Jack Frost

The mornings have been so beautiful with frost covering the trees and low hanging fog. I was returning some books to the South Jordan library this morning; it was so pretty I had to stop and take a pic of it. I forget how much I do love cold, crunchy days.

Scott bday party

Scott decided on Tempanyaki for his birthday dinner. He usually goes to PF Changs, but thought it would be too busy on a Friday night. The food was good and also fun, lighting the fire, cooking in front of us.

Christmas Eve Party

Paige and family came to the townhouse and the party began. Jason and Chris fixed beef tenderloin and lobster, along with grilled asparagus, Scott fixed Chris' black and bleu salad, and we had several desserts. I made Grandma Hobart's mac and cheese.

We enacted the Nativity Story, and had other readings that are traditional to our family. Jason always reads A Cup of Christmas Tea, reminds us so much of Aunt Phyllis. Paige had a few new ones, and I did Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa, which is new also. Didn't read The Little Match Girl, so sad and everyone complains saying it is too sad.

I rewrote our Nativity Play, trying to get the perfect balance of words, songs and movement. I'm not ready for Broadway, but close.

Christmas Eve Day

Jason and Chris went shopping for the food for dinner in the morning, Rick, Scott, and I went to Walmart shopping for our part of the food, and by 1 we were all done. Aly had some things to do, including getting her hair done. Everyone then just relaxed and lazed around; Jason and I decide to go shopping at Jordan Landing, the Kohls in particular for his ceramic fry pans. And of course all the stores must be checked out, including Barnes and Noble. At Dress Barn I tried on a dress; she asked my name to write on the door. Jason snapped a pic of it.

Temple Square and City Creek Mall lights

Last evening we all met at Temple Square to view the lights. When we went on Wed night I remember the lights at the mall being prettier. Nay, not so. Temple Square is much more dramatic. It was a mess trying to find a place to park but after we actually parked and got there, the evening improved and we had a nice time.

Skiing

Our family started a tradition many years ago of skiing over the Christmas holidays. In Indiana it was Perfect North by Cincinnati. After we started having Christmas in Utah it was one of the Utah resorts. Sadly, participation has really dwindled until yesterday it was only Chris and Jason hitting the slopes.

Jason is rocking his Chester Molester 'tache

Ggrrls school Christmas Program

On Wed Scott and I went over to Paige's to see the ggrrls perform in their school programs. We could see Macy really well, she was on the top row, but Stella was on the bottom row and Paige said was the shortest, smallest in her class anyway. It was a cute program, really happy I got to see it. Macy is the top left. I mean right. I was going to change it, but instead am showing my right and left dyslexia.

City Creek Mall

Scott and I went to the airport to pick up Chris and Aly on Wed at 4:30pm. Chris knew of a wrap place that he loved the food and used to eat when he worked at Fidelity in Salt Lake City. We went there and the food was delish.

The lights downtown are amazing, the stores are actual stores, not like a lot of stores in major cities that end up being antique, law offices, etc. We walked into City Creek and the layout and architecture is amazing also. Love it. It reminds me of how much I love this city.

The lights were beautiful and so vivid. There was a fountain/light display that had music with fire coming out of the water - I'm running out of adjectives to describe just how startling and pretty it was.

Note the fire in the water that would flame up and down with the water and music

Dropped Scott off at the Jazz basketball game to meet Kincade; Chris and Aly and I drove to the townhouse. Rick's plane was delayed so I didn't pick him up until almost 10pm. Got home, happiness and fun with this Christmas Holiday!!

Library

I am a reader. Most of my children are readers. Whenever I would move one of the first things I would locate would be the library. And so last night I was looking for a library and signed Scott up for a library card  (surprised he did not already have one as he is a reader also). Salt Lake County library system told me the card would be ready today. And so today, before Scott and I went to Paige's for the little squirrels school Christmas program, we went to the South Jordan library.

Super nice. Scott got his card and looked for books. I got 3 books. And Scott took a pic of a cool candy made display, pic to follow.

On the way home we went to the Riverton library to get the book Scott wanted. It must have just gotten checked out because it had shown it being in. Their interlibrary system showed a copy in Herriman. But I did get another book.

Off to Herriman. Another nice library and yay!! It had Scott's book and I got another book.

I love libraries. And Salt Lake County library system is very nice with 19 different locations, anyone of which the patrons can visit and return books to. Handy.


Made completely out of candy

It's cold

This artic blast sweeping the nation is putting some serious hurt and cold on us. Yesterday it was 19* in Cedar Park. Cedar Park!! Right now it shows 41*. Park City is 12*. South Jordan is 19*. Indianapolis is 15*. When I talked to Jason at lunch, it was 1*. All the schools were on 2 hour delay.

Scott and I drove to the Seven Eleven; he dashed in and out and didn't wear his coat and it was cold!!

But I have to say I kinda like it. I like putting on my winter coat, scarf, gloves and braving the elements. And the mountains here are so pretty. I could stare at them all day.

I pretty much seem to just like wherever I am.

My terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day getting to Utah

I left yesterday at 10am for the airport; flight didn't leave until 12:25, but Rick needed to get to work. Plane left on time and all seemed well, then about 1 hour from Las Vegas the flight attendant said we were diverting to Tucson due to high winds in vegas and they shut the airport down, nothing leaving or landing.

Because this meant I would miss my connection in vegas to salt lake, they changed my flight there. Good. Got to vegas only to discover my flight out of there was delayed. Meanwhile Rick was spending HOURS on the phone trying to get my car rental changed.

Finally arrived in salt lake, cold and snowing. Waited for my turn to get the rental. Drove to Scott's. safe and sound.

Trail of Lights

The first Christmas we were in Texas I was looking for activities and came across this big light display at Zilker Park. Every year I have wanted to go there, and every year we have not gone. Until this year. Rick was serving Christmas dinner yesterday evening and didn't want to go anyway, so Chris, Aly, and I decided to go. We knew it would be a huge crush of people; it was. The highway even going to the parking area was backed up a long ways, perhaps a mile or longer with the cars creeping along.

Chris was thinking about going to the Fidelity parking lot and then just walking, but that would have been a 2-3 mile walk. As we were driving along Barton Springs Rd, he found a lot to park in. Yay! Cost $10 but we were going to pay that anyway.

It was about a 10 min walk to the park with the light display. Lots of peeps but the weather was a nice 53*. I had on my long coat, scarf and gloves and it was too warm. Chris didn't even wear a coat, just had a Henley on.

They had brought Zoya; alas, no dogs allowed. Chris stayed outside with her while Alyona and I walked thro the display. We kinda hurried (while still enjoying the lights) so Chris and Aly could go, but Chris decided he didn't need to, he walked all around it and looked at lights.

I bought Chris a funnel cake but shouldn't have because he and Aly are on a diet, no breads, etc.

There were a lot of bicycle rickshaws taking people places, it looked like such fun to ride one. When we get back from Christmas I want to go downtown, eat at a restaurant that has outdoor seating, ride a rickshaw, walk around and enjoy the nighttime ambiance.

I'm glad I finally got to go to the Trail of Lights. The pic below is of the Austin skyline with the light display in front. The moon was so cool looking and it's not showing up in this pic, but was in the original. So much prettier in person, as usual.

A globe with Texas and Austin highlighted!

Long weekend with Jason

Rick and I left on Thurs morning and arrived in Indy at 4pm. A good flight.
Jason was home and we went to eat at the meatball place. Going out to eat is a recurring theme with Jason.

Fri: Picked up Fred from dialyasis and drove him home. He looked pale and was weak. He said he wasn't in any pain, never is, which is good.

Sat: Ate breakfast at The Egg and I. It was quite delish. Saw Fred and Ginger's family at Fred's. Ate linner with them, I brought cornbread. It was delish also.
Went to Pat's; she is doing great. Michelle does a fantastic job, we are so grateful for her.
Either Fri or Sat or Sun we had Donatoes; I of course, have no control when it comes to Donatoes and I think I ate 1/2 of a large. It was delish.

Sun: Went to Bloomington to see Justin and Dixie. Ate brunch out, it was just ok. Justin has a beautiful house, Dixie is sweet.

Mon: Saw Fred and Pat.

Tues: Got up at 4:30am to go to the airport. Flight home was good, seemed short. Nice to be back home.

Pics to follow.

Adirondack chair

Rick loves to do woodworking and has bought most of the tools he needs and set up a shop in one of the garage bays. On Wed he started building this Adirondack chair and finished it on Fri. The chair looks really nice; just needs me to paint it. When he retires he plans on doing woodworking and selling it. That will give him a hobby and keep him busy and off the streets causing trouble.

Wild mushrooms

These were growing in someone's front yard. I saw them while out walking and they were so unsual and pretty that I took a pics to blog.

Blingcheekies on Fri

Chris and Aly had to work on Fri but Aly said she would make Jason blingcheekies (I know that's not how it's spelled but it's how it sounds. Rick was busy building an Adirondack chair so Jason and I went over. I didn't have any because I ate so much on Thanksgiving Day, but they looked delish.


































In the evening we drove to Stanley's Farmhouse Pizza. It's a fun place in the country, just in a barn with picnic tables sitting around outside, but the pizza is gourmet and delish. They had two fires but also needed to put some heat lamps around. It wasn't too cold, just a little more heat would have been nice.

Chris, Aly, and Oksana went to walk around The Domain and look at Christmas lights while Jason, Rick and I drove home; Jason had to get up at 5am and was trying to get sick so he just wanted to get some rest. Chris Facetimed and showed us the lights. That's on my list to do this season. Love looking at pretty Christmas lights.

2nd Thanksgiving

I picked Jason up from the airport at 12pm on Wed. He really wanted to go to the San Marcos Outlets; I talked him out of those and we went to Round Rock Outlets. Didn't find anything.

We ate a late lunch at Rudy's, delish as always. Came home, chatted with Rick. Jason was super ti-red because he had been up since 4:30am. We met Chris, Aly, and Oksana at Torchy's, they came back here and we all chatted.

Kincade Facetimed with the little squirrels and us. Love talking with them, miss them so much! Jason and Chris played in the church's Turkey Bowl on Thursday at 9am. They enjoy playing, it's never long enough for Jason. They came back and Chris got to work on his famous pumpkin pies (they are delish), Jason made the stuffing (good) and Aly made a salad.

Rick cooked the turkey on the Traeger and it turned out beautiful.

After dinner and a little dessert, we walked down the hill and decorated about 7 trees, as per Austin custom. It was quite fun. We played Apples to Apples, which I find fun. Chris and Aly left at 8pm because they both had to work today. Sniff.

All in all, quite enjoyable. We missed Scott.

Wild life in Texas

Tarantulas and scorpions and fire ants, oh my.
These are just a few examples of the diversity of wildlife here in Texas of which I have first hand knowledge.

Scorpions, I have seen a couple in the house but they were either already dead or dying, due to the poison put down outside. One in my swim shorts, luckily I peaked inside and shook them good, which I always do. One on Rick's flip flop, which he saw before sticking his foot in. So no scorpion stings, would like to keep it that way.

I have gotten bitten by fire ants quite a few times, once 20-30 bites. Felt like my feet were on fire for several days, puffy, swollen. Even sweet little Hattie got a bite from a fire ant last summer. Not fun. Whenever we spot a hill we give them some poison also.

Tarantulas aren't supposed to be deadly, just look ferocious. I have seen them: one on the road, one on our front porch, and I just came across one on the trail between the houses. It wasn't moving and I wasn't getting close enough to see if it was dead.

The type of wildlife that inhabits the great state of Texas -  I won't miss.

Men vs Boys

Grackles

For some odd reason I'm just totally fascinated by these birds. They are big, obnoxious, and loud, especially in the Spring and Fall. They leave people alone, aren't friendly like pigeons, are not particularly attractive. And they can set up quite a racket. But for some reason I really like them. I'm a person who really is for the underdog and perhaps I see them as underdogs.

Just don't get Hollywood types

Mel Gibson has made another film called "Hacksaw Ridge." It's a true story about a Seventh Day Adventist during WWII who was a conscientious objector and refused to fight but was a medic and saved many lives. It's being called the best war film in the past twenty years.

Don't know if this is true or not, but some people won't see it because of their objections to Gibson and his two drunken rants against Jews. I don't honor him for those things either. I don't honor him for not saving his marriage to the mother of his seven (?) kids. But I am a forgiving person, recognize that we are all human with human frailties and I otherwise really like him and his body of work. And it helps that he leans more to the conservative side.

These same people are the ones who honored Roman Polanski, awarding him Best Director for several films. But here's the thing: he raped a 13 year old girl, drugging her with Quaaludes before raping. I'm not going to go into the whole story, but he was indicted for crimes, including the rape and fled. He cannot come back into the US or will face these charges. Hollywood gave him awards, which he accepted from another country because he won't face the criminal charges. They certainly seem to have forgiven him for the rape of a 13 year old girl.

I guess some people are more equal than others.

Democrat protesters and violence and hate

Liberals. Obama supporters. Hillary supporters.

I've never seen anything like it before in my 60 years as a citizen of this nation. I've seen many, many presidential elections. I wasn't thrilled when Obama won, either time. I wasn't thrilled when Clinton won, either time.

But I never thought to take to the streets, burn things, show vile mockups of them being hanged, like I've seen of Trump. I never thought to write graffiti, or take to social media and write posts about killing either of them, like I've seen about Trump and Pence.

And you can say, well it isn't all Demos or Hillary supporters. But it's enough of them to make a loud and clear statement about the types of people who are "liberals, progressives, Hillary and Obama supporters." I've read stories and seen videos of mobs pulling people out of cars to beat them for no other reason than being a Trump supporter. Read and seen videos of other beatings for the same reason.

I've seen numerous Mexican flags being waved. I don't get that. If you don't want to be an American, don't stay. I've seen a few posters being carried that say Love Trumps Hate. As they are out being hateful and violent, don't they see the irony of their own actions?

It's sad, makes me sad for my country. Makes me afraid of the legacy that is being left for my kids and grandkids.

Is it time to divide this country into two separate countries, as these protesters seem intent on doing violently, and have the liberals in one part and the conservatives in another? Anytime they don't get something they want they take to the streets, burning, beating, destroying. Do they realize that 1/2 of the country supported Trump, voted for him? Elected him president? Are they saying they also hate 1/2 of the citizens of this country? Because even now I don't hate them.

I'm sad.

New Hope

I took Scott to the airport at 1pm yesterday. Although raining he got off ok, no delays and made his connection out of Dallas. So sad to see him go.

Last night Rick and I were watching some of the early election returns and finally at 8pm I went to bed and read for a while. Scott and I had been texting and he was saying it looks like Trump is going to win but I didn't believe it. Both Rick and I thought he would lose, I just felt the media had been doing all it could to get Hillary elected and with the Demo cheating, didn't see him winning. At 9 or 10 I turned out the light and went to sleep, what would be would be. Rick came to bed at 2:30am; I woke up and said who won? He said you won't believe it: Trump did, Hillary has conceded.

The country has awoken. I think we might have a chance to continue as a great Republic. Notice I don't say a Democracy because that is not what the Founding Fathers and our constitution give us. Thank goodness. A democracy will always descend into pure mayhem. A republic has checks and balances and as long as a good percentage of the people remain honest, it will stand.

As far as I'm concerned and for all the good or help the Republican Party elites and powers do for rank and file Republicans, the Party can just go away. Let something else and better take its place. I think the old liberal (in the best sense of the word) members of the Democrat party probably feel the same. Both party's elites are in the game for themselves: power, money, ego, whatever - not for the good of the country or the people of this nation.

Trump ran as an outsider, a populist, and won as a populist. That is his mandate.

For now I can only say: Yay.

First Thanksgving Dinner with Fam

Since Scott will not be here for Thanksgiving we had a dinner yesterday for him. Rick did a ham and brisket on the Traeger (he knows how to BBQ on that critter!) along with crab cake mix stuffed salmon, I had the usual fixins': stuffing, potatoes, baked beans, green bean casserole, rolls, cukes,  salad, and for Chris, mac and cheese. Of course, pie, pumpkin and apple.

The guys watched football and Aly and I did our own thing. Should have played games but wouldn't have been able to get the menfolk away from the tv.

Even Zoya got extra chicken and ham.

Boys

Scott was delayed leaving LA, so we didn't get home and to bed until 1am on Thursday. Up the next morning, 1/2 Price books, Torchys for lunch, then the HEB to pick up some fav food for Scott. He and I watched a few cheesy Hallmark Christmas movies, I had him take the 5 love languages quiz (I enjoy this book, quite interesting), Rick got home, and Chris and Aly came over. Just a super enjoyable evening.

This morning we just mosied around, met Chris for lunch at P Terry's, Frys to look at tv soundboards, Scott went to Chris and Rick and I came home. I had gotten a sore throat so I took a hot bath, wrapped in blankets to burn the bugs off. 

The boys came over to watch a football game and get pizza for dinner. Nice relaxing afternoon and evening, just love to have my kids around me.

So nice to have a good husband also.

It's raining, it's pouring, the...

Scott is coming tonight so of course it started raining.
He secretly knows a powerful rain dance that he does whenever he decides to visit someplace. He has rained out Tuacan numerous times. Whenever he visits Texas it rains.

He's the Rainmaker.

Halloween

We decorated the house a little more this year than we usually do. We bought a light that projected purple and green witches across our garage, orange lights in the front entry, scarecrow, jack-o-lanterns and some lighted small wire pumpkins. Looked festive.

I bought enough candy for 200 kids; maybe got 75. Lots of candy left over and I'm not sure what to do with it.

Katy Hobbs Smith came over and I walked with her and the kids for a while. It was quite fun. Her kids are adorable with sweet personalities. Some (fool!) scheduled a work meeting for Andrew last night at 8pm. Halloween night. So he couldn't trick or treat with the family for long and hurried off to the meeting.

Chris came over and Zoya went crazy for each group that came to the door. Barking and running and certainly wanting to jump. We tried to tell her thanks for the people warning, but we knew. Didn't work, she still wanted to tell us each time. So Chris just held her.

Pink muhly grass

The roundabouts in our subdivision have this grass planted in them. All thro the year it's not really noticeable, then Fall comes and the blossom is this really pretty pinkish/purpleish color and they pop. Especially if a bunch of them have been planted together.

Rick and I thought they were so pretty we planted 4 in our back yard. Not enough to really pop, but pretty. Also, the Mexican Fan palms droop down and kinda hide them. Rick keeps their fronds cut off, but still.