And Excellent Christams and a Gnarley New Year

Here's our 80's Christmas Card. Celeste really did an Awesome Tubular job!

Don's Wedding

Don really married a wondeful girl who has a wonderful family. She is crazy fun extroverted and a dance/cheerleader teacher. We love that they made the decsion to marry in the temple for time and eternity. We are so happy for him.

There is nothing in the world like being in the temple with all six of your children at one time. It is really an honor and a blessing to have a temple recommend. I don't ever think I will take that for granted. I am so thankful that this day ever occured. Leslie and her mom and Grandma carried off a fabulous wedding reception. We may loose a marine but we gained a whole bunch of Galan's. Sammy was the comic for the day by rushing in an helping support Leslie's bunda in the "hold te bride sideways" shot.

Los Cabos

Oh the beautiful sparkling blue beach and the waves. It is like the celestial kingdom here. The ocean is the most beautiful blues and greens when the sand is off white coral. Our hotel looks right out onto the water. I can do without the loud music until 1 am each night but the big canopy beds with billowing curtains and the big sand cushions are cool. Mark is so much fun. The first night we slept out on our little patio on our couch cushions.

Sunrise from our hotel balcony. We saw 84 fishing boat go out for deep sea fishing this morning.
Sunset cruise with Senior Advisory Group. Mark was in the 30 top sales people in the nation, so they sent us on this trip to Cabo for 4 days.
I got carried away shopping the missed the departure of the Cabo Mar boat for the sunset cruise. The hotel activities lady got me on a wave runner and i met up with the group. This Mexican guy said we needed to go faster and said I'd have to wrap my arms around him. I said I didn't mind that at all. They said I made a splashy James Bond entrance and teased me all night. The sunset was spectacular.










Thursday we rode wave runners out to the sea lions and the point of land that marks the mixture of the pacific and the sea of Cortez. Friday we took sea kayaks out to see the sea lions up close. Mark and I were trying to navigate a big rock and we tipped over. I don't have the arm strength to pull myself back into the canoe and a nice guy on a wave runner took me to shore. Mark tried to kill himself playing in the surf where it pounds the beach and swimming isn't allowed. We found a street vendor who had smoked marlin tacos in the back of his truck. Then he went to scuba and I took a map to see where the locals hang out and went shopping for silver jewelry. Two gay guys talked me into shaved ice. I had an awesome massage for 25$ at a little shop off the marina.

Changing colors

Oh beautiful fall colors. Every day the maple tree out front gets a little more orange. And, while the tree is changing colors, I did too. I owned a red Nissan 350Z a few years ago. This time I got a blue one. While the blue looks great against the orange tree, the real dopamine rush comes from driving it on the freeway with the top down.


Happy birthday Charley! Nothing better than watching a 1 year-old smushing a cupcake.

The Women and Horses in Cavalia

Dad surprised me with tickets to Cavalia. We had great seats and saw that:

Cavalia is not a circus. It's a production built around the relationship between people and horses.

There was a "horse whisperer" named Sylvia. She's a Liberty trainer – a natural horsemanship discipline in which the horse responds to tone, voice commands and body movement instead of whips and restraints. Nine Arabians precede her on stage, one by one. They don't wear bridles or saddles. Nearly all are stallions, typically known for fighting and playing. It's Sylvia's job to keep them playing and to lead them into precision work.

"What I've learned is that horses love attention. They have personalities you can't imagine," she says.

Cavalia is for horse lovers, an innovative multimedia extravaganza. Blending dramatic visual effects, live music, dance and acrobatics with the bold presence of over sixty magnificent horses.

Lily's B-day

Wow, do I have a strong willed and fiesty grandaughter. Lily is her name and defiance is her game. It was so funny at her Princess 3 year-old birthday yesterday. Danica had the 3 little girls dress up like princesses with tiara's nail polish jewelry and some play makeup. The other little girls let us adults gently apply the make up. Lily would have none of this, "I DO IT" she yelled and proceeded to smear the lipstick and blue shadow across her entire face.

A Labor Day Family Reunion

Preston, Tiana and Austin drove my eclipse over. Bryce, Marcia, Sam and Lucas came in their car with Bryce's Mtn bike. We had a glorious 2 days. The boys went on a bike hike while we went to Plum creek stables to ride horses. The wrangler was really talkative and they called him "slim" Marcia's horse was very gentle and slow, mine wanted to eat and trot all the time and had huge sides. Danica had a really great horse named Mississippi and I'd go back and ride that one. It was so great to be out on the trail near Chatfield reservoir with people I love and on horses too! We pulled out a box and it was the kids "magic school bus"
We've lived in our house for 16 years and the tree in the back yard is big enough to shade us for an outdoor picnic. Then we watched BYU football and Tiana and Preston went to the Aquarium.
Sunday we all went to church and it was so great to take up the whole row. Lucas had a little jewelry box from China with 3 small objects in it and played with it over and over again, opening it up and calling it his spaceship. Lily was at her best, no biting this whole weekend and played happily with the other grand kids. Sammy and Jensen had a great time playing as well. Sunday night we had a gourmet dinner and afterward a Jewelry making party with my friend Jackie and her kids Baylynn and Tory.

Rosemary is my new favorite herb

We have a bi-monthly dinner group with our favorite neighbors. I've always felt embarrassed because I'm not a gourmet cook like they are. Our table stuff is rather worn out from 6 kids. Karen Foreman mentioned such fancy decorations they have on the cooking network that they are called "Tablescapes" Also, we've never had steak knives or matching silverware or good napkins, napkin rings or even a decent looking salt and pepper shaker set. So I watched Giada De Laurenti and Barefoot Contessa episodes on the food network and came up with a Mediterranean meal---- I went to the Great Indoors and picked out just new place mats and napkins....100$. Put them back and went to hobby lobby and walmart and Sam's club where things cost 1/4th as much and they had purple grapes the size of plums and made the rest of the stuff I needed myself. Kevin, A guy who in the past brought liver pate shaped like a pineapple, walked in, saw the table and said, what nice presentation! And when we ate the food, someone else said "You've really outdone yourself!" I made Mediterranean chicken in foil packets with sundried tomatoes, feta and fresh basil on top. And Mark cooked up a zucchini potato pancake with Italian cream cheese on top.

Steve Foreman thought the napkins would make good dew rags.

Chinese Exchange Students

We hiked up to St. Mary's Glacier.






Everone wanted the fast lane, but some didn't go so fast and others behind them got frustrated.
Riding up to the Alpine slide.
Shawn is 16 and like Marti, an only child.



Me and Marti getting to know Giada my horse out at Cottonwood Riding Stables.

Last Week of Summer Vacation

With Celeste and Danica and 5 grandchildren in town, we went to the zoo, the pool and splashed in my backyard in the wading pool and with the slide. We ate at Cici's pizza where Lily held her ground in the video game room.
Grandpaw and JJ by the dinosaur in Utah.
Moving the kids through the zoo required some portage. I got a cutie (Charley)
Went to Utah, visited with my mom and dad, had lunch with Leslie, spent some time with Austin and traded vehicles with. Went SHOPPING with Tiana. Came back a day early and Mark took me on a hike to rocky mtn. forest.


Oh, it's so sad to see summer end. Do I really have to start teaching 5 sections of psychology 101 tomorrow! Ach!

Family Reunion in Utah and a week with Celeste

Don Got Engaged to Leslie Galan while we were in Utah



Eating with the whole family in American Fork.

Hunter and Charley at the 7 peaks water park.

We got a baby sitter and went for a pedicure. Oh the luxury of the massage chair and being with my daughters getting our nails painted.





Celeste and I found amazing clothes, toys and books at Jessica Liu's Garage sale.

We hiked to devils head. I have forgotten how much I love this one hour him to the top of the mountains.
Brooklyn likes playing with my tea set.