2009 VISITORS FROM HOLLAND & HALLOWEEN

Ruth, Ben & their children have traveled all over
Europe and made a special stop to visit USA












Lisa took us to the park where we could feed the ducks.












And always a trip to the Zoo
Look at those monkeys climbing










One of the favorites is always feeding the goats.















They had just way fun sliding down this hill over and over again.














We always have to head for the park.

Stacey and her new baby came for a visit while Ruth was here.

Little Kate looks so much like her cousin Brooke

Wake up grandpa!!

We all went to Ashlyn's dance class

Off to Chelsea & Ashlyn's preschool field trip

We got lost, so Ruth climbed up on Ben's shoulders to try and find our way out.

Snack time with their teachers.

Have to tell you a cute story about Caleb. Lisa use to babysit him, so he got use to calling Marv 'grandpa'. Marv was in the grocery store the other day and heard this little voice 'grandpa, grandpa'. He looked up and here comes Caleb running full speed ahead with a big hug. We teach nursery on Sunday and he was also in our class last year.

Christian, Kate, Ashley, Chelsea, & Ashlyn

Christian, Brooke, Madison, Ashlyn

Ashley & Kate

Annika, Marylyn, Gavin, Andy & Ava

Our little kitten, Chelsea

The Skater, Spencer

Mel with her teacher...remember her?

2009 THANKSGIVING...so much to be thankful for

This past Thanksgiving holiday I was down with the swine flu for a couple weeks. Thankful for a great daughter-in-law, Marrianne, who hosted out Thanksgiving dinner this year!!!! And for helping care for our family visitors.



We did have some very fun visitors come stay...Marylyn & Andy's family with that cute new little baby, Ava. And GG and Aunt Dale left the snow behind on the east coast and spent some sunny days here with us.

Our favorite place, of course is the beach and this was Ava's first experience at Leo. Gavin and Annika were busy with Andy building a fine castle.

Here is Annika, Ashley, Chelsea, for one of our cousin sleep overs.

GG was so excited to see her newest great grand-daughter

Gavin...go Cowboys...wearing his uncles' helmet from their childhood days.

And of course, we always have to have a night out at Islands ...Tuesday kids eat free.

Annika and Gavin helped with some decorating

Lisa and Dan celebrate Thanksgiving in their new home.

The grandkids sure do love their grandpa!!!!

This is one of my favorite pictures, the Fallbrook Gang before their move. They do have a lot of fun memories while living in our home...but at least they are still close by for regular visits.

We are enjoying being back home and still being able to spend some of our time in the temple on a regular basis.

VISITING FAMILY....in the Snow December 2009

We had a great trip to visit Dave and Matt's families the end of the year. Here are some of the highlights.

We were able to celebrate Christmas and Birthdays while we were there...

Our special event for this trip was the baptism of our Christa. She was so excited to turn '8' and follow in the footsteps of her brother, Nate, by having her dad baptize her.










They have a great Recreation Center near their homes which we enjoyed...swimming, track, basketball, volleyball, track, and weight lifting.

Sam collected huge chunks of ice from a nearby pond to go ice blocking. Mikal in his shorts snow boarding...no matter how cold it is Nate and Mikal are in shorts. Becki helping her mom on a neighbors farm...yes in the snow and all times of the day.

Grandpa had a daily job of scrapping snow. Yes, it was snowing while we were there...COLD but oh so pretty.

We enjoyed getting to know our twins by reading, puzzles, playing ball, going for walks, singing songs.

GG and Aunt Dale met us at Matt & Dave's home the end of the year where we were able to celebrate New Year's Eve. Samuel is standing, left to right is Jenna, Becki and Christa, then Mikal and Nate. And don't forget our cute little Steven and adorable twins Rachel and Jordyn. We had a very fun night eating good food and playing crazy games.