I AM SO BLESSED

Trent came home for the Thanksgiving holiday. It was so great to see him and Jennifer. Sunday evening I was over to the Lambertsons for dinner and we prepared the wedding announcements. On Monday we picked out all the men's formal attire at the tuxedo shop. While I was gone for Thanksgiving, Trent cleaned up some leaves, put the Christmas lights on the house, did my full service pools and took care of mail and garbage. In addition, he and Jennifer registered at Target and Bed, Bath and Beyond, got the marriage license, and several other things, so they were very busy.

The plan was for me to go to SoCal and spend Thanksgiving with my mom, Kaylinn and Mark. David and Lesley were even going to come up from Arizona to join us. What fun! Then last week Mom fell and broke her hip, went through surgery and is now recovering in a rehab center. Kaylinn and I went to visit her on Wednesday and then again on Thursday. We stopped by Boston Market and picked up a nice turkey dinner to share with her. Mom is still in a lot of pain and our visits were pretty short, but we were able to do some things for her, like get the mail, listen to phone messages, water the plants and pick up some items for her. I went back on Friday and also put away her fall decorations and got out some of the Christmas things, including the tree and ornaments. I boxed up four dresser drawers and cleaned out a section of the closet for her live-in houseguest who will be living with her for the next month to help her.

Dave and Lesley arrived on Friday and we had a wonderful time visiting. Kaylinn made a really nice Thanksgiving meal in 5 courses. It was so nice. I was so excited Carter recognized me. He would come to me and liked to have me hold him. On Saturday, we looked at model homes and, of course, watched the BYU vs. Utah football game. I drove home Saturday night getting home at 1:15am. Now I'm sad to be home with no family.

My First Week

I guess it's a milestone to say I've spent my first whole week by myself. It wasn't too bad as I stayed busy working out most days, taking care of pools, working at Wheelers, cooking, yardwork and working on odd projects. I had a few good cries missing Dad so much, but I manage to pick myself up and keep going forward.

Made myself go to the Relief Society craft night and actually had a nice time getting out of the house and visiting with good friends. I still don't like it much because the conversation always manages to turn around to me, "How are you doing?" "Why haven't you called me?" "Is there anything I can do?" I don't like attention on me, especially when I don't have anything good to report. My latest comment is, "I'm learning how to do this."

One problem area this week was with the Schlaich pool on Kasky Lane. Kim called and said the heater was doing weird things and was showing an error message. I don't work on heaters, first of all, but I went over to see what the matter was, yeah, acting like I knew what I was doing. Then I went home and looked up on the internet the Raypak heater instruction manuel, a tip I got from David. Sure enough, there it was. It had the code and what it meant and how to fix it. Ha ha. I went back and sure enough, I think I fixed the problem, which was easy, but at least I didn't have to hire John Park to go out for $85 and do what I did. Well, at least she hasn't called back yet so we'll see.

I went to Sarah Krause's wedding reception Saturday. It was held at a friend's home in Lafayette, up by St. Mary's college. It was a nice day so she could get away with having it outside, but it sure got cold!

























I have a new thing going to promote my getting back in the kitchen. I'm going to try several new recipes each week and when I find a good one, I will share it here. The recipe this week will be perfect to go along with the Thanksgiving feast:
Cream Cheese Apple Bars
1 pkg Betty Crocker oatmeal cookie mix
1/2 cup firm butter
2 8-oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 TBS flour
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
21 oz can apple pie filling
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup chopped walnuts

Mix cookie mix with butter using hands. Reserve 1 1/2 cup mixture, set aside. Spread remaining cookie mix in 9x13 pan. Cook 10 min at 350. Cool

Blend cream cheese, sugar, flour, vanilla and egg. Spread over cooled crust. Mix together pie filling and cinnamon. Spread over cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle reserve cookie mix and nuts over the top. Cook at 350 for 35 minutes or until golden brown (don't overcook).

Cool and cut. These set up enough to eat with your hands after cooling in the fridge for a few hours, but they are good to eat with a fork after 20 minutes, especially with ice cream. They can be made ahead and frozen. Walnut Creek Stake Relief Society

11-Day NCL Cruise

It was so much fun. Now it seems like a dream since I am back to work trying to catch up on everything. I found out about the cruise just three weeks before departure and the ship was full. I was put on a waiting list and after a few days, NCL called and said there was an opening. I called my mom right away and said, "I hope you're free because we're going on a cruise."



We got on the cruise ship in San Francisco which was great because there was no travel time before boarding, yeah! At least good for me because Mom had to drive up from Laguna Hills. The itinerary was to head south along the Mexican Riviera including the ports of Topolobampo, La Paz, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas. I was ready to go!





Topolobampo
After three days at sea we arrived at our first port, just a spot on the map. The actual town we visited was called Las Machis some 20 minutes from the dock. There had only been a few cruise ships stop over the summer, so the locals just looked at us funny, a little suspecious, not sure what to expect from these rich foreigners.

La Paz
The next port is located just north of Cabo San Lucas on the inside channel. It was a bigger city and very clean. We took a private van tour of the city and he took us to see the cathedral, pottery makers, weavers, and then along the beach front where we stopped to get our feet wet. We were part of a murder mystery dinner that evening and it was so much fun! I was a Russian KGB agent.
















Matzatlan
Next we stopped in Matzatlan and took a guided walking tour of the old town. We started along the beach and then along the old streets and buildings that are pretty much deserted now. They are beginning to revitilize the old section with shops and restaurants, etc. and it will be really nice when they are done. We saw the cliff divers, a very old bakery (great cookies), the history museum and plaza, the opera house and cathedral. We had lunch at a restaurant next to the plaza which was part of the tour. So fun and relaxing.












Puerto Vallarta
This day was definiately the highlight of the trip for me. I signed up for a tour with Randy Gardner and Leon and LeeAnn Nelson to go zip lining and repelling. What a day. First we took a Zodiac at high speed about 20 minutes across the bay to the mountains. Then we boarded an open bed truck to go up in the hills. Honestly, it was just like the Disneyland Indiana Jones ride and I was sitting at the end next to the tailgate holding on for my life. THEN we got on the donkeys to go higher up the mountain. There were several zip lines (I think 6), one repelling line alongside a beautiful waterfall, and then one free-fall down a cliff. Awsome stuff! I knew Dad had always wanted to do it so every time I'd yell, "This one is for you," or "Here we go again!" I have lots of pictures on CD but Randy has them so I'll get them posted later.

Cabo San Lucas
Our day in Cabo was relaxing as we took a boat out to the arches and then had access to a very nice resort for two hours with a very nice lunch provided there. We enjoyed the beach but also enjoyed the quiet of the pool away from the venders and crowd. It was the exact beach we were at as a family where we rented the jet skies. That evening it was fun to see everyone dressed up for Halloween.











All week we played games, laughed, ate every few hours, and attended the fantastic shows in the evening with singing, good comedy, acrobatics, dancing and magic. The picture above is our whole group, many new friends and those from home. You see Skidmores, Gardners, Nelsons and Haywards. Two more days at sea heading back to San Francisco and I think we were all ready to get back home.