A nice way to kick off the holiday season!

Niki and I went out for dinner on Saturday night at Cracker Barrel. It's a favorite restaurant of ours and the food is always good. While we waited behind the 50 people from the tour bus in front of us, we took the opportunity to meet another couple waiting in line. They are from Ohio and are getting ready to retire in the next few years. We made small talk and they told us about geothermal power with windmills - it was pretty cool. We eventually were seated and enjoyed a fine meal. When we were ready for the check the waitress told us that another customer had anonymously paid our bill (we figured it was most likely this couple we described). What a nice gesture and surprise! That has never happened to us before. We decided that we need to pass the favor on to someone else this holiday season in one way or another. Thanks to the kind couple from Cracker Barrel for kicking off the holiday season in such a GREAT way!

Hershey and Lancaster!

Aaron and I spent a weekend visiting with our friends, Steve and Kellie and their son Bennett. They live in Hershey PA and showed us some of the different sites in Lancaster and Hershey. Saturday morning we drove to see the Amish and went to a farmers' market where we tasted samplings of their homemade goodies. They are friendly people who have a gift for making beautiful crafts and furniture - not that I'm advertising for them. Anywho....we also drove by their farms and over a covered bridge. They say if you kiss on the bridge, you will have seven years of good luck. So kissed we. On our way back we stopped at a pretzel factory and tried our new luck at making pretzels.

The day continued with a tour of Hershey’s Chocolate World. It was fun to see how the famous chocolate is made. Merchandise galore! Anything you can imagine they have available. It was cool. The rainy weather from earlier in the day scared off the big crowds at Hershey Park so when the skies cleared up in the evening it was perfect for Hershey Park in the dark. Aaron tried to win Niki a stuffed animal by scoring points with Skee Ball – but it turned out that Niki was much better at the game than he was and so she ended up winning the stuffed Hershey kiss for herself! We laughed pretty hard about that! On our way back to Erie we took a few pictures of the town of Hershey and enjoyed the fresh chocolate smell in the air. What a fun trip! Thanks Kellie, Steve, and Bennett for being such great hosts! We had a BLAST!

Clinical Skills Competition

This blog is a little behind schedule but I wanted to post an exciting event. Aaron participated in a Clinical Skills competition in which he and his good friend, Steve Brown, competed against six other teams at LECOM (pharmacy school). What it is is a patient case, telling you what the medications the patient is on, their lab results, their complaints of pain, etc....then from the condition of the patient that is presented, you have to decide what the goals of therapy are and what your recommendation, as a pharmacist would be.....(pharmacy stuff)...anyways, it is exciting because the two of them WON THE COMPETITION!!!! Yeah!! and now both Aaron and Steve will be sent by the school to participate in the national competition in Orlando Florida this coming December (and compete against all 101 pharmacy schools in the country). I am very excited for them and proud of Aaron.

The next day after he found out that they won, he came home and told me that he received a prize for winning. My eyes got big and I was anticipating that I would see a gift card to somewhere or a big screen television.....then Aaron showed me the prize. It was big alright. A great big pharmacy book. Yep that was it. But I am very happy that he gets to go to Florida and I hope to see him place in the top ten at least. Good work Aaron, you're smokin!!!!

Maine

The Maine Event!!

Last week we drove along the New England coast to the great state of Maine. When we crossed the border into Maine instead of the traditional road sign simply stating "Welcome to Maine" it read "Maine - the way life should be." We discovered several reasons why this IS the case. They say that the 3 L's are why people visit Maine:

First L for Lobster. As you would imagine lobster is everywhere in Maine. Reasonable prices and a plethora of local restaurants serving this delicacy make this wonderful food more of a staple.

Second L for LL Bean. The largest outlet of LL Bean is in Maine. There are also many other smaller outlets that offer daily bargains on all items.

Third L for Lighthouses. This was one of the main reasons we planned this trip. Maine has a total of 64 active lighthouses. We had the opportunity to visit/see 5 of them: Portland Head lighthouse (the most photographed lighthouse in the US!), Pemaquid lighthouse (the lighthouse that is on the state quarter for Maine), Bass Harbor lighthouse (amazing sunsets here make this one of the biggest attractions for Acadia National Park), Rockland Breakwater lighthouse (this sits in the city of Rockland where the only lighthouse museum in the country resides), and Egg Rock lighthouse (Acadia National Park). Surprisingly Michigan and Massachusetts both have more lighthouses than Maine which is #3 in the US for the quantity of lighthouses.

Our week was filled with hiking, sightseeing, dining out, watching sunsets and sunrises. It was a little bit of heaven on earth. We stayed in a small cottage on Mount Desert Island just outside Acadia National Park. It was perfect with a small kitchen & recliners. The rocky New Enlgand coast is replete with all types of trees that make quite a distinct landscape. One of the highlights was waking up early to watch the sunrise from Cadillac Mountain. This peak is one of the tallest on the eastern seaboard allowing us the opportunity to be one of the first people to see the sun touch US soil for that day. We took a sunset cruise on the only 4 mastered schooner in Frenchman Bay. A local musician and his daughter provided perfect entertainment on this relaxing cruise.

What a great experience! We will definately be back to visit again. Enjoy the slideshow.

SUMMER FUN

This is a compilation of photos from hiking on Lake Blanche & Lake Mary trail in Big Cottonwood Canyon, Dog Lake trail in Millcreek Canyon, our Yellowstone NP, Jackson Hole WY, & Grand Teton NP trip, some pics in Cleveland OH and Allegany State Park in NY. We have definately been having our share of FUN this summer! Enjoy!

Aaron's SURPRISE birthday party!

We celebrated Aaron's 29th birthday in Heber at his Grandmother's home. With the help of his family members, we kept it a secret from him. My sister had came up to visit from Colorado and we sure enjoyed her company. We went hiking above Brighton Ski Resort to Lake Mary. On the drive home, Aaron spotted a bull moose in the open pasture. He was so excited, he sat in the car and took some snapshots. Brandy and I got out and were tempted to give Aaron one of his presents that was still in the trunk of the car (some binoculars). Although it would have been nice to use them to view the moose at that moment, saving it until the surprise was worth it. He really had a fun weekend. Brandy and I strolled at the Gardner Village while Aaron played Ultimate Frisbee with his friends, and we ate lunch at Paradise Bakery, went hiking, and ate dinner later in Park City at our favorite place called Bandits. We love you Aaron!!!

He has finished his rotation at Primary Children's Center and we will be heading back to Pennsylvania for another year of school in a few weeks. We have enjoyed spending time with our family and friends during our short time here. This weekend we will be up in Yellowstone and Jackson Hole Wyoming with Chad and Emily Duke - Aaron's cousins. Looking forward to fun times and beautiful scenery.

Trip to Colorado

During our jam packed summer we made time to visit Niki's sister Brandy and her husband Lloyd in Montrose Colorado. We spent the weekend camping, hiking, and exploring mountain roads. We visited the city of Ouray (named after an old indian chief) which was amazing. It is a small mountain town surrounded by towering peaks on every side - some reaching over 14,000 feet! They have converted the natural hot springs in the town into a swimming area for everyone. We hiked to some waterfalls, and overlooked the city. It was beautiful!

Next we went to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. At the highest point the top of the canyon wall drops over 2,300 feet to the floor (This is called painted wall - it looks like horses or an animal running on the wall). It was spactacular! We had a great time!

The last night of the trip Lloyd took us to the airport that he directs and we saw a bunch of cool stuff. The best part was him taking us on the runway with his yellow hazard light on the top of his car and lighting up the landing strip lights with his cb radio!! Thanks Brandy and Lloyd for showing us a fun time - you are great hosts and entertainers!

The Sacred Grove

After touring the Smith Family Farm we had the wonderful experience of entering the Sacred Grove. My friends, this truly is sacred ground. There is a small wooden bridge across a small calm stream that leads into this special place. Upon entering the grove a calmness came over us that remained during the entire visit. Our friend Chuck described it as being light on your feet without a care in the world. The spirit of the Lord has a very strong presence there. It is very similar to being the holy temples of the Lord. As I quietly walked and observed the beautiful surroundings we came to a certain spot that just seemed special. We stopped and pondered about how the history of the world was altered by the events that took place there. What courage young Joseph had as he pleaded with his Heavenly Father to know the truth. The miraculous experience of the Father and the Son appearing to Joseph and calling him to be a prophet in these latter-days is simply beautiful. I felt of the reality of this event in no uncertain terms in both my mind and my heart as I reflected on these experiences. How greatful I am to be a part of this great work. It truly is a marvelous work and a wonder! I know that Jesus Christ lives and is directing His church today through a modern prophet. God loves us the same today as He did in biblical times and has called prophets to teach, guide, and direct us in righteousness. This experience added another layer of significance to the testimony that I have of this restored gospel - how grateful I am to Father in Heaven for affording us this opportunity.

Trip to Palmyra

We drove to Palmyra, New York took a few pictures of a replica of the home of Joseph and Lucy Smith. The first floor was the eating area and a bedroom off to the side, where the parents slept. There was a Bible on the table and the ceiling was 6'3" tall. The stairs led to where their children slept. As we walked up those stairs, we thought about the angel Moroni appearing to young Joseph Smith at the age of 17. It was neat to ponder on those events. How bright Moroni's countenance must have been and Joseph's siblings sharing the same bedroom did not wake.

Creatures among us

We have seen beautiful red cardinals in the back yard. There are bluejays as well, but have not captured a shot yet. I was sneaking up to take a photo of a cardinal when I came across something else....a woodchuck, which Aaron says is the same as a groundhog. Rabbits have also crossed over our yard. Enjoy the video of Smokin' Jax!

Asbury Woods

We took the opportunity to visit Asbury Woods here in Erie last weekend. It is a 200-acre forest nestled in the middle of Erie. Walnut creek runs through it and there are multiple biking/hiking/walking trails there. It was very relaxing!! We skipped rocks along the river and enjoyed each others company. The wildflowers were out and the trees are just staring to bloom. We are thinking in the winter it would be a fun place to snow-shoe! Although we don't wish the next winter to come any quicker than it needs to - the spring weather has been simply fantastic!

Rollerblading by the Bay

After dinner, we went rollerblading along the Bay with Jax. He really pulled on his leash so excited to run beside us. The spring weather has been nice, but Jax has been running off in our neighborhood whenever he gets a chance. Yesterday, he chased after the UPS truck----I thought only cattle dogs chase cars...but no, this Pug does as well. Taking him rollerblading with us tonight helped to get his energy out. The waves were very nice to listen too. It is so peaceful down by the lake. It was a good evening.