The Party is Over - The Tree Anyway

We decided (Pat decided) we needed to take down the Christmas Tree tonight. So we did! It is all down, and put away and the furniture put back in its proper place. It seems real nice. Now we just need to take down miscellaneous stuff around the house, but the major part is complete. Yeah for us. I am also very excited this year because I did not put lights on the outside of my house, and as a result, I DON'T HAVE TO TAKE THEM DOWN!!! Yeah for me.

Another Terrific Christmas

Starting the day at the Sweets watching everyone opening their gifts; eating a scrumptious breakfast of Carrie's German pancakes; coming home and opening our gifts; then preparing dinner for the masses, including the tradition of making French crepes--it was wild and so very enjoyable!! the only thing that would have been better is if Darren/Susan and family, and Mike/Kim and family could have been here! This is my first Christmas without my mom, so these photos of our Christmas stockings have special meaning. She made stockings like this for our entire family, and I have always loved them.I had to post this photo of Jed because--well just because he gives us such a bad time about our blogs and hates it when we take his photo (I think he secretly loves it to tell the truth)...

Christmas Eve With Orem Clarks

Curtis and Shandy know how to host a party!! Shandy and her mom are cooking maniacs, and we loved it! Dexter was a doll through it all; and, yes, it's verified--I (Pat) have Sex Appeal!!

Christmas Eve Day from the Deck

Here are a few pictures taken the afternoon of the day before Christmas from our deck. It is a Winter Wonderland. I can't wait until Christmas Day. You bet I'll be rip'n paper off presents! Merry Christmas everyone.

It's a Wrap!!

I played hooky from work today to get caught up on Christmas stuff, laundry, etc., etc. I organized the office into a wrapping station, and Carrie thought it was quite admirable, and insisted on taking photos. The boys were also having fun with the Christmas tree train.

Friends are great!

Most of you know our friends, Debbie and Paul. Debbie works with Dad at Verizon, having moved down here a couple of years ago. Paul is a meat cutter, and so last night they had us over for some of the best steaks we had ever tasted. They are such wonderful friends and we have loved having them live close. Dad made a cake that he found in Sunset magazine, December issue, and the cake looks just like the cover photo! It is an angel food cake frosted with whipped cream, then covered with crushed candy canes--it was scrumptious

The fun continues...

I know you are keeping up on Dexter, but I had to share some photos we took while they were here last weekend. This is Dexter in his Sunday best, and later his relaxing stripes! What a cutie!!

Let Christmas Begin

Wanted to get this post updated, so am putting in photos of today. We'll go back and share some incredible Indiana photos later. Carl started the 2006 candy making season with a batch of his famous nougat. We've decorated most of the upstairs and will move to the porch next. It's so cold, the outside light hanging may be given a rest this year. Notice our "fireplace." The fire even crackles and soft Christmas piano music is playing. No ashes to remove, no logs to carry in. We love this time of year!

To Quincy-Quick/Back-Slow

Sunday morning after Sharon's crazy party, Keith was kind enough to lend us their car to drive over to Quincy to see Dad Bell. It was raining in Redmond, but as is most often the case, the skies were blue and cloudless the closer we got to Quincy. We visited with Grandpa--very one-sided--he just can't communicate except with his eyes, but we knew he knew we were there because his eyes got wide and bit of a grin was on his face when we walked in. We left Quincy about 12:30 p.m., got almost to the summit of Snoqualmie Pass when traffic came to a halt. It was snowing, and there had been several wrecks, we so we sat, then creeped about a car length, sat some more, on and on. We heard on the radio that they had closed the pass on both sides, so we were lucky to get through when we did. We finally got to Daurell's for David's 12th birthday party about 6:00 p.m., when we had planned on being there about 3:00!

Also wanted to share a photo of Kami and Ben, as well as Lynette.

Sharon's B'day Suprise

It was hard to resist the temptation to harrass Sharon on this "special" day, so we flew to Seattle to join in the festivities. She did not know we were going to be there, so when she made the discovery that we were among the masses at Orams' house, she was pleased (we think). We stayed with Keith and Barb and had a great visit with them. We went shopping with Barb and bought some stuff from Kohls then had to haul it home. We went to Kohls tonight, and they had the same stuff we bought with Barb. Go figure!

it was a wild party, and you can see that Quinn and Taylor had a wonderful time jumping onto the Love Sac from the sofa!! Course the brothers look a bit more serious.

Last Rose of Summer

Today, Pat picked the last roses of summner (we think). Here is a picture of them and a beautiful "rose" holding them.

Saturday, I had to mow the lawn again. That's what I get for putting fertilizer on it. Hopefully that will be the last time this year.

It has been absolutely beautiful the last two days. Cool, but sunny and clear. We love this time of year!

Refrigerator Art

Since life at the Clark household is a bit dull, thought we'd share this picture we received in the mail yesterday from Camilla. It holds a place of honor amongst the rest of the grandkid art. Carson created the one at the left. I called Camilla to thank her and Courtney and friends were having a party at their house since they are on a fall break. I asked Camilla if they were playing games, and she said "nope--we're playing pranks on Dad!" What a good sport!

"Sweet" Drive

Today, after Conference and after dinner (BBQ'd Pork Spare Ribs), we went with the Sweets for a drive up one of the canyons. We ended up in Park City. It was very beautiful. Here are some photos to enjoy.

Precious!

A flower among the trees

Pretty

WHEE!! We are on top of the world

Our Buddies!

New Orleans Continued

I could only get two pictures to download on my last post, so I will try again. See below for the complete text.


Good thing that light pole was there :)

One of the MANY places you could buy an alcoholic slush


A typical French Quarter scene (other than Bourbon St)


I couldn't resist taking this picture of a sign in a "hotel" window on Bourbon St

New Orleans

Verizon Wireless chose New Orleans as the destination for a business meeting about staffing. Verizon Wireless chose to go to New Orleans so they could be good "corporate citizens" and bring some business to the city. They told us to spend our personal dollars on T-shirts and trinkets to help the economy. I was invited to attend along with 2 others from our Call Center. What a trip. The conference was great and learned a lot.

The hotel we were in was old, but had lots of character. Rooms were big with high ceilings. When we checked out, they just kept saying "Thank you for coming, you don't know how much it means."

If we went out the side door of the lobby of our hotel, and walked 1/2 block you would run into Bourbon St. The first night we got there was the first home game in the newly refinished football stadium in New Orleans. The town was HOPPIN! Needless to say, so was Bourbon St. It was just fun to be there and feel their excitement.

There was an interesting group of us who "hung-out" together. Myself, the two others from SLC, two from Denver and one from Northern California.

We ate some dang good food. For dinner the first night of the meeting, the Company arranged a 3 hour trip down the Mississippi River and served dinner along the way.

I really couldn't tell if the French Quarter was just very run down with lots of shops closed, or if it was a result of the hurricane. I didn't see any damage, but a few windows were boarded up.

Here are some pictures of our adventure. Enjoy! P.S. I wouldn't recommend the French Quarter as a family destination point.


This is a patio from my hotel room.


Guess where?

Les and Gay Come to Visit

So, Les and Gay come to the big city for a visit, and this is how the visit ends up. All asleep on the couch!

Actually, they came for a wedding of their granddaughter, and after the reception, they came for a visit. We have enjoyed having them with us.

We had French Toast with Granola on it for breakfast, and it filled us up so much we didn't want lunch. Now we are starving, and ready for dinner, which is going to be a production. Flank Steak, Asparagus, mushrooms, fried onions, etc. Yumm.

Also included is a picture of Les and Carl. Les is the oldest, and I am the youngest of all siblings. Who do you think is the better looking?

Prius Quilt is Done

Here it is folks, the Prius Quilt in its proper place. Looks nice! Thanks Pat.