Happy Birthday, Rosa!

Rosa, you have a unique role in our family as the only daughter-in-law, but we want you to know that you are more like one of our daughters!  We hope you have a wonderful birthday.  We love you!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Birthday, Rosa!!!

For the Grandkids

We'd like to introduce you to someone we met on the beach at Cape Henry. Watch closely.

Also, someone having fun on the beach at Virginia Beach.

We’re On The Go! – Part Three

When we go to the airport, we’ve noticed a sign at the front of the security lines that points to two different lines:  one for the “experienced” traveler and one for the “casual” traveler.  We’ve always gone to the “casual” traveler line, but we’re starting to feel like we belong in the other line! 

On Saturday of the second week of June we drove to Delta and picked up Roger’s parents and then drove on up to the Salt Lake area.  We dropped them off to stay with his sister and after visiting for awhile, we went on up to Jen & Jeff’s home to stay with them.   

 

We had a fun visit and stayed with the boys while Jen & Jeff went out to a movie.   Sunday morning, we picked up Roger’s parents again and then went over to Carolyn & Dustin’s to attend church with them and participate in Grant’s baby blessing.   Carolyn & Dustin were also speaking in sacrament meeting, and it was fun to be able to listen to their talks.  Afterwards we all went back to their home for dinner.  A lot of Dustin’s family was there, and it’s always fun to see them.   Besides us and Roger’s parents, Jen & Jeff and Lynnette & Jim were there from our family.

 

 

We ended up with several “four-generation” pictures, which was a lot of fun.  And Grant seemed to handle his big day just fine.

Sunday evening we took Roger’s parents back to Delta and then went on home.

 

Tuesday night we headed back to Salt Lake.  Wednesday morning, Dustin drove us to the airport and we flew out to Norfolk, Virginia to spend a fun week with Matt & Nicole in Hampton.

 

 

They only live a couple of blocks from Chesapeake Bay, and it is a beautiful area.   I couldn’t get used to the idea that you could walk outside first thing in the morning – even after a rainstorm – and it would feel warm instead of cool, because of the humidity.  So here are some of the fun things we did…………..

Thursday, Nicole took us on a tour of Hampton – starting with the bay.  

This area is so full of American history.  The Civil War battle between the first two iron-clad ships (The Virginia [Merrimac] and The Monitor) was fought just off shore here.

 

 

Because the area is basically surrounded by the bay and various rivers, they have an interesting combination of bridges that go over the bay and then go down into tunnels that go under the bay!

 

After having lunch with Matt at “Harpoon Larry’s Oyster Bar”, we took him back to work and then we drove out to Fort Henry to see the Cape Henry lighthouses.  Before they would let us on the grounds of the fort, we had to get out of the car, open all the doors, open the trunk and the hood, and then move out of the way while they searched the car.  Then they gave us a pass to get on base. 

 

 

There were lots of crabs on the beach – but you had to look carefully to see them.  If we got too close, they would run into their holes!

(By the way – crabs do walk sideways!)

A storm came in off the ocean as we were leaving the beach area of Fort Henry.  It was raining quite hard, but by the time we reached Virginia Beach, it had quit.  Because of all the hotels and resorts, it took us a little while to find a public access to the beach.  It was beautiful – lots of clean sand and a clear view out over the ocean.

 

Friday, Roger, Nicole, and I took a boat tour of Hampton Bay on the “Miss Hampton II” cruise boat.  Our tour guide warned us that this was not only a 3-hour tour, but would also be a 3-hour history lesson, and he was right – but, it was a very interesting history lesson.  (I couldn’t help having the refrain from the song from “Gilligan’s Island” run through my head:  “three-hour tour”.)

 

We saw several large ships at the Norfolk Naval Station, as well as fishing boats, sail boats, and a large floating “parking garage” out in the public area of the bay.  (Used to transport cars to distribution points for dealers.)

The tour boat made a 1-hour stop at Fort Wool and the park ranger gave us the history of it.  They started building this fort around the time of the War of 1812.  This fort and Fort Monroe across from it were meant to guard the channel.   However, Fort Monroe was finished long before Fort Wool because they had to build an island to put it on first! 

 

Friday night we attended an Elders Quorum party with Matt & Nicole.  It was a barbeque cook-off and karaoke.  They made a barbequed chicken pizza, and it was really good!

Saturday morning we headed for the Washington, D.C. area.  It rained all the way.  Our first stop was at the Washington, D.C. Temple where we did an endowment session.  The temple was beautiful – inside and outside.

 

Next stop was downtown Washington, D.C. where we were trying to find a “Five Guys Burger & Fries” shop because it was a favorite of Matt & Nicole’s.  It was worth the hunt.  The burgers and fries tasted great!  It turned out that it was the same “Five Guys” that President Obama visited to buy burgers and fries for his staff.

From there we found a place to park and walked to the “Mall”.  Roger and I visited Washington, D.C. 29 years ago this summer.  So here’s a sample of a “then” and “now” picture.

1980

 

                                                 2009

Actually, I can’t figure out how we were able to re-create the shot because this is what it looked like when we arrived at the Lincoln Memorial:

 

We didn’t walk all the way to the Washington Memorial.  We just took pictures from a distance. 

 

We stopped to see the new World War II memorial instead.

We thought it seemed very fitting that the states of Utah and Idaho were represented side-by-side.

Matt’s friend Arthur was in town for a conference and he and Matt made arrangements to meet up at the mall, so they had a good visit. 

We had to take a quick look at the White House.  There is a lot more security surrounding it than there was 29 years ago.  We actually took a tour back then.  It’s a lot harder to do now.

 

Sunday was more of a relaxing day.  We went to church and had the fun of hearing Matt & Nicole talk in sacrament meeting.  They did a great job, and we were glad we were able to be there.  Since it was Father’s Day, one of the ladies in the ward made a “happy meal” for each of the guys over the age of 18.  There were cookie “fries”.  The hamburger bun was two slices of a cupcake and the hamburger was a brownie in the middle with jelly “ketchup”.  They live in a very friendly ward, and we enjoyed the opportunity to be there.

Sunday afternoon we drove over to Langley Air Force Base to see the wind tunnel that Matt has been working with this year.  To give you an idea of the size of the fans on the wind tunnel:  the first picture was taken with us standing on the platform in front of the fans in the wind tunnel.  The second picture was taken after Matt took us around behind and into one of the fan assemblies.

  

I have to admit that when they started talking about what would happen if you were here.…or there…when the fans turned on, my stomach started to clench – even though I knew there was no way they would go on.  I have too vivid an imagination and was ready to move out of that area. 

Sunday evening we took a walk down to the bay again.  There was a “school” of something in the bay, and we were never able to figure out what it was.  At first we thought it was turtles, but decided the shape and movement didn’t fit and the size was too big.  Sometimes a fin would show as it kind of rolled up in the water.  We wondered if it was a school of small sharks that was feeding close to the shoreline.  It was dusk, so there wasn’t enough light to get a good look, but there were several of them!

Nicole and I made an apple pie for Father’s Day for Matt & Roger, and I have to admit that it was really yummy!!

 

 

Monday morning the four of us drove to Jamestown, Virginia.  Our first stop was the Jamestown “living museum” (run by the State of Virginia) near the actual site of the original Jamestown settlement.  It has four main areas:  the museum, a reconstruction of the original Jamestown Fort, a reconstruction of an Indian village, and a reconstruction of the three ships that brought the settlers to the New World.  In each area there were people in costume who would explain what you were seeing and demonstrate skills from that era.  We decided to take an actual tour, which turned out to be very interesting.

A young man demonstrated how they loaded and shot a musket.  I’m very proud of this picture.  The tour guide warned us that when he said “fire” to snap the picture, so I did……….

 

 
Part of the Settler’s Area

 

Inside an Indian hut

 

One of the fun things about a “living museum” is that you can see, touch, go inside, etc.

There were three ships that brought the original group to Jamestown.  They’ve been reconstructed and are actually sea-worthy.  Do you know the name of the three ships?  (No, it’s not the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria!!)

 

You have to be careful when you’re wandering, though, because you might run into one of the old “crew”. 

 

 

 

 

Next stop was the actual site of the original Jamestown settlement, which is a national park.  There is an on-going archeological dig and a museum where they display some of the artifacts they have uncovered.   As they determine sites of the buildings in the original fort/settlement, they are able to re-construct some of it.

In case you forgot, it is an area that is also famous for Pocahontas and John Smith!

Last stop of the day was supposed to be Colonial Williamsburg, but for Matt, it ended up as a ride squished into the seat of a tow truck with three other people while the car was towed back to Hampton.  The timing belt on their car broke two or three blocks from our destination.   Nicole, Roger, and I went on into Williamsburg while we waited for one of their wonderful friends to drive up and give us a ride back to Hampton.  We were walked the streets of Colonial Williamsburg, but the buildings and activities were closed for the day.  However, the shops were still open in the business district, so we were able to find something to eat at the “Cheese Shop” and buy a couple of souvenirs.

 

The one thing that I remembered about Colonial Williamsburg from our previous trip was the “stocks”, so here is another “then and now” picture – with a slight addition.

Oh, by the way, Virginia’s state bird is a cardinal, and they are all over Virginia – at least that is what everyone told us.  However, we didn’t see one cardinal the whole week.  Then in Williamsburg, one landed next to where I was standing – and I actually had a camera in my hand!  So while we were in Virginia, we saw exactly “one” cardinal.   (Sorry, it really is red!)

So we came to the end of our week and on Tuesday it was time to head home.   Matt & Nicole, thanks for such a fun week!  Oh, and I got one last picture as Nicole took us to the airport – we saw these signs everywhere, and I was determined to get a picture of one.  They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, so here it is:

Happy Birthday, Monica!

Since we were out of town on your birthday, Monica, this is a few days late.  It’s hard when we have so many pictures to pick just a few, but here goes………………..  Happy Birthday!!  We love you!!!!!

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Birthday, Monica!

Happy Birthday, Jim!

It brought back a lot of memories as we looked back through the pictures, Jim.  Hope you enjoy them and that you have a wonderful birthday.  We love you!!!

 

 

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Some Fun Videos From Our Trip to Illinois

We’re On the Go! – Part Two

The first weekend of May, we drove back up to the Wasatch Front and spent the weekend with Lynnette & Jim.  They had given us tickets to “Wicked” for Christmas.  We didn’t really realize what a big deal that was until people started talking about how they had tried to get tickets and wanted to know how in the world we were able to get them.  So “hats off” to Lynnette for evidently bringing off the coup of the year!!!  (Thanks to a tip from Lynnette, Jennifer & Jeff also got tickets for the same night and Carolyn & Dustin were able to get tickets for a performance two days before she had her baby.)

We started the evening with Lynnette & Jim and Jim’s parents for dinner at a Japanese restaurant where they cook the food right at your table.  The Chef was very entertaining and flipped shrimp up for each person to catch in his or her mouth.   Since I’m not fond of shrimp, I bowed out on that one – which was probably a good thing since it was all or nothing – you caught it or you didn’t!  It ended up about 50-50 at our table.  After a wonderful meal, we headed for downtown Salt Lake City and the Capitol Theatre.  To quote Roger:  “Wicked” was, well…. “good”!   The production was well done and we really enjoyed it.   The only other professional production of that type that we have been to was “Phantom of the Opera”.  We may get some “culture” yet!

 

      Outside the Capitol Theatre

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We ended the weekend with dinner at Jen & Jeff’s home to celebrate Roger’s birthday. 

Happy Birthday, Roger !!!!!!!   Love ya !!!!!!!!!!

 

We drove back home for a couple of days of work, and then drove back up to SLC to fly out to Illinois to visit Monica and James and the kids for a week.  We flew into Chicago and rented a car to get us down to Champaign.  We were excited to see them, and they seemed excited to see us.  We finally got to meet our other new grandson – Liam.

 

 

 

 

We had a fun week.  We went to a University of Illinois baseball game at which they offered free hot dogs and pulled in a pretty big crowd.  They weren’t quite prepared for the size of the crowd and ran out of food just as we were reaching the front of the line.  We stood so long just to get to that point, that we only lasted for three innings – there weren’t enough seats for the crowd, and we got tired of standing.  If the game had been a little more exciting and the grass not wet, we might have stayed longer.  (By the way, Illinois did come from behind and win.)  We found a pizza place on the way home and fed our hungry group.  Ice cream from McDonald’s topped off the evening.  One afternoon, we did some shopping and ended up at the Mall where the girls had a fun time riding the carousel and playing in the mall playground.  The goal was to find something for Liam to wear when he was blessed.  We found a white polo type shirt at Wal-Mart and Monica & James found some white pants to go with it. 

Baseball………                                            ……..and pizza!

                                        

Carousels………….

……..and playgrounds!

 

James gave Liam his name and a blessing at church on Sunday.  It’s always a great experience to be involved in the special events that happen with our family.   

 

After church we took some sandwiches and drove out to Lake of the Woods Park where we explored the botanical gardens and the forest preserve.

 

One evening we attended a barbeque with a group of law students and their families. 

We finished our week’s visit with a trip to the zoo with Monica and the kids. 

First, a picnic…….

Then the animals.  Some were small and colorful……….

 

Some were just as interested in us as we were in them…….

 

There was a tiger…and leopard….and bear!  Oh, my!

 

 

 

 

It was a great visit, and we hated to leave!  The thunderstorms hit the night before we left, so we drove back to Chicago in some heavy rain.  We flew from Chicago to St. Louis and from there to Salt Lake City.  Our plane was an hour late leaving St. Louis, and we had some turbulence on the way home because of the thunderstorms building up in the area.  (We hit one really big “bump” and part of Roger’s drink of Sprite ended up in my lap!)