Merry Christmas 2009

We have enjoyed a wonderful year together as family and friends.  May you the Lord continue to Bless us as we strive to be closer to him and be examples to those around us.  We look forward to the coming year and wish the best to all our friends and family!

Time Moves On!

Well, here it is a week before Christmas and I have not had any time to post the latest around here. At the end of September we went up to Utah and saw our first grandchild Baptized! I cannot believe how fast Karlee has grown! Karlee was baptised in the same dress that I was at eight! This has been a family tradition and she has started the 3rd generation of girls in the family to wear it.



After that I went to Orlando Florida for the AACDT Coton De Tulear Specialty and took my Amorette to Show there. She did fabulous and finished her AACDT Championship there. Here we are showing there!

 Next we had a really fun Halloween!  Everyone dressed for the occasion.

Ashlee, Jake and the kids came for Thanksgiving and Brooke came home too!  We had time at the beach,  good food and fun with the family and a Girls day out to see Mary Poppins the Musical!

As you can see we had a wonderful time and are looking forward to Christmas next week!

Bristol is 8 months and Loves Puppies!

Really is there anything cuter than this? Don't think any thing I can say here says it better than looking!

The Summer is Gone!

Well, here it is September and I have not posted since June! It is not that I have had nothing to say but more like I have had too much to do. I will try and catch you up. That is if you are interested. If not I have a couple of pic's to post just look and enjoy.

June was a busy month. After returning from Our Alaskan Adventure Ashlee, Jake and the kids came for a week to visit and Brooke came home too! It was a great time to be together as a family. Nathan and I had our 32nd Anniversary! Can't believe we are getting this old and we have 7 grandchildren! After Nathan was gone to Northern California for a week at the end of the month on a business trip, we then prepared for the Fourth of July!

July kept us moving! Fourth of July at Canyon Lake with Blair, Shanna, Mackenzie, Garrett, Travis Katie, Bristol, Ted and Terry Pierce and Donna Pierce. It was Blair's 30th birthday and it was a Blast! (literally!) My birthday towards the end of the month and Blair and Shanna went to Utah to visit with Ashlee, Jake, Brooke and the kids. During this time in Utah the family all shared in a tragic event and it was a difficult time. Without going into a long story here, a little girl fell into the Provo River and was drowned. Blair saw her, jumped in and tried to save her but was unable to do so. No one other than our family saw what he did and knows of his efforts but we are proud of him and we know that our Heavenly Father is too. Nathan's mom celebrated her 86th birthday also. At the end of the month Nathan began to have a great deal of pain in his upper back, shoulder and left arm. It was a very difficult and trying 4 weeks as we tried to determine what was wrong. After may doctors, tests, X-Ray, MRI, physical therapists, massage therapists and chiropractor visits as of now we have the pain under control and have a better understanding of what is going on. No surgery for the time being. On the 30th I delivered our Coton, Vanilla's 3rd litter. All went well with that and you can follow my "Dog Blog" for the Doggie News around here! www.lacoquettecotons.blogspot.com

August? Are you kidding? Where did it go? Another litter or so called one on the 11th of August. After a long night of Labor our "London" due with her first litter of 2 had not delivered a thing. So, in for an emergency C-section. Only one puppy survived. We had Katie and Jake's Birthday's this month and had Dave and Karren Nemrow visit. Then a former Elder who served in our ward came and stayed at our house with his brother for a week. It was great to see Nathan Gonzales and meet his brother Kirk! I was also in a small accident with the Bishop and his family on the freeway while trying to get up to Girl's Camp. Unfortunately, we did not make it to camp and I missed out on a great evening!

During all this time, of course, I have not mentioned all that we had going on with the Young Men and Young Women in the Ward. With Nathan working ever so diligently as Young Men's President and me as 1st Councilor in Young Women's we seem to be running from Sunday to Sunday!

I know that I have missed a lot in this quick overview but you get the idea. Life is good here In Chino Hills. We are ever so blessed as a family during these difficult times. We are grateful for all that we have and we are. There is nothing better in life than your wonderful children and their wonderful spouses! That is except that Fabulous Grandchildren top the pile!!!

Here are some pic's of Nathan, Blair, Mackenzie and Garrett enjoying a break from the heat in the pool. Also, I think Travis is the cutest Dad ever with his darling daughter Bristol! I will try to do better at keeping up to date!

An Alaskan Adventure!

Here we are! Nathan and I decided that we needed a getaway. So when a great deal came on a cruise to Alaska we jumped on it. Day one we flew to Anchorage and stayed at "The Captain Cook" hotel. We walked around downtown Anchorage and went to their outdoor market. While there we ate some fresh fish and chips and had a really wonderful roasted ear of corn! Yummy! We ate dinner ate a place overlooking Cook Inlet and were fascinated by the history of Captain James Cook so we bought a book on his life and I now had some reading material for the trip!

Day 2 we take a train ride from Anchorage to Whittier to get on the cruise ship. It was a beautiful ride and we learned about the mud flats! Then we arrived in Whittier and walked around this large (not) city. It took all of 10 minutes but it is beautiful. We boarded the ship and headed to College Fjords.

Day 3 we cruise College Fjords and see our first Glacier. The colors are amazing! I don't think pictures do it justice! The weather is lovely and we are relaxing!

Day 4 we cruise Glacier Bay National Park and see some awesome Glaciers. We see them calve and hear the sounds of the cracking ice. It is amazing since we can get no closer than 1/4 mile and you can hear it so clearly!

Day 5 we are in a town called Skagway. It is a darling old mining town with the sidewalks made of wood. We take an excursion to Haines and visit an eagle preserve and look for wildlife. We don't see any!!!! Oh well! it was a beautiful day in a beautiful place and we sure did enjoy the scenery!

Day 6 is Juneau, Alaska. The capitol city. It is raining a lot but we have fun! We take a bus tour of town and go out to Mendenhall Glacier! We were here 23 years ago and the glacier has receded a lot!

Day 7 is Ketchican, Alaska. A beautiful town where the salmon run on this beautiful river. It is a bit early in the season so we don't see any salmon but we take beautiful pictures, enjoy the town the weather and eat fresh fish!

Day 8 we are cruising towards Vancouver, British Columbia and the weather is gorgeous! We lay out by the pool and I get a bit of a sunburn. Can you believe it! In Alaska! We have had a wonderful time and can't believe how fast the time has gone.
Day 9 we arrive in Vancouver, head to the airport and before you know it we are home! I finish the book on Captain Cook on the flight home and have learned a lot but the most important lesson in the book reinforces that power corrupts!!!!!! Wow!!!!