Merry Christmas Mom and Dad!!

The same day that we had the Leavitt Christmas Party, our family went to visit my parents for Christmas since our family wasn't going to have a formal party this year. It is a little sad that our family parties aren't the same like they used to be. But, as the family grows, mom and dad's house gets a little smaller and this year their health has not be good. Hopefully, in the upcoming years, we can find a bigger place to have our parties so our tradition doesn't have to stop. We had such fun parties. We started having them on Christmas Eve when all the family lived in the Salt Lake Valley. Then, we set a time during December when Merlin's family and ours moved out of the valley. Hopefully, we can keep up the Christmas party tradition in the years to come by finding a bigger place. Knowing that mom can't plan and have the parties with the family like we used to, brings tears to her eyes and mine. We will always cherish the memories we have had. Thanks mom and dad for the memories. We love you!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

'Tis The Season

One week ago, we had our annual Leavitt Christmas party at Carol's condo clubhouse. It was fun to get reacquainted with all the family. We had a good turn out this year. We are starting to get a lot of little kids again in the family. It was fun to remember how it was all our kids (the grandkids) that was sitting on Santa's lap every year and now it is all the great grandkids that is sitting on Santa's lap. How time flies!! We've had alot of good memories of Christmas parties through the years. Thanks to our mom and dad, Ruth and Lug and to Viola and Marion who kept these fun traditions going! We love you!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!

SICK! SICK! SICK!

I guess since Jordan didn't have a long enough weekend during Thanksgiving, he decided to come down with strep throat this past week. Therefore, he had another week away from school. This wasn't a very good week, however, he was sick as a dog!! I took him to the Dr. on Tuesday and got an antibiotic for him and the Dr. said he would be ok to go to school on Thursday but his throat has been so sore he was miserable!! I have never seen such a nasty looking throat! Jordan took a picture of the inside of his throat so people would believe that he really did have a BAD sore throat. The back of his throat was covered in white spots. I would post the picture but it is pretty graphic!! (ha ha) Anyway, I think he is starting to feel a little better now. I just glad this didn't happen during Christmastime. Hopefully, the rest of us will stay well!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. Gary, I, Travis and Jordan went to my parents house this year. My brother Merlin and his wife Cindy and their 3 unmarried kids, my brother Lynn and his wife Eva Jean, my brother Gordon and my sister Carla all came. It was the year for all our married kids to go to their in-laws so we decided all to meet at mom and dad's and cook dinner. It was especially special because we feel blessed that my mom is here with us this Thanksgiving. I am grateful for all our families and so glad we have such wonderful parents. We watched some old home movies and was fun to see them all together so we could comment on them and have some laughs. May we always be grateful for what we have and not dwell on what we don't have!!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Halloween has never been a favorite holiday of mine as an adult. I'm sure as a kid, I was as excited as kids are now about Halloween. I'm not one to dress up because it's too big of a pain. When the kids were little, it was awful trying to come up with something the kids would like to be and also something that you could afford to make or buy. But, as mom's do, we try to make it as fun for the kids as we can. Anyway, at work this year, my manager somehow talked us into dressing up for work. At the end of the work day yesterday, none of us knew what we were going to be. I almost decided it wasn't worth it. I found a witches hat that Stacy used years ago but that was about it. I had thrown all the old face makeup from years past away awhile ago and I was too cheap to buy more so I decided if I were to paint my face it would have to be with my regular makeup. So, to make a long story short, I went to work as a witch. When I got to work, low and behold, the other two ladies were witches too! What's more fitting than lunch ladies being witches. Ha Ha! Anyway, we did have a good time at work as witches and I was glad I dressed up for Halloween this year. I guess when you get older, it's fun to do something young again. I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!!

LaDonna and Stacy's Trip

I went back to New Jersey to visit Stacy and have some fun last Thursday morning. We were able to go tour Ellis Island, Statue of Liberty , Philadelphia and New York City. Friday, we went and took a ferry over to Ellis Island which is a famous spot where immigrants came to the U.S. during the late 1800's and early 1900's. It is a museum and the original building. Then we got back on the ferry to the Statue of Liberty. Here you can overlook the skyline of New York City. We also climbed 156 stairs to the actual base of the statue and could over look Jersey and New York. It was a pretty warm day until later while waiting for the ferry back it got cold and windy next to the water.
Saturday, we drove to Philadlephia. It was only about an hour and a half away. It was a beautiful drive through their towns. Big, tall beautiful trees were lined up on both sides of the road. We passed through the town of Princeton University. (Later, on the way back we looked at the university more) In Philly, we went to the historical district and saw Independence Hall, Congress and City Hall, the Liberty Bell, the Betsy Ross House, and graves of Ben Franklin and other famous people in history. It was a rainy day that day. Luckily, it wasn't really cold.
Sunday, we rode the train to New York City. Stacy warned me that as we went up the stairs from the train terminal and into the city that it might be a shock. Yes, it was! I wasn't really scared but a little nervous to be honest. But later, it wasn't bad, just a whole different world out there. We only had the day and so we did as much as we could. I really liked the Rockefeller Center with the ice rink and Central Park. Luckily, we decided to take the bike trailer tour so we could see all the park. Otherwise, we would of only seen a small portion of it. We were able to find the New York Temple which I hoped we could. It's just so different seeing a temple like that just part of the other buildings. The only way I recognized it was by looking up and seeing the Angel Moroni. It gave me a tingly feeling seeing it. Anyway, after that we went and ate at a place called Serendipity. It's famous for their frozen hot chocolate and we made reservations a week in advance because sometimes it's hard to get into. It's somewhat overpriced but a very cute, quaint little restaurant and something you just have to try once! Besides this was my early birthday lunch from Stacy. Later, we rode the subway (which made me a little nervous!) back towards Times Square because by then our legs and feet were very tired!! We of course then had to do some shopping which was fun. By then it was getting dark and their were tons more people. Stacy said that's when it's always busiest. Even their stores stayed open till really late. We went into Macy's and Stacy warned me how big it was and I only saw a very small portion of it. It was huge!!! It was neat because a couple of their escalators were still the wooden ones from back in the day. After our day was done, we rode the train back. We were pretty tired by then but it was really a great day.
I thought it was interesting that in New Jersey it is illegal to pump your own gas. So, you go to the pumps and a guy is there to do it for you. If it is cash it has to be a even amount.
Monday, we just kind of hung out and went to a few stores and another mall. Oh, we also went to the Short Hills Mall that has all the famous designer stores in it on Friday night. Even though New York has these stores too, they say alot of famous people will come to this mall to shop. It was a very fancy mall! Then I had to leave Stacy and fly back home. They ended up changing my flight and so I flew into Atlanta, which is a pretty big airport, instead on Cincinnati, and then flew to Salt Lake. This got me in about an hour and half later than planned so by the time we got home was about 2 a.m. Gary and I were both pretty tired to go to work today, but I would do it all again to have a fun trip like that again. I missed everyone while I was gone and appreciate my family for taking care of things while I was away and I miss Stacy now again but will look forward to Christmas time when she comes home. It's a good thing we had a quick goodbye. She just had to drop me off at the airport so she could go back to the kids.
It was a great adventure for me and a fun bonding time with Stacy. Stacy did a great job navigating me around everywhere. She has learned fast where things are and which roads to take. The roads there are very confusing!!!
Good job Stacy!! I love you and thanks again for a great time!!!

Nighttime at Times Square

Ate lunch at "Serendipity" famous for their frozen hot chocolate..

The New York Temple

Our bike trailer ride around Central Park

Central Park

Beautiful trees around the house

Stacy's home in New Jersey

Liberty Bell

Independence Hall

Overlooking New York City in the Ellis Island Museum

Stacy in front of The Statue of Liberty

At the Statue of Liberty Island overlooking New York City

Weekend Getaway

This past Friday, Gary and I went to Sherwood Hills for a night stay and dinner. Our kids gave us this getaway for our anniversary a year and 2 weeks ago. It was about time to use it don't you think!! We had a nice time and a great dinner!! It was nice just to relax and chill. We would recommend this restaurant, Bella Monte, to anyone that would like a nice romantic dinner Italian style. It wasn't too crowded, not noisy, great food, and the price was decent. It was beautiful weather that evening so we walked around outside before dinner. We thought the leaves would be more bright in color, but I think that was a few weeks ago. During the night, the storm that was predicted came in howling and pouring rain. It definitely felt like fall. After we left Sherwood Hills, we went on to Salt Lake to visit family. My niece, Chelsey just got home from her mission and so all their family was down to see mom and dad. It was nice visiting everyone. Gary, later that afternoon, had a get together with his siblings. He had a nice time there too. We got home later that night. We had a great time!
The next day, Sunday, Justin and his family came up for the day. We had another get together for Travis' birthday. We had a good day playing and visiting and eating. Of course, the boys and were into the ping pong thing and played most of the day against each other and the grandkids had fun playing with each other.