Thanksgiving Weekend

This Thanksgiving weekend has been a just-about-right mix of family and fun, work and relaxing. Stephanie was once again our hostess (I like to joke that I've managed to go from going to my mom's for Thanksgiving dinner to going to Steph's - skipping right over me), and Kris and Sterling were able to join us as well (their second dinner - I remember those days!).

Kaiya made everyone a name card, mostly by herself - and a tiny bit of help from Mom. She is really moving along in her letters and can sound out most words and write most letters. She's already half-way through her kindergarten work book that I got her for her birthday ... and it's a big one! When we asked her what she wanted for Christmas, she said "a real computer, like Mommy and Daddy's." And don't think she wouldn't notice if it was one of those kid computers!

For some reason, she was having a real love-fest with the napkins. :)

The next morning I went over to watch the kids while Mom and Dad went to play flag football. First we played with playdoh. This is Bluebell, although the only thing blue on her was her eyes.

Alas, Bluebell met a rather violent end.

Teagie sure loves the playdoh too!

Later that night we went on TRAX (me, all the way from West Jordan) to go see the Christmas lights in Temple Square, along with everyone else in the Salt Lake valley. Mickel's dad and stepmom, Dennis and Jaime, also went with us. It was a mild night and a lot of fun. Teagie didn't seem to be feeling well, and was sucking on the inside of his cheeks and drooling a lot. It turns out that he probably has foot and mouth disease. But all in all he was a pretty good sport.

This Thanksgiving holiday, I have much to be thankful for. Especially for my two wonderful daughters. They have each added to my life in immeasurable and unique ways, and I truly believe that I must have done something pretty spectacular in the pre-existence to deserve them in this life! I love you more than words can say, "Annie" and "Rissy." You are the light of my life. And of course I'm thankful for Mickel and Sterling - I couldn't have made better choices for my baby girls. They are both kind and good men. And it goes without saying (because I say it so much anyway), I am thankful for my darling Kaiya and Teague and my angel in heaven, Kade. I am thankful for all my family, who always love and support me unconditionally. I am thankful for all my friends, near and far, who do the same. I am grateful to have a job that is not only a good one, but an inspiring and enriching one. I have a good life, and if I forget to say it, I always know it. Happy Thanksgiving to all.

A Long Month

As mentioned previously, I had two bouts of the (thankfully) fast-moving stomach flu, so I thought perhaps I was done with my share after that. Wrong! Towards the end of October, I came down with what I think was probably H1N1 (didn't get tested or treated, as I'd heard that they weren't doing much on either score). It was unlike any flu I've ever had. The usual symptoms, but also a mental fuzziness that was really the most disconcerting symptom of all. And it just wouldn't let go. To add to the general fun, I had the General Managers meeting fast approaching, so I couldn't afford the fuzziness (thank goodness for Gayle being on my team now, is all I can say). I spent two weekends in a row flat out in bed - including missing Halloween with the kids - but I was still sick when I headed out for the meeting. Thankfully, a couple of days into the meeting I began to feel better. The meetings turned out well, which is amazing given my mental state in the preparation stage. We went out for a lovely dinner at the Capital Grille, and also to the Miami Heat vs. Cleveland Cavaliers basketball game. Unfortunately, the Heat lost the game that night, but it was a good game and it was fun to see Shaq and LeBron play. The announcer even welcomed our group.


Mercy, our Country Manager in El Salvador. We're both having fun being "abuelitas" (grandmas).

The day after those meetings were over, Gayle and I went on a site visit on the MSC Poesia, in preparation for a group sailing on that ship in April, although the itinerary we went on is different than what the group will do. It's no secret that the site visits are the best part of my awesome job, since I'm not taking care of a group, and it's me that's being wined and dined. But - and I know I will get absolutely no sympathy on this point - it's also a bit disconcerting. I'm not really on a vacation, so I feel that I should be working every minute. Which, of course, I don't. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to deal with it!

My cabin had a balcony - always a nice feature on a cruise.

The main swimming area on board - deserted because we were at port in Jamaica. Neither Gayle or I really wanted to go in, as we have both been before. And the high pressure the vendors use there is really not fun at all. But here's a couple of shots from the ship.

The smoke is from one of numerous bonfires made by the residents, I guess for cooking.

Here's a shot of the Poesia as we're going in to Grand Caymen for a little bit of shopping and lunch.

A couple of iguanas in the shopping center.

Grand Caymen port (Georgetown)

The cruise was interesting in that there were 1,300 rock group members and fans aboard in a group called "Shiprocked" (I wasn't clear how the group operates, but their cruise last year was the "Motley Cruise" so I guess it's an annual event that gets a new theme every year). They didn't really share their schedule with the other passengers, but there were several shows. The group sported a LOT of tatoos and long hair, but were very nice and friendly.

At any rate, I am SO glad to be through with being sick and with traveling (except for a small trip coming up to Phoenix and Tucson - in order to keep my Medallion status!). It's almost always sweet to come home. Almost always - I didn't want to leave Maui. :-)

The Playhouse is DONE!

Many years ago, Kristen had a boyfriend who bought her a canvas swing. Most people hang these from a metal stand built for the purpose, but he - wanting to impress her I guess - asked my permission to build what we later came to call the "swing house." I had no idea of the monstrosity he had in mind until it was well under way. Then, before the swing house could be properly finished, the relationship ended. For years, the swing house sat half finished. I stored things in it for winter and it became kind of a catch-all for junk.

Eventually, I decided that it either had to come down, or remade into something else. Since the grandkids were on the scene by then, and not knowing quite what I was getting into, I decided to have it remade into a playhouse. Many dollars and man-hours later (BIG shoutout to Paul the handyman, Sterling, and to Steph and Mickel for their help in painting), the playhouse is officially finished.

New Patio

I had come to realize that I wasn't getting as much enjoyment as I should from my backyard (well, technically it's mostly my side yard). The patio that was there was small, and the very small amount of lawn had not been installed correctly and was lumpy and ugly. One of the lilac bushes had died, and the other made the yard feel even smaller because of it's placement. So I decided to get a much larger patio done, and xeriascape the rest of the backyard. The xeriscaping is yet to be done, but the new patio looks great!


New patio, sans landscaping and the rock wall in the back right corner still needs to be done (you can see the form for it in this picture).

Grammie's Great Babysitting Adventure

Steph and Mickel went to a medical conference in New Orleans, so I took a few days off to stay with my favorite munchkins. After seeing Mom and Dad off at the airport, our adventure was ready to begin!

The next day we went to Lagoon and spent a few hours in Kiddieland. The kids went on a few rides before Kaiya discovered the "Moonraker" and then all selection was over. She loved that ride! And Teague seemed pretty content to go along with her. We would have stayed later but Teagie spilled water all over his pants and it was getting dark and cold, so that was the end of Lagoon day.


Moonraker actually went pretty fast for a kiddie ride, but neither of them seemed fazed by it.

Our busy little bee!

On Sunday night Kaiya came down with a bad case of the stomach flu. Luckily, it was the fast-moving variety, so by Tuesday she felt well enough to go to the Discovery Museum (or Children's Museum, as I still call it). This is such a fantastic place for little ones, with all kinds of imagination-driven activities. Kaiya especially loves the store, and Teagie - of course! - the water feature. Kaiya most definitely did NOT want to leave!

Unfortunately, by Tuesday evening, both Teague and I also came down with the oh-so-icky stomach flu, and that was pretty much the end of the fun part of the whole thing. I was pretty glad to be relieved of duty on Wednesday. You really do forget how much work young children can be. I'm sorry to say that a few days after their return home, Steph and Mickel also fell victim to the flu.

Soccer

For the past three weeks or so, Kaiya has been on a soccer team. So Grammie has been going every Tuesday evening and Saturday morning to her games. She does a great job as goalie, and runs and kicks the ball really good ...

... but sometimes loses track of the fact that there's a game going on ...

Teagie and Mom are always there to cheer her on! Sometimes Daddy is able to make it, and Grandma Linda and Grandpa Mel.

Here's a picture Teagie took of his mom ... it turned out pretty well!

Here's the team picture. Unfortunately, Kaiya refused to get in the picture.

My Little Piece of Heaven

Last weekend I took a drive down to my cabin lot, just east of Mount Pleasant in Sanpete County. I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to get up to it, since there had been a storm a few days before, with snow in the higher elevations. And there was still a skiff of snow on my property, but the roads were dry (and it was an absolutely beautiful day for a drive).

I'm sorry to say that I haven't been up there for a couple of years, since there's a limited season in getting up to it (May through October, pretty much), and summer is the busy season for me at work. If all goes according to plan, I'll build a small cabin in the spring of 2012.


Glad I got the opportunity to see the fall leaves!

Something was new at the mouth of Spanish Fork Canyon since I drove it last ... HUGE wind turbines! It is a perfect place to harness the wind.