Mick and I had the opportunity to go to Maine for a long weekend with my Uncle Bob and Aunt Karyn. We left Saturday morning driving from New Jersey, through Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and finally Maine. We had our first lobster dinner and then headed to Portland, Maine for a inter-island cruise to see 7 of the many lighthouses in Maine.
When we started the cruise it was a cool pleasant autumn day. By the end....well you can see the picture of my aunt and uncle that says it all!!!!

This is the smallest operating lighthouse in the country. Isn't it cute. How would you like this to be your summer home?

This lighthouse is named Bug Light. The builder when he finished stood back and said, It is cute as a bug, thus the name!

Portland Head Light is said to be the most photographed lighthouse on the coast Maine.

Sunday after attending church in Maine we went on a rainy Sunday drive through 3 states to the Joseph Smith birthplace in Sharon, Vermont. This is the lane you drive entering the memorial. The church has done a beautiful job with the landscaping of the grounds.

Memorial erected for the Joseph Smith Memorial at his birthplace in Sharon, Vermont. It is 38 1/2 feet tall representing the years he lived on earth.
On Monday and Tuesday we drove up and down the coast of Maine. We were on a mission to get to as many of the top 10 lobster eateries in Maine as possible.

Some amazing scenery, even George Bush's home is seen here in Kennebunkport.

Here are a couple of pictures from Georgetown, Maine, a very scenic little seaside town.

Not quite sure what number on the top 10 Lobster places in Maine this is, but the atmosphere is unique at these outside eateries (called lobster pounds). This one posted on the blackboard that they were not responsible for stolen food....from the seagulls.

Since the number one lobster place is only open on Saturdays and Sundays the end of September, we had lunch at a little restaurant nearby. This was the view. Amazing and so quiet and relaxing. What did we have? Well Mick had steamed lobster, Bob and I lobster roll, and Karyn the lobster bisque. Delicious.

This one is #4, but as you can tell, we just missed it. They were closing up as we arrived.

On our last day in Maine we decided the best lobster was from Mike's just down the road from our place. You go in, pick your favorite lobster by size and kind and then they steam it up for you. We went to the grocery store before and bought salads and goodies for a perfect meal. We put Mike's at #1. Because we asked Mike so many questions about lobsters, he thought I should have the experience of holding one. Here I am holding a male lobster, weighing about 3 pounds, which makes him about 8-10 years old. Thanks goodness those claws are rubber banded tight. This one even has two bands.







Mike will even cook the lobsters for you in his huge steamer.















This is our last meal in Maine.
















Uncle Bob loves lobster. He was eating his and propped it up on the plate and said, "It's a monument to lobsters." Well considering we had lobster everyday we were in Maine, I guess we needed a monument. Thanks for a great time Uncle Bob and Aunt Karyn.

Jamie Jo "What do you Know"

Jamie spent her summer attending BYU spring semester, hiking to Havasupai in the Grand Canyon, and then went up to Washington state to work. She stayed with her cousin Austin to be his chauffer while his parents and sister Ashley were away at volleyball activites for two weeks. She also worked for my brother Mark and brother in law, Mike, in the bottling business. She was a sampler girl in grocery stores for their new Cascade Ice product. She also cleaned soda coolers. This is the cool set of wheels she drove around.

It came complete with a hornets nest in the door frame.

Open House in California

Saturday, August 22, 2009 we held an open house for Graig and Nicole in Brea California so Nicole and her family could meet our neighbors and friends there. As most of you know, Graig is a huge In and Out Burger fan! So we decided to have the In and Out Burger Truck come to serve burgers.
Instead of the traditional cake, we had cupcakes.

This is Derryl Hill ordering the first burger.

This is Janelle's friend Aaron and Steven who were our DJ's for the evening. They did a super job. Jane O'Brien was disappointed that they didn't play any Neil Diamond songs though. She didn't know you could request.

We had the Open House at the North Hills Tennis and Swim Club. Our neighbor Jane O'Brien is a member and set it up for us. It was perfect for a warm August evening. Thanks Jane.

We had so many friends come. This is Myron and Nancy Woodruff and their son Jason and his wife Molly. The Woodruffs were our neighbors in Houston Texas. Great neighbors and great friends. Graig was Jasons shadow when he was 2-4 years old. They had all sorts of adventures together. When Jason headed off to kindergarten, Graig would call Nancy to see if she could play when he was 3. Play the Nintendo that is. The best thing is, that she would let him and would feed him lunch!!!

We even had elementary school teachers come from good old Mariposa. This is Mrs Cotton-Martin and Mrs Zawyrucha, first and second grade teachers. Their libraian, Mrs Garrison and her husband also came.
Jamie is in the pink dress and her roomate from college Abby.

It was a super fun evening. It was so good to see everyone from California that we miss so much. Thanks to everyone who helped out to make this such a great night.

Graig & Nicole Ward wedding pictures

On August 6, 2009 Graig and Nicole were married in the Seattle Temple. It was a beautiful ceremony attended by family and friends.

This is the Ward family with Grandparents.

Here we are, the Ward family with 6 members now.

The groomsmen from l-r

Jake Coyle: friend of Graigs who came from Colorado
Mark Christensen: my brother and Graigs snowmobile buddy

Graig

Josh: roomate from BYU-I

Austin Broadwell: cousin

Chase: Nicoles sisters husband from Oregon

This is Micks family that came to wedding celebration. l-r

Janelle, Jamie, sister Laura, brother Steve, Graig, Laura's son Tony (tony's wife Stephanie was there, she was taking the picture), Grandma Barbara ( Mick's mom), Joni and Mick.

Graig and Nicole coming out of the Seattle Temple.

This is the fabulous backdrop that was made for the candy bar.


Graig and Nicole cutting the cake. The reception was held in Nicoles backyard and everything was so well planned and beautiful.

Nicoles family. l-r

Sister Breanna with husband Chase and son Nash. Graig and Nicole, Jeanette and Dean, Nicoles parents and sister Sheila. We loved getting to know them and being a guest in their home.

The wedding party.

These are some of the pictures that the professional photographer took. I included a few for fun.

I will post more pictures of the Open House in Brea with the In and Out Burger truck soon.

Off to California/Washington/California

Hi Everyone.
Well hopefully it is packed and ready to go......or it is going to be left. Janelle and I head out to California tomorrow. We will be there until saturday evening, when we fly into Washington. Sunday it is off to family reunion on Micks side and the wedding on thursday. Nicole is taking out her endowments on wednesday evening. Then saturday we are heading to the lakehouse in eastern Washington for a week. The following saturday, August 15th, it is back to California for Trevor Peters wedding, and preparing for the Open House on the 22nd for Graig and Nicole. If you didn't receive an invite, it is either lost in the mail, or something dreadful happened to it. But hey, you don't need an invite. Come on up to the pool and have an In and Out burger with us on the 22nd of August. First burger is served at 6:30 until 8pm. Check out the wedding website for info, times, and places. www.mywedding.com/nicoleandgraig

I'll try and post pics during rtrip. Happy August to all. I return to Jersey on the 28th of August.

Palmyra Pageant

Last weekend we had the opportunity to go the Palmyra Pageant in New York. It was a beautiful 4 hour drive through Pennsylvania and upper state NY. We we able to visit with Sister Macy Halladay who is in the Palmyra Mission and loving it. We are also happy to report that she is feeling and doing much better.

Look who else we ran into? Shelly Young. Mick and I were walking around the temple grounds at the pageant and we hear.....Brother and Sister Ward!! It was so great to see and visit with her for a few minutes. She is wearing one of the elaborate costumes the actors and actresses wear. There were some very creative head pieces there. Should have got the picture of the one that looked like the churro vendor.

Here is the set for the pageant where 700 actors and actresses perform. They also have over 100 people working the lights, stage, make up, special effects and technology that go into the production. It was amzaing. They had waterfalls, explosions, wars, and you name it on that stage. It really brought the story of the Book of Mormon to life. Here is another amazing fact, they set up seating for 9,000 and almost all of those chairs were filled and several brought their own seating! They also have a tasty chicken dinner with the famous salted potatoes and popcorn for the show. If we have our Two Year Mission for Mars extended, Janelle and I are going to be on that stage next year.

Bears in the Neighborhood

A couple of weeks ago we were on our evening walk around the neighborhood. As we rounded the corner a bear came lumbering across the street right in front of us. I was so upset that I didn't have my camera with me. It was such a sight. Well a couple of days later our neighbors were out walking with their camera around their neck. I told him how upset I was that I had not had my camera with me on sunday because of the bear sighting. What time, he asked? Around 8pm. I have a picture I took of the bear in our backyard on the same eveing a few mintues later he said. I was so excited. He e-mailed it to me so I could post it for you to see the bears that live in our neighborhood. A couple of weeks earlier they had strolled through our backyard, once again I missed the shot.

The very next evening on our walk, a skunk was on the side of the road. We turned around and went back the other way. You'll never know who or what you will see on a New Jersey walk.

O'Barrs come for a visit.

This post is a little out of sequence of events.

A family from our ward in Brea, California was on vacation here on the east coast. We had a very fun visit with the O'Barr family, David, Crystal ,and their children Amber, Erica, and Abigail. Unfortunately they were only able to stay one evening with us, but we had fun. We went firefly hunting and were able to catch quite a few. The fireflies put on quite a show for us that evening. This is one of the things I will miss about New Jersey... our firefly hunts.

PS. For those of you who have been to our New Jersey home, you are probably thinking, why are they not on the front porch for the famous " porch picture of those who visit". Well in June it rained 27 of the 30 calendar days and this was one of those mornings when it was pouring down. Thus, picture on the inside porch. Come visit......we love visitors.

4th of July on the East Coast

For the 4th this year I really wanted to see the fireworks over the Statue of Liberty! We had an invitation to see the fireworks several weeks before the 4th from a family in the ward at Lake Hopatcong. I declined saying I really wanted to go see them in NYC. Jared Sparhawk happened to over hear our conversation and said one of the parking garages he manages has an awesome view of the Hudson River from the rooftop on the Jersey side. He added that his family might be doing the fireworks there this year. I immediately invited myself to his party. Well he was able to get permission to go up on the roof to see this amazing display of fireworks over the Hudson River between NYC and New Jersey. We had to leave our home early because they announced they were closing the streets to traffic 7 hours before the show . We packed a picnic lunch/dinner and away we went. What a beautiful day it was, a typical California weather day. Sunny and not too hot and unbelievably no humidity for the east coast. The humidity is usually not pleasant this time of year. Well when we got there Jared was able to get us into a condo that was vacant and for sell. We were able to watch the fireworks from the balcony. You couldn't have had a better view. I was a little disappointed that we couldn't see the Statue of Liberty from where we were. But, you could see the fireworks that were going off over the lady from where we were.What a display that was, but, ours was superb. The paper reported the next day that it was the largest firework display in New York history and the first time it was done in that location since 9-11. They set off over 44,000 rockets. Oh to be part of history. It doesn't get much better than that.

Janelle did not want to go, but her mean parents forced her to have a memorable event in her life. She insisted that she was going to be bored and have no fun. I'm sure from the pictures you can decide if she had a good time or not.

Picnic in the park with Kentucky Fried Chicken....it's tradition.

Face painting was enjoyed by the younger folk.

The streets are closed 5 hours before the show, not the seven like reported. They bring in barricades just like New Years. This is a picture of the barges getting into position. Notice Macys on the side. They sponsored the fireworks.

OK, before the Rose parade in California we get the Thunderbirds flying over the parade route. Before the NYC fireworks, we get the NYPD helicopters.

The tugs came out and put on a pre-show. You can't tell the red, white and blue colors very well from the photo. See all the private boats lined up on the boundary created by the coast guard. Wouldn't it be fun to see the show from a boat! It wouldn't be the 4th without the candy bar game. Another one of our traditions.

Glow in the dark necklaces for all.

I love how you can tell the six barges that set off the fireworks in this picture spread out over the Hudson River.

Just look at all those lights in the sky. I wish I would have thought to get a picture of the reflection of the fireworks on the buildings in NYC.

Just like The Ball Drop on New Years Eve, the streets were full of spectators after the big event. It took us over 2 1/2 hours to get home.

Thanks Sparkhawks for letting us crash your party. I was able to cross off another item on my bucket list of things to do before moving back to California.

What's next you ask?........Palmyra Pageant.