Donuts Day!

Tomorrow is Andrew's last day at the daycare next door.

Jill and Andrew will be moving to Kemp.

This is a photo of Kameron & Andrew patiently waiting for the doughnuts.

Andrew - the two fisted eater!

Doughnut face!



 

"The Breakfast Crew"
Back row: Jill Elliott (Andrew's mommy); Sherilyn Cross (the brave babysitter); Hilary Hagen (Kameron's mommy)
Front Row: Kameron Hagen & Andrew Elliott

Andrew & Penny

One day last week, Jill was out of town on a business trip and Doug had dinner plans after work.

So Andrew and I went to visit my friend Linda ...and meet her scottish terrier "Penny".

Here  Linda is getting Andrew used to the idea of a dog.

Now we are waiting to see what either of them will do.

 It took a little patience, but they both ended up enjoying the visit!

Beer Brewing - Caribou Slobber

Doug started a new batch of beer "Caribou Slobber"  at the end of December.

He bottled it on January 19th, 2013

Doug is shown here washing up the Grolsch bottles.

Everything is ready to go!

 

Filler' up!

 

Capped and ready to drink in about a month!

These are the labels he created for this batch of beer.

In Loving Memory - Melvin Kuklenz

In Loving Memory

Melvin Kuklenz

June 22, 1933 - January 5, 2013

Melvin Kuklenz obituary - Storm Lake Pilot Tribune

(pictured here are all four Kuklenz men- Jackie's TCHS Graduation - May 2007)

Dear Dad in Heaven

Dear Dad in Heaven

I sit here and i ponder how very much

I'd like to talk to you today

There are so many things

That we didn't get to say

I know how much you care for me

And how much I care for you,

And each time that I think of you

I know you'll miss me too.

An angel came and called your name

And took you by the hand and said

Your place was ready in Heaven, far above . . .

And you had to leave behind,
all though you dearly loved
You had so much to live for, you had so much to do . . .
It still seemed impossible, that God was taking you.
And though your life on earth is past,
n Heaven it starts anew
You'll live for all eternity, just as God has promised you.
And though you've walked through Heaven's gate
We are never far apart
For each time that we think of you,
You are right here, deep within my heart.

Cruise Photos

Below are some of the professional photos taken on board during our cruise.

 

 

 

Jewel of the Seas

Friday, January 4th we flew to Tampa, Florida.

We stayed at the Hampton Inn - Rocky Point location

This location offered a cruise/transfer package.

The hotel picked us up at the airport Friday afternoon.

Saturday morning the hotel shuttled us to the cruise port and when we returned from our cruise on Thursday, the hotel shuttle picked us up at the cruise terminal and took us to the airport.

We ate dinner at Bahama Breeze, it was within walking distance of the hotel.

The food is always wonderful and their legendary tropical cocktails aren't too bad either!

Saturday morning, we left for the cruise port.

We have never sailed out of Tampa before and the whole embarkation and disembarkation was seamless. It took only a matter of minutes to board.

We also found out we could take on 2 bottles of wine per stateroom.

It was a very nice way to enjoy wine with our dinner!

We cruised with Doug's sister, Diane Kennedy; Diane's friend Pam Blessing;

and our friends who live in Tampa, Ken & Kim Spooner.

It was a blast and they were all wonderful travel buddies!!!

Stats for the Jewel of the Seas:

2004 Radiance class of ship

962' long & 106' wide

3 swimming pools & 3 hot tubs

1055 staterooms: 817 with ocean views and 238 interior cabins
There are also 19 accessible rooms
This is an example of a handicap / wheelchair accessible room
#4017 (Diane & Pam's room)

Port of Key West

Our first port of call was Key West, Florida.

We had arranged to meet Doug's aunt & uncle (Rich & Lynda Christensen) for lunch.

They winter in Big Pine Key (and summer in Grand Forks, ND).

It had been a while since we had seen them so it was great to get together.

We had lunch at the Hog's Breath Saloon just a few blocks from the cruise pier.

 

Rich & Lynda brought gifts for each of us.

Mahogany seed pods that look like intricately carved wood.

Rich is telling us how to display them.

 

This is a close-up of my seed pod.

After lunch we went in search of some Key West beach towels for our pool.

But no luck, they've all been replaced by less-plush towels.

Port of Cozumel

Tuesday, January 8th

We visited the port of Cozumel. Cozumel is an island in the Caribbean Sea off the eastern coast of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. The main town on the island is San Miguel de Cozumel. The island is about 30 miles long and and 10 miles wide. It is located about 6 miles from the mainland of Mexico and 56 miles south of Cancun.

This is the pier our ship was docked on, right next to the Carnival Legend.

This is the walk up to the Duty Free shops at the edge of the pier.

We did a little shopping and then headed back to the ship for some quiet time by the pool.

The Incident

In Cozumel Diane & her friend Pam went on a island excursion, touring the "hot spots" including a tequila tasting.  They were almost back on the ship when "the incident" happened.

It was around 4pm. Diane missed about 4 concrete stairs and landed on her left arm. She was in a lot of pain and I'll spare you most of the details, but she had to be taken by ambulance @ 4:30pm to the Centro Medico de Cozumel where she had treatment. Guest services called our stateroom to notify us that we were to go to see Diane before she left in the ambulance. Doug would end up accompanying her to the hospital. The total cost for the ambulance, xrays, er visit, casting supplies, meds & physician services was $1,052.  (No wonder people go to Mexico to have their medical/dental services done!)  
The ship was due to leave port at 6pm. The ship was cleared by immigration at 5:45 and the ship would not wait for Doug and Diane to return to the ship. There were lots of phone calls made between 4:30 and 5:45 and ended up with lots of tears shed. I talked to several levels of management with RCCL guest services as well as the port authority personnel.

Doug and Diane spent the night in the Casa Mexicana hotel. They had chicken fingers (see below photo) and Doug was able to get them a flight back to Dallas on Wednesday.

Arriving back in Dallas, Doug made an appt for Diane to see Dr Leslie Jennings.
Diane is shown here after having her splint and compression wrap reapplied.

Helping Diane get her head washed.

Get well soon Diane!

We've got another vacation in our future!!

The moral of the story ia always buy trip insurance.