SLO Lights

When Terry and I were driving around San Luis Obispo one night, we spotted this house that was completely covered in lights.  We hung a u-turn and went back to see it.  It was amazing!  Here you can only get a bit of an idea of how it looked.  It was so fun, we went back the next night to look at it again!

More From SLO

 AJ and Kevin at the beach at Morro Bay.  They've loved the beach since they were little boys.  They had a good time getting back to the ocean.

 Terry and I met in 1975 when we both went to Brigham Young University.  We lived in the same dorm and became fast friends.  She lives in Los Angeles and drove up to San Luis Obispo so we could spend some time together.  It was so much fun, and felt like being teenagers again!

 Stan's sister Merodie on the beach.  When we lived in California, Merodie was only about a half an hour away, so she and the boys are very close.  We were so happy she made it down to SLO to see us!

 AJ strikes a contemplative pose.  They found this bench and sign at the beach and thought it was fun to take pictures with it!

 I LOVE this picture of Kevin!  Looks like he could be thinking a million things as he gazes out at the sea.

 Stan's dad took the boys to the driving range and let them hit a bucket of balls.  They have plans to do the same thing with Stan here in Colorado!

Grandpa told Kevin he was a natural, so we're hoping he gets some more chances to play now.

What a fun time when you get to be with family!

San Luis Obispo

The Monday after Christmas we went down to San Luis Obispo to spend a couple of days with Stan's family.  It was so pretty there....so green and warm after Colorado!  It was nice to see the beach again too, and Stan's parents, sisters, nieces, etc.  Plus, my friend Terry (we met 35 years ago and were roommates at BYU) met us there.  Way too short a visit, but so much fun!

 Here's Kevin and I at Morro Bay.  That's Morro Rock behind us.  We saw sea lions playing in the water, sailboats and paddle boats out on the bay too.  It was so nice to be at the ocean again!

 We met Stan's parents and his aunt for lunch at the Hofbrau in Morro Bay.  This is Stan's dad Jim and Stan posing for me.  Don't they look a lot alike?  Sure can tell they're father and son!

Stan's mother Joann on the left and her sister Carol.  Eating french dip sandwiches and fish & chips by the water, the cry of gulls and pelicans surrounding us.  It was great to be back there.  

More Pictures from Christmas in California

 My sister's beautiful tablescape for her Christmas feast!  Butternut squash soup, mixed greens salad, ham dinner, and my grandmother's carrot pudding for dessert.  All of us gathered together.  It was the best!

 Stan and I and our grand niece, Cassandra Jade!  So precious.  And so much fun to hold a baby again!

 For her dinner, Cheryl had a cup of candy at each place, and for placecards, she had a gingerbread man with a photo of each of us where the gingerbread man's face should be.  Here's AJs!

 My parents hearth decorated for Christmas.

My sister Cheryl and I goofing off at Andy and Dayna's the night before we left them all.



A THOUGHT FOR THE WEEKEND

Friendship makes prosperity more shining and lessens adversity by dividing and sharing it.

Cicero, 106-43BC

Scenes from Christmas

We're stuck in Flagstaff, Arizona waiting out the storm and the highway to clear.  Here are some photos from our trip to California for Christmas.  More to come later.  Take a look!

 Stan and I Christmas Eve

 My nephew Eric, the new father, and AJ at my sister's Christmas Eve Banquet!

 Eric's wife Amber and my father, Arland.

 Me and my sister Cheryl.

 What a cute couple!  My nephew Andy and his girlfriend Dayna.

 My mother, Mary Louise, the great-grandmother with her great granddaughter, Cassandra Jade.

 My handsome son Kevin, with grandma peeking around him.

My cute brother-in-law, Don.

A THOUGHT FOR THE WEEKEND

For many of us, sadly, the spirit of Christmas is “hurry.” And yet, eventually, the hour comes when the rushing ends and the race against the calendar mercifully comes to a close. It is only now perhaps that we truly recognize the spirit of Christmas. It is not a matter of days or weeks, but of centuries -- nearly twenty of them now since that holy night in Bethlehem. Regarded in this manner, the pre-Christmas rush may do us greater service than we realize. With all its temporal confusion, it may just help us to see that by contrast, Christmas itself is eternal.~~Burton Hills

A New Member of the Family!

We have a new member of our family!  My sister's youngest son Eric and his wife Amber had their baby Tuesday, a girl they named Cassandra Jade.  She's just beautiful!

I'm pretty sure that Christmas Day will be spent playing "pass the baby."  Isn't she just the most precious little thing?  Who wouldn't love such a little angel!



Here is my sister, the new Grandma, holding her granddaughter.  I told her I thought it was awfully nice of Eric and Amber to give us such a nice Christmas present.

The new little family.  Aren't they sweet?  This is going to be a special Christmas for them, I know.  And every Christmas from now on will be a new adventure as they watch little Cassandra grow up.  What a happy life awaits them!  I can't wait to see them all and to hold my new little niece.  I always said I was a great aunt, but now I really will be a GREAT aunt!   Yay!

Christmas Light Night

One of our family traditions is Christmas Light Night.  After dinner we go out and drive around the neighborhood checking out all the light displays.  It's a lot of fun!  And when we're done we find someplace to go out for a piece of pie and maybe some hot chocolate.  Took some pictures to share here.  If you live near me, you might see your house!

What Was That?

When I was little I got confused pretty easily.  I remember being about five and listening to Christmas music and putting my own spin on things.  Even today when I listen to some songs I remember them the way I thought of them then.  It's pretty silly actually, and would like to think that there are others out there who have had the same experience.

For example, in the song God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen Perry Como used to sing the line "in Bethlehem in, Jewry, the blessed babe was born."  Now, you don't here this line too much anymore, they've changed it.  But when I was little I'd never heard the phrase "Jewry" and thought Mr. Como was singing "jewelry."  I knew what jewelry was.  I also knew Jesus was born in a manger, and one of the three wisemen brought gold.  I knew gold was jewelry.  And what was frankincense and myrrh?  That was probably the other jewelry!  I never asked anyone, I just knew I was right.  I listened to Perry Como last night and sure enough, when he sang that line a picture of a pirates treasure chest came into my mind.

In Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer they sing about the deer shouting out with glee.  Again, at age five this as not a word I was familiar with.  But I did know the word Gleem, which was a toothpaste they advertised on TV all the time.  I knew what they were talking about!  The reindeer brushed their teeth with Gleem and then shouted about it.  Probably, I pictured in my mind, while baring their pretty white teeth so everyone could see how good they brushed.  I used to do that for my mother before going to bed every night.  She would cover her eyes and tell me my teeth were so shiny they hurt her eyes.  Same thing with the reindeer I figured.

The other song that confused me was Jingle Bells.  I thought the name Bob Tail for a horse was totally wrong!  I had a dog I'd named Star.  I thought it was a perfectly lovely name.  But Bob Tail was so dumb.  I would have named him King, like National Velvet's horse, or Flicka, or something really wonderful like that.

To this day when I hear these songs for a brief second I think of them the way I did back then.  I was so sure that I was right that it must have burned itself into my brain. 

I'd be interested in hearing if anyone else had similar experiences.  Christmas is, after all, a time of sharing!