WE have had a great christmas break.  We surprised the kids with a trip to San Diego.  On Christmas morning we opened all of our presents and then we sent them on a little treasure hunt.  We put together some clues that rhymed which took them to the library where we had their luggage.  Then to Hyrum's room where we had some flip flops.  then to Tiffany's music room where we had 3 presents.  Marked When?, How?, and Where?  The first two were in boxes. For the When? we printed a calendar and marked the end of the month.  for the how Tiffany folded a paper airlplane which we put in the box.   For the Where we had them open a box that has a Eggo Waffle in it with the logo torn from the packaging and a cup of sand.  all of this on a cookie sheet.  We gave them instructions to our the sand on the Eggo.  It took them a while but eventually they got Sandy Eggo.  We left the morning of the 26th and came home very late on the 31st.  Temperature ranged from 65-85 degrees.  We went to Imperial Beach like we had before.  There were a lot of rains which meant we could not use the beach in Imperial.  The Mexican government will let their sewage drain into the rivers that bleed into the ocean.  When we have a good rain these river flush out into the ocean and contaminate the water.  We went to the beaches in La Jolla.  The beach was great btu the waves were much smaller than the ones we saw at Imperial.  We were able to give Emma and Eve some surfing lessons while at La Jolla.  They wiped out a lot but had a lot of fun.  By Wednesday they lifted the restriction around Imperial.  We rented wet suits for everyone and had a lot of fun at "our beach".  Mari and I went into the water very early that morning.  It was not yet 7:00 and we were hitting the waves.  Mari was fearless.  The waves were very large.  It did not take much to go far on a wave.  Were having fun on the waves for a little over an hour before the other came to join us.  I'm glad we had the wet suits.  the water was very cold.  by a little after lunch time the waves were much smaller and the tide was not coming in nearly as far.  We moved a little closer to the water and everyone took turns going back to our rental to shower and change and come back to the beach.  We sat in the sun for a few more hours.  It was in the mid 80s while it was in the mid 30s back home.  We went to the Mormon Battalion as visited with the sisters.  they were very talkative with the girls.  Tiffany thinks they were missing home due to Christmas.  We went to Ghirardelli's for some overpriced ice cream.  We went back to the Blue Fish and stood in line for over an hour to be seated.  We went there on the 31st.  they said they were busy due to the holiday.  We visited a few new places this time.  We went to a great taco shop where Hyrum got a lucidor mask.  I had a California burrito.  Fries, steak, shrimp . . . man it was good.  We went to iDesserts.  It was a dessert shop that used molecular biology in making desserts.  It was different.  Good, but very expesive.  About the same cost as Ghirardelli's but not as much food.  We went to a taco shop that was close to Imperial as got some Asada fries that were awesome.  the girls really wanted some Horchata. Every trip we go on the girls make a play list for us and one of the songs was about drinking horchata in December.  We went back a second time for good measure.  It was a fun vacation and hard to come home from.  Coming back to cold weather was hard to adjust.  I'm still not right yet

We ended the year at work with some tremendous momentum.  I have 2 month where everything went my way.  We had a large amount of money come in the door and everyone I talked to wanted my help which lead to a lot of production.  Every week I had big numbers.  I have a new boss so I'm bit concerned that I might be setting expectations too high.  It is another lesson of when you pray over what is important to you the Lord will bless you.  I had a very rough beginning of the year last year which lead to an underperfoming year.  This year has started with that same momentum.  I am convinved that the Lord means it when he sayd to cry over your flocks and your fields.  I have asked the family to pick up their prayer on behalf of my job and it has brought a great benefit.  Right now I feel like work is ok.  Sometimes I feel like I'm drowning.  Like I desperatly need to do something else but right now things are ok.  When I have times like I do right now I thinking I would be crazy to want to have a different job.  I know it is only a matter of time before I feel like I'm drowning again but right now things are good. 

While we were in San diego we got word that Lavell Edwards had died.  He was not doing well for some time.  I have not met him before but he was a large influence on me when I was younger.  It has been a rough year for my aged mentors.  We lost Scoutmaster Wally and BYU Coach Lavell.  Keith played under Lavell and was able to participate in the funeral services.

Mom and Dad are getting old.  We had Emma's last MTD performance they due as a musical review.  I'm very proud of Emma and how far she has come with her talents in this area.  I tried to help her when she was in 9th or 10th grade but she refused to sing in front of me.  She has come a long way.  the performance was awesome but Mom and Dad missed it.  They forgot which is common for us.  I don;t think they have come to a perforamnce for the older kids for 1.5-2 years.  they have not been to Hyrum's sports events.  To make it a bit worse Emma found out that while they were missing Emma's event they were having a fashion show with Rachael as she showed off her mission outfits. Emma has tried to be friendly with Rachel but she has gotten nowhere.  We keep hearing that Rachel is a wonderful girl but we would have no idea which is very common for Mark's family and the rest of us.  I don;t understand why that is.  I forced them over to our house before Lincoln left for the MTC and tried to create some memories with them and did not yield as much as I hoped for.  I think the kids are starting to notice a lack of attention.  We see on social media that they make it to many of the other cousins events.  They made it to Tiffany's orchestra Christmas performance.  Tiffany feels like they don't make as much of an effort as they should.  I think she forgot they came to her concert.  I have just come to accept it.  That is one reason why I did not want to have a large family.  When the grandkids come i didn't want to have so much going on that I can;t make most of what they do.  That is my hope anyway.  I also think that Tiffany is a bit upset that they have not been by to see her new kitchen.  I'm not sure how to handle it.  I think the other families visit mom and dad more than we do and maybe that is part of it.  they get more reminders for their events than for ours. 

We just started our basketball season for stake ball.  We are two weeks in and I'm already exhausted.  I'm not getting as much help as I thought I would with my new committee.  We have a few new additions to the committee.  I was hoping to be able to go to some of Hyrum's basketball games that are scheduled at the same time as the stake games.  So far that has not happened.  We don't have any conflicts going forward.  Eve is doing well with her games.  Their team had a run in with a parent that was a little too involved.  This mother came over a taunted the girls after a close loss.  Eve was not prepared and came home livid.  she was so angry she began to cry.  I remember taht feeling about the same age.  I don't think she will want to keep played basketball.  She does not like all the practices. It is fun to support her while she is wanting to participate.