Cheesecake Factory---Yum!!!

Going out to dinner after the International Car Show was the last part of our Martin Luther King Holiday celebration. Trying to be frugal, I suggested going to IHOP which I just happened to have a coupon for. Thankfully for all of us, Jane Anne had joined us at the car show and suggested Cheesecake Factory. What a step up from IHOP and a great way to end our holiday break! Thanks, Jane Anne!

Card making therapy

Twice this week, I had the great fun of going over to my friend Tiffany's house and making cards. We go down into her basement where she has a big craft table and loads of toys for the kids (Grace loved visiting her son Mark) and we create. Create mess, create friendship, and of course, cards! We are happier than kindergarteners with our glue and scissors, ribbons and embellishments. We talk and laugh, and sometimes we have even cried as we share our lives. It is great therapy and we get the added bonus of cute cards. (In case you can't tell, this week's project was wedding cards.)

International Auto Show

For the last part of our Martin Luther King Holiday celebration, Bob, Josh, Janie and I went to the South Towne Expo center to the International Car Show. It was fun to see, sit in and examine different cars from all the major auto companies. I decided my dream car would be a fully loaded Highlander Hybrid. Josh liked the Hummers, Jane Anne the Subaru Forrester Hybrid, and Bob has is eye on the Lexus Sedan Hybrid coming out some time next year.

Sunday Dinner

Sunday dinner is an honored tradition in our family. The table is always decorated with a cloth and festive dishes. Yesterday, Jan. 18, we invited Mom and John and Colby to join us for dinner and then play "Catch Phrase" afterwards (which provided lots of exciting, fun moments). We had cranberry glazed pork roast with "funeral potatoes", baked squash, peas, salad, and fresh fruit. We also had "Grandma's Rolls" that bake with butter and brown sugar in the bottom of the muffin tins. For dessert, we had delicious homemade apple pie that was baked by Bob's office manager, Shauna Miller. She always brings us two "just out of the oven" pies for Christmas and this was one we had frozen. It was fabulous!

Josh, "the beast" and the road

Friday, Jan. 16, 2009, Josh began his driving career!!! It was not an easy thing to convince him that he was ready for this experience...he was fairly nervous at the prospect. He is learning on "the beast", my 2002 suburban. I figure if you learn to drive a gigantic car, you won't have any trouble with a regular size car. Besides, he will probably drive the suburban most of the time when I am driving the Highlander hybrid. We went to the Timpview driving range and he drove around for about 1/2 an hour---straight, in circles, right turn, left turn, and pulling into parking stalls. We went out into the student parking lot for part of the time and there practiced some backing skills. He did quite well--- I don't think I even got any new gray hairs from the experience. With as talented as he is on the Wii, I hope he will take to this quickly. Now, one of his favorite requests is "Can we go driving? or "Can I drive home?" That will have to wait until he passes the written driving test and gets his learner's---but we are on the way!

Holiday week-end

Friday, Jan. 16th, began the four day holiday weekend commemorating Martin Luther King Day.
Some of our activities Friday included taking Josh driving for the first time (a separate blog about that later), Bob and Josh going to a golf simulator, Sue taking a lesson on her Mac book (still at the frustration level) and going to dinner with Ryan and Becca at PFChang's. We were celebrating Ryan getting a new promising job with a company that sells survey software to colleges and companies. It is an up and coming company and we are excited for Ryan! Saturday, we were joined by Janie and Colby and Ryan and Becca and we all went bowling at the BYU games center and then had pizza here at the house. Bowling was lots of fun! We had lots of laughs with a few moments of victory against the ever "stalwart 10-pins". It was fairly evident that bowling was not a frequent activity among us. But, most everyone got close to or just barely broke 100 (shows you what talented bowlers we are). You'd think from some of our bowling names that we'd be really good..."Young stud", Josh; "Doctor Strike", Bob; "Hott Mama", Sue; "Condor", Ryan; "Kitty", Becca; "Zip", Janie; and "Padlock", Colby. We hurriedly ate our pizza from Nicoitalia and then went to see the movie, Valkurie. It is about the last assassination attempt on Hitler's life and the courage of the men who were willing to risk their lives for what they knew was right. A very sobering film!

California break and the boyfriend, too

The day after Christmas, we left for Newport Beach to stay in the Marriott Condos there. It was our year for the marrieds to be with the in-laws and so we invited Colby Neville to join Bob and me and Josh and Jane Anne. I felt brave suggesting that Colby come along (Colby is Janie's steady boyfriend---serious boyfriend---a person of great interest to our family---you get the picture...) Anyway, what if he didn't like us, what if he thought we were weird or boring, what if, what if, what if? I'd always heard that one of the best ways to get to know someone is to live with them for a time. Well, the verdict is in---and we like this guy! He is thoughtful and kind, easy-going and easy to talk to. He did well even with Josh being the chaperone 24/7. I just hope he likes us, too. I guess the fact that he and Janie are still seeing each other and texting a million times a day (7000 texts in one month) says something!

We had a fantastic time in Newport! We arrived late Friday and spent Saturday just relaxing and enjoying the outdoor features of the resort. We played chess with a huge outdoor chess set, had a putting contest, and walked all around. Josh and Bob played tennis later that afternoon.
We went to the tide pools in the nearby state park and then went for dinner at
Sunday we went to Sacrament meeting and ended up in a really friendly and welcoming ward, conveniently located adjacent to the Newport temple which is beautiful! Then we went to see the Queen Mary and a Russian submarine. Crawling through the tiny portholes, Bob somehow
pinched something in his back. He was fine until about five hours later, when horrible pain set in.

Monday, we hurried off to Disneyland, and with Janie as our guide and "fast-pass" guru, we ended being able to go on all the rides we wanted to. Poor Bob, with his back in spasms, sat on a bench and watched the masses go by. He finally went to the first-aid office and laid down for awhile. He had a really tough time---we wished we had a wheel chair for him. Stoic as he is, however, I doubt he would have ridden in it. After a great day for the rest of us at "The Happiest Place on Earth", we went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. When we got back to the condo, Colby gave Bob a blessing. Bob is now about two weeks post injury and is slowly recovering. He hopes to ski soon with Josh.

Indiana Jones right here on Brookshire Dr.!

We have had so much snow and great amounts of it in such a short period of time, that even a week after the last storm we still have ice all over our residential streets and a huge wall of it in front of our otherwise clear driveway (thanks to the snow-melt heating system!) When I go out of our driveway, I feel like I have to "gun-it" to clear the mound at the end of the driveway and then the fun begins. Even though I am driving "the beast" (the affectionate nickname of my trusty suburban) and only going at a snail's pace, the experience is very similar to the Indiana Jones ride in Disneyland! Jolts and jarrings, dips and huge ice holes make for an exciting ride. The section of rode in front of the Vincent's driveway (where we cross over to drive on the correct side of the rode) can be a white-knuckler too. After the last storm, there were at least two feet of piled up snow that we had to plow our way through. (I'm grateful that we haven't taken out the Vincent's mailbox so far!) Did I say January is a little boring, a little slow---I just need to run errands and as soon as I leave my garage I know my life for the next five minutes will be an adventure!

I never met a snowman I didn't like

I just took down the smaller tree in the big family room, the one with all the "snow people". I love snowmen because they always greet you with a smile---life is always good if you are a snowman and the temperature is 32 degrees or below! January is such a long month in so many ways---the holidays are over, the weather is so cold and so snowy, and nothing much is happening. Somehow, being surrounded by grinning snowmen lifts my spirits! I'm glad that they can stay around until Easter!

Boxing it up

I always experience some sadness when it comes time to take down our Christmas tree. I feel like much of what has happened in our lives is represented on this tree. We still use our original ornaments that I made out of felt scraps because money was tight when we were first married. We have lots of little stuffed bears because they were ornaments the boys couldn't break when they were little. We have ornaments for those dear ones who have passed away---my dad and stepfather and our grandparents, for the baby I miscarried at five months. We have ornaments representing happy and cherished memories of family vacations and when we picked up sons from missions. We have some from Russia, Sweden, Germany, Austria, France, Spain, England, Scotland, Italy and Japan. We have ornaments representing historical sites of the United States: Mt. Vernon, the White House, Boston, and Nauvoo. There are ornaments from treasured friends and our children when they were in grade school. We have three small "Superman Santas" that represented Rob, James and Jared when they were little. There are sports ornaments for each boy and the sports they participated in. There are horses for Jane Anne. Our dog Jackie has two ornaments dedicated to her. The angel on top of the tree was hand made by my mother's friend, Patty Lee, and used on our tree when I was a child. What a coincidence that her husband is now my step father, John Lee. Each year as I get out the ornament box and start unwrapping it is like saying a welcome "Hello" to old friends and now that I have to wrap them up again it is as if I am saying "Good-bye". There is a lot of love signified in this tree---and I think that no matter how many years pass by, we will always have this "memory tree" as part of our Christmas!

New Year's Resolution: Create a blog, learn to blog, and BLOG! I have several friends who blog and just love it! They have convinced me that this is an amazing way to journal and scrapbook at the same time! My friend, Tiffany Vincent, blogs constantly and just can't say enough good things about it. "It's very therapeutic" she affirms. Lisa Willey told me last night that she no longer has any guilt about keeping a journal and scrap booking for her family. Guilt free---I can go for that! Lisa blogs every Sunday and I can manage that---Tiffany started with once a week, but it became an obsessive love and she blogs almost every day. I'll have to see what happens to me---once a week or everyday? Either way, I know I will be happy to have journaled about our life!