Weather

While checking the local newspaper for what's going on in the world today I came across the weather. I think this is my favorite forecast so far. Monday ??? we don't know what's going to happen. Weatherman-the only job you can have where you can consistently be wrong (or ambiguous in this case) and people will still keep paying you.

Century Minus a Decade

Grandpa's Birthday Cake

Grandpa and Grandma at Yen Ching

My grandpa will be turning 90 in a couple of weeks so over Christmas break while everyone was off of school we decided to celebrate his birthday. We got together on the 2nd and had a wonderful party for him. Everyone was there except for the three cousins who are on missions. We started out with the task of taking family pictures. It wasn't as bad as it could have been. Laurel took the pictures of everyone and then used the timer to get all of us together. After the pictures we went to Yen Ching, the best Chinese place ever, for a great dinner. All the older cousins sat at a table together which was tons of fun.
Geoff getting the perks of being an MC

Geoff was put in charge of the program so we planned all sorts of fun/embarrassing things for our parents to do since they pawned it all off on us. I think the restaurant was glad when the 30 of us left and went to the church for the next part of our night. We had decorated the Relief Society room with birthday decorations and even brought the couches in so that Grandma and Grandpa would be comfortable. The program started off with Carolyn singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow. Aaron and Reese did "Chem 111" which involved using household chemicals to make experiments. Grandpa was a Chem major, so this went over well. Susan played Can You Feel the Love Tonight. Thomas played a song on the piano by Rachmaninov. Melanie sang Stormy Weather. The little cousins sang I am a Child of God. Mike and Timothy played the trumpet and the funnel to Popcorn Popping. Then we got to the even more fun part. We had Barbara juggle sugar packets from the restaurant. She did ok with the first one, but could use some juggling lessons. Dad played Home Home on the Range with the spoons. And Bob did the classic Heart where he takes his heart out and then swallows it again.
But the best part of the night was hearing each of the children talk about Grandpa and his wonderful life. What an amazing man he is. I love learning more and more about him all the time. It was so much fun to see all the family and just spend quality time together.

Crusin' California

After all the Christmas festivities were over my family packed up and made the >1000 mile drive from Oregon down to Southern California. I must say that flying is the way to go, even though I don't particularly enjoy it either. But it wasn't too bad thanks to Grandma Scoville and the DVD player she got us for Christmas. The kids were plugged in in the back seat most of the drive down. We do have one of those monster vans that holds 15 (well 11 because the back seat was taken out so we could fit our luggage back there) but it was still close quarters. Susan and I ended up sitting in the front row, then Steven, David and Laura were in the middle row and Thomas got the whole back row to himself for most of the trip. We left on Saturday the 27th and drove down through the snowy mountains of Oregon. We were blessed though because we didn't even have to put chains on and we made it safely through the mountains. We drove down to Walt and Jodi's house in El Dorado Hills that day. It was fun to see them. I hadn't been to their house for many years. We had a great dinner and then headed down to Glen's house in Livermore. He wasn't there because he was still gone for the holidays. But we stayed at his house. I also hadn't been there in years and his house looks quite different than the last time I was there. We had a funny visit about 10:30 that night. Some of the Priests in Glen's ward heard that he had neices that were staying at his house that weekend and decided they wanted to meet them. So they came over with cookies and ice cream. Too bad we were all getting ready for bed by the time they got there. They missed meeting Susan. But we went to his ward on Sunday and Mom recognized one of them that came to visit the night before. It was quite amusing.

After church we drove to pick up Carolyn and Nate in San Jose and then proceeded down Highway 101 to San Simeon. It was a beautiful drive (much better than I-5). Dad did a good job driving, but it got kind of windey after a while and we all started to feel sick. We did stop a couple of times to get out and just see the beauty. We stopped off on the 17-mile drive through Pebble Beach and other great golf courses. It was great and the houses were amazing. We made it down to San Simeon that night and ate dinner and just played games.
Santa Barbara Coast

Carolyn and I at Santa Barbara

Monday morning we went through a tour of Hearst Castle. It was amazing. There was a beautiful view of the ocean and the house was astounding. The guest house was better than any house I'll ever live in. We also watched a movie on the building of Hearst Castle. It was amazing to see the vision that Hearst had and that he was able to see it into action. It made me contemplate what my vision for my life is and how I can accomplish that. Good thoughts for a new year.

Tapestry on the wall

View from Hearst Castle

I wish I had tennis courts like this in my back yard!

The "Roman Bath" pool

The piano that is used to play the bells in the tower below.

Photograph of Hearst Castle

Beautiful outdoor pool

Nate, Carolyn, and Dad standing by the indoor pool

Bedroom

Hearst Castle from the side

Guest House

Front Doors

David showing how happy he was to be there.

Ceiling panels

Home for Christmas

It's been quite an adventure being home for Christmas this year. I was basically done with school December 3rd (I had one online final, but I'm not really counting that). So I worked for a week and then decided to head home in time to catch Mom's birthday on the 17th. I flew home on the 15th. I left Orange County and it was pouring down rain. I'm not one who likes flying in the first place, so bad weather makes me even less excited about it. But I made it through the plane flight without getting too sick. Mom picked me up at the airport and we began the treacherous 100 mile drive home. It took 4.5 hours to get home because of the snow and ice covered roads, especially near Salem. Quite ridiculous if you ask me. But I guess Oregon isn't used to getting snow.
Look at the nice ridges of ice on the road

I spent the week freezing to death in my house. It was a whopping 9 degrees on Tuesday morning. Only about 50 degrees colder than the warm LA temperatures I'm used to. But somehow I made it through. I spent many hours sitting next to the fire place with a good book that first week. I'm on book number 5 since I've been home now. It continued to snow most of the week. We celebrated Mom's birthday on the 17th and I made her a delicious teriyaki chicken feast and cheesecake to top it off. It was good, if I say so myself.
Happy Birthday Mom

Thursday I made the dangerous trek up to the Portland airport again to pick Thomas up. I got to see Melissa on the way up there which was good. We met at the Lloyd Center and Dad and Laura ice skated while Melissa and I caught up. It was good to see her. It was a bit different from the usual lunch or rendezvous at the airport we get. We also stopped off at the temple and it was a gorgeous day out.
Beautiful Portland Temple

Laura at the temple

Me freezing at the temple because I didn't bring a coat home

We made gingerbread houses, one for each family member who was home. They get better each year. I particularly enjoyed Thomas' candy arch and Laura's instructions for how to eat her house. Laura decided that she could have a yard sale at first and let us eat the yard. Then the estate sale came a day or so later when we were allowed to partake of the rest of the candy goodness. As is tradition we went Christmas caroling and dropped off the houses to friends in the area. It was fun despite the snow and rain.
Thomas' house with the amazing candy arch

Susan's House

Steven's House

Mom's House

Laura's House

David's House

Dad's House

My House

Laura's Real Estate Note

This week has been rather uneventful. I've been slightly under the weather and taking naps several times a day. But I'm doing better now and just in time for Christmas. For a great Christmas Eve we made waffle cones and loaded up on all the ice cream we could eat. Nothing beats Tillamook Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream. Then we sang Christmas Carols around the piano, much to the chagrin of some boys in the family. Then the kids went off to bed. We set the rules of no one comes downstairs until after 6:00am. They worked pretty well this year. I made an early appearance at 7:00. It was a fun filled morning as the kids were excited by presents and fun. Then we settled down to play games and have a great Christmas day together.
David, Laura and Steven thoroughly enjoying Christmas

David with his new ski goggles

The Christmas tree we cut down from the backyard

My favorite picture from this trip home. Sunrise in Oregon.More Snow on the road

It was wonderful to get to talk to John who is on a mission in Argentina right now. He is doing well and roasting hot in the 115 degree weather. I must admidt that I'd rather have 28 degree weather than 115 degree weather. But it was good to talk to John since it's been a year since I talked to him. It served as a good reminder of what Christmas is realy about-the birth of Jesus Christ and all that he has done for each of us. What a wonderful time of the year.