Monday, April 18, 2011

Spoiled/Blessed

Three trips in four weeks....so spoiled, I mean blessed! John and I went to Monterey, CA in celebration of our 36th wedding anniversary. We had such a good time!
At the Monterey Aquarium we were amazed by the creatures that have been created for our enjoyment! How great is our God!


Leafy sea horse! We took this bus on a four hour trip around Monterey, Carmel, Pebble Beach and the 17 mile coastal highway. AMAZING! The scenery, the stories of movie stars and the sites of over 200 films made in these areas was so interesting to see and hear about. We were shown movie clips of films right where they were made.

Here is the magnificent Pebble Beach Lodge.

I'm on the 18th hole at Pebble Beach!


Another view of the Pebble Beach 18th hole. John put his toe under the fence line so he can say that he's been on that amazing course!


Behind us is the Lone Cypress Tree that is symbolized on products and a movie company's logo. Monterey Cypress trees are rare and oh so beautiful!


This little guy came running up to our feet when we got off the bus to take pictures!

The rock behind us is COVERED with sea lions and seals working on their tans!


Ice plant in the Springtime is all over in CA. This picture doesn't do the bright fushia justice, but you get the idea! I took so many pictures of just scenery because it was astounding! As you can see, the days were sunny and cool and just gorgeous!!!

Cannery Row is a fun shopping and eating district with everything from hot dogs to sea food, old movie parafanalia and the latest fashions. Also the Aquarium is located there. We felt like a king and queen at the Marriot where we stayed. Whenever we pulled into the drive, several attendants greeted us by opening our car doors, taking the car and then opening the hotel doors for us. Never had that kind of treatment before!

We ate and shopped on Fishermen's wharf that was across the street from our hotel. Here we are at Bubba Gump Restaurant on Cannery Row having ...what else...fish!!!


The chocolate malt I had at Ghirradelli ice cream shop was yummy!



This is the dining room of Hearst Castle. Our family just might be able to fit around this massive table! There was silver everywhere! This room was the inspiration of the School of Wizardary dining room at Hogwarts! (Harry Potter) This is the underground pool at the Hearst Castle. It is below the tennis courts!

Just gorgeous! (Hearst Castle patio-just one of them) The front of the castle. It is so enormous that our two hour tour only included the castle's main rooms and 4 bedrooms and one of the many guest houses.

Another picture of a portion of the castle grounds. That is the ocean in the distance.

John is in one of the greeting rooms here where the art canvases came from the 16th century on castle walls and the statues, decorations and rugs all are from European collections and very old. William Hearst was a collector of the grandest things! His money came mainly from his father's mines and his investments.






Back in the early 1900's, you had really arrived if you were invited to the Hearst Castle. Many of the BIG stars of the day spent time there.


This is the outside pool-10 feet deep!


This is where we ate our first fish dinner and clam chowder that was too good to be true! Our seat over-looked the harbor where the seals and sea lions barked and swam!


Four days of pure bliss and 36 years with the man of my dreams! I would't trade a minute of it for all the castles on the planet!

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

More March!!!

The annual Red Hot Society sabatical was the best so far! (Wait-didn't I say that last year?)
My friends picked me up at SLC airport and we went directly to the Ocher Mountain Temple where we did an endowement session. It is a beautiful temple in the south-western part of Salt Lake valley. We did water aerobics, walked in the rain, went to a Lettermen concert at Tuocan, shopped, shared, slept (very little).

Here's our picnic in the car before going to the temple! Yummy!


Walk in the rain. It was cold there in St George!

We enjoyed watching "Brian Reagan-I Walked on the Moon"

"Roman Holiday"

"The Perfect Stranger"

BYU get beat by Florida in sweet sixteen

and the Young Woman Broadcast









This gorgeous vehicle is the one what took us all over the State because it is natural gas and cost only $1.27 a gallon! Thanks Connie!
Have you ever heard of strawberry shortcake on a stick? Well now you have!
Thanks Denise!

We learned how to cut a pineapple! Thanks Ralene!

Springtime in St. George is a beautiful time of year!



Here we are at the Lettermen concert!

We planned the dates of our trip to coincide with my mom's 84th birthday. We all rang her doorbell and sang Happy Birthday" to her as she stood completely shocked at having me be there for her day! THAT WAS FUN! Nancy came down from Sandy to sleep over and the three of us went shopping and met dad at BK for a burger before Nancy took me to the airport.







HOW MUCH WONDERFULLNESS CAN BE PACKED INTO ONE MONTH!


This is showing a swan that followed me wherever I went. I thought he liked me until he tried to jump over the fence and eat me! Thank goodness for fences!

Saturday, March 19, 2011

March 2011-What a great month!


March 12, was the Aloha Festival over in Tempe. Some of my Laurels were dancing in it so we went to show our support. Good times!


For Spring Break we (John, Brooklynn, Annalise and I) took off to Universal Studios in LA. We sure did have a fun time there seeing some of our favorite characters. We got to relax on Rodondo and Manhatten beaches. I was estatic at Rondono beach because just as we got there, the pelicans were diving in head-first to the ocean to get their dinner AND the seals were out in full-force sneaking fish off of the fishing poles of all the men who were trying to catch their dinner!!!


I have always wished I had a Mystery Van!!! (A replica would be alright!)





What a hoot it was to see Brooklynn and Annalise loose their sanity when they saw Spongebob!



Apollo 13 stars-John looks like a real cut-out guy doesn't he!?!






Scooby-do-be-do!





EB=Easter Bunny, a movie soon to be relaeased.








Curious George







Donkey from Shrek was hilarious! He even sounded like what's his name...?








Shrek











Dora-Brooklynn's thrill!












Marilyn Monroe-the one in the middle-not the one to her right!













THE BIG awaited day came for Brooklynn when she got her driver's permit on February 28th! Greg, Adam and Devin have each taken her out driving! THANK YOU guys!











March 14, found Anya, Ella, John, Greg, Allie, Ande, Bastian, Treslee, Millie and I at the Wildlife Zoo. We had the best time seeing all the creative creatures there.
Isn't this a priceless picture of Anya, John and Ella feeding the gross giraffe!
What a fun place that is! We loved petting the starfish and stingrays in the aquarium.










March has been full of much happiness and a few sorrows. All the events have been good for our growth and understanding of God's love for us.
(Ella)















Bastian on March 10, came down from the upstairs dressed as a "NIGHTMARE"!!!




















Millie is such a doll posing with her gorgeous big sister, Nina at our house on March 6th!



















Ande and Allie at the zoo.
Sorry about the fuzziness!