Mom & Pops Holman

Giving thanks

2012-01-23T20:16:00.000-07:00

Thanksgiving equals food...and we did it up royal. Take note that with all the good food...Connor only wanted chocolate milk!

When the family gets together there is always lots of laughter and making fun of one another. Josh seemed to think wearing an Indian necklace made the feast more authentic.

Logan and Josh helped Shaun and Nicholle by string up the Christmas lights. Being reared in Wyoming, it just doesn't seem like an activity that should be done in shorts and t-shirts!

The food was good and the visiting was wonderful but the highlight of Thanksgiving for Tom and I was going to the San Diego temple with our children. Apparently Shaun and Nicholle enjoyed it too!

Tom and I, loving being with our family.

Josh and Kristy looking dapper.

Tom and Logan (take note of how Logan is standing...always with his hands in his pockets...just like my dad)

Jenny, our daughter-in-law, came all the way from England to share this experience with us. Matt was good enough to stay in England with the kids. We are so glad she came...it made it all extra special.

Josh and Kristy....sealed for time and all eternity!

The family: Logan, Jenny, Josh, Kristy, Tom, Linda, Nicholle and Shaun.

Good times had by all!

Christmas in San Diego/Poway, California

2012-01-23T19:53:00.000-07:00

Why would we want to spend Christmas in cold Utah when we can lounge in the sun in California?! Throw in a couple of kids and four grandkids and it is a done deal. As part of the fun we all went to Seaport Village to shop and just "goof around", as my mother would say!

Madison, Connor and Sam found a "cow-ch" to rest upon!

My California grandson out in the back back yard....sunglasses and football!

Whats a trip to San Diego without eating at Old Town Mexican Cafe!!

Making gingerbread houses will have to become a tradition. Below is Amanda hard at work.

Sam and her finished product.

After Christmas we made a jaunt up to Julian. Can you tell the kids all got some kind of electronic for Christmas?

And then there is Shaun....he just puts up with us all and even smiles through it!

Good times had by all!!

Snow, Snow, Snow!

2012-01-23T19:26:00.000-07:00

Despite the fact that we live in the center of Orem, and I really do mean the center, we have an amazing location....check these photos out. We had a snow storm on Saturday night and when we woke up Sunday I couldn't resist taking these pictures. You would think we lived out in the country somewhere. If I had a million dollars I would love to buy the pasture just beyond our fence and turn it into a park for my grandkids to play in. (And then we really wouldn't ever have neighbors out there!)

Lagoon

2011-07-26T20:11:00.001-06:00

We had a great time at Lagoon a couple of weeks ago with Nicholle and kids, Logan, and Josh & Kristy. I sprung for a photo and I think it turned out pretty well.

Memorial Day in Logan, UT

2011-05-27T16:14:00.005-06:00

Although it is just the Friday before Memorial Day, we decided to go up and decorate graves to avoid the crowds on Monday. We saw my dad's gravestone for the first time since they didn't get it put up until late in the summer. Mom was very pleased with it. We also put flowers on the graves of several other Holman and Bell ancestors. Logan cemetary is very beautiful and peaceful. As a teen I HATED going up to Logan on Memorial Day. Wasted a perfectly good first day of summer vacation. But I've matured or gotten older and really enjoy it now. I think that because I hated it I didn't force any of you kids to go up, did I? Or is that just a made-up "good parent" memory!? Then after going to the cemetary, we headed up to Maddox. This is a traditional place to go after the cemetary. It must have been traditional for other people because the place was packed! Was it on a Memorial Day you went there with us, Matt, and barfed up your chicken-fried steak on grandpa Holman's flowers when we got back to Kaysville?

Spring in Utah, come on!

2011-04-30T13:11:00.005-06:00

It is April 30th, and we have a couple of inches of snow on the ground. But I remember one April 30th--my sister Jane's birthday--when we also had snow and they had to change her party plans. So this isn't all that unusual. But I can hardly wait until we actually have nice weather.

Good-bye Vienna

2010-12-13T11:55:00.010-07:00

It is time to say good-bye to Vienna. It has been a wonderful four month experience. We have walked miles exploring every corner of this beautiful city. We have been able to share experiences with our students and with family and friends that have come to visit. We have been able to also venture outside the city and into neighboring countries and what an experience that has been. It is now time to say good-bye to Spittelauer Platz and head on to new adventures.

Good-bye little kitchen. It wasn't often that Tom and I shared you alone, but this is proof that it did happen!

Good-bye Happy Noodles...we shared you with our family....

...and we enjoyed you when we were alone. You were a temptation on Sunday since you are where we met the street car to go to church!

Good-bye ornate buildings that almost became 'common' because they are on every steet.

Good-bye to all the fun little side streets and 'passages' we discovered.

Good-bye St. Peters Kirche...you provided some beautiful musical concerts for us.

Good-bye Schoenbrunn Palace...my favorite place to take visitors and to just hang out. This picture was taken from.... ...the Gloriette, which was built on a hill behind the palace so Maria Theresia had something more interesting than a hill to look at!

Good-bye Wurst Stand...you weren't my favorite place but Tom and Matt's family loved you!

Good-bye Belevedere...your art gallery was my favorite.

Good-bye to the LDS Institute and Brother and Sister Wade. Thank you for being a fun place to meet and eat. Good-bye to more fountains and statues than I could possibly count or keep track of. Good-bye Austro-American Institute of Education where we attended classes. (Someday the face-lift will be done and the construction materials removed from in front of you)

Good-bye St. Stephens...I have studied the inside and outside of you and you are inspiring!

Good-bye Mozart...I loved your candies, where you lived, where you performed and everything you touched in Vienna and surrounding areas! Good-bye bakeries that are on almost every corner, you will miss us!

Good -bye McDonalds that I said I would never eat at even if it was right by my apartment! (I had to 'eat' those words!)

Good-bye Franz Joseph Bahnhof that was right by our apartment and contained our favorite grocery store, the Billa, and McDonalds.

Good-bye State Opera House that I walked by everyday I was in Vienna!

Good-bye Central Cemetary with this amazing chapel.

Good-bye to fixing Sunday dinner for 18 very hungry people!

Good-bye fun students.

Good-bye Sacher Torte and hot chocolate. Good-bye Japanese tourist....They know a couple of cuties when they see them!

Good-bye funnest ever Christmasmarkts.

Good-bye beautiful Christmas lights and snow storms.

Good-bye Vienna...but hello Munich, Paris, and London!

Today we went to...

2010-12-08T12:15:00.018-07:00

...Bratislava, Slovakia. It is only 40 miles from Vienna, so Tom and I hopped on a train bright and early this morning. Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and Vienna the capital of Austria...they are the two closest world capitals.

This is Michael's Gate and it is how you enter into the old city.I had a hard time getting all of Michael's Gate into a picture, so this is the top of the tower. Tom and I climbed 5 flights of stairs so we could walk around the area where you see a fence, right under the clock. I huffed and puffed but the view was worth it.

Grassalkovich Palace... where the President of Slovakia lives. It was built in 1760-65, which in Europe years is fairly new! I loved the sunglasses on the guards!

This is for my brothers, Jack and Max. Sometimes you don't even need to know the language...you just need to understand 'envirnmental print'!

Bratislava has some very interesting statues all over town...these are just some of the ones we found. The story behind this first one is:' Handsome Ignatius' and dipicts a real person who was locally famous for strolling the promenade. He appears quite friendly and jolly, but his fiancee was deported to a Nazi concentration camp in WWII and died; he never recovered psychologically from the trama and spent his days wandering in a top hat and tails, smiling at everyone. Cumil, a man peering out of a manhole cover "looking up skirts"! He is just on a random corner in the city!

This is a photographer peering around the corner by the Paparazzi Resturant!

This is what we ate for lunch.........

.......and this is where we ate our lunch! Yeah!....another Christmasmarkt!

The building you see up on the hill in the background is Bratislava hrad (castle). It has been dubbed the "upside-down bedstead". We read that it's worth the hike up to it to get the best view of the city....so we did.

After all the climbing we did to get up to the castle to get a good view of the city, this is what we saw! Absolutly nothing....the fog came in...that white you see is the "view" of Bratislava!

Time to go home....the Bratislava train station

Enough said!

Prague

2010-12-06T12:22:00.016-07:00

Prague has a very rich history...it had the position of the "crossroads of Europe". Being the Christmas season, you may want to know that "the good King Wenceslas" was one of its best known saints. Prague came out of World War II almost unscathed by bombings so many of their buildings have been preserved. In 1989, the "Velvet Revolution" took place and ended communism. Prague has a castle and I am sorry to say the only picture we took...the changing of the guards.

Prague also has a very rich Jewish history. In the 1890's the city authorities decided to raze the ghetto slums because the area's complete lack of sanitation made it a health hazard...however and lucky for me, because I love cemetaries, a number of synagogues and the Old Jewish Cemetary were all saved. We toured at least 3 synogogues. The history of the Jewish people is so interesting to me. One of these days maybe I'll study it more.

We walked through this entry into the "old city" every day and I just liked it so I made Tom, in his red coat, go over and stand by it. Tom doesn't like to stand and pose for pictures so I appreciate it every time he does.

This is the Town Hall Clock on ...you guessed it....the town hall on the Old Town Square. On the hour all kinds of things happen...little figures come out of the two doors right above the clock, makes all kinds of noise and is just fun. It is an astronomical clock and I won't go into all of the details but it was built between 1552 and 1572. It's hard for me to imagine something as complicated as this and in such fine condition being that old. I loved the church towers of the Church of Our Lady before Tyn. This church was started in 1365.

I took this picture just because I liked the profile of these buildings and their color. Prague is a beautiful city.

Just one of the many beautiful churches in Prague. This is Church of St. Nicholas which is situated on the Old Town Square. While we were there there was a festival going in in the square. You can see some of the little huts in the foreground. Holidays of Spices and Cheese....doesn't get better than that. Can you tell it was a bit nippy?

The highlight of the festival for the Holmans was the food booths. We really liked this booth. Trdelnik was a bread dough wrapped around a large dowel and cooked over coals. The symbol over the booth gives you an idea of what they were like.

Do you think we could pass one up? You can see them cooking...after they are cooked they are rolled in butter and then cinnamon and sugar. I can still taste them!

This is the "Dancing House" also known as the "Fred and Ginger House". This was the first building built after communism left (completed in 1996). It was built to show the political change in Prague...very interesting!

Got hot chocolate! It was so cold in Prague. One night Tom and I stopped at a little sidewalk cafe on the main platz in Prague and had cups of EXPENSIVE hot chocolate. It came all frothy with cream. Yum!

Good times in Prague!

Salzburg

2010-12-01T09:52:00.026-07:00

Welcome to Salzburg! We were able to spend 3 days getting to know this medieval city. Our weather was rainy for a couple of the days but it did not dampen our spirits. Salzburg was crawling with tourists and having a festival and a funeral of an important member of the Catholic clergy only added to the conjestion...but it was worth every bumped shoulder and stepped on foot. I guess the bike ride I had taken just a couple of weeks before was still on my mind and I had to have a picture with this sculpture.

I had Tom take this picture just because of the size of this shop...the shops entire width was the entry width, which according to this picture was about the same as my width.

Here I am at the platz with a festival going on behind me...but ignore that part of the picture and notice the Hohensalzburg Fortess on the hill behind me. It was built on a rock 400 feet above the river but it was never used...nobody ever attacted the town! The guide book says, "Today, it remains one of Europe's mightiest castles". We jumped on a funicular and made the trip to the castle and the views were fantastic. A view of Salzburg from the castle.

It's hard to imagine how large this fortess was. It seemed to just go on forever.

Another view....check out how many church domes you can see in this picture.

If you are a "Sound of Music" fan, some of these shots should look familiar to you. This one is taken in the Mirabell gardens. The fountain and the steps behind it are in the movie.This was not the cemetary in the movie, that one was a set, but this is where the idea came from.

I really wanted Tom to do a better pose here but he refused...he could of at least taken off his shirt!

Yet another cemetary, remember I told you I had a fascination with cemetaries. This cemetary is called St. Sebastians. This is an interior shot of a small chapel that is in its center. It only has a small alter and it was locked so we could only point and shoot through an iron grill, but I hope you can see the mosaic tile work...beautiful. The cemetary was surrounded by this walk way. Along the sides are family burial areas. Some even have oil paintings on the wall.

Mozart is not buried here but his wife and father were.

Isn't it beautiful?! It was very peaceful, Tom and I were the only people there...kinda nice to get away from the tourist...oh wait...that's what we are!

Can't visit Salzburg without the "Mozart lived here" tour. The yellow house was where Mozart was born...the best part was, there is now an ice cream shop on the street level which was actually more interesting than the tour of his birthplace

The pink building in the background was the home Mozart moved into when he was 17, and is called Mozart's Residence.......the Mozart family put on concerts here to entertain Salzburg's high society.

One night Tom and I attended a marionette show...this particular night it was "The Sound of Music". This theater has been producing marionette shows for over a hundred years. It was absolutly amazing. We attended another marionette show here in Vienna and it didn't touch what they could do at this theater.

While we were in Salzburg there was a big festival going on...we were never sure what it was for but everyone was dressed up in their traditional costumes and of course listened to their favorite "umpa" band and ate the traditional food in the beer garten. Here I am waiting for Herr Holman to bring me some food. My mom would of loved the music...she would of been tapping her toes to those polka tunes.

Worth the wait...can it get better than wurst, saurkraut, roll and Coke....OK, in my opinion it can...same menu but without the wurst!

Tom and I got tired of crowds and decided to venture out away from the tourist sights. It wasn't such a bad idea. This is a sign we found on a house. Joseph Mohr wrote, "Silent Night" and this is where he was born. As you can tell, we really were "off the beaten path"....loved every minute of it!

The days in Salzburg made good memories, but there were more good times to be had in Vienna, so we packed our bags and headed home.

Hallstatt

2010-11-30T12:20:00.014-07:00

There are moments in your life where your breath is literally taken away by beauty and Hallstatt was one of those places for me. Hallstatt is a small village built on the side of a mountain, with a lake at the bottom. Our pictures do not do justice to the beauty. This is a picture of the guest house we stayed in. It was at the foot of a mountain that contains the oldest salt mine in the world. We were lucky enough to get to go on a tour. To get to the salt mine we had to ride a funicular and then it was still about a 10 minute walk on up from there

To tour the salt mine we had to don these lovely outfits. I'm not really that fat....it was very cold in the mine and we were told to wear our coats under these suits!

View of Hallstatt from the Salt Mine.

When Hallstatt is mentioned, our students and Holmans will say, "That's the best food we've eaten on our entire Austria experience!" I got the special that was listed here....yum! It also didn't hurt that we ate it outside next to the lake!

Like I said, the houses just climb up the hill.

Check out this tree, pretty amazing isn't it?

As you walk along, you are really close to the homes. This particular home was next to the stairs we were climbing. I noticed that the address said a professor lived there...I wouldn't trade "my professor", but this professor did have a cute home!

It was hard to say good-bye to Hallstatt...the weather was perfect....the food was delish....and the scenery was spectacular. My professor looking over the village.

Biking: Melk to Krems

2010-11-30T11:36:00.006-07:00

Part of our "Vienna experience" included a bike ride from Melk to Krems. Now I haven't been on a bike in 40 years but I was told it was either flat or down hill...I could do that! Well, they lied. It was mostly flat and downhill but there was a bit of up hill too. This picture must of been taken at the first of the trip...how do I know? I was smiling! The ride was along the Danube River and it was approx 20-25 miles. I thought I was doing OK until I stopped the first time, hopped off my bike and my rubbery legs gave out on me and I fell over, with my bike on top of me. Now that's embarrassing to fall and not even be on the bike.

The scenery along the Danube was spectacular. I look back at pictures like this one and can hardly believe it's real! The trail we were on took us through scenic little villages and on through vineyards. The grapes vines were loaded with plump grapes ready to be harvested.

At one point in our trip we had to cross from one side of the Danube to the other...so we loaded our bikes onto the ferry and got to sit down and rest our weary legs and rear ends! They can put a man on the moon...how come they can't make a comfortable bike seat!

The end of the trail, finally! Here is Tom casually sitting at the dock in Krems...he looks pretty calm and rested but I bet if you had asked him to stand up very fast, he couldn't! Our poor old legs had about had it. Was it beautiful...you bet! Would I do it again....no way!

The Vienna Night Run 5K

2010-11-30T08:25:00.003-07:00

When it is your own blog you can have the choice of putting just the "good" pictures up but in this instance, there were no good pictures, so I had to put up these really mediocre pictures because they are all we had! In October, Vienna has a 5K called the "Night Run". It is very popular, this year 38,000 ran it. Our students all wanted to run and convinced Tom and me we did too. You got these cool shirts with your 22 euro entrance fee, so naturally I was in! Tom just wanted to be part of the crowd. The weather was horrible, it was pouring buckets of rain and was quite chilly but it didn't dampen our spirits, though we don't look too thrilled. This picture was taken before the race and we didn't know how fun it would really be!

Well, here we are looking a little happier. The 5K was over! The rain finally became too much and when we got close to our u-bahn stop we just hopped on the #4 and came home. We were sitting at home and one of our students called to see where we were....apparently they were all standing together waiting for us so they could "cheer us in"! Despite the fact we didn't finish the race, we did get free stuff, drink bottles and clapper hands.

Fun with the brothers

2010-11-30T07:54:00.007-07:00

I was absolutly thrilled to have my brothers and their wives join us in Vienna. It was fun for me to show them around the city I have learned to love. My only regret is that they came after we had only been here a month...now I have so many more places I would love to take them. We may have to plan a Vienna reunion and come again. You just can't have a visit to Vienna without a piece of Sacher Torte. There are copies in Vienna but we had the "real" torte at the Sacher Hotel. We sat out front and it was a bit chilly, so Tom even sprang for hot chocolate...yum!

I wanted you all to believe this was where we lived so I asked Jack, Sharalyne, Max and Cindy to be pointing to their room....but since I've published a post about our "real" house I can't lie! This is our trip to Schonbrunn Palace. We actually took the tour and had a fantastic guide. This was the summer palace of the Hapsburgs. It was only 5 miles out of Vienna but I guess it was worth it for the Hapsburgs to get away from the stink of the city. This is one of my favorite sites in Vienna.

I seem to have a thing about cemetaries and going to the Vienna Central Cemetary was on my list of places I wanted to take my brothers. The Vienna cemetary actually has an LDS area. This is the statue that marks it. On a side note, to get to the cemetary you have to take the #71 bus and I have been told that when someone dies they say, "They've taken the 71".

What a "happy" way to end a trip.....It doesn't get better than Happy Noodles, authentic street food. Oh I guess it can get better when you top it off with a gelato at the shop next to Happy Noodles!

Our Front Window

2010-11-29T13:05:00.009-07:00

I thought before I show you the view from "our front window" I should show you the building we live in. Our address is Spittelauer Platz 7/8
1090 Wien
Austria
We have loved the area we are living in. It is very convient to grocery stores, u-bahn stop, resturants, Franz Joseph train station and lets not forget the Euro Shop (dollar store) and Billig und Gut (Cheap and Good). If we wanted to, we could walk to the middle of Vienna in about 20-25 minutes, but who would want to when we are so close to the u-bahn and can get down town in 10 minutes!

This is a picture of our building taken from the park below. The little tree on the left is "dissecting" our front window on the 2nd floor.

I made Tom go out on our balcony and point to "our front window". The window to the left of our front window is our office/guest bedroom and the two windows behind Tom are our bedroom windows.

The "view out my front window" includes these beautiful trees. My view also includes the little playground. How lucky are we to be able to have a view like this despite the fact we are living in a city of 3 million people.

Our November picture out "our front window". The trees have lost most of their leaves. It was fun watching the Vienna cleaning crew rake them all up. There must of been truck loads of leaves!

This is what our front window looks like tonight. Christmas lights hung with "great care" and snowflakes made by some of our students. I love my front window.

Matt, Jenny and Family in Vienna

2010-11-29T11:38:00.019-07:00

In the fourth week of October our students got a week break. They all headed out of town to various destinations, which gave Tom and me a week break from them! So to fill our week Matt, Jenny, Amy, Blake, Cade and Oliver came to visit. It was fun to show them the city we have grown to appreciate and love. Of course what is a trip to Vienna without eating schnitzel and apple strudel?! Here are the Matt Holmans in one of our favorite eat spots...The Twelve Apostles. After eating a full meal, Blake wanted apple strudel...I didn't order anything because I knew he would never finish his...wrong! Blake ordered the apple strudel with warm vanilla sauce and all I got was the opportunity of watching him eat every last morsel!

One of Vienna's most famous landmarks is the giant Ferris Wheel. It was built in 1896, which really didn't instill a lot of confidence for me...how could something that old spinning around high in the air be safe. Apparently Oliver shares my feelings. It was perfectly safe and we had great views of Vienna. You ride in "little box car" shaped cars and they rock back and forth. I am just glad I had Matt's family and not a bunch of teenagers in there with me. I can only imagine how they could get it rocking!

I think the morning spent at Schonbrunn Palace was one of the kids and Tom's favorite. They have a fun area for children and adults...the first stop was the maze. This was a typical element of many European stately gardens. Blake and Grandpa Tom couldn't find their way out and you will see Matt and Cade directing them from above.

Matt and Cade looking for Blake and Grandpa Tom in the maze.

Does it look like fun on the merry-go-round? No one "lost their cookies", so I assume it was!

Matt training his boys on the digger. Cade the operator and Blake the observer.

Blake loved this toy. It was a big bird that you could climb in and then bounce in and the wings would flap. This playground was quite amazing.

Not the best picture, but the kids loved climbing all over the playground toys.

Missing in the playground pictures was Oliver. While the rest of the family played, Oliver and grandma Linda walked the grounds of Schonbrunn Palace. There is a zoo on the grounds and we thought our "little bear" should have his picture taken there. (In case you can't see it, look a little closer and notice the ears on his hat.)

One of the "visitor highlights" is the Opera Toilet. At the bottom of the escalator that takes you up out of our U-bahn stop to the State Opera House is this musical toilet. It blares the Strauss melody "The Blue Danube Waltz". I have heard it's not worth the price to actually use the toilet but it does make a good picture.

This was about the cutest thing ever...One day these pieces of paper appeared on our baseboard. Cade had decided that we needed mice holes in case a mouse came to live in our apartment...they needed a home. *Note: We do not have mice!

Blake worked on this tooth almost the whole time they were in Vienna and finally met success. Despite the fact he was in Vienna the tooth fairy found his tooth...a happy boy!

Sharing our apartment with these four was an absolute pleasure and it looks like they were having fun too!

Time to leave Vienna and I don't think Oliver wanted to leave....I know we didn't want him to leave!

A very thoughtful grandaughter, Amy, left this thank you note for us, with Mozartkugl chocolate included. Mozartkugl is probably the quintessential Austrian souvenir. They are small balls of marzipan coated in a praline cream and then dipped in chocolate....yum! They are wrapped in foil decorated with a picture of Mozart. A sweet ending to Matt, Jenny and family's visit to Vienna.

Our Home Away From Home

2010-11-05T13:34:00.014-06:00

Welcome to our home in Vienna. My family has requested pictures and here they are. This is our entry. You come in the door you can barely see on the right hand side. The entry is big enough to put another bedroom and it is kinda wasted space but that is how it is. We are on the "M" level in our apt. building and actually have a really nice elevator right outside our door. Matt's kids loved it and it is handy when we have our little grocery carts filled. (those are our grocery carts you can see on the right by the front door). We have loved our little apartment and I hope it shows as well as it really looks.

View of my sweet little kitchen looking into the entry and on through to the living room. This kitchen has enough dishes and silverware etc.to feed up to at least 50 people. The knives are sharper than the ones in my kitchen in Utah...thats really pathetic!

View into our kitchen from the entry hall. Back in the corner on the right is our washer and dryer. We are very fortunate to have both. Usually you only have a washer...a dryer is luxury. There is a drying rack out on our deck, and I have used it, but I love my dryer.

A view of the livingroom, I am standing by the front window and looking into the entry. On the right is our piano that kept Matt's kids entertained and on the left we have about 40 folding chairs. Our students come over on Sunday for dinner and then again on Wednesday for class.

View of our livingroom from the entry hall. Our front window overlooks a small park and playground. To the left where you see a round clock on the wall is a door that leads out to a small deck.

A couple of different views of our "master" bedroom. I am converted to the comforters over here. They are warm and no one can steal all the covers because we each have our own!

Our guest room. This room has the two beds you can see but there are also two hide-away beds the are used as chairs at other times in this room.

This is our office and guest bedroom. There is a trundle bed under the bed you can see...with this comes my sincere apology to anyone that has slept on it...the trundle is comfortable enough but trying to get out of it in the morning is a trick. I did not know this until I slept on it when Matt and Jenny and family were here!

Our "big" bathroom, which is connected from the master bedroom and the entry hall.

Our "small" bathroom.

Budapest

2010-11-05T12:07:00.024-06:00

There is so much I did not know about Budapest before we knew we were coming on this trip. I did not realize it is actually two cities divided by the Danube River. Pest, seen here from the Buda side, is on the plain. The Buda side is the "hilly" side. Now, of course, the two cities are combined to be the Budapest we know. Lots of history here, both golden and sad.

Buda is the "hilly" side of the Danube.

On our way over the bridge into Pest....Tom is really little compared to the lion he is standing by.

This is one of the bridges that connects Buda with Pest. It is called the Chain Bridge. If you see a book about bridges, this one will be mentioned.

Our first stop on the first day of our trip to Budapest was a little history lesson given at this monument called "Hero Square". All of these bronze statues are of leaders and heros of Budapest/Hungary.

This is the Budapest Parliment Building. It is on the Pest side but this picture is taken across the Danube on the Buda side. Kinda impressive isn't it. Our guide told us that the wing on the left side is not used at all. The building was built when Budapest had more politicians!

Probably my favorite part of our trip to Budapest...the Dohany Synagogue. It was designed by a Catholic, therefore it looks more like a Catholic church than a Jewish Synagogue...they even make jokes about it being a "Catholic Synagogue".

Out behind the Dohany Synagogue is this weeping willow tree made out of stainless steel and silver. It is called the Holocaust Memorial Tree. The shape of the tree symbolizes a reversed menorah. Each leaf has a name of someone that died during the Holocaust. Tony Curtis, the actor, gave the money to have this tree put up in memory of his Hungarian father that perished. This picture does not do it justice...take my word that it is breath-taking.

The Nazi soldiers took the Jews down to the Danube River and had them take off their clothes and either shot them and then pushed them into the river or they just pushed them into the icy river. This memorial is made up of bronze shoes of all sizes and shapes to remind us of this awful time in the history of the Jewish people in WWII.

This is the market in Pest. If you want meat or fresh veggies, this is the place to go. Upstairs there are places to eat and a bazillion craft shops selling Hungarian crafts largely made in China. It was still fun to walk through, or at least I thought it was!

On the Buda side is this building. It was the Dept. of Defense building during WWII. It was heavily damaged and there was no money to repair it...so it just sits there with its plywood roof. Only the first floor survived and it still shows bullet holes from the war.

This is the palace on the Buda side. It was built by the Hungarian people for Maria Teresia, their ruler, but she lived in Vienna and never moved to Buda. It was never lived in and had very little use. It was bombed in WWII and repaired but still is not used.

Here is the whole gang we are traveling with. We have 16 students, 15 girls and 1 boy...Eric "stands out" where ever we go!

Of course how could I have a blog post without telling you what we ate?! Well here it is...happy little me and my vegetable strudel and Tom with his paprika chicken.

The Start of the Holman Brothers Annual 1 Mile Fun Run

2010-05-22T18:00:00.004-06:00

Here are Josh and Logan during their 1 mile run. Josh made it in 10:15 or somethings like that and Logan in 10:49 I think. Matt is all proud because he made it in 7:37 I think. Ty was in Sunday clothes and so couldn't run. I'm not very impressed with any of them. When I was their age, I ran a 6 minute mile as part of a PE class at USU. So I'm waiting to see if any of them can beat the old man. If they can, I'll give each of them... I give them everything they could want already so what is left to give!? My admiration or something else with no monetary value. Notice Tim Holman in the background. Cousin Travis was there also. I think we ought to have them join in the next 1 mile race. Mau wanted to join in but Kristy thankfully restrained him--he would have expired in the first 100 yrds.

Dad's death, funeral, and burial

2010-05-22T17:02:00.010-06:00

As I note on the next post, we moved into my parents' home on April 16th to help my dad take care of my mother, who was in rehab at the time learning how to walk again after a fall damaged a nerve in her left leg. Then we noticed dad was jaundiced, took him to the doctor, and learned the next day he had pancreatic cancer. He died 2 weeks later. We had a very nice funeral. Below are pictures from the burial two days later in the Logan Cemetary. Josh gave a very nice family prayer at the funeral, Nicholle gave the opening prayer for the funeral, Jane, Miles Holman, the bishop and I spoke, Diane Critchfield sang Oh My Father, and Doug Critchfield gave the closing prayer. Ty, Josh, and Logan, along with Travis and Tim Holman, and Kevin Holman were pallbearers. Here you see Logan dedicating the grave. All in all, a nice family-oriented time as we celebrated my father's life, and comforted my mother.The Honor Guard that came was the best I have ever seen at a funeral. They did a great job of honoring military veterans and adding some great pomp and ceremony to the service. The three volleys of rifle fire scared some of the grandchildren, but it was very impressive.

So What Else Could Happen!?

2010-05-22T16:50:00.003-06:00

So much has happened in the last 1 1/2 months. Probably the busiest of our lives, or at least with some of the most and most dramatic changes. I will make several posts, this being the most current. We moved into our new home, my parents home, on April 16th, totally redid the basement and Linda turned it into a beautiful, comfortable home for us. The new carpet and lamanet (?) floors were (notice the past tense) beautiful--until last night when the drain you see below flooded and ruined the kitchen floor and bedroom carpet. Service Master is doing the clean up with the insurance paying (after our $1,000 deductible) for clean up, new carpet and new flooring. So we are going to spend the next week or two with our home messed up--again. But it is okay. We have been blessed in sooo many ways we can't complain.

Grandpa Tom's early birthday dinner

2010-04-10T19:58:00.003-06:00

Since Nicholle and kids were in Utah, and because Matt, Jenny, and children sent me Omaha steaks, we decided to celebrate my birthday 2 weeks early! It was one of the few nice days we have had this Spring, in the mid-60s. Notice I'm on the patio without our picnic tables. We have started giving away stuff since we are moving this monthReal steak for the big people (including Sam and Amanda) and tube steak for Connor and Madison.

At the table with Grandpa Holman. Notice everyone is about done except Nicholle (lower right) who was taking care of kids. She finally got to her steak. The wait was worth it!

Thanks Matt, Jenny, and kids! It has been a fun birthday already. Omaha steaks from just one of my children; I can hardly wait to see what the others send me!

We are selling our home!

2010-03-20T13:42:00.003-06:00

Just over a week ago, we put our home on the market. We have lived here for almost 25 years and it is the home our children remember most as "home." It is the only home our grandchildren have known for us. In fact, Blakie-Bones was living here when he was born while Matt, Jenny, & Amy lived here & waited for Matt's security clearance on his current job. We have lots of great memories and will really miss the backyard. But Linda is retiring this year and I will in 3 years and we want to be able to go on missions, visit our children and grandchildren without worrying about the lawn, or shoveling snow, etc. We are also ready for a single story home; stairs in a 4-level home could become as problem as we get older. We've already had an offer but countered and they didn't respond. Of course we are selling when prices are way down; they dropped $15,000 from 3 months ago when we first started thinking about this.

We may have big news about where we will be moving soon, if everything falls into place!

The Kitchen

2010-02-13T16:38:00.007-07:00

After living in a kitchen with nails coming through the floor and a countertop that could cause harm to your arms we decided "enough was enough"! New solid surface counter tops and new flooring made me a happy woman.We ordered an undermount stainless sink but I guess it was our lucky day and a mistake was made and we got the more expensive intergrated sink. I wasn't sure I wanted it. My old white sink was always stained and dirty looking and I was afraid of the white thing but to my delight, I like it!
The faucet is pretty slick also. It does all kinds of tricks that I haven't even tried yet. We also got a new dishwasher that is suppose to be so quiet we will have to put our ears next to it to see if it is even running. (I'm not sure I believe it, but it sounded good)

A quick trip to Ikea provided us with new bar stools. Being a bit smaller than our last ones makes our already small kitchen seem a little bigger.

The built in desk is gone. It just provided me a place to stack everything that ever came into our house. For now I have put a little piece of furniture of my mom's. It is kinda cute there and it adds a little memory of my mom.

Now that the kitchen is clean and in good working order we just need to sell the house!

The Quilt

2010-02-02T18:50:00.003-07:00

To say we are excited about the new baby boy coming into our family is an understatement. I am not a quilt maker, but I couldn't resist this fabric selection. I think I've done the easy part, now I need to sew it all together. Wish me luck!

Three Pines and a Utah Snow Storm

2010-01-23T10:42:00.005-07:00

When Tom and I went to England about 10 years ago I noticed that instead of addresses the houses were named with plaques. I thought it was such a clever idea. So I began to think what I would call our house. Probably the most notable thing about our house are the three beautiful pine trees in our back yard. So hence my name for our Utah home was "Three Pines". This past summer we were back in England visiting Matt and Jenny and family and I again noticed...no addresses, just names. I mentioned to Matt and Jenny that on my trip years ago I had come to the conclusion that our home was "Three Pines". Can you imagine my surprise when I got my original English home name plaque..."Three Pines". I am not sure how long we will stay in our house but "Three Pines" will always travel with me. Memories of England and a good son and daughter-in-law that listened to my story!

We had a big snow storm last night and our our three pines and other trees looked very beautiful.

After Christmas and New Year's Eve 2009

2010-01-09T11:13:00.011-07:00

Since Matt, Jenny and family are in England we did the next best thing to having them here--we Skyped with them several times during the holidays.

One of the fun things we did was sledding on the hill in Lindon Park. It couldn't have been a better day. The snow was perfect, the temperature was not too cold, and it even snowed while we were there. It was beautiful and fun! Madison got pink cheeks, but she had a good time!

Sammy even talked Grandpa Tom into going down the hill.

Amanda had fun taking Madison down on the sled. Amanda loves helping her little sister.

Connor probably loved the sledding more than anyone--he was the last who wanted to leave; in fact he never did want to leave!

Nicholle got into it and had fun also.

We had a fun New Year's celebration--Bingo with "cracker" prizes including crowns, s'mores, and lots of fun!

All in all, a very fun New Year's Eve and holiday season.

Christmas Day 2009 in Utah!

2009-12-30T09:11:00.017-07:00

We had a great Christmas at the Tom and Linda Holmans. Things started Christmas Eve with a Mexican Fiesta compliments of Grandma Linda. She fixed the fiesta Christmas Eve, brunch for Christmas morning with a quishe, waffles, bacon, etc. Then she fixed dinner with shrimp cocktails, ham, two types of potatoes, grape salad, and two types of pie. All this while she was really sick with a cold. Grandma Linda is a trooper! And none of us got sick so she did it all without infecting any of us. Here is Madison on Christmas Eve taking her turn on Beatles' Rock Band.

Christmas Eve and the Young kids are all in their new pajamas.

Josh getting ready to open a present. He is a Xango man as you can see.

Kristy was very surprised when she got an Ipod Touch! Here she is just discovering that is what she got. The most amazing part is that Josh kept it secret!

Logan hot the Beatles' Anthology. We have already watched 3 of them.

Grandpa Tom with Sgt Pepper album--he got 5 Beatles' DVDs! How can you beat that? The interesting thing is that they had all been opened already...hmm. Grandma Linda loved her Snuggie and she doesn't care what anyone says or how much they laugh--it's warm!

We had brunch and dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Holmans. It was good food and fun to be all together.

I think Ty is lobbying for the Victrolla. Grandpa Holman is showing Ty how it works while Aunt Jane looks on.

Logan entertaining Sam and Connor.

We had a great Christmas! All of our children were at our house for Christmas and we talked to Matt, Jenny, Amy, Blake, and (the next day) to Tot by Skype. How can a holiday be better!?

2009-12-17T14:01:00.002-07:00

We started Christmas early buying the Beatles Rock Band for Wii. Josh and Logan are really rockin' out! We are just waiting for the rest of the kids and grandkids to join the band!

Ty's B-day and Our Anniversary

2009-09-08T18:21:00.009-06:00

Finishing our vacation is hard work and I'm not getting to it. So here is what we did Labor Day Weekend. First we took Ty out for his birthday dinner at the Blue Iguana Mexican Restaurant. Great food and fun to be with Ty. Then we all went to Gilgal Gardens. A strange place. This mason in SLC decided to create a strange garden. Here is Ty as we enter the garden.

Yes, that is a mix of Joseph Smith and ancient Egypt. It gets stranger.

Here is the mason/sculpture himself. Brick pants, which the guidebook says were very difficult to make.

Ty had to get to work, so Linda and I decided to go to Red Butte Gardens at the U of U. They are beautiful and we think our grandkids might enjoy parts of it--the Children's Garden.

Then we finished off with a baseball game with the Salt Lake Bees. A very good game. A fun day.

Our European Trip, Part 2: England

2009-08-30T18:09:00.029-06:00

Here is our hotel room in a little village right next to the Hahn Airport. By the end of 2 weeks of walking all over Austria and Germany we were a bit tired so you see me here resting. The next morning, we somehow made it on the plane (after paying $65 for being 3 kilos overweight--the luggage, not me) and flew to Stansted just north of London where we met Matt, Jenny, Amy, Blake, and Cade. What a thrill it was to see them! So began our short stay in England.

This is a view of the village out our hotel room window.

After arriving in England we went straight to the seashore and had so much fun, but that is in a previous post. Here is just one picture of me and Tot throwing rocks into the North Sea. What can be more fun for a grandpa than to being with a grandchild who is having so much fun!After the seashore we came home to Matt and Jenny's home--no address, just a name. That is so English.

,,, and were intertained by a superb puppet show. Here are the puppeteers.We went to Church on Sunday to their very nice English ward. We met such nice people. I thanked the high priests for being such good people; I knew our little family would be taken care of. Then on Monday we took care of the children while Matt and Jenny got away to London and saw Les Mis (?sp?) On our last day, we started in Stonehenge.

As you can see, it was very windy!

This is just outside Stonehenge. You can see burial mounds behind and right of Jenny and the boys.

Then to Avebury, which also has strange hugh stones. Amy enjoyed rolling down the hill...

...and Tot enjoyed having Matt throw him in the air and catching him--which he always did fortunately.

Here are the large stones in a hugh circle. No one really knows why they were put there but they are very fun to look at and try to imagine ancient people cutting them out, transporting them, and putting them up.

We also visited a village in the Cottswolds. They were breathtakingly beautiful and made you want to just stay there. Of course, the plumbing and electrical is probably terrible, but when on vacation you can romanticize!

Levenham is a fun little village where all the buildings are at weird angles; I guess they just settled funny.

Then we flew home. Oh well, you can't vacation forever. We can hardly wait to go back to Vienna in August of 2010.

We'll start at the end--in England with the Matt & Jenny Holmans

2009-07-06T03:25:00.011-06:00

We left Hahn Airfield in Germany about 10:25 am and got into Stansted Airport north of London about 10:40 am England time--one hour difference. After finally getting through the passport check--which took about 45 minutes because they only had 3, then down to 2 agents working--Matt and Jenny and the kids met us and we took off for the beach! We got to a little seaside town and while Matt bought some fish and chips, I took this picture of Blake, Amy, and Cade. Notice Cade's unique way of wearing sunglasses! Then see a couple of pictures of us on the beach. That is the North Sea we were on. It was so much fun! The beach was quite rocky, like the beach at Laguna Beach where I was with the Young grandkids just a couple of weeks ago. I'll post those pictures soon. So much to post, so boring for all of you, but we are loving it!

We ate our fish and chips and pasta salad, fruit, and cookies Jenny made (or brought the fruit, that is).

We ended our first day with fireworks on the American post and Blake and Amy each won a goldfish. But the best part was the puppet show before we went to the Fireworks. Here are puppeteers and the show! Amy wrote the script and they had a great backdrop they even changed between scenes! Pretty professional.

On Sunday, we went to Church and really enjoyed their ward--they are going to be with great people the next three years! Then we ate a great meal and ended the day with a fun walk. During the afternoon, Cade got into painting, including all over his pants! But they were masterpieces--the paintings, not his pants. I mean "trousers." Over here "pants" are "underwear."

Sam's Birthday

2009-06-18T19:17:00.008-06:00

Sam came home to presents (3 Kit [American Girl] books and the cute cupcake you see below. Then she went with G & G Young, aunts, uncles, and cousins to Pleasant Grove's StrawberryDays Rodeo. Talk about a good Utah birthday! We do love that girl! And all the other grandkids for that matter. I never realized how much I could love grandchildren; it is wondeful!

After softball camp on Miller Field at BYU (Edwards football stadium in the backgroud) they always get a popcycle. Sam has have a really fun time at the camp!

Since it was the the big 1-0, she decided to have one crazy pose!

Here is Sam on the morning of her 10th birthday. She was up early and getting ready for softball camp.

Sam is Here!

2009-06-14T22:02:00.004-06:00

Sam arrived! Sam spent the evening at a bbq with the Youngs. She and grandma Linda are already crafting--notice the 5 new flower fridge magnets. Amy, when you come you girls can go crafting crazy!!

Grandma and Sam posing while I try out our 10 sec. timer. It works. Tomorrow Softball Camp!

Beautiful Pansies

2009-05-22T13:14:00.003-06:00

I, Linda, have always enjoyed yard work and I usually have a pretty decent yard. Well...this year I have out done myself. This sweet little "purple pansie touched with yellow gold" has made its way in a crack on our patio. What can I say...I'm quite the gardener!

Our St. George and Environs Road Trip

2009-05-08T20:51:00.030-06:00

We started our full day in the St. George area with a road trip, going north out of St. George through Snow Canyon State Park (which we re-visited that afternoon for a hike) and then on to the scene of the Mountain Meadow Massacre. It was a terrible incident, but the site is now peaceful and hopefully settlers and pioneers are now reconciled in the Spirit World. We then took off south...

...visited a cute little Southern Utah town named Veyo,

...saw a dormant volcano just outside Veyo,

...and drove through an Indian Reservation. It was a fun little road trip.

After getting back from our morning road trip, we called Max (Linda's little brother) and Cindy, found out they hadn't had lunch yet and so went to eat together with Lizzy and Amy at the Pasta Factory in St. George. Lizzy, on the end, is getting married to Huck in July and we are all excited.

For me (Tom) the most fun part of the day was our afternoon hike in Snow Canyon State Park. The weather was perfect (low 80s) and as you will see below the scenery is out of this world!

Here I am on the trail next to the Silver Hair Sage. Maybe both of us are silver-haired sages, right!?

Following Kristen's tradition of taking pictures of our feet in Chacos.

Our last day was spent taking the long way home. We left St. George and went through Hurricane and LaVerkin (our guidebook said they are like Buda and Pest except no good food!) and then came to Zion's National Park. These following pictures don't do the park and the scenery justice! But I hope you can still sort of see how breathtaking it is. We then followed Highway 89 up through more beautiful and ever-changing scenery as you'll see below.

My (Linda's) grandma Nicholls was born in Hatch, Utah. It was named after her family. We are important people!

Did you know Big Rock Candy Mountain is in Utah? The one Burl Ives had a song about. We had no idea it was right here! It really does look like yellow candy flowing down the mountain

Graduation for Logan and "Major Award" for Pops

2009-04-25T17:56:00.006-06:00

Logan and I on the way to his BYU graduation. You other BYU grads, notice his blue robes. They now sell them "retainable" robes, but Logan didn't know that and turned it in.Logan and his mom right after his BYU graduation with the Hinckley Center in the background, and some other random people. Now he is off this fall to graduate school--probably.

My department chair, Rick Miller reading a short biography before presenting me with the School of Family Life Achievement Award. The plaque I got is nice enough, but I was expecting a "fra-gee-lay" leg lamp. But the check for $2,500 was better. That is almost the exact amount we need for the repair of the foundation leak we have in our house. Oh well....

Here are Logan and me with our award/diploma, and the person who made it all possible!

Blake glares? I don't believe it! Well, maybe once and a while.

2009-04-15T08:37:00.005-06:00

Blake's Aunt Andrea thinks Blake glares. Maybe once and a while.... Oh, but how I love that boy, glare and all!

One time he didn't glare was when he had a rifle in his hands. Hmm, I'm not sure what that means?!

Tot, Matt, Ty, and Grandpa Wimmy--They all look good in kilts

2009-04-06T20:07:00.004-06:00

Tot didn't know it but he is part of a long tradition of men wearing kilts in his family.

Here is Tot's great-grandpa Wilmer Nicholls in his kilt. Ty and Matt have both worn them for extended periods. Now Tot joins his male relatives (and probably some of his even more distant Scottish ancestors) in the tradition!

And the winner is!

2009-02-26T20:09:00.004-07:00

And the winner is...! None of you. You all missed at least two. How come no Youngs guessed?

Here are the answers:
1. My Grandpa Holman (Albert)
2. Logan
3. This one was tricky! It is my old very nice quad combination. Matt would use it for seminary and when he had to read something he would just rip the chapters he needed out of it!!! I guess it was just too big to carry. So the page numbers show the part he ripped out. I thought he at least might remember (and apologize).
4. Mine
5. Mine
6. Grandma Linda. I was just teasing about pages being stuck together.

So I guess I'll have to come up with another contest and double the prize for next time. Any ideas of things I ought to have you guess?

Grandpa Tom

Guess whose scriptures these are. Prize for the person to get it right!

2009-02-10T21:05:00.008-07:00

#1 Here is your clue for this set of scriptures: This is a very old Book of Mormon that belonged to one of Grandpa Tom's ancestors.

#2 Clue: This person identifies him/herself in the scripture.

#3 This is a hard one; but the clue is in the page numbers.

#4 Here is the clue: What language is this in?

#5 Clue: This person is obsessive-compulsive with underlining, circling, writing in the margins, underlining again....

#6 Clue: The pages in this one were stuck together for years.

The Bowl Game

2009-02-07T19:41:00.001-07:00

In December 2008 Matt, Josh, Logan and I went to the bowl game where BYU played Arizona. We had a great trip, even if BYU didn't have a great game. We stayed in the Luxor Hotel which was very nice. It was wierd being in an elevator which went sideways.
Look pretty fierce, don't they!? BYU could have used them.

We walked around the city a bit, but I found it sleezy and really don't understand why people like going to Las Vegas--at least on the strip.

The game was cold. BYU was cold. but we had fun.

The game wasn't all that great but the boys enjoyed making fun of the male flag twirllers Arizona brought.

California in January! The Tobler's Wedding.

2009-02-07T16:36:00.000-07:00

First, go to the bottom; I always start the pictures in the wrong order. This is the last one. After enjoying Saturday in Newport Beach and San Juan Capistrono, we spent Sunday and Monday in Poway. Here are grandpa and Mads already for Church.

As we waited for the reception, we visited the mission at San Juan Capistrono. The day couldn't have been more beautiful and the mission was very intersting to see and learn about. Logan was with the wedding party getting pictures taken at the mission. Kristen toured with us and introduced us to a new Mexican eating place--Baja Fresh! I love finding good, new Mexican food.
Grandma Linda enjoying the warm sun and beautiful surroundings at the mission. A little bit of Kristen right next to Linda. We really enjoyed spending time with her.

I know this is going on backwards; I should have put the last picture in first. This is Madison and me at the Tobler's reception. It was in San Juan Capistrono and was very nice!

The best picture of the temple is Madison at the front doors of the temple. Cute. We spent the time we weren't at the temple with Nicholle and her family.

Linda and I have lived together too long! As we waited to go in th temple we walked around the grounds. Very reverent aren't we?

A couple of weeks ago, we attended Chris and Kristin Tobler's wedding in California. They were married in the Newport beach temple. It was beautiful.

Grandpa Tom's Favorite Holiday Activity

2008-12-29T11:02:00.001-07:00

It has been a couple of months since I posted anything, so I'll start with the most recent pictures and then add some late-November, early-December ones later. As you can see, I love holding grandchildren and even falling asleep with them. Cade and Madison are the two youngest; all 7 are here right now so I am getting a good dose of them, and loving it.

Little Rock, AR

2008-11-15T17:27:00.000-07:00

My view out my hotel window was of the Arkansas River and this baseball park. It really was a very beautiful place. I hadn't known what to expect and was pleasantly surprised with how nice it was. They have developed a very nice "river walk" that I enjoyed. There are lots of bridges and one of them is for pedestrians only.

Here is the President Bill Clinton Library. It is quite impressive, even if the man himself is less so. It was a very nice short walk from my hotel.

Gardner Village Witches!

2008-10-11T11:45:00.000-06:00

Yesterday Tom and I went to Gardner Village in Salt Lake. Every year in October they decorate with witches everywhere! A little chilly but none the less a fun adventure. I think I only spent $6.00! I need Nicholle with me...she always inspires me...it's almost a waste of gas to drive up there and spend so little! (take note of that very small bag in my hand) Last year we had our Young grandkids with us...soooo fun!

Gourmet Cooks

2008-10-02T18:10:00.000-06:00

Yes, we are now gourmet cooks! Linda made the pizza crust, I cooked it on the grill. Then we top it with olive oil, salt, pepper, fresh tomatoes from our garden, fresh basil, and fresh mozzerella cheese. Being empty nesters has its advantages some days.

Drawing to an end...fun with grandkids, worn out grandparents!

2008-09-14T17:56:00.000-06:00

Amy even dressed up in a period dress and cape. It was heavy!

Blake liked the guns and "bullets" (artillery shells) from WWII.

We enjoyed going to the museums on Jefferson Barracks. Cade enjoyed climbing on an old cannon.

St. Louis, Part II

2008-09-10T19:04:00.000-06:00

Tuesday we couldn't find jackets for the school kids (Linda was cold), so we did what grandparents do--we went to the mall that evening and bought new ones! They seem to love them; that is the jacket and sweater Blake and Amy are modeling. Then today after the bus picked them up, grandma Linda, grandpa Tom, and Cade walked the Jefferson Barracks 2.7 mile trail. We are just coming in to the final stretch in the picture you see. Jefferson Barracks is a fun place with all sorts of things to see and do. After school, Amy and grandma Linda bought Cade his birthday present from us and he seems to really like it--the cool bike he is riding! Only a couple of crashes.... Then we collected leaves and grandma helped them make wax paper placemats for our dinner. All in all, a very good day!

St Louis with the Holman grandchildren

2008-09-08T13:37:00.001-06:00

We got to St Louis Saturday, and Jenny left for Ireland on Sunday morning. After Church, we had a great meal of mashed potatoes and gravy, chicken, salad and ice cream or home-made apple torte. Yum! Blake ate 1 1/2 chicken breasts and two big helpings of potatoes and gravy. We also played Hungry, Hungry, Hippo and then went on a walk where the kids climbed trees (see Amy still up in one), threw rocks in a culvert (see all three sitting by it), and relaxed. Cade is so cute and tried to imitate me relaxing (see picture). Already today Blake and I have been to McDonald's and picked up Home Evening treat at Krispi Kreme Donuts! It reminded me of going on Saturdays with Matt. Blake chattered the whole time and loved getting stuff to eat. What fun for me!

Little Debbie's Cosmic Brownies

2008-08-26T17:26:00.001-06:00

Okay, so Nicholle had issues with me because I dis-ed Little Debbie's Cosmic Brownies without having had a Little Debbie Brownie in a long time. Maybe it was better than I remembered. Maybe the "Cosmic" (with pieces of candy on top) would make a difference. Nope. 280 calories and 20% of daily fat calories and a funky aftertaste. Sorry Nicholle.

Enough about mustaches, let's get back to grandkids!

2008-08-23T20:55:00.000-06:00

We are empty nesters again after a fun, fun, fun summer with our children and grandchildren. Here are just a few pictures, we have tons more if you want to see them? The kids seemed to love the sandbox, the hammock, making jama pants or wearing batman jammies, eating, acting crazy at the grandparents-grandkids picture (I guess we should have gone to a professional), and making us soooo thankful for each and every one of them!

In Support of Matt's Mustache

2008-08-18T20:54:00.000-06:00

Matt's sibs and parents wonders why all the uproar about his mustache. We think mustaches look good on all Holmans.

Sharon (actually S. Royalton), VT

2008-07-13T18:01:00.000-06:00

Today, Sunday, we spent most of the day at the birthplace of the Prophet Joseph Smith. First we attended church and really enjoyed worshipping with the good Saints in the Sharon area, although most of the people in attendance were visitors. One of the missionary brethren took our pictures in the visitor center and by the momument (38 1/2 feet high, one foot for every year Joseph lived). We spent a couple of hours just walking on the trail around the site (pictures at home) and decided we'd love serving a mission here. There are five couples here in the summer, three in the winter. You are really out in the country (15 miles from a grocery store), but the beauty is extraordinary.

Maine, Freeport, L.L. Bean

2008-07-13T17:52:00.001-06:00

We ended our tour of Maine with a day in Freeport, the home of L.L. Bean, our favorite outdoor clothing catalog store. Notice the pictures from Sharon, VT above and our matching L.L. Bean shirts. We know you kids will think that is so adorable (translation: you will retch). We couldn't carry all we bought; so we shipped two bedspreads and pillow cases. A fun day and really not too expensive.

Phippsburg, "Lizzie Bright & the Buckmeister Boy"

2008-07-13T17:33:00.000-06:00

If you haven't read "Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy" by Gary Schmidt you should. Phippsburg is the town it takes place in. The Church is where the minister's boy faced down the town's powerful to try to save the Blacks on Malaga Island from being driven off. I took a picture of the island, the lobster traps and the bouys marking the lobster traps off Malaga Island. We talked to the pastor of the Chruch, a really nice guy, and he said he hasn't read the book, but gets people coming by every once and a while. All in all, Phippsburg is a typical, cute, very small village (no real center of town) and fun to visit. We also liked the light house out on the bay.

Maine July 2008

2008-07-13T17:16:00.000-06:00

We started our New England holiday in Maine. One of our favorite places was Ogunquit with a beautiful mile long trail along the Atlantic shore. The bridge I am on is the only pedestrian drawbridge in the world (so they say). Note Linda standing in the Atlantic--it was hard to get her in the water! Weather was perfect, not many other people, and we were just overcome with the beauty of the land and the ocean.

Our 4th of July--older Holman's style

2008-07-04T19:43:00.001-06:00

Our 4th was dull by most people's standards, but we had fun. First, on the 3rd (to avoid the crowds) Linda, my parents and I went up Provo Canyon to Nunn's Park and cooked and ate a great breakfast--scrambled eggs, bacon, fried potatoes, toast, and drink. It tasted absolutely great! Then today we attended the big Provo Freedom Festival Parade. I forgot to take a camera--sorry. But it was very fun; great floats, bands (if overdressed for the weather--see previous blog post), balloons, horses, etc. Then early this evening, Linda prepared a great outdoor meal. Hamburgers, a new and tasty corn salsa, corn chips, and a new Italian ricotta (?sp?) cheesecake that was very good! Josh, Kristy (?sp?), Logan, Kristen (?sp?), mom, dad, Jane, Linda, and I enjoyed the meal in our beautiful backyard.

Next post: New England! We leave for Providence RI on next Wednesday. Bet you can hardly wait to see our pictures.

Lovell Parade! Linda is a Star!

2008-07-04T19:35:00.001-06:00

The Lovell parade was a big part of our trip to Lovell, Wyoming. It was Linda's 40th high school reunion and as you can see, she was the star of her class, standing for our picture. I included the "real" tree expert for Logan to see; the fire fighting guy. Note that the Lovell High School band had the good sense to pput the band members in shorts and shirts, unlike the Utah bands we saw in the July 4th parade today in full, heavy uniforms.

Moving Memories

2008-07-04T19:23:00.000-06:00

Start at the bottom and you see the process. Linda went through everything in every drawer, closet, corner, etc. and decided what to do. We ended up taking about 7-8 pickup loads to the "burn pile" where the old pig house used to be and then burned it. We also took 2-3 loads to the dump of unburnable things. One load had 800 lbs. of old canned good and bottled goods Linda and I pulled out of the basement. The house looks great but it was hard to part with much of the stuff.

Father's Day Gift

2008-06-16T16:08:00.001-06:00

I was really surprised to get a Father's Day gift from my children. They gave me an iPod nano with a holder thing to put on my arm when I go hiking! Isn't that cool! Now I just have to upload some 3 Dog Night, Simon & Garfunckle, Beatles, Herman's Hermits, Beach Boys, etc. Great 60s music. I've got great kids (and a great wife who gave them the idea I think).

Decisions, decisions, decisions

2008-06-16T15:58:00.000-06:00

As you know, yesterday was Fathers Day. A few days before I asked Tom what he wanted for his "special dinner". He knew exactly what would please him and his father---steak, baked potatoes and apple pie. That was great...I didn't have to make any food decisions. Josh and Logan had also invited friends, bringing the number up to 14 for dinner. On Friday I priced steaks-WOW! Then Saturday came and Tom and I stopped at a quilt store and I found exactly what I wanted for my room. There came the BIG decision....steak for Tom, quilt for me. Check out the quilt! It was worth it. I figured the pleasure of the steak would of only lasted for a couple of hours and the quilt would make us happier a lot longer. Tom agreed...I chose a good man to be the father of my children!

Fun with Ty

2008-06-16T15:39:00.000-06:00

About once a month we drive up to Salt Lake to see Ty. We always go out to lunch and then we often go do something if we have time. Last Saturday we went to Squatters Pub and had a very good meal. Then we went to the Farmer's Market at Pioneer Park. If you know Pioneer Park, it has been a place for the homeless and alcoholic. SLC is trying to rehabilitate it and the market is a giant step. It was fun. We like trying new places so Ty searches places to eat. We have eaten at some great places among them a Tibetian restaurant in the Avenues, In Irish pub, a Viennese place with great German food, Ruth's Diner up one of the canyons with pictures of Ruth (always smoking) on the wall, etc. We have also eaten at questionable places like Incantations, a Peruivan place where Linda wouldn't even order anything--she was the smart one. Ty and I got "food" that was gross. I got major sick when Ty and I ate at a Scottish restaurant. Next time up, it was out of business. There was the Guatamalan place where hoofs of some animal in the soup Ty got.

What you'll see in small Utah towns!

2008-06-10T18:15:00.000-06:00

We recently went to Star Valley in Wyoming to visit Jenny and the kids who were visiting her sister and family on the way to Oregon. We had so much fun with the grandkids and the Draney kids, we forgot to take pictures But on the way back, we saw something we just had to have a picture of. Just outside Woodwuff, UT we saw this sign. I'm not sure we should post this on our G rated website, but Grandma Linda insists (I'm going to blame her anyway). We were actually there during the festival days and thought of stopping but didn't have the stomach to do so--we did see some women holding crock pots heading for the senior center, but we weren't sure we wanted to eat what they were cooking.

Battle Creek Falls

2008-06-07T21:20:00.000-06:00

So here is hike #2. It starts at the top of Battle Creek Drive (200 S) in Pleasant Grove, UT. It is about a 1.8 mile hike and is fairly easy with just a few steep places; lots of families with young children were there and the kids did okay, so maybe some grandkids would like to go?? This trip I took along my new trekking poles and they were fun and very useful. They give better balance and supposedly cut down on wear and tear on the knees. I only saw one person making fun of me. But who cares. I'm now saving up from a little extra job I took reviewing a new textbook to buy a GPS devise so I can start geocaching. What is geocaching? First grandchild to call or email me the answer gets a prize. I'll get it down so anyone who wants can go with me and have fun finding buried treasure. In fact, I wonder if that was buried treasure I saw in the back of the cave you see in this set of pictures? We'll have to check it out when all the Grandkids are here (I'm going to get someone to go with me on these hikes one way or another. Linda only likes asphalt or dirt trails, not ones with rocks and skree on them). What is skree? Look it up. First grandchild to call or email me with the answer gets a prize.

Grandpa Tom's Hikes

2008-06-07T21:08:00.001-06:00

Every Spring and Summer I say I am going to hike and maybe even backpack, but am lucky to get one or two hikes in. Well, this year I am really going to do it! So I started this Spring with some short, local hikes to get me started. These are shots from that hike; just up to Bridal Veil Falls in Provo Canyon. I did this in May when we finally had a nice day. I hope the grandkids remember this spot--we had a lot of fun there last summer. We can do it again if you want when you all get here in July. Notice how the Provo River is running fast. We had a good, wet winter so we have lots of water this year.

There is Evidence!

2008-06-07T20:54:00.001-06:00

Remember the stop sign I ran into in front of Kohls? Here is a picture of it; notice how it leans a bit to the left--that is from my right front bumper hitting it. The next picture is the bottom of the sign with the spot of white paint from my car. I'd be dead if CSI was looking for me!

Sunday Afternoon Game

2008-04-13T19:21:00.000-06:00

We had a great day. Fifteen people came to dinner including G&G Holman, Aunt Jane, Nicholle and her children, Josh and Kristi, Logan, Brigham, Evan, Chris and Kristen. After a great meal of pork roast, mashed potatoes and gravy, esparagus, corn, rolls, and three types of dessert bars or cookies. After the meal the Young kids and the other young adults played a game of kickball in the front yard. They had fun and it was fun to watch!

That is Josh on the ground after Kristen--also on the ground--got him out. You can also see the "girls' team coming in after getting the boys out. Also Amanda getting ready to kick.

I'm not old, I'm just unlucky!

2008-04-13T19:13:00.000-06:00

Here is our Corolla. I was heading to the Stake Center to do recommends. I tried turning on a yellow light when it looked like no one was coming. But someone was coming and she evidently didn't see me because she never applied her brakes. No one was hurt, but this is my third thing in about 2 months. I got picked up for speeding (9 miles over) going home from BYU, and then I kind of hit this stop sign in the crosswalk at Kohls.

In Memory of Geneva Nicholls

2008-03-15T12:13:00.000-06:00

Geneva Tippetts Nicholls died about 8 p.m. March 14, 2008.

Union Station in Ogden

2008-03-02T16:26:00.000-07:00

Linda and I started doing day-trips within a few hours drive of home last year. We have been to Mt Pleasant, Fountain Green, Vernal, Toole, Grantsville, Mercer, Ophir, Kamus, and several other small but fun places to visit. Our most recent was to go to Ogden, UT where I lived for 6 month and did one semester as a 7th grader at Mt Ogden Junior High. Here are pictures of where we visited--The Union Station. The old railroad station which is now the home of an Art Gallery and a couple of museums. We really enjoyed the art museum and included a few of the pictures here. We also stopped in Kaysville where I lived for high school. Go Darts!

Grandpa Tom's favorite picture from Summer 2007

2008-02-21T17:50:00.000-07:00

2008-02-10T17:35:00.000-07:00

So I hijacked the parents blog so that I could be in the first picture on their blog. Please to enjoy.

We are blogging!

2008-02-09T19:33:00.000-07:00

Yes, mom and pops Holman are blogging now. Our kids can't have all the fun. If you think our kids' blogs are cool, funny, insightful, or whatever, just wait until you see what a couple of 60-somthings (okay, so pops is the only 60-something) can do. As soon as I figure out how to download or upload or whateverload pictures, the fun starts. Pops