Life goes on

So I have been very busy the past week and thrilled with all I have accomplished and yet I don't feel there has been anything noteworthy to post in a blog that even one other person would want to read.

I have been catching up on some visiting with friends I haven't seen in a while, getting six humanitarian quilts ready for the finishing, loom knitting hats while listening and watching my geology lessons on DVD, and listening to my history of language course while indexing.  Those are most of the good things I have been doing so I won't go into the less impressive activities which sometimes occupy my precious time.

Bob also has been catching up with friends, trying to keep up with his raspberries and he has made some changes to the watering system he installed in our lawn.  He works very hard even after working out every morning.  He'll probably outlive us all.

So here are some pictures which include some of the things we have been doing and some of the people we love.
 

Bob and I had our friend Shirley  from Ivins, UT visiting us one weekend so we went to Edmonds Beach after dinner at Anthony's

Shirley and Dennie and I went to visit the King Tut Exhibit at the Seattle Center.  It was really great--so many amazing things to see and learn.  We loved it.

 What fun to see Rachael and the other Sylte's. 

 Danny and Tasha at Adam and Samreen's wedding reception.

Danny and little Jack. 

 I love it when the kids send me text messages with pictures of their kids.  I will not, however, be able to post all of them on my wonderful blog.

A Little History

It occurs to me I would like to add a little history—mostly in order to post some of the pictures I have taken in the past few years.  And as picture taking is one of my “hobbies”--or weaknesses, whichever seems suitable at the moment, I thought I would like to share this thing about me.  I admit this is ‘all about me’ and not about Bob as he takes few pictures and is in fewer of my pictures than he would like.  He thinks pictures should have people in them and I tend to take pictures of things with as few people as possible—unless I remember to get a picture of Bob near some sight we are enjoying.

Following are some shots from a cruise we took from Venice to Egypt to Israel and back to Venice via Croatia and Athens.

The fascinating city of Venice.

 

 The Sphinx out of Cairo

 

The Garden Tomb in Jersalem

 

 Olive Tree in the Garden of Gethsemane

 The Acropolis in Athens

 Burano, one of the Islands near Venice

Then there are various pictures of some of our many family members.  More of these will, I'm sure, show up in subsequent posts, but this is for starters and not intended to leave anyone out as we love all equally.

 Tony and Derek on Hurricane Ridge, part of a little hike in the Olympics

 Derek and Bob at Hurricane Ridge just because it is such a cute picture!

 Steve and Regina's family somewhere in Pennsylvania when we visited them in Baltimore

 Marissa's special day at the Washington DC Temple.  With Ric, Gayle, Steve, Marissa, Heather, Bob and Tony

 A visit with Rob in New York where we got to have lunch with Brian and Eddie (and Katie of course).  Nice four generation picture!

 New York City with Rob and Nong and Chris.

One of the more enjoyable cruises we took was through the British Isles in October of 2011.  We enjoyed good company as well as the beautiful scenery of the British Isles and a quick trip to Paris.  

 On the windy cliffs of Ireland

 The rock formation here was amazingly interesting, almost perfect hexagonal columns standing perfectly adjacent as if tightly fitted puzzle pieces.

 The Bridge over the river Doon, or Brig-O-Doon.  I also like the thistles and bees.

 In Glasgow, Scotland many of the outside walls of the buildings had murals painted on them.  The one on the right is Bob.

As I said lovely Paris, France was part of our Cruise of the British Isles.  It was lovely to see again.

The most recent family event on Tony's side of the family was Adam's and Samreen's wedding in New Jersey.  The wedding was amazing and we had a wonderful time touring with Dennie, Steve, Rachael, Ben, Adam, Samreen, Nesreen, Meriam, Bob and Me as well as some of Adam's friends from Shoreline.

 This is Samreen's wedding dress which was gorgeous. I love this picture with Derek lurking in the background.

Samreen changed into an even more spectacular dress for the wedding reception.

Where to start?

It is hard to know where to begin when you are beginning in the middle.  I guess since this is about me and Bob I will start with a brief history of our life together and leave to everyone's memories or imaginations our rich histories before we married.

Bob and I married in 2003 since that time we have been to the east coast five times, to Phoenix, Dallas, California, Idaho, and Utah multiple times visiting family and attending everything from baptisms, to weddings, to graduations, to family reunions, and just about any other type of family event you can think of.  We love our families and love to be with them all as often as possible.

We also love traveling so we have been on five cruises and multiple road trips.  Bob especially does not like to stay in one place for very long and he hates to miss a family event.  Even when we were on a mission in Toronto Canada we were able to travel around that part of Canada quite a bit on our time off.  We also loved visits from Rob and Steve and Regina and their kids as well as my niece Rachael and nephew Mike. And in Salt Lake City, while on our mission there we saw lots of football and basketball and baseball games, got together with family in Provo and hosted Bob's sister Linda and husband Lavern, as well as all my sisters for our annual Hen Party  Our life really does center around our families and serving in the Church.

In October this year we are going to Jamaica to serve a Perpetual Education Fund Mission.  I wanted to set up this blog as a means of communicating with friends and family at that time.  I hope it will serve that purpose and that those invited to share our blog will appreciate and be patient with my efforts.