No surprise that Grandpa Strode and Grandma Judy have some photos of their new granddaughter on their blog! We are so thrilled for Janelle and Matt as they add the beautiful Camille Kendall to their family! We spent a long weekend in Seattle getting in lots of snuggling and rocking the new little one. It was a great visit with our sons, their wives and a new grandgirl. We even had some good visits with friends Bonnie and Beau--who are always so gracious about opening their home to us. Life is Good!!

VALENTINE WEEKEND IN ESTES PARK

We drove up to Estes Park on Friday afternoon for a "Units Get Away". The two pedestrians shown here were a little uncertain about the cross walk. The elk were all over Estes Park this weekend. We stayed at a comfortable condo unit complex, had a fabulous chateaubriand for two at the Twin Owls Restaurant. Would you believe chocolate fondue for dessert. So on Saturday we bundled up, put on the snow shoes and worked some of the calories off on a hike in Rocky Mountain National Park. As you can see we had beautiful sun and the snow was about 3 feet deep on the trail. A great weekend!

What a great weekend we had in the "Big Easy" As you can tell by the photos. We had amazing weather and we saw some wonderful sights: a plantation tour with all the historical stories, music and great food on Bourban Street, and terrific walking tours of Jackson Square. Did we mention the yummy food? We could not believe the number of places to eat -great restaurants on every corner. It was a perfect weekend getaway. We hope to do more in the future.

Yes, you are correct...this is San Diego and it is about 73 degrees on the beach. Judy joined her buddies (commonly known as the Fab 4) for a long weekend on the Mission Bay strip. Bonnie, Christy, Erin and Judy had a sunshining good time! We fit in a lot of fun in one weekend: Mexican food, wine country tour, Italian food, Starbucks (several times), more wine, Seaport Village, Old Town and beach walks. We were sorry to say good-bye to the sunshine and the beach. We will be back for sure!

Happy New Year to all! Here we are--the Units with their special grand girls--Sara and Lori. Note the additions of 2 American Girl dolls...Rebecca and Molly:-). We have had such a lovely Christmas holiday with our family. We spent an amazing few days in Seattle with Matt, Janelle, John and Amy. There were celebrations for a birthday, Christmas and an expected Baby Weaver. We saw friends and spent time with our kids. Who could ask for anything more?

Soon after our return from Seattle--the Houghtons (Michelle, John, Sara and Lori) arrived to spend 10 days more of celebration. We took in the Children's Museum, Botanic Garden's light show, American Girl store, Mexican food, Elk hunt (for John), movies and much, much more.

It has been a glorious season of celebration. Life is incredibly good.

So here is the deal...we have many, many wonderful photos from our Thanksgiving celebration in Seattle. However, I am not sure that any of them project the fun we had as much as this one does! We did have a grand time with John, Matt, Amy and Janelle. We had some interesting weather with snow and ice, but we prevailed and had a grand time. We spent about 48 hours at Beau and Bonnie's home in Kirkland. We ate turkey, played games, watched football and generally had some super family time. Amy cooked up a storm in Bonnie's kitchen, which was fun to behold. In addition to the "turkey" time, we also celebrated Matt's birthday and cheered for the Seahawks (but to no avail). So watch for the next posting--we will be back in Seattle to celebrate Christmas (a little early) and John's birthday too. Good times ahead!!

Look at the smiles on these faces. Who is happier? Grandparents? Grandgirls? We think it could be a tie!!! We had such a grand time in Des Moines this past weekend. We were able to get in our usual hugging, playing games and laughing. A highlight for us was being the "Mystery Readers" in Sara's class on Friday--Sara guessed it before we arrived. Michelle spent an entire Saturday playing with her scrapbook pages; while Sara went horseback riding and Lori and grandparents had a dandy time at the Build-a-Bear store. It was a terrific weekend...puzzle making, checkers, crafting, reading and more. We even got in a few good visits with Daddy John. As always, it is a treat for us to be around this special family.