Christmas in Henderson

Mike & Lea drove up from St. Louis the day before Christmas. We relaxed that evening, ate salami, crackers, and cheese. We took a picture while everything was still untouched.


It was definitely a white Christmas here in Illinois! Mike & Lea bundled Mazy up and took her outside to introduce her to snow:)

Christmas Day we slept in a bit, then opened presents. Mazy had a lot of fun just with the wrapping paper! She loved all her presents. Baby toys are so entertaining these days! Mazy got a ball that talks, lights up, and moves itself; also a talking telephone:) Mazy is so cute- she rolls anywhere she wants to be! My videos aren't loading tonight - I'll have to try tomorrow.

Mazy with the cute boa headband made by Lea! She is holding the bear from Great Grandmother and Great Grandpa McEwan.

Santa was good to everyone - now I just have to put everything together!

Thanksgiving in Henderson

We had our Thanksgiving feast with Michael, Lea, and Mazy Thursday afternoon. My favorite is always the yams and apples casserole and Lea's rolls from her Aunt Gabby's recipe! I tried the rolls' recipe Saturday and they were yummy again. Now it's Sunday and we are still enjoying all the leftovers.
Rob and I were crazy and got up for the 5 and 6 am specials on Black Friday. Let's just say we scored on a few big items, so it was worth the lost sleep :) Michael, Lea, Mazy, and I went shopping later and found much of what we were looking for.




This will be Mazy's Christmas dress!


Mazy sitting on Grandma's lap and talking about all kinds
of things:) Hmmm.. you can't see the spot where the first
tooth is ready to break through!

Hope everyone out there had a great Thanksgiving. We are so grateful for our many blessings!

Halloween 2009

Wow, St. Louis weather was really enjoyable for Halloween weekend - mild and sunny. Mike and Lea planned a party and these were their living room decorations. Lea made bats, I blew up balloons, and Michael draped the crepe paper. On the top shelf where you see little orange twinkle lights were Grandpa McEwan's dental school skulls he gave to Michael to study anatomy. They were a big hit, especially with the orthodontic students who came!

Mazy loved putting her mouth on the balloons and babbling!


Lea made Mazy's spider costume.


Mazy was the spider and Mike and Lea were the web!


Tuckered out :)


We all enjoyed Lea's soup, home-made rolls, and "brain" cupcakes! Yummmm!

It's Fall in Henderson

It really is very pretty around here when the leaves turn. The weather is all over the place, cold then warmer, sunny then rainy. I've been able to walk outside almost every day though.




The gold tree is the neighbor's and the pink one is a large bush in our front yard.

First term is over at GHS. We had one wave of colds and flu pass through the student body. One day I had 7 out of 11 students gone. The district passed out spray bottles of virus killer to every teacher and told us to use as much as we need. So far so good.

I'm heading to Mike and Lea's this weekend - yay!

Labor Day in St. Louis

It was fun visiting Michael, Lea, and Mazy for Labor Day weekend! Although a 3 3/4 hour trip, we do it in segments and the time passes fairly quickly. When we arrived Saturday around 5:30 we headed downtown to have dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory. Rob and I have special memories from going to the restaurant in Salt Lake City when we were first dating. Little did we know there had been a football game in St. Louis and a festival going on at the same time right in the downtown neighborhood where we were going. It was pretty challenging finding parking and walking amidst all the street and parking lot partyers! The wait was a bit long, but we enjoyed the meal!

Sunday we went to church, enjoyed Lea's cooking and Mike's grilling, watched a DVD, "The Soloist", and enjoyed Mazy. She is modeling one of Lea's hand-made bows - they get baked in the oven as part of the process! Michael then gave us a tour of his dental school. It is very impressive! We viewed the "before" models of his current patients' teeth:)

Monday we went to the Arch, which turned out to not be too terribly crowded. We then went to lunch at a rib place known for its delicious ribs. As we waited in line, the cook came out to tell us he had purchased twice as many ribs as usual, but had run out. We enjoyed the pulled pork sandwiches, baked beans, etc. St. Louis seems like a nice place to continue to explore!

Not sure why my pictures always load in backwards order, but you can view them from the bottom up until I figure out how to fix that!

Mike and Lea - none of the pictures the lady took of our family at the Arch were on my camera when I downloaded!!!



The view from the top - you can see Busch Stadium.


Duck your head, bend forward, hold on, and 4 minutes later you
are at the top!


Lea got this great shot as we were approaching.


The view of Michael's dental facility from the balcony


Michael's station :)


Mazy in the bow made by Lea.

Visit to Sequim

Visiting Brian, Megan, and Clarie was my last opportunity to relax before going back to school! We spent a happy week together - going to the park, doing a little shopping, canning, getting recipes for some new dinners to try. Megan has been working diligently on her food storage and showed me how to can meat as well as her other frozen and canned goods.

They have lots of room now in a 3 bedroom duplex, with a double garage!

Claire is delightful - saying lots of new words, signing, and of course dancing :)




She examines everything very closely!


Claire always wants to "Go outside"!

Sandy's Trip to Amelia, OH

I just returned from a trip to visit Jim and Jolene and meet up with Katy and Anita and Jonelle. Lyndsay & Jill were able to join us to for dinner and shopping. It's a fast trip but always fun! It's like staying at an all-inclusive resort - yummy food and desserts, shopping, a movie and time to talk and catch up! We watched "Twilight" which we all liked - most had read at least the first book in the series.



Jonelle is showing us her pictures from Poland. She just spent 2 weeks there on a missionary trip with her church. She had a lot of great pics - some of Auschwitz. She learned a lot!


Looking from the kitchen into the living room. It's a beautiful home with woods on 3 sides - we heard woodpeckers and turkeys!

"Heads on the wall"
Let's do it again next year! :)

Family Pictures at Lincoln Park

Mazy's Blessing

Mazy May McEwan was given a name and a blessing by her father on July 5, 2009 in their new home ward. Michael gave her a beautiful blessing, heartfelt, delivered with love. Both of Mazy's grandpas were in the circle. It was a wonderful occasion for all. Lea bore a thoughtful testimony of the challenges of life - she is a loving and attentive mother to Mazy! Mazy will eventually know how blessed she is to have so many people who love her!

Florida McEwans

Thanks again to Rich & Char for their hospitality - and thanks Darren for the use of your bed:)

Western Caribbean

1. 

We had a beautiful 7 days on the Carnival Valor - it only rained once as we were leaving Miami. Our pictures are mostly from on board because I didn't want to damage/lose our digital camera. We went on our own every day but one, and left the ship with backpacks, snorkel gear, towels, suntan lotion, drinks, and maps! It can be rigorous and we walked quite a bit, sometimes catching a bus (van) or taxi.

We had been to Grand Cayman before, so it looked familiar - we snorkled at Cemetery Beach and saw lots of pretty fish. Then we changed locations to Eden's Cove, which is a short walk from where the ship docks - there were plenty of fish to see there also. Rob saw a barracuda!

In Roatan, Honduras we ended up getting a taxi driver to take us to the Mayan Princess Resort where we got a day pass. The snorkeling was good and then we enjoyed their big swimming pool before meeting our taxi driver again. Roatan was very hilly - different from most islands.

In Belize we took a water taxi to Cay Kaulker - about 35 minutes from the mainland. This was third world - you could rent a bike or golf cart to get around! I was disappointed to see people just throwing their bottles, papers, pudding cup containers on the ground when they finished eating or drinking! Rob snorkeled here, said the current was pretty strong. I had forgotten my snorkel vest and didn't feel like getting possibly swept away, so I sat on the beach under a palm tree and read.

In Cozumel we took an excursion from the ship - had a guide who took us out on a nice boat to 3
different reefs. We saw many different varieties of fish, learning their names from "Monte" our guide. He would dive down and point out lobsters, king crabs, a barracuda, conch shells - all very interesting. The currents were pretty strong here, but we just floated with it and then the boat would come around and pick us up.

The first and last days were sea days, so we read, slept, went to some short presentations, and ate lots of soft serve ice cream - available on deck all the time:) We went to the buffet for breakfast and lunch, then to the formal dining room for dinner. Our table companions never showed up the whole cruise, so we didn't meet many people. But our waiters were very talkative- George, probably around age 50, from Nicaragua, and Brice, in his late 20's, from Haiti.

We appreciated Rich and Char's hospitality and rides to and from the airport and cruiseport. It was fun to spend some time with them and Jon, Christiana, and Darren.

So back to the real world, where the grass needs cut, the laundry needs done, and some people have to go to work:)

Family Reunion Pictures

Dad (Grandpa) was standing behind the photographer and got these pics.

Family Reunion

Pics are at Nauvoo, Mike & Lea's new apt., family dinner, and Mazy at Mike's graduation.

Wow, what a terrific time we had with Mother & Dad, Michael, Lea and Mazy, and Brian, Megan, and Claire all under one roof! Michael graduated from dental school June 5th and gave a talk as co-president of the senior class. He delivered a great message with thank yous and a hope that the current graduates would not only work well in their profession, but also give back to their communities. We celebrated with dinner at the Blackstone Restaurant in Iowa City with one of Michael's classmates and his family.

We had quite a few family pictures taken semi-professionally, but haven't received them yet. When we do, I'll post them.

We filled up our week together catching up on everyone's lives, enjoying one another's company, watching videos, and having fun with the grandchildren. Mazy was a month old and Claire 13 months. Mazy did so well with all the commotion going on around her - mostly just cried when she needed something, slept pretty well while we were traveling. Claire is active and found lots of things to play with here- pots and pans and lids, books, going outside -she likes it all! She even stayed happily with Grandma while Brian & Megan went out to dinner with friends.

We were able to go to the Nauvoo Temple Wed. and enjoy a session, then took the wagon ride around the countryside, got another Nauvoo brick, and went to the Red Brick Store. We finished off the day by having dinner at the Nauvoo Hotel Buffet - scrumptious!

Michael, Lea, and Mazy headed back to St. Louis after dinner Wed. and Michael is gearing up to start orthodontic school June 22 - not much vacation time for him! Mother and Dad flew back to CA. Thursday.

Brian, Megan, and Claire were able to stay until Sunday, so we had a dinner out at the Packinghouse - famous for its cinnamon rolls. Megan and I both love shrimp and we were not disappointed in the delicious dinner. Rob checked Megan's eyes and got her fixed up with some new contacts. We did a little shopping in Peoria too, so that was fun.

And now it is quiet.... too quiet.
We're heading off on vacation Sat. - a cruise to Grand Cayman, Belize, Roatan, and Cozumel, Mexico. No phones, no internet, just snorkeling, reading, and relaxing!

That's all for now!

Grandma & Mazy

Such fun being a grandma! I spent 2 days with Mazy, Lea, and Michael last week after Lea's mom went home to Oregon. Her schedule of sleeping and eating is just what you expect from a newborn - backwards days and nights! She is healthy and happy and already fun to watch. See how cute she is!

Michael Ponders Fatherhood

Wow, Michael is a Dad!!! It's wonderful!