Wonderful Christmas Time

We enjoyed a wonderful, yet somewhat quiet, Christmas day.  We think it is the first Christmas since before Zac was born that we haven't been with one of our kids!  We are so grateful that we were able to speak to each of them today and know that they are doing very well, for which we are so thankful.  We also enjoyed chatting with our Mom's and are so grateful for their influence in our lives.  We loved listening to the songs about our Savior, opening a few fun presents, and eating great food!

We treated ourselves to a new bed this year and also a new camera.  The bed is quite a bit taller than our older one - almost need a step-ladder to retire at night.

Though the camera is still a "point and shoot" variety it has the very good Leica lens, has the capacity to change the aperture, shutter speed, and other fun features.  It's the Panasonic Lumix ZS6.

You may remember the Pluto slippers Scott has had for many years - well Marcie T tried them on the other day and discovered what Scott has known for a while - not much tread left on the souls!  So.....

guess who got a new pair of slippers?!

One of the things we enjoy when we stay at the Marriott (well I guess mostly Scott) is making waffles.  This year we received our own waffle maker from Santa.  Here's the first waffle going on and  

getting cooked to perfection:)

 We had a wonderful day.  We received our favorite picture calendars featuring our beautiful grandchildren which will occupy a prominent place in our home all next year, new cookie cutters - Hogwarts style, the traditional box of See's nuts and chews, and other fun things.  Thanks for making our day so wonderful.

What a mess

We have a water leak somewhere outside - at least we know it's not in the house.  Our friend is going to help us replace the main water line - but we need to dig a trench from the water meter to the house - which means going under the sidewalk.  Well we worked a couple of hours yesterday (Dec. 23) and several more hours today, Christmas Eve.  We're just about ready for the new line, which is scheduled to be in on Monday. 

Thank you Brigg and Zac - who both called during our digging, providing a good excuse for a break! 

A view from the house to the meter - and the hard working Marcie T!

A triumphant Marcie finally reaches the pipe leading from the meter - nearly 2.5 feet below the surface!

The last piece of our task - tunneling underneath the sidewalk - we accomplished that as well.

Covering up our work - don't want mud in the morning!  I think the neighbors may wonder if we are harboring a dead whale underneath!

Marcie T and Harry P

In anticipation of the big movie, Marcie T is all decked out in her scarf from Gryffindor and wand:)

Springfield,MO

Our first trip to Springfield was so much fun!  We spent from Wed night until Monday late afternoon with Megan, Jeremy and their 4 sweet children!  We were able to spend lots of time playing with them and really getting to know them better.  By the last 2 days even the babies were coming to us!!

Bikes and warm weather:)

Walks and warm weather!

We spent one afternoon at a very fun "farm park"

The twins had a front row seat to all the animals - Emma was a little frightened of the pigs!

We quickly learned that no outing in Springfield is complete without a stop at Andy's custard shop - yum

Silly Grandpa and giggling boys.

One night we sampled our "Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans" from the Wizarding World of Harry Potter - not sure these pictures capture how much fun we had.

Grass flavored?

Pa and Jeremy shared a bean - it was the "rotten egg" flavor - Jeremy hustled to the sink to rescue his palate!

Unfortunately, Marcie T got the vomit flavored bean - after this one Hyrum was quite insistent that we stop trying the yucky flavored ones and just eat the "good ones"!

Hyrum and Hunter both enjoyed the blueberry and tutti-frutti beans. 

The "yucky" ones that really weren't too bad: black pepper, soap, earthworm and dirt!

Next stop:  Branson, MO

Watching the trains

We had a great time in Branson - shopped lots, watched a water show, and just ran and played.

Miss Emma reading a book - quiet Sunday time.

Thank you so much Shakespear family - we had a wonderful time together!!

Disney's Epcot

We spent the evening after Animal Kingdom and several hours on Saturday at the Epcot Center - what a delightful time that was!  We made a quick stop at Hollywood Studios - time for Marcie, Zac, Andrew and Jackson to take a backlot tour and Scott, Joy and Anne to visit the Tower of Terror.  Epcot has some very fun rides and some great shows and then a huge lake around which several countries are highlighted.  We enjoyed an authentic German meal in Germany about half-way around the lake!

Here we are in front of the most famous landmark at Epcot:



It appears that a few of us got a little too close to "Bruce" from Nemo fame!

Joy and Anne in line for Tower of Terror (at Hollywood Studios)

Zac and kids at Honey I shrunk the Kids at Hollywood Studios

Zac and Joy - our wonderful companions on this vacation.  Thanks again so very much for inviting us:)

Back at Epcot - visiting some old stomping grounds!

Leaving the country of England - was mistaken thinking this was a way back to the Ministry of Magic!

You can tell that we had a marvelous time at Walt Disney World and Universal Studios.  It's so very much to see in such a short time but I think we did well to see as much as we could.  We were tired each night but the sun was shining and we had wonderful company.

Disney's Animal Kingdom

On the Friday we were in Orlando we spent the bulk of the day at Disney's Animal Kingdom.  We had a wonderful time - the weather was in the 80's and quite delightful.  There are 5 basic areas in the kingdom:  Africa, Rafiki's Planet Watch, Asia, Dinoland and Camp Minnie-Mickey.  We headed right for the Kilimanjaro Safari, an expedition in an open-air vehicle through an African-style savannah.  We saw lots of very fun animals and had a great time out in the jungle!

                In the middle of the park was Discovery Island, home of the tree of life. 
                 We hope these next pictures do it justice - it was incredible!

As you can see, the trunk was carved into animal shapes.

Look closely or you'll miss some of the animals!

In Dinoland we saw a Broadway caliber show called "Finding Nemo - The Musical" and also played in a fun place called the Boneyard - built around dinosaur fossils.

We all (except Jackson) rode a very exciting roller coaster in Asia called "Expedition Everest - Legend of the Forbidden Mountain".  Good thing we rode it before lunch!

We also enjoyed a wonderful buffet at the Tusker House in Africa.