Welcome Home - St. George

Michelle Oman (our niece and her children Ethan and Courtney) were nice enough to decorate inside and outside of our house for a welcome home.  They also invited us to their house on Sunday for dinner.  Ronnie and Ferris also took us out to Texas Roadhouse for dinner on the night that we arrived home.  It is great having family close by.

They also did a banner on our garage door.

It is nice to be home but we will now miss the wonderful people and the country of New Zealand.  It was a great experience and one that we will always remember.

February 28, 2013

Welcome Home - Salt Lake City

We stayed over night in Los Angeles and then flew to Salt Lake City on February 24th.  We didn't arrive until 9:30 p.m. so we thought just Ethan or Heather would come and pick us up.  However, we had a pleasant surprise when all of the family was there to greet us.  Even Brooklyn came who was very sick and had a high temperature.  We also got to meet Miles who was also born after we left.  We enjoyed spending a few days with Heather, Ethan and their children Brooklyn, James and Miles. 

They became very creative with swans in the shape of a heart which was left on our bed along with a bag of M&M's on each pillow.  We felt like we were on a cruise.

Miles is very cute and we miss not seeing him grow up.  However, thanks to Skype we have been able to see him.

This is our welcome home sign.

Ethan painted the grass in the boys room and then they put animals all around the room.

February 24, 2013

Welcome Home - Los Angeles

We are finally home and so excited to see our children and grandchildren.  Bethany was born while we were gone so we are very excited to be able to hold her for the first time.

As you will notice from the wheelchairs we have aged a little since we left in August 2011.

Kristina and Mark picked us up at the airport with all of our luggage.

Don loves In-N-Out and since it is not sold in New Zealand this had to be out first stop.  It is located just outside of the Los Angeles Airport.

See how happy he is to be home.

See had balloons, banners and a cake to help us celebrate.

See how much Jeanessa has grown since we left.  She was only 7 months the last time we saw her.  Dominic has lost teeth and grown more and Dylan has just grown.

This is all of our grandchildren that live in California.  They are Dylan, Joshua, Jeanessa, Bethany, Jordyn and Dominic.  We are certainly blessed to have such wonderful and beautiful grandchildren.

February 23, 2013

Last Day in Wellington

On February 23, 2013 we flew out of Wellington at 5:00 p.m. and arrived at LAX (Los Angeles) at 10:30 a.m.  Because of the time difference we gained a day.

Since this was our last day we decided to walk down to the bay and see the Queen Elizabeth cruise ship.  It is the largest cruise ship that comes into Wellington.

For one gold coin you could ride a tugboat out to the cruise ship for a better view.  The line was very long so we just walked down to the ship.

They were having races across the bay.  In the summer there are a lot of water activities that go on in the bay.   We will certainly miss the times that we could just go down to the waterfront, sit down and enjoy the view.

February 23, 2013