February 20

Went to the AZ Broadway Theatre with Momma Myrt, Nancy, and Lynne. Nancy and Myrt have season tickets and they take a friend when they go. What a wonderful treat this fantastic evening was. Fabulous food, and an amazing rendition of Fiddler on the Roof. During the performance the thunder was rolling, and as the cast was performing the closing scene "Anatevka" the rains came and absolutely pelted the roof. The stage players did not seem to notice, however, and the performance was stellar. Thanks, Momma Myrt and Nanc, for a wonderful evening of elegant dining and exceptional theatre. 'Twas a much needed reprieve.

February 19

I try to set the table every night for dinner with a table cloth and napkins. I am trying to teach my family a little bit of etiquette and refinement, I guess. But the family dinner hour is really sacred to me. And it is something I refuse to sacrifice to the other demands on our time.

February 18 - President's Day

Had the day off today. Was a good day. Found some shoes, had lunch with Rod at Baja Fresh, and spents lots of money at Costco (saved $51.00 with their coupons for stuff I would have purchased at some time anyway). Haven't been to Baja Fresh since we moved away from Utah. The Fish Tacos were so good!

February 17

I'm sure I have said all of the things portrayed in this clip. It is hilarous! And I know my mom said some of them to me. I am most guilty of "Your I-pod is mine, if you don't......) and "No more computer time tonight!" I do throw in the "I love you" every day, too.

February 16

This is where I spent my morning and then part of the evening. We had a very sad tragedy in our Ward. A 9 week old baby was on life support and they unpluged the machines at 5:30 this evening. The family is devastated, of course. And there are some circumstances overshadowing this event that make it even harder to understand and bear. I just hope and pray that this family will overcome this huge tragedy and feel the arms of the Lord supporting them through this difficult time in their lives.

February 15

Today at work, I crossed my leg by putting my ankle up over my knee and this is what I saw. DANG! My shoe had split right off the sole! I was sad, because I really love this pair of shoes for work. They are comfortable, shine up really nice, and they are slip ons. This was the 3rd winter I had been wearing them. Now I have to go get another pair of black shoes! Oh well...

February 14

Today I got a call from Rod about 11:00 AM, which is unusual. He said he had gone home sick. Well, I must say that is a first. He never misses work for being sick. And when I got home, there were beautiful roses for Valentine's day. Even though he was so sick, he let me know he loves me in the way that means alot to me. Thanks, Rod.

February 13

Each month we go out as a Relief Society Presidency and visit the sisters who have a birthday that month. We have one sister that makes beautiful cards for every person, and then we also take a small gift. It is a good way for us to get acquainted with the ladies, and especially those who do not attend. We divided our list of 15 and set out. I went with Kathy. We had some really nice visits, and found someone home at every address. The second to the last was an interesting one - we told her who we were, that we were from the church and wanted to wish her a happy birthday. She said in a rather loud voice: "the Church can go to hell!" and slammed the door. Happy Birthday to you!

February 12

Becca and I went to Sam's tonight and had a sample of these DELIGHTFUL and WONDERFUL new snacks. Of course, we bought some! I highly recommend them.

February 11

This is my miniature shelf. When Cooper was really small, he used to like me to hold him up and hand him each little object so he could examine it closely. I always smile when I think of my Buzzy looking at the stuff on this shelf.

February 10

I know this is wierd, but it's part of my life. Almost every day this week, including today, someone has asked me about my hair. "Is that your curl, or is it a perm." "Your hair is so cute." "Is that your natural color?" "Your hair is so beautiful." It has been quite interesting that so many people have asked me about or commented on my hair the last few days. It has been a conversation piece throughout my whole life. Just let me say this: I have fought, hated, endured, accepted, and then in my last decade of years learned to enjoy the ease of having naturally curly hair. About the color, only my hair dresser knows for sure! I did say I would never color the gray (I think that mindset came from my mom, who never did color her gray), but as it got more and more prevalent I sort of ate my words on that one!

February 9

It was our "finish the pantry" Saturday. Nick helped Rod build the wooden shelves to fill in the wall space to the side of each of the rotating canned goods shelvles. They turned out beautiful!
A perfect fit - and everything looks way organized.

Here is a closer shot of the cans. I just love the ease of loading the cans on the top of the slot and how they roll on through to keep the rotation going. It's much easier than rearranging a shelf everytime you buy replacements. Becca helped me put in some of the cans, and she helped move the stuff back on to the shelves. Thank you everyone for helping get this project done! Hopefully our pantry will stay well organized and easy for us to use and see what we have. We have really tried to keep our food storage built up as we have been counseled to do.

February 8

More rotating shelf parts. Rod got the whole thing assembled Thursday night while I was at my Relief Society dinner. It was our celebration dinner for all those who read the Book of Mormon during the month of January - a very special evening of sharing sacred feelings and experiences.

Tonight we got away from all the construction at our house and enjoyed a great dinner at my favorite Mexican restaurant: Arriba's.

February 7

Each weekday morning I get up at 4:50. I wake the kids up at 5:30. Becca is usually up and fixing her hair when I go to wake her up. She then comes out and sleeps on the couch until about 7:00. She is my sleeping beauty every morning. Why is it that we feel something special when we see our children asleep, no matter how old they are?

February 6

My fingers are so sore! I snapped on several of these little puppies to align the slots for our rotating shelves. Got one unit done tonight and loaded up with cans. Rod put the frame up for the other one after mutual. Guess I'll try to "snap" some more tomorrow if my fingers can stand it!

February 5

February 4

We had a huge rainstorm today. Driving home from work, I went to Costco to get Rod a birthday cake and was on my way to Home Depot to get a paint roller. I stopped at a red light, rolled down my window and took this shot of a brilliant rainbow that stretched clear across the northeast end of the valley. It was so beautiful!

February 3

Well, it's Super Bowl Sunday. We took a drive about 4:30 and this is what we saw right off the 101 and Glendale Avenue:

Yep, that's right. The Glendale Stadium where the game is being played is only 4 miles from our house. We go to that complex to see movies, hockey games, and other stuff. There were tons of policemen, but the coolest thing was the mounted police.

I thought it would be fun to do some drive by shots so I took alot, but I'll just keep it to these two. There were acres and acres of cars parked all along the way. Enjoy the game. We're at home now, watching it.

February 2

To take a break from our pantry project, we went to downtown Glendale late this afternoon to see the Chocolate Festival. There were tons of booths, people, good smells and fun!

How could I take just one picture of this amazing event? The little ponies were so cute. And then the big guy behind them was just so mammoth! Cool contrast.

These chickens roasting were so interesting. The spits just kept turning over and over. You could see the flames jumping as the juices dripped. It smelled heavenly! Mmmmmmmm

How colorful this grill was. There was a big line up for these tasties, but for some reason the poor lady didn't look to cheerful.

These little boys were just so cute with their ice cream that I had to take their picture! They were with their grandma and she was happy to let me photograph them.

Then these guys showed up. They are still puppies, are small (according to the owner) for their breed and they were giganti! They had long hanging jowels with drool dripping off. I thought they were going to eat the children.

This was a welcome break from all the Saturday work that consumed many hours today. Can't have all work and no play!

February 1

Books Are Fun came to the school this week and I picked up my order today. Also, someone donated a bunch of books and we were told we could take any that we wanted (that's the pile that is stacked up.) I can never pass up a good recipe book. I love buying books for my grandkids. Okay, I am just a sucker for books.