CALIFORNIA TRIP.......JANUARY 23rd - 26th

SUNDAY, the 23rd and MONDAY, the 24th

We got adjusted to the California home and life. We took it easy and enjoyed the warmer weather.

Creed was such a delight to take care of. His favorite thing was to play out in the back yard. He also liked to tip over Buster's water several times a day, so I was constantly replenishing the water bowl. Buster loved having Creed all to himself, and they were pretty good together. I loved watching them interact.TUESDAY, JANUARY 25th

SOLVANG

On our way to Solvang (a Danish Community) our little Creed fell asleep. I had to get this picture of him, because his dad, Michael always slept with his arms over his head. He looks just like his dad in this picture.

This Windmill and Pastry shop were some of the beautiful buildings in this quaint village. The villaage reminded me a lot of our Park City, including Park City prices in some of their shops. It was still fun and worth the trip to visit. Especially knowing that Grandma loved it so much.
Grandma's favorite thing out of our whole California trip was her buying a Snow White and the seven dwarfs porcelain set. When she came here many years ago with Grandpa, she bought the coo coo clock that is still hanging over the stove in her kitchen in Ephraim. My favorite thing about Solvang was all the chocolate shops, I loved their Rocky Road Fudge, Yum! The one thing I didn't like about Solvang was the restaurant we went to where I did not want to eat the French Dip sandwhich because the roast beef had a green glow about it. I'm sure Grandma thought I was a spoiled child, but really, would you eat something that looked like it came from mars? Sorry I waisted your money John.
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26th

OXNARD/NEAR PORT HUENEME

(we walked the beach, looking for rocks & sea shells)

Creed loved throwing rocks out into the ocean, he could have done that all day long and he didn't want to leave when it was time to go.

Watch that rock fly!

Creed got so involved in his efforts to get those rocks far out into the ocean that I had to grab him a couple of times to keep the waves from sweeping him away.

It was a warmer day and more enjoyable to be out in the sun than a few days ago.

Grandpa John and I enjoyed dancing with Creed. He loved that we would dance around in the kitchen with the music loud and us twirling him around. We had so much fun with him.

ARRIVING IN CALIFORNIA JANUARY 20th-22nd

John, Grandma Ellen, the dogs and myself ventured to California to help the kids out while they took the two oldest one's on a Disney Cruise we stayed with their youngest, Creed. We spent a couple of days with the whole Cali family before they left, so we got to enjoy the two older ones.

This is one of their many malls, we took Creed and Cole on the train

while waiting for Nicole to exchange her boots.

Mike showed us where he works
The Cali family had to take Grandma to get the famous hamburger

at the Habitt and shaved ice next door after the hamburger

The next day Mike took us to the beach.

It was very windy and cold so we did not stay too long.

I love this picture, Mike is helping Grandma up the hill,

while the cute little ducklings follow behind.

John, Grandma and the dogs settling in for a long week ahead of them

Saturday Nicole baked a chocolate bunt cake for my birthday,

then they took us out to dinner

Happy Birthday to Me

Mike played church ball Saturday evening so we went to watch

Their little dog, Buster is as cute as can be. He was so good for us while we were there

JANUARY BIRTHDAYS

WHILE THE CALI FAMILY WAS STILL IN TOWN WE

CELEBRATED THE JANUARY BIRTHDAYS

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAY, DONNA AND NICOLE

SPAGHETTI DINNER, I CAN ALWAYS DEPEND ON THE GIRLS TO HELP ME OUT

NICOLE AND OUR SLEEPY LITTLE CREED

THE YOUNGER KIDS WANTED TO PUT ON A PLAY FOR THE ADULTS

SAVANNAH WAS THE ANNOUNCER

SYDNEY AND LOGAN DANCED FOR US

THE FINALLY WAS COLE AND TAYLER JUMPING OFF

THE COUCH AND THROWING UNO CARDS IN THE AIR

CREED WANTED TO GET IN ON THE ACT TOO

SAVVY AND MIKE

I ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT SAVVY LOOKED JUST LIKE HER AUNT JENNA,

BUT I THINK SHE MIGHT HAVE A LITTLE OF AUNT SHANNON IN HER TOO.

GRANDMA ELLEN AND GRANDPA BILL

2011 started out on a sad note with the passing of John's father (January 10th). We will miss his leadership as the patriarch of the Strong family. We (the family) hold fond memories of this great man. Grandma & John organized a wonderful funeral service for Grandpa with family members participating. John gave the family prayer, Brandt the opening and Mike the closing prayer at the services. All three prayers were very warm and comforting. The great grandchildren sang "I am a Child of God," they did such a wonderful job as we could tell by their emotions that it was a hard thing for them to do. Shannon gave the eulogy and talked about Grandpa and all the great memories the kids had of him, she did such a great job. Natalie played the most beautiful rendition of "Oh My Father." Two of Grandpa and Grandma's friends gave excellent talks. John ended the meeting with an awe inspiring talk. He mentioned how Grandpa was always honest and committed to his ideals, he talked about Grandpa never holding a grudge and how dedicated he was to his callings in the church. Many friends and family members came from long distances to be there. We could see how much Grandpa was loved.

Military Honors for a man who served in the Navy during World War II

Presenting the flag to GrandmaTapsA family pictureGail's and Roxie's children (Grandpa's sisters) Grandma's ward did a wonderful job with the luncheon after the services. We had several family and friends stay for the lunch.
The Leatherbury boys, Marshall and Jack

When John and I arrived in Ephraim on Monday the 10th, we were worried about the weather. It was freezing cold (0 degrees)and miserable, but by Thursday it had warmed up to the 20's, the Sky's were clear and it turned out to be a beautiful day for the services and traveling for our out of town people.