The big kidnapping

We kidnapped all of our young women one bright early saturday. We started at 5am waking them up and taking them. Let me just tell you....I found out who is grumpy when they don't get their sleep! It was fun seeing how they all reacted. We kidnapped them away to Emily's house where breakfast awaited. We made some cute crafts and made some yummy treats to deliver around to people who serve us and the girls that don't come all the time. I think it was quite successful and a lot of fun! Enjoy the pictures of the beautiful girls I get the privilege of being over. They are great sports and I love them all dearly!

Christmas spirit

I have been trying really hard to have the Christmas spirit in our home. I vowed to myself a few month back that I would do a better job. I seem to get caught up in life way to much these days. I don't want to forget the important things in life or be ungrateful for what I am truly blessed with. Here are a few suggestions that I came across on another blog that has really helped me! I have done some of them and it has really helped me be happier and I am looking forward to this Christmas season. Now on to trying to start some traditions that will actually stick! Any suggestions would be great! There will be NO scrooge in our home this year!


* Replace some holiday decorations in your home with reminders of Christ.
* Politely decline requests that will take you away from family.
* Play more Christmas music.
* Donate gently used items to a thrift store.
* Go Christmas caroling.
* Avoid “mad rush” shopping times.
* Say thank you as often as possible.
* Schedule a night to help another person or family.
* Call someone you normally wouldn't to wish him or her a Merry Christmas.
* Delegate some holiday preparations to children or other family members.
* Trim the gift list.
* Simplify a traditional activity.
* Find quiet time to pray.
* Write down great memories as they happen.
* Set and stick to a holiday budget.
* Forgive a grudge.

In October, my parents, fred and sandra, along with rob and I went to San Francisco. We had the best time! I am actually very disappointed with myself that I didn't take more pictures! We flew in to Oakland and took the Bart across the bay in to San Fran. We stayed at the Westin St. Francis right across from union square. I LOVE that hotel. It is home of the heavenly beds and I REALLY want one! I slept so well! The first day we went down to Pier 39 and caught a ferry over to Alcatraz. We had fun down at the fishermans warf and got in ALOT of walking. Between my bad hips and my dads bum knee we were a mess! The second day we rented a car and drove all over Northern California. Not by choice! We had a crappy map and actually even drove through a place called Boonville. We laughed at that! Even though we were stuck in the car all day long we really enjoyed being together. At least that is my recollection...lol. The third day we walked and walked all over. Went to China town and down to little Italy. The walking almost did me in. Coming down the hills is what hurt the most. We shopped, ate and spent good time with each other. I hope we make this a tradition and start traveling different places together. I really enjoyed it!








A few pictures waiting to catch to boat over. I love the picture of everyones back...you can see alcatraz in the far distance






Boat ride over to the island. Pretty cool pictures with the fog!












There was just something eerie about going to Alcatraz at night. The fog made it all that much more creepy. It was all lit up quite well so it wasn't too scary. One cool thing they do at night is they let you go up into the hospital. We were never able to do that during the day. I especially loved this being in the medical field and tried to imagine what it would be like.
















Our first adventure in the car we stopped of at Maire island Naval Base. My Grandpa Nielsen used to work there on the big naval ships. We thought it would be fun to go and see where he worked. The naval base has since closed, but they had a really cool musuem that we were able to take a tour of. It was amazing and fun to picture what my grandpa used to do. I miss him! Sandra had fun climbing in to a single man submarine. She and I laughed and laughed at her squeezing in to it. Mostly because she is so tiny and she barely fit!






We decided to take a little further drive through Napa so we could drive back down the coast. Boy was that a big mistake....The map we had was TERRIBLE and the whole trip turned in to a LONG nightmare stuck in the car. Actually I had a giant bag of Taffy I had bought from Alcatraz and that kept us satisfied. We also stopped at a fruit stand somewhere along the way and got some yummy apples. My brother fred kept us entertained the whole drive and helped me keep things in to perspective. I was so annoyed but just laughed and laughed and fred said we were Louis and Clarking it across all of Northern California. Good times and I actually made some long lasting memories with Fred and Sandra and my parents! The drive was long and crazy and scary at times but I did enjoy the sights we saw and the laughs we had!







Some amazing pictures from our 12 hour adventure in the car!