A Few More Pictures

I know I already posted these, but for some reason the resolution on the pics was bad.  Here are a few more from our fun photo shot with Hillary.

Sushi!

Hillary made homemade sushi the other night, and I got invited to taste the yummy results. Way to go Hillary - delicious!

Birthday Cake

Roger had a birthday a few weeks ago, and we had been discussing the best birthday cakes.  I remembered that I used to make a chocolate ganache layer cake.  It was originally a copy of a Martha Stewart cover that I made for cousin JJ's birthday. 

We decided it would be a good cake for Roger.  The day got away from us (and we were trying to make a 4 layer cake with one round cake pan!) so we ended up just making 1/2 of the cake.  It was still huge, and Hillary kept saying - it was supposed to be twice this size?!

We had fun digging in, and helping Roger celebrate his birthday.

Catching up on Pictures

A few weeks ago I was down visiting Renato and the kids. The boys were off to a snow trip, so the rest of us headed off to Blackbeards for a day of fun.  We hit the mini golf, and I came in last.  I should have gotten a little help from Renato.  Audrey got to drive a go cart, and then we all went on the bigger go carts and raced.  At first Audrey was sure I was going to crash and kill her, but once we got started she saw that I was a big chicken.  I think she was wishing she could have gone with her Dad.  She really wanted to drive but was not old enough for the big cars, so she and Renato took another turn on the smaller go carts so she could race against him.  A very fun day.

A Valentines Photo

Renato has been saying for sometime now that he wanted a framed picture of us. So I asked Hillary to take some pictures of us and came up with some story about Hillary wanting to take pics for a class.  Renato totally fell for it.  We had a fun time taking them, and I was able to keep it a surprise.  I put three of them in  a frame with 3 5x7 openings. The wave, a close up and the log/bridge.  This first one by the rock is my favorite.  I call it the leaning picture.  When Hilary said lean...he said what?  lean...you know lean...like in while you were sleeping. He was still confused.  :)  Mom nd Dad helped me pick out the frame last weekend - and were very good sports hanging around Costco waiting for the copies. 

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Thanks to Hillary for taking the pics and helping me make such a fun Valentine!

I am down visiting Renato and the kids for the weekend.  We had fun with the girls in the spa this afternon, and Renato and I went to the ward Valentines party tonight.  I have a set of lovely red roses on the table here, and we are all set to make sugar cookies tomorrow.  Love, roses, chocolate and cookies.  Who could be happier?

How Early Do You Have to Get to the Rose Parade?

For years my brother-in-law David has wanted to see the Rose Parade in person. Grandma Ann has always been a willing accomplice to this goal, and when you threw in a trip to Disneyland it just seemed like the obvious thing to do on a New Year's Day. Craig headed up the research on how the locals saw the parade, and we followed his lead. We had talked about camping out the night before, but it was readily apparent that we had 30 people who wanted to see the parade and 1 or 2 who would very reluctantly camp out and try to save space for everyone. We were all very glad when Craig got the official word for a regular at the parade that it was not necessary to camp out. We had to leave the house pretty darn early...frankly I can't even remember what time...but we actually did it. We got everyone out of the house, packed up and in the cars in time. We drove over to Pasadena with no traffic. Amazing how everyone else was asleep on New Years morning. We got off the freeway, found a parking lot with a potty with no line, walked over to the route and found a spot. In fact, we were picking a spot just behind a group when Todd talked to a very nice lady who said - oh we don't need all this room come join us. She said they come every year and she gave us the inside scoop. I guess in the past they did not like the crowds around them, so they saved extra space and then offered it to us at the end. I hope we were not too rowdy for them, but they were a lot of fun and so very kind.

Here is the gang. We were in a little median spot on the road so we had lots of space to spread out. We had a great tree for shade and lots of grass to get comfy.

We had a little time to kill, so we played games and tried to decide if it was cold or sunny.

My Sammy has mastered the art of funny faces for the camera.

Jared and the girls were good sports - even though they had been at the New Year's Eve dance until late and then ripped from their beds to sit on this grass and wait for a parade.

Audrey wanted cotton candy as soon as we arrived. I could not think of anything less appealing at that hour, but it was a hit. Drew kept busy with his DS until the parade started. I think we were all so glad to not have slept out on the sidewalk that we did not think to be grumpy about the early hour. And do you notice that we have front row seats!?! That is right - we could reach out and touch those floats - well if we got up and went into the street and ignored security - then we could have touched them.

We were at this spot in the route where they had to lower the tall parts of the floats to get under the over pass. At first we thought, oh well that will be a little disappointing, but then we realized how cool it was. The people at the beginning did not get to see how the stuff went up and down. Some floats looked like they were not going to make it, and some you had to guess how they would shorten themselves. Totally cool.

Some people got a little tired of waiting....

And some people got a little cold.

But mostly, we had so much fun watching the parade.

There is just no way to pick a favorite - but I will say that we saw some amazing things. I did not know how many semi-famous people are in the parade. We say Jackie Chan, Dan Jansen, Michelle Kwan, some NASA astronauts, Dick Patten, Jared from Subway, Ronald McDonald - William's hands down favorite, and some other people who looked like we should know them.

Can anyone explain to me why Renato likes to take pictures of me when I look odd? This is me giving him the questioning look....honey honestly do you want bad pictures of me? He says in 100 years everyone is going to say I look perfect all the time because I don't allow bad pictures of me. Well he has certainly solved that problem! What a goof.

After the parade some people went down to see the floats, which actually did not turn out exactly as planned. And some people waited in the parking lot. We kicked back and played some games. Then it was time to pile in the cars and head back to our various homes. What a trip! I was so exhausted when we got back to Grandma and Grandpa's, but it was worth the drive and no sleep.

As we left the parade David said...well Grandma what do you say....Macy's Day Parade next?

Time to Start Packing for LONDON

I headed up to Fawnhill this weekend to see Mom and Dad. We were hoping to ski, but the weather would not cooperate. I had to do something fun to keep myself from being sad that Renato had headed home for the weekend. (I don't think I mentioned that Renato has been working in my home town for the past month. Work in his area was slow - as the construction industry will be - so his boss sent him my way. It is a total coincidence...and a huge blessing...I love it, but I hate that he has to be away from the kids during the week).

I have been going down to see Renato and the kids on the weekends - about every other week. So, I have not seen Mom and Dad since the holidays. Mom said I had been neglecting her, but I reminded her that she had been off to visit my sister and had not even been home.

We have had a nice relaxing weekend, and I am now caught up on my blog. We also did a little shopping for Valentines day and bought the obligatory chalk hearts. Last night we started officially packing for our trip to London. We leave at the end of the month and are gone for 8 days. I can't wait. We are trying to pack light and are negotiating on what we can share. I assert that one travel size toothpaste is big enough for the two of us, but Mom is reluctant. Certainly they have toothpaste in London...right?

I am off to get ready for church and then time to watch the super bowl. I wonder if fasting before your Super Bowl party helps you not gain weight or makes you eat twice as much bean dip?

Birthdays Begin!

So it turns out the February is a busy month for birthdays. Mine is at the end of the month, and my sister Laurie's is a the beginning. My friends, neighbors and managers are also February birthdays - both Roger and Sarah. So we started off the month with a little party and a big cake. I still need the pictures of the cake from Hillary, but I thought I had better get this post started rather than wait. I dug out my party hats not party blowers and Sarah and Rhino got to work.



I just LOVE a birthday.


Renato actually gave me my birthday present already. Can you believe it? I got some beautiful red and silver jewelery. My favorite. How did I get so lucky?

More birthday celebrations...and pictures to come.

Another Weekend Trip

So I don't have the pictures from this trip, because we took Renato's camera on all of the fun parts, but I did take some pics of the food.

I headed down to spend another weekend with Renato and the kids, but this time I drove down on Saturday morning. I think Renato was pretty darn surprised that I arrived before 9:30am. Keep in mind it is a 3 hour drive, and I stopped to fill the car up. I was rather proud of myself.

The boys had a Stake snow trip, so Audrey, Elise and I got the day with Renato. We went over to mini golf place where I came in last place. Yes, Elise beat me along with the rest. Audrey won bragging rights to first place.

We also rode the go carts - where I proved to be a slow poke - and Renato proved to be a speed monster. Audrey got to ride the small go carts by her self (but was disgusted that she did not get to drive the big ones and had to ride with me). She was certain I would be crazy and kill her, but I think she was disappointed to see how much faster her Dad could drive!

After the boys got home we made Fudgy bon bons - thus the plate of Hersey's kisses above.

I also tried my cousin Tricia's french bread. I had not made it in a while, but it turned out ok. Elise and Audrey were great helpers and loved kneading the dough. Elise kept reminding me that she was the boss and got to tell me exactly what to do. I suppose it is only fair, since I tried to rule the world at her age too.

We had a nice Sunday at church together, and then the kids went home with their Mom. Renato and I went over to see the house he has an offer on, and then we headed back to the city. The house is very cute. Red door, high ceilings, big kitchen, great ceiling fans in all the rooms. 3 bedrooms, 2 bath, a laundry room, nice garage, an office, and two big living areas. It is a short sale - so I guess that is a long process. I would not have the patience that he does. Just waiting - and if it does not work..oh well he'll look at another house. What would it be like to be so unbothered by anything?

Another great trip - and I will add in pictures when I get them.

Closet Cleaning is not a Date?

I have been dying to clean out my closet/home office/storage room/sewing room/craft room since I moved into my new apartment. I had a vision for how I could use this tiny little space in my new apartment, but just had not had the time to get it organized.

So I had the great idea that the first weekend after the holidays I would pack up Christmas, pull EVERYTHING out of the closet, repack, organize, and polish up this mess.

This was not a job for the faint of heart.

That is when Renato called and said he could come for the weekend. I don't know what got in to me 'cause I said, "OK, but I am cleaning out my closet. If you want to come, you have to work." Was I trying to get rid of him?



Well, if it was some kind of subconscious test on my part, he passed with flying colors. He never complained and did not make fun of the 1 million Christmas decorations I have. He hung shelves, he re-packed boxes, he stood on ladders, he smiled and laughed and was the most amazing helpful cheerful man ever!



You can't imagine how much better this looks. I don't know why I did not take a before picture. Maybe I was too embarrassed by the mess.


I could not be happier with my home office/closet/storage room/sewing room/craft room. I think it is no bigger than 4x5, but it does have a window. It is amazing what living in a small place will make you grateful for.

And to be clear, I did not make Renato work all weekend. We also went to the Warming Hut and Crissy Fields and the Cartier exhibit at the Legion of Honor, and I am sure I fed him...but I can't remember.