembark to Newport, Rhode Island.

This is the second day in Portland, Maine.

I think our ship was pretty homely.

This is on the tour bus for our excursion. 

We rode out to Fort Williams to see this lighthouse. 

We met another couple on the tour and they were nice enough to take pictures of us.

We did the same for them, of course. 

The first sighting of fall colors. We were actually a little early this year.

Next day was Portland, Maine. Definitely my favorite port.

Kennebunkport is where the Bush family has a commune pretty much.

We walked around and got some clam chowder at a little neighborhood grocery store. 

We didn't have a whole lot of time and most of the restaurants were SO EXPENSIVE. 

The soup was really good.

I took all of these pictures actually for Jess. I thought she could maybe get inspiration for future Halloween decorations. Halloween is Evan's favorite holiday and Jess decorates for his benefit. Halloween is not her favorite holiday.

Now we are in Bar Harbor, Maine. This is a mansion built by the Campbell Soup family. 

A little trivia.

This port was so colorful. This is the destination I would love to come back to. 

It was said on the tour that back in the 50s you would find 80% of the US wealthy in 

Bar Harbor for the summer.

                             

We were able to take a tour with only 14 people to the Acadia National Park.

I learned a lot about Maine. There are over 4,000 islands in Maine.

Over 3,500 miles of coastline. More than California. 

I took a few photos of forest/foliage.

This was about as colorful as we found - just too early.

One of the coastal highlights is Thunder Hole, a small inlet carved out of the granite rocks. If the tidal conditions are just right, the waves will rush into the cavern below and violently spew out as high as 40 feet with thunderous roar.

Saint John, Bay of Fundy excursion was a hop on hop off bus. 

We had these cute Red Hat Society ladies aboard. 

I was surprised how rundown everything was here. It's like no one does 

any upkeep on their homes. Same for the business buildings. 

This was a super cool thing to witness. 

It's the Reversing Falls Rapids Lookout Point near the bridge in Fallsview Park.

The incoming tide from the Atlantic Ocean causes the river to reverse its flow twice a day

Now we are in Halifax, Nova Scotia. It was a much cuter town, 

but still a lot of rundown homes and buildings. 

Fast Food at it's finest.

Our last day was our bus tour to Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia. It is one of the busiest tourist attractions in the province and is a prime attraction on the Lighthouse Trail scenic drive.

We ate at "the" only restaraunt and got lobster chowder. Yummy!

We have been home almost two months since our cruise. I am losing my enthusiasm for blogging, but I can't quite give it up because it's my journaling. We did have a good time. We were disappointed that we didn't see the Fall colors that we were hoping and expecting. We did see a lot of beautiful country in the US and Canada. Met a few nice people along the way. We're just so grateful we are able to take trips like this.