Ya can't be everywhere....

....and we chose to be in Florida, leaving on Christmas morning and flying across the snowcovered country to sun laden beaches and oh what a good time we had (but just so ya know what we missed out on, the good times of the family at the derby and sledding, check out Spencer's blog wellsweirdos.blogspot.com and it looks like they had a ball).

We stayed in a little apartment on the waterway where the water taxi goes up and down the canal and we were able to catch the taxi one day and see how the other half lives.....some of these yachts cost more than the houses they were parked in front of. Upper left is Randy waiting for the taxi (he got me this great new camera for Christmas that takes wonderful night pics).....

The beach was lots of fun....went there twice and found some great eateries. MaiKai is a Polynesian restaurant that Kyle remembers from his mission that has been owned by a Polynesian family since 1956. We enjoyed ice cream at Jaxson's (worth the wait) and the best shrimp and strawberry shortcake at Bubba Gump's....a little shopping at Los Olas and got off for shopping at one of the stops on the water way.....and of course the zoo where we rented a bike....so fun.

We had a wonderful time hanging out with James, Joslyn, Ella and Ever and Kaila was there also for a few days with us. It's been a wonderful holiday season with family. We got to enjoy the kids seeing Santa before we left so here's a collage of some of my shots......

Check out Penny's blog for some more pictures of our family fun and games......HERE. Happy New Year one and all..........

This is what it's all about.....

Merry Christmas to all......

...and to all a good night.

Is it ever enough?

What do we do with our days? I don't know about you, but some days I just have a tough time getting up and going but usually, if and when I do, I've got plenty to do and never really get it all done....and, oftimes beat myself up a bit.....so I found this little saying on a board at a gift shop and I bought it and hung it on my wall.  It helps me remember to ".....make whatever I do, enough." My late husband used to be a goal setter...he would write stuff down, prioritize it and check it off, but if he didn't get it done, it would just go to the next day's list or even next week's but he plugged along and worked away until he got what he needed to have done, done. Franklin Covey has a system...tried a couple of times to do the day planner thingy, but somehow, I just like this better right now at this time in my life.

I'll be the first to admit that I do have a lot of time on my hands right now and I have fun filling my time with things I like to do. I'm even finding some new things to do....I am enjoying my bike and the limitless trails around here. Here's what I'm reading right now.....always love it when the new Ensign comes in the mail.



Here's what we're watching right now.....trying to get caught up before the new season starts in January. Click HERE to read more about it.

I used to oil paint a bit. Never really good at it but when I met Randy I saw this picture and fell in love with it. It's the center of our apartment now.....it's a "paint by number" done by his daughter, Joslyn.....

...so, I remembered that I used to like to do paint by numbers so Randy and I bought a couple one day.....this is what I'm working on.  I'm pretty much getting ready for the old folks home in my future. (I probably shouldn't admit that I'm doing this....but sometimes we need "mindless" hobbies, right?)

I enjoy discovering new places to hang out. Randy introduced me to Danio's Farmer's Market in Roseville. I've never seen anything so huge....it would take several Saturdays to get through it.....

Randy enjoyed trying on hats....saw some way outrageous cowboy boots. This place is amazing. It was a good thing it was cold.....we couldn't stay very long, but we'll be back for sure. I've enjoyed finding new little "dives" on our Friday night dates. It was my turn to choose so I asked Ambyr for some suggestions. We went Hungarian after I read this review...click HERE. The review is really worth reading if you have a minute and it was a very "quaint" place to eat. The review was very accurate.

I was prepared, Randy wasn't so I think I liked it better than him but fun, none the less (there were really only 5 tables and scrunched really close together). It was fun to be invited to a holiday party and it has been fun getting to know Randy's children. Jake and Ambyr and their family invited us over for dinner. We had a good time, enjoying a little "Taboo"....guessing the number of candies in the jar (I missed it by 3, maybe next year)....and some white elephant gifts.

Good food, good company and lots of laughs. I missed my annual Gingerbread House Party hosted by JoEllen (she really does a lot of work getting these put together ahead of time) but the kids had a good time without me. Click HERE to see the cute pictures on Spencer's blog.

I miss my family dearly but I'm so happy to see them enjoying the holidays and our traditions. Change comes to our lives....sometimes whether we are looking for it or not and we adjust. Sometimes tragedy comes to our lives in many forms but we forge on with faith and at this time of year, I'm especially thankful for my testimony of the Savior and His Atonement. It's a comfort that I don't have to do the hard things alone. May we all remember the "reason for the season" and make sure that..."love so easily understands, what you can see is the smallest part; you don't need Christmas in your hands, when you have Christmas in your heart". Merry Christmas...and may most of your days be merry and bright.

A bit o' blogger's block.....

...and I don't know why other than maybe I've moved into the hustle and bustle of the season and it doesn't seem all that exciting to blog it but I'll get back on track and get out 'n about so I'll have something to share. I've been busy getting my Christmas cards out and one cool thing happened last night.....I connected with an old friend on Facebook. I was looking for the Gill's address (some friends that Kyle knew on his mission that we have stayed in contact with until recently and I just got a hankerin' to send them a card and to find out how their little family of 6 kids whose names all start with "t" are doing, so I set out to find them. I did "Dexonline.com"....that didn't work....so I went to Facebook and there he was....good ol' Steve Gill himself so I "friended" him and he accepted and we chatted and then he friended Kyle and so on and so forth...then I find out he and his wife are divorced and he's in a relationship with Randy's niece....(such a small world) then he called me this morning and we had a good chat about life, memories, good times, tough times.....so good to be in touch with old friends. Once a friend, always a friend and if ya meant something to me once, ya still do so my Christmas card list is huge and I do it mostly 'cause I like to hear from everyone. In this day and age of instant communication, the Christmas card is becoming extinct....so I'm doing my best to keep it alive. This is my card in case you didn't get one.....
**************************

Randy and I ventured last week to Folsom Prison.....wanted to look for some cool t-shirts (they do have a museum and gift shop) and it was fun to go in and see the memorabilia and check out the Johnny Cash shrine........

The picture on the left is a ferris wheel built out of toothpicks.....I guess the prisoners have a lot of time on their hands after they put in their day of making license plates. I'm looking in on one of the toughest in the house.....and Randy and I pose at the front gate. It's enough to make you want to obey the law for sure......and speaking of laws, I think there is one that says you have to make at least one batch of fudge during the holidays.

 Well, I did it tonight and Randy got the bowl all clean so now we just need to give a lot away or pace ourselves.........and speaking of pacing...my pace was pretty slow today as we decided to head out on our bikes for Sacramento....a mere 26 miles of trails that runs through this neck of the woods.....

Lots to see along the way and we stopped for a bit at the fish hatchery and tried to see some spawning but not the right time of year....but lots of guys fishing, geese sunning and lightning fast bikers passing us along the way. It was a beautiful day for a ride.....and, just so ya know, we only made it about 5 miles then stopped for lunch and shopping then caught the light rail back to our car. A good time was had by all.....I'm going to see if the fudge has set yet then heading out to the treadmill and the hot tub.....see ya.

Molly's first white dress.....

....the same one worn by her mother just 29 short years ago.

It was her blessing day today and we all ventured down to Henderson to support Lauri and her family.
The dress was as beautiful today as it was back then as little Molly was held in the arms of her father, grandfather and uncles.....to be given a name and a blessing. James did a great job....Lauri did too. I'm so very well-pleased with both of them and their sweet testimonies.

This has been a week of family and the cousins have had a chance to get to know their newest additions to the cousin's club.....Harry and Molly have both had their turns at being passed around.

....and the parties just appear out of nowhere. Kyle texted everyone...."tacos at our house at 5".....I think he forgot to send one to JoEllen but she was a good sport about it all. Kyle had some friends from China visiting the college and invited them over to the chaos but they seemed to enjoy it.

When we blog, life just seems to be one big party, fun and games all the time. We joked that we should start blogging about the "mundane"....so, just so you know, there's a leak in my kitchen faucet and the downstairs toilet,  my garage door is broken, I just had to pay my taxes and I'm broke, Mandy had to have some heart surgery, (she's doing fine)....I'm tired as heck (and I get ornery when I'm sleep deprived), every once in a while there's a little misunderstanding between loved ones (mostly because we become sleep deprived) .....but I'm surrounded by my loving family and every once in a while, a party breaks out so it makes it all worth it.....

I think Harry has the right idea....just sleep through the tuff stuff and wake up when the party starts....