I have not been to Lava Hot Springs since I was a young boy. We hauled our trailer up there and met with friends and family...what a great time. Now if we can just get them to come our way. Maybe camp on the ocean beach.

 When life throughs lemons at you, make lemonaid. Brenda can definitely make awesome lemonade. Michael Sean and Brenda are certianly in love, and I gained another grandson. I sure love these guys. We had a wonderful experience in Florida this year at their wedding. 

 This last year Bruce and Jerolyn came to visit us. While they were here we visited the Avenue of the Giants. The giant Redwood Trees were impresive. We stayed in a wonderful bed and breakfast near Fort Bragg. I wanted to share a few pictures from that trip.

Once again the seasons are upon us. Where does the time go. Soon we'll be off to cut the tree again.

The air is crisp and the falling leaves remind us of the close of yet another year gone by. This is perhaps my favorite time of year. I thought some of you may want to enjoy a hot cup of chowder, so I am posting my famous (at least that's what I've been told) recipe. If we don't see you this holiday season, we hope that the blessings and goodness of the season will fill your hearts and warm the lives of those with whom you will share it. God bless.

Clam Chowder

Ingredients

1 Qt. half & half

1 ½ sticks butter

½ cup flower (3/4 cup if you want it really thick)

2 cups potatoes

1 cup celery

1 cup onion (your choice)

2 cans of minced clams (or one can of corn)

2 table spoons red wine vinegar

Step one:

Peal potatoes and cube (bite size)

Chop celery and onion – dice

Place in a large pot (gallon and a half), cover veggies with water and boil

Step two:

While you are boiling the veggies, put the butter in a sauce pan and begin to heat. Melt the butter and slowly mix the flower into the butter. It will get very thick, very fast. Once the flower is all mixed into the butter, stat to mix in the Half & Half a little at a time. Mix it in and let it thicken with the butter and flower a little at a time until you have added all of the Half & Half. Be patient, take your time and let it stay as thick as possible as you mix in the Half & Half. When the Half and Half is all mixed in it may not seem very thick, but not to worry, it will get thicker. Once you have finished this mixture take it off of the heat.

Now the veggies should be done. Check them, and if they are done, drain off all of the water from the veggies. Now, with a rubber spatula, add the rue (half and half mix) to the strained veggies. Mix them well and then add the two cans of clams, water and all. (or the corn, maybe not the juice).

Last of all, add two table spoons of Red Wine Vinegar and mix in well. All finished. Enjoy the chowder and have a wonderful celebration, and remember to invite someone you love.

Merry Christmas to all.

Many have asked and now here is the recipe for my Hot Wassail.

Dry ingredient:
2 Tbs. Cloves
4 cups sugar
12 Cinnoman sticks
6 Tbs. of candied ginger (crushed up) or 2 Tbs. of powdered ginger. (just as good, much simpler)

Wet ingredient:
6 qts. water
1 gal Apple Cider
3 qts. Orange Juice
2 cups Lemon juice

Directions:
Put the 6 quarts of water into a large pan. (this makes 3 gallons so it's best to make it a very big pot) Toss in the dry ingredients, sugar, cinimmon, cloves, ginger, bring to a rolling boil and let it boil for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes turn off the heat and let it sit for one hour. After one hour, add wet ingredients. If you want to let it get stronger, leave a few of the cinimmon sticks and a few of the cloves in the storage bottles. Heat and serve.

Enjoy all, and Happy Holidays

Two More Days to Mike & Hillary

Labor Day Weekend

Last weekend Anna and Jesse were here for a concealed carry class that we put on at our home. We had a good turn out. While they were here we had the chance to go to the California State Fair. We had a great time. We went on several rides and spent the afternoon trying fair food and looking at the different displays that were available. The giant fairs wheel was kind of fun. In a flat place like Sacramento you can see a long way from that height.

Sheryl spent some time with a long-time friend and past dance coach who does a Lucy exhibit every year. The Lucy candy factory was the theme this year.

The following day we spent some time in the Lake Tahoe area. We took Rocco and Copper and they loved it. I stayed with them while the others explored some of the indoor sights. The dogs and I took quite a long walk on the beach and chased the surf. All in all it was a nice afternoon.

Sheryl and I had the opportunity to visit with Peter and Michelle and the kids for several days. Peter was between school and his residency. We were able to spend some truly quality time with them. Here we visited Jamestown and the kids had a blast chasing the geese around the park. We had a nice lunch and escaped the heat for a few minutes. The park was really beautiful and green. After we visited Jamestown we took a ride to Yorktown and checked out the visitors centers. by that time the kids were sleeping soundly in their car seats.




One of my favorite times was when we visited the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens. Gabe was a scream. We took some great pics. I guess the best part was watching the kids play in the fountains. My favorite was Gabe playing in the drinking fountain. We had several opportunities to just hang out and play with the kids. Peter and I also went fishing on the James riveer on morning. The sunrise was awsome. The water was very high. I'll look forward to fishing it at low water.

Well, It's comming up on 9 months since we left Moab. We sure miss it. Our good friend Gwen Seely has calld us a couple of times, and the spring where we use to get water, "Matramony Springs" , was closed down the other day. They said that the water was not clean. That is too bad. Loved that water. It would be fun to go back for Easter and be there for Jeep Safari, but we are making plans to go and visit Michelle and Peter and the kids.
















Michael Sean and Hillary had a baby boy on Valentines day. They named him Talen Kanyon. We will be going to Salt Lake for the baby blessing on the 19th of may. Lots of traveling in may. Should be fun. Hopefully we'll have lots of good pics to post for the month of June.















This is a great pic. We'll be going up to Salt




Lake this weekend, 1 May 2009, to attend the blessing of




Talen Kanyon Kennedy. Check out this Kennedy Family blog http://mikehillsbebe.blogspot.com/2009/04/sorry-so-long.html and see what going on with Mike, Hillary and Talen. It's fun to see the family grow.

Point Arena

A couple of years ago Sheryl and I took a little vacation to the northwest cost. Our adventure started in a little town called Bodega Bay, California. Years ago Sheryl's sister Sandra worked at a restraunt here. In the end she pretty much ran the place. The name of the restraunt was "The Tides". When we stopped for lunch, Sheryl did not know where we would be staying that evening. While we were eating lunch I gave her a printed card that I had made that explained to her where we were staying. She started to cry. Mission accomplished.

It must have been quite a site in the restraunt. A week or two before we left I was roughhousing with Rocco. I went down and he came up and the top of his boney head nailed me right in the eye; so, as a result, I had a huge shinner. I can only imagine what people must have been thinking. Me sitting there giving her papers of some kind, and her crying. I'm lucky I didn't get punched by someone.

Point Arena was beautiful as well. The actual point, where the lighthouse was, is probablly one of the most peaceful and relaxing places that I have ever been. We spent several hours there watching the tide and listening to the surf crash against the rocks. At one point we were able to visit the old lighthouse and take the guided tour to the top. The gentelman that guided the tour actually worked at the lighthouse. It was one of the last The new Lighthouse began operation in 1908, nearly 18 months after the quake that destroyed the first lighthouse. It stands 115 feet tall, and features a 1st Order Fresnel Lens, over six feet in diameter and weighing more than six tons. The lens is made up of 666 hand-ground glass prisms all focused toward three sets of double bulls eyes. It is these bulls eyes that gave the Point Arena Lighthouse its unique "light signature" of two flashes every six seconds. This incredible optic, that holds an appraised value of over $3.5 million, is set in solid brass framework, built in France. The light structure sat on a steel plate that floated on a vat of Mercury. The tour guid said that you could turn it with the flick of a wrist. It was really cool.

The Warfmasters Inn sits about 100 feet above the water and looks out over the bay. It was a wonderful place to stay. Our patio looked out over the Pacific Ocean and the on-shore breeze carried the smells of the sea into the room.

Here we go! Hello all. Well, Sheryl and I are back in Sacramento (Carmichael) California. We have had an enjoyable summer and are looking forward to the fall. We have been spending a lot of time on the Sacramento River. We only live just under a block from the river. Sheryl walks the dog down by the river two or three times every day. I think they both enjoy it very much. We spend a lot of time down there in the Kayaks as well, thanks to Drew Hicken. More pics of kayaks on the river to come.

The photo above was taken below Horsetail falls on Highway 50 on the road to Tahoe. We went up there with some friends of ours, Angela and Tiger Edwards, and their son Zeek. We have a great time doing things with them.

Tiger and I spent some time on the Fall River a few weeks ago. We took his son Zeek with us. It was too hot to catch any fish, but we had a wonderful time just as well.

The photo below is of one of the shot of the Spinner Falls Lodge where we stayed. It was a beautful area, and a good thing. There were so many fish that it hurt. Because of the heat, no one was landing anything.