2008 -- What a Year!

Christmas from years past:



As 2008 draws to a close, I reflect on all the things that happened to our family. Alyssa is doing well in college, Christian is in his last year of high school and Emi is getting ready to move into high school. We have been incredibly blessed with wonderful experiences, freaky storms, and loving friends and family.

We will be gone for the next couple of weeks or so. I will not be posting to the blog. I set up the mobile blog option so maybe I should try it ... We'll see if it works or not or if I even remember to do it!

I'm excited to go skiing, see family, go to my office holiday party, ski, see friends, ski, eat yummy foods and last but not least, ski. :-) This year we rented a house instead of two hotel suites and I'm happy about that. It will be nice to be together in a house over the holidays. Being in two separate suites wasn't the same though the kids enjoyed the freedom. lol

So MERRY CHRISTMAS! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Jon Schmidt Concert Part 2

Dain sent these to me from his phone. This is Jon practicing for tonight. Tonight and Saturday, the concerts are at Kingsbury Hall at the U of U campus.

Another picture from the practice. I won't get actual pictures since Dain will be playing. This is the first year I don't get to see the concert! Sad.

Jon Schmidt

Dain is in Utah doing his annual Jon Schmidt concert trip. This year, it's one trip instead of two since Jon put all concerts into one week. Much easier for us! He just sent me this picture he took with his phone. He's at the drums and you can see Jon (right) and Steve (left) as they practice for tonight's show in Ogden. Friday and Saturday, the show is in SLC.

Wish I could be there ....

By the way, those good looking drums belong to Dain's brother Jon (yes, same spelling as Jon Schmidt). THANKS JON!!!! :-) There was not way to take Dain's drums from Texas. lol

Jacket

Christian finally got his letterman's jacket and he's beyond excited!

Notice the "Utahman". It's from the U of U fight song by the same name.

Grateful

(Thank You in Chinese)

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving! I am SO grateful for everything in my life. I'm the luckiest girl alive. I have a beautiful, healthy family. I'm grateful for the good and the bad, because they have shaped me into the person I am today. I'm grateful for my experiences and my inner strength. I'm grateful for the opportunity to live in Texas. Not having mountains and snow around was a tough transition for our active family. It has taught me to reach outside of my comfort zone.

I'm grateful that Alyssa has a place to spend TG. She's not coming home this year and that's hard for me. She will be with family and that's comforting.

I'm grateful for everyone who has been kind to my family and me (especially my kids). I love the diversity and variety in Texas. It's awesome.

I'm grateful for my own business. I love the independence and having something that is mine. I love to work! And owning my business allows me to work around my family and personal needs. I like being the boss. HEE HEE HEE

I love making the Thanksgiving meal. All of it. Turkey, ham, potatoes, veggies, rolls, pies, all of it.

Gratitude rocks!!! It's the best feeling in the world.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! And thank you for being who you are.

Christian Recital

Christian wrote this song for Alyssa when she left for college and chose to perform it at his recital last week.

Heart Attack

I went to Idaho last weekend to visit my dad who suffered a heart attack the week before. He was rushed to the hospital where they did angioplasty. The doctor said this type of heart attack is called the widow maker as most victims die within two hours. He was lucky to get there quickly. I spent two days in Idaho before going to Utah.

With my mom. She didn't want to be in the picture because it was early in the morning and she wasn't dressed for the day.

With my dad! He looks well in this picture but he could only walk a few steps and he would be out of breath. The scary thing about his heart attack is that he had no warning: his blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar have always been within normal limits. This is a wake up call to all of us to get our butts in shape!!

Christian Senior Presentation

Christian and his best friend, Matt.

School fight song.

Dain and Christian. Yes, I took the picture and it's blurry.


The CHS Marching Band had their last football game for the year last week. During halftime, all members of the band who are seniors were invited to stand in front. The parents were invited to come down to the field and to pin a flower on their kid's uniform. It was SO touching. I'm glad I was wearing sunglasses. I was choking back the tears. UGH. Why do kids need to grow up?? I want them to be little again. But only when I'm in the mood for it, not forever. LOL

Galveston -- Still a Mess

Drove down to Galveston a couple of weeks ago to see what was left ... and it's still a war zone though parts of the city are open again. Here are a few of the tons of pictures I took. There are still big boats on the side of the road, nowhere close to the ocean!

Jewel

We got to meet Jewel last night at a up close and personal concert put on by Dain's radio station. It was at George Historical Ranch. The setting was so cool. She played from the front porch of an old pioneer home. We sat on bales of hay with a bonfire behind us where the kids got to make s'mores. The evening was cool. It was perfect!

Air Show

We went to the Houston Air Show. After watching the planes do their stuff, we went to the Army tent to compete. We did rock climbing and push up contest among other things. Then Emi stopped by the Marine tent and won doing the hanging test!


Me, reaching the top of the wall.

Emi, hanging tough. She always does well in this test!

Christian!

Dain was the official photographer (with his phone). :-)

Paint Party!

Aly and her roommates at Utah State BEFORE the paint party:

AFTER the paint party:

This is Aly's roommate Carli. Aly and Carli were best friends in elementary school and met up again after all these years.

Our dog Dax

This is Dax. He is a rescue dog so we're not exactly sure how old he is but the vet estimated anywhere from 15-16 years old or even older. Pretty old in dog years!!! He's always been incredibly scared of storms. Thunder drove him crazy and he would jump into the shower and shiver. Now he is deaf. A few minutes ago, thunder hit close to our home and he just sat there like nothing happened. That's the good thing about growing old, I guess.

House of Blues

Dain and I were invited to the grand opening of the House of Blues in Houston. It was great!! We got there and there was a long line around the block. And this was by invitation only. It didn't take long to get in. They closed the restaurant and set up check in stations where we presented our ID and received "VIP" badges. Then we went upstairs to the club level, to the different rooms (depending on membership), ate fabulous food and talked to people we knew.

Then we got to see some concerts. There were some bands including the group that does the Sunday Gospel Brunch followed by the Blues Brothers. It was Dan Ackroyd and Jim Belushi. We were feet from the stage. They were sweating like crazy. It was fun to see them so close.

Jessica Simpson

Got to meet Jessica Simpson yesterday. Very nice girl. Very ditsy. :-)

Snowbird Oktoberfest

The morning of my parent's anniversary party, I went to Snowbird to see the fall colors. I went with Alyssa, my brother Andy, and my nephew Allen (he is Paul's oldest). We also caught a bit of Oktoberfest. It was BEAUTIFUL! I love fall in Utah.


Alyssa and Allen


Me, Alyssa, Allen, Andy. We took that short traverse hike to the overview.


Andy told me what these leaves were but I can't remember ... so pretty!


We had planned to go up on the tram but just missed it ... and we couldn't take the next one as we had a short time before having to go get ready for the party.

My trip to Sacramento

This is me doing the presentation in Sacramento. There were 3 of us flown in by American Express. Gina owns spas in New York, I'm in the middle, and Cynthia owns an RFID company in Austin.


The 3 of us with the lady from Amex.


The California State Capitol. Very pretty.


Ahhhnold's Office.


These cops were happy to have their picture taken ... I think. LOL

My Family

This is how we look when we're acting "normal".
Mom and Dad in front. The kids are sitting from oldest to youngest. Middle row: I'm the oldest, then Paul in the middle, then Andy. Back row: Next is Lee on the left, then Angenette, and last but not least, my baby brother Ryan (Ladies: he's single!).


Wild and crazy siblings ... Lee's true personality comes out.


My parents didn't know we were pulling faces .. They were like "what????" HA HA HA

Home Sweet Chocolate Home

Got home last night from my trip to California/Utah. Dain surprised me with a yummy brownie cake!! He made two layers of brownie with homemade dark chocolate frosting. YUUUUMMMMM It's delish. I'm so spoiled ... THANKS SWEETIE!!

I will post pix from my trip later.

Happy!

Tonight, happiness is having an In-n-Out Burger, Animal Style. I'm in Sacramento. I paid a bell boy to run and grab me one. Now, I'm headed out to meet the crew for dinner. :-)

I'm out of here!

Count Me In and American Expressed have invited me to speak at a conference in Sacramento. I'm leaving tomorrow (Wednesday), speaking at the conference on Thursday, and then I'm headed to Utah. I will spend Friday with my employees at my office. I'm interviewing for a new office manager.



And Saturday, it's off to a family party (my parent's 45th wedding anniversary--that's their wedding day) and then to Snowbird for Oktoberfest.

HOW AWESOME IS THAT???!!! I'm psyched! AND I get to spend this time with Alyssa.

Service

Saturday, we received a call that we should wear our work clothes to church and be ready to go do some work. It was odd showing up on Sunday wearing jeans and a t-shirt.


We ended up going to the home of an older member who had a big tree down in her yard plus debris everywhere. Emi and I raked!


Christian went with the big, strong men to help with the trees.

It was very rewarding!!!! I LOVE service projects.