CHAPTER #19......around the world.....

BARCELONA, SPAIN........Here are two of my favorite pictures.  I flew to Barcelona with my friends for a trip down the MIDDIE CANAL IN FRANCE.  We had a few days here to check out

 this beautiful city.  Down the center in the busy part of the city was the Las Pasadas.......a wonderful shopping market with everything there, flowers, birds, garden seeds, local handicrafts, I could have spent a month there.  Then the wonderful art of "Gaudi", his famous la Sagarada Familia is the landmark of the city.  We took a train to NARBONNE, FRANCE where boarded our little boat, there were two boats for all of us.  We did our own navigation down the canal, learning to maneuver the locks.  So peaceful and beautiful slowly floating through the country side stopping when we desired for food, wine, cheese or to check out a fun eating establishment or just wander through a small village.  Sat on top our boat and drank wine and played bridge.  Took some fabulous pictures........and will always remember this as one of my favorite adventures!

One day before we left for FRANCE we rented a car and drove up to ANDORA......adding another country to our list of countries.  Wonderful ride up the winding road dodging herds of sheep.  The Bask people  are very hard workers and they have a beautiful country......plus the shopping is all duty free.

TRAVEL KEEPS YOU YOUNG......

Yes, travel does keep you young,,,,,,,It does this by simply putting you in situations that make you feel like a child again.  When we are very young, everyday we discover some thing new in our world. Magically lost in a moment of discovery we forget our age as we see, hear, feel, smell or taste something new on a trip. Beautifully confused it could be the first time you awaken to the 5:00 AM call to prayer from the local mosque on Morocco's far Atlantic shore, (oh yes, I remember that day), the first time you feel the weight of the Egyptian sun on your shoulders, (Yes, I remember that too), the first time you paddle out over the shallow reefs of the Caribbean, or the first time you realize that people living in squalor can achieve happiness as easily as those living in mansions.

These are life's opportunities to shed the hustle of modernity and join the moment your heart races.  Every thing is new again.  Just keep sipping Jet-Stream!  The twins and their families finally got home three hours late last night......Darren's keys were locked in his truck and  ON STAR could not get it opened ......so they got a motel room.  No way to end a vacation. Karrie, Scott an Annie came and got the dogs this morning and cleaned my whole house.  Then we zipped off to JOAN'S to buy material for Annie a Christmas blanket and then up to the Outlets to shop for her a new dress for the Christmas Dance!  A fun day.   Leslie called and she was almost back to Winslow....a busy month ahead for her getting packed and moved on top of Christmas.

MAKING MEMORIES ALL OVER THE WORLD.......

I love, love this picture!  It's like the song 'I have the whole wide world in my hands'.......  I HAVEN'T BEEN EVERYWHERE.....BUT IT'S ON MY LIST!

I beg young people to travel.  If you don't have a passport......get one.  Take a summer, get a backpack and go to Delhi, go to Puckett, go to Bangkok, go to Sri Lanka.  Have your mind blown , eat interesting food, dig some interesting people, have an adventure, be careful. When you come back your going to see your country differently,  Music, culture, food, water, toilets and toilet paper are all different. Your going to see global climate change is very real.  And, that for some people their day consists of walking 12 miles for four buckets of water. And so there are lessons that you can't get out of a book that are waiting for you at the other end of that flight.  Americans and Europeans.....come home and go "Ohhhhhh" and the light bulb goes on.  I see where most my family have my Gypsy blood and they all love to travel.  No, I didn't graduate from college (only two years), but being a stewardess and marrying a pilot gave me a chance to start seeing the world.......after 30 years of that and a divorce......... my good friend was a travel agent and I was included in many deals with her which enabled me to continue traveling around the world.....yep, around 120 countries, 6 continents and 48 states.  No amount of book learning could be as great as the experiences I have had.

Karrie called and the Cooks and Christenson's are on their way home from St. Thomas, but have a three hour delay in South Carolina while they wait for new pilots to be flown in.....so the dogs get to stay another night as it will be very late when they arrive.  I can hardly wait to hear how their week was.....mine was great. Today was Black Friday and now we move on to Christmas......

HAPPY THANKSGIVING........

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!.........I can not even begin to tell you what is in my heart tonight!  There are tears in my eyes and in my heart for what I am thankful for........I had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day with the only sister I have left out of three.....and a good talk with my little brother JIM ......who is headed for a back operation next month.  I went to my nephew and his wife's house in Orem for dinner with my sister, LESLIE.  Her daughter KRISTI and granddaughter Anna came up from St. George.  My nephew's son CHASE and wife and baby Jude dropped by and played cards with us......MIKE's wife ANDREA and her three children  SARAH, JAKE AND MAT were with us so we had quite a group. She set a beautiful table with china and silver and the smoked turkey was wonderful.  Leslie and I brought Hordourvs.

Now for where my heart really was........with my three beautiful daughters and their families......I missed my other families so much. SCOTT, ANNIE AND TIFFF AND DARREN AND PAM all texted me so I knew they were also thinking of me! What is it about families and Holidays?  Good Memories from growing up?  Wondering how many more you have left to enjoy? Just loving your kids and grandkids more than they can ever know and missing my two Missionaries so far away......I don't know.......but I can't stop the tears tonight!

The past two days Leslie and I saw three movies, visited my cousin Lucille and got in lots of visiting.  I am sooooo excited she bought a place in Mesquite and is closer to me.  Two more days of November and then we plunge into the Christmas Holidays and Will's birthday!  Such a busy month ahead.

Chapter #18....round the world

  Growing up in all my wildest dreams I never thought I would make it to EGYPT!  Only in history books were the great pyramids, sphinx, deserts and camels and the wonderful Nile River. I had never heard of a Kartush....... (jewelry or picture with your name in their symbols.....which of course I had to buy).  We flew to Cairo with wonderful markets.  I don't think we missed a single temple....Luxor, Karnack etc.  We did a lot of walking but it was all different...and yet the same. We spent hours in the museum and got to see King Tuts treasures.  On the desert we took a ride on a camel.....my first....and my last. Then a short ride down the NILE RIVER  in those interesting little boats called  'Fulukas' The last part of the tour was a five day trip down the Nile on a very interesting boat.  We stopped along the way every day.....more temples and wonderful new sights......and fun shopping.  Would I like to go back to Egypt?  Yes, but not until there is more peace there......but it will always be one of my favorite trips.

A LITTLE BIT LONESOME.......

WOW.....such a picture! My sweet Annie down in St Thomas sent this to the Face Book.  I have been there done that several times......but to be with my sweet families down there makes you just a little "jealous'.  Her title was 'St Thomas Charlotte Amelia at Marriott's Frenchman Reef Hotel.....Yes. We  had a very nice November Day here in Salt Lake.  I went to a movie with Shirley and we stopped for lunch, then to the store for a few items for Leslie's visit.  She called on her way to Orem for a great-grandson's baby blessing and was worried about the roads as the weather around Cedar City were pretty bad.  She also said our baby brother, Jim, was in Albuquerque in the Veterans hospital ......may have to have a back operation.

Been a busy and fun weekend......one more week and we are into December. ure

CAN'T HELP IT..........

AHHHH,,,,,I can't help but wish I was in St Thomas with my grandkids today among the sand, blue water and wonderful flowers.....watching them enjoy their beautiful vacation.  I have had some fun days on the beach and been to St Thomas several times .......I have left my foot prints there in the sand. I'm off to LUNCH with a dear friend from many years ago, Susan Holgreen.  Our husbands were airline pilots together,  Her husband is gone now......and so is mine kinda.......and it will be fun to reconnect and reminisce about our fun days learning to ski at Park City......the first year it opened.  Washed my hair, did two batches of laundry, turned on the dish washer, took out the garbage and tending two extra big dogs. My life has turned into VERY BUSY.  We are having bright sunny weather, but pretty cold.