First Quarter of 2011

The new year got started right away with 2 Australian exchange students.  We had a great time. We hiked to wind cave and did lots of other fun things for the 10 days.

Aaron had his 18th birthday on January 12th.  He received the traditional checking account or should I say, he got an account with a debit card.  He is an outstanding young man.  He decided to work very hard the 3 weeks before his birthday to complete the last four merit badges for his 3rd Palm (bronze) that he received at  the end of the month.  Only one other boy in our Ward has ever received 3 palms that I remember. It means he did 15 extra merit badges beyond what he needed for his Eagle.  A remarkable feat.  We are proud of him. He will receive his Duty to God award in the next month.  He has been accepted to BYU and will go there in the fall.  He is very excited.

This is Aaron and his date, Sharol Evans, for the Sadie Hawkins dance.    The theme was famous couples so they dressed up as Alice in Wonderland and the Mad Hatter.  He had fun.

Karen played on the Mtn View JV Basketball team.  She had fun. They were 15-2 for the season.

She continued her trademark sweatband.  For the last game, the whole team wore one.

Aaron and Karen both made the Central Region Band and Orchestra in February.  It was an excellent concert that was made even better with Kathryn, Alyson and Alexander there to cheer them on.

For Spring break we decided to go over to California to visit family and a few sites.  Saturday afternoon we stopped at the Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda.  It was very nice and peaceful there.  We learned a lot about him so it was interesting.  We then spent the evening with the Luymes'.  It is always fun to visit them. Good conversation and the best food always!  Sunday afternoon we went to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.  It was so worth it.  What a varied life he had and just a really exceptional person.  We are really glad we went.  Then we drove to San Luis Obispo for the night.  On our way there we stopped at a very quaint danish town called Solvang.  There were windmills and other fun things.  We bought danish pastries to enjoy.  The vineyards, strawberry fields and flower gardens along the drive up the coast were so beautiful.

The reason we wanted to go to San Luis Obispo was to reconnect with Michael's Aunt Marjorie and his cousin Michelle that he has not seen for over 40 years. Marjorie's husband was Harmon Toone, Grandpa Toone's younger brother.  We had such an enjoyable visit and lunch on Monday.  We're very glad we went.

Another reason we went to SLO was to go to nearby Morro Bay were Carol and her family lived for the summer of 1971. We went to the beach where the fog had come in at 1:00 in the afternoon. Strange! At the beach were some very friendly squirrels. We went to the Mission were Aaron had his very own reserved parking space.

It was our 33rd wedding anniversary on March 14 so we took a token picture at the riverwalk. We enjoyed spending our day with Aaron and Karen.  Our marriage has be blessed with a great family that we love.

We ate at a hot dog place recommended by Jon that he would eat at with his relatives. Here's to you Jon!

Tuesday we went to the William Randolph Hearst Castle in San Simeon.  It was an amazing tour.  We went on the 1st tour.  There are 4 separate tours to see the entire estate each one two hours long.  It was worth it. This is the outdoor pool that is 10 ft deep for the entire length of it. Such opulence.

We then drove the 4 hours back to LA.  Aaron and Karen wanted to see "Hollywood", so we went to the Chinese theatre to see the hand prints and sidewalk stars, then Sunset Blvd and Rodeo Drive.  Karen took a picture with George Clooney's hand print.

We went to the LA temple which is so enormous.  Someday I will go inside it. We spent the night across from Disneyland to just get the congested traffic feel of it all.  Then we drove home on Wednesday. A great trip!