Ahhhhh-Cruising along to Mexico

Dear Friends and Family,

On February 5th Dan and I began our little vacation by flying to L.A. We got a car and drove from LAX to the Temple where we enjoyed a session in a beautiful temple with such charm. It was renovated and now you go room to room and it adds to the experience.

After the temple session we went to Scott and Nancy Johnsons house for a visit. Not being used to the traffic we did not believe the navigator when it said the 28 miles could be driven in 48 minutes. 48 minutes for 28 miles! That only takes half the time. Oh- not so, my friends. It took two hours.

It was pretty funny, Scott would call to check on our progress and sometimes after 10 minutes we would say we had only gone a hundred yards. It took twelve minutes to go from I-5 to the I-10, just the length of the exit and on ramp. He had plenty of time to go to the office to clean up some business and get to the grocery store before we got there.

We played on Friday and went to lunch at a great downtown deli, that was packed with the local people. Always a good sign to see so many people waiting in line for the food. It was worth the wait. Thanks for the experience guys.

We went to the theatre to see Frost/Nixon and it was great to see it on the big screen. I remember some of it from the time, but didn't have the same perspective of the events. Good Show.

On Sat the 7th we arrived at the terminal to board our ship. Here is a picture of our room.And we had a balcony, what fun to be able to sit and look out our own room.

One of the best things of the whole week was watching the sunsets in the evening.

And even more, sunsets.And we did take advantage of the comforts of our little balcony.

We did get off the boat to go into Cabo. There were tons of things to see walking around the marina and the little shopping area was about 10 minutes walk into town.

We had a wonderful lunch at TacoLoco. And the best Guacamole and chips.

And then, of course, the sunset leaving Cabo.

We didn't leave the ship again after that. We sat on the balcony and read the whole time we were in Mazatlan. And I worked a little on my tan. And we did the same in Puerto Vallarta. It was fun to watch the people get off the boat and walk across the street to the Wall Mart. All day long the walkers kept a steady stream to do their mexican, wall mart shopping.

This was our view for the day. Wall Mart and Sams Club. It was so nice to sit in the warm sun and relax.

And all too soon it was time to pack our bags, put them out in the hall, and make the trip home. All good things come to an end. Well maybe not all good things, but vacations do come to a close and become fond memories.

We loved our vacation and are already talking and making plans for the next time when we can all be together to enjoy the experience.

Love you all,

Ma and Pa

And the clean-up will commence!

Here are a few pictures of the damage at the lake. I couldn't believe how much was broken in almost all of the bushes and trees. The weight of 27 heavy inches of snow where we are not used to it impacts everything!

This was the center of the bushes right in front of the door.

And the two trees right by the garage are totally broken. They were a magnificent Rhodie in a scarlet red and a Snow Ball tree. They must have been at least 50 feet high. I am not sure any of it could be saved.

And last but not least there were three trees down across the driveway. Ryan was up helping around the cabin. He is staying there after shows of Beauty and the Beast in the Everett facility. He has seen the damage and cleanup in small doses as it goes along. I get it in big gulps when I drive up there to check up on things.

Life is change. Right?????

Love you all!

Ma

My Oh My, Still Falling From the Sky!

As you can see by the pictures the stuff still falling is no longer snow. The white you see is the snow left over from the last storm. Even though it is raining it hasn't been very warm. The weight of the snow and the winds completely blew over that great tree by the lake. With the ground so saturated with water there was hardly any hope at all for the roots to keep a strong enough hold to keep it standing.

If you look past the tree to the boat houses along the lake you can see that the water level is higher than the floor of the buildings.
Just like it is eight inches deep in our boat house. It was quite the thing seeing the amount of water in the lake. And look where the snow level is. That is the level the water was on the day before I got there. So it is receeding nicely.
And in this picture you can see how it is even with the level of the dock and the bulkhead. Any little ripples and the water rolled over onto the lawn.

Any other trees down were out front. There were a couple across the driveway in a couple of different spots, and the big Rhododendron that was by the garage went down and took half the snowball tree and the electrical wires to the house. It didn't completely take out the electricity, every once in awhile it would surge and take out the light bulbs in the house. It took a couple of days for PUD to get to the repair. Alea and Zach and 3 other couples were up enjoying New Year's Eve in the dark and kinda cold of the cabin. I think they still had fun. At least the fridge and the stove worked.

Love you all, Nic

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

The Conlin/Franklin family wishes everyone a wonderful holiday and Happy New Year!

We had an amazing opportunity (thanks to Ryan) to have a moment for this "Santa" picture for 08.

We missed family that couldn't be there and hope to have a whole group shot at the reunion in June. We are sure to have many picture opportunities in Yellowstone.

Love you all

Ma

Share the View

Here is a shot of the view we have from our house today. How we do love watching the changes out our windows.
I am always inspired by the beauty and variety of this wonderful earth.

No matter the time or weather, beauty surrounds us in this great North West where we love to live.

Love ya all
Ma

New View from the Kitchen

Just wanted to share this picture with all of you. We are really glad the construction is done and we are enjoying the new patio very much.
How soft everything looks with the snow covering it and making everything look clean. And how glad we are not to live with it more than we do.

ENOUGH ALREADY!

OH MY, OH MY, OH MY

I think it would be OK if it quit snowing and we could get out and about for a while.

Even though we couldn't believe the beauty of the view and the amazing things that snow does to trees as it piles on the tiniest of branches. Giving the shape of the trees weight and shape that they so seldom have.

And this morning there is suddenly the sound of dripping water as the temperature rises above the freezing point and the ice starts to melt. I am so glad we don't have to be anywhere for a couple of days. Not so many Christmas presents ready, maybe a lot of coupons under the tree this year. But totally loving the reason for it.

Love you all.

Ma