San Francisco 2009

Kevin, Zach and I recently returned from a trip to San Francisco. We arrived on Thursday and walked down to Fisherman's Wharf. We took a tour of the bay on a ferry which took us under the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz. It was windy but I love being on the water!! We visited the Aquarium, Alcatraz (which is very fun), a Modern Art Musuem (very weird!!), Chinatown, Lombard Street (the crookedest street in America), Little Italy (good food), Castro (very fun!), Haight Ashberry (very scary - to me anyway)and walked all over the city. We walked across the Golden Gate Bridge which I also loved! Kevin navigated us through the city pretty well. We used all types of transportation - the Bart, cable cars, trolleys, buses and a town car to get back to the airport. We ate lots of great food - fish & Chips, Chowder in a bread bowl, Chinese food with things we weren't sure what they were, Pizza, In & Out Burger and even Burger King...hahaha. We saw things I don't think you are supposed to see......homeless people digging through garbage cans, a guy using a building for a bathroom, crazies talking to themselves, a guy and girl almost getting into a fight on the bus, cross dressers, prostitutes (we're guessing) and everything in between.

We also saw the most beautiful sights - the giant Golden Gate Bridge, the city from Alcatraz, sea life at the aquarium, beautiful victorian homes, Lombard street, just beautiful scenery. It was a great trip - thanks Kevin for planning it!

We had the best time in Vegas! Kevin and I, Pam and Chris, Tammy and Ted all left on Thursday morning. As we arrived in Vegas we discovered that a limo was just a little bit more than the shuttle so we hopped in the limo. The driver took us on a tour of the strip and told stories from his 50 years in Vegas. How fun. We stayed at the Excalibur hotel.

We walked around a lot looking at everything, including the M&M Factory. Saw Elvis (shocker!) and Michael Jackson. A few of us toured the Titanic Museum which was great. We all went to the shark aquarium which was really fun. We ate dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. We walked all over at night which was an experience. We saw so many things we never should have seen.....however, we also watched a water fountain show which was spectacular! The walk back to the hotel was so tiring!!!

The next day, we went to the Wax Museum and took so many fun pictures. Tammy and I karoakied (spelling??) and were judged by Simon Cowell and yes, we got our golden ticket to Hollywood! We also decided to use the bus pass. Fabulous!!!!!! We went to "Slots of Fun" which is a cheaper casino and we all played blackjack on a table for about 4 hours!!! It was sooooooo fun. We were loud and had a couple of great, fun dealers. We ate at the hotel buffet today which was really good but we were exhausted. Walked around some more, saw a statue guy who was so cool......and dragged ourselves back to bed.

Sat, we went to the old strip - Fremont Street. Again, thankful for the bus pass. This is the part I remembered from going to CA with my dad when we were very young. The Golden Nugget, etc. It's now covered and they do a light show at night which we missed because a few of us were too tired. Kevin taught us how to play Roulette....it was so easy and so much fun with a good dealer. We did really well there. Kevin put down $5 and walked away with $30. He gave me a few of those dollars and I walked away with $20. We are big time gamblers I'll tell you. It was just so fun to play for so long with so little money. We took a taxi back to the airport and flew home. It was a great trip and I can't wait to go again.

Sunset in Eagle Idaho 06/19/09

Can you believe that? Outstanding!

Eagle Fun Days and Family Fear Factor

We just finished a great weekend with most of my family coming from Utah. Everyone arrived Thursday night and we had 12 people sleeping at my house. Friday everyone went hiking to Table Rock while Pam and I did the shopping. Friday night we went to Big Jud's. Scott ate the Big Jud and fries which gets his picture on the wall (2nd time). He didn't get sick...yea for us! Then we went to Michael's work Blue Cow Frozen Yogurt. It's so fabulous! We watched an old scary movie from the 70's - Bad Ronald....very funny because some of us could remember seeing it when we were kids and it freaked us out.

Saturday morning was the waterparade and two of our guests hadn't been before. The weather was very cloudy and tried to rain but held off for the parade. Everyone was soaked. Later that day, we had "Family Fear Factor". They were divided into teams and the first game was to chew 7 saltines completely and then to try to blow a bubble with bubble gum....very hard. Next they had to find tootsie rolls in a mess of sauerkraut and kimchee. Very gross. Then came the food! Without knowing what it was, they had to eat three different kinds of things.....(heart, gizzard and ham hoof). Then the gagging began and luckily nobody threw up since we were indoors thanks to the rain! Then for a beverage they got a great concoction of beets, pineapple and green beans. Wow some of them could just down in like nobody's business. The final event was to find quarters mixed in with lots of change and crickets! I had to be sure none of those pesky critters escaped in my house. It was great and I'm sure something that will be talked about for years. Then we had the fabulous BBQ - cooked in the rain of course - and dessert. What a great day.

Sunday we went for a nice walk on the greenbelt where we saw three snakes...not so fun. I think everyone was exhausted but had such a great time. Thanks Kevin for all of your hard work in planning and cooking and making sure there's a little something different and exciting every year!

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a great weekend. We drove down on Friday and stopped at Maddox for dinner (always yummy). Saturday, we went to the Vietnam Memorial Moving Wall. We happened to time it right as they were doing a program. So we were able to see the HAFB 21 gun salute and the bagpipes as they played Amazing Grace while walking along the wall. Then we rode the Front Runner to SLC and went to the outside mall(name?). Zach, Katie and I went to the IMAX presentation "Under the Sea" in 3D at the Planetarium. It was very cool. We rode the Front Runner back to Ogden and went to dinner at Pizzeria (my favorite). Sunday, we went to breakfast, then to the cemetery. It was raining soooooooo hard and cold!!! We were supposed to have a bbq at the park but it was too cold so we stayed at Pam's. I was able to spend time with all of my family which is the best!!! Monday morning we went to see Brianna for her birthday - she's 3!! We had a gift for her and poor Brendan look so sad.....eventually Kevin game him a gift too so he was happy. Brianna got a talking mirror with the Disney princesses and lipstick and they both got bubble toys. We had a great time in Ogden and as always it's hard for me to go home.

Piano Recital

Tuesday May 19th was my piano recital. Everyone did pretty good! I had a couple of students who had chosen really challenging pieces and I prayed they would nail them and they did! I love the look I get as they leave the piano.....they quickly look at me and you can see them trying not to smile. It's so rewarding. Everyone received their composer statue for guessing the mystery composer. It was a great night and always great to have over - at least for another year.

You Gotta Love Spring!!!!!