The game for champions.

I am no fan of golf. I LOVE sports. Almost everyone of them, with the exception of golf. I don't enjoy watching it or playing it. I think I would, if I wasn't so horrible at it. While in Bermuda, our hotel had a beautiful course overlooking the ocean. One day, mom wasn't feeling so well and the guys decided to play a round of golf. I know that both Kenny and Dad enjoy the game and I was anxious to maybe get some tips on how I can improve my game. They aren't exactly professionals but I could tell right off that I was going to learn a thing or two. The video below is at the very first tee. It was a really beautiful setting...high on a hill, ocean not far away and the green for the first hole, directly down below. Straight ahead, mind you. Here's how it went...







This pretty much set the tone for the entire game. At one point, my dad had hit the ball in the sand pit and after several tries, couldn't get it out of there. Next thing you know, he picks up the ball and chunks it on the green. He swears it's perfectly legal and something about a "pitching wedge". So, I learned that golf is not only super fun but down-right hilarious when you play with champions like these two.
P.S. Someone has asked me if Kenny says a curse word in his video...come on people this is Kenny...first of all, he would not do that and secondly, if he did, I certainly wouldn't post it!!!!

Good book anyone?

I don't have time this week but once the kids get out of school in a few days, I will have a little free time. I will not have to teach seminary until January 3rd because of Christmas break and I am craving a good book. I read "Dear John" by Nicholas Sparks and "Three weeks with my brother, a memoir" by Nicholas Sparks several weeks ago and they were great. He is a great fictional writer because he is very engaging and writes with a lot of emotion but writes a clean book. Hard to find, nowadays. I am a VERY picky reader and have to be grabbed right away. I have heard that the Women of Genesis series of books are good but I couldn't find the first two. I did find the third, Rachel and Leah, but I have been reading it for about three weeks and I am probably 40 pages in..a sure sign that it is NOT a page turner. The nonfictional book "Three weeks with my brother" is a WONDERFUL memoir about love and family relationships, especially siblings. Also, for an inspirational book, anything by Sherry Dew. I have all her books and I could reread them over and over! So, I am in need of some suggestions on a good read or two. Any ideas?

Where does the time go?

Could it possibly be that 2007 is just weeks away? What happened to 2006? Is it just me, or does it seem the older we get the more time flies? Is Christmas in just two weeks? It is always a bad idea to go out of town the week after Thanksgiving because it seems every time we do, we are in a serious time crunch when we get back. It is so bad this year, we will not be putting our lights on the outside of the house this year...there's just no sense in it when I would want them down in three weeks. The worst thing of all is that I still haven't got our tree yet. We are hoping to get it tonight for family home evening! I do have a good majority of my other things up and I think, what is up is all that is going to make it up!
Chandler is enjoying this week because at school this week is pretty much a wash....all they do is crafts and stories. No homework or test. My girls, on the other hand, STRESS CITY!!! My oldest two especially. They have mid-terms and projects and big percentages of their grades depend on it. They are straight A students so I am sure all will be well....at least after Friday!

Next year, will be even more crazy because we are going to Hawaii the first week in December!!! I will HAVE to get my decorations up before I go...that is what I say every year. Just to give you a little background on our winter trips, here is how it works. Kenny owns a swimming pool company. He uses products made by a company called Polaris. They make pool cleaners and things. When he sells these items he in turn gets "points". Polaris has these trips every year to the most AMAZING locations. They have been doing this for over 20 years. Kenny's first trip with them was to Club Med in Eluethra in 1984...(yeah, I was eleven..shows how much older Kenny is than me) Anyway, we have been to Hawaii numerous times, along with many other great locations. This how we went to Bermuda, as well. We are actually going back to The Grand Wailea on Maui in 2007. I really enjoyed it but the hotel is just soooooo huge! It takes forever to get from place to place. Anyhow, the Club P (Polaris) trips, as they are called, are always very extravagant! They take care of everything and then some. The resorts are always 5 star and the dinners and parties they have are world class. One of the trips we missed, which I really wanted to go to was Banff Springs Resort in Canada >. We wanted to take the kids on that one too but we were too busy here at home to go and I think we lacked enough points. They have gone to Austrailia, Barbados, Hong Kong, Costa Rica, etc. In the future, Club P is considering destinations in London and Italy, among others! Yay!!! So we can't hardly pass up these trips, bad timimg or not. I won't say they are free because obviously, when you vacation, you always spend extra money doing other things. But considering the hotel, buffets, some activities and entertainment, numerous dinner parties, gratuiuties and ground transportation, are all paid for by Polaris...(even your airfare if you have enough points)..it's much cheaper than it could be. Especially considering where they take us.
Here are some pics of the Grand Wailea..
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Beautiful Bermuda.

We are now back from a wonderful week in one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited. Bermuda. It is a small island only 21 square miles. It is very clean and the homes there are all amazing. The roofs are all made of limestone and are used for catching rain water in which they in turn use for drinking. The limestone roofs purify the water and then it is sent to a holding tank underneath the home. They also drive on the opposite side of the road than we do here in the U.S. Men are seen in coat and ties with bermuda shorts, knee socks, and loafers. The people are very friendly and layed back. Bermuda, however, is VERY expense. Gasoline is sold by the liter at $ 1.62 or more. Food is outrageous...delicious but pricey. They only allow one car per family and that explains why there are so many scooters. There are no rental cars on the island so you must either taxi, ferry, or bus it every where. You can, however, rent scooters, which we did one day and had a blast!

We stayed at the Fairmont Southhampton. Our room was awesome and we had the most amazing view. We could see the ocean, golf course, lighthouse, and bay all from our wraparound balcony. The temperature was perfect! Not too hot and not too cold. We enjoyed ourselves so much and the fact that my parents were with us made it even better. The trip would not have been the same without them. We enjoy vacationing with them and hope maybe they will go to Hawaii with us next year!

I am the kind of mom that has a hard time leaving my kids. If I am gone more than a day or so, I am dying to get back to them. This time I was actually okay with leaving them which is ironic because Hayli and Kayla were staying home by themselves and pretty much taking care of everything. Hayli really wanted to take on the challenge and we were more than pleased with how responsible she was. I really felt things were okay here and that made me not stress as much. When we were coming home, she said she now had a greater appreciation of what I do and how hard it can be to juggle everything.

Now, it is back to reality and a rush to prepare for Christmas, my favorite time of the year.

p.s. I took over 240 pics while in Bermuda but I will only post a few. I am disappointed that the pictures truly do NOT do it justice.

The homes on Bermuda are extraordinary!


This is one house.

This house has a carport for their boat.