Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Trip to California







On Thursday, April 9th, 2009, Marsha and I flew to California to visit our loved ones there. Linda and Frank picked us up at the airport while it was still morning, so we enjoyed a lot of the day together. After arriving at Linda’s, we ate and then exercised. The torture we go through with Linda is walking fast, uphill, climbing a huge set of stairs FIVE TIMES, up and down, up and down…go, go, go! Of course, I go slowly and do it maybe two or two and a-half times. How do you do a half? Well, you go half way up and then down. We walked three or four miles, on sidewalks and a trail through a beautiful little canyon behind some of the neighborhood. We passed parks, schools and plenty of homes. The air was warm, sun shining and beautiful flowers were in bloom everywhere, so it wasn’t a complete torture.


We ate lunch at Souper Salad. I didn’t eat too much and only two bites of a sugar-free lemon mousse! Jackie and Brandon were finishing a little vacation, so they picked me up and took me to Deb’s in time for supper and a baseball game with Braden. Braden ran so fast with his brace on, I could hardly believe it! Bailey and I became re-acquainted, and I recorded her saying, “baby”. She has such a beautiful voice! Braden moved his mattress into the girl’s room and slept there while I slept in his room on Bridgette’s bed. Deb always takes good care of me!



Friday was a special day for Bridgette. She had a birthday party with two good friends, Isabella and Sarah. They dressed up like princesses and the princess doll came in her blue dress. They played fun games Deb set up, like pin the horn on the unicorn, fishing, dance to the strobe lights, and coloring. Deb decorated the dining area with pink streamers and balloons. The cake was a tiny Sleeping Beauty.

I had so much fun with Bailey. She played peek-a-boo with me and started saying, “Boo!” Then she said eye when we played with a doll. It was like she was hungry to learn new words!

Saturday was a busy day, with a Primary party for the children, decorating Easter eggs at home, and the Easter Bunny coming later in the afternoon. He left a large number of eggs filled with candy and he hid all the boiled eggs and candy eggs for the children to find in the yard.

Sunday, Deb spoke in church and gave a wonderful talk about the Savior and his atonement, quoting Elder Holland’s latest conference talk. I was happy to be there and hear her speak. We took photos when we arrived home, and ate a great dinner of ham, funeral potatoes, rolls, pistachio salad, green salad and carrot cake for dessert. The weather cooperated, and we enjoyed a great time eating and laughing outdoors on the patio. (Linda and Frank, Brandon and Jackie, Kate, Matt and Annie, and Dave and Christy, Marsha, all of Deb and Stu’s family and I participated.)

I went home with Frank, Linda and Marsha to spend Sunday night and Monday. We girls talked a lot and slept a little that night. In the morning, we drove over to the gym where Frank exercises and spent an hour on aerobics and weights. Good exercise!

Monday afternoon, we headed back to Corona and visited with Jackie in their new home while Deb spent a crazy afternoon diving to and from piano lessons and baseball practice with her children. We enjoyed dinner and Family Home Evening Monday night and left the next morning for the airport. Brittany cried and had a hard time letting us go. Deb drove us and we visited and sang songs all the way. It was a good trip, but too short.



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