Costa Rica

Arriving at Puerto Limon, Costa Rica

Puerto Limon is the main shipping port. Supposedly all the bananas purchased and consumed in the United States have gone through this port.

This is the Atlantic side of the country.

This is the vehicle we rode in for our off-road adventure into the mountains of Costa Rica.

Little poisonous orange frog

We were in Costa Rica on a Saturday so there were many, many people recreating in and around the river. I agree that it looked rather inviting.

During the heavy rainstorms in December this river wasn't just a narrow channel but filled the entire wide gravel area as well.

Banana plantation

Our 'picnic' at the banana plantation

This might take a little imagination, but there is a sloth in the tree.

Along the coastline...

Beautiful Costa Rica. We love it there!

All good things must come to an end. As we were leaving we saw this little island just off the coast of Costa Rica. Now that would be a neat place to live!

Following two days at sea we disembarked at Fort Lauderdale. This is a picture at the 'Farewell' with the crew of the Zuiderdam. We liked the shows, crew and dining room experience on the Zaandam better.

There were many fellow cruisers who had their flights home cancelled due to the bad storms primarily across the mid-west and upper eastern seaboard. Upon approach to the Atlanta airport there was heavy rain and the aircraft had to circle a couple of times. We were at the back of the plane and by the time we got off we had to run. We had to ride the underground train to a different concourse and run again. We barely made our connection. The temperatures were wonderful in the places we visited...70's and 80's. The temperature was minus 6 degrees when we got up the morning after we got home. What a rude awakening! We were told that there are furnished 2 bedroom apartments in the San Jose, Costa Rica area for around $350/month. That sounds tempting. They have a temple there (that I still haven't seen). San Jose is inland and nothing is more than about 3 hours away. The Pacific side is beautiful but is starting to be developed to look more like expensive real estate in Southern California. I'm already thinking about our next travels.

Ho Hum, Tweedle Dee Dum

It's January, what more can I say? Sub-zero temperatures, snow, slippery roads, inversions, short hours of daylight, cold fingers, scratchy throat, runny nose, dirty salty car, boring, depressing January...one of my least favorite months. Someone slid into our mailbox and knocked it over. I have been home alone as the temple is closed and Reed has been driving full time for a bus driver who had surgery.

I think when sad things that happen at this time of year, they seem even more sad. Just before Christmas two young brothers from Mendon were killed in a car accident. They were buried side by side in the same casket. Their parents were originally from Lyman, where Bryan is from. Reed saw all the helium balloons released into the sky by elementary school classmates of the boys. His bus was delayed by policemen directing traffic following the funeral.



Also just before Christmas, a ward member from Millville passed away from brain cancer. He had a 17 year old son, 15 year old daughter and 12 year old son. Mark was 47. He was in the bishopric after we left Millville. His wife, Jennifer, was our R.S. President. When we went with the youth on a trek at Martin's Cove, Mark and Jennifer were our 'parents' in our handcart group. Courtney was in the same seminary class with the oldest son. Once the teacher asked personal questions in an effort to get to know his students better. The question Mark's son got was "When was the last time you cried?" He answered that it was when the doctors said there was no hope for his dad and they were discontinuing chemotherapy. Between Mark's death and his funeral, Jennifer spent some time at the temple. We talked. I told her Mark is still on a trek, he's just gone on ahead, blazing trails for them to follow and preparing a new home for them.



Another sad one: Sister 'L,' (Mother of Lyle who dated Kim for 3 yrs), had a grandson (Darin Cook) return to Brazil where he served his mission. He wanted to travel around, visit persons he baptized, take pictures, hike etc. One of his former missionary companions was to hook up with him later. When his companion arrived at the hotel, Darin was not there. Police were contacted but they wouldn't start a search or investigation without family authorization. The companion didn't know names or numbers of Darin's family. He posted on Facebook: "If you know Darin Cook, contact me immediately." Darin's sister saw the post. Permission to search was given. A body was found, but due to the heat and having been chewed up by ants, positive identification couldn't be made until dental records were received. It was Darin. Evidently he had fallen a great distance while taking pictures. Last I heard, the family was trying to get Darin's body back to Utah for burial but the red tape was making it difficult.

One of our neighbors has a son who lost his wife to colon cancer. He remarried. His second wife had ovarian cancer at one time and now has cancer all through her pelvis. She's had surgery but will have to decide whether or not to go with chemo. They have two children who are both currently serving missions.

Another couple I serve with in the temple had their oldest son die from injuries sustained in a fall from a roof.

This is enough gloom and depressing stuff. I've written about it so now maybe I can get it out of my mind. I do have things to look forward to...one more week and we are off to Florida, the Bahamas, Aruba, Costa Rica and down to the Panama Canal and back in celebration of our 40th anniversary. Who knows? We might join the Hawkins family for a vacation in New Braunfels, Texas in March. We have reunions to plan or help with. Reed is in charge of the Ransom reunion and Jill is chairing the Conlin reunion. Both will be at Willow Park. I'm working with cousin, Jerry, on plans for a Prigmore reunion on July 14, 2012...the 100th anniversary of when Grandma and Grandpa were baptized. Since they were baptized in the creek by Lagoon and Grandpa was a groundskeeper at Lagoon, we are holding the event in Farmington.

Domino's Pizza

Here's my Domino's story: Our YSA ward is back in full swing after the Christmas break. Ward callings need to be revamped as many students left and we have an infusion of new ones. Last Monday we had a Ward Home Evening. We showed a video on morality and planned to serve pizza, salad and cookies afterward. The 30 large pizzas were supposed to be delivered at 7 p.m. I really expected them early. 7 o'clock came and went, 5 after, 10 after and finally 15 minutes after 7. I was getting really nervous. Did they mess up on the time or date? Were they at the wrong church? We didn't have a phone book. I passed a telephone in the hall, picked up the receiver, paused for a second and felt 'inspired' to enter a phone number. My plan was that whoever answered, I was going to ask if they could please look up the number for Domino's. I was blown away when someone answered the phone, "Domino's Pizza, how may I help you?" I knew that somewhere in the recesses of my mind that I had called Domino's before and maybe I could bring the number to memory. The only problem was that I had never before called the Domino's location where Reed ordered the pizzas. So when I 'picked myself up off the floor', I asked if I had reached the north or south location. It was the south store so I asked for the number of the other one. I called and was told the deliveryman left late but should be there any second. Whew! Everything worked out great. In fact, we got a late start on the video because the stake media guy was slow in arriving to set up the projection thing. The delayed pizzas ended up arriving with perfect timing.

Quiet holidays

Christmas and New Year's were rather quiet...our immediate family Christmas party was on Dec. 11th. We did have 12 family members over for a turkey dinner on Christmas Eve. The Johnsons had Santa Claus come a day early because Bryan had to work on Christmas Day. They enjoyed Christmas on the 24th for several reasons, one of which was that stores were open. They were able to buy the batteries that Santa forgot. After we ate, Riley and Bryan read from Luke, chapter 2. Hailey and Ashley interviewed Reed and me for a school assignment.

We were invited to breakfast at the Schvaneveldts on Christmas morning. We watched them open some of their gifts. We went to the Johnson household and Kim was sick with the stomach flu. She was so glad they already had Christmas. Reed made turkey soup and I made bread sticks for the the kids that evening. During the day we went on a long ride. We saw pheasants, deer and hundreds of wild turkeys. Because the weather was so pleasant, we went on a walk. We called and talked to our other kids and grandkids. We had leftovers for supper.

The day after Christmas we attended church in our home ward because the members of our YSA ward have gone home for the holidays. It was nice to walk to church instead of making multiple trips by car, 7.5 miles each way. It was great to kick back and relax instead of having Reed gone for 12 hours. It was NOT nice to come out of church and walk home in a snowstorm! Tuesday and Wednesday were very busy at the temple. After work on Wednesday, we had our YSA Bishop and wife over to preview a video for an upcoming ward 'Home Evening.' After they left we had our home teacher over.

We never went to the mall or made purchases at stores (except grocery) during the entire holiday season. Some of our gifts were taken care of by phone or with the click of a mouse. We gave ski lift tickets, cash or checks, and vacations. Candace and family are going to St. George during spring break again. Jodi and family are going to New Braunfels, Texas. They plan on visiting Sea World and the Alamo. Our gift-giving is sort of a cop-out. I didn't use any wrapping paper or tape this year. I don't miss the stress of deciding what to get, shopping for and purchasing so many individual gifts. I DO miss all the beautifully wrapped presents under the tree and the fun of everyone opening gifts.

On New Year's Eve we ate lunch out, purchased some puzzles, read books, spent time on the computer, went to a movie, ate out again and started working on a 1000 piece puzzle. We actually stayed up to usher the new year in! January 1st was more of the same. We are kind of boring people. We disconnected DISH a few weeks ago and haven't had Comcast cable installed yet, so it has been extremely quiet. I really don't miss TV much.

A week before Christmas we received an offer on our home. It was within an acceptable, negotiable range but the buyer wasn't able to qualify for the loan. It's good we didn't hold our breath or pack things up. We had mixed feelings. We really didn't want to move in the wintertime and we don't have any plans. We don't know what we want to do when we grow up, or where we want to live. We keep thinking that one day we will find the just the right place.

Reed is subbing for a couple of weeks. He makes morning, mid-day and afternoon school bus runs. I am on vacation; the temple is closed until the 25th. But that is our 40th anniversary and we plan to be somewhere warm. Right now everything is white with snow and the overnight temperatures are dipping below zero. At least the sun is headed the right direction and we're gaining more minutes of daylight. Well, I'd better go warm up a rice bag in the microwave.

HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Schvaneveldt Family

This is the picture from their Christmas card:Kaden~Natalie~Jill~Brandon~Courtney~Hailey

Jill is our 2nd daughter

Courtney is our first grandchild

Just wondering...where is Brandon's right leg?

A Hawkins Family Christmas

Although we were in Oklahoma twice during the year, we missed having the Hawkins family around during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. They are unable to attend many of our family activities so I don't take lots of pictures of them. I don't miss out though, because Jodi takes thousands of pictures a year and shares them on her blog. Therefore, I took the liberty of 'borrowing' some of their Christmas pictures to post on my blog.

Ty, Jodi & Abby at live Stake Nativity

The Hawkins Family Christmas Picture
Olivia (2), Abby (almost 7 mo.), Miles (3) and Owen (5)


The Nativity starring the Hawkins kids

New pajamas on Christmas Eve

Abigayle's First Christmas

Season's Snapshots

Cousin Marcia and the Schvaneveldt grandkids-

(Oh, Fernando!)

After Christmas Eve's turkey dinner--
out came the treats

Cool Whip balls were the favorites-
I'm so done making frosted sugar cookies...
except maybe on Valentine's Day or St. Patrick's

Brynlee

What I left out for Santa

Courtney on Christmas Day

The view from Jill's deck-

Christmas Day dawning in the valley

Colorful Christmas

I took this picture on CHRISTMAS DAY while on a walk. It was a nice day with temperatures in the 30's and should have pleased everyone. The YELLOW sun shined in the BLUE sky most of the day, the snow on the mountains was WHITE, there were fields of BROWN or GREEN and the lawns we passed were very GREEN as well. We couldn't have asked for a better combination.

Christmas Parties

The H. J. and Edna Milligan Family Christmas Party was held on Saturday, December 11th at the American West Heritage Center in Wellsville. The site is a replica of a 1917 farm and village. By my count there were 98 in attendance. About half were adults and half little kids. Family members came from 6 states: California, Arizona, Texas, Colorado, Utah and Idaho. Many thanks to those who made this party happen, to those who provided the food, arranged the location, brought desserts etc.! Thanks for your generosity. It would have been nice to sit down and visit with each of the attendees. That was impossible with all the hub-bub going on.

Our festivities took place in the Opera House

Hailey holding Aubrey and petting a horse.

Jayse, Ashlyn and Katelyn ready for a ride

Andrew, Ashley and Ashlyn

Kaden, Tanner and Landon chasing after the wagon

After enjoying a nice meal, the younger generation put on a talent show. We were entertained with dances, gymnastics, musical numbers (violin and piano), poetry, riddles, jokes etc. We played a candy bar game. There was the usual 'mad-grab' out of Kent's boxes of motel supplies to everyone's delight.


These are the 16 female cousins in attendance. I was outside when this picture was taken so I snitched it off Facebook. Front row: Heidi, Jill, Jennifer, Jamie, Emily, Natalie. Back row: Lauren (the youngest cousin), Kim (the oldest cousin), Staci, Leslie, Robin, Rebecca, Angela, Holly, Candace and Andrea.

These four cousins were born within a year and a half of each other. Eric belongs in the group as well. L - R: Rebecca (holding Talmage), Robin, Candace and Natalie. Several of the cousins now have four children of their own but Natalie is the most prolific as she will soon have her 6th child. One time within four months, each of my three sisters and I gave birth. David was born December 26th, Leslie arrived on January 12th, Sam was a leap-year baby on February 29th and Jodi followed on April 22nd. Mother and Dad had 28 grandchildren and I think 23 were at the party. Two years after the last grandchild was born, the first great-grandchild arrived. There are nearly 70 great grandkids so far. Mother had 7 kids in 10 years...4 girls followed by 3 boys. James Keith, my middle brother, died as a newborn. Our sibling picture is below:

Ron~Marilyn~Kathy~Kent~Jean~Marsha

Pretty setting, gorgeous day, but awfully muddy!

Since our Utah kids were going to be in town for the Milligan party, they wanted to have our immediate family Christmas party later that evening. Cousin Marcia from Texas joined us and stayed with us for two nights. Candace and Robin and their families stayed at the SpringHill. It's a treat for the kids to stay there, go swimming and have a continental breakfast. Anyway, 25 of us ate downstairs in our 'banquet room.' We had ham, funeral potatoes, green beans, rolls, coke products, brownies and fudge. After putting the tables away we had a white elephant gift exchange which brought lots of laughs.

On Christmas Eve we will be having one more holiday dinner for our local (geographically speaking) daughters and families. We bought an extra turkey at Thanksgiving and need to free up some freezer space. After that we can rest for a season...oh, but what about New Year's Eve, New Year's Day etc.? Actually, we haven't made any plans. Hallelujah!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

December is here...

The stockings were hung by the office with care,

In hopes that our little ones will leave them there...

We've got a 'Logan High' tree this year...red and gold. I can't decide if I should add gold bead garlands. I can't find the tree skirt (a.k.a. batting, which looks like snow) or 3 large red bows for the garland on the front porch.





Twice a month we have young single adults over for Family Home Evening. If the group is large we have the basement set up. On Monday we just had ten...8 girls and 2 boys...which reflects the girl/boy ratio of our ward membership.

On December 1st I started a new decade. That really makes me feel old. I received lots of birthday wishes. Jill and Brandon treated us to dinner at Texas Roadhouse. Jill bought me some requested and much needed dish cloths. Reed gave me Pollard's chocolates...Victoria Rum...yummy. Candace and Jodi sent almond creme Idle Isle chocolates...heavenly. So much for joining our family's 'Biggest Loser' competition which started on my birthday. Some gifts will arrive later.

Candace and Jodi composed a list: "60 Memories of Mom! HAPPY 60th BIRTHDAY!!!" Maybe they can give it as an eulogy at my funeral. Here are some of their memories:

1- Always having a secret stash of candy or candy bars.

2- Saying her bedroom wasn't Grand Central Station.

3- She would give us some candy and say "This is to sweeten your disposition."

4- Listened to 61 KVNU and would win things all the time. The coolest. A hot tub for a week.

5- Tapping her thumbs on the steering wheel to the beat of the music.

6- Always came up with creative things for our valentine boxes or science fair projects.

7- We would always do major projects when dad went on the train.

8- When Mom didn't feel well she would ask for a diet coke over ice with 4 nuprin.

9- Read a book all day long then about 3:30 she would have us all hurry and clean so Dad wouldn't think that she sat around all day.

10- She would say an address and we would have to figure out whose house it was.

11- She said she wanted to be cremated and mixed with wild flower seeds and spread on the mountain.

12- Showing us how to make paper beads or doing other little art projects.

13- Laying in bed with her some mornings and making up progressive stories.

14- Making volcanoes in the sand box.

15- Having every window and door in the house open when we would wake up in the summertime (even though we were freezing) to cool off the house before it got too hot.

16- Unwrapping Christmas presents and rewrapping them just to see what they were.

17- The big Cabbage Patch Birthday Party she threw for us.

18- Going on walks with Mom, Julie and Cathy out to the south fields.

19- Feeling so special that Mom would volunteer to be the Home room mom, the Art/Music teacher or reading helper.

20- rat rat rat rat rat...then combover...this is the way she would do her hair.

21- Always going in and hurrying to put on powder and lipstick or vaseline before she could go to the door, even if it was just the home teachers.

22- She would whip up some good chocolate 'concoctions' after dinner.

23- Would sing the lady bug picnic song while doing our hair.

24- Making headstones for our Halloween graveyard.

25- Making slush in the summertime.

26- Hired 'spies' to watch us while she and Dad went out of town. We were rewarded with going Bungee Jumping.

27- The way she says certain words (sandwich, creek, treasure..etc)

28- Words she uses like bounders, doodads...etc.

29- Putting fake legs sticking out of the snow bank.

30- Always vacuuming and washing the mirrors. Always had a spotless house.

31- Going to the Bookmobile and getting book recommendations from Sherid.

32- Calling Shanna when she needs the latest 'information.'

33- Having her clean out our ears or pick our zits.

34- Singing "Love at Home" when we would fight.

We went to my Temple group's Christmas Dinner/Party at Hamilton's. We sat at a table with people I didn't know well, yet we found out we knew people in common. Reed used to work with one guy's brother. That guy said he had sold an insurance policy to Reed's dad years ago. Reed had also known the deceased husband of one of the ladies...and I knew her father who used to teach shop classes. One person graduated from Preston High the same year as one of Reed's brothers. One couple lives in the same ward as some of our friends. Another couple said they lived in Lodi, California for many years. I looked at Reed and said, "That is where Bogrens are from." They said, "Did you say Bogrens? Judy and Bryant are our good friends. How do you know them?" I said, "I don't know them, but their son Ryan married my niece." They said, "You are Natalie's aunt!? We have her high chair in our garage from Thanksgiving. Hey, then it is your sister who just got back from a mission." We'd tell stories, discussed some of our travels and laughed at our interconnectedness. There was also a temple worker who served in the same mission as Reed, another who was in many classes with him at Utah State, one who taught school in Preston, and another from Preston he knew. Several have said that Dad was their dentist. The next day at the temple we were talking about the party and I recapped the conversations we had around our table. Another sister said, "Your husband is from Preston? So am I! Where did he live?" When I told her, she said that they grew up in the same ward, actually just around the corner. Small world.

Our frigid temperatures have moderated a little so we have been having 'designer' storms...rain in the valleys and snow in the mountains. Our huge snowbanks have been melting. Yeah! I'd like to skip the rest of the winter and go right into spring. Utah ski resorts have opened earlier than normal this year.