HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Happy Halloween everyone.  Yes, this is a Halloween Tree in the office with all sorts of little halloween decorations and witches.  I know I'm technolocally impaired and can't figure out how to rotate the picture, so look at it with your head bent to the side.

Dr. Young is a huge fan of the holidays, so we have a Halloween Tree, Thanksgiving Tree, and about 15 Christmas Trees.  I will get pictures of the other trees as the holidays approach.

There are also a lot of witches and a wizard.

Also a very spooky Halloween Village.

Hope everyone has a great Halloween.  Wish I could be there to see all the little ones trick or treat.  I bought full size candy bars just in case any of the kids in the apartment complex come here.  If no one comes, guess I'll be bringing them home for the next game.

Braveheart Women's Event

Okay, so all of you who know me know that I am not the best event planner in the world.  Holidays and family dinner are about all I can manage.  You also know how badly I stress over these simple events.  Normally I am not a huge worrier, but events that I have to be in charge of stress me out.  I worry about whether the venue is okay, there will be enough food, what food to serve, how everyone is going to like it, etc.  If there is something to worry about, I will worry about it.  That's why you will laugh when you see that I was in charge of setting up an event for 60 women at the ranch.  I can't claim to have done this myself and if I would have been left with the previous kitchen staff, we probably couldn't have managed this great event.  In the end, it turned out beautifully.

The women were all from the Braveheart Group lead by Ellie Drake.  If you want to check it out go to http://www.braveheartwomen.com/.  It is a networking site for women who want to make a difference in their families and communities.  The name of the event was RESTORE and was designed to teach the women about alkalizing and how it can bring them to better health.

The staff I have at the ranch are amazing and helped me get everything set up on Saturday so we would be ready bright and early Monday morning when the buses arrived.  We had three venues; the pool for the majority of food and cooking demonstrations,

The classroom at the office where Dr. Young and Shelley both spoke, and then our own Palm Grove.  This is a gorgeous area down further on the property that involved some transportation issues, but ultimately was worth it.

I can't say that everything went without a hitch, but it did go well and I was exhausted after setting everything up on Saturday and then coordinating events on Monday.  It was a great experience though and I'm so glad that I had the opportunity. 

During the event Dr. Young talked about "The Box".  This box contains everything you need to gain health.  It also comes complete with a one day retreat to the ranch where you can learn the program, experience the atmosphere first hand, and sample our great alkaline food.  The women were very taken with "The Box" and it was a hit.

Sorry, I can't figure out how to rotate "The Box" so you can view it properly.

This is Rainbow Salad, one of the yummy foods the ladies were served.  We also had delicious wraps, veggie pizza, 2 different pates on seed crackers, soy pudding, seed pancakes, and vegan chili.  The food was delicious and Shelley and the kitchen staff were amazing.

All in all it was a great day.  Who wouldn't be restored when you can spend the day learning about how to be healthy, enjoying good food, good service, and good company.  Of course, the view helped too.

Great Weekend

Thursday afternoon was a pretty narrow escape.  I came closer to missing my flight from San Diego to Salt Lake than was comfortable.  I arrived at the airport at 6 pm and my plane was supposed to depart at 6:11 pm.  Luckily there was no line at security and the flight was a little delayed so I was able to make it.  It has been a while since I have run, but now I know I can do it if necessary.  I'm so glad I made the flight though, because it was a great weekend at home.

First up was visiting with Fia, Scott, and Clay (the new grandbaby).  He is so adorable and I could just sit and hold him forever.  We had a great visit Thursday evening on the way back from the airport.  Friday morning I helped Lua with Ari and got ready to go to Logan for the game.  As I am sure everyone knows, Utah State beat BYU 31-16.  It was so fun to sit in the stadium and feel the energy of this tremendous win.  Don and Marie were able to attend the game with us and enjoy the Aggie win also.  Russ was quite funny because he is such a big BYU fan that he was texting his dismay to me during the game.  I have to say this was one of the most awesome games I have ever attended.

This is after the game when Naki and his friend Tyler Larsen were celebrating the fantastic win.  Everyone was able to go to the game except Fia and her family and Lua and her family.  After the game, we hung out by the locker room as usual to congratulate Naki and take him to dinner.

Saturday was very busy with getting my hair done, visiting with Beth and Russ, and preparing for the vistory celebration we had for Naki at Jared and Adrian's house.  Thank you Jared and Adrian for letting us use your house for the party.  It was fun to watch the game highlights again with Naki and have him explain things.  We also were able to sing Happy Birthday to Vea.

Sunday morning was another visit with Tre and Clay.  Tre was so cute when I arrived, running out in his fireman clothes for a big hug and yelling "Hi, Grandma".  Clay is such a sweetie and I can't believe that he is going to grow and change so much before I see him again.

Naki and Lindsey were able to get me to the airport in plenty of time.  Thanks so much to everyone for a great weekend.  I'm happy that I get to come home again in a few weeks.

First Half of September

It's time to get caught up on my blog.  I have been busy the last three weekends, but before that I have no excuse. 

Over the Labor Day weekend, Ela and Daniel came to visit.  We had so much fun.  On Saturday we went to the Vista Farmer's Market.  They had tons of booths and many interesting things to see.  Ela and I got sucked in by a perfume salesman and ended up buying 3 little bottles of perfume.  Mine does smell good when I remember to wear it.

There was a lady who raised llamas with skeins of hand-carded wool for sale.  How fun it would be to make an afghan out of hand-made llama wool.

We celebrated Ela's birthday with pedicures and went for lunch at the Elephant Bar.  Then we laid out of the pool while Daniel went swimming.  Sunday and Monday were also lots of fun.  Thanks Ela and Daniel for visiting with me even though you didn't win your million at Harrahs Rincon.

September 11th was spent watching Ari, going to Daniel's flag football game, and then going to watch Naki and the Aggies beat Idaho.  Two football games in one day was definitely my kind of fall Saturday.

The pictures would have been better if my camera battery hadn't died.  It has been great to spend some time with family.  I'm looking forward to more great weekends.

Family Reunion at Bear Lake

This year was the best ever family reunion in Bear Lake.  Thanks to everyone for their help.  It was so much fun to just relax and hang out with all of you and the grandkids.  Whenever I drive over the summit in Logan Canyon and see the lake, I know I've come home.

Bubbles in the yard in the mornings were a big hit with the kids.  This gave the grown-ups time to get ready to go to the beach.

Of course, the beach was the most popular place for all.

Grandpa was happy that he got in some fishing time.  Only one trout though, the rest were carp!

Jared, Adrian, Tua, and Tavake joined us for the first year ever.

Next year my goal is to be in good enough shape to climb Paris Peak, so anyone who wants to join in that goal, let's get started.

Productive but Lazy

Thank you to my wonderful husband and all my children for allowing me to pursue my dream.  I have loved having those of you who have been able to come to California here and I look forward to the rest of you being able to visit.  It has been great to have one on one time with John and Lorien, and Fia, Scott, and Tre.  It was the best ever to have some time with Dad alone also. 

Saturday I was so busy and got my car fixed and ready to come home for this coming time in Bear Lake.  I also cleaned my apartment, did laundry, and went grocery shopping.  At the same time, I felt incredibly selfish because I went shopping for things I really didn't need.  Of course, I have issues with spending money, so really didn't buy anything, but it was strange to shop with just me and nothing I really needed to buy.  All of you know I'm not really a shopper.  The other lazy/selfish thing on Saturday was laying out by the pool while my laundry was going.  (I needed to have a little bit of a tan for Bear Lake)

Sunday I spent several hours working from home on things I needed to get finished up before I leave, and then watched a BBC Series called Wives and Daughters on Netflix.  I enjoyed the series immensely, but felt very lazy to not be more productive. 

Along with thanking you, I would like to let each of you and the world know how much I love you and how proud I am of each and every one of you.  You are the best family anyone could ever have.  Please know that whatever I can do to help out any of you, I will gladly do.  I am looking forward to our time in Bear Lake and can't wait to see all of you.

Weekend with Fia, Scott, and Tre

Friday evening I got to pick up Fia, Scott and Tre from the airport.  We stopped at the harbor to see all the boats and then drove home.  Saturday morning we went to the pool where, of course, Grandma got sunburned.  Then we drove to San Diego to watch the Padre game.

Petco Park was so huge and so unexpected.  It looked like a regular building from the side we drove up to, but when you got inside, it was so big.  They had a small diamond off to the side where the kids could line up and a member of the Padres staff would pitch to them so they could hit the ball and run the bases.  Tre had so much fun and was so cute.  We all got free Padres hats too.

Sunday we all went to the beach in Oceanside.  The waves were big and got bigger as the day went on.  Tre had so much fun playing in the sand and running from the waves as they would wash up on the beach.  He also loved throwing the rocks back into the water.  Scott and Fia had a great time playing in the waves.  I just relaxed in my beach chair and enjoyed the fun.

It was a great weekend and we had so much fun, plus time to just relax and visit.  Thanks Fia, Scott and Tre for coming to visit and for all you did while you were here.