Old News Is Good News

We started this blog in the beginning of 2008 but there were some events that happened in 2007 that were very note worthy. Tim and Jen both graduated from college in the late spring of '07'. In October Hugh and Jenni tied the knot.


Tim's Graduation

Tim Graduated from BYU with a degree in Exercise Physiology. The security was SUPER tight because Vice President Chaney was the key note speaker at the commencement ceremony. We had to be at the Marriott Center 3 hrs prior to the commencement (which was another 2hrs) The alumni society prepared bags with water, brownies, pretzels and trivia facts to help make the wait more bearable. The next day each department had a smaller diploma ceremony. We would have been there for days if we had to sit through every graduate getting their dipolma

After the ceremony, Tim placed his "graduation stole" around his dad's neck. He said "this is for you, I love guys" On the back he wrote the best thank you note we have ever received. What a wonder son!






Jenni's Graduation


Jenni graduated from Cal State Channel Island with a degree in Psychology. CSCI is a newer university so the enrollment is not as gigantic as other Cal State University. This was
a perfect environment for Jenni. By the time she graduated, she knew all the professors in her department as well as the head honcho, President Rush.

Being a "local" affair, lots of family were able to attend. Tim and Cheri flew in for the festivities.

During the procession into the courtyard where the ceremony was held, Jenni carried the banner for the psychology department. I can't begin to explain the pride in seeing her carrying that banner. We knew how hard she had worked for it. Tears of joy just ran down our faces.
Jenni has been accepted into the Masters Degree program at Cal Lutheran University. Her classes start this September ..... Jenni you are awesome!



The Wedding


Jenni and Hugh were engaged for 2 years. At first, it seemed like a huge chunk of time, but it really flew bye. They got married at the McCormick Home Ranch in October. They both wanted a garden wedding and reception. The Ranch is a wonder property with rose gardens, beautiful lawn areas and a cape cod style house which was not part of the rental as it is still a family home.

Hugh and Jenni wanted a Scottish wedding, which is reasonable considering Hugh is Scottish. Many of Hugh's family and friends made the trip from Scotland. With all the kilts and a Scottish piper, it seemed like the real deal, especially when they flipped up their kilt .... This is a "G" rated blog, so no photos will be posted.
It was great seeing so many of our family and friends together.

We were truly blessed because the day after was when all the winds and fires arrived. The angels were smiling on them because their wedding day was absolutely beautiful.

Memorial Day

We had a small BBQ to start the summer season. Jenni and Hugh helped with cooking so Jerry did not have to stand at the grill and cook ribs. Jerry has been giving Hugh tips on grilling and he is becoming quit a good BBQ cook.

Our June gloom has come in today, but that's alright because it keeps the temperature moderate, around 65 degrees, unlike it was 2 weeks ago (90 degrees) not fun.

We are looking forward to a fun summers. Lots of good stuff planned.

Jerry's Knee Surgery

It has been a long time coming (6 years) but Jerry finally has 2 new knees. He had his right knee replaced in Sept, 3 weeks before Jenni and Hugh's wedding.

His left knee was replaced on May 7th. Anyone who knows Jerry, knows what a struggle he has had these past years with his knees.

There is still lots of recovery to go through. His right knee healed very well, we know his left knee will be just as good.

Tim and Cheri's Visit

Tim and Cheri had their 2nd wedding anniversary in April and decided to come to sunny So Cal to visit. They spent their anniversary at the Pierpont Inn in Ventura then spent the rest of the visit with us.

While they were here we had a chance to have an early birthday party for Tim. He got to visit with some of his friends and they had fun playing "over the line" with the wiffle balls.

This will probably be the last time they will be able to come down to see us for a while. Cheri is due to have the baby next month (June 2oth) so traveling will be very limited. She looks great, Jenni got to feel the baby kick!

Margie's Visit

We have a whole group of really wonderful relative that live up there in Washington state. They are all part of Grandpa Selle's side of the family.

When our cousin Margie (Aunt Chris's daughter) retired from her job as a social worker, she decided to take a road trip with her friend Kathe who also recently retired. Luckily we were one of the stops on her road trip.

We don't get to visit very often so it is very special when we get together. Marge and Kathe stayed for 3 wonderful days. We got to share pictures, laughs and lots of memories. Lets make the most of the good times.

New York

New York was our last port of call as well as the end of our cruise. We got up early at 6 AM to get a good spot at the bow of the ship to view the Statue of Liberty as we entered New York Harbor. I became very emotion as we past Lady Liberty, because I am an immigrant to this wonderful country and I am very aware of how different my life could have been.

We stayed overnight in mid town Manhattan. We were able to walk to Rockefeller Plaza, there we took an elevator to the "Top of the Rock" as it's called and got to see the most awesome views of New York.

We also found some hidden treasures in the middle of this concrete jungle. We found small urban parks nestled between buildings off of busy avenues. New Yorkers like to have places where they can go to enjoy beauty and nature even if they have to squeeze it in. We will definitely go back.

The Dominican Republic

We really did not know that much about the Dominican Republic (except that it was next to Haiti) so we did not know what to expect. Samana is a small peninsula that is on the southern part of the island. It is covered with coconut palms and has very lush vegetation.

Our shore excursion was to one of the national parks. It was a 30min boat ride across a bay that was as smooth as glass that morning. We were able to visit caves with ancient carvings and drawings. Then we went through a mangrove forest. After all the trekking around through the rain forest, we were taken to a small island called Cay Leventado.

Cay Leventado was something that came right out of Caribbean Magazine. There were hammocks tied between coconut palms, turquoise water and a white sandy beach. There was a small reef near shore that you could snorkel to. It had enough sea life to keep us in the water for over an hour. There is big lessen to learn from this, always wear a shirt when snorkeling! especially if you are prone to sun burns like Jerry.

St Thomas US Virgin Islands

We have never really sailed on a sail boat. The closest we ever got to sailing was being on Tom and Kathy's boat when they went to dump the holding tank at the marina. So when we got a chance to sail on the racing yacht and actually be in a race ( really a mock race with one of their boats) we jumped at the chance.

After showing us how to work the wenches and grinder we had our small race. What a blast! We worked hard, I'm just glad the crew was there to help us. It is very apparent that things happen very quickly so you have to be ready.

In St Thomas there are more jewelry stores then bars. Every nook and cranny has a store of some kind so the shopping is "off the hook" tax and duty free. My kind of place.

Curacao

Curacao is well known for the beach diving, so that is what we did. We made arrangements with the Dive Bus to do 2 beach dive and we were not disappointed.

The Dive Bus is a bus that picks people up from their hotel and takes them to several dive locations. Unfortunately they don't pick people up from the cruise ships. I guess they have had issues with people not knowing what cruise ship they were supposed to be on and what time it left. So we took a cab to the their dive hut on Piebarri Reef.

The worst thing about beach diving (for us) is getting to the location. This usually mean a possible rough entry though the surf zone and a surface swim against currents then a rough exit though the surf zone that fill every nook and cranny with sand. We were pleasantly surprise to find the dive hut was in a sheltered cove, no waves, no currents and a very short surface swim



to the reef. Piebarri Reef is beautiful. It has huge elk horn coral and tons of sea life. There is an artifical reef called "the car pile" because that is exactly what it is. We were not able to go to it because it lays in 80 ft of water. Jerry and I were the only diver certified to dive to 130 ft. so the dive guide only took us to 60ft. We were still able to get some pictures because the water is so clear.

Mark (he and his wife are the owners) was friendly and helpful. He was adopted from Korean and raised in England. We love his thick British accent. Tim was our dive guide and showed us all kinds of cool stuff and was funnier then heck. Tim is also British that means when the diving was done, it was tea time. We will definitely return.

Aruba

Bon Bini ! Aruba is one of the ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao) which are part of the Netherland Antilles. Aruba is now an independent country but it still retains much of its Dutch culture and language. The buildings are colorful (although some were a bit odd) and the design could be called Dutch in a Caribbean kind of way.

We did 2 dives in Aruba, I did not take my camera on the dives because the currents were a bit strong and the dive boat didn't have rinse tanks for cameras. The defog for masks wrecks the rubber O-rings.

We arrived on a Sunday, when we left for our dives all the stores and restaurants were open. When we returned from the dives that afternoon everything was closed. We found out that all stores most close at 2pm, its the law. The only stores allowed to be open were in a very small "free zone" near the cruise ships. It was probably a good thing all the shops were closed. We were running out of room in our luggage and we still had 4 more ports to go.

Belize

When you arrive in Belize you will notice that there is no pier for the ship. It is a "tender port", the ships anchors a few miles offshore and everyone is tendered to the mainland on small boats. It's strange that we have been to Belize twice but have never been to the mainland. Belize is one of the most beautiful dive destinations in the world. We are usually tendered to a resort to do our dives, then back to the ship.

NCL contracts with the Hugh Parkey Resort. It has great boats and a great staff that will show you the amazing reefs and all the sealife that is there. It is a smaller resort so the staff becomes familiar with the divers. Carlos, our dive guide, seemed like an old friend by the time we were done with our dives. Even our dive guide (William) from our trip last year came by to say hello.

The water is almost always 82 degrees, the visibility in the water is 50-80 ft and the coral reefs are beautiful. Belize will always be one of our favorite dives destinations.