My Get Away - Part 2

Wednesday morning wasn't so beautiful. We woke up to rain. Brett was kind, and he had booked an hour massage for me that morning. I got showered, and went down to the spa. It was wonderful.

When I got back, we decided to go out. We decided to see the town.

When we left the hotel property, this was one of our first sights (I thought of Eli).

We had to stop and get Brett a jacket, since he didn't bring one, and we walked down the 3rd street promenade, we went to an outdoor farmer's market, and we went to a mall. We stopped for lunch at a little hole in the wall restaurant, and then we went back to our room. We were soaked!

Here we are... notice the water drops on Brett's glasses and my green jacket.

When we got back, we dried off, warmed up, watched some tv, and then we took a nap. After we woke up, we decided to walk out to the pier.

There were some pretty flowers on the way.

We watched another sunset (but it was extremely windy).

The pier is at the end of Route 66

I decided that I didn't want to find out what Zoltar had to tell me.

Beautiful sunset.

a seagull hovering over our heads.

A look back at our hotel (the second one from the left).

a giant ferris wheel.

I thought of Eli again...

This is the day Steve Jobs died, and we almost bought a new computer.

instead, we just took pictures of the apples and the flowers left for a memorial.

My Get Away - part 1

Brett had a chance to go to LA for a commercial shoot. He sent me an email the week before, and he asked me to look for flights to go an be with him. He would be working on Monday and Tuesday, but off Wednesday and Thursday, and then working on Friday.

So, thanks to some wonderful friends, we were able to make it work. I booked a flight out on Tuesday, and I left.

At the Airport in MN.

Out the window.

Flying over MN.

In Phoenix.

Getting ready to go to LA.

...an accident waiting to happen.

the baggage carousel.

I think this is my first solo taxi ride.

When I got off the plane, I had to collect my bag because the flight was full, and I had to check it at the gate. I slowly proceeded to the curb to get a cab.

As we drove away from the airport, I saw some homeless people sleeping in tents in the bushes. I also saw one of the LDS temples in the distance. We took the freeway to Santa Monica, and It cost me about $47 for a 20 minute ride.

My cab driver wasn't very friendly, and when I got to the hotel I was staying in, I handed him my credit card. He hadn't said much of anything to me, and when he grabbed my card, he shook his head and said, "You don't have cash?" I didn't reply.

This was my view out of the hotel window/balcony.

The sunset from my room as I was waiting for Brett to get back from the studio so we could go to dinner.

The people from the agency that Brett works with took us to dinner, and there were about ten of us. It was a ton of fun, lots of good food, and the atmosphere was great. It was a great start to a relaxing trip.

Mexico

Brett and I were privileged to be treated to a trip to Mexico. We had a very nice time. It was a very nice break from the winter weather we had here.

"Grandma is better than Christmas"

The girls on the day grandma was leaving.

Grandma signing the agenda for the last time (notice the scarf that she made - she made each child a scarf).

My tender hearted child saying good-bye.

Brett won a trip to Mexico with his company. We were fortunate that his mother was able to come and stay with the children. The trip was in January, and when we were talking about how grandma would be coming, Emily said, "Grandma is better than Christmas!"

...and she was. She kept the children home from school one day and played. Thanks grandma for coming out, and thanks for taking care of my babies. Also, thanks for being better than Christmas!

Yippee!

Eli was in a spelling bee for school. He made it through a couple of rounds, and then he got out on the word, "YIPPEE" (I didn't even know how to spell it correctly).

Past Due

Caleb swam this year for the high school swim team.

Here he is off the starting block.

As I said before, he earned a varsity letter, so we got to get him a jacket. He got to wear it to school a couple of times, but the weather has warmed up, so it had made a home in the closet until next fall ( I would say winter, but I'm sure it will come out during cross country season next school year).

Caleb in his jacket.

If the jacket looks a little - or a lot - large, it is because it is. He has several years to go. He is only in 8th grade, and we are hoping it will last through his senior year.

Way to go Caleb!

I Never Thought I'd See This

While I was driving the girls to piano lessons, I looked out my window and saw this...

Upon closer investigation, I noticed it was a poor, dead cat, whose lives all ran out.

EW!

Arrow of Light

Eli received his arrow of light award yesterday. He worked hard to do all of his work and it was a fun morning to celebrate it with him. He also got all twenty of his webelo pins.

We are also grateful for our scout leader who helped him achieve this award. Sue headed out to Provo, Utah, today to go to the MTC. She will be serving a mission in Nauvoo, IL, for 1 1/2 years. We are excited for her, and we will miss her.

Big Man on Campus

Caleb got a section time in his last race of the regular season. That means as an 8th grader he is a high school varsity letterman. He was hoping to letter this year in the 200 IM. He swam it yesterday, and he only had .1 second to drop. He didn't make it. He later had a race in the 100 yard backstroke. His coach put him in this one half way through the season so that he would have an additional chance to letter. He made it.

YAY CALEB!

For Shanel

...and anyone else who might be interested.

Here are the pictures I told you I would take to show all of the snow. We will keep most of this around until March/April

Our mailbox. Notice the mail man's tracks, they are crooked because the mail main drives up on the snowbank.

Here is the snow at the end of our driveway. This is where we shovel it, and there is more here than other places because the snow plow pushes a bunch of the snow from the street into our driveway.

Here it is

Eli took this picture for me...

I hope you didn't hold your breath.