Family had a great time at the get-together at Kathy's house and general chaos reigned! We had lots of good food and conversations. It was great to see everyone. Diane and Tim could not make it because they were in the Bahamas because of Di's assignment and Joe in Orlando recruiting at a tournament, so we missed them.
Kids enjoying their grab bag gift excange. 
Kids openning their gifts.
Di is on her way to the Bahamas to work and Tim is with her for a week. On Christmas Day they were in Ft. Lauderdale, eating seafood in an outside cafe in their shorts. Joe left for Florida, Disney Sports to watch soccer tournaments, on Boxing Day.
We had a nice Christmas at home. Now we have to clean up. Cold and snowy still here.
Pictures of are where Di will be working while in the Bahamas, the helicopter and the supply room.
Here's the marina she will be working from and what her dorm room will look like.
art and mini-bike.
We stuffed ourselves on great food and enjoyed rousing games of TV trivia.
A SUPER TIME WAS HAD BY ALL!
A couple of weeks ago I won free tickets from a local TV station to the Chiefs and Jaguar's game at Arrowhead Stadium. I was very excited. . . . Well, it was the worst game so far this season with the Chiefs losing big. It was a miserable day that was hot and very humid, then rain at the end of the game and of course, our tickets were in the nose-bleed section (row 35 upper deck). Kathy went with me because Ralph was out of town and we left early as did most of the crowd. 
redeemed themselves by scoring the tie breaking goal for themselves! It was a funny game to watch. We enjoyed visiting Joe for a short time and it was a beautiful fall weekend. 
We went to Vegas last weekend and had a great time. We stayed at Bally's which we enjoyed. They have great restaurants and our favorite was their Asian restaurant with impeccable ser
vice and food. Diane was lucky and won $1500 at the Hilton where she and her friend were staying. We would also recommend the Mexican restaurant at the Hilton, terrific. We loved the monorail between Ballly's and the Hilton to get back and forth. Diane had a great suite there. Her friend Joanna met her there and they had a great time. They went shopping with their winnings the next day!
earest hotel to get a taxi. Of course taxis were running two hours late outside the strip so the shuttle driver at the Embassy Suites where we were sheltered from the storm took pity on us and drove us to Planet Hollywood, where some guests were going not far from Bally. Then we could walk to our hotel. After that Ralph and I were pooped and went to bed. The girls rode the monorail to their hotel and gambled and Diane and Joanna won money!
Megan picked us up at the SF airport and we drove through the city. We saw the "Full House" homes, as Meredith called them also known as the Seven Sisters. Megan then took us to Adale on Chestnut St. that is a great Mexican restaurant. Then we had to have a cupcake at Kara's which was wonderful. We then went to the Palace of Fine Arts Park (also know as the Easy Button for it's large dome)! 
We walked around and saw the swans there. Drove through the Presidio and found a great view of Alcatraz. It was a beautiful clear day and we could see the Golden Gate Bridge. Then we drove to Oceanside so we could put our feet into the Pacific Ocean and then drove down the coast a little way to Half Moon Bay where Megan and Meredith got some great sea shells from the beach. Megan told us this is the home of the Maverick Wave that comes once a year and is one of the biggest in the world. Surfers come from everywhere to catch that wave. Nathan met us for dinner at the Burgermeister where they have huge delicious organic burgers. They took us to our hotel, the Carlton, which was a lovely small hotel with very friendly staff.
did some people watching and picture taking. Megan picked us up and we went down Lombard Street with the major curves, beautiful homes and flowers.
and I clinging to the side as we went to Chinatown for some more shopping. We got a lot of our souvenirs there and had to rest at Starbucks later. Then walked to our car in a garage by going by the TransAmerica building andthe small park by it. We drove through Haight-Ashbury and Twin Peaks areas as the fog began to rolling in (literally). We went to their apartment in the Buena Vista area and met Rushka (their very sweet Rottweiler). Megan made us great Mandarin Chicken, we watched half of "Night at the Museum" and were bushed so Megan took us back to our hotel.
lden Gate Bridge. We walked along the shore to the Horizon restaurant for wonderful seafood. Shopped some more for shirts, gifts, etc. in great little shops. We then got some ice cream and took a ride through the hills around Sausalito.
but we found a great place for lunch, The Sea Lion Cafe, which overlooked the docks where the sea lions hang out. It was a fun place to eat and watch the area. And we had good seafood, too (crab cakes, clam chowder, shrimp).
Alcatraz Island tour. We took a 20 minute trip on the ferry to Alcatraz. We walked up the ramp (equaling 13 stories) to the prison at the top of the island. We took the audio tour of the prison and its dramatic history was told to us as we walked around the prison. It was an outstanding tour and a beautiful view of San Francisco from the outside of the prison. In the gift shop the author of a book about the Birdman and living on Alcatraz as a child was signing books so we got her to autograph the books we bought of hers. We took the ferry back to the pier and Nathan drove us up and down the hills of San Francisco back to their apartment. We had pizza and watch "Baraka." We got back to our hotel about 10 
pm, pooped but had another great day!
Francisco that is still having services and was once the Mission of San Francisco. Megan then took us to the Samovar Tea Cafe which had many tea choices and an organic menu. It had wonderful food and great ambiance. http://www.samovartea.com/
Megan and I by the Redwoods in the Botanical Garden in Golden Gate Park
Tim finishes the race in Deadwood SD, down an old train bed in the Black Hills along the Spearfish Canyon.
Tim and Yvette, Diane's friend, at the Biker Bar after the Michaelson Trail Marathon in Deadwood, South Dakota.
Tim and Diane in our favorite outdoor Cowboy Bar in Deadwood, SD where we listen to a great western singer.
In the fall of 2006 we went to the SW and Grand Canyon.
Ralph at a great overlook along the canyon rim.
This is a rainbow over the Grand Canyon this fall on our trip to the SW.
Ralph enjoyed the view of the Grand Canyon on the southeastern side of the canyon.
The colors of the Grand Canyon change constantly and are beautiful any time of the day.
