GRATITUDE

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! We had a great one. I have a saint of a sister (actually two saintly sisters). One who has to put up with us when we come to town. We had great food. Brock lost at the game of Quiddler but made up for it the next day during the Santa run! Our nieces and nephews (I guess, grand-, it is) kept us entertained.

It was a lot of fun. We also were able to attend the Carl Bloch exhibit at the BYU MoA. It was very nice. I would highly recommend it. A great holiday and the weather cooperated.

Bring on Christmas!

All of us Santas before the race, cold but ready to run.

I had a better time than I thought I would!

Scott would have had a much better time but he ran with me a lot of the way. Brad and Jorrien ran together some of the way but Jorrien poured it on at the end. Are Tandi and Brock still friends? There was a lot of trash talking going on the weeks before the race. Bryce did great even with very little training. We missed Alicia but she had a very good excuse, her bosses needed her help with the parade!

Road Trip

Elise and I finally took a road trip before it was too late in the year to do it! We left for the west coast on a Thursday afternoon, made a quick trip to say hello in Mesquite and then on to Barstow that evening. The next day we made it to Cambria. This was the seaweed that was on the beach. I had no idea it looked like that. It was like big long tubes with bulbs on the end. Elise's sister, Amy, drove up from LA to meet us in San Simeon for the evening. We stayed in a little motel called Silver Surf(?). Kind of a dive but clean. Elise went out to the car to grab something (which was right outside the door)and some guy tried to follow her back into the room. It was just the first of a few weird experiences.

The next day we did a couple of tours at Hearst Castle. This is Elise and Amy in front of the outdoor pool. The day, all of the days, were overcast and foggy.
Here is the indoor pool. Incredible. Gold leaf in the tiles on the bottom of the pool. The skylights to the right of the pool (you can see the light above the diving board) were actually on the tennis courts above.

These were eucalyptus trees in San Simeon. Nature is amazing!

We left San Simeon and Amy and headed north. Along the way we stopped at the elephant seal beach. Hundreds of seals were sleeping and fighting along the beach.

We drove Highway 1 in the dark (which is a little scary, parts of the road are falling away or under construction, glad we were on the inside lane). Made it to Monterey and stayed in the Holiday Inn Express there. Nice hotel. You can tell we are getting old: we went to Chilis to dinner and split a meal, but it was 10 o'clock.

The next day we walked around Monterey, lots of shopping, saw Fishermans' Wharf. Had an excellent dinner there. Then did the 17 mile drive through Pebble Beach. Here is a shot of one of the fairways. That night we moved to a hotel about 2 blocks away that was right on the beach., a Best Western. It was beautiful. That evening we sat at the big windows and read as we watched the waves come in. I love the ocean!

On Monday we drove all the way back to Salt Lake. Elise has been watching Drive Inns, Diners and Dives and picked up this restaurant in Truckee, California. It was an old diner that they had moved across the country to Truckee. The chef is from out of the country. The food was great. Definitely not diner food.

I drove back to Vernal early Tuesday morning. This is my odometer reading for the weekend. It was a lot of driving but went by quickly when you are with a good friend who you haven't talked to for some time!

A few months ago I saw in a fabric store a self-binding baby blanket and fell in love with it. I searched on the internet and found a pattern. I gave the fabric to a friend's daughter at her shower and told her the blanket was coming. I was a little confused at the instructions so her mother did some more searching, made one herself, and then showed me how. It was as much fun as I thought it would be and I was very pleased with the results. I hope to make more. It was the first time that I thought maybe it would be fun to sew for grandbabies!

So we had a great time in St. George. Thanks to Tandi for running and giving us an excuse to go down. We stayed in a great 3 bedroom, 2 bath condo, all 10 adults and 4 children. More pictures of kids at the end. The girls went to Tuacahn to see Crazy for You on Thursday evening (30th). That was my first time and it was wonderful!

Ella kept us laughing all weekend, especially when she would wake up Papas with a scream!

This was race day, the 1st. Scott, Brock and I went to the north entrance of Snow Canyon to see her at Mile 16. She didn't know we were there and was in the zone, because she ran right in front of us but didn't see us. There were a lot of people lining the street, and a LOT of people running!

She looks like she is enjoying it waaaay too much.

This was her cheering section at Mile 21 just as they came off the diagonal into downtown St. George.

Here she comes and there she goes! She makes it look way too easy!

The rest of us just enjoyed the sun and water!

How gorgeous are all of them?

Especially the stud on the right!

Tandi qualified for the Boston marathon with her great time. We can only hope . . .

What a great weekend! Football, quilting, tennis and we ended it with a lunch at Split Mountain on the Green River in the Dinosaur Monument (that's a lot of prepositions!). We had some birds visit, some chipmunks who got very close and liked the peach and strawberries, and a squirrel that was too scared and didn't get anything! I love Fall! But hate to see summer leaving.

On Folly Beach

I just finished that book and loved it. It is by Karen White. It is a little slow to get into but I enjoyed it. I'd love to hear suggestions from anyone else . . .

Also, my dinners are getting a little boring, so if anyone wants to share something . . .

Stuff

TO BE CONTENT WITH WHAT WE POSSESS IS THE GREATEST AND MOST SECURE OF RICHES - Cicero











This is Brock's best new friend, Gavin Ayotte (who is about 9) because his father has this cool car that he actually let Brock drive. What a nice and trusting man he is! Yes, he actually has teenagers of his own. Even more shocking.

Bryce took Alicia up to Red Canyon Overlook at the Gorge on the 24th. Is Utah a great state or what? And I love Vernal in summer. If you know me, you know that love and Vernal in the same sentence is a big statement, but I truly mean that. The nights are cool, the days don't get too hot. It is beautiful here.

Brock came with us also. He has been a frequent guest of his family's this summer but it is because he has no other friends in town. We'll take him however we can get him.

I have two sets of amaryllis (I think) plants, one by the house, the other by the road. They are absolutely gorgeous and are just now blooming. The stems grow about 3 inches a day, no lie, when they first start out. They are beautiful flowers and I thank whoever planted them.

What the heck!

These pictures are in backwards chronological order - is there a word for that?

Sunrise on Virginia Beach. Last day of the trip - dang.

One of the many eels that were caught on the pier while we were watching.




Cape Henry Lighthouse, view was from top of Old Cape Henry Lighthouse that is just 50 yards away.

Mom and Dad on Wingaersheek Beach in Massachusetts.

Us on Wingaersheek Beach with Annisquam Lighthouse behind us.

Rockport, Massachusetts, a quaint, touristy, little port town.

Rockport - wish we had been in the sailboat!

Lexington, MA, Brock thinks he is studious.

FENWAY!

Ok, it is 6:55. I lasted a half hour. I added these pictures last and then just put the captions on. If you have any suggestions about is it easier to put on pictures first and then type, or any suggestions at all, please let this technological idiot know.

I typed for an hour and lost everything before it got posted. Needless to say it was high quality stuff and it isn't going to happen again - the good quality stuff. So this is my second try and I don't have the patience to sit for another hour. So it is 6:25, I'll work for 15 minutes and see what I can get.

This is a nice slideshow that the photog put together from the wedding in Boston.

http://macyrobisonphotography.smugmug.com/gallery/12698736_tYkxG#913846607_rBq8F

We stayed in Boston with Grant and Colleen Bennett, Alicia's mother's cousin. They were great especially since there were 7 of us. The Johns took us to a Red Sox game, we went to Lexington and also to Rockport, MA and to Wingaersheek beach. I'll add pictures but won't add any of my great commentary that I had earlier.

Mom and Dad were such troopers. It was great to have them there and they kept up with everything which sometimes included a lot of walking.

We headed out on Memorial Day to Virginia and bid farewell to Mom and Dad. Brad and Brock got their own car (that was kind of scary) and headed on their way to visit Brad's mission friends. We went to the Historic Triangle, Williamsburg, Yorktown and Jamestown. To show my stupidity, I thought we were going to Civil War sites. Williamsburg and Yorktown were from the Revolution and Jamestown was the pilgrims. It was a lot of fun and we saw some beautiful country. Then on to Virginia Beach which I fell in love with and would go back in a heartbeat if anyone is interested - let me know. We saw the old and new Cape Henry lighthouses which were on the local naval base. Virginia Beach includes a 3 mile boardwalk that has hotels running end to end. We stayed at the small Econolodge and had good luck with our budget pick. We rode bikes from end to end, listened to a band playing near the pier and watched people fish which you could do 24 hours on the pier. I got up early to watch the sunrise, it was well worth it and then we were off to home. It was an amazing trip and nothing could have been done to make it any better, other than the leg of the flight from Tampa to Phoenix - no one could get up including attendants from Tampa past Louisiana, Scott swears he will never fly again.

That only took me 7 minutes. Now I have to add pictures. They may be all at the first with only a short caption. I'll get better and I better get faster.