My Year

I have started a new weight loss pill! I know, it's the standard New Years resolution, but hey, when it's a good one-why drop it!

I've said it before, and I'll say it again-this is a year for getting myself healthy. Thin isn't too bad of a consequence either, but really what's the point of getting thin if you are sick afterward.

There is a chance that if I drop weight too quickly I could wind up with a serious case of aspartame poisoning, so I have to do it slow and carefully. But hey, like I said--this year!

Genetic Problems

Do you know anyone with cerebral palsy? It can be a devastating disease that can be avoided so many times. When I was growing up there was a couple just up the street from us who both had this. Because they knew they could most likely pass it on to their children, they made the choice to adopt. They adopted two really sweet kids from Colombia and you know, handicapped or not, they did a really great job with them.

I have always worried about some of the genetic disorders we could have passed on to our kids. So far, we've been pretty lucky. Genetic testing...it's just not something you think of when you are planning a wedding!

Immigration Reform

Living in Arizona, one of the key items we'd like to see addressed with this new presidency is the need for immigration reform. Every year you hear of many illegals that get disoriented in the dessert on their hike to freedom and they end up dying. As much as I am for securing our borders, I do feel for these people and their plight. Arizona is definitely a place where an immigration attorney can make a difference.

I know we have a pretty wonderful country. I've thought that my whole life. I understand why people are dying to get here. It just breaks my heart how often it actually happens!

Lovin' Technology

I wrote in an earlier post, that I was looking for notebook computer memory. I finally found some online that is pretty inexpensive, and I'm hoping we'll soon be back to normal where computer speed is concerned. These let you download images and documents to these cute little sticks. Since I'm not too experienced with them, I want to make sure you can't damage them. I would hate to put all of my photo's on them, delete the photo's off of my hard drive, only to have something go wrong with my stick! Anyone else notice any problems??

Getting Some Rest

I don't know if you would really call it resting after we got back from Idaho, but we at least made an attempt to slow down.

The weather has been cold! In fact, friget cold! It has snowed a few days while we've been here, but for the most part, we were able to get right back inside and get warm going from home to home. Today the sun is shining and even though it's cold outside, it's very pretty, and the blue sky and sun shining through our windows makes it feel toasty and nice in our condo.

Mike has done some running around today, looking for cheap car insurance but for the most part I have stayed inside and have gotten some closets and drawers cleaned out. We cleaned our a storage shed last far just before we left and even though we put things away, I felt we needed to concentrate on some better organization. It looks very nice!

Grand Children Sleep Over

What were we thinking?????? No, actually it was very fun! We had seven little grandchildren under the age of 8 in our small 1000 sq. ft. condo over night! Whew!

We normally have them over in smaller groups, but that couldn't be arranged this time. We just didn't have enough days.

They ate pizza for dinner, but really was not interested in eating. They wanted to get right to the part of playing games or watching videos. The girls: Emily, Anna, Gwynny, Ashley and Leah all decided on watching Shrek The Third. They had all seen the movie, but it was the choice of all since it was the latest movie out.

The two boys: Quincy and JJ stayed in the den and played something. I never did go in and find out what they were up to. They came in to check on the girls every so often, and invited them to join them in their games, but I put a stop to that. We had five little girls content and happy, and I didn't want that messed up.

The girls slept on the floor wrapped up with blankets and the boys were on the spare bed in the den. They didn't go to sleep as quickly as Mike and I did, but at least they didn't cause any trouble, nor keep us awake.

They were at our home until after noon the following day, and they were good and found some quiet activities to play. We only had one problem and that was that we didn't take good enough care of our new wood kitchen table. One or two little girls had spilled water and the finish is ruined in two places. I hope we can figure out how to fix it when we get back there in the spring.

Mike's brother Darrell who lives in Washington came by to visit. He brought his trombone, and let all the kids have a turn blowing into it. It was a nice day.

The Last Three Days!!

The last three days of our trip were spent visiting friends we hadn't had a chance to see.

We had a nice visit with Dubby and Carolyn at their home, and hurried off to have dinner with Jesse. Jesse is our late son Brian's best friend. We will stay friends with him for the rest of our lives. He is like a son to us.

We ate a wonderful dinner at The Texas Roadhouse, Mike and Jesse had steak & ribs, and I had salmon as always. Delicious!

Earlier that day we visited Mike's sister Eleanor, along with our daughters Chris and Amy. Eleanor was happy to see us, and we have a wonderful visit. I'm looking forward to seeing her as soon as we return to Utah.

That last three days was busy with finishing up shopping we needed to do, and taking down the Christmas decorations.

We have loved our vacation and are looking forward to getting back to Arizona in the nice warm weather and getting back to normal.