Jim's Highlights for 2014

In his glory!

Jim's life long dream of having a Wood Shop is a reality.  My favorite gift this year was seeing him so happy to have completed this work.  Here is the finished project in photos.

Love the green paint it totally camouflages the workshop 
in the spring summer and fall of the year.  
The large oak above is just 
a beautiful canopy over it.
No one will ever know the countless number of 
hours spent building this work shop. 
 Jim and Dave worked and worked and worked.  
Dave...what a gem of a friend~they do not come any better.

And without Lee's encouragement and approval
 Dave would have never spent that kind of time over here.
They are both amazing!  
Jim has been buying and acquiring these tools
 for years and years.  They finally have the perfect home.
No one could be happier!

I love how he had this all planned out in his head for decades. 
 It is just how he wanted it.  Now he wants to start helping friends
with their projects.  It is very heartwarming to see him so happy
being able to help and teach others along the way.

Jim got a new hip in March.  The recovery was a trial but he is all good now.  It takes a good year to recover from that surgery.  He still has his aches and pains but that is the way it is.  At least his hip is not as painful as it was last year at this time.

He is still working in the Temple every Monday.  Tuesdays we work together in the Oakland Family Search Library assisting others in finding their ancestors.  He does a lot of Scout work which has been ongoing for years.  Our son is nearly 40 so you can figure out how long it has been. He helps his mom once a week with whatever projects she has around the house and yard and visits her faithfully every Monday evening after work.  We try to save a few days a week for our own projects and activities. Now that the shop is done we will have more time for our day trips which we have missed a lot over the last 18 months.  He has an endless supply of energy and is in constant motion.  Doing one thing while planning the next.  It'll either keep me young or kill me, one or the other.

We just returned from a four day trip to SoCal. We went to Long Beach and enjoyed two nights on the Queen Mary (on a faux cruise) and one at the Hyatt Regency. It is a beautiful place we had never been before.  The Queen Mary is so historically rich, well-preserved and a total throwback to the 30s.  It was all decked out for Christmas in grand style.  We listened to our new Glenn Miller Band CD all the way home.  We love that music it is so nostalgic and reminiscent of not only the Queen Mary era but also of our childhood years.  Jim's famous quote is " It doesn't get any better than this!"  I've heard him say that several times this year.

We love to travel but always find it so fun to come home to our cottage as well.  Next spring we are taking a trip to England and Wales.  We'll be doing some family visiting, hopefully meeting up with our friends Marie and Todd, and visiting the site in Wales where our ancestors once walked.  Lots of intriguing things to look forward to next year already.