Florida, better than a cruise, part 2

We had the good fortune to spend time with our wonderful friend Shantam. Here are some pictures. When we were on the end of the pier, this pelican came in and seemed like it was going to land on our heads!

Dad's Birthday

Pa was able to visit his father on his birthday. Here are some pictures.

Friday Night Magic

Our oldest son owns a store, The Game Den, located in the Provo Towne Centre Mall. Every Friday night there is a Magic the Gathering tournament, better known as Friday Night Magic. Pa went and played last night -- it's a lot of fun! We also love playing Ticket To Ride. Pa loves a booster draft. Our son the manager on the phone. Everybody starts equal, chooses the cards they want, plays random opponents, and has an opportunity to win a prize. Even Pa won the top prize once! These were Pa's cards. Three booster packs are drafted. On the second pack Pa's rare was the Worldheart Phoenix, which he kept. The person to his left passed him a foil Worldheart Phoenix! Those Phoenixes and the white Knights were key. This was the first time Pa ever played rainbow (all five colors) in a booster draft. The two Mana Cylix and Jungle Shrine were helpful, but the two Skyward Eye Prophets, two Gleam of Resistance, and Traumatic Visions really brought in the lands. Pa was week on his creature removal, but had two Controlled Instincts and an Ignite Disorder in his sideboard. All those flyers kept the game going and the Fusion Elemental and Manaforce Mace were icing. Pa did get decked by an Extractor Demon one game while his opponent's two Pestilent Kathari held-off his flyers! Pa said the last time he was decked was probably 15 years ago by our son Joe! Otherwise he won all his other games he played until the last match when he was defeated by an opponent that went undefeated all night. A fun time was had!

Florida, no cruise, part one

When we were in Las Vegas last year, we were given a certificate for a "free" cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to the Bahamas. Ma has wanted to go on a cruise for a long time. Pa made reservations for the cruise and we were charged "the tax" on our credit card. We then used-up all our airline points to book our travel to and from Ft. Lauderdale. Just before Christmas, we received a call telling us the cruise line was "changing days." Pa explained that the flights could not be changed and asked them to send us something in writing explaining what had happened; nothing was ever received. After talking with a dozen people, being treated very rudely, we were told the best they could do was to take our "tax money" and apply it towards a hotel for us to stay at. The tax money would only cover one night! They told us we shouldn't have made the airline reservations until we had received the "cruise tickets." [None of this was ever explained to us when they made our reservations and took our credit card information!] To make a long story short, we went to Florida [the airline tickets were use or lose] and we found a place to stay at Daytona Beach the first two nights [yes, we had to rent a car because Daytona is not near Ft. Lauderdale,] and stayed with a dear friend in Hollywood the third night. Here are some pictures while staying in Daytona.

Haircut today!

Pa had an appointment in Salt Lake today. On the way home, he stopped for a haircut at our daughter-in-law's mother's barber shop. This is Sue, our first grandson's other grandmother :-) <-Pa in the mirror taking picture, while customer walks in. Below: proof of time! <-Pa's new haircut while blogging!

The grandchildren over the past couple of months.