The beginning of 2011 found us in southern California visiting relatives and friends after having Christmas at Carey and Greg's in Sacramento. We visited my Uncle Rex, 96 years old, not knowing that he would pass away 10 days later. Then 4 weeks after that Uncle Emery, 90 years old, also passed away. We also celebrated Caden's 2nd birthday on January 9.

We had some frequent flyer miles that needed to be used so decided to leave cold and snowy Idaho and go to Florida for a few days of warmth and R&R. Appreciated the generous hospitality of our cousins.

In March we were back in Sacramento taking care of Kyler and Caden while Carey and Greg were in New Orleans for some meetings, etc. Then we went to Los Angeles to do the LA marathon for the 26th year in a row. It was one of the worst marathons weather wise: cold, wet, windy, rainy, flooding, etc. So it was not as much fun as it could have been. I was interviewed by the KTLA TV station about half way through, but I don't think the interview got on TV. I paired up with another Legacy Runner that I have run with on a few previous LA marathons, and we talked and laughed our way through the miserable conditions! At least we finished. So many folks dropped out due to the weather and hypothermia, etc. Charles also finished but was very cold.

On our drive back home, we picked up Charli Jo in Portland while she was on spring break and took her home with us for a few days. Then I took her back home, so she could go back to school and I stayed for a few more weeks during Shelly's busy tax season, so I could transport Charli Jo to and from school and help out where needed.

On April 25 Charles and I took off for Nairobi, Kenya. We had good flights via Amsterdam. We were happy to visit the Dosses and appreciated their hospitality for a few days and get in some sightseeing in the area. Seeing the baby elephants at the Nairobi Game Park orphanage was fun. Then we went by car to Narok which is about 2 1/2 hour drive on decent roads. In Narok we were met by William, manager of the Maasai Dental Clinic. That was another 2 1/2 hours over very rough roads. We spent a month at the clinic where Charles volunteered along with dental student Chris Poe and his wife Misti. We had a nice apartment above the clinic and enjoyed some of our meals at the Siana Springs Safari Lodge next door. While the others worked, I did a lot of walking on the paths at the lodge, etc. I stayed inside the electric fences that surround the clinic and lodge which are to keep the wild animals out. I was also able to do a lot of reading. We enjoyed going out to the Masai Mara Game Park on the weekends and seeing so many African animals. One early morning we were able to go on a hot air balloon ride over the game park. That was so awesome. At the end of the ride, we came down to a beautiful brunch.