What Happened At Christmas?

Well, it wasn't very exciting, believe you me. I was heading to the Christmas Eve service at my church, but I had started feeling a little bit nauseous. Not good. So, I didn't stay until the very end, but only long enough to hear the Christmas Eve "talk". Then, when I came home, I experienced flu-like symptoms for the rest of the night. So, I spent Christmas sick with the "flu", or whatever you want to call it. I was nervous, tho' cause they had put me on call to fly. They never did end up needing me. I was thankful.
The next morning, however, I got a phone call at 3 a.m. to fly to Frankfurt again. So I just got back from there for the second time with only 3 days since I last got back before I flew again. This time mom and dad joined me there. Here's my mom and I in front of the hotel.
This is another pic of the "Messehalle" or Fair hall across the street from where we stayed. We thought the wreaths in the window were pretty spectacular.
Oh, the things you can do with "marzipan" or almond paste. This was a display at a candy shop.
And a very authentic little hand-made stable. Germans are good about giving credit where credit is due for the real meaning of Christmas.

A Missed Christmas Celebration. . .Barely!

You'll never guess what happened. . .ok, maybe you will. I got to go to Germany on a trip from December 20-23, and I was able to go home for one night!!! I was very happy to be able to do this so close to Christmas. This is my "Christmas vest" made by a dear friend in Glasgow. I got to wear this festive piece all during December.
The proof is in the picture! So, this was the 23rd, when I was getting back on the train to head back to the airport. We met some friends on the same train, and they took a picture for us.
Unfortunately, the family gathering in Germany happened two days later. Here's the picture anyway, 'cause I got good lookin' family members!

Going Down Under!

Yet another trip down to Sydney! And what a great time it was. This is the view from my hotel room.
I know I've sent pictures of the park across from the opera house before, but its just amazing that there is such a beautiful place right in the middle of the city. This picture is taken from the upper platform of the Sydney opera house.
While I was there, I went for a walk along the coast of Manly, which is 1/2 hour ferry ride away from Sydney. For those of you who don't know, Sydney is actually a little bit inland on a harbor, and so you have to go to Manly (among other places) to actually see the ocean. There's a lizard hiding in the picture. Can you find it?!!
Another little one I saw on a rock. This one was tiny.
This is the view from the path I was walking on. It was really incredible at times.
And this particular gentleman/lady was right in my pathway. I'm not too keen on reptiles so I had to stand here quite a while for him to get out of the way.
I then came to this little "wetlands" area. It was on top of the cliff, so that was pretty cool. There was a small sign that explained what kind of wildlife lived there, and how it was made, etc. I was reading calmly, and then my heart almost stopped. For, the very last thing mentioned about the surroundings was that SNAKES lived there! I'm not sure you're aware of this, but 10 of the 12 most poisonous snakes in the world live in Australia. In other words, you NEVER meet a nice snake there. Here I was, all by myself, and only God knew where I was! Needless to say, I hurried off that trail REAL fast!
I then found a road leading down hill. And had to watch out for Bandicoots.
I took a wrong turn somewhere, but it landed me at this catholic seminary. It was a beautiful place.
Ah, finally back to the beach. The far left corner of "park-ness" is where I was walking. Then I walked along the beach until it ended at a hotel. So, I walked an awful lot that day. And got a horrible sunburn. And got blisters on my feet from my sandals! But it was worth it to see this beauty there.
When I went back to Sydney, I got off and found this Christmas tree in the main square. It was VERY warm out, and I was in shirtsleeves, but they had a Christmas tree up. They actually had more decorations up in Sydney (where it was summertime), than they did in San Mateo and Burlingame where I live. Sad.
I ended my day on a ferry ride to Paramatta, another destination by ferry ride. I couldn't resist yet another picture of the bridge and opera house as we scooted past the city.

Montana friends

What a treat to visit the dear ones I used to live and work with. I had a great time, but didn't take a whole lot of pictures because I was talking too much! Here's a couple I did sneak in.
My dear friend, Kyla Lydia, and myself. What a great woman!
A little visit to grandpa Doyle's and Grandma Yvonne's. This is Noah Runner, and Cheyne.
This is Gage and Noah.
And this is all three little friends together. Kind of hard to get a shot of them, because they're all a little busy!

Locks of Love

It's that time again to donate hair to locks of love. Here's the before shot.

And the after shot!

I told my friend, Jon, who did this two things: When I wake up in the morning at 2 a.m., I need to have an easy haircut to get out the door looking good by 3 a.m. Also, I like the color of my glasses. Can you do that in my hair? I think he followed it all to a T!

A Trip to Colorado

Did you know there is a volcano (inactive) in the south west corner of Colorado? Actually, its two peaks. . . and I learned this from my cousin when I visited Two Buttes two weeks ago.
Not far away from these "two buttes" is a canyon. That's where we headed next. This is truly in the middle of NO WHERE! You would never know it exists.
My cousin, Rachel, ever the patient Taxi-driver!
This is the view from the top of the part where we were standing before. People jump off the ledge behind me into the water down below. BRRRRR!!!
A beautiful sunset on our way home. . . just for me!

When we got back from exploring the volcano area, we had a family dinner. There's always plenty to eat when I go visit!

This is all of us, minus Sharla. It makes it fun this way, 'cause we all get spoiled!

This is my dad's sister, Etta, and brother, David (middle and right) and his cousin Paul (left).
This is where my dad grew up. I love the lone tree. What a picture of stamina. Also, you can see one of the two buttes in the distant right of the picture.
I left the following morning at 6:00 a.m. I got to enjoy this beautiful sunrise.