Happy 30th Anniversary

On October 11th Gary and I celebrated our 30th Anniversary. There was really no question about where to go to celebrate since Maui is our favorite place on earth. Our friends, Liz and Ross Schofield also came along and we really had THE best time!!
On Sunday we attended church in the Kihea ward and then took a drive around the island to check out the beautiful sights.



While the guys went golfing Liz and I would head to the beach or the pool, of course Gary was in golf heaven at Kapalua!

The day we went snorkeling at Molokini was perfect, the water was crsytal clear and we saw lots of cool fish and turtles. It was probably a good thing that we didn't hear about the guy getting attacked by a shark in nearby Kihea though UNTIL after we got home!
Well as the "sun sets" on 30 years together, here's to many more good years and many more trips to Maui!!!

Southwest Adventure

Last week we enjoyed a fun trip to the American Southwest when we visited Jeff & Julie in Albuquerque. One morning we walked around "Old Town" and the boys had fun trying on all sorts of cowboy hats.
On Saturday we drove to the other side of the Sandia Mountains and took the chair lift up to the top. It was a beautiful view of Albuquerque but the best part was the fact that it was 20 degrees cooler up there!!


Sunday evening we headed to Sante Fe just because we had never been there before!! It is famous for a lot of really old churches, a lot of art galleries, Native Americans who come to the downtown Plaza to sell their beautiful jewelry and HUGE Breakfast burritoes!!




We decided we "WOOD" love to visit here again some day!! Thanks Jeff, Julie & boys for a really fun time.

Grand Canyon Trip

Gary just spent 2 weeks in July rafting down the Colorado in the Grand Canyon. It was his fifth time down the river but the first time that Grandpa Chem and all four of the brothers were on the same trip.

The trip is the equivalent of rowing from Provo to Idaho Falls (240 miles) Needless to say Gary came home pretty tired but other than having to swim through Lava it was a great trip. (If you don't know what swim the rapid means, don't ask!!)
The tired rafters at the end of the trip. Way to go Blaine--at 80 years of age, it was his 30th time down the Grand Canyon, yep----that's why we call him Grand Canyon Grandpa!!!

Orem All Stars

After a great season with the Padres, Derek was excited to be chosen to play on the All Star team. Orem won their first 2 games and then lost 2 and were eliminated but Derek had alot of fun and we had fun watching them play.

AAH. . .Warm Summer Nights and Baseball

Well not exactly----it's been more like cold, rainy nights and baseball this year!! Seems like every game so far has found us wrapped in a blanket to keep warm with our umbrella handy but we are die hard fans and wouldn't miss a game because of bad weather !!
Derek is playing on the Padres again and has really improved on his pitching and hitting this year, in fact in one game he had 16 Strike-outs and last week he hit a home run.


Mo loves to come to the ball park and watch "Uncle Dies" play baseball, the only problem is he doesn't want to stay on the side lines, he wants to run out onto the field where Derek is.

Congratulations Derek!!

Last week was Derek's 6th Grade Graduation at Lakeview Elementary. At the program he received the Presidential Award for Educational Excellence, the National Physical Fitness Award, an Award for Fantastic Attendance ( He only missed 2 days of school ) and he is a graduate of the DARE program. Way to go Derek !!! He is excited to be moving on to Jr. High but his Dad is going to miss seeing him at school every day.

Spring Break

For Spring Break we decided to head to California one last time before Jeff and Julie move to New Mexico. We have loved being able to visit them several times while they have lived there and will miss our visits to the Bay Area!!

We came across this peace sign just a block away from the "Haight-Ashbury" area of San Francisco which was famous in the 60's

Jeff and Julie have a friend that works at Pixar and so he arranged for us to take a tour of their studio. It was really fun and amazing to learn about what goes into making an animated movie. One movie takes about 5 years to complete!!



The fact that the Red Sox were in town to play the Oakland A's was also a factor in our decision to come to California. The night we went however just happened to be one of the coldest games in A's history! It was still fun to be there though and Gary, the die hard A's fan, came home the winner!!

We spent the last 2 days of our trip at Grandma and Grandpa Chem's in Windsor. Our visit there is never complete until we make a visit to Powells Candy Shoppe!

Returned With Honor

March 18th was a red letter day for our family as Nic returned home from his service in the Kentucky Louisville Mission!

Waiting anxiously were 2 nephews Nic had never seen before and Trey who was beginning to wonder if Nic was ever going to come down the escalator.


As every parent who has ever sent a child on a mission knows---this day is one of the best days of your life!!!

One "Wicked" Week-end

Not everyone would be thrilled to have their Mother-in-law call and say "I'm coming for a visit and by the way, I'm bringing a friend", especially when your husband (her son) wasn't even going to be in town!! But Julie was VERY sweet to not only let me and my friend Liz come and stay but she chauffeured us all around the Bay Area as well.

The highlight of the trip (besides getting to see my grandsons) was getting to see Wicked at the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco. It was amazing and every bit as good as the New York Production.


On Saturday we got a break from the "heavy misting" that the Bay Area is known for and took Liz into see the sights in San Francisco. We enjoyed some famous Sour Dough Bread on Fisherman's Wharf and some chocolate at Ghiradelli Square.

Thanks to my friend Liz for a fun week-end and to Julie for putting up with us!!