Our visit with Andrea, Raquel, Natalya, and Marcus

We were so excited when Andrea called Natalie and told her that she would be flying with her little family to see her parents in Phoenix. Natalie called us and we put together a short trip to visit with them. We had not been able to see Marcus and had only seen Natalya when they came in May to visit. So this was so great. We had dropped Michelle and Tom at the airport, went to Disneyland, and the next morning packed. Natalie worked until the afternoon, and we were off to Arizona to visit

You can imagine how excited we were to see the little kids. Of course the little girls just wanted to be tickled by Grandpa. We just wanted to enjoy laughing with them. Oh Marcus is such a darling little baby. Just smiled and stuck his little tongue out.

We spent the night with Judy and Kenny. They live in Peoria just five miles from Margaret and Steve, Andrea's parents. Margaret fixed a wonderful breakfast for us. The little kids were so grown up eating up to the table. Margaret has her home fixed so nice for the kids. She had toys all around, so when they come, they have a home away from home. They love being there.

Steve spent time with Raquel and Natalya putting together puzzles. You could tell they had enjoyed doing that often. Wow, who wouldn't love flying to visit grandparents in Arizona. They had all the toys little girls could think to play with.

It was fun to see Raquel and Natalya play with Grandpa. They loved to tease him and get his attention. He played hide and seek in their beautiful home.

We had so much fun just laughing with the girls and just watching them. We
wanted to be with them as long as we could. They live so far away. As Grandpa played with the girls, Margaret made the comment that now she knew where Michael got his play habits from. She said that Michael tickles and plays with the girls just like Mike did. Yes, the apple does not fall too far from the tree.

We took turns reading a good-night story to the girls. They loved hearing Natalie, you know she is a teacher don't you and she makes everything come to life. Yes and Grandpa does not ever want to be left out.

Marcus is the happiest little baby. He had just found his tongue, and so we were able to get great pictures of him. He was so good to let us hold him whenever we want. Michael and Andrea are such good parents and have very well-mannered children. I bet he misses his little kids while they are in Arizona.

We all loved holding Marcus. He is so fun, just sticking his cute little tongue out and smiling. These little kids have such big dark brown eyes. Natalie held Marcus as much as she could, but the girls wanted her to play with them. She is like a big buddy for them.

The girls took Natalie into their bedroom with a closet full of toys and played "hide and seek". They sure have a great life coming to Arizona to play in the sunshine. But it was record cold while we were there. Wouldn't you know it, but we didn't go for the sunshine, just wanted to hang out with the Virginia Kennedy's.

This is a picture at Cabela's. It was on our way back to California. So Andrea, Margaret and the kids followed us there and we took fun pictures. I should say we followed them. Judy and Kenny had been there, so we just extended our visit. It was like going to a stuffed zoo.

Natalya was there to help Andrea with Marcus. She will be a great big sister to him and a good help to Andrea. Andrea called Michael on her Iphone. We could talk with him and see him on the phone, and he could see us. What will they think of next? The kids don't even need to be homesick for him. He is just a phone call away to see and here him.

Raquel is on the swim team in Virginia. It was just too cold to use the pool, but we sure wanted to watch her swim. If we would have been all Senior Citizens we could have used the indoor pool. But the kids did not pass for Seniors. It would have been fun to watch her. It was too cold, but think she would have even braved the cold to show us her swim moves. Proud of her for being on the swim team.

Such a good picture of Andrea and Marcus. She looks so pretty all of the time.

Mike had fun playing with the girls. They enjoyed wrestling and tickling and being noisey. That is how he would play with his own kids.

I am sitting in the closet all filled with toys. I just wanted to hug and kiss cute Marcus.

Here we are at Cabela's. Judy and Kenny are in the background. It was so good to see them also and visit with Kaylynn. We really had a great time while we were there.

No this isn't the jungles of Africa, but close. Cabela's...those little girls are pretty always in pink.

Margaret with Andrea and the little girls.

It was so much fun to take pictures of everyone. I wanted to get as many as I could. Thanks for smiling so often for us.

Thanks Judy and Kenny for letting us stay with you. Great seeing you both. It was so hard to tell Michael's family good-bye. Time just went by too fast.

Tom and Michelle's visit to beautiful California

Tom and Michelle flew into Long Beach airport. Natalie was with us as we picked them up. We had a quick hamburger at In and Out, then drove to Long beach for a walk. Gavin came from work and joined us. It was very cold, but so pretty.


Michelle and Natalie in the usual funny face contest as we take pictures. I always hope they would just smile but they love to shock us with the tongue out or food showing.

It is about time for the sun to set on the ocean. We wanted to get a picture together with the Queen Mary in the background.

After walking on the beach and pier, we went to Bubba Gumps Shrimp. We had fun eating outside with a heater behind us. It was so much fun laughing and talking with each other.
It is always fun getting together.

After our great shrimp dinner, we walked along a path, through a park to a beautiful light house. The Queen Mary is in the background. It was so beautiful and peaceful, although, it was so cold. We really wanted it to be warm when Michelle and Tom were here. We did not have control of the weather.

Mike posed as Natalie laid on her back to get the picture. The lighthouse was so tall and such a brilliant color. It was fun walking around the park with Tom, Michelle, Gavin and Natalie. Mike and I are always very proud parents. Guess you never outgrow that.


Tom and Michelle stayed with Gavin and Natalie. The next morning we drove to downtown Los Angeles, and walked around the markets. We were just a few blocks from the Staple Center and L.A. Live. We had eaten at Subway before getting to Los Angeles, but a vender had these fabulous looking hotdogs. So we ordered some that were doctored up with all sorts of spicy, hot ingredients. Each of the guys tried to see who could eat the hottest and the juciest hotdog.


They each grabbed a pick-me-up in a coke. Mike already had enjoyed his Rockstar, so he was already flying high. Yes, those Rockstars are becoming his daily diet. Mike is getting Natalie hooked on them. When we were home it was fun to see my brothers, Rick, Rob and Klint using them also. Guess we all just need an afternoon break.


This is "Pinkberry", one of Gavins favorite treat spots in the downtown area. They came here many times while they lived here during their summer internships. They have yogurt topped with yummy fruit and toppings. What a treat for us.

We waited for Gavin to shuttle us back and forth from shopping, to the Pinkberry and to the Staple Center. Natalie, Mike and I went to Little Tokyo. It definitely felt like we had stepped into Japan. It was very unique as we walked around to see the items in the stores. Many of them we had already purchased in Tokyo while we were there with David. We had left our car parked at the Staple Center, and used Gavin's to get us back and forth. But six did not fit, so had to do shuttles. We loved the time to just walk around. Michelle and Tom had to walk the most but were able to see the sights and the sunset around the tall buildings.

Mike and I posed for Natalie. She is always there taking pictures of us. It is like taking our own photographer with us. Thanks Natalie. This is just on the edge of Little Tokyo.

We are just getting to the Staple Center for the game with the Clippers vs. Bobcats of North Carolina. Wow, this was so huge. So much different than being in the bleachers watching David play. Although, I watched his game much closer than I watched this one. A few weeks earlier Mike had been with Melissa and her boys watching a Jazz game.

Mike had accidently brought his knife with him. They have screening just about like they do at the airport. He handed it to me and asked me to hide it for him. Yeah Mike, sure. Well, we had to make a fast trip back to the car. This wasn't the first time having to take his knife back to the car. It happened at the Jazz game and Disneyland. Don't know why he couldn't take his knife into those areas. What is this world coming to.

Great picture of Tom and Michelle. We had great seats. We could see so much from where we were sitting. We were really tired, because we had been shopping also that day. Don't think I had ever walked so far. " Where is another Rockstar, Mike."

After the game, people all gathered outside to hear the famous Clipper Drummers. They performed during half-time, along with the cheerleaders. They were not much to look at though. Ha ha. But the drummers were great. It was late, but hated to call it a day and go home. Just love to crowd in all we can with the family. Great place to be with someone you love.


This has been such a great trip with Michelle and Tom. Natalie filled our day with so many activities. They went to Disneyland the next day, so I don't know if they took any pictures, but we took a lot when they were with us. Thanks for coming to see the rest of the family here in California. Loved having you. We took them back to the airport on Monday. Then Mike and I thought we would just go to Disneyland as long as we were so close. So much fun being able to be so close to the fun sights here. But just a lot of driving, no matter where you are.

Happiest Place on Earth

We have just boarded the shuttle taking us to California Adventures. We are so excited seeing the quaint little stores selling Disney characters, princess dresses and swords. We could think about our grandchildren loving those stores and begging their Moms and Dads for those treasures to take home.

We were walking by the Toy Story ride and there was the soldier and Jesse from the movie. Well the girls wanted autographs, so the soldier was available for pictures. We enjoyed riding and shooting images as they came toward us. Natalie had been there before, so her score was into the hundreds of thousands. Mike and I, well we will have to practice at a future Disney excursion.

One of the biggest rides in California Adventures is the dreaded ride, the tallest and fastest Roller Coaster. Natalie and Mike wanted to ride so bad. They are always up for fun. Heights scare me. They talked me into it. It was the ride of a lifetime. After it was over, they asked me how I did. Mike asked if I enjoyed the view. Natalie asked how I did going upside down. My answer to both was, I don't know, I had my eyes closed all of the time. They thought I was joking. After the ride, we looked at our pictures, and yes my eyes were closed, hanging on tight. They on the other hand were happy and loving it.

As the sun began to set, the lights came out, and the magic of Disneyland appeared. What a sight. We found a ride that made us feel like we were in an airplane and flying over California. We could feel the ocean mist on our faces, and also smell the orange groves. We were able to ride that two times. We also past bugs life, and we were as big as the bugs walking around the ground.

We are waiting on the bridge to watch Disney World of Color. I have never seen anything like that, so all I can say is that it was spectacular as the lights combined with water, and wonderful music put on such a great show for one half hour. We did not have tickets as we did not get to the park early enough. Natalie recognized a man from her trip from the week before, and he let us stand in a great place. Ofcourse she said we were from Idaho and we needed to watch it before we went back home. That Natalie gets things done. Mike said that this performance cannot be described with words, and that you all need to come to see it. Pictures could not even do it justice. Gavin had taken videos, so we knew how neat it was, and not even that could capture it all.

We are standing on the bridge taking pictures with Mickey Mouse Ferris Wheel in the background. The Rollercoaster is there also.

That is a great shot of the roller coaster. They made me ride it and told me I would regret it if I didn't. Yeah right. I probably would have. And yes, I will probably do it again.

This has been such a wonderful evening to be able to be at Disneyland with Mike and Natalie and know we can come back another day. We sat on this pier, ate and just enjoyed the sights.

First Day at Oceanside

This is our favorite beach where we would go to boogie board last year and had the time of our lives. Just laughing as the waves came in and waiting for the next one to come and catch it going to shore. Mike and I felt like kids again. You know Gavin and Natalie are with us and always show us a great time.


We are on the pier. Mike spent time watching people fish from the pier and checking what bait they used. You know this will be his next project in learning how to fish just like they do and hopefully catching something other than a shark.


Oceanside has the longest wood pier on the West Coast. It was built around 1925. Wish we had the razor here to drive up and down on it. It was a long way, but the view is beautiful.


What a great guy. Thanks Mike for bringing me here with you. Of course who else would he bring. Yes always fun to be with you. Thanks Natalie for helping me do this blog. She is teaching me how to fish rather than fishing for me and giving me the fish. If you know what I mean. We are having so much fun.

Our California Resort.

This is the view from our third floor apartment. We are sitting on our patio with a breathtaking view of palm trees, swimming pools, and picnic areas. Can't believe Mike and I have reached a point in our lives to be able to enjoy this together.



This is just another view of the pool area. We brought these patio chairs with us from home. We used them at our old cabin and now get to use them in our California Adventures. Nice place to be with someone you love, huh Mike.


I wish you all could be here to enjoy the eighty degree weather. What a change from the below zero weather home in Rigby. We miss you all so much.





Here we are for our evening entertainment with Gavin and Natalie. We went to the one of the recreation areas to enjoy our movies. We took our snacks, rockstars. and vegged out. This has become our extended family room.