Capitola to Hearst Castle February 2014

On Mon. we drove to Capitola Beach and saw where the family eats Pizza My Heart.  Tues. we drove to Monterey and Carmel and did the 17 -Mile Drive.  On Wed. as we drove to the Hearst Castle.   Pacific Coast Highway goes along Big Sur and the bridge was part of the highway.  Before San Simeon there was a beach with sea lions where the little ones are born there in February.  To visit the castle there is a 5 mile bus drive up the mountain.  Lady Gaga had filmed a music video in the pool there recently.

Sacramento February 5-17, 2014

We drove to Sacramento on Wed., Feb. 5th and stayed until Mon. Feb. 17th when we drove to the beach for a trip along the coast.  We spent the first half of the time with Jim and Kathryn's family.  We were able to watch Dean play in the school basketball game and watch Jamie swim in a swim meet.  The trip was to be able to attend Fischer's baptism on Feb. 15th.  We spent the second half of the time with Rick and Alicia's family.   While at  Rick.s house we went to the birthday party at the climbing gym.  Rick took Carl and I on a hike on Sat. up by Auburn before the baptism.  The little girl is one of Fishcer.s friends.

Arizona in Jan. 2014

We took a break in Arizona "to warm up".  We drove to Henderson the first night and then to Pheonix the next night.  We visited the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.  Carl is standing by a saguaro cactus.  The big organ pipe cactus was near the hike we took.  We stopped at Tombstone and Bisbee.  The red door gate was in Bisbee.  We took a long hike in Chiricatua National Monument.  Carl is sitting above some of the pinnacle rock formations.  We visited the Casa Grande Ruins and the Grand Canyon South Rim.  The watch tower is at the south rim. 

Christmas 2013

Dan and Jonna invited us to spend Christmas eve at their house.  We made the traditional gingerbread house with Brighton and Kirra.  Jonna helped the girls write a letter to Santa.  Dan and Jonna sit with the girls on Christmas morning.  After opening presents at their house and having a special breakfast prepared by Jonna we drove back to Bountiful.  In the afternoon they came over for dinner and to open a few more presents. 

Sacramento Thanksgiving

We enjoyed Thanksgiving in Sacramento.  Mike flew from Kentucky to Salt Lake and rode over to Sacramento with us.  Dan and Jonna drove over also.  The bike is a new decoration in Rick's family room.  The dinner was at Rick and Alicia's house and Alicia had made special table decorations.  We all enjoyed "hanging out" in Rick's family room.  On Sat. we all met to pick out a Christmas tree at the Christmas tree farm.  Tanner did the honors of cutting down the tree.  On Sunday Bridger was ordained a deacon.  We stayed at Jim and Kathryn's house part of the time and then rotated with Dan and Jonna so we could stay at Rick and Alicia's also.  Lots of fun and the weather was good for driving. 

November hiking in Utah

In November had a great trip to Capitol Reef National Park in the top picture.  The next stop was Goblin Valley in the 2nd picture.  We were able to get a place in the lottery to hike TheWave.  The drawing was in Kanab.  It was a 3 mile hike in and 3 miles out on an unmarked trail on the rocks.  Very Beautiful!  We had tried about 5 or 6 times to get a place.  Only 20 people can do the hike each day and 10 are from a drawing the day before the hike.  The day we were in the drawing there were 67 people trying for 10 spots.

Gohar's visit Oct. 16-22, 2013

We had a great visit with Gohar.  We visited Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, Bryce National Park, and the grandmother and relatives of a sister who served in Armenia.  We had wonderful Armenian food when Pres. &Sr. Carter came for lunch.  She loved the deer on our lawn.  We saw a 3D IMAX movie with Ashley and Aaron who served with all of us.  Great time!