Saturday #42-December 26, 2009

Happy Boxing Day friends! I hope your Christmas celebrations were festive and blessed. My Christmas Day was perfect-I'm in Arizona on vacation and spent the holiday with Angela, Tim, Athena, and Tim's family. The food? Yummy (prime rib and cinnamon pears). The visit with family and friends? Fun and entertaining (I love Angela's in-laws! They are a very warm and welcoming bunch!) And the gift opening? Thankfully not too early (7:00 a.m.) and surprising (I gave Angela money to buy me some presents so I'd be surprised when I opened them!).

I love Arizona in the winter...blue sky, sunshine and warm! See....


So, I explained to my brother-in-law, Tim, that we needed to do something fun on Saturday so I could blog about it. He was skeptical about my blog readership and my ability to entertain you with our activities on this particular Saturday. So, if you're not entertained...all six of you who read this blog...I'm blaming Tim!

Really, a lot of the day was spent lounging around doing a whole lot of NOTHING! Perfect for vacation. But we made up for it by going out to dinner and having Thai. I love Thai food, don't you? And after an all day food fest on Christmas day, it was nice to eat something a little bit on the "light" side. While we waited for our food, we counted the visible elephants in the restaurant. Want to take a guess at how many we found?



628!
That's right in a place with just 12 little tables, there were 628 visible elephants for us to count. I'm sure the kid working the counter with curious as to why I was wandering around the restaurant pointing and counting to myself.

For dessert we stopped of for some "Arizona Snow"...snow cones at Bahama Buck's. YUM! I figure we can go three more times during my vacation here and we can fill up my punch card. Angela, Athena and I tried normal flavors. Tim experimented with
"Pickle Juice."





We ended the evening enjoying the new patio Angela and Tim had installed in their side yard. Time surprised Angela with a new set of patio furniture and a fire pit (something I seriously thinking I need to add to my back yard). So, we had a fire and roasted marshmallows as our concluding activity for Saturday.



It was a perfectly relaxing vacation Saturday!

Next Saturday? It's a new year...2010...and an updated look for the blog! Only 11 more blog postings until the first 52 Fun Saturdays are done.

Saturday #41-December 19, 2009

A year ago I was in The Philippines!









Wow! Was it really a year ago?
I'm so glad my friend Terri was able to go with me. We've been reminiscing about the fun adventures we had on our trip. So, what was I doing a year ago for a Saturday of Fun? The link below takes you to the blog Terri and I had from our trip.

http://wepacklite.blogspot.com/2008/12/headed-north-back-to-naga-in-three.html

Last year was definitely more fun than this year's Saturday. Two hours shopping at Target is not really blog worthy, even if there was a women being hauled out on a stretcher and loaded into an ambulance.

By the way, if you have been watching the news lately, you've probably heard about the Mayon Volcano in the Philippines which is threatening to erupt. Last year I stood on that very volcano. In fact here's a picture I took last year and one my parents just sent. There's always steam raising from the crater. But in the picture they sent you can see some of the ash and smoke. At night the volcano glows red with lava flow. WOW! And as of yesterday, all the missionaries and members are safe. Please keep them in your prayers.

Next Saturday is Boxing Day and I'll be in Arizona with Angela and her family. I don't know what the plans are, but I'm absolutely sure I'll have something fun to blog about...even if it's the 70 degree temperatures!

MERRY CHRISTMAS! And thanks for following our 52 Fun Saturdays blog!

Saturday #40-December 12, 2009

Happy Hanukkah Everyone!
Saturday was the beginning of Hanukkah...also known as the Festival of Lights. It is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE. Hanukkah is observed for eight nights, starting on the 25th day of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar, which may occur at any time from late November to late December in the Gregorian calendar. The festival is observed by the kindling of the lights of a special candelabrum, the nine-branched Menorah or Hanukiah, one additional light on each night of the holiday, progressing to eight on the final night. An extra light called a shamash (Hebrew: "guard" or "servant") is also lit each night for the purpose of lighting the others, and is given a distinct location, usually above or below the rest.

I've never really celebrated Hanukkah, but think it's a beautiful tradition. Maybe next year I will light eight candles in honor of this Jewish festival.

On a different note (but still related to light) Saturday night was the adult meeting for Stake Conference. For those of you who might not know, a "stake" is a large congregation of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from a specific geographical area. Twice a year these large congregations meet for spiritual instruction from church leaders. On Saturday night the adult members of the stake met with Bishop Keith B. McMullin, one of the presiding Bishops of the LDS church. It was one of the best meetings I have ever been to. I learned the importance of inspiration and revelation as Bishop McMullin called members out of the congregation to teach doctrines of the gospel of Jesus Christ. As I sat in the meeting I felt the Holy Ghost witness to me through peaceful feelings in my heart the truth of what was said. I am grateful I went to the meeting prepared to learn and that my prayers were answered.

I know Bishop McMulllin is a man called of God and his witness of Jesus Christ reaffirmed my own belief in Him as Savior of the World. I'm grateful for the holiday season when we can remember His birth, exemplify His life, and honor His redeeming sacrifice for each one of us!

Saturday #39-December 5, 2009

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree! Yup, this is the theme for my 39th Saturday of Fun!

It's become a Christmas tradition to attend the Festival of Trees in support of Primary Children's Hospital. Trees are decorated and donated to the festival, usually in honor or in memory of someone who's life has been touched by PCH. Sometimes there are stories written up about the person in whose honor the tree is donated...and usually they are tear-jerkers! So, the Festival of Trees is the best way to spend $4.00 and a couple hours on a Saturday to really get in the holiday spirit.

There are trees decorated in every style, size and theme...















I thought of Madeline when I saw the frog tree...













And Tonya when I saw the ME Tree...












This star reminded me of something you might see in the Philippines...made out of the plastic holders from a 6 pack of soda...












The Very Hungry Caterpillar tree made me think of Athena...
















And the Star Wars trees looked like something Joseph and his boys would make if they had all the Star Wars toys...














The Fairies Tree reminded me of Amy M. and Miss Emmie...














Like I said, trees are auctioned off and the money is donated to Primary Children's Hospital. I was seriously thinking about buying one in support of a good cause. But almost all of them were sold and the few not sold had a pretty hefty price tag...a little out of my "good cause" budget.

Being in tree mode, I set out on a quest to get my own Christmas tree. I've always purchased a real tree for Christmas and I was all set to buy another one this year. I even went so far as to buy a new tree stand, which is something I vow to do every year!

But then I found myself drawn to the concept of a PRE-LIT tree! I hate, really HATE stringing lights on a Christmas tree. It's boring, tedious, and time consuming. Two years ago, I basically just threw a few strings of lights and called it good! And then spent the holidays ignoring the fact the lights were all gobbed on one side of the tree.

So, despite my love of hunting through the tree lot for the perfect tree and despite the fun of tying the tree to the top of my car and driving it home, and despite the smell of fresh pine in my living room and despite the weird satisfaction I get from vacuuming up pine needles for the next three months, I bought myself a FAKE, pre-lit tree.

I got it home, took it out of the box, put it together...and nearly burst into tears with disappointment! It looked small and pathetic, smelled like plastic, and I still had to string lights on the blasted thing!

Watching and singing along to my all-time favorite Christmas movie "White Christmas" helped ease some of the tree disappointment while I decorated it. And in the end my pathetic fake tree didn't turn out half bad.

(Coming Soon...a picture of my tree...)

But, next year, I think I'll donate my little tree to a good cause and go back to the tradition of a real tree for Christmas.

Saturday #38-November 28, 2009

So, Jen and I had a little Red vs. Blue rivalry wager going on this weekend. And since BYU won the football game on Saturday, I've modified the blog background accordingly!

Here's a little collage of photos from the game. Let me tell you...it was FUN!!!



Before the game started, I had lunch with some of my favorite people. Max & Brityn were in town for Thanksgiving, so they stopped in at Brian & Janelle's house for lunch. It was fun to visit and play with the girl's. I love my nieces! Lauren and Madeline are so much FUN!



Before lunch, I did something I've wanted to do for a long time--a mini Triathlon! Terri joined me for a 3 mile run on treadmills, a 10 mile ride on stationary bikes, and 1/2 a mile swim (36 laps) in the pool. We did all three activities in about 2.5 hours. It was a great way to burn off some of the calories from Thanksgiving. And even though I finished feeling tired and sore, I felt accomplished. I'd definitely count it as FUN!


So, there you go, from finish to start, my Saturday of FUN!
(Hey wait, how did all those red U's get in my posting? Jen?)

Saturday #37 Addendum

Okay, so I didn't see New Moon on Saturday. I saw it at on Thursday night thanks to my friend Tricia who hosted a client appreciation event at Thanksgiving Point. So technically, I can't blog about it on my Fun Saturday Blog.

But as my friend Samantha pointed out, I THOUGHT about it on Saturday!

My question..."How could you not think about this?"

Saturday #37-November 21, 2009

RATS!!! I totally forgot to take my camera with me on Saturday, so I have no photo documentation of the fun! Sorry!!!

Saturday was the BYU vs. Air Force football game and I've been looking forward to this game all season for one very specific reason--the FLYOVER! Since our seats are in the North end zone, it's the perfect place to be when the jets fly from South to North over the stadium. And this year was perfect! Four jets (sorry, missed the announcement of what kind of jets) flew low over the stadium. First you see them, and then you hear them. "The sound of freedom" according to Terri. I totally agree!

Insert mental picture of jets flying over the stadium...

Okay, so if the flyover was the best part, the second best thing about the game was the game itself. BYU won 38 to 21! Thanks to Terri for going with me to "Rise and Shout" the cougars on to victory. I really wish I had a picture of the two of us bundled up against the cold. Luckily it didn't snow!

Insert mental picture of Terri and I bundled up in hats, gloves, coats, blankets, etc...

The third best thing about the game? Our excellent parking spot!!! Terri's sister Laura has a parking pass for Lot #1...the parking lot at the stadium, at the South end. Since she wasn't going to the game, she let us borrow the parking pass. Seriously, we couldn't have had a better place to park and I was more than tempted to "borrow" the pass for next week's game too.

Insert mental picture of my Rav 4 parked right by the South entrance to the stadium...

Brian called during the first quarter to tell me he saw us on TV! I went to his house after the game to check it out, and this is what he saw.
Can you see Terri and I? It's like "Where's Waldo?"! And unless you know our seats are just West of the band, right below the section II entrance, you'd have no clue were to look for us.

I had Brian freeze the next frame and then took a picture of the TV with my camera. Even with his High Def big screen TV, you can barely tell there are two little heads in the red circle. Yup, that's us! Our big TV debut.


While I was at it, I grabbed a quick snapshot of two of my favorite people...Brian and Lauren. Hmmm...I think there is a definite lack of BYU blue in this photo. At least Lauren got it right!