2014 in Review

Our travels this year took us to 7 countries, 12 states, and delightful visits in the homes of all ten of our children across the country. Here’s a summary, with our 10 kids’ names highlighted:

January – We took a road trip to visit Martha's parents in St. George and Kelly's family in Mesa, Arizona for her son Tucker's baptism.



Martha and her Mom in St. George

February – We took a winter break for two weeks of sunshine and warmth in San Diego, California and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

Feeding lorikeets and giraffes at the San Diego Safari Park



 

A beautiful week of sunshine in Cabo San Lucas

March – We celebrated our First Wedding Anniversary at home!

April – We enjoyed a trip to Seattle for our nephew's wedding, and Martha flew to Florence, Italy where she spent 10 days with her four sisters, and her youngest daughter Ali moved into our home with us.

May - Bob joined Martha in Florence and we traveled to Rome where we began an incredible Mediterranean/ Adriatic cruise with ports of call in Naples/Pompeii, Sicily and Venice, Italy with intermediate stops in Montenegro, Croatia and Slovenia, followed by two days in Venice and a few days in Paris, France.



               Eating real Italian pizza near Florence’s Ponte Vecchio               
 and paying a visit to the famous Trevia Fountain in Rome
       

 



Mt. Vesuvius and the ruins of Pompeii

Our cruise ship, Norwegian Jade, in Montenegro

Martha in the city square of Split, Croatia

On the Rialto Bridge in Venice, overlooking the Grand Canal




Enjoying a gondola ride through Venice

 






Cruising the Seine River through Paris, France

June – We hosted a South Africa Cape Town Mission reunion in our backyard, and were impressed by the number of missionaries who attended with their growing families and are committed to staying connected. We were called to serve an 18-month  mission in Johannesburg, South Africa, starting in February, and Bob began serving weekly in the Missionary Department at LDS Church headquarters. Finally, we took a road trip through Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, Monument Valley and Four Corners to Angel Fire, New Mexico for a 3-day Egan Family Reunion at the Snowball Lodge. We had all 47 of us under one roof... Bob's 7 children and their spouses and his 30 grandchildren and one granddaughter’s fiancé, plus the two of us!





At Delicate Arch and Monument Valley

 

EGAN FAMILY REUNION – SNOWBALL LODGE

ANGEL FIRE, NEW MEXICO - JUNE 2014

Pictured standing on the porch are, left to right, Katie & Christian, Kelly (holding Simon) & Richard (holding Millie), and Holly & Ben on the left side. On the right side, left to right, are Betsy & Klint, Kelsey & Robby (holding Ollie), Erik & Julie and their oldest daughter Amanda and her fiancé (now husband), Nick, and Lewis & Emily. Our teenaged grandkids standing on the ground are, left to right,  Andy (Emily’s), Matthew (Emily’s oldest, now on a mission in Wisconsin, holding Kelly’s Marshall), Taylor (Ben’s), Jacob and Ryan   (both Erik’s), Maggie and Kate (both Betsy’s), Ashley (Erik’s, now at BYU-Idaho) and Megan (Emily’s). Standing on the porch at the   top of the stairs is Shawn (Erik’s) next to me and Martha (who is holding Kelly’s Dallin), and sitting on the fourth stair from the bottom are, left to right, Luke (Betsy’s), Tucker and Ella (Kelly’s), Evan (Christian’s) and Connor (Ben’s). On the third stair are Max (Betsy’s), Levi (Kelly’s), Jack (Betsy’s), Trey (Christian’s) and Hannah (Ben’s). The silly girls on the second stair are Suzy (Betsy’s) and Samantha (Emily’s) and on the bottom step, front and center are Andrew (Christian’s) and Mason (Erik’s). 

July – We visited Cole, Alyson and one-year old Lily in Bentonville, Arkansas, where Cole was working on a summer internship at Wal-Mart headquarters. That was followed by a visit with Erik's and Ben's families in Flower Mound, Texas, where Bob performed the temple marriage of our eldest grandchild, Amanda, in the Dallas Temple.



Martha with Cole, Alyson and Lily
in Bentonville, Arkansas




Nick & Amanda Ritter at Dallas Temple

August – We enjoyed two weeks in Hawaii, followed by another trip to Dallas for Erik’s son Mason's baptism. Then Erik and Julie dropped off their second daughter, Ashley, at BYU-Idaho to begin her university studies and visited with us in our home on the way there and back.




With daughter Ali and grand kids Kippie and Johanna
at the Dole Pineapple Plantation in Oahu, Hawaii

View of Ko Olina Beach from our lanai

September – We drove to Nampa, Idaho for a visit with Betsy's family, then we flew to San Antonio, Texas to stay with Emily’s family for our eldest grandson Matt Christian's missionary farewell and setting apart to the Wisconsin Milwaukee Mission. We accompanied him on the flight home and to the Provo MTC. We also flew to New York City and enjoyed the Big Apple with Robby, Kelsey and Ollie in their new apartment on Central Park West in Manhattan's upper west side and took a beautiful fall foliage drive through upstate New York.

Bob with grandson Matt Christian at Provo MTC

Robby, Kelsey & Ollie in NYC

October - Betsy's family came and visited from Nampa, Idaho and we enjoyed Halloween festivities with our five local grandchildren... Christian's 3 boys and Whitney's son and daughter, Kippie and Johanna.

November – Our final road trip was to visit Martha's parents in St. George and to babysit Kelly's 7 children (all under age 10) in Arizona for 4 days, so Kelly & Richard could have a getaway in San Francisco. Later in the month, Kelly and Richard visited us in our home for Thanksgiving week.They joined with us and Whitney’s family, Martha’s sisters and their families, and Martha’s parents, 38 of us in all, for Thanksgiving dinner.

Kelly's 6 oldest kids from Arizona enjoy the rare
moment of building a snowman in our backyard

December - In preparation for our adventure in Africa, my brother Rick and his wife Carla introduced us to the Bugingo family, refugees from the Congo, who joined the Church in Ethiopia and have recently settled in Salt Lake City. We had them over for a Christmas dinner and celebration.

Bob's brother Rick and his wife Carla with their
daughter Shannon and Ines, Phillip, Yvette,
and Alia (front) Bugingo, and Ali's dog Jovie