Through the years we all will be together

Here are just a few pictures of Christmas at our house this year. I was a bit lazy with the camera, I didn't take very many pictures. I did enjoy every minute of the holiday season, not to mention all of our December birthdays. We were all together almost every day and that is what makes it so fun.

The guys had a very manly Christmas.

Brandi, Tim and Elsa came and stayed a whole week and we loved that.

Elsa in her new rocker. (Sometimes even when I have rotated the picture it still come sideways in the blog, I have to figure that one out)

12 Grandkids and one daughter with matching Disney pjs on Christmas Eve. What a feat.

Ivy Zoey and Lily

The Green kids all together for a moment.

Birthday breakfast

I big thank-you to my friends that took me out to breakfast this morning for my birthday. Getting older would be the pits without good friends to laugh with, share stories with, drink diet coke with, and relax with for an hour or two. Thanks guys for taking time, especially at this busy time of year, for little old me! Luv you all!

The zoo is open

The zoo is finally open, the last of our Africa animals arrived from the taxidermist and here they are. From left to right: impala, blesbok, kudu, springbok, and hartebeest.





The pictures below are of a male (left) and female gemsbok (aka oryx). This is one rare species where the female has horns, and notably, the female's horns are longer than the males though slightly slimmer.

Again, from left to right; impala, blesbok, kudu, springbok, hartebeest.

Joel 'collected' these animals in June and July of 2008 on our hunting safari to Namibia. We also had a rug custom made for the office. The wool is collected, died, spun and the rug woven right at one of the farms we visited in Namibia. It was a very enjoyable trip, one that we will never forget, most of all the adventure but also the new friends.

Friendships go on and on

For the past 18 years or so this group of friends has gotten together every month to enjoy lunch and a whole lot of visiting. We feel so blessed to have such good friends and have shared a lot over the years. I think we have a 13 year age difference from the oldest one to the youngest. Between us we have 27 kids that we have helped each other to raise. Now we are working on 32 grandkids between us. The worth of a good friend can never be measured, but I know that each of us knows how much we have been helped by our friends. Thanks gals, may we go on and on. When we are old and cannot drive, Ruth (the baby of the group) will be picking us up and driving.

Happy Birthday Zoey

Happy birthday to a darling little 4 year old. She loves her birthday dress/Christmas dress. If you look really closely you will see her newly pierced ears. What a big girl.

Thanksgiving and our anniversary get away

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with some of our kids and grand kids and my brother Les and some of their kids and grand kids. Also Joel's mother and brother were with us.

We had a great group of about 24. We had made food for about 124. Oh well leftovers are good.

That evening we took off and drove to St. George. Besides being Thanksgiving it was also our 35th wedding anniversary. Since golfing and warm weather are some of our favorites, we headed south for a few days. On the way down we stopped in Cedar City to see Tim, Brandi and Elsie. We got to visit with them for just a few minutes before going on. That was fun since we hadn't seen the baby for over a month and they change so fast at that age.

Friday we golfed at Coral Canyon. It was a beautiful clear day.

I love the desert!

I took this shot on #17. What a beautiful evening to be on the golf course.

Yes we finished up in the dark. I was 1 under on the last 3 holes. Apparently, I play better in the dark. After we met our good friends, the Twiggs for dinner.

Saturday we drove to Mesquite and Joel did some shooting.
We drove on to Las Vegas where we went to The Venetian to see the show "Jersey Boys".

We stayed at the Luxor. (I can't seem to turn this picture now that I have it in the post. Sorry)

On Monday we played golf in Mesquite. Another great day. After golf we drove home just in time for the end of Zoey's birthday party.