We are trying to take each of our grandchildren on a trip someplace in the world when he/she is about 14 years old. So far we have taken seven grandchildren to places like London, Madrid, Paris, Yucatan Pennisula in Mexico, and Costa Rica. Within the next seven months we will take another grandchild to London (one of our favorite places to go in all the world) and another to Canada and Alaska. That will be nine down and thirteen to go! Our purpose is to show them a part of the world they have never visited before and more importantly to spend quality time with them. What a special time this is for us as grandparents!
The day after Christmas, we are taking Joseph (Laura and Jonathan's son) to London for a week. A highlight of that trip will be to see the play, "Wicked" as well as the Tower of London, the British Museum and other famous London spots. We are looking forward to that. Joseph is pictured here with his new baby brother, Caleb.
We will be taking Charity (David and Cindy's daughter) on a cruise up the Inside Passage to Alaska the end of May. We have never been on a real cruise so we are really looking forward to this experience. Charity is fascinated with sealife so this should be a real adventure for her. This picture was taken on her last birthday when she turned 13.
Anyway we had a relaxing time and because Escondido is close to Temecula we were able to spend some time with Maria and her family. We always enjoy visiting farmers' markets and this one was right at the resort. There were lots of fresh fruits and vegetables as well as some exotic foods from foreign lands.
Sierra is starting to play the organ for sacrament meetings in her ward. In the picture she is practicing with Maria leading to help her get the timing right. We were thrilled to attend sacrament meeting and hear Sierra play. She also accompanied about 50 young women, including Callie, who sang in that meeting. She really is gifted with her piano and organ playing.
Maria was recently called as a counselor in the Relief Society Presidency. They had their Christmas program and dinner while I was there.
It was fun to spend some time working on some sewing projects with Maria. She is so clever at decorating ideas for valences, beds, decorative pillows, etc.
One night we went to a musical version of "A Christmas Carol". It was quite well done and we enjoyed being together. There is a small theater at the resort. Here we are with Mr. Welk himself.
We enjoyed playing games with Sierra and Callie. One of our favorite games is a version of Scrabble called "Take Two". Here we just had fun making long words.
