DISNEYLAND

Each day we waited outside our hotel, Homewood Suites, to catch a shuttle to Disneyland. It was great! The shuttle took us right to the park entrance so we didn't have to park a mile away. The shuttle came by every half hour so you could go back and forth to your motel if you wanted. Below is a picture of Dick patiently waiting in the warm sunshine of California! The weather was perfect - not too hot - not too cold. Our hotel provided breakfast in the morning and supper in the evenings so that saved us a lot of money that would have been spent eating out. Our room had a small kitchenette and livingroom with everything you needed (even a dishwasher) if you wanted to make your own lunch. It was a children friendly hotel and a great place to stay.


Disneyland was so much fun! Lots of people enjoying spring break just like us! My favorite ride was the Grizzly River Run. Dick's favorite ride was "Soarin' Over California". We saw an Aladdin musical play at the Hyperion Theater. It was fantastic. There were so many cute rides and attractions. "It's Tough to be a Bug!" was really cute for children. The fireworks were unbelieveable and the parades were a lot of fun to watch. We didn't even begin to see everything.

This is a picture of Rafe and Kiya with one of the Park helpers at "It's a Small World" talking to them while they waited in line. Someone got off the boat during the previous ride and they had to check everything out before they would let us get in the boats. They recently renovated this feature.

This is our grandaughter, Daisha, waiting for the shuttle bus.

There were benches in the park so you could rest if you needed a break or if you were trying to decide where to go next.

This is a picture of Russ and Jen and their family.

This was a water feature that the kids had fun playing on. It looked like a giant flower with a sprinkler in the center.

Dick got in trouble so he was sequestered in jail on Tom Sawyer Island. Hmmm. It looked like head hunters were a breath away!!!! Good thing I helped him escape. He doesn't look very scared, does he?

This is a picture of us taken by a sweet lady who saw us trying to take pictures of one another. She offered to take one of both of us.

CALIFORNIA COASTAL HIGHWAY

One day we drove along the California coastal highway. It was a beautiful warm day. We stopped and watched two different guys kite surfing on the ocean. Now that looked fun! They were so good at it. We asked one guy what happened if the wind died down and they were out a long ways. He said they would get pretty tired swimming back. I was surprised at how far out they went and how good they were at using the kite wind sail to take them exactly where they wanted to go.

We stopped at one lookout place and a small elderly lady was painting a small picture of the ocean. She was so friendly and nice. I wished I would have gotten a picture of her with her canvas.

While I walked out to the point, Dick said to her, "It looks like you have a pretty good start there." She said, "What? I'm almost finished!" He said, "Your water looks a little different color." She said, "Well, that's because the light has changed." She was so right....depending on when you are looking at the water, the color of the water actually changes as the light hits it differently. Anyway Dick decided she was an impressionist........and I had to smile! She was so good hearted and not the least offended by anything said. He loves to tease. Anyway she told us about a little place she wanted us to go for lunch. She couldn't remember the name of it but described everything around it. Being the foreigners we are when we are in California, we didn't have a clue as to where to go, but I'm sure it was wonderful as she said.

Instead we stopped at Kentucky Fried Chicken and bought lunch and took it down to the beach to a picnic table. Now this is the life I thought. Gentle breeze, beautiful Pacific Ocean, birds begging for a piece of biscuit.........so fun and relaxing! Where's my paint and canvas????!!!!

VALLEY OF FIRE STATE PARK

On our way to Disneyland we went through Valley of Fire State Park which is west of Mesquite. In my wanderings off the beaten path, I discovered some petroglyphs that were not even marked. Park personnel probably already know about them, but I was so excited I could hardly stand it. This zealousness comes from brushing shoulders, in Dick and my early married days when he was getting his degree, with archaeologists from Idaho State University and working with Dr. Earl Swanson as a research secretary. A year later I was hired as the Museum secretary of the Department of Anthropology, Archaeology, and Paleontology. Our department obtained many grants from the National Science Foundation for summer digs involving students. We published a series of reports and journals (Tebiwa and The Occasional Papers of the Museum). Because Dr. Swanson was nearly blind because of his diabetes, I had the opportunity to read numerous current journals and archaeological reports to him. I learned a lot myself in the process. Working with him and witnessing his thirst for knowledge despite the obstacles that were in his path and watching his careful research gave me a deep respect for the artifacts of ancient American people and their history and for him. If you can, double click on this photo to make it larger so you can see the petroglyphs better.

AWWWW.........

Love is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without the words and never stops at all.

PICTURE SCANNING PROJECT

Picture of Dad and Velma that I wanted to share with you!

Mindy (my niece) and Marcel, her hubby came to see us this weekend. Mindy and Marcel have an awesome scanner. It can scan six to eight photos or slides at a time and then it will save them individually. She spent all day scanning photos and my home and at dad's.

Dick and I were looking at some of our old slides after they left and they are fading fast. He ordered a scanner like theirs for me for my birthday so we can process photos of our immediate family and share them with our children too. It is a time consuming project but so worthwhile. Some of these old slides are the only photos we have of us when we were newly married and of some of our older children when they were small.

Lona, my sister, and Marcel, Mindy's husband, are looking at old photos and reading some of mom's journals and diaries. So many precious memories. It is so easy to forget events of the past and a good reminder that no one views life as you do. Thoughts and feelings and expressions of love are wonderful to read by later generations. It allows us to get to know them better and feel closer to them. Write your own personal history. It will mean so much to your children.

Mindy Guiterez and her husband, Marcel, and my sister Lona and I spent all day Saturday together. Mindy faithfully scanned one old photo after another. Some of the older pictures are fading and needed to be preserved in a digital format fast. Digital photos are much easier to share with other family members and allow us to store them in more than one place in case of hard drive failure, fire, water damage, acid damage from old photo scrapbooks. Even some of the faded pictures are valuable when they are the only ones that exist.

ALYSSA'S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION!

Happy Birthday Alyssa!

This is a picture of Alyssa and her little sister, Brea, on Alyssa's birthday.

KOLT RILEY RICHARD BAILEY'S BLESSING

This is a picture of Kolt Riley Richard Bailey with his parents on February 1, the day he was blessed. He is the cutest little guy. He has lots of dark brown hair and big long eyelashes and is such a good baby.

Wouldn't you know it - the batteries were low on my good camera so I had to use our old camera. Some of the pictures turned out a little blurry. This camera takes longer to focus that the new camera and if you get in too big of a hurry to take that perfect shot, the pictures end up being blurry. I was soooo disappointed.

We had quite a few family members come for this special occasion. Even Kami's friend, Kricket and her friend from Washington, and two children celebrated with us. Kami worked so hard to make it special for everyone. She fixed shredded beef barbecue on buns, potatoe salad, jello salad, tossed salad, baked beans, relish plate, brownies, rice krispie bars, chips, pop, lemonade, etc. Amy and Jason brought different varieties of apples with caramel dip and Russ brought homemade salsa and chips to snack on. There was lots of food left over to snack on while the men enjoyed watching the superbowl game that afternoon and the women tended children and visited. Even Grandma and Grandpa Metcalf came from Leslie. There were 33 of us celebrating this special occasion. Below is a picture of our grandson, Jayce. Doesn't he look handsome in his very first new suit?

Jason and Amy and their four children came Saturday evening and spent the night with us. Jason blessed Kami and Robert's baby for them. This is a picture of him and Amy and their family just before we went to church in Arco Ward.

DAISHA'S BASKETBALL GAME

January 30 Angie, Kami, and I made a mad dash to Idaho Falls to pick up some things we needed for Kolt's blessing on Sunday. We had to be back by 4:30 p.m. to watch Daisha's basketball game and get the little girls ready for their dance recitals during half-time. It was so crazy that I even allowed Angie to drive my car home - she was more willing to get a speeding ticket than I was and she kept complaining that I was driving too slow. Not only that but I didn't even have time to unload my groceries from the car when I got home. It was a great day together with my daughters but even a funner evening. Dick and I not only got to watch Daisha play her last basketball of the season but to watch our three granddaughters (Brea, Kiya, and MayCee) perform during half-time. Of course, I always have fun taking a few pictures of them to comemorate the occasion.

This is a picture of Daisha and her teammates! She plays on the C-team and on the JV's. Aren't they a cute bunch of girls? Daisha is on the far left.

Daisha is No. 20. In the picture below she is the one with her hands up under the basket. She does a great job blocking and getting rebounds. It is so much fun watching her play. They are playing West Jefferson which is a good team too. However, the Butte C-team beat them 40 to 24.

The picture below is Daisha making a basket. Unfortunately her teammate (No. 44) blocks our view of her...but maybe I can get a better picture next time! Good shot Daisha!!!!

In the next picture MayCee is the little girl performing during half-time on the far right. Notice the perfect position of her hands and feet. She is a good little dancer.

Two more of our grandchildren are getting ready to perform during half-time of Daisha's game in the group of dancers below. Kiya is fourth from the left and Brea is eighth from the left. Kami and Robert, Ryker, baby Kolt, and Alyssa are sitting above them in the stands.

This is another photo of Kiya getting ready to do her dance. She's the fourth one down. Her teacher is giving them last-minute instructions.

Below is a picture of some of the wild radical fans watching Daisha play her game. (She gets lots of advice from them.) Dick is on the back row (second from the right) giving Tommy Perkes, our neighbor, a bad time. Rhett, Daisha's Uncle, is setting next to him. He was in the valley cleaning carpets for the local cafe "The Golden West". Russ and Jen are sitting next to Rhett. Jenny is visiting with Annette, Amy's high school friend. Keyan and Kent, our grandsons, are sitting in the stand on the bench in front of their dad, Russ. The blond with her arms wrapped around her hubby's neck is Angie. Rye's sweet mother, Genae McAffee is sitting next to Angie. She helped Angie get Kiya ready for her dance in the frantic fray to get to the game.

"Grandma...look what I can do????? Take a picture of me." This is Kiya hanging from the rail on the bleachers. Yikes...you are giving Grandma gray hairs, honey!!!!!!! By the way...notice Kiya's hair. The first thing she did after her dance was over was to pull the bun out of her hair. She's a casual little girl with lots of spunk!

Another pictures of the spectators.

PEARLS FROM HEAVEN

We have two new little grandchildren in our family this year - a little girl born to Jason and Amy Freeman and a little boy born to Kami and Robert Bailey. Jason and Amy's little girl is named Ashley Eva Freeman and she is being held by her grandfather.

Kami and Robert's little boy is named Kolt Riley Richard Bailey. His little sister, Brea, is holding him.

Of all the creations of the Almighty, there is none more beautiful, none more to be cherished than these beautiful little spirits so untouched and uninfluenced by the cares and troubles of the world, so perfect and precious. What a blessing!

The Maynard family also have a new member of their family - a cute little dog they named "Sasha". She came trick or' treating on Halloween as you can see in the attached picture. Wished I would have known ahead of time and I would have had some doggie treats.

Sharese says she is just like one of her kids. She came out of MayCee's bedroom the other day with an all-day sucker hanging out of her mouth. We had a laugh over that one! She should have taken a picture. It sounds like Sasha has discovered the girls' goody stash.

2008 CHRISTMAS AT THE FREEMAN'S

Miracle of all miracles...I managed to get all of our beautiful daughters together for a picture. By the way, our two sons are not in the photo below. Yes, we have eight children. What a blessing!

It was a wonderful afternoon together! All eight families came to our home Christmas Eve day. We also enjoyed having mom and dad (Lynn and Velma Metcalf) come from Leslie to celebrate the season with us.

We made pizza for everyone, munched on snacks like Suzie's delicious homemade caramels and fudge, Russ's stuffed mushrooms and peppers, Daisha's reindeer cookies, and Angie's five-layer desert. We had a family home evening where each family brought a game, story, special talent, or sang a song. The FHE ended by Dick gathering the grandchildren around him on the floor and asking them questions about Jesus Christ's birth and why we celebrate Christmas. This year our grandson, Chase, even brought some of his art drawings to show us. As you can see, he is very good!

Then we opened gifts from one another. This year we drew names and exchanged gifts. Dick and I gave each of the grandchildren new pajamas to wear on Christmas Eve and Dick made each family birdhouse lawn art for their yards.



But look at what our children did for us. They somehow managed to gather patterns from each of our grandchildren's handprints. Amy Freeman and her sweet mom appliqued them on aprons for each of us since there were too many handprints for one apron. I just can't understand that - can you? (We have 28 grandchildren). What a memorable fun gift they gave us!

This is a picture of Dick and I modeling our new aprons!