Colorado part 2#

We were off again back to Colorado. Luke was our 3^rd driver, so

It was nice to have him along. We had never been to The Arches National Park, if I did, it

Wasn’t since I was a little girl, so because it was on our way back we decided to go there.

It’s not far off of Hwy 70, about 35 minutes or so. It’s amazing you’re driving along

Out in the middle of no where and then you start seeing the pinks and oranges of rock

Formations way off in the distance and it starts to get exciting.

We entered the park and we couldn’t get enough pictures. The pictures don’t do it justice either.

Each turn we made as we made our way up the side of the mountain, the view just kept on getting better and better. I can’t describe it really well. It was pretty hot but that didn’t

Keep the tourists away. We stopped a long the way at every turn out we could and took

Pictures. It was amazing. David kept on saying, we have to come back, we have to

Come back in the spring  or early fall next year when it’s not too hot and we can

Stay longer to camp.

We went into the town of Moab and got gas and our driver Luke made a

Courtesy stop for me so I could go into some of the shops. It is a tradition that

I get David a baseball cap when we’re we visit a new place, and I wanted to

Definitely get him one from here. Besides it was Moab. I also have to google

Every town we have interest in and read all about it’s history, geography, climate etc.

It’s very fascinating to me, I know I’m weird about that.

I’m never disappointed when reading the rich history of the different places that

We visit. Even if the town is so small that it seems insignificant. There is always some

Little nugget of interest in the town.

We didn’t stay too long because we wanted to get to Avon before dark.

Maya was waiting for us and it was really good to see her and also be out of the car.

The next morning we were off again to spend the day in Aspen. I have never been.

But first we checked into our hotel room. The Park Hyatt at Beaver Creek Resort, it is a

Four start hotel in the middle of Beaver Creek, Avon, Colorado. Maya works there and

So lucky us we got the family discount, over 50% off, such a break!  In the high season rooms can go

For $1100 a night, even in the low season, the low season about $300 a night.

For us it was , wait for it, wait for it, $90 a night!

We felt very fortunate.

Aspen is about an hour and 45 minutes away from Avon but it’s a gorgeous drive.

The weather temperature gets to the lower to mid 70’s in the summer, just perfect.

We got to Aspen and it didn’t disappoint. Lot’s of high end stores, like Gucci, Prada, Ralph Lauren

Etc. We went into a couple of them and of course walked didn’t purchase anything, I can’t believe some people will pay $400-$1300 or more for a purse or a shirt for that matter.

 The pictures just don't do them justice. You just have to be there

to appreciate the beautiful colors of the rock and formations. 

David, so wants to go back there when we have more time.

 Such a good looking couple, our hosts

son, Luke and daughter-in-law, Maya.

 Our beautiful daughter-in-law Maya and I  resting in between

the hard job of shopping.

 Us in the Arches. 

 Luke and Maya found a bargain at Ralph Lauren, if you can believe it,

they were having the summer sales. 

We had so much fun window shopping and browsing around in

Aspen. It's very walkable, I think I like it best during this time of the year

verses in the winter.

 We had a delicious lunch in Aspen, at a place called Pacifica. 

I had the Tuna Nicoise salad and David had Fish Tacos. Luke and Maya

joined us for lunch, the weather was just gorgeous.

This girl doesn't wear Prada. Hmm. I never went in it but they had a beautiful 

window front.  
More on our trip, stay tuned....

"georgie"

Colorado, Utah, oh my.

We took off early Saturday morning, 4am to be exact

and a way we flew to the Rocky Mountain mile high state of Colorado, this was  our

first leg of our trip, we met up with our son, it was so good to see him and 

breathe the the fresh mountain air of  Avon. Avon sits right next to Vail, Colorado.

We all jumped in the car and away we were off again headed for Lehi, Utah. 

Yes call us crazy, but this was the plan. 6 1/2 hours later

we were playing and kissing our granddaughters, especially

our youngest, little Stephanie.  I can't tell you how much

I love my grandchildren. I know that all Grandparents feel the same way about their own, so they

know what I'm talking about. But there is something that is embedded

in my heart that  when I think about them it makes my heart

just swell with love, joy. It is unexplainable. 

Chris, our son-in-law gave a moving blessing to little Stephanie, Sunday

and it was the highlight of  our trip. 

I am so thankful to have a great son-in-law in Chris who is a worthy Priesthood  holder

who takes such good care of our daughter Cheri and his little family.  They make a 

good team. When we get together there are always games to play and long conversations

unfortunately the visit was going to be a short one, and  so we tried to fill each minute

packed with enjoying each other's company.

I hate good bye's. I told Cheri,  I know I'm biased, but I do have the most

cutest and most adorable grandchildren, we gave them lots of kisses and hugs and

blown kisses as we drove away, sniff, sniff.  

Until our next visit. 

"georgie"

Her 7th

She's seven! Our oldest granddaughter turned 7, I can't believe how big she is 

getting. She is kind, she is lovable, she is always happy and positive. 

She is thoughtful and caring. She is helpful and has lots of energy,

so much so that her mom involves her with activities like

soccer, which she really loved last year. This summer she started

ballet. She seems to like it so far. 

She has always loved dressing up, she loves loves Princesses from 
all the fairy tales, hence her Birthday cake here. This year
she has gotten into the "Brat" dolls. We fell in love with her
the day she was born. We love her so very much!
Happy Birthday dear Tacie!

A Tribute to a Fallen one

It seems that days and nights go by so fast.

It started before the weekend. Thursday I got up super duper early

2:15am to be exact and was out the door by 3:08am

to drive down to Galt to pick up my Mom, sis and friend of Mom's

to drive down to SF for Mom's procedure. We got there

on time with some time to spare, 7:15am.

It was a beautiful crisp cool morning with Fog still

present. While we were waiting, one of Mom's good friend

showed up, Katie, and we got to visit with her. She is living in SF with

her daughter, all her children except for one lives in SF.

Skip to Lunch. Katie's daughter's Nanny, (did you get that?) recommended

a little restaurant not to far from where we were, so we decided to

go there. It's called:

http://www.chouquets.com/

It's a French restaurant. Note: every time my Mom has a procedure where

she has to fast she is always hungry for pancakes. So she just assumed that

they would serve Crepes, since they were french. Sadly they did not, at least for Lunch they don't.

Sniff sniff.

Skip to 5pm. I dropped my Mom, sis and mom's friend back at their home in Galt.

I thought, okay it's 5:05pm, surely I can get home within an hour and 10 minutes. I was

banking on that. I was soon on my way and making good timing, when I approached

the 59th over pass and everyone was slowing down very quickly. What the ?

All along the over pass were fire trucks, fire men, police cars, Lights flashing

and they were all looking out at us. I thought to myself, okay that was weird.

We all started speeding up again and getting back up to cruising when

again we approached the next over pass and again, everyone were slowing down, (almost screeching

to a halt). Same thing, lots of Fire trucks, police cars, fire men, Oh and lots of Flags of our

US of A. I had no idea what was going on. I listened to the radio and finally someone came

on and mentioned  that there was a procession happening soon in Honor

of Sgt. Mote, who was killed. This tribute to Sgt Mote was displayed at every

over pass from 59th St in Sacramento all the way to the East Bidwell over pass in Folsom.

It was a sight to be seen. I was fortunate enough to witness the actual

procession drive past me in the car pool lane, a Police Motorcade along

with the Hearse and  Fire trucks as far as the eye could see making their way

up the hill to their destination. I've never seen anything like this before.

In Memory to a Honorable Soldier, I didn't know him

but I pay tribute to him and to all those that have

given up their lives  for our Country.
Rest in Peace dear one.

"georgie"

We will always be young.

                                                            We have been friends since 

childhood Angie and I. She says's our first encounter was
in the nursery at church. My memory starts us at 7 years old
We didn't go to the same school until middle school, but
we were like two peas in a pod always together at Church.
She, like me, liked to do pranks and she always made me laugh
especially when were being naughty. Going through Merry Miss, our first
Ward dances, Stake (Church) dances. We were known to being
a little  very Boy Crazy. We loved, loved going to the dances and back then
people actually danced, Yes we danced, there was none of this standing around and
or jumping in clusters. The Youth danced, just like "Foot Loose". I remember trying
to have something new to wear to each dance, if I didn't have the money, I would go through my mom's fabric box and fabricate something without a pattern, because back then there
was at least one dance every Saturday night of the month. 

If we had to travel 30 miles up to Auburn, Sac East or Mormon Center, we did. Someone always
had their license and a free station wagon. Us youth would pile in that car
and head out. Seat belts were optional. We've done sleep overs, frozen bras included (this happened to you if you fell asleep first). It seemed like we never had a boyfriend at the same time.
I was the third wheel during our junior year, she was never hungry, but I
always was, and so "said boyfriend" would end up shelling out
$$ for me and my appetite. Thanks Mark Hogge.
 We've done
impromptu road trips, literally. she, me and her mom, Shauna
( I know terrible English), left one Saturday evening headed for
Kanab, Utah, (yeah I never heard of it before either), just so she
could see her then return-missionary boyfriend who would become her
husband. We didn't pack or anything and drove all night and every time
the song "Stuck on You" by Lionel Ritche came on, she would swoon.
When taking road trips, there are always great heart to heart talks and 
we did. Here we are less than a year before we turn 50 and
I know we both feel like we are still sixteen
riding in her 2 door Orange thing taking off 
to watch the guys play basketball. 

We will always be young.

"georgie"

Those Girls

As I was cleaning this morning, I ran into these photos that the girls took of themselves.

When they get together there is always laughter. When you have girls, there is always going

to be a little, no scratch that, some drama, maybe even tears, or pouty lips, but

I wouldn't trade them for the world! No matter how grown up they are, they always keep me

on my toes, they are very strong women and they are not afraid to tell me what's what!

I love them to bits! 

"georgie"