The Savage Chronicles: 2008

Doug and Mat… if you look close in the back ground you might see some dolphins

Jenny (Jill's sister), Savanna and Keesha… time to jump in!

Mat… Is this fun, or what?

Sean & Doug… ridin' the wave! "Man this water is salty!"

Sean & Keesha… "Sean, are you sure you can handle this?

Savanna, Keesha & Sean…. Please, Keesha, don't go in, there are sharks!

Sean, Nikki & Doug… "Dad, dad! Are you okay? Don't swallow the water!"

Well, as it has been a couple of weeks now, and everyone has read Ranee's excellent blog regarding our trip to California for the wedding, I will put my 2 cents worth in and put a few pictures up on the blog. We began our trip on Monday, June 16 and traveled to Utah to spend the night with our friends, Randy and NovaLea Beddes It was great fun, they provided us with pizza and all the good stuff. We got to see Nikki for a few minutes, too which was great! On Tuesday, we got up and headed for Sin City (or more commonly known as Las Vegas). It was a nice drive and continued to get hotter and hotter the further south we went. At one point the temperature in the Pickup said 116! I would post pictures of Las Vegas, but someone deleted them from their computer…. But, we had a great time (as long as we kept our eyes averted from the ground and certain people) swimming and seeing the sights along the famous strip. On Wednesday we got up and headed for sunny California, however, as we were leaving Las Vegas, we heard the dreaded sound from the back seat…. Yup, you guessed it, someone was throwing up! So, we quickly found the nearest exit and proceeded to find someplace to clean up Mat and the seat. Doug told mat, "You need to tell someone if you're going to throw up, don't just throw up!" Mat just meekly nodded his head, however, a few minutes later, he whispered to Sean, "I couldn't, I was choking!" Wow, that was scary! So we told him to get someone's attention if he was choking and to take smaller bites! We then traveled on the California without further mishap. I would like to say the drive was beautiful, but, alas, I cannot. I didn't know that there was so much desert between Las Vegas and San Bernadino, Ca. WOW! But, when we actually saw the coast and all the green, it was beautiful. We went to Newport Beach on Thursday morning. It was great fun and the kids and Doug really enjoyed the boogie boards and catching the waves! Thursday evening, we went to the Newport Beach Temple with Jill. It was a great experience. On Friday, we all loaded up and drove the 70 some miles to San Diego to the temple for the wedding. It was a beautiful day and we could see the coast for most of the drive. The temple was as beautiful as all the pictures and the ceremony was especially wonderful. I now have a beautiful daughter-in-law who is a pretty on the inside as she is on the outside! Our trip home was uneventful, except for the detour to Hoover Dam (which wasn't all it was cracked up to be) and the search of the pickup at the gate and the park ranger who thought we were driving too fast! (was 15 mph over the speed limit?). So it was a long drive all the way to Spanish Fork where we stayed the night with Melin and family. Sunday morning, we went to church with Melin and then headed home. It sure was nice to pull in the driveway! I thought my driving was over, but, I had to go to Billings to pickup Jordan and Jill and Lauri (Jill's mom) from the airport on Monday evening along with the cakes and stuff for the reception. The reception on Tuesday was very nice and lots of people came (more than I thought would for a middle of the week reception). On Wednesday, Nikki left bright and early and I took DJ, Jordan, Jill and Lauri to the airport. Our house seemed awfully quiet! But, Ranee saved the day and came and spent the rest of the week with us (Adam was out of town) and of course Melin and family came for Lovell's days. All in all it was a great week (or 2).
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Well, it's about time I updated the blog. I'm sure everyone is tired of the Build-a-Bear thing. Actually, Mat and Savanna are still really enjoying their 'made-to-order' pets. But Christmas has come and gone, so it is time to tell everyone what's up! First of all, Christmas was great with everyone getting here (eventually, Jordan didn't make until the 28^th) and having fun. We even had all 8 kids (+1) for Scripture Study one night. How cool is that? The Christmas break was great after enjoying basketball and wrestling for a few weeks. Keesha has been doing well in basketball and Sean is doing well, also, in wrestling. Christmas was grand with mat waking us all up at about 6:00 am! We then enjoyed opening presents after Mom and Dad rolled out of bed around 7:00. Everyone was very appreciative and I especially enjoyed watching everyone open their presents. We then adjourned to Grandma Savage's for the traditional Christmas Breakfast… with all the fixings!