The Hill Family Holiday Gathering

Its always so great when I get to be in the presence of some of the people I love more then anything else in this world. And this was one of those days!  My Aunt Joyce, whom I have called Aunt Cookie since I was knee high to a grasshopper! She came up from LA. My cousin Carlos who is more a brother to me then a cousin came with his partner from Colorado. My son was there as well as my Brothers  boys so it was going to be a grand day!!!

We arrived to a table full of food  thanks to my wonderful sister-in-law Wendy. She always goes out of her way to make every gathering wonderful.  It was just great to be in the same room with everyone. And me being me, had camera in hand pretty much the entire time. hahaha I cant help it! They are memories and I want to cherish them all! I have learned over the last 10 yrs. that life is short and you  need to soak up and enjoy every minute your with your family! So that is why I am always with camera. I think I got some good ones that day. Sadly the day ended too soon as I had to head off to work. Well my friends that is where my holiday fun ended. I ended up getting into an auto accident on the freeway while heading to work that night. It was just a fender bender. Could have been much worse. I am working thru some health issues due to the accident. But I am thankful that I got to spend the time I did with both of my families. That accident was maybe a smack in the head from my mother or father or guardian sprit saying “Wake up!  Appreciate the beauty around you and how lucky you are to have a loving husband and son, Family who will always be there for you. Even though you only see them once a year, if you needed them they would be there. It was a lesson I plan on heeding. Cuz you know I don’t need  those types of slaps to the head very often!! hahahahah
I look forward to seeing them all again soon. And plan to do a better job of keeping in contact.

Blessings to all!!!

		Hill Family Holiday VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Life after the Holidays.

Well, life right up to Christmas was, well uneventful. We got to spend some time with Dan’s sisters before I had to head off to work Christmas Day. As always it was wonderful to  see them. The times together are too short and the time between always too  long. We and a nice lunch,, got to check out John’s winery! Wow he has some great stuff down there! Such a joyful day. Even managed to get us all together for a photo or two. Hard to believe how big the kids have gotten.

Just a few of the pics from the winery! Its just basically a lil Mom and Pop thing, but boy do they may good wine!!!
After our wine tasting session we stepped out to the beautiful surroundings and took a few family photos.
 
See, I told you the surroundings were beautiful! I would love to go back when everything is in full bloom! Oh the photos I cold get! Anyway, Now to the family photos.


So at the top we have all the Jensen kids (minus Amanda). Then you have Dan and his sisters Heather and Crystal. Then me with my fabulous sisters-in-law! Then Grandma Laural with her beautiful granddaughters Carina and Caitlyn. Then just a few more shots of the beautiful surroundings. We had a lovely day with them and hope it wont be so long before we all can be together again!!! 

Stay tuned for the Hill family get together!!!!!! That is my next post!

Pieces of my heart

Hello again Friends,

Well it is fastly approaching 2 months since we have left the UK. I always knew that I had this "thing" for England and Ireland. That there was something about it that felt so familiar to me. I always chalked it up to just my obsession with it. But it wasnt until I was there, until I had actually stepped foot on the soil there, that I felt like I was finally........home. I instantly felt comfortable and at ease. It all seemed so familiar. And of course there was Dawn. I have always been a firm believer in past lives. And I knew years ago that Dawn and I had a special connection. I know that we were once linked to each other in a past life. There is no way to explain it that it will sound like I am sane to those of you who dont believe. But I knew years ago that Dawn and I were sisters in a past life. We knew so much about each other without having ever met. There was this familiar feel about her when I spoke to her on the phone. She was and is my sister.

So once Dan and I finally arrived in England I was eager to see if that feeling transpired over to my physically seeing her. When I actually saw her, when I was finally able to wrap my arms around her and hug her, would it still feel the same? Would that familiar feeling still be there? And it was. When we finally got off the plane and made our way thru imigrations and security. When I walked thru the airport and finally saw her standing there eagerly searching the crowd for my face. I knew everything I had been feeling was accurate. When she finally saw me and smiled, I felt like I was finally home. And when we finally embraced each other..... my world finally fell into place. This was my sister, this was the "thing" in my life that always felt out of place, the thing that was always just out of reach. She was the other half of me. As if I was a twin searching eagerly for her long lost sister. Once I hugged her and looked into her eyes filled with tears, I knew that I was home, the puzzle was finally complete. Everything just seemed to fall into place.

And I have to say that our husbands....... They too seemed to be a mirror image of each other. My husband who is usually a quiet and reserved man, came out of his shell. The two of them seemed to feed off each other. They were so comfortable around each other.....as if they had known each other for a lifetime! Coincidence? for me I think not. I think.......no....... I know that the four of us have been apart of each others lives before. We are family, and we go back a long long time.

On the day that we left Norwich it was as if part of my heart was being torn out. As the bus pulled away and I looked back at the two of them, and then looked at Dan. I knew he too felt what I feeling. That we were leaving a huge piece of our hearts in Norwich. But I am not in sorrow for that piece of my heart for I know that it is being well cared for. My sister has that piece of my heart and she is protecting and cherishing it until I return. When the 4 of us are together, to laugh and to enjoy all the wonders that Norwich hold for us. When we can all go out and exlpore the beautiful relics that await us.

Until that day comes I will hold them here.....in my heart where they will stay safe and remembered every day.

A glimpse at our time in Norwich

Hello Friends ~

Well we have been back from our amazing vacation for 3 weeks now.  Seems like it was only yesterday that we were driving thru the beautiful Irish countryside looking to see where our adventure would take us next.  Now that we are back I thought maybe I should give everyone an update on how the trip went since  didn't do a very good job of keeping up with my blog while we were gone. So lets see how well this ole brain of  mine  is at remembering everything!!

Dawn & I our first picture together

the gang finally together!

Well as you all know we spent the first 10 days of our vacation with my wonderful friend and sister across the sea Dawn and her family.  I don't know if I could find an adequate word to describe how amazing our time with them was.  Sadly it was too short. But in that short amount of time we saw and did so many things!  I quickly fell in love with Norwich!  There are quite a few ancient ruins. Old Abbeys, Churches, Monasteries. Each  more amazing then the one before!  We covered so much of Norwich and its surrounding areas. On our first night there we had a BBQ with all of Dawn and Darryl's friends. Oh my and what a fun bunch of people they were!  We had great food, and lots and lots of laughs! Towards the end of the evening we sent up some small hot air balloons. 

Getting ready to send the balloons up

away they go!

That was fun and really beautiful to watch them go and sail away. Everyday was just one fun filled adventure after the next.  With Darryl's help I quickly learned how to enjoy the taste of different Ales. I was always a Coors light drinker. But I can now proudly say that I enjoy the taste of many different types of beer! (Thanks Darryl!!!)   I also found that putting malt vinegar on your fries is REALLY yummy!

One of the many Ales I fell in love with!



While we were in Norwich we went on a Ghost hunting adventure a Weeting Castle. If you have been reading my blog then you know about Weeting Castle as I have written about it in the past. It was quite an adventure. We met up with Eddie, Jean and Steve who are folks  I had been chatting with and that live in the Norwich area and who regularly go out to Weeting and do investigations. Unfortunately I didn't get anything on camera. But, there were spots where you got some definite feelings that you were not alone. One of them was the old ice house. It is reportedly haunted by a rather ill natured spirit. I being the crazy person that I am went in to the ice house and spent a few minutes in there. And I can tell you that there is definitely something in there. I never thought I was one who was  "Sensitive" to the spirit world, but after our time in Norwich and thru out Ireland I have since changed  my mind on that.  My body felt the physical effects of being near or in a place with spirit activity.  I experienced it in several places in Norwich and in many places we stayed at and visited in Ireland. 



Feeling the effects in the Ice house

The infamous Ice house



I wish I would have been smart and keep a journal of the places we went to everyday, but alas I didn't think about that until after we got home! Oh if I were to sit here and write about all the places we went and things we did in beautiful Norwich this blog would be the size of "War and Peace"!  So, I will keep moving along. What I can tell you is that the time we spent in Norwich with Dawn and Darryl is something that  I will forever cherish. It all ended too soon. And the day we had to leave was a sad one.  I can tell you that while at the bus station just before we boarded our bus to the Airport, there were many tears shed and alot of hugs given. It was a difficult day.  I miss them and am looking forward to when we can all be together again. Hopefully next time they will be able to come here so we can show them where we live.

I think I am going to end this here.   I will pick up again next and fill you in on some of our adventures in Ireland.

Until next time my friends!

(I will include some photos here at the bottom for your enjoyment!)

White Horse pub (our first pub in Norwich!)

Bishops Bridge

The beautiful streets of Norwich