Happy Birthday!

June 18 Birthday: 1942 Paul McCartney rocker, Beatles (for Dan)
June 25 Birthday: 1963 Mike Myers Canada, comedian (for Anna)
June 27 events: 1844 Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormons, and his brother Hyrum were lynched by a mob in Carthage, Illinois (for Lindsay, sorry Linds...)
June 28 Birthday: 1966 John Cusack actor (For Stacie - we all know how much you love John Cusack :)
July 5 Event: 1989 Rod Stewart hits his head while on stage & knocks himself out (For Leslie)
July 12 birthday: 1937 Bill Cosby (for Steve H.)
July 15 birthday: 1973 Brian Austin Green N Hollywood Cal, actor (David-Beverly Hills 90210) (for Mitch - do you even know what Beverly Hills 90210 is? :)
July 19 birthday: 1954 Kathleen Turner actress (Romancing the Stone, Jewel of Nile) (for Scott S.)
July 21 birthday: 1952 Robin Williams (for Leeann)

Trayden James Hillstrom

James & Kristina have lots of cute pictures of little Tray on their blog. What a lady killer already!

New Baby Craythorne

Mike and LeeAnn had their little baby girl yesterday afternoon just before 5:00 p.m. LeeAnn had a smooth delivery without any complications. We are all greatful for that. Here is the little hottie. She is adorable!

Happy Birthday Scott

Birthdays: 1907 Lord Laurence Olivier actor, 1970 Naomi Campbell model
Events: 1906 Wright Brothers patent an aeroplane, 1930 Ruth hits 3 consecutive homeruns, 1933 Loch Ness Monster is 1st reportedly sighted by John Mackay, 1956 "Bob Hope Show" last airs on NBC-TV, 1961 1st revolving restaurant (Top Of The Space Needle in Seattle), opens, 1990 Microsoft releases Windows 3.0, 1992 Johnny Carson's final appearance as host of the Tonight Show

View from 85th floor restaurant of the Taipei 101 tower. A very nice member took us there for lunch.

A fantastic shoreline view from a mountain town above Keelong.









"The Queens head " rock formation at a Goblin Valley like area along the Taiwan coast.









May 25, 2008
The Chang Kia Chek Memorial

The J Hillstrom's in Hong Kong

May 16 2008

Jeff, Leslie, Lori and Scott on their way to Hong Kong to visit Emily there. Afterward,the 5 of us will go to Taipei, Taiwan and then into Beijing, China. Scott was on his mission in Taiwan.



It was a 14 hour trip from San Francisco.


We arrived in time to cleanup and go to Emily's branch meetings. They were held in the 11 story church office building here in Hong Kong where there are 4 wards and 5 or 6 branches. The building also hosts the Asia Area authority offices.

The area authority leaders, Pres. Hallstrom, and Pres. Garns families live there also. Pres Perkins could live there but has a private codo on the south side of the island. Pres. Perkins was Scotts mission president so Scott loved to see him again. He is a very influencial man in China economic circles.
The public transportation systems is incredible. They have every means of moving people. On the street they have an older system called the Ding Ding. It is an electric double decker trolley car, where there are hundreds of them full of people. Their name comes from the bell they would ring to warn pedestrians. There is not much head room for us taller Hillstrom's.

After church we went to a zoological and botanical open park.

Then in the evening went across the bay and watched a laser light show from the warf. We could see the beautiful Hong Kong skyline.

Suffering from jet lag we all slept very well at Emily's apartment.

May 19 2008 -The next day in the morning we went out to a "wet" market (also known as an open market) right by Emily's house. It was cool to see all the fresh fruit, fish, meat and veggies. We bought a bunch of exotic fruit to eat for breakfast, mangos, mangosteens, grapes, dragonfruit, dragoneyes, jackfruit, and kiwi. It is so cool to be able to get all this fresh fruit that you can't get in the states. Afterwards we went to three other markets. We went to a jade market with rows upon rows of jade shops with so many beautiful things to look at. We bought a few touristy things, but mainly treated it like a museum. Anything you thought was cool and looked at with some interest or touched then the people at the stands would try to sell it to you. It was kind of fun haggling with all the people even if you didn't want it. Scott was happy that he got someone to drop 30 or so US dollars off the price of something he bought :). He still thinks it was a great deal but who knows. Then we went to a flower market and a bird market, with many many flowers and birds everywhere. Some things were suprises we have never seen before.
In the evening, Emily's boss with her husband and daughter took us out to eat at a seafood restaurant. We ate some things new, like abalone, ostrich, squid patties (deep fried breaded squid, which was good). We also had fresh shrimp. They are proud of fresh food and when we say fresh we mean really fresh. Her husband ordered the meal. On the menu was a fish called groupa. You can see live fish swiming in the tanks and that is what we got. They cook it whole and serve the whole fish with head and all to you. No, we didn't eat the head and bones.

We rode a couple of ferrys across the harbor to see a big floating restaurant. Went back to crash at Emily's. Still suffering from jet lag. We have a full agenda of things that we want to cram to our agenda this week and we hope we can keep up with Emily

Skiing

So I have always been meaning to post a bit about mine and Lori's big ski trip last month. Sad thing is that I never did. But I bet you wouldn't mind at least seeing some pictures from our great fun trip to Sundance. (notice that I am wearing green since we went March 15th, St. Patricks day.)








But if you notice... Lori is not wearing green. I tried pinching her but she was wearing too much clothing to feel it.

The weather was really nice and clear in the morning.
but by the time it was afternoon we could hardly see past 50 feet while at the top of the mountain.

Anyways, it was a fun time and I hope we go next year as well. I'm all for the yearly tradition.s
(Lori out of control going down the hill)

-Scott

Happy Birthday Jacob

Birthdays:1452 Leonardo da Vinci, 1959 Emma Thompson ,

Event:1493 Columbus meets with King Ferdinand & Queen Isabella ,1850 City of San Francisco incorporated ,1817 1st American school for the deaf opens (Hartford CT),1912 Titanic sinks at 2:27 AM in North Atlantic as the band plays on ,1927 Babe Ruth hits 1st of 60 homeruns of season ,1948 KCPX (now KTVX) TV channel 4 in Salt Lake City UT (ABC) 1st broadcast 1952 Franklin National Bank issues 1st bank credit card
,1983 Tokyo Disneyland opens

Happy Birthday Kristina, Jeff, Jeff C. and Jaysie!

March 29 Birthday: 1964 Elle Macpherson Sydney Australia, model
Events: 1985 Wayne Gretzky breaks own NHL season record with 126th assist, 1986 Beatle records officially go on sale in Russia , 1996 Cleveland Browns choose new name, Baltimore Ravens
April 2nd Birthdays:1920 Jack Webb Santa Monica CA, actor (Joe Friday-Dragnet), 1947 Emmylou Harris Birmingham AL, country singer
Events: 1902 1st motion picture theater opens (Los Angeles CA), 1917 President Woodrow Wilson asks Congress to declare war against Germany, 1921 Professor Albert Einstein lectures in NYC on his new theory of relativity, 1932 Charles Lindbergh turns over $50,000 as ransom for kidnapped son, 1954 Plans to build Disneyland 1st announced
April 3rd Birthdays: 1924 Doris Day, 1924 Marlon Brando, 1942 Billy Joe Royal, 1942 Wayne Newton, 1958 Alec Baldwin, 1959 David Hyde Pierce, actor (Niles Crane-Fraiser),1961 Eddie Murphy
April 4th Birthdays: 1965 Robert Downey Jr
Events: 1964 Beatles' "Can't Buy Me Love", single goes #1 & stays #1 for 5 weeks

Happy Birthday Em

1909 David Niven, 1917 Dinah Shore, 1927 Harry Belafonte, 1956 Timothy Daly New York NY, actor (Joe-Wings, 1974 Mark-Paul Gosselaar actor (Zack-Saved by the Bell)
Events: 1932 Charles Lindbergh Jr (20 months) kidnapped in New Jersey, 1940 12th Academy Award: "Gone with the Wind", 1941 "Captain America" appears in a comic book, 1962 K-Mart opens

Happy Birthday Mike and Ryan!

Feb. 23rd Birthdays: 1955 Howard Jones rock pianist/vocalist
1972 Jamie Watson NBA forward (Utah Jazz)
Events:
1896 Tootsie Roll introduced by Leo Hirshfield
1997 Scientists in Scotland announced they succeeded in cloning an adult mammal, producing a lamb named "Dolly"
Iwo Jima Day (1945)
Feb. 28th Birthdays:1968 Sarah McLachlan folk singer
1980 Nick Carter singer (Backstreet Boys)
1981 Elijah Wood, actor (Lord of the Rings)
Events:
1922 American Pro Football Association renamed "National Football League"
1951 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

Happy Birthday Katie, Jason, Nicholas and Lucy

Feb. 5th birthdays: Zsa Zsa Gabor, Red Buttons, Hank Aaron, Roger Staubach, Jennifer Jason Leigh.
Events:1922 Reader's Digest magazine 1st published, 1942 "Woman of the Year", starring Hepburn & Tracy, opens at Radio City, 1967 "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" premieres on CBS, 1989 Kareem Abdul-Jabar becomes 1st NBA player to score 38,000 points

Feb. 12th: Abraham Lincoln, Charles Darwin, Omar Bradley, General of Army WW II , Lorne Greene, Forrest Tucker, Joanna Kerns, Arsenio Andie MacDowell
Events:1921 Winston Churchill becomes British, minister of Colonies, 1967 Keith Richards, Mick Jagger & Marianne Faithful busted for drugs, 1964 Beatles 1st NYC concert (Carnegie Hall)

Link to Emily's Blog

I ended up starting a blog for myself about my adventures here in Hong Kong. The address is emilyandhongkong.blogspot.com

I'll add it as a link from this Hillstrom Blog. Check it out if you want. I got a lot of pictures there.

Em

Happy Birthday Lori and Sydney and in remembrance of Grandpa!
Birthdays on Jan. 19th:
1807 Robert Edward Lee Stratford VA, General-in-Chief (Confederacy) 1809 Edgar Allan Poe Boston, author (Pit & the Pendulum)
1936 Ursula Andress Switzerland, actress (She) 1938 Phil Everly Brownie KY, singer (Everly Bros-Wake Up Little Susie)
1943 Janis Joplin Port Arthur TX, blues rock singer (Down on Me)
1953 Desi Arnaz Jr Los Angeles CA, actor (Craig-Here's Lucy, Fakeout, Joyride)
1954 Katey Sagal Los Angeles CA, actress (Peg Bundy-Married with Children)
1982 Jodie Sweetin actress (Stephanie Tanner-Full House)

Events:
1903 New bicycle race "Tour de France" announced
1937 Millionaire Howard Hughes sets transcontinental air record
1939 Ernest Hausen of Wisconsin sets chicken-plucking record-4.4 seconds
1955 "Scrabble" debuts on board game market

Birthdays on Jan. 20th:
1928 Martin Landau Brooklyn NY, actor (Mission Impossible, Tucker, Space 1999)
1929 Arte Johnson Chicago IL, comedian (Laugh-in, Don't Call Me Charlie) 1930 Edwin E "Buzz" Aldrin Jr Montclair NJ, USAF/astronaut (Gemini 12, Apollo 11)

Events:
1930 1st radio broadcast of "Lone Ranger" (WXYZ-Detroit)
1945 FDR sworn-in for an unprecedented 4th term as President
1958 KUED TV channel 7 in Salt Lake City UT (PBS) begins broadcasting
1965 The Beatles appear on Shindig (ABC-TV)
1969 Richard M Nixon inaugurated as President

Emily in Hong Kong!

Hi family! I wanted to let you all know that I made it to Hong Kong. I've been here for a little over a week now, and I'm starting to feel like a regular! What an exciting, busy, diverse city. There's so many new things to see and do. I love the Chinese food. And, might I say, I have chopstick skills I never knew I had! I've even impressed myself, I thought I'd be a flop at that! I've only eaten like 4 meals with a fork. My finger muscles will be really strong by the time I get home!

Here I am standing in front of one of the open markets that they have all over here. They sell lots of fresh fruit, fish, meat, veggies, etc. And, they also have booths that sell anything you've ever wanted (or not wanted for that matter!) (cheap China trinkets, etc)

Everyone I work with is super nice and it's been fun to experience the new culture here. They are all excited to introduce me to their Chinese way of life! I think I'll really like it here! I have an ocean view from my apartment window, which I love (although I can only seen part of it, through the other tall buildings, but I'll take it!). And, it's weird to not have a car. But, the public transporation is wonderful and I can get most places close by using the "Ding Ding", or the trolley.

Anyways, hope you're all well. Keep in touch. My email is emshillstrom@hotmail.com. Or if anyone wants to come visit, I'd love it!

Love,

Emily

Happy 5th Bday Cade!

Check out our new Blog!!

Hey everyone. Check out our new blog! Thanks for all your help, we would have never figured it out on our own. This is such a fun way to keep in touch, I think I just found myself a new hobby :) Love you all! Love, Kristina and James A.K.A. the Hillstrom Buckeyes.
GO BUCKS!!!

GO BUCKS!!!

Hello everyone from OHIO! This is a really cool blog, and it's fun to see what the family is doing! Congratulations Camille on the big news... that's really exciting! Okay everyone I hope you'll be watching the big game this monday and not rooting for LSU. Let's just hope it wont be an embarrassment like last year. It starts monday 5:30 or 6:30 pm your time, so tune in! Go Bucks!!! Hey Jodie... "O...H..."

The James and Kristina Hillstrom's

Just in case ...

Just in case some of you didn't know (because I didn't) ... I just logged into the Hillstrom email account and saw the following email from Mike and Cindy. CONGRATUATIONS CAMILLE!
-Lindsay

Camille got an engagement ring from Brad this morning-Christmas. It was all fun and exciting. The first thing Hannah said was, "Now I can get a nephew or a niece." The date is probably May 10 in the Logan temple. She wants to have a party the night before instead of a reception. More plans later. We just wanted to share this before the day ended. Hope your day has been merry.