Bonjour to everyone

Yes, I went to France this summer. Jacque called me two weeks before a conference she had to go to in Paris and invited me to go. Of course I said no. You can't go to Paris at the last minute in July. It would be very expensive and I am really frugal. However, since my husband refuses to ever go to France, and he offered to give me some of his fun money to go --I did it. I can't believe it. I went -- I had a great time. Grace went too. Besides being robbed - do I look like a target?-- it was really wonderful. France is beautiful, Paris is exciting, and my daughters were fun. So been there, bought the T-shirt.

Nuts anyone?

We have 5 macadamia nut trees. I have ignored them for 8 years and just let them fall to the ground and have the gardener rake them up. This year we had a great crop of nuts, so I decided that I would harvest some nuts, dry them for a few weeks, and have great nuts for cookies and things. So I started collecting a few each week, then a big container full each week, and finally I became obsessed and was collecting them practically every time I saw one fall (you have to let them fall to the ground). Fortunately, I have a downstairs kitchen where I can store them. Next I have to buy a special nut cracker so I don't have to sit on the cement floor with a hammer to crack them (the shells are really hard). And finally, what can I do with hundreds of macadamia nuts. They are great in cookies, I know, but there has to be something else I can do with my nuts. Anybody got any good recipes?

My Newest Challenge

So, I got this great new car at Christmas. Unfortunately, it is smarter than I am. I can't seem to find and keep a radio station, the windshield wipers keep going on randomly, I couldn't understand why my mirrors kept moving until I realized that they were back-up mirrors, and when my phone rings the car answers it (which is cool) but I can't figure out where I'm supposed to talk into. We will be taking a couple of long trips this summer. Maybe then, I can sit with the book and become smarter than my car.

Remembering our Triplets

We were blessed with three beautiful triplets in June of 2006. Unfortunately, we only had them for a few hours. We are looking forward to the wonderful day when we can get to know them and be with them. Recently, I finished another wall frame with pictures of the grandchildren. Rob commented that we needed something for the triplets--so for Rob's birthday, his Mom had this beautiful wall hanging done (thanks to our nephew's wife Dawn) as a reminder of our beautiful grandchildren. We love it. She did a great job, and we are really grateful. It completes our grandchildren wall.

Sisters

I have 4 sisters. When we get together it is fun even though we are a very conservative group. We were together this last week-end for a nephews wedding. Between the luncheon and the reception we had some time on our hands, so we went to the mall. After wandering around, Dixie saw a nail salon with spa pedicures for $15. That seemed like a deal, so we went for it. La Rae had never had one and has very sensitive feet, but we dragged her into it. (Sisters are good at pier pressure) I thought it was great but we weren't prepared--we all had closed toed shoes. After paying for a pedicure we didn't want to ruin our nails by putting our shoes back on, so we walked through the mall wearing the neon throw away sandals that they give you. When we got to Pennys we picked out sandals (all matching--one get one free sale--another deal) and left the mall with gorgeous toes and new sandals. We documented the adventure (yes, that is about as adventurous as we get) with a photo. Aren't sisters fun.

The Group

I guess you could call 5 children a group, possibly a plethera. Anyway, we recently had all the children home for the week-end of February 8th for a temple sealing. We shopped, ate at In-n-Out, and rented a big van to drive to the LA temple together so we could spend as much time together as possible. What a great week-end, although short. We didn't even mind 7 trips to the airport just getting everyone here and back home again. What a handsome group.

Decisions, Decisions

I bought my husband a moose head for Christmas. Yes, a moosehead. My brother shot it and a friend is mounting it. I thought the gift was going to be different and easy (just write the check). However, there are moose decisions to be made. Which way should it face? What about the ears? So, I am enclosing a picture if anyone would like to give a moose opinion.