Happy Birthday (93) Mom

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

My mother is 93 years old today. Can you believe it? Doesn't she look great. These pictures weren't taken today because I couldn't be in Southern California today, but they were taken in the last two years.


This was a fun picture of Laurel taken with her about a year ago.
Here is a picture of my mother with all of her surviving children. We were that traditional 1950's family growing up. Missing from this picture (and we miss them a lot) are my dad and my two sister's Linda and Nancy. They are currently in heaven tending to the Lord's business.

Lovebug Newell Shower

I went to a baby shower for Karmina today. This is a picture of Karmina and Helen (my best friend). Don't they look great!Here is the quilt that Helen struggled to complete in time for the shower. She did a great job and her first granddaughter is going to love it.

Butfest 2008 (Halibut that is!)

2008 is an amazing year for Halibut. It seems like we always have more than we need. This years fishing was great. The fisherman this year were Don, Steve, Ron, Uncle Fred (Jess's uncles from Virginia) and Greg. Here are a few pictures from the butfest including the 34 lbs halibut caught by Steve. This was the biggest halibut of the trip. I might mention that on the first day of fishing Uncle Fred caught the first and the largest fish. He is a seasoned fishman.

While the guys were fishing on Friday, Aunt Kathy and I went to SF and did the a great tour. We saw fisherman's wharf, pier 39, ghiradelli square, marina green, presideo, palace of fine arts, golden gate bridge and tiburon. We then came home and had dinner with the guys. It was a fun and busy day.

Here is a picture of the happy fisherman. Some are happier than others.

The 34 lb. halibut and the happy fisherman Steve

Here is Greg wishing that this was his fish!

The first day slaughter

This was the fish feast. We actually had halibut and blue fin tuna (previously caught).

Here is the setting sun with the smoke filled sky. Too many fires in California, but it makes a nice picture.

Amazing Evening on San Francisco Bay

The weather in the Bay Area has been way too hot for me. So, two days in a row, we headed out to the bay seeking cool air and it was wonderful. On top of that we were with our good friends Helen and Ben and David and Lakshmi.This shot was taken as we were leaving Richmond. David, Lakshmi and Ben were enjoying the breeze.
Here we are: the three long time friends and walkers. We tried to walk today, but it was way too hot. It looks nice here.


Speaking of looking nice. It was a spare the air day today, but the GG Bridge looks like the air is pretty nice.

Check out this sunset on the way home. It was beautiful.


Here are pictures of the three couple. Friends for life!

Here is David talking to the seagull that was following our boat. A short while before this David was hardly talking. He likes to keep his eye on the horizon. He's much more fun when the boat is moving.
I almost always want to post pictures with people in them, but this was just too beautiful. Thanks to Captain DB, we had an amazing cruise on the Bay.

A perfect evening on the Bay

What a picture perfect evening on San Francisco Bay. Eric called yesterday and asked if we could take some of his friend from out of town, out on the bay. Who would have guessed that the weather would be in the 80's? On top of that Don had a young man on the boat that loved to fish. He caught his first halibut. It was a keeper at 24 inches. Not bad for one cast.
Oh, did I mention that I enjoyed taking pictures. Another day in the life of Carol and DB




Now this is a happy fisherman!

Surprise 40th Anniversary

My best friend Helen and her husband Ben were blown away last night when their daughter Karmi, who is 7 months pregnant with their first granddaughter, surprised them with a wonderful bay view dinner. They didn't have a clue that their closest friends would be there to celebrate with them. 40 years is something to celebrate!
Here is Helen being greeted by our dear friend Lakshmi who lives in Utah (now that was a big surprise).

This is long time friend Irene and her husband Marsh being greeted.

This is an important picture. Ben is explaining how simple a wedding they had. Ben claims the church did everything and it cost almost nothing. Helen was rolling her eyes and was thinking "It was simple for Ben, but not for me." Oh...... The memories!
Here we are. What a great evening. Happy Anniversary Helen and Ben

San Francisco Walk - Eureka Valley

I took another Stairway walk in San Francisco. These are my friends Jeanie, Marianna and Helen. That could almost be a European hillside city in the background. But it isn't. It's right across the bay from my house.

There were lots of stairs and some slopes on this walk. Jeanie did survive the walk even though she wore very cute, but not practical walking sandals.
At one point we had a great view of downtown SF. I took a lot of pictures with my very big new camera lense. I don't think I will take it on too many more walks, but it was fun to play with. Helen just got back from Paris and she still had the energy to join us for the walk. We concluded the walk with a great little french restaurant on 24th Street.

San Francisco -great walks - great pictures

Today was a picture perfect San Francisco day. I went for a walk in the city with a friend. I decided not to bring my camera. We were walking stairways in San Francisco and I decided to just take in the beauty of the moment. I really should have brought my camera because it was so beautiful. The weather was perfect. I walked on the water front and up the Filbert Steps to Coit Tower in a short sleeve cotton top. What a perfect day. The views were stunning. This summer when I'm around, I want to walk in the city every week. It's only a BART ride to a tourist mecca.

Since I didn't bring my camera, I thought I would share two pictures with you. This one is a photo that I have hanging in my living room. It was taken by our friend Doug. He is an amazing photographer. It was taken from the Albany waterfront. Don got it for me for my birthday last year.

When I woke up last Friday, it was pretty clear, so I went down to the Albany waterfront with my camera. As I started to hike out on the "bulb", I came across this stack of rocks. You will notice that directly across the bay in San Francisco is the Transamerica Pyramid. These rocks are a replica of the pyramid. Someone spent a lot of time stacking those rocks. Pretty cool!

So, now I'm looking at telephoto lenses for my new camera. I want to go back down to the bay and take more pictures of San Franscisco. I'm waiting for that perfectly clear day. Oh, and I'm waiting to find the new camera lense. Keep watching. I know that I'll get that perfect panoramic photo.