Birthday Girl!

39 and still kicking! Mom and Dad came to the city and took me to lunch at Mama's. It is amazing how you can just walk on in on a Tuesday afternoon - in comparison to the 1 1/2 hour wait on a Saturday. Still very yummy food, and very fun with Mom and Dad. We even got a parking place right across the street. They gave me a wonderful gift - a membership to the DeYoung museum. I already have plans to go to the special exhibit (Yves Saint Laurent) with my friend Kim.

After lunch (and unpacking all of my groceries from Mom and Dad) we went over to the California Academy of Sciences. Mom went over t the arboretum and Dad and I went through the museum. Now, if you have not noticed, Dad is growing out his beard in preparation for the Stake Handcart Trek. He is starting to look awfully mountain man-ish!

I swear when Mom and I went through the rain forest exhibit we saw tons of butterflies but no birds. This time Dad and I saw tons of birds. I am particularly proud of this photo!

Hillary Roger and gang came by for a birthday visit. Sarah was the most excited birthday guest I have ever had!

She made me this great card.

and this wonderful balloon. Totally made the decorations for the party!

Later I had a bunch of friends over for cake (Chocolate Costco! Yummy yummy) and a few games. I forgot to tell people (thought there was no need!) not to bring any gifts - but lucky me - I hauled it in.

A very fun birthday - thanks for all of the birthday wishes and fun!

That's right - that is my nephew!

My Sammy was the soloist in the Stake Conference Young Men's choir a few weeks ago. He is pretty darn amazing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkjtqhtU3Fs

What a weekend!

I flew out Friday after work to spend the weekend with Cathy, David and Anna, and it was a great long weekend! I got in really late on Friday night. Anna had tried to stay up to see me, but she finally fell asleep. She has gotten very talented at scamming a little more time before bedtime.

Saturday morning Anna came in and jumped in bed with me. She was telling me all about her TV and Daddy's TV. (Daddy has a big screen downstairs, and the old TV is upstairs - it never was really clear which TV thought was her TV).

Anna had a birthday party in the morning. She got all dressed up in her Valentines outfit from Grandma Ann.

Cathy and I dropped off Anna and then went to lunch at the best Mexican place. They have a tortilla bar where this nice woman flattens out a tortilla from the dough with her hands and then throws them down to cook. You eat fresh hot tortilla's with all kinds of salsa. I could have eaten just tortillas for hours!

After being totally stuff, Cathy and I went over to the temple. It was the last day until it would be closed for three weeks - plus Valentines Day - so it was pretty crowded. But it was a great afternoon in the temple.

Now, I love soda. It is a bad habit, but I have had it a long time so why give up now. Cathy goes to Sonic all the time, and I always hear her ordering her drinks while we are on the phone. I am always so jealous of the big yummy fresh soda with fresh limes! Well I was determined to get my fill, so after the temple we stopped in for a Route 44 Diet Coke with fresh limes. Yummmmm.

Cathy and David went out to dinner for Valentines while Anna and I stayed home to play and make cookies.

Anna loves these little figurines - these are Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. Her imagination is endless. I would still be sitting on the floor playing this made believe game if I had not talked her into cookies.
Anna is a great help with the cookies, and she is a big fan of the dough. Her face is covered with flour from all of her sneaking bites.
The frosting cracked me up. Anna just ladled it on - and then poured on the sprinkles. This pink one was my favorite! When it was time to eat them, you had to dump off the toppings to save yourself.

Sunday was a great relaxing day together. Here we are all ready for church.

After church we came home and ate snacks while Cathy finished up her Relief Society meetings.

David is a great play-dough artist. For some reason Anna took off her dress - so I call this naked play-dough.

We had a great family home evening complete with song, lesson, game and treat. This is Cathy winning the round of Candy Land. It was an intense game. I almost won twice, but then I got the gingerbread man and the gumdrop. Cathy was very excited to win, David is usually victorious.

Monday morning we got up and went out to breakfast. (Notice the theme of food this weekend!) Then Cathy and I started our shopping trip. After a stop at Target (and so many good finds) we stopped off at Sonic (as Sunday had been a Sonic free day).

Then over to the mall for more shopping and fun. I had a great excuse as I needed to get some stuff for the trip to Hawaii.

After hitting all the best stores (Target, Old Navy, etc) we went and picked up Anna and we to see Hotel for Dogs. Anna is a great movie go-er. She took her ticket, grabbed her booster seat and headed off to the theater. It was a cute little movie - good for a 4 year old. Although when the dog catchers showed up, there were a lot of tears.

You might think that I had some of that big soda, but you would be underestimating the thirst of the punk in red.
She did however share the popcorn.After the movie we did a little more shopping and then picked up a drink for David (and me while we where there - I did miss Sunday after all!) Then we headed home so Cathy could get to her class. I was making dinner when Cathy came back in - turns out the college was locked up tight! She was mad that her schedule was off, but I was happy to have her home.

Cathy, David and I stayed up to watch Mama Mia - which was not David's favorite - but Cathy and I laughed a lot.

Tuesday morning it was time for pre-school. Anna took me on a tour of the whole place - this is the ABC room. It is a great little school and she just loves school. I loved getting to see everything.

Cathy and I headed back over to the mall to exchange a few of the wild purchases, but we could not get in. Turns out the entire place was locked down while they tracked down some guy who broke in. It was a pretty big story for the local area. http://www.keprtv.com/news/local/39755217.html

So since we could not shop, we ate! A great Mexican bakery had just opened up near Cathy's so we went in and tried one of each and then .... washed it all down with a diet coke from Sonic.

After months of chopping at my own hair, I finally decided it was time to have a professional fix the mess on my head. So, I got a hair cut while Cathy picked up Anna.

Then of course it was time to eat again, so we picked up some tacos from the taco truck! There is nothing like a good taco truck!

We met up with our friends Tracy and Amy at the DSAMSI play group. Here is Anna dancing with our friend Mia.

We packed in as much as we could over the weekend, but it was time for me get to the airport and head home. While was waiting at the airport, Anna called to tell me that the little puzzle I picked up at Joanne's for here was missing a piece. I was told that next time when I come - I should get a better puzzle - one with all of the pieces!

It was a wonderful weekend, just the fun I needed.

Books Books Books

My friend Kim made a post of the books she enjoyed reading in 2008, and I thought it was a great idea and am going to be a copy-cat once again. I figured out that I read about 75 books last year, but don't worry I will just share the highlights. I love to read and I luckily do have the time to get into a good book. I don't want anything violent, or full of sex, or too scary. I don't like too much sap, and I don't usually like to read non-fiction. If Oprah loved it, I probably won't. But other than that, I am pretty open to ideas!

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

This might be my favorite for all of 2008. It tells a part of WWII history that I was totally unfamiliar with, and has very engaging characters. The book is written in a journal style - which I find surprisingly intriguing. I highly recommend a read.

The Shepherd, the Angel, and Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog

I picked this up in the Oakland airport on my way to Thanksgiving in Washington. It was such a quick read that I had finished it before the plane took off, but it was so good that I read it out loud to my sister's family when they picked me up in Portland. I am a big Dave Barry fan, and this is a classic family Christmas story set in the 60's. A lot of laughs, a few tears. My favorite line might be when we is talking about all of the girls coming back to Jr. High and they all have developed over the summer - he says it is like they all went to summer bosom camp. It was timely at Christmas, but can be read all year.

A Clearing in the Wild

I found this book while was waiting in the Portland Airport. It seems that I have been in a lot of airports lately. Portland is home to the famous Powell's Books - and they have a small offering in the airport. One thing I love about Powell's is that they often have a small description of the book and suggestions from the employees. I find books that I would not have picked myself (or even ever seen), that I really enjoy. This book was fascinating to me because of the similarities to the Mormon pioneers. Now, don't take that too seriously - it is not a story about LDS people - but it is about a small religious group that decides to go west and start a new colony. I found the story intriguing - the main character discusses her faith and her questions. It made me think - in a positive way. Interesting, but not too over the top. Also, if you ever get to Portland - definitely go to Powell's!

Fever 1793

This Youth novel is by Laurie Halse Anderson. I really enjoy reading kids book - as you usually skip all that junk (sex violence etc) but you still get very well written literature. Again it has a historical storyline that I was unaware of. Makes you wonder if I missed some history classes. The story of survival kept me turning the pages. I have since talked to several of my nieces and nephews, and they had read this in school, but maybe did not love it as much as I did.

The Wednesday Wars
Another youth novel by Gary Schmidt. I love love love Shakespeare - thanks to a great High School English teacher. This book was funny and full of great Shakespeare references. My copy was loaned out (by my dear mother who never remembers who she loans books to!) and I am really sad. I think this is one that kids would enjoy reading too. I collect Newberry books, and that is how I found this one. (I think Kim recommended it too).

Some other books I read or re-read this year

I felt that I needed to read some Tolstoy since I never had tackled it before. I am glad I did, but let's just say it is not chipper! I was frankly none too sad to have the book end - that Anna was driving me nuts! I Capture the Castle was a gift many years ago from my friend Alyson - and I got the book club to read it this year. A very good read.

More of the kids books I enjoyed this year

The thing about kids books is - they are entertaining without too much brain power. Not stupid, but not overly challenging. I have to be so intellectual at work that I want something to relax with in the evening without rotting my brain with TV re-runs. Lots of good Newberrys in this stack - and I have a bunch I got from Christmas that I am still reading.

Mystery, but not too scary!

Those old British mysteries are great to relax but not get too scared. In case you are not clear - Wizard of OZ is too scary. I honestly once refused to see the Wizard of OZ on the stage with my brother's family - because - too scary! But Agatha Christie - great. Dick Francis - a favorite. I also love Mrs. Polifax, but Dorthy Gilman did not write enough of them.

Oh and who could forget Twilight! I really was not going to read them at all, but I am glad that I was talked into it - so I could be a part of the craze!

That is the book year in review. Frighteningly enough, this does not represent all of the books from 2008. It could be said that I need to get out more, but I do love to read! And look forward to many more in 2009. Send your suggestions over!

A Chrismas Amaryllis

I love to get an amaryllis for Christmas. This year I got it planted a little late, but I took it to my office and gave it lots of light and kept it watered (something that I am not always so consistent with!). Well this morning I came in and found this on my desk. My amaryllis has bloomed! (And how about that view - ah? pretty nice)

There is another flower on the other side, and it should be opened by tomorrow. It is awfully chipper to coming in and find this beautiful flower in my office. Thanks Mom for the wonderful bulb!