I revised my little message at the bottom. Maybe this will be more visible!

Where do I begin?

It has been quite some time since my last blog post. A brief summary of the past few month:

• February: Mike and I surprised my dad by attending a "Victoy Lane Racing Association" Banquet in Daytona; dad received the Fireball Roberts Hard Charger Award presented by Fireball's daughter Pam. It was a proud moment for my dad and our family.
  



• May: Melissa and Melanie flew out to surprise me for my birthday and we all drove down to San Diego. I was quite surpised to answer a knock at our door and see my beautiful daughters standing there. No, I didn't cry! Me, cry? We visited Hodad's in San Diego for a great burger. Mike and I saw the place on "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives (DDD), and knew we had to check it out! That has become our new hobby. Dining at DDD locations. We then had the most wonderful dessert at a little place called Extravagant Desserts, and they were just that!
  
  July: Melissa, Ray, Melanie, and Jorge flew out for a family trip to a couple of our beautiful (words cannot describe) national parks. We visited Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah and then travelled to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. The whole trip was an adventure, which included ATV rides through Kanab forest, but the mule ride down into the canyon was probably the highlight of our trip!
  
  
  August: For the past 6 years, the girls and I have gotten together for a "mother-daughter" weekend. This year we spent the weekend in St. Simon's Island and Jekyll Island. We always seek out the ghost hiding places by taking haunted tours, which always give us a thrill. Haven't seen any "live" ghost yet, but will keep looking.
  
  
  September: Mike and I attended his cousin Jennifer's wedding in Huntington Beach. Mike's mom is as beautiful as the first day I met her a long time ago.... :) Of course, Mike is just as handsome as ever!
  
  




• October and November: Mike and I were both able to be in JAX to help Melanie celebrate her birthday, and I was able to be there for Melissa and Ray's birthday. As usual, it was great to see family and friends. Mike managed to "work" in a little fishing.

As many of you know, I have been working diligently to lose weight, and am at the 25# mark, and recently RAN in my first 5K in Santa Barbara. I'm proud to say that i walked VERY little during the entire run. Mike participated in the half marathon, but I'll let him be the one to tell you his results :)



• Mike and I took some time Thanksgiving weekend to visit Redondo Beach to get away. It is a beautiful beach with a shop filled pier and marina. Nothing like the shoreline to refresh one's self.

• December 4: Mike and I are getting ready to head out on a bird hunting trip this weekend in Dunnigan, CA, and can't wait! It has been a while since our last birdhunting, so we hope to bag some birds. Mike can't wait to try out his new Baretta, and I'm blowing the dust off mine!

We won't be home for Christmas this year (seriosuly), but wish you all a very blessed Christmas, as we celebrate the birth of Jesus, our Lord and Savior!

Daily, I thank God for our dear family, Christian friends, our health, and our jobs! We are blessed, and I do not take that lightly. Not a day goes by that I don't count my blessings!

Still looking around at different churches, but none feel like "home"! Pray we will find our place!

God Bless! Mike and Susan

Guest are always welcome

I've been so busy working I haven't updated my blog. Mike's job keeps him very busy, but we are thankful he has a job! He is enjoying the position, so I guess we will be here as long as they want to keep him. Personally, I think he is doing an excellent job, from where I sit, handling all the responsibility.

Back in January, we headed to Big Bear Lake. At the top of the mountain is the most beautiful lake, which was partially frozen and Big Bear Summit Ski Resort. We decided to try our hands at skiing; a first for both. Mike will be competing in the next winter olympics! Me: I will be on the sidelines cheering him on! I think I have discovered that skiing is NOT my cup of tea! Mike did great! I spent half my day trying to get out of beginner class, and the other half watching people ski, and watching people's STUFF! Next time around, I think I will try the downhill slide on inner tubes. That looks like more my speed!

We try to get away on the weekends, even if it is a short trip to Chinatown for fresh Chinese veggies and Dim Sum; the market; or just riding somewhere. We recently had a chance to visit the San Diego Zoo, which was very nice. I have a lovely photo of a proud peacock! As you can see, Mike can't handle too much fun! While I was getting a foot massage on some crazy little machine at the zoo, he decided to work in a power nap!

While in San Diego, we stopped off at Torrie Pines along the coast. The cliffs there were very beautiful.

Back around Christmas, we were given some gift certificates for Fogo De Chao Restaurant in Beverly Hills. Yes, that is where the Beverly Hillbillies dine! (Mike and Susan Eng, that is). We invited some friends from work to join us, and had a wonderful time. The food was so yummy! My new friend :) Elvia took a photo of me outside the window by the grilles. It is a Brazilain style restaurant, all you can eat, and 15 different cuts of meat: chicken, venison, beef, pork.......I didn't eat any food all day, so I could eat plenty that night.

Last weekend, we drove over to Santa Monica, took our bicycles, and rode along this very nice pathway along the coast. We rode from Santa Monica to Venice Beach. That is where all the leftover Hippies have homesteaded. That is quite an interesting bunch of folks there! Wish I had gotten some photos of them to share. I did get one of Mike on the boardwalk, and me with the bikes.

One thing there is no shortage of here in California, is a diversity of food! Mexican, Chinese, Korean, Italian, ..........We decided to try a new restaurant, a Korean BBQ, and it was a nice experience. The tables were set up with round gas grilles mounted in the center of the table. It was all you can eat, (our favorite). The waitress brought us a huge plate of several kinds of meats, which we grilled ourselves. It was quite tasty and definitely a different experience.

Until next time: hope you are all well; we miss our family and friends; please come and visit!