Mixed up dinner

Fred and I have started to accept invitations that come in the mail for retirement seminars. So far we have accepted two because of the "deal" that comes with the seminar.

The first time we went to one, we got free tickets to Mary Poppins a musical at the Brigham Playhouse. Only had to sit through about an hour presentation.

The second invitation we accepted was for a free meal at one of the 

really nice restaurants here in town.

This is where we went last night for dinner.

Our meals were really good.

 I got two fish tacos and Fred got salmon. 

 Of course, I didn't take my camera. I need to keep it in my purse.

Getting pictures of our actual view and meals would be much better 

than these that I found on line. 

Now for the rest of the story.

When the invitation came in the mail, I wanted to go because of the free meal at a fancy restaurant the I figured we most likely would never choose to go to.

I left it up to Fred to call and make our "reservation" for the presentation & dinner.

The night we wanted was full, but they added last night as an additional evening.

So Fred had the date right. The company called yesterday to confirm our reservation.

Fred listened to the recording carefully.

He asked me if I knew where the restaurant was and I said yes.

I googled it for directions. We both relied on the other for information.

We didn't look at the invitation before we left.

We show up and give them our names. We aren't on their list, but they seat us and say it is okay.

 We order and mention to the waitress again about the mix up at check in.

She said she wasn't aware of a presentation that night so she would check with her manager.

No presentation last night. They have a presentation reserved for the 27th.

We stayed and ate our meal.

Went home, listened to the message again.

"See you tonight at the Fish Rock Grille".

Oops.

This is where the presentation and FREE meal was last night.

More Musical Theatre

On Friday night Fred and I went to another local community theatre to see ~

This is what the theatre looks like. 

It's a fun little place. During intermission they serve ice cream, Brigham's Beer (not real beer), and different varieties of candy from a little cart.

We've been to several productions in town now and  are recognizing actors who have performed in  previous shows. One of the guys from Fiddler on the Roof was in Scarlet Pimpernel and he attends church in our building. I recognized him a week or two ago in the halls. 

Luckily it wasn't a full house. We moved to another seat after it got started.  

I seem to struggle with that more. In church I have to sit on the end seat on the side pews.

People's big heads always block my view. Makes me crazy!

Scott and Jess come to visit

Scott and Jess are on a road trip.

Texas ~ Utah (various places)

They have a busy itinerary. They left San Antonio on Monday.

They spent Wednesday evening with Corinne. 

Look at this great picture on the camera timer!

They pulled up to our home Thursday evening.

 Turns out all four of us have been watching the new TV show Astronaut Wives.

It peaked their interest in the astronaut program so they listened to an audio book on their trip.

Perfect timing to pull out Fred's scrapbooks. He has three this size. 

He kept them as a boy. I finally had him convinced to get rid of them when we moved here.

They were set aside to give away/throw away. 

But thanks to the keen eye and kind heart of my good friend Tina San Fellipo,

she saved them from the pile and stored them at her house for two years.

She just brought them to us in June.

Show and Tell for Fred.

 I took Friday off from work.

We went through an endowment session at the St. George Temple.

Jess's parents were sealed here.

My parents were also sealed here.

We showed them around inside the best we could for what we have figured out so far.

It was about 100 degrees and humid outside. The weather was icky hot all weekend.
Jess and I equally HATE hot weather.

We went out to a late lunch after the temple and then home for homemade dessert.

Blackberry Pie made by our own in house Pastry Chef. It was yummy~licious!

 Saturday my company had a Barbeque. We went but didn't stay long. It was so stinkin hot.

After that, we went down to the Daly's to introduce Jess to the family

card game of Hand and Foot.

It was pretty comical to listen to all the rules and terms flying around the table. 

I know she felt like she was never going to catch on.

Not a problem. She went out first every time. In Hand and Foot Terms - the Boss.Saturday night we went to a local Musical Theater to see West Side Story.

It was really good. 

Sunday was Church. It was a pretty big deal because Delna came. 

She doesn't always make it to church. This is Fred's sister Sharlotte and her husband Randy.

 We also had a nice family dinner at our house after church.

 Slow Cooker Pork Roast, gravy, coucous (new introduction from Scott & Jess), 

canteloupe, and homemade ice cream with toppings.

Scott and Jess were able to share  video clips from their wedding and receptions and their first year video montage plus the pictures of their new home. Scott makes video montages of all their events.  

We enjoyed a relaxing time together. 

We were able to spend time looking at home movies of Scott.

Jess got to look through all of the photo albums to see Scott growing up.

Yes I would say it was a fantastic time together.

Pretty easy to have a good time with these two.

Parachute Colorado

This Sunday choir practice was canceled so we were free to escape for the weekend.

Shannon suggested meeting for the Garfield County Fair in Rifle Colorado.

I looked for hotels and the best deal was in Parachute which is about 20 minutes away from Rifle.

We stayed the night in our favorite Econo Lodge NOT in Salina n Friday night and got up in the morning for the rest of the journey.

By the time we got closer to the destination, they had seen all they wanted and it was nap time.

We didn't make it to the Fair, but that cut off 20 extra minutes of driving.

We lucked out and upgraded our room to a suite for $10 more.

It was perfect. A little living room area with coffee table perfect for playing with the toys I brought.

When we got there, it was nap time so we had a couple of hours to visit with Shannon & Brian.

Buddy loves to play with our match box cars, especially the semis and garbage trucks.

Mima is getting into girl stuff. I brought these little figures that the girls used to play with. I can't remember the name of them, but she loved them. Also brought Shannon's Little Pony stuff.

Parachute is a super small town. No fast food. Brian and Fred went to the store to buy grapes and we did find the Dominos right next door to the hotel. Grapes and pizza for dinner.

It was a meal on wheels.

We brought one of those books that has the pad attached that you can swipe away the picture you draw. Grandpa was giving Mima a lesson.

Next was swimming. Buddy hasn't been in a pool since he was really little, so for him this was a first time. He was pretty excited and not afraid at all.

Definitely Mima's first time and she was also fearless.

See how happy he is....until his face went under. Then he hung onto Brian pretty dog gone tight.

Mima would only allow Shannon to hold her. 

She was happy to splash and kick and do whatever.

Brian was here honest. I just didn't get any good pictures. 

Mima did allow him to take her around only after Shannon offered her to have 

Grandpa take her around.

Bedtime came. Blake snuggled right in next to me on the bed. 

Mima followed and got close enough for me to touch her.

Mistake. As soon as I did - meaning my finger tip She moved away to here.. I should know better.

More getting ready for bed pictures.

Mima loves her meme (pacifier)

Sunday morning we spent a little more time playing. 

Yummy grapes.

Our rooms were next door to each other. That was really handy.

It was a quick trip, but really so nice.

Shannon and Brian had horrible traffic going home. It should have been a 3 1/2 trip, but I think it was closer to 6 for them. It was 6 1/2 for us. Plus we stop for breaks. Too old to go too long without one.

The only thing that could be better is for Mima to let us touch her. (smiley face)

Single woman for a day

Saturday Fred went with his sister and parents to a Howes Family reunion in Junction Utah. This is his mother's family. Both Randy (Sharlotte's husband) and I opted to miss this gathering. Fred left at 9 am. and returned home at 9 pm.

My plan was:
Clean the 3 bathrooms, shop for a new set of king size sheets, grocery shopping, shop for a new bathing suit, shop for nicky nacks for my "beach" themed bathroom, eat out for lunch even by myself, maybe rent a great chick flick.

This was my day..............My friend called and asked if I wanted to go shopping. I just realized we didn't even go to the store she mentioned. Why of course, I would love to. Who wants to shop by themselves (well actually I don't mind that), but having someone to eat with is so much better.

Oh before we left though. I got off my plan from the get go. I got one bathroom cleaned and spent a lot of time ironing our new king size comforter on the bed. When they come out of the plastic zipper pouch, there are always creases. I ironed it while it is on the bed. My new iron has about a 20 ft. cord on it. Awesome. Also had to iron the Euro pillow case. That took a while.

The clock was ticking down to pick up time at 11:30 and I had to stop all production and get ready. I realized "ah this is what happens to Fred". You have a daily plan and then things just pop up and you get distracted with something else. Lesson noted.

Judy came by with her two year old granddaughter that is visiting. She was a good little companion. We shopped at Kohls first. I found sheets after gleaning info from another shopper what she recommended and asked if the fitted sheet fit snugly to the mattress? Our current sheets are so baggy and totally unacceptable. I also bought just a bathing suit bottom. My current suit has the little shorts, but they are annoying. I decided since it's Judy that I am swimming with and she doesn't care what I look like - I'm going for a sleek look with no extra coverage.

Next was Tai Pan, but neither of us found anything we liked. We ducked into a Panda Express. I've never been to one. It was okay. Judy's granddaughter saw my egg roll in the baggie and helped herself. She was a great little eater.

Next was Home Goods. I found several things there. Oh and Judy brought over her cast off beach decor' so I didn't even have to look for that. I bought a couple of frames and a few Christmas gifts for grandkids.

We were done by then. Came home and then did all my chores. I watched Labor Day on Netflix. I would have enjoyed something a bit more uplifting than that movie.

Working full time and Fred being retired I no longer have all the hours to myself. I use to resent all my alone time because I didn't know what to do with myself. I had a problem with feeling obligated to be productive in my down time. Now I really miss that and I wish I had more time to just myself without feeling like there isn't enough time for just me and time with Fred.

Sorry it's kind of a boring post. But it was a really great day! 

Oh and I forgot that it was Buddy's birthday on Saturday. Even with Shannon's email titled 

Pre-Birthday it just didn't sink in. 

She scored these ride on toys from a friend.

I wish I could ride them!

Pine Valley

In St. George on the north is a huge mountain called Pine Valley Mountain.

There is also a little town called Pine Valley that I hear people talking about.

This weekend Fred and I took a day trip to check it out.

Pine Valley is located on the north side of the mountain so basically we drove around to the back.

It was about a 30 minute drive.

Our pictures do not really do it justice. It's was green and lush and little country town looking.

We checked out their campground, but we will not be camping there.

Pit Toilets. No thank you. Otherwise it's an ideal camping area. 

We stopped at the camp entrance to take pictures on our way out. 

This is heading home direction.

This is the campground area behind us. 

Nice hair.

What is a day trip without stopping to eat - twice.

We stopped here and shared a BLT, fries and a much needed Diet Coke for me.

We would like to go again. It was a cute little place and the food was good.

We left Pine Valley and drove another 12 miles to Enterprise. 

Another town here that I hear about. It's nice little town.

We stopped at the original Marv's for a shake (Blizzard actually).

We have one in St. George that is 50's in decor' and much nicer than this old one.

So that was our day.

What Shannon is about

This is a picture of Shannon with the family that she is a surrogate for.

Their baby is due March 1, 2016.

This couple has been through IVF treatments for over ten years.

This little jewel is their daughter who is the only surviving egg that survived the IVF process.

Shannon is carrying their next baby which has been created by an egg donor and was 

fertilized with their father's sperm.

Shannon wanted to help another couple who is unable to conceive a baby on their own.

She has been through it herself.
She handles pregnancy very well and enjoys the experience.
You may be concerned or wondering how she will be able to give up the baby.
Don't worry. She can do it without hesitation.
Shannon and Brian feel very complete with their two babies.
Following each of Shannon's pregnancies, she experienced a full year
of severe postpartum depression and anxiety.

I think postpartum is my biggest concern for Shannon in this process.
She will probably not avoid it, but at least she won't be up with
a newborn losing sleep and she won't have another baby to deal with
like she did when Mima was born. Buddy was only 14 months old at that time.

This is a really great time for Shannon to have this experience.
Her own babies aren't really babies anymore. We just like to call them that.
Buddy will be 3 1/2 and Mima will be 2 1/2 when this baby is born.

If you are interested in learning more about the surrogacy program,
I know Shannon would be thrilled to share the information with you.
Let me know and I can get you in contact with Shannon.