Fiji-Day 2-Visiting the Village

We took a boat and went down a river to a village. We went to a place where we watched a performace, ate a meal that was cooked in the ground, danced and could buy some goods that the local people had made. We also finally got to taste grog. I don't know why Keith loves it so much. We then got back on the boat and went to a huge waterwall. I didn't venture to it, but everyone else did. We also went on a bamboo raft for a short period of time. It was rainy most of the day, but it was still warm. A lot of the Australians loved the water and went swimming in the river. It was an interesting day and we learned a lot about the Fijian culture.

Christmas Party at Patsy Crapo's home

We had a Christmas party with a lot of our old friends from Parker. It was fun to get together. We played a game and also had a gift exchange. I wanted to get some boxing clubs for Braxton, but lost them. Everyone had plenty to eat and it was fun to get together with our friends from Parker 1st that we don't get to see that often. There were around 25 people who came and Patsy had a nice roomy place to host the party.

Christmas Parties-Dinner Club at our house.

We had our annual Christmas party with our dinner club friends. We had really good food to eat especially a delicious appetizer in a bread bowl made by Judy. We had our gift exchange and visited with each other. It was good to get together.

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas!

We were wondering it we were ever going to get snow. We always want snow for Christmas. We not only got snow, but wind and had our first snow day on Friday. I was so glad to have a day to catch up and do more shopping.

Happy Thanksgiving

All of us congregated at Megan and Dave's home in southern California. As I looked at the weather forecast, I told my coworkers that I certainly was glad that I wasn't going for the weather. It turned out to be somewhat rainy and cool-60's...which isn't that cool for us. Keith, Mata, Sid & I flew in on Tuesday evening. We flew into Long Beach and Keith rented a car. Holly and boys had arrived on Saturday and were staying in a condo by Newport Beach for a few days. Matt & Jess arrived on Thanksgiving day. Sid went with Mata and Keith to Universal Studios on Wedneday. They had a good time despite the rain and cool weather. A bright spot was that there were not lines! The women headed to shop on Black Friday. The men went surfing when we returned. We had a great time being together as a family.

Cutest Grandkids

Teri was so impressed with Holly's house and boys. The accomodations were great and the kids were a great source of entertainment. Teri taught us how to play our card game with partners and it was a lot faster. Holly and I finally won because Teri had a bad headache. Teri and Patsy are such card sharks. Holly and I are not. Adam was so cute and wore the helmet that I bought him at the "horse store". Brax and I made cookies. I can't believe what a great helper he was. Cole was busy watching the Broncos with his Dad.

Girl's Day Out

We ended a perfect day of shopping with dinner at Tempanyaki's restaurant. We had the best steak and shrimp. We also filled the back of the car with great purchases. We did some Christmas shopping, but mostly shopping for ourselves. We got some great deals!

A day at school with Braxton

I had a day off of school and headed down to Ogden to visit with the DeMilles. Teri and Patsy also went with me for a little bit of a get away. I wanted to go to school with Braxton to see his new class and see how he was doing. In the first picture, he is using the SMART board. What a great innovative way to teach. Braxton was the student of the day and doing the calendar. I listened to him read. He did awesome! One of his fellow students took this picture, so it is a little blurry.

Family Photos

Sid and I were trying to get a good picture of Brax for our phones. We can get pictures now so send us some. We had to change over to AT&T. Braxton would not pose for one. Holly wanted to get a family photo for her Christmas card. I thought that this one turned out quite well.

Are you coming to swing me high?

Sid couldn't stand another week without seeing Braxton...and his brothers. So we headed down to Ogden on Saturday and left Sunday. 24 hours is about the limit of time Sid can stay in Utah. He would much rather have the kids come and visit him. Keith also came to visit for a friendly game of basketball.

Does he look familiar?

We laughed when Jacob bought this costume? I think he looks just like Napoleon Dynamite alias Sid Brown. Sid was also Napoleon a couple of years ago and didn't really need a costume!

Happy Halloween

After much contemplation and stress, I ended up being an old lady alias Mrs. Allen. The funniest part of the whole thing was that my student was also Mrs. Allen and proud of it.

I wish that I had sprayed my hair gray also. I had an old lady hair net on with Tauna's grandma's old glasses. My butt was the best part...although drooping in the picture. It was a pillow stuffed in queen size panty hose. I didn't tell Marcia that I was an old lady like her, but my student told everyone that she was Mrs. Allen. They took a picture of the two of them and we couldn't decide if Marcia liked it or not.

The Dream Trip-Fiji- Day 1

We finally made our trek to Fiji. We had been anticipating this trip for sometime. We left Salt Lake on Saturday night at 11:30 p.m. on September 27th. After a 10 1/2 hour flight, we arrived in Nadi, Fiji at 5:00 a.m.-Monday. Due to the time change and the length of the flight, we completely missed Sunday. Thanks to Jess' sleeping pills, I probably slept for about 6 hours. Matt, Jess, Sid and I were met by Mata, who took us to our first hotel: The Pearl. It was a long drive around the perimeter of the island. It took us over 2 hours on a windy road. It was different to drive on the other side of the road. The island was beautiful...just as one imagined.

I took these pictures at the hotel. Matt tried out some surfing on Monday. Sid and Jess also tried to do it for a moment. We just hung out at the hotel and tried to get used to the time change. The weather was perfect.