A February to Celebrate!

February Birthdays of Kids/Spouses/Grandkids, Dinner With Friends, a Mindy/Kids Visit and Sweet Sixteen!

To continue with my plan to give a little shout out to my kids, 

their spouses and grandkids

in their birthday month:

Emily is our beautiful daughter-in-law

and she brings lots of love, sporty fun, energy 

and intelligent conversation to our family - 

what a great combination, right?

And she and Ryan have super kids!

Mindy, our very daring daughter, added to her Adventure List 

this year by hiking the Stairway to Heaven 

 to the very top of Oahu. She's the cruise director 

for our family - she is organized, will tackle 

pretty much anything and is always up for fun!

And she and Jeff have super kids, too!

Jake, our handsome, second-oldest grandson,

is a major athlete in about every sport.

My favorite thing about Jake is 

his tender, kind heart.  

He loves little kids!

We went to dinner with our friends, the Madsens, 

as we do each year around our birthday time 

(Jane's is a day before mine).

In our Just Married days, 

Jane and I carpooled from our USU apartments 

to our teaching jobs at South Cache Junior High School.

Since Mindy and Jeff have been married, 

they have lived far away from us - 

New York, Denver, Houston.

Now they are comparatively a stone's throw away - 

well, just over four hours, depending on potty stops.

Jeff had a business meeting

 in San Francisco for three days,

so Mindy loaded the kids up in their SUV

and headed to Grandma and Grandpa's.

Mindy and I took the kids swimming 

in Sunbrook's indoor pool,

then Roger returned from work 

and we headed to Los Lupes in Mesquite.

Mindy would eat Mexican food, 

particularly chips and salsa, 

three meals a day!

It's kinda like how I love fish (and sweets!).

Mindy and I went through a few homes 

in the Parade of Homes on Saturday.
Grandpa was so kind to babysit the kids 
and take them to the park and for a walk.  
What a great Grandpa!
This was Mindy's favorite,
and it was decorated so very cute,
with bright colors accenting neutral background.

Sunday we had a big breakfast,
Grandpa's famous pancakes, 
bacon and a fruit compote in this sweet bowl 
that Ryan and Em gave me for my B-day.
Then Mindy and the kids cleaned, 
packed up and headed for home to meet Jeff.
Our church starts at 1pm,
so they couldn't stay and go with us.

Sweet Sixteen Sadie and her first Big Dance

We are so proud of this very special girl!

February always brings a welcome relief from January.

I can't believe all of the tourists 

who come into the Chamber of Commerce, 

where I volunteer, who comment 

on the sunshine and great weather in St. George!
Spring is just around the corner!

Happy Birthday, Me!

 Zinc Tablets, Vitamin C and Fervent Prayer = Assignments Completed and Happy Birthday Celebrated

February brought a couple of challenging assignments to me.

 I was on pins and needles 

that I would not be able to complete them,

because Roger contracted a terrible, hacking cough 

in early February that hung on forever.

I, usually the bigger target for bugs of the two,

was determined to not get it.

I have a sore mouth from sucking cold-prevention remedies

and sore knees from constant prayer.

First, our branch held its annual conference

and our INSTA-CHOIR provided the music.

What increased the challenge for me was 

I sang a duet, 

the first verse of I Know That My Redeemer Lives! 

with a soprano in our branch who has a lovely voice

and has sung solos throughout her life.

It was so fun to harmonize with her!

Though I have had wonderful opportunities throughout my life 

to sing small solos, duets, trios and quartets,

I have not done so

since moving to St. George over ten years ago.

We are into our seventh year 

of my directing our INSTA-CHOIR,

and, in those years, I have asked several branch members 

to solo within our musical numbers, so I took my turn.

Our core choir turned out in big numbers, 

and with the addition of visitors, 

we had about 50 voices singing their testimonies

with that beautiful hymn.

Our violinist, a string major from DSU,

was superb!

And I didn't have a cough in sight (or sound)!

The following Tuesday, I gave a presentation
about blogging
(with Roger's much-appreciated help 
running the computer and projector that 
put my blog and others up on the screen)

 in the monthly 

week-day Relief Society meeting -

not one hack!

Was it pushing it to hope and pray for 

going on our little annual overnight trip to Las Vegas

to celebrate my birthday 

minus the cough bug?

Yahoo!

Roger and I were blessed with two days and a night 

of shopping, eating and seeing a fun show

and feeling great.

 So, late Thursday morning,
off we went to Las Vegas.
Roger took a pic of me wearing my new birthday top 
that Stacy gave me.

Our family knows that one of our favorite Mexican restaurants 

on the planet is Los Lupes in Mesquite. 

Since we were passing through there at lunch time, 

we had to stop and share their special. 

We have never taken a pic there, 

so the proprietor took this on Roger's iPhone.

A little blurry, but, oh well, it says, we were there!

Roger had found a great deal for us to stay at the Aria.

And their buffet was included.

We try to avoid buffets, because we have no self-control,

but we made an exception.

They serve Jean Philippe desserts.

Yum!

Our room was so lovely,

and, as on our anniversary, they sent up 

these complimentary goodies for my birthday. . . 

. . . chocolate-dipped macaroons and strawberries!

After the buffet,

we drove downtown to Fremont Street to the D,

to see this family, The Scintas, perform.

The music, with brothers singing, 

playing several instruments and doing impersonations 

of past stars who we knew who they were,

was great!

 Tons of money has been poured into 

Fremont Street and the casinos on it, 

 to revitalize it.

It is old Las Vegas, and it had become pretty seedy.

Fremont Street is now a walkplatz,

with groups performing on bandstands

and a giant arched covering overhead

all along the way.

They have refurbished the casinos and hotel rooms.

It is definitely geared for the younger, partying crowd,

but it was fun to see what they've done.

Shopping in Vegas is the best!

I had a ball with the birthday money from my husband, kids,

mother-in-law and sisters-in-law. 

On Valentines Day, we had lunch at Bon Ami Gabi.

This salmon salad was so good!

They brought me this chocolate profiterole

for my birthday.

Chyrrl and Glynn, Scott and Sherie and Roger's mom 

were in Vegas at the same time, celebrating Chyrrl's birthday.  

They saw Donnie and Marie the night before,

which we were invited to see with them,

but we had already seen it.

we met, shopping at the outlets off Charleston Street.

We had a wonderful fish dinner (what's better than fish?!)

at Mastro's Oceans in Crystals Shopping Center.

I wore my new necklace and earrings.

Our appetizer was my favorite guilty pleasure, calamari,

and it was delicious . . .

. . . then we shared salad, clam chowder

and Chilean sea bass and sautéed asparagus.

The complimentary chocolate cake they brought . . . 

. . . was even yummier than it looks!

All that remained of the adventure

was to drive home to St. George after dinner!

Even though I don't really like birthdays anymore,
or, I guess I mean, getting one year older

(though, as my dad always said, 

they are better than the alternative!),

this was a great one!

It has been a time to reflect on and feel grateful 

for my loved ones - 

friends and family alike, 

who have brought so much love to my life.

The Lord has provided countless blessings to me.

I am so very grateful!