Thanksgiving

The weekend went so fast!  We flew to Kansas to surprise Kendall's parents, as did his sister Torrie.  They had no idea we were coming.  The nephews picked us up at the airport and we were able to walk into Kirby and Darcie's home to surprise Mom & Dad on Thanksgiving afternoon.  It was nice to take a break from school for a few days.

 

Kirby's store was beautifully decorated for the holidays

 

We attended a 'door decor' class at Kirby's store, presented by Larry, the designer

A morning relaxing with coffee

 

In the Neighborhood

 

This is a sight we don't see every day. Kendall couldn't get to our house (behind the helicopter) because of the activity and I was still at work.  Unfortunately it was for a little 3 year old, visiting her grandpa a street over from us, who got in the backyard pool.  They tried to resuscitate her, but she didn't make it.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family.

Sunday Brunch

Uncle Bob and Aunt Lola Fay are back in town for the winter.  It was nice to have them join us for church and brunch afterward.

 

 

Universal Studio City

The welcome party for the conference was held at Universal Studio City, and it was a blast!  All the food, rides and arcade games were free to us.

 

My friend Jennifer who now lives in Boise.  Eating ribs at the Flintstone's BBQ.

My friends - Ben & Jerry

Posing with the crew of Apollo 13

The series of escalators that took us to the lower level for the rides and backstage tours

The bear I won getting a ball into the hoop.



Last Day of the Conference

We had an appearance by Max Page.  He is the little cutie pie that was the "Little Darth Vader" in the Super Bowl car commercial that just had to make you smile.  He has quite a medical history at the age of only 7.  He was born with a heart anomaly and has several surgeries already, the most recent one this summer to replace a valve.  He and his mother were quite articulate.

 

 

The last speaker was Mark Kelly, astronaut and husband of Gabby Giffords

 





LA

The Magnet Recognition Program was in LA this year.  It's allowed for time to connect with friends from across the country and experience new adventures.

 My room was interesting - the hotel is a Moroccan theme, but with a metal cactus in the lobby.

Glass door knobs - I love them!

A little bling at the convention center

A High School of the performing arts - one like Glee is based  on.

 Melissa Gilbert welcoming us to the conference Wednesday morning

 Guacamole created table side

 Interesting lights in the restaurant

Filming of NCSI-LA on the way to the convention center Thursday morning.  You can see we had clouds and some rain in sunny LA.

Mark Feuerstein, the star of Royal Pains Welcomed us on Thursday morning.  He was a hoot and the crowd loved him.

A Win in OT!

Wow, another nail biter!  They took us into overtime and then we finally won with a field goal.  One that we just knew was going to be short.  To our surprise it just cleared the goal posts - whew!  We're 3 for 3 games that we've gone to that they win in OT.  Is that good or not??

 

 

9 Years

It's hard to believe it's been 9 years already since we said "I do".  The time is flying by!  Kendall sent me a dozen beautiful roses and we had a nice dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.

 



Happy Birthday!

Today is my sweetie's birthday.  I decided to re-create a cake that I found on Pinterest.  Check it out here.  I think it became a work of art!  How fun...

 

The Creation in the making.  Two layers of brownies, 2 layers of chocolate chip cookies, 2 layers of cheese cake, 1 layer of Graham Crackers - all held together by Marshmallow Fluff filling and Chocolate Butter Cream.

 

Chilling in the fridge

Glowing

Let's hope he gets his wish!

 

Peaches

Last night Kendall and I produced 11 quarts and 1 pint of beautiful Colorado peaches from a box that Melanie got for us on her trip north.  This still leaves us some for eating and enjoying the fresh flavor and juiciness.  As last year, we lost a jar in each batch of the water processing.  One of these years we'll figure out what the issue is!  The total would have been 13 +1 if we wouldn't have had the mishap.  No jam this year - maybe we can work that in next year.

Grand Canyon

We were able to fit the Grand Canyon into yet another weekend this summer.  This time we had a little twist to it by catching the train that was part of the Grand Canyon Railroad.  It was a leisurely 2 hours and 15 minutes up, about4 hours at the Canyon and then another 2 hours and 15 minutes back.

Friday on the way north we passed this sad site.  The driver was standing behind the truck out of harms way, just watching it burn.



Saturday morning began with an old fashioned shoot-out

The Train on arrival at the Canyon



Kendall looking out over the vastness of the big hole in the ground

Indians doing a dance outside the Hopi House

We spent about 15 minutes in rocking chairs of the El Tovar porch - very relaxing!



The train on the journey back to Williams



The weather forecast was for isolated thundershowers - we saw some off in the distance

 

This cloud looked like an angel feather that had escaped

We were victims of a friendly robbery on the way home



 This was our car



Heading back into Prescott we saw this rainbow

Glads

So thoughtful of a friend to bring flowers to Bunko last night.

Will Rogers Follies

We had a fun time at the Arizona Broadway dinner theater last night as we took in Will Rogers Follies.

Photo courtesy of the theater website.

The Morning Scramble

It's been awhile since I was in the studio to do a cooking segment.  This time I was with my friend Janne who did a grilled Salmon.  I made Jean's Broccoli Salad = YUM!

Ingredients ready to assemble

Tonya Mock, the host of the show

Microphones

The finished product

A Novel - The Widow of Saunders Creek

The Widow of Saunders Creek, a novel by Tracey Bateman


The author, Tracey Bateman, pulls from her environment in the Missouri Ozarks where there can be the clash of the mystically-oriented and beliefs from the Bible. Corrie Saunders moves into the house that is being renovated by her late husband’s cousin. Born into the lap of luxury, Corrie decides to move into the country of the Missouri Ozarks in hopes of staying close to her husband who died a hero while serving in the Army in Iraq. She struggles with the ‘presence’ she senses in the house and growing feelings for Eli, her husband’s cousin. A time of healing and seeking God bring her to a place from where she moving into the future.  The subject of the mystically-oriented family members is an interesting one for a Christian novel. As the reader, I would say the jury is out whether it was effectively pulled off.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”