Sunshine in Santa Barbara

We stayed at the Doubletree in Santa Barbara and both Megans were able to slip away for a night with the four kids. We loved having them here.
One of the speakers that we met was Peter Vidmar, the captain of the U.S. Gymnastics Team that won the team Gold Medal at the Olympics in 1984. He also won an individual gold medal in the pommel horse. He told of the parallels of government and working hard to win a gold medal. Gavin and Coco met him afterward and he showed them some of his skills.
You'd never know it by this picture but Peter was swinging his legs around this pommel horse very fast. Gavin was impressed.
It was one of the clearest days I have ever seen on the Santa Barbara Channel. The Channel Islands, normally obscured by fog, appeared so close. Ellie and Ethan loved playing in the sand with Megster while I attended meetings.
The big bathtub was a hit also. . .so deep that water wings were essential.

Virginia in the Fall

Last week, Dan, Helen, Grammie and Grampie flew to Norfolk, VA to visit Jeannie. We had perfect fall weather while on our trip. There were so many different sites that we had never seen before. The first picture is of the wild horses on Chincoteague and Assateague Islands on the DelMarVa Peninsula. No one quite knows how the wild horses got to the islands, but one theory is that in the 1600s, Spanish galleons were transporting the horses to the Viceroy in Peru when the ship was wrecked in a violent storm off the Atlantic Coast. The horses swam ashore and have been a part of the barrier islands ever since. These islands became famous because of the book by Marguerite Henry Misty of Chincoteague, published in 1947.
An old lighthouse station on Assateague Island that is still used today. Every July, the horses are rounded up by the Chincoteague Fire Dept. on Assateague Island and they swim across the small inlet that connects the two islands. Once on Chincoteague Island, an auction is held to sell the horses. In this way, the population of horses is kept low. So interesting to see these magnificent animals out in the wild.
One day we toured Yorktown, which was the site of Cornwallis' surrender to Washington during the Revolutionary War. We learned so much more about the battle that lead to the end of the war for our independence. This picture is on the car ferry across the James River from Jamestown to Scotland, VA. And the ferry was free of charge!
The commemorative monument from the Battle of Yorktown. This monument wasn't erected until the 100th anniversary of the battle, which took place in 1781.
In August, Jeannie and her roommate Nicole moved to an apartment in downtown Norfolk. They really like the busy location of the downtown area, which is very close to the waterfront. We had a wonderful time visiting Jeannie and getting to know more about the southern VA area. Jeannie had to leave us early on to attend a school on Cape Cod to identify different fish. This will be in preparation for her next underway in the North Atlantic Ocean.

Family, Friendships and 60 Years Together

Last night at the Duarte City Council meeting, I, as Mayor, was honored to present Mom and Dad with a certificate honoring them for their 60 years of marriage. This is something that the city does for couples that have been married for 50 years or longer in our city. . .and I just happened to be Mayor this year to present Mom and Dad with their certificate and cake. The evening started out with many friends and family coming to the council meeting, much to Mom and Dad's surprise. Ed and his 3 children came out from Highland and John and Nicholas posted the colors and led the flag salute as Boy Scouts. Ian had business in So Cal so he was able to fly in here for the ceremony.
Here are Mom and Dad explaining that their great friendship with one another is the basis for a long and happy life together, filled with love.
Here are some of the family and friends that joined in the celebration, left to right: Shirley Eckenberg, Megan, Gavin, Elise, Brad, Nicholas, Ginny Joyce, Dad, Ian, John, Megster, Ellie, Ethan, brother Ed, Mom, Stephanie, Patsy Harbicht, Lois Gaston (councilmember), Bob Harbicht (bicycling friend and councilmember/Mayor in Arcadia), Dr. Dean Conklin (school superintendent), Martha and John Jansen, Mayor Pro Tem Tzeitel Carracci, Ruben and Reyna Diaz (school board member), neighbors Betty Elliott, Mary Ann Ur, Russ Elliott, Margaret, Joey from Joe's Place that provided the great cupcakes, and Assemblymember Anthony Portantino. After the ceremony, we took a recess and everybody had cupcakes and talked for about 20 minutes. I left the council meeting for about an hour then and we all went to dinner.

Ragnar - What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas

Helen and I went to Las Vegas to work SWAT (Sweaty, Wet and Tired) for the Ragnar Race, a 200 mile round-the-clock relay race. We have both run it twice before and we decided to work at this one, as Exchange Managers, to get a free registration for the Big Kahuna Team this year. The race started on Friday morning at the Valley of Fire, about 50 miles northeast of Vegas. We are shown above at the starting location.
You can just make out the Ragnar Start in the distance. These were the types of roads that most of the race was run on. There were 12 runners on each team and over 400 teams competed. Some of the team names included "The Oxymormons" and "This Seemed Like a Good Idea Last January".
Here is a picture showing one of the groups starting the race. They started about 15 teams at a time every 15 minutes starting at 6 a.m..
Our Exchange, Number 18, was located in Henderson, Nevada. It was a beautiful venue, with nice facilities for the runners. We set up our pylons, the runner's chute, water stations, etc. and had two shifts of 10 volunteer workers to train and manage. Our work started at 5 p.m. on Friday and we went back to sleep at the hotel when the last runner came through about 3 a.m. on Saturday morning. We had so much fun and met a lot of great people.
Just before we started our shift on Friday, Helen and I drove out to the newly opened bridge that spans the Colorado River just beyond Hoover Dam. It is an amazing engineering marvel to behold.

Going to the Pumpkin Patch

This past Saturday, we took a trip to Cal Poly Pomona and let the kids pick out their pumpkins. There were so many people but a whole lot more pumpkins in a field that seemed to go on forever. All four of the little kids had a great time. . .and I think their parents did also.
Ethan picked out his pumpkin right away.
Coco and Fums liked to ride them also.
At the end when everybody had picked out their pumpkins, we tried to get the kids to pose for a picture. . .Fums was enjoying playing with his way too much.
The girls went to work right away selecting their pumpkins. It was a great day and we got the best pumpkins ever. . .now for the carving and cooking the pumpkin for pies.

The Life of a Missionary

Evan just sent some pictures of his area in San Pedro. He loves the people there and is glad to be outside the city of Buenos Aires. He said he really likes this area as it is agrarian and he is able to see a lot of the countryside. This area along the Parana River is where the city people go to vacation. This is one of the many dirt (mud) roads that he traverses on a daily basis.
Evan's 20th birthday was spent in San Pedro. The Maru Family in the ward took him out for ice cream on his birthday. He is shown here with just the "2" candle because they didn't have "0" at the store. So he said that he figured it was the end of his 2nd decade of life.
On one of his preparation days, he went fishing with a member of the ward. They were fishing on the banks of the Parana River.
He caught the biggest fish of anyone that day. They don't use fishing poles there. . .just fishing line with lead weights on it.
Here is Evan with the Vega family and his new companion. Evan said that they went to their house for dinner and had pizza.

The Little Rascals

It's always a treat to have the grandchildren around. . .they really keep things hopping around here. The picture above is of Gavin and Brielle with their friends, Tyler and Jensen Chang, cooking marshmallows over the fire pit. They roasted hotdogs over the fire for dinner and then were going to watch the movie, Nightmare Before Christmas, on the outdoor movie screen - a real night time adventure.
Megan made chocolate chip cookie dough with the help of Gavin and Elise. They reaped the benefits when they got to lick the cookie paddles.
Gavin and Coco got up in the morning and watched a bit of Sesame Street. Coco's favorite stuffed animal is her gray kitty that she hauls with her everywhere.
Coco also likes to wear different people's shoes. Today she had on grandma's slippers and Gavin was right behind her trying to get them off of her.
Sometimes you just have to laugh. . .I looked out the front window and saw Gavin chasing B.J. the cat with my silver salad tongs. . .isn't that what silver salad tongs are for?

Phantom of the Opera

The perfect ending to Placement Break was seeing Phantom of the Opera with Steve. We were both very excited to see the show and were not disappointed. It was a spectacular performance; I especially liked the Phantom. Christine and the other lead actors did a great job acting, which we could really experience because our seats were only ten rows back! We, naturally, went to Miceli's for dinner. Steve had never been and it is a tradition when seeing a show at the Pantages. The atmosphere was great and the food was delicious. I had a wonderful time at home hanging out with my family, especially playing with nieces and nephews. It sure was difficult leaving home and getting back into the swing of school. Thanks to everyone for a fabulous time!

A Day on the Bay

We had the opportunity to view San Francisco Fleet Week from a great vantage point, the Coast Guard cutter TERN. As always it was a great show with a parade of ships through the bay and plenty of aircraft demonstrations. The Blue Angels put on an incredible show - always staying in such tight formation.

There were fly-bys from other groups that left us all in amazement.

The pilots perform such daring moves that you think they almost might run into each other but they are very well trained and it makes for a great show. Especially with the San Francisco skyline in the background.

We had beautiful, clear sunny weather and were really able to enjoy a favorite occasion.

CO Matt and Ian and Tom - friends of Jeannie from the CGA - joined us for a fantastic day on the bay!

Another Day at the Happiest Place on Earth

Since Alana was home from BYU for her placement break for the week, we thought we would do another day at Disneyland. The little kids love it and we had a fun time also. It helps to only go for about a 4-hour period because then the kids don't get tired (and it becomes the saddest place on earth.)
Ellie got to go on Space Mountain for the first time and Gavin, who wasn't quite tall enough yet, was telling us here that he wanted to go on Small World.
Ellie, Brad and Gavin are shown here in Pirates of the Caribbean (also known as Yo Ho).
Brad also got to hold the two little ones on Small World. . .this is always a favorite ride of the kids.
This is still one of Gavin's favorite rides. . .he particularly likes pointing out the different Disney characters.

The Week in So Cal

Gavin and Coco helped their Mom make some Magic Cookie Bars. . .there were a lot of chocolate chips missing in those cookies. Gavin was wearing the evidence on his face.
Saturday morning, about 8 a.m., seems to be a pretty good time to go to Disneyland. There were practically no people there for a good hour. . .Ellie finally got to go on Splash Mountain, two times. Gavin and Ellie got their first annual pass for Disneyland. They can hardly wait for Uncle to come home from Argentina so he can get his pass and take them to Disneyland.
Here we all are riding on the Jungle Cruise. . .we always like seeing the back side of water at Schweitzer Falls.
James and Ellie rode on the Matterhorn, and Alana's friend Steve joined us for the day also.
We all rode the Gold Line into LA and ate at our favorite Chinese restaurant, Yang Chow. We even had our fill of of Slippery Shrimp tonight.