What kind of Christmas Tree are you?

You Are a Minimal Christmas Tree

You're not a total Scrooge, but you feel no need to go overboard at Christmas. Less is more, and your Christmas reflects refined quality.

What Christmas Tree Are You?

Leisa flying in Turks!

My friend Leisa totally conquered her fear.

Very proud of her :-)

Turks & Caicos

WOW!

He's tall.

Did you watch the Olympics Men's Beach Volleyball?

Ya, that would be me with Phil Dalhausser. He and his partner won the Gold. John & I and several of our good friends were vacationing at the Club Med in Turks & Caicos last week. This picture was after an exhibition volleyball game with a bunch of AVP players that were there for the week running volleyball clinics and games.

Okay -- I may have been a tad starstruck :-)

..........

It's all about Jazz!

During our Turks & Caicos vacation, we were privileged to see Jasmine's mom Debbie tribute to her little girl and the others whose lives were cut short by the tragic bus accident this past January. Debbie suffered severe injuries from the accident - she was still in a halo at the memorial service 2 months after the accident. Last week, the tracheotomy scar was the only external reminder of the accident.

Trick or Treat

When are you too old to trick-or-treat?

My favorite trick-or-treater was a little princess who was, at oldest, 3 years old. I dropped a package of candy corns into her pumpkin. Immediately, she pulled it out, handed it to me and said "I don't like these". It was all I could do to laugh hysterically. I took them back and showed her the new candy and asked if she liked Almond Joy's. She smiled and said yes.

HSM3

If you liked the first two, you'll definately like this one.

Denver, Colin Powell, Project Management

I attended a conference in Denver, Oct 19-22, where I was fortunate to hear Colin Powell.

He was very down to earth and spoke about his many experiences and how they related to Project Management.

The conference center was amazing, the Curtis Hotel was awesome, the weather was colder than I'd requested.

Football & Freeways

Tonight I went to the kids High School's next to last of the season football game. Both teams were 7-0. We lost to them last year in the State Championship game. I hadn't taken pics/videos of the band & flagline with the video camera all season, so I thought I'd better do it now in case they didn't make it to the finals.

I left at the end of the 3rd quarter when we were losing 0-14, that turned out to be the game score :-(

On the way home, two things happen:

1) I learned about 4 new freeway cameras that had recently been installed. Fortunately I didn't get my picture taken.

2) I had just moved into the far right lane of the freeway when I saw a white car in the middle lane that looked like it was going through a car wash. I was so wrong. As I got closer, I saw a guy in the rear passenger seat with his head out the window puking ---- sooo gross! That was a first for me. I have no idea why the driver wouldn't get off the freeway to let the guy puke in private.

Arizona blogger critically injured

by Jaimee Rose - Oct. 18, 2008 12:00 AM The Arizona Republic

Mesa blogger Stephanie Nielson, who wrote about motherhood and domesticities on http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/, was critically injured Aug. 16 in St. Johns in a private plane crash, along with her husband, Christian Nielson.

Stephanie, 27, suffered burns to 83 percent of her body, and Christian, 29, was burned over 35 percent of his. He is recuperating in a Mesa rehab center, and she remains in critical condition at the Arizona Burn Center in Phoenix. Stephanie's sister is posting updates on the family at http://cjanerun.blogspot.com/ .

Benefit concert - Arizona - Oct 25 2008

http://mindygledhill.com/

People Amaze me

Several days ago, I rented 2 DVDs from RedBox at the local Walgreen's when I learned of a new fraudulent activity. One of the DVDs dispensed was a CD that looked like it had been used as a frisbee that had landed on asphalt many times. They had peeled the bar code from the real DVD and stuck it on the frisbee CD.

www.redbox.com

Of course, I immediately called RedBox customer service to report the fraud and gave them the bar code on the fraudulent CD in hopes that they will charge/prosecute those people. They were great and gave me 2 free DVDs.

Weather & Hot Tubs

The last couple of days have been almost chilly. We've had our doors & windows open for the past couple of days --- it's been great! and we know it won't last long. I was comparing our weather to my NorthWest and EastCoast families -- crazy. All locations are in the 70's, but our humidity was at 9% compared to ~80% or so NW and the E.

So... I thought it would be a great night to soak in the hot tub, but ....
Several weeks ago we realized our pool & hot tub were out of control, so we finally contracted with a pool guy. After replacing the pool filter, and having our pool guy taking care of the chemicals each week, I thought we were set. John set the heat, and after 15-20 minutes, there was no heat. I think he tried a few other things, but none that worked. Of course, I was thinking positive and had changed into my swimsuit, but within about 10 minutes of changing, John said something was wrong and we wouldn't be hangin in the hot tub.

Maybe next time.

Google phone

My current phone

Google phone announced today

I want one!

Is it time to upgrade?

Indoor Gardening or Jumanji?

I wondered why there was a plant stem on the window sill...

so I went to take it off, but there was more...

a 6 foot vine hanging from my window...

it had grown through the house!

Strange huh?

Labor Day

John & I got out of the hot weather for a few days. This was the 3rd year we were invited to Prescott to celebrate our friend Tanya's birthday. They rent out all of the cottages so we don't have to worry about disturbing other guests. We had lots of fun with really only one not so fun event. Our cottage was the only one with a sliding glass & screen door. It took 4 people walking into/through the screen door and the glass door before John put up a big 'X' with tape. Unfortunately, I was one of the 4 that walked into it when the glass door was closed :-(. It hurt sooo bad but fortunately no bruises and all teeth are intact. The screen door didn't fair so good.

http://www.applecreekcottages.com

Back to work :-(

We got back from California very early Sunday morning, 1 a.m. Fortunately Camrie & I got to sleep in. John wasn't so lucky since he had to preach this morning.

We had a great time enjoying the cool weather of California. On Saturday, we drove on the 101 from Oceanside to Pacific beach. We decided to go that route since I-5 was backed up cause of rush hour. It turned into a fun adventure. It goes along the coast so there was lots of great scenery.

Today, John, Trevor & I saw Dark Knight. I have a trait that I'll have to blame on genetics, I sometimes fall asleep in movies. Today was not an exception - I think I missed 30 or 40 minutes right in the middle - so I'll be renting it so I can fill in the gaps. Heath Ledger was amazing as the Joker - so sad he's gone :-(

August 1 2008

July 31 2008

Movie

then dinner with my BEST friend Camille :-)

Welk pool - July 30 2008

CB

DW

SeaWorld - July 29 2008

California

The girls enjoying the cool
California weather and the

view from our balcony.

Family Reunion July 15-20

Port Angeles WA --
After many requests my neice was finally able to get John to go look for sea shells - I think she hit the jackpot.

More to come....

Where did June go?

Wow!

I can't believe it's July. My job has kept me incredibly busy these past few weeks. I haven't been updating the blog or responding to emails. I'm hoping things will start to calm down in July.

We saw WALL-E over the weekend. It was very cute.

We saw the American Idol tour concert last night. It was really good.

The AMAZING EMT's !

All the EMT's who aided our buses (after bus 11 crashed in SE Utah 1-6-08) came to help build a memorial to the Lost and Injured on the crash site on Memorial Day, May 26, 2008. Tears were shed, stories told, memories relived, and hopes and wishes born.

Sex & the City

Finally--- after 4 years. The "Sex and the City" MOVIE :-)

Went to the movie with my friends: Andrea & Carole, and my new friend Julie.

Memorial Plaque

On May 26, 2008 - some of the friends & families of those lost and injured in the January 6, 2008 bus accident will be placing this memorial plaque at the site of the accident near the entrance to the Valley of the Gods.

WE MISS YOU!

Sweet 16

Exactly sixteen years ago I was in the hospital waiting for my child to be born. I remember that I was watching Oprah and it was interupted by my beautiful daughter deciding she wanted to see Oprah too. She is still an Oprah fan today.

Today, as has happened for several years now, I added Camrie to the KEZ 99.9 Birthday Corner - where they read your name and age. This year as an added bonus she won the Birthday prize - a couple of gift certificates to local merchants. Pretty dang cool I thought.

For Camrie's blog with all the other fun birthday details - click here.

She is truly a 'Sweet 16' in every sense - she is AWESOME!

Iron Man

I didn't really want to see it, but I was out voted. Turns out it was a really good movie.

Baby Mama

This was the funniest movie I've seen in a long time. Go see for yourself.

Rocky Point

Almost every April and October we head to our nearest beach, Rocky Point, MX. Our first stop across the border is in Sonoyta for the street tacos & quesadillas.

Then on Saturday morning while we're watching the volleyball tournament, we hear the shout of "taquitos, burritos, tamales" from the people walking up & down the beach carrying huge plastic bowls and buckets filled with the treats. They are soooo good! Maybe in October I'll remember to take a picture, assuming I have a camera then. I dropped it on a mexican tiled bathroom floor this trip - major bummer.

I bought raffle tickets at the tournament and actually won! I never win. We bought $20 worth, probably more than we usually do since the money was going to the Telluride Bus Fund. We won a pitcher of Margaritas and as I headed back to my beach chair, my name was called again for the free room for the October tournament. Pretty darn excited about that.

To sign up for future trips & other fun adventures --> http://www.outtatownproductions.com/

Family

Dinner at Pam's...
Rick & LaDonna, Donny & Barb, Mike & Dulci, Jim & Brianna, Amber, Jean-o, Camrie, John & Karin.

John Jr 12/8/23-4/10/08

John's dad passed away peacefully this morning.

Today's Visitors

Avondale, AZ, United States

Köseleri, Turkey

Corona, CA, United States

Don Mills, ON, Canada

Wezembeek-Oppem, Belgium

Powell, WY, United States

Pine City, MN, United States

Chillicothe, OH, United States

Wunsiedel, Germany

Asunción, Paraguay

Charlestown, MA, United States

Filottrano, Italy

Reno, NV, United States

Starksboro, VT, United States

New York, NY, United States

Tucker, GA, United States

My DAD

John Jr

Just a quick update on John's dad.
Friday. The dr's confirmed carcinoma. We met with hospice.
Saturday. We brought him home & he was able to visit with us He seemed much better being at home. 24x7 hospice nurses started.
Sunday. Similar to Sat. Visited with him in the family room again.
Monday. Monday a.m. he really started to go down. He became non-responsive. Camrie came with me to visit, but chose to stay in the other room. He would occassionally open his eyes, but no real expression.
Tuesday. His temp. was up & down. Before I left tonight, his blood pressure was really low. It's Brianna's (John's niece) bday, so we're kind of hoping he waits a few more hours to leave us.

Weekend Update

Friday night, the kids & I saw the movie '21'. There was a great line mentioning Google -- I'm pretty sure we laughed more than anyone else in the theatre.

Saturday, John & I played in a golf tournament to benefit the Telluride Bus Accident. Our friend, Carole, set it up @ Great Eagle in Surprise. We bought a ton of raffle tickets --- but, as usual Corey won most of the prizes.

Sunday, Camrie, Danielle & I went to the last day of the Renaissance Festival. Traffic sucked in both directions because some brilliant person thought it was a good idea to have a golf tourney 4 miles away from the Ren Fest.

American Idol - 9 left

I'm in an a AI pool at work... I can't believe Ramiele is still in the competition. I voted her off 2 weeks ago :-(

Still pulling for David Archuleta and Brooke White. I'm going downstairs to check this weeks pool winner. Keep y'all posted.

Easter Weekend

Sunday Service at Crosspoint where John is the Interim Pastor.

Our front lawn

Newest CD purchase

Taxes on Saturday -- almost done