Visit to Rexburg

We got to see Lindsay, Riley and Ava this weekend. I got here first on Thursday - after a long day flying and waiting.... Got on one plane in Spokane, got off that one (Seattle was fogged in, so we got re-routed to Portland) and after I finally got on the plane to Portland, as they were closing the door the handle fell off (!) and we had to wait for a mechanic to repair it before we could take off... then, I figured out in Portland that I was going to get to SLC too late for the noon bus to Rexburg. Well, I had to call to let them know not to wait for me and put me on the 3:00 bus. I figured I'd be sitting waiting for a while in Salt Lake. Well, no need to wait for long! I couldn't find my luggage (neither could Southwest), so I had to go to the office to report that, so that took up lots of my sitting and waiting time! But, they couldn't get it on the next bus to Rexburg, so I borrowed Lindsay's jammies for Thursday night (Abby should like knowing that I had more than one pair of jammies for this trip, thanks to Lindsay!) Then, they called me to tell me that they had my luggage, but the driver left without it on Friday at noon, so they'd get it on the 3:00 bus, so I FINALLY got my luggage Friday night at 7!
Grandpa got here while I was getting my hair done on Friday. Then we went out to dinner with Riley and Lindsay and Ava at a place called the Hard Hat Restaurant. The food was really good, but we were most impressed with the dessert we didn't buy! It was called a Skyscraper Chocolate cake. It was 7 (yes, SEVEN!) layers high! One slice was enough to feed all four of us! It was truly HUGE! Yes, I realize I said we didn't buy any, but we decided to have a late lunch/early dinner for Saturday so we could justify buying a slice of cake for dessert on Saturday.
Before we went out for lunch/dinner on Saturday, Ava got car sick, so we took her to the hotel and cleaned her up, but Lindsay had so many bags to bring for the trip, she'd forgotten the diaper bag, so while Ava was soaking in the jetted tub at the hotel, Grandpa and Riley went to the store to get diapers. They came back with diapers, wipes, jeans, a pink tee shirt and this cute pink dress!
All-in-all it was a good day! Plus, we went to Rexburg to eat the cake and play up and down the river, and Grandma WON the game! Woo-hoo! Good trip to Rexburg!

MOOSE!!!

Here's the story: I've heard there is a big old bull moose roaming around the club grounds - and many sightings have occurred across the street from our back yard. Therefore, I have felt a little left out not having seen the moose - either of them - yet. Well, all that changed Tuesday morning!
I got a call from the school about 5:45 to sub for a sick teacher at CHS. She has a zero hour class that starts at 6:30 AM, so I had to hurry. I got out the door about 6:30 (which was excusable ahead of time - I'm not so unreliable as all that!) and had to scrape the frost off the windshield of the car before I could go anywhere! I was in an understandable hurry!
I got in the car, backed out of the driveway, and noticed another car headed S-L-O-W-L-Y my way, so I pulled over for it to pass me. (you know this street is quite narrow). Well, when I got to the corner and looked to my left to check for on-coming traffic (yeah, even at 6:30AM...) I saw something that looked a little like a stand of shrubbery out of the corner of my eye. I looked closer, and it was THE BULL MOOSE! He was lying down in Mrs. Brown's yard! I immediately thought of calling and allerting Dad, but noticed that my phone was up in my room being charged! AARGH! I was half way to school before I thought that I had my camera with me, and that would have made a cool blog picture! But, I was already late, and I COULDN'T go back and take a picture after I'd thought about it! DANG!
Well, that afternoon, while driving home, I wanted to make sure it hadn't just been my imagination, so I looked toward the spot where I remembered seeing the big old guy lounging around. I thought I'd see an indentation in the snow or something to confirm that he'd been there.... He'd been there, all right! He left a little 'package' for us to remember him by. I just didn't think that made the best picture, so you can use your imaginations for that!

Fiesta!

Friday night we had a Mexican fiesta at our house. I am taking a Spanish class at church with Shawna Miller and Linda Rattigan (pictured below) that is being taught by Isabella and Jim Kinsey. Isabella will be leaving for Mexico in early March, so we wanted to get together before she left so we could have some fun. I hosted the dinner, so I went to the 50% off card shoppe and found some fun stuff to decorate with.
Here is one shot of the table - plates and glasses from Target, goblets from Ramona, table runner and red napkins from an auction Dad and I attended a couple of years ago, drinking straws with paper sombreroes added a really festive touch! Here is a shot of the table from the other direction so you can see my string of chili peppers! We had tortilla soup, fruit salad, sliced fresh fruit and vegetables, guacomole and chips, black bean soft tacos, and a really "delicioso" corn and black bean salsa. Isabella also made a very interesting drink from steeping purple flowers. I'm not sure how to spell it, but it sounded like 'formica' only with an 'h' sound instead of the 'f'. It was a deep purple color and I developed a taste for it by the time the dinner was over. Oh, and there was flan for dessert! Another little something I'm going to have to walk a few more miles to recover from, but it sure did taste good!
After dinner we all went down stairs to watch "Tortilla Soup". It was pretty good. We had a great time and I think I want to start hosting dinners here more often. This party wasn't over until about 11PM! And I was awake the whole time! Woo-Hoo! I'm a fiesta animal now!

My Pretty Valentine

Well, for Valentine's day, my valentine got me flowers and a wide-screen digital picture frame so now we can upload all the cute grandkid pictures and show them off to anyone who dares come into our home! It even comes with a remote control so we can "help" our guests see all the pictures! Great idea! Then we went out and had a 5 course meal at the club and it was really nice! The best (and fanciest) shrimp coctail I've ever eaten, followed by corn chowder served in a tiny glass bowl with a crusty piece of bread with oysters and a pate (I know it had a fancy name, I just don't remember it now...) then a salad that was something like a gingam, but tweaked a bit, then a choice of entrees: scallops or beef or lamb (that's what I had) or ahi (that's what Dad had) and then the dessert! A molten chocolate cake with gigantic cherries and whipped cream. Dad didn't eat all of his, but I found a way to eat all of MY dessert! I walked off about half of it the next morning!
Happy Valentine's Day!

Another good reason we live in Idaho

I am so glad I had the camera in my purse! I was driving home about 5:00 yesterday evening when I looked west to the sunset and decided to take a few minutes to find the perfect view for taking a potentially spectacular picture of this beautiful sunset. The funny thing was, I wasn't the only person on the road looking for a place to pull over to grab a shot of the blazing colors on the horizon! I found my spot where Dacota and Strahorn come together at the top of the hill overlooking the sixth fairway at the Hayden Lake Country Club. The sunset from the day before was equally as beautiful, but I was out walking and didn't have a camera - good thing it happened twice! Feel free to stare at it as long as you want!

OK, Lindsay, Maybe I do like these things!

4 jobs I've had in my life: I've worked at a vending company where I put mixtures of small toys encased in plastic spheres in bags (for loading into bubble gum machines); I've worked at an Orange Julius at the Irving Mall; taught sign language for several elementary school's after-school language programs in Madison, Wisconsin; and I've been substitute teaching in the Coeur d'Alene school district for the past 4 years (I REALLY like this job.)

5 places I've been: 1. Ireland, to my grandfather's birthplace. Such a beautiful place! And friendlier people I've NEVER met! 2. Paris (and lots of other places in France). That's a cool place, plus I can practice using French - always an adventure! 3. Hong Kong. As a 'Western European' type you can't just blend in there, but the people, the scenery and the culture are quite interesting. 4. Scotland. That was a fun place! Urquhart castle with a bagpiper at sunset! Really fun! 5. Coming in with a tie for my most favorite place is The Grande Place in the heart of Brussels, Belgium; and Brugges, the city of lace and chocolate. What a step back in time!

4 favorite foods: Well, it would be easier to list what I DON'T like, since food and I have had a love/hate relationship throughout my life! But, this is asking for my favorites, so here goes. 1. Fried chicken - I don't eat it too often (I'm too short for that many calories...) but it does taste wonderful, especially with sides of mashed potatoes and gravy and green beans! 2. Homemade banana nut (pecan) ice cream. My Aunt Tete used to make that for me whenever we'd go visit her and Uncle Don in New Mexico. That's how I knew she loved me! 3. Chocolate pudding with whipped cream on top. Mama used to make that for us sometimes, and we'd sit on the front porch and stirr it all up together and take about an hour to eat it! Yum! 4. Hot homemade bread fresh out of the oven with butter and jam! Doesn't that just make your mouth water to think about it? Heavenly!

3 people I'd like to get to know better: I'm just going to lump all of my nephews and nieces together here - my sibling's children. I haven't been close enough to get to know them for the last several years (18?). I had the opportunity to get to know Whitney in France, and she is such a doll! I would like to get to know the others, too!

4 reasons I love being me: 1. My family - what else is there? 2. The places I've gotten to go to and experience other ways and cultures. 3. Being from Texas. I know there are a lot of people who make fun (or worse) of Texans, but being from Texas always gets some kind of response from people, good or bad. At least everyone knows where it is! (besides, some have tried, but you just can't fake that accent!) 4. I am glad I inherited the 'southern' story-telling gene. It's really fun to captivate an audience with a story, and I think I got it from both of my parents!

4 classes I wish were offered to me and I could participate in: 1. I have recently decided that I need to take a music theory class. If I understood a little better how music worked, maybe music would come easier to me (not that it's that hard, but I think this would make it easier...). 2. I also want to find time to learn to play the piano. (again, music theory would help!) 3. I want to learn to speak Russian. 4. I am currently learning Spanish, so I guess that doesn't count... 4b. I'd probably go with Lindsay to the anatomy class. I've always thought it was interesting to learn how the body works. That would be cool.

4 friends I want to tag: OK, you already know that I don't know too many people who have blogs besides my kids, so I'm just going to tag Gail Goodwin. I just helped her set up her blog page a couple of weeks ago, so I'm just about sure she hasn't been tagged. Since I helped her set up her page, can she count for all four friends?