Best Pictures of 2011

Every year we pick a picture for our Christmas news letter.  This year's best picture was taken at Hugh's mother's 100th birthday celebration on September 17, 2011, at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pennsylvania.  The picture shows Mom Schall with all of the grandchildern and great-grandchildren that were able to attend.

There were three runnerups.  The second place picture was taken in October in Rancho Cucamonga and is of our three grandsons, Kellen, 9, Cairn, 3 and Lain, 6 months.

The third place picture was taken in February in New Zealand.  Pictured are: Georgia , Hugh , Dave Schall, and Debbie Schall.  Dave and Debbie are Hugh's brother and sister-in-law.  The picture was taken after going on the Dart River Jet Boat tour with the Southern Alps in the background.

The final picture is of the Dart River jet boat with all of us in it. Can you find us in the middle row?

Narcissa E Schall's 100th Birthday

On September 17, 2011 Hugh's family gathered in Oakmont, Pennsylvania to celebrate his mother's 100th birthday.  The family used the occasion to have a family reunion.  All of Hugh's brothers and their families were there along with cousins from all over the US.  The party was held at Oakmont Country Club, where Hugh's Mom is the oldest member in age and the second oldest in membership longevity.

The weather held up and everyone enjoyed the celebration.  Attached are pictures on Hugh's Mom, dinner on the 16th with the clan at Atria's restaurant in Blawnox, and a picture of four generations with Narcissa, Hugh, Melissa and the newest great grandson, Lain.

Georgia's Birthday Dinner at the Tavern at Lark Creek

Last night Goergia, her sister,Yvonne, Yvonne's husband, John, and a good family frend Jake went to dinner at The Tavern at Lark Creek.  In leau of gifts, each brought a bottle of wine to share.  It was a wonderful dinner and the end of a great day.  Pictured are Georgia, John, Jake, and me, Georgia and me, John and Jake and Georgia blowing out the candle that came on her desert.

2011 Beach Week in Coronodo, California

Every year we take our daughter, son-in-law and grandsons for a week on the beach. This year we rented a house three blocks off of the beach in Coronodo, California. During the week, we went to Seaworld, Grandson Kellen had a surfing camp, we enjoyed the pool at the house, and played on the beach. Also, Georgia brought materials so that the older two grandsons could make tee shirts and caps.

Pictured are Kellen surfing. Cairn at Seaworld, and "Corkie" the killer whale joining us for dinner.  The grandsons. Cairn at swim lessons.  Lain the newest member of the packand Kellen with his decorated tee shirt.

Southern California Visit

With the birth of Lain Church, Georgia and I went to Southern California on April 13, 2011 and stayed until may 21, 2011, to help the family get settled in with Lain.

During this time besides helping with getting everyone settled, we celebrated Mothers Day with a family brunch at Walter's in Claremont, I celebrated my 70th birthday at Melissa's and Keith's home, we saw grandson Kellen's Award Assembly, where he received an award for "Celebrating Core Values Each Day" and played his recorder with his class, and had lunch with one of Gerogia's sorority sisters, who flew in from Santa Barbara. 

Pictured are grandson Kellen at his tennis lesson, Sue and John Grube and Georgia and Sue Grube (Sue was a sorority sister of Georgia's at UC Santa Barbara, and they flew in in their small plane.), Georgia with grandsons, Kellen and Cairn on an airplane, Lain with the quilt Georgia made for him and Kellen playing his recorder. 

Lain C. Church

On Tuesday, April 12, 2011, Lain C. Church came into this world. He decided to arrive 3 and a half weeks early. Both Lain and Mom, Melissa, are doing fine. Georgia and I packed up on Wednesday and drove to Rancho Cucamaonga to see him and his family. We will be here for about 4-6 weeks to help out with taking care of his brothers and help out getting everyone settled.

Here are our first pictures of the new Grandson.

Visits with Bay Area Friends

Late March and early April found us visiting with friends in both the East Bay and in the Sierras sking.

At the end of March, we spent the night with John and Joan Brothers in Concord. John and I have an annual bet on the football records of Cal's and Navy's football teams. The alumni of the team with the best record gets a dinner out out on the other. Navy won the bet this year, so we went to Concord, spent the night at the Brother's and had a wonderful dinner out at Scotts in Walnut Creek.

The first week in April, we joined Doug and Helga Carlton at their cabin about 30 miles west of the Kirkwood ski area. Here we enjoyed two wonderful days of sking at Kirkwood. The 6th was a "blue bird" day with lots of sunshine and the 7th had 16 inches of new snow with whiteout conditions. Early spring in the Sierras and the weather doesn't know what it wants to do.

Here are pictures of John and Joan with Georgia and Hugh, Georgia and I sking, and the Sierras on a beautiful , sunny, spring day.

Grandson Cairn is 3

On March 16th, we went to Southern California to celebrate grandson Cairn's 3rd birthday. The celebrations started on 16th and ended with a trip to Seaworld on Friday the 18th.

With a new brother on the way, Cairn and his brother Kellen are going to have to room together, so a new set of bunk beds was a necessity.

The pictrues are of Cairn and family eating pizza at the birthday party, the boys in their new bunk beds, and opening of presents.

Treaty House in Paihia

New Zealand became a member of the British Commonwealth in 1840 when a treaty was signed with all of the Maori tibes in Paihia. Below are pictures of the "Treaty House",the Maori meeting house, Maori warriors, and Maori war canoes

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Bay of Iles, Paihai, New Zealand

We left Dunedin and flew to Aukalnd on the 14th. In Aukland, we rented a car and drove to Paihai, a small town on the "Bay of Isles". The Bay of Isles is a bay with over 144 islands in it with a beautiful coast line and the town of Russell, only a short passenger ferry ride across the bay. We hopped on a ferry to see Russell and then on an excursion boat is see the islands, bottle nosed dolphins, the Cape Brett light house, and the "Hole in the Rock", which is the farthest part of the bay as it meets the Pacific Ocean.

Pictured are: the town of Russell, Cape Brett Lighthouse, and the "Hole in the Rock".

Glow Worm Caves at Te Anau and Doubtful Sound

We left Queenstown and headed to Te Anau. Te Anau is the location of the Glow Worm Caves. These worms live in the dark as pupas and give off a small amount of light inthe total darkness to attract bugs for food. After about a year as a pupa, the worms turn in to an insect that mates for two days, lays its eggs, and then dies. We could not take pictures of the worms as to not distrube them.

After a day in Te Anau, we left for a boat overnight on Doubtful Sound. Doubtful Sound is a glacer created inlet that is absolutely amazing. It is in a wilderness area that has been well preserved. Here we had the opportunity to kayak on the sound, swim in its chilly waters or take a motor launch cruies in one of the coves.

The pictures are of Gerogia on the boat to the Glow Worm Caves at Te Anau, Doubtful Sound from the road at the end of the sound, Doubtful Sound landscape, Hugh swimming in the 55 degree waters of Doubtful Sound, and final picture is of a tree slide in Doubtful Sound. Note: There is little or no soil on the slopes of the sound, so the trees and plants are held up by intertwining of the roots. Once one tree falls, it creats a landslide of all of the plant material below it.