Beso Del Sol - Part 4

We arrived Saturday, November 6th, on Sunday we went to a great ward, and relaxed the rest of the day. On Monday, we went to Disneyland. It was a fantastic day to go because the weather was perfect and the crowds were very small. Most of the time we just walked up to a ride and got on within a minute or two. We did however get absolutely soaked on 4 of the rides. The last one we looked like someone threw a bucket of water on us. My hair and face were dripping, Heidi was wringing her sleeves out and our jeans were sopping wet. We walked all day but we had a blast. By night we were ready to go back and relax.

We went to downtown Disney and Heidi went into Build a Bear and made her boyfriend, Christian, a puppy with a Star Wars outfit on. Christian is a die hard Star Wars fan and was on a business trip at George Lucas's Skywalker Ranch working on some production and film projects. It seemed appropriate for him at the time. This little dog comes with a birth certificate. Heidi named him "Chewbarka". It even had a chip in one foot that played a recorded message from Heidi and on the other foot a chip that played the Star Wars theme song.

Here we are enjoying the beach with our coats on. It was beautiful and sunny day, but a little chilly.

Christian lives not far from where we were staying. After he returned from his trip he came down and spent the last 3 days hanging around with us. He was our barbeque man. He did a great job cooking.
Another day, I took Heidi to our house we lived in from when she was born until she was two years old. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera that day but it was fun visiting our old stomping grounds. It has changed so much I hardly recognized many of the places. After visiting Irvine, we drove up to the LA temple visitor's center. We had heard about them remodeling and how technologically advanced everything was. We had a great experience and spent a couple of hours there seeing everything and feeling the spirit. It was a spiritual time. After that Heidi wanted to walk around the temple at night, which we did. It was a great day.
We played games, watched movies, Heidi spent one day studying, and we just relaxed. All in all it was a very fun week. We can hardly wait to do it again in another part of the country.

Beso Del Sol - Part 3

Another amenity we had was the media room. I used this room a couple of nights when it was colder outside. It had some nice couches,

a computer and printer,

a library, a gas fireplace, and a television. I turned on the fireplace and read for several hours throughout the week.

It also had a chess set for whoever wanted to play. I loved taking advantage of this area.

Beso Del Sol - Part 2

These are some pictures of the inside. We had a very comfortable bed with a night stand and an armoire.

It also had a gas fireplace which we did use several times. We also had a TV with a DVD player and we watched a few movies.

The kitchen was completely stocked with everything we needed. We grocery shopped and never ate out once. We had a great time cooking and having the convenience of eating whenever we liked.

It had a great shower with a comfortable seat in it. I wanted to take this shower home with me.

Beso Del Sol - Part 1

Last July, Duane and I bought a membership with Global Travel. This will allow us to take fun vacations all over the world for the rest of our lives and the lives of our children. Since we love to travel, we thought it would be an affordable and fun way to vacation. This past week was our first trip. This trip was originally scheduled for Garry and his wife Heidi to take. Plans changed and they couldn't go but it was already paid for so Heidi Dawn and I decided to use it. It was in Sunset Beach, California. Since I already had half the week off for Veteran's Day and Duane had to work, Heidi and I made use of it. We left on November 6th and drove there. It was about a 6 hour drive. These condominiums were right on the beach. I counted 106 steps from our room to the beach. At the first of the week it was a little cold, but we had beautiful weather most of the time.

Between the two rows of rooms was a little courtyard. It had waterfalls all along the way and gave a pleasant relaxing sound. It was fun to go out and read and relax. At night there were patio lights which also gave it a great atmosphere. I met several of our neighbors and they were all very nice. They were all members of Global Travel and everyone I met was very pleased that they had joined this group.

At the end of the courtyard, you could turn the corner and then have access to the hot tub, firepit and barbeque.

We lit the firepit almost every night and sat out and enjoyed the fire. Two of the nights we barbequed and it was very delicious.

Halloween

Halloween is always so fun for the kids. I asked a mom to help make my bulletin board this year and she very kindly obliged. She had each child's picture in a bat, a spider, a fly, and a ghost. What a cute idea. I received many compliments, but I could take no credit.

Tara and I also dressed up for the day. She was a football player, and I was a smartie pants, (notice the smarties taped all over my pants:)

The kids loved to dress up and we had a Halloween parade outside on the playground. Our crowd of parents gets larger each year.

After the parade, my room mother provided us with a fun Halloween party with lots of good food at the end. Another fun day at Grant M. Bowler Elementary.

The Pumpkin Patch

In our valley, the high school runs the agricutural farm as part of the FFA program. This year they had a very plentiful crop of pumpkins. They had so many that every child in both elementary schools and preschools, etc. got to go and pick a pumpkin at the farm.

We took buses with the different grade levels to the farm. Unfortunately for our grade level, it rained very hard the night before and every child had very muddy shoes. The pumpkins were great however, and the kids were thrilled.

Tara Wolfley, my student teacher, was very helpful in helping the kids cut their pumpkins, and write their names on each one. Tara has been so great to work with. She's going to be a great teacher. We've really enjoyed working together.

Here we are back at school with everyone in socks because their shoes were so muddy, but oh how fun it was.

2nd Ward Reunion

October 2010 was a fun event for Grandma Terry, Duane and I. We had a 2nd Ward reunion. This is the ward that Duane and I grew up in and it was a fantastic ward with so many great leaders. I feel so fortunate to have grown up in this fantastic ward with so many stalwart and good people. Some of the people there we haven't seen for 40 years. Others we've seen more often but putting us all together was such a fun event. The building we attended was torn down to put the freeway through the middle of it. Even though the building is gone our hearts are knit together forever. We made good friends that will last for eternity. It's also very fun to be married to someone that has the same friends from growing up as I did. It's great that we know the same people.

There were group pictures of former bishops, former Relief Society presidents, former Primary presidents, etc. The picture on the top left was a family that lived around the corner from Duane. My dad was the stake mission president and he taught Duane the lessons when he was twelve but the family on the top left were very instumental in bringing Duane into the church. Their father, Pete Stewart baptized Duane.

My mother is pictured in the top center picture with her stake primary board. She was the stake primary president for twelve years. What a fun evening for every person who was lucky enough to attend.

The Muffin Man

I know you've been wondering what Duane really does for BYU. Well, here you have it. He's known as the Muffin Man.

Every year BYU is asked to raise money for United Way. People contribute these adorable and delectable items to be sold.

Duane, aka The Muffic Man goes from division to division and sells these yummy treats.

He is quite the Muffin Man, wouldn't you agree?

School Year 2010-2011

OK, so I'm a little behind in blogging. I wanted to show off my great class I have this year. On the first day of school, I always take my picture with each individual child.

I have eighteen children this year, which is 3 less than last year and we also have one less teacher in the grade level. Every 3rd grade teacher has less children than last year. Even 3 kids makes a difference.

These kids are sweet kids and so far, we've had a great year. Yea, for happy kids and a happy teacher.

Heidi Moves

As I said in my last blog, I went to Provo last week to help Heidi move. She leased her home for 3 years to a very nice family. The man is starting law school at BYU and will be in school for 3 years. He and his wife have a 10 month old baby. They are just ecstatic to move in. Heidi knows they will take good care of her place. Before I arrived Heidi had already gone through a lot of her stuff and had it boxed up. I helped her pack what was left and then she got a U-Haul and we started loading. Her home teachers and some other men and boys came to help Duane load the furniture.

As you can see in the pictures her place is clean and ready for her tenants to move in.

Heidi is moving to California.


I'll keep you posted with more news later.

Mt. Timpanogos Temple

Last week I went to Provo again to help Heidi pack up her house and move. One morning while I was there I wanted to go to the temple in Provo, but it was still closed for some renovation. It's been closed for several weeks. I decided that I could still go if I went to Mt. Timpanogos Temple. I left early and drove to the exit. Once I got off I thought I could easily find it but I drove around for quite a while. I asked several people how to get there. After a while I finally found it. I couldn't believe how beautiful it was.

The grounds are just beautiful. Compared to my struggling yard, it was like the Garden of Eden.

The flowers and trees were so beautiful and colorful. The morning was so peaceful and serene. As I sat inside and meditated I thanked my Heavenly Father for so many blessings which I have. The chandoliers were the most exquisite I've ever seen. I've been to this temple before but this day it seemed extra special. I felt like I was in Heaven.

I am truly blessed.