Week 53...52- Oregon City - December 21- December 31, 2025

The Annual Family Music Recital was on Monday.  Once again.....I performed but did terribly.  I do okay in a group but as a soloist, I am awful....yes, really awful.

I did a medley of Silent Night songs......fortunately there is no photo to commemorate the event as I played horribly. I did play in a trio with Clara (cello) and Logan (piano) which went pretty well.

Abby played her violin

I don't know what these guys were doing.

Ivan and family arrived Tuesday evening.  The cats love Bjorn!

On Christmas Even the Utah Grays got their year's supply of pajama bottoms.

Wednesday the 25th - we went to homes of all of our kids and watched them open their gifts.

Christmas Dinner and Family Secret Santa gift exchange.

Jessica gave me a metronome which makes me really happy.  I'd only been able to use the one on my phone which I didn't like....but I love my new one!!!!  

Travis gave Dad a bird feeder with a camera attached...Dad will like watching the birds.

On Monday, while wearing my rubber outdoor mud shoes, I wen down the basement stairs and slipped on the bottom stem and fell on to the forearm of my right hand.  Dan!!!   That hurt.  I realized there may have been an injury of sorts when I noticed blook oozing through the sleeve of my sweatshirt.  Yep - blunt force laceration.  Both Ryan and Jessica said I needed stitches.  So off I went to urgent care.

Five stitches

All bandaged up!        

Today, Sunday, the bandage came off, and Jessica said I nee to wait a few more days.

Sunday  night we celebrated Copeland's birthday.  He was born on January 2, 1010...he's six.

Need to end with a photo of sleeping cats.

 Week 52 - Oregon City - December 17 - December 21, 2005

THURSDAY - I've wanted to go and visit with my old friend Marge Heppler...so I did, along with Katharine Wilson.  the three of us had been Visiting teachers for years...sometimes with one as a companion and other times with the other companion.  Marge live in Ridgefield, WA now which is about an hour's drive away.  She lives with Cary Brian in a separate little apartment which used to be the garage.  It was good seeing her again.

FRIDAY - the rain actually stopped and I went into the woods to clean up a big branch that had fallen in Sector 2.  It was/still is a real mess.

SATURDAY was our annual Christmas trip to downtown Portland.  We went down on the MAX train.  Ended up at Saturday market where we wandered around looking at all of the stuff that we don't need or really want.

Warren and his kids always pose with the beavers.

Then we went to Pioneer Place Mall we we plopped a the food area

Camille and Sam

Christmas Tree Family Gathering..2025

 Week 51 - California with Natalie - December 8 - December 14, 2025

Thursday, December 11 - We (Jessica, Bev, and I) went to California to visit Natalie who recently moved there after finishing her Physician's Assistant program. We left about noon from PDX and flew to San Jose.

Upon arrival we immediately went into town to find a place to eat our first California food.

Thursday night just happened to be the Holiday party at Groq, where Clay works.  There was dinner for everyone!!  And there were some people there who had an assortment of wild animals.  It was interesting.

Friday -

Natalie's apartment complex is built in a big square on a city block, and inside the block is a swimming pool.

We spent a good deal of time building this cabinet for Natalie - it was to replace an older one that they didn't like anymore.  I didn't' do an building, but I did carry all of the packing material out to the dumpster area.

Dinner Friday night was at Groq (where Clay works).  I think I had fish and chips and some prime rib.

SATURDAY - this was our day to go into the CITY.  We ate breakfast/ lunch at the Square Meal.

We walked all along the waterfront (my watch said I did four miles)  Here is the Golden Gate Bridge off in the distance.

 

SUNDAY - we went to Sacrament meeting at Clay and Natalie's ward.  It was really interesting - the musical part.  The bishop is a concert pianist (in addition to being a prof at Stanford) and he directed the musical numbers.  It was amazing when he played the organ...in a way Whitney wishes she could be "allowed" to occasionally

Sunday afternoon we went to the Stanford campus a bit.  It's really pretty - I'd call it California early mission architecture....( I prefer "early Oregon forest" on the OSU campus.

For dinner we went to a Japanese noodle place...yummy....and a yogurt dessert.

MONDAY - our outing for this day was to go to Carmel by the Sea.  Incredibly cut town - the cuteness quotient was very high - The girls loved it!!!!

We did get to the beach - as good as Oregon's

TUESDAY - back to reality.  On our way to the airport we stopped at a brunch place.

Uneventful ride home...and Zelensky was excited to see me.