Lauryn and the cups games, March 2013

Lauryn was a hoot!  We watched Spencer, Preston and Lauryn while Nate and Beth went car shopping.  We made up a game of knocking down paper cups with paper airplanes and with a nerf ball.  Lauryn’s efforts at knocking them over are hilarious.  The first video shows Preston knocking cups over.  The second video shows Lauryn.  The third video show Lauryn bowling 

Cancun, Mexico February 2013

We went on a trip to Cancun, Mexico with Greg and Sue; Bert and Betty.   It was a fun trip though the weather was rainy part of the time which prevented us from snorkeling. 

The highlight of the trip was seeing amazing Indian ruins.  The first day we saw the ruins of “Tulum”.  Our guide told us interesting things about how the Mayans linked their architecture to Astronomy.  One very interesting astronomical fact was that they designed one of the walls with a unique cut in it so that on April 6 light from the rising sun hit a hole in one of their buildings and lit up the building.  Also, there are images of the “descending God” throughout the structure.  It appears to be a fairly well established fact that the Spaniards were initially thought to be the Descending God when they first came.  

The next day we went to “Chichen Itza”.  These ruins were astounding.  At the most prominent pyramid, the guide said that they ripped out the person’s heart, cut off their head and rolled them down the steps where the people ate their bodies.  In both the Tulum ruins and Chichen Itza, the people were divided into classes where the higher class and more educated priests lived inside the structures whereas the common people lived outside in huts.  In Chichen Itza we were told they also had a ball field where a ball game was played and the winner got to be sacrificed to the gods.  We also saw an interesting stone box where the guide said the priests kept sacred documents.

After the ruins we went to a museum and went to an island called “Isla de las  Muhares” (Island of the women where the women and children went when the men went off to fight).  

Baby Quilt Feb 2013

Hi All, 

Here is the recently completed quilt for Nate Jr.  Other quilts are on their way

Fun Winter Activities, February 2013

On Friday Sandy and I went cross country skiing.  The weather was beautiful and the trip was exhilerating.  Note below is a picture of the mighty skier.   

I went with Nate, Spencer and Preston to Fish Lake to go ice fishing.  It was great.  We caught a lot of fish and the boys enjoyed themselves.  

Christmas 2012

Hi All, 

We got a wonderful announcement—Andrea is pregnant!  She is 15 weeks along and is doing well.  The kids gave us a beautiful picture of all the grandchildren and then afterwards gave Sandy a small present.   This present had the ultra sound of the baby.   They then had Andrea on the phone to talk to us.  It was a great moment.  Below is the ultra sound picture. 

Chris and Lisa and children came to the house Monday night.  They stayed with us until Wednesday.

Christmas morning Matthew, Alyssa, Emma and Connor opened presents.  

We had a wonderful afternoon dinner with all the kids except for Andrea and Mike and, unfortunately, Mindi was sick.  Grandpa and Grandma Monson also came over.  We made some aprons for each of the children and it was fun to see them open these gifts. Here are some additional pictures of the day.

After dinner everyone sat around and talked, played or slept.  In the evening, Matt and Kaelynn, Chris and Lisa, Matthew, and Brian played a new game Chris and Lisa brought with them.  Unfortunately, Mindi was sick and couldn’t come.

The next day the adult kids went out to eat dinner and see Lincoln while we watched the kids.  It was fun to watch the grandchildren enjoy playing with their cousins.  Matthew and Spencer; Alyssa and Jaimee were particular buddies.  

2012 Year in Review

Hi All, 

Here is a slide show showing highlights of 2012.  Hope you enjoy!  Luv Dad and Mom

Visit with Mike and Andrea Nov 2012

We had a wonderful visit with Mike and Andrea.  We arrived Tuesday night.  Wednesday, while Andrea worked, we went with Mike to an interesting National Monument and park.  The monument was an old fort that was quite interesting to see.  We took a walk around the area and saw hanging down moss covered trees and other interesting vegetation.  We went to the new James Bond movie, “Skyfall” afterwards.  

Thursday we started the cruise.  We got on the ship late—which was a great disappointment to Mike that we couldn’t get on the ship and start feeding earlier…

 The first evening and second day we spent sailing on the ocean.   We played mini golf and ping pong, we went to a show, we played St Petersburg and ate, ate, ate. 

On Saturday we stopped at Nasau, which is in the Bahama Islands.  We went snorkeling and walked around the city.  

 After Nasau we went to Freeport.  Here we walked around a bit and did things on the ship.

Sunday night and Monday were rocky as the ship was hit with wind and ocean swells.  We still had a good time. 

When we got back to Jacksonville, we played games and saw Stephen Speillberg’s movie, “Lincoln”.  It was great. 

On Wednesday we went to an Alligator farm and to St Augustine.  The Alligator farm was amazing.  There were about 700 alligators and crocidiles of all shapes and sizes.  They had a time where a keeper came out and fed the alligators which was cool.  

After that we went to St Augustine.  This is the “oldest” city in America.  It was really a cool city.  We saw the fort there and then walked down the streets. 

Thanksgiving day we cooked the turkey, played around in the basketball gym and walked around in downtown Jacksonville. 

Here is a cool movie of feeding an alligator a delicious white rat "treat":