I just found a blog by a Sister Missionary in Daniels mission. She posted a darling picture taken on Sunday. It was really fun to see Daniel in Pres. Li's (a recently released Stake President) home and with his companion. We are anxious to hear from Daniel today. He is always happy and optimistic. We love hearing from him and Step each week. 

Germany and Prague

Well, here I am again. We had a wonderful time in Europe! We took Grandma Bets and Grandma D. They were great travelers and a lot of fun to have on the trip. Besides Mark and me, we were with Britt and Bry, Adam, and Meg. Everyone brought a special kind of  fun to the trip. Britt spent months organizing, making reservations, and studying what to do. We had a pre-trip family night to go over the itinerary, and what to pack. (I should have listened better)We traveled by Plane, Bus, Train, and on Foot. We went to Berlin first! There we hopped on a City Tour after checking in to Hotel Berlin Berlin (in a great location!), we saw some great sights on that tour. It was a hop on hop off type thing so we spent a lot of the day in some neat places. We were able to see where the wall had been and parts still up. We drove between East and West Berlin, it was really interesting. Our first hop off was at Checkpoint Charlie. I loved that, especially the museum. It shows many events and several escape methods that happened at the wall. It was interesting to see the lengths people will go to get their freedom. Also how thin people were, it was crazy some of the places they fit. (like a suitcase, and not the size of ours) 

We also got off at the Brandenburger Tor and Pariser Platz, it is probably the most famous sight in Germany and is a gathering place for many important events. Around the corner is the new Memorial "Memorial to the Killed Jews of Europe". It was truely amazing, as well as emotional to see the field of grey steles symbolizing the murdered Jews. 

We drove down the Unter den Linden and later walked through it. It is a beautiful street lined with trees and many important historic buildings. We drove by Potsdamer Platz and later spent a little time there. We were staying at Hotel Berlin Berlin which was in the heart of a great district called Kurfurstendamm, there was a cool looking burned and bombed out church, and a great shopping area. The KaDaWe store was the scene of our first meal there. Mark and Dolores were smart and got some great German food there. Well there is a lot more and I will blog it later. 

Terrific Traveling Times

Carlos, Silvia, and Mark at their home in Pachuca
Well, more traveling has taken place since my last blog with Britt. Mark and I went to San Diego and stayed at Torrey Pines Lodge on the Golf Course. It was a blast. (Funny side note: this trip was paid for by Lehman Brothers, our host had to leave because the announcement of their failure came while we were in San Diego.) Mark and I were able to take many long walks together through Torrey Pines Park and we drove around a lot. We went to old town where we found out that our favorite restaurant is under renovation, but were we still able to share some great Mexican food. The Lodge is incredible and we loved being there. The Grand Californian in Disneyland is patterned after the Lodge so Mark was especially in Heaven. Anyway, it was a fun and fabulous get-away for us. Mark serves on the Board of Utah Housing Authority which is the reason for the trip!

Alma and Me after our Sunday Drive

Then we were off to Mexico to check on our students at Bene and a few of their families. We had fun with Adam and we were able to travel to Pachuca where he served for about 7 months. We met some families there that were special to him. We also visited with Carlos and Silvia Zepeda. Carlos was the Director at Benemerito when we first began the scholarship program.

Our Families in Xalitzintla

Step with his new Package from Us

We enjoyed time with Alma and Martin Diaz. Martin is our driver. They have been helpful getting us around and to our locations. We feel we have many friends in Mexico. We were also able to drop a package to the Mission Office for Step. From the picture he sent, it looks like he really enjoyed it.

Mark and I had a lot of fun this week in San Diego. We stayed at "The Lodge at Torrey Pines". It was really beautiful. We went on a lot of fun walks, ate a ton of great food and Mark golfed while I went to the Spa. It was very relaxing. We also took a couple of scenic drives up and down the coast. What a great place to live. I think our favorite thing to do was walk around the Torrey Pines State Reserve. There were several neat trails and a lot of greenery. We loved learning about the Torrey Pines themselves and took some great pictures. We had breakfast on the deck and had fun watching football. We loooooove San Diego!!!!!!!!

I can't believe it's been so long since I've been on the blog. Britt and I just finished a great trip to Seattle and Victoria BC. It was fun, but cold. We did a lot of walking and we went to Pike's Fish Market a few times. The highlight was the little French Bakery with Chocolate Almond Croissants. We split two of them and had to restrain ourselves the third day. We spent one day driving to UW and exploring University Village. We found Moleskin Planners which we had been on a mission to find. Then we drove out to the Williams where we were treated to the best dinner of Thai Wraps, grilled Salmon, Chicken, asparagus and a mango bowl for dessert. Fun Fun.
We flew, drove, monorailed, clippered, and flew in a float plane. Butchart Gardens in Victoria was a blast eventhough Britt wasn't too excited in the beginning. It was really pretty. We had High Tea at the Empress Hotel and were a little sticker shocked at the cost. But it was a lot of fun. We sat at a little table for two by the front windows and ate Cucumber Sandwiches, and a lot of cute pasteries. We had caffiene free Berry Berry Tea and laughed while I continuously dropped sugar cubes on the table. (Just couldn't hold on with the baby tonges). It was a fun trip!!! I loved it Britt.

Wow---Home from the Alaskan Cruise! It was amazing. There really is no way to describe the beauty you see there. Between the glaciers, the wildlife, the landscapes, and open ocean. I don't think I have seen so many neat things since the last Europe trip. I will put up a couple of my favorites. This first photo is of the edge of the Juneau ice field. I took this from the floatplane we were on. These ice fields go for miles and miles. The color is fantastic.!!!!!!!!  We had two formal nights on the cruise, I was extremely seasick for the first one. We also dressed up on the last night. It was a lot of fun. The food was fantastic, and the company the best. From left to right--Mom, Me, Ruth, Amy, Dolores, Joan. Don't we look great!

Cruising to Alaska--Bear Country

Well, It's Saturday July 26th. I am on board the Amsterdam or A-dam as they call it. I will definitely get Ad a mug here.... We are traveling at a pretty good rate. The food is awesome, I have already had Salmon twice. Yesterday when we arrived we were greeted by Mark, Ruth, Peter, and Tim. They took us to a great place called McCormicks and Schmicks for lunch. I ate steamed clams, fish chowder and a beet salad. We also walked around Pikes Market for a while. It was a lot of fun. We arrived on the boat. Had a lifeboat drill which was Mandatory. Joan and Amy missed it and we have had a lot of fun with that. They had to make it up this morning.

I have had some great walks around the ship and it is windy and cool. I really enjoyed it. Hopefully I can upload a couple of pictures.

Family Stuff

We have had some fun things happen with the families this summer. BethAnn Broadhead and Chandler Turley were married on June 13th, it was a nice wedding. Their sealing was at the Salt Lake Temple and the reception was at Heritage Gardens. Meg took a lot of photos for them and some great ones of the family. It was a nice day!

We also had a ton of fun on the 4th of July. We spent a few days up at Midway, Utah. Ou

r place is in a community called Valais. Our address is 33 West Village Circle. It is lots of fun up there.

Anyway, we watched the fireworks which were shot off Memorial Hill. They were

great. We ate at Snake Creek Grill on Saturday night. Oh course eating the yummy Oreo, Ganache, Banana Cream pie. Yum!!!!

The Ellingson Family Reunion was this month. The activities were golf, swimming, farmer's market, quilting, BBQ, and then a great Talent show on Sunday!! Mom made Banana Cream pie which was delicious, especially the next day when she made me my own personal one with real crust! Thanks Mom!!!

Summer Quilting

 This summer I finally made the wall quilt I wanted for the house. Oops, it's too little, oh well, I will have to make another one. It is a great pattern from one of my favorite companies called Maple Island Quilts. I found these patterns at the City Quilter in New York. I visit that shop every time we go to New York. It is so much fun. This particular pattern is called "Piqued". I have made a couple of other quilts by this company. Very nice!!! 

Another fun quilting experience for me was going to the Shop Hop with my Quilt Group friends. We we

nt out to Pine Needles at Gardner Village, and then to Quilts Etc. and Piper's. It was so much fun. We ended up at the Dodo for lunch, so pretty much a perfect day for me.

 My friend group got together and tied two quilts for the humanitarian center. They are darling and I hope will provide comfort and warmth for someone who needs it. We had a fun time tying the quilts and then one of my favorite things is turning the edges.  The finished quilts are adorable and it was a fun activity to do with my friends. 

For You Britt

   Hi there! Wow it's been a while. I really didn't realize how long it's been. Anyway, Britt keeps asking when I will update. It's funny because I always feel like not a lot is happening, but a lot is.

   First of all, Mark and I took a little "get-a-way" trip to San Diego in June. It was tons of fun. We visited the Reeses new place and then spent a couple of hours at Torrey Pines Golf Course. Of course this was the home of the 2008 U.S. Open. One of the most amazing tournaments ever!!!!! We ended up with clothing for everyone in the family, and we also thought about the twins a lot since the last time we were there the boys golfed that course. Anyway, San Diego is a lot of fun! Mark and I had a blast, we saw a Padres game and went to our favorite restaurants. Sammy's and Roy's, just to name a couple. We had fun morning walks and shared breakfast at the Edgewater Grill on the harbor. It was a great couple of days. 

It's always great to hear from my boys. They are both doing well. I really like these pictures that they have sent in the last week or so. What great looking boys, but better than that they are great boys.

28 Years Down 28 To Go

Well Mark and I celebrated 28 years this weekend! We had a lot of fun at Midway. We went to Snake Creek Grill for dinner with Adam, Meg, and Lauren. It was a  lot of fun. We laughed and had a great time. 

Beautiful Week

We have had a great week with lots of great weather. The yard is looking so nice and the sun and warm weather are welcome. The creek is slowly getting higher and higher. One little mishap last night. We had a microburst and a tree in the back fell down. Of course it was in an area that I had been working in a lot yesterday. Oh well. Everything will be dug up and moved. It was a beautiful tree too.

Fun Week

Well, what a fun week. The fun for me is watching the kids have fun. Meg Lauren and Jessica made T-shirts for the American Idol final week next week. David Archuletta is suppose to win. Also we are trying to get the yard in shape. The weather has been great the last couple of days! We will be doing a lot of yard work today. Adam and Meg have been on a couple of bike rides. The Utah Jazz lost in game six of this series to end their chances at a championship. But we have had a ton of fun and parties watching them. Pictures from this week will be posted shortly.

One of the best finds this week was the Miso salad at CPK. Meg and are are going to try to copy it for Sunday dinner tomorrow. It was delish!!!!!

Fluster Bluster

For your information a bear's bluster is the way it communicates. So since I am Cher Bear, and have been since I can remember, I chose this way to communicate with all of you. 

I was introduced to blogging a couple of years ago, but really became interested when Meg went to London for a semester. I decided to start my blog before the family grew and spread much farther around. Of course there may be some other special way to keep track in a few years, but hey, I need to get on the high tech track now! 

Hopefully, it will all work out! So here I go!