This photo taken on a boat tour of the Sydney, Australia harbor. I also took pictures of people walking across the top of that bridge!


Queen Victoria's Building, Sydney -- beautiful indoor mall -- where Phil and I did a bit of shopping and had a delightful lunch.


Sea anemone at the renowned aquarium, Sydney, Australia - December 2005


Exquisitely colored bird at a sanctuary, Sydney, Australia - December 2005

Koala bear (& Myrna) - Sydney, Australia December 2005


Phil feeding kangaroo ice cream cone filled with "kangaroo food," Sydney, Australia


Phil and Myrna - an outing into the Blue Mountains, Australia. "Blue" is due to oil from eucalyptus trees, creating a bluish hazy effect.


Bottlebrush "blossom" Blue Mountains of Australia

 

These four photos are from those I took when Phil and I visited a marvelous presentation called "Ice" when it was showing in Orlando, Florida, the end of November, 2003. This presentation of ice sculptures was set up in a very large venue, with special and colorful lighting accentuating and complimenting each sculpture, or sculptures within a theme.

Heavy parkas were provided for all visitors, because the venue was very cold -- freezing -- obviously. Phil and I wished we had brought winter gloves and earmuffs with us, because it was just like being outside in freezing weather.....it just wasn't windy. :-)

It was strange to shed the parkas and leave the show, only to walk back out into Florida's warmth and sunshine! It was a wonderful and memorable experience.


Remember: everything is sculpted from ice! Look at the fence and lighthouse.


Gabriel? Michael, the Archangel? :-)


The complete manger scene, including babe in manger, Mary, Joseph, animals, Kings et al.

An awesome experience!

Phil watching planes :-)


Today was Father's Day, and a good day for Phil. He was able to sleep in, and although he's had some work to do for his engagement at Genentech, it's been a wonderful and relaxing day actually.

Late morning, we ordered Eggs Benedict from room service, which is one of our favorite treats on Sunday mornings when we're in a hotel. We enjoyed the food (it was especially good here at the Marriott San Francisco Airport) while watching Meet the Press.

Later in the afternoon after Phil had put in a few more hours of work and I did some reading, we got out and went for a walk along the paved walking trail that runs along the bay in front of the Marriott. It's hard to walk and watch planes at the same time! ha There aren't a lot of people at one time, but those that we do encounter have either cameras or binoculars in order to capture or watch the planes landing or taking off.

Here are three more photos that I took while out on our walk this afternoon.

Driftwood


Marriott on the bay


Birds out "fishing" :-)

 

As you know, Phil is presently working on an IBM consulting engagement in South San Francisco at Genentech (a biotech firm), and we stay at the Marriott San Francisco Airport Hotel. I'm in the room during the day while Phil is at work.

The hotel is doing a good bit of renovation, including a new roof on the entire building. I've watched with interest from our hotel window as the workmen have been doing their jobs on a lower portion of hotel roofing.

This past Thursday, June 15th, their work became much more personal when they spent the entire day working on the roof right above our room! Their pounding went on all day long, and I reached a point where I put ear plugs in my ears while I read and worked at the computer. That really didn't help much, though. ha

Later on, I decided to call the "At Your Service" line, just to ask how long the roof repair work was expected to go on. I was told that it could be another two weeks. I called Phil and expressed my concern to him, since we were booked in our room until Tuesday, June 27th! When Phil arrived "home" from the office, he did a bit of looking around, and spoke with one of the repairmen and a security guard about our concerns. We then spent a little while discussing whether or not we wanted to gather up all our belongings (we had totally unpacked everything!) and ask to be moved to a different floor.

In a very short while, we received a courtesy call from one of the men at the front desk, telling us that because of the "inconvenience" the roof repair noise had been to me that day, the hotel would like to move us to a lower floor and a larger room. Well, the "larger room" ended up being the Presidential Suite! The suite is two rooms - our regular room which is plenty spacious attached to a huge living area with couch, chairs, wide screen television, large dining table, and another full bathroom! These are pictures of just the living area.

What blessings we continually enjoy, and we thank God daily for them!

Early morning view from the hotel window.

What fun to ride a famed cable car to Fisherman's Wharf or Ghirardelli Square! That's my favorite person in the entire world standing on the "running board" before getting off "our" car.

I'm fascinated and intrigued by nature in all it's mystery and majesty. I'm calmed by the presence of still bodies of water, such as this early morning shot looking across the bay from our Marriott Hotel window toward the San Francisco Airport landing strip. On this particular morning, the water, which is usually moving and active, was almost as still as glass.
Soon after I took the first photo, the tide began to wane and I captured this plane as it approached the landing strip. As you can see, the water was so still it captured the plane's reflection in it.
The repetitive cycle of the tide coming in, going out, coming in, going out never fails to amaze me. I think about the water displaced here....how it moves to the "Tide's In" position at another shore far away. It's perfect; it doesn't pause or go in the wrong direction. Constant, perfect, unrelenting movement.
It had gone out, but it came right back in! And after lingering here for a few hours, it would begin its pace of withdrawal to that other shoreline. And I get to watch it happen every day from our hotel room window.

 

Well, today is Saturday before Father's Day, 2006.

Phil was greatly surprised yesterday when he was called downstairs to the front desk of the client's office where he's presently engaged on an IBM consulting job. He wondered WHO had sent him a package, and HOW they had gotten the address of the client!

Waiting for him was this beautiful, edible fruit creation, sent by our daughters and their children! He said that once he carried his gift back upstairs, he was the envy of the entire office the rest of the day! As a matter of fact, several colleagues asked for the website so that they could order the same thing for their fathers. Smile.
Happy Father's Day, PJ...the love of my life and wonderful father to our three daughters! I love you, Darling!

We took a walk along the shoreline of the bay, right across from the landing strip at the San Francisco Airport. Captured the California sky at sunset.
Don't you feel the serenity of the peaceful waters?
The structure to the right of center in this picture is located at the San Francisco Airport. Obvious is the walkway along the bay shoreline.
A United 747 landing at SFO at dusk, with a Canadian goose as "wing man."

 

Antonio, our oldest grandchild. He is loving big brother to Raquel & Lalo, and doting cousin to Julia Jo.

Julia Jo - age 2 (outgoing, happy child)

Our precious Raquel Brae, age 6, just graduated kindergarten!

Lalo Jerome - 8 months (sweet-tempered baby)

Years ago I prayed, "Lord, when I become a grandmother, please don't let me be obnoxious like all my friends!" Little did I know that when a woman becomes a grandmother, things change dramatically: the sun, moon, and stars now revolve around those little people we can love so freely without any of the responsibility we felt while raising their parents.

Our grandchildren are: Antonio, who is 9; Julia Jo, who is 2; Lalo, 8 months; and Raquel, who is 6. This picture was taken the day that Julia Jo turned two years of age, and her cousins, who live in the same part of the country, were ready and willing to join in the fun of celebrating....including piling onto Grandma's bed at the hotel for a picture before everybody went swimming!

A large United Airlines plane, a "heavy," flew over while we were at the National Cemetery in South San Francisco.