Geocahing Tuesday

With Kim gone and no pressing chores on our agenda, Mom and David and I (and the dog) went to hunt up a few geocaches out at the Spenceville Wildlife Area. This is my favorite place to go because it means tromping around the hills, through ditches and over big rock formations just like you were in a real wilderness - only 30 minutes from home. This is always a good time of year to go too - no poison oak or rattle snakes to watch out for. The day was cloudy and cool, even cold when a breeze came up. But we found the thing we went searching for, and the dog found lots of interesting stuff to sniff, so we all had a good time.

Mom and David near "North Rock City" cache;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;David, the dog, an Mom tracking a trail
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Christmas Summary

David put together a bunch of photos that he, Kim and I have taken over the course of the holidays and added music. He did a real good job of telling the story of our fun times together, then he ends it with a section intended to not let us forget the reason for the season. Very well done.

Christmas Present(s)

We had a great day sleeping in (but not too much), and opening presents from our many wonderful friends and family. Below are two of the highlights.

On the left is a great T-Shirt from Michelle. In case you can't read the small print, all of the different cuts of pork are labeled "good" except for one - which is "real good." On the right is really nice stitched frame with a photo of my Mom & Dad from Mike and Martha (mostly Martha I think).

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One of our traditions each Christmas is sausage, egg, and cheese biscuits for breakfast. Kim, Mom and David put it all together on the left. On the right, they clean up afterward. What was my part on all this? I ate the product - oh, and took the pictures.

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It was beautiful weather again today. It gets pretty cold at night, but by noon things warm up nicely. This is why we live in California. The only better would be Phoenix.

Bay Area Day Trip

Kim, David, Melody & I drove to San Francisco Tuesday for a fun day at the bay. In the afternoon we drove back to Oakland (I made a wrong turn and we ended up driving through various parts of that city until we made it around to the freeway again). Anyway, we went through the temple, then met the YW from our ward (Melody is a counselor in the YW Prescy) to tour the Visitor Center and watch the Joseph Smith movie. Later we walked around the grounds and viewed the lights. It was beautiful!

We have so much fun with Kim an David when they visit. The whole day was excellent weather. We had a blast!

Golden Gate Bridge, no people;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;Golden Gate Bridge with us all
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One of the ramparts on the bay. (looks like a Hobbit house)

Christmas Tree at Pier 39 (the sturdy kind that doesn't mind the snow)

The Temple Before Dark;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;And after Dark, con Lights, sans Kids
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I'm not sure why, but every time we go on a trip with Kim
and David we end up with a photo (or two) of them in the
back seat hamming it up. This is the one from our latest trip.

More Christmas Fun!

Being a music teacher, I sometimes get the craziest gifts from students (and I'm not referring to the Starbucks gift cards that regularly come my way). I have some really very generous students, and the two videos below indicate what they think of me. . . that I'm either a deranged saxophone playing reindeer, or I have squirrels for friends. If the truth be told though, I have a great group of students this year and we have some good times together.

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Christmas Pigs

Either last year or the year before, for Christmas, Pam sent Mom and I this little stuffed pig that snorts "O Christmas Tree", then squeals at the end. It's one of our favorite Christmas ornaments now, and we fight over who gets to take it to work and who gets to keep it at home. So I thought I'd let you all in on our joy. I recorded the snorts and put some pic's with it. Merry Christmas!

Christmas Lights in Yuba City, CA

A full week later than usual, I finally got the Christmas lights up around our house. (Not without some difficulty, however, having gotten halfway through the job before realizing I had to start all over again due to non-functioning strands of lights and one particularly long stretch that somehow had female plugs on both ends. How does THAT happen?) Anyway, it all turned out well in the end as you can see below.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Melody bought the Christmas tree and her timing was impeccable. She showed up just as they were unloading a new shipment. I'm grateful for her taking on this responsibility. I'm afraid we've been a little lost since they closed the Christmas Tree farm where we used to cut our own for so many years. It was a sad thing, and we haven't come up with another place yet. But the one she picked looks tremendous even before decorating, so we're excited!