Day 5 of Vacation

 So today was day 5 of vacation.  I am afraid that it is all going to go so fast.  We did have an excellent day though.  We got a later start but still got lots seen.  We went on Pirates of the Caribbean, The Haunted Mansion, The Jungle Cruise, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, and a few little Fantasyland rides.  We also visited the world famous Tikki Room I think that has been around since the doors of Disneyland opened.  We saw a Pixar character parade and saw the stage version of Aladdin.  

 This was the Haunted Mansion that was all decked out for Halloween.

Whitney hanging with the Honey Pots.  Winnie the Pooh was on the other side of the pots.

 Quiz question 1.  What is the name of the above Pixar character?  

 Question #2.  What part of Disneyland is the above building in?

Question #3.  Who's castle is this?

In response to the Bra Busting question.  After I got off of the Matterhorn yesterday I told Whitney that my bra nearly busted.  Actually my bra strap just fell down but you know how we exaggerate at times.  Well then we just went off the deep end from there.  So we got to laughing about all of the times we had been on really bumpy rides including the shuttle trip to get to Disneyland and then we just defined anything that jiggled us around as Bra-Busters. Silly Girls!  That's what happens when you are both silly and well endowed.  I am sure many of you reading can relate.

So we are off to San Diego tomorrow for more adventures.  Hope you will join us in the blogasphere.

Day 3 in So. Cal.

  We are staying in an area that borders Anaheim.  It is called Buena Park.  Even though we are on vacation I wanted to have a church experience.  So we Googled the nearest chapel and had a good Fast and Testimony meeting with the folks in the Buena Park Ward.  I love going to church wherever I am visiting.  It is amazing that no matter where we go the church is the same.  You know the hymns, you know what the order of the meeting will be.  And you know that you can feel the Spirit wherever you are.  Then we came back and rested up this afternoon and then we were going to go to Disneyland to watch the fireworks and maybe do a few little things.  We were trying to pack light and I had our ticket voucher and some cash, our room key, camera and chapstick. I must have chapstick.   We had taken the shuttle about 5 miles to Disneyland and then when we were standing in the line to trade our voucher for the ticket it dawned on me that I did not bring my wallet because we were packing light and I did not even think about I.D. but panic set in and sure enough when we got to the window she said that she needed my I.D. and would not be able to give us our tickets without it.  I was somewhat crushed and thought, this is the Lord telling us that we should not be here today.  We wandered around for about an hour trying to decide what to do.  We thought we better go back to the shuttle drop off and sure enough he came back and we got back on.  He looked at us like we were weirdos but we just smiled and acted like we had everything under control  We did end up getting back to the park and doing a few things and seeing an amazing firework display.  

Quiz questions for the day.

5. On what ride do you go through the whales mouth

 And see the Sultan's Palace?

6.And on what ride do you get to soar in this?  Hint.  I love this ride.

Day 2 of Vacation

 So we left our cozy lodgings in Cedar City this morning to get on the road for California.  BTW Brooks makes really good, big pancakes.  We stopped in Baker, California for a little lunch.  I wanted to eat at the Mad Greek but it looked a little crazy with all of the Aphrodite statues so we went across the street to something was familiar to me.  Bob's Big Boy.  Remember the days in Cedar City and Price and a few other places with the Big Boy.  We were there with the senior crowd.   Then we drove to Barstow where we stopped at the outlet stores to do a little birthday shopping for Leah.   Lets just say she's going to look cute in her new outfit.  Then we drove per the MapQuest directions to Buena Park, California.  We are staying at the Radisson.  I know it looks like the jungle.  But that is just our courtyard.  It is pretty lush here.

 We will be taking a dip in this pool later on.  We have to get brave enough to put on our bathing suites and take the plunge.  

 We had some much luggage because we are staying for 9 days that we had to load it all on this cart.   It was really hard to steer and Whitney could not make it turn and we were running into things and had to make about a 10 point turn to actually get in the elevator, or the lift as Raj said.  He was the guy that checked us in.  

 In the courtyard is a big impressive fountain.

I was taking a walk around the courtyard and becoming familiar with my surroundings since this is going to be my home for 4 days.  I noticed a little pile of what I thought were cumquats.  Then one dropped from the above tree.  Whitney says that they are the palm seeds and have palm oil inside them.  

When we were checking in we noticed couples coming into the Hotel sort of dressed up.  I figured there must be a wedding somewhere in the hotel.  When I was doing my touring I came across this room set up and lookin ready for a party.  It is literally across from our room.  Whitney just saw the bride and groom going into the wedding party.  We are not sure how we feel about this.  We are trying to figure out where to go for dinner.  I suggested being wedding crashers.  Except I left my gownless evening strap at home.  Darn I guess we will have to actually go out and pay for our dinner.  

4. As you stroll through California Adventure, you might be able to hear some orchestral arrangements of songs by a famous California band. Which band?

Conference Weekend

So I was excited to hear that Morgan and Andrew were coming down for Conference Weekend.  I thought it might be fun to have some sleepovers.  I invited Maren to stay over Friday night because I thought that Leah and Maren would have fun together.  They climbed into bed with me in the morning and they were so cute that I wanted to take some pictures of them snuggling.

Just having some laughs.

Whitney's new baby.  She is extremely spoiled.  So this little feline was the hit of the weekend.  Everyone was smitten with the kitten.  I went to see Jonas today to get an update on his friend birthday party and all Maren wanted to know was where the kitty was. 

We decided to have soup and rolls on Saturday night before the Priesthood Session.  I have been working on my roll technique.  I think these turned out really good.  At least that is what everyone said.

My yard looking better after Morgan and I did a little weeding.  I am looking forward to getting some bulbs planted in the next few weeks.

 Leah doing heaven knows what.

 Lily loves to make this face.

 The boys practicing their karate moves.

 Hannah playing with little Lilybug

I love to feed this little girl.  My weekend was complete when I was eating my bowl of cereal this morning and Lily climbed the stairs to join me.  I was hoping she would and just had to wait for her to come up to me.  When they were visiting in the Summer she would come up every morning and eat cereal with me on my lap.  It's almost like she remembered our little tradition.

It was a great weekend.  It was fun to celebrate Jonas and Madi's birthdays.  That was really fun and talk about delicious birthday pies.  I really enjoyed watching Conference.  I DVR'd it and am hoping to catch up on the talks that I sort of snoozed through.  Now I have just a few days to prepare for my next adventure.  Southern California, here I come.

September When it Ends

So I was outside in the yard doing my weekly lawn mowing and came across more zucchini that Whit had picked and left on the lawn.  Someone help me with this over abundant plant.  I tried to give some to Miranda when she was up visiting and she forgot it, or did she?  So when you have a plethora of garden vegetables you put together one of those all vegetable meals end of Summer meals.  And since I had not been shopping for awhile I decided to have a harvest dinner.  

Oh by the way.  This does not look like the end of Summer roses but they are.  I have ever-blooming roses this year.  I love them.

So when you have zucchini and a garden full of tomatoes, there is only one dish to make.  Morgan's favorite.

I did the zucchini tomato casserole.  I used the really good mozzarella cheese that is fresh.  Oh my gosh it was so stringy.  No matter what this dish always tastes great.  Ten minutes in the microwave and deliciousness abounds.  Okay the juice that was left in the bottom of the dish was actually my favorite part.  I was lapping it up.  It tasted like a very delicious cream of tomato soup.  Maybe I can work on a new recipe.

I had some fresh corn in the fridge.  I had 3 ears.

 And then I of course needed to have some dessert.  I just happened to have a few left over peaches in the fridge from Lizzy's tree.  

I know this looks a little like meatloaf.  I actually made that yesterday but it is a nice loaf of zucchini bread.  I have no intention of becoming a vegetarian but it was all very tasty tonight. 

I hope that most all of you had a chance to see the Relief Society General Conference.  It was great.  I DVR'd it.  I kept on asking Whitney to DDR it.  She kept on correcting me.  I have finally got it sorted out.  I bought Glee and am catching up on last seasons episode.  I probably should not mention the show in conjunction with RS Conference, but it has such good music.  And I can't wait for Hawaii 5-0 tonight.  I really like it.  Whitney and I have booked our trip to Southern California.  We will be going in about a week and a half.  I am especially excited for a nice vacation and to get away from crazy work.  It's going to be so so so fun.  I wish I could take you all with me.  

Visit with the Coxs

Becca Facebook messaged me a few weeks ago and mentioned that she would be flying to Utah from Virginia for a visit and we decided that we would get together sometime.  A day or two after she got out here Tessie got sick and ended up going to the hospital where she was found to have some gall bladder issues and needed to have it removed.  I thought it would be nice to combine my visit with Becca with a visit to Tessie in the hospital.  So last night Whitney and I drove to Payson to the hospital and had a great visit with Becca, Rayleen, Tina and Tessie.  Tessie has been recovering well and was hopefully going to be able to go home today.  We spent an hour of laughing and catching up.  It's like it was just yesterday.  We each remembered different funny little things and then of course the usual stories that we share.  One of the favs being Rayleen asking "Bishop why did you run over my trike?"  and Tessie asking Mom to give Joey the poodle a suppository.  It's amazing to look back and remember the wonderful memories that we had.  We also talked about some of the sad things too and about the loved ones that we miss.  I was blessed to grow up in Castle Dale with wonderful people around me and I was blessed to have a best friend next door.

Catching Up

I am sitting here waiting for my R.S. pres. to show up and for Andrew's new renter to call or show up and so I thought I could use my time to do a blog update.  I was down home for Labor Day weekend and Whit's birthday.  It was so rejuvenating.  I forgot my camera and so I don't have any pics, but Jenny has some good ones. I had some great moments and wanted to share them with you.  I loved picking peaches for the traditional September peach cobbler.  I loved riding the 4 wheeler with Banner on Monday morning.  I loved going to the Castle Dale 1st ward and seeing a lot of faces that I remember and love. I loved eating Whit's birthday dinner.  It was so delicious.  Everything was cooked to perfection.  No wonders I love food so much.   I loved running with Liz in the mornings.  Yes, these old bones have started running again.  It has been 20 years since I ran and I am trying it out again.  So far so good.  I loved talking with Whitney on the drive down and the drive back up.  It was such a nice, quiet, relaxed weekend and just what I needed.  I just had a visit with my R.S. president to learn more about my Compassionate Service responsibilities.  I am really excited about this calling and hope I can get to know the sister's better as I serve.