Time to catch up...

I have been so busy lately living life that I have not taken time to share any of it with you. My children are starting to get concerned so I guess I had better do an update;-)

Thanksgiving came and went so quickly. Jen came home to join us and we were able to get the tree decorated. I must admit it was wonderful to have our dinner beside the swimming pool and enjoy the flowers in the back yard.

We also took time to tour the beautiful Christmas lights around the Mesa Temple. Gorgeous! Amy and I got to see all the many workers and heavy equipment putting them in place when she was here a few weeks earlier. This is definitely my way of enjoying the winter season!

Shortly after our Thanksgiving celebration it was time for another trip to St. George to work on the Vista Charter School project. I was also able to catch two of Jen's ballet performances. A tribute to the LDS Prophets and Nutcracker which was gorgeous. Jen did a terrific job in both. I was only sorry I was not able to get some pictures of the Nutcracker costuming...but because they are copy protected, no photography is allowed. One of her best friends Laura Taylor flew in for her performance as well. I will include some pictures. The tallest gal in the picture is Jen's roommate Caroline, a real sweetheart and the young man Jen's friend Paul Cochran. We all went out to celebrate at Chile's after the Nutcracker. It was actually snowing when we left the theater which just seemed to be a fitting addition to a beautiful evening:-)

My last day in St. George I was greeted with an icy snow storm. That was definitely enough to do me for the year. OK, so call me a wimp;-)

It was a week of hard work and fun and it is nice to be back to my Arizona sunshine!

St. George

Still Has the Charm!

No matter how much I love Mesa, I have to admit that I still hold a permanent place in my heart for St. George, Utah. The vistas and red rock cliffs are magical!

I had a few free hours Thursday afternoon and went on a downtown walking tour. I thought perhaps those of you who feel the way I do about this beautiful little city would appreciate the review and for those of you who have never been there...you are missing out on something very special. Here are a few of my favoite places like the St. George Temple, Bear Paw restaurant and one of the best little inspirational shops, Urban Renewal Consignments. It was also fun to spend some time with Jen. I have included a picture of her with a few of her ballet students at Vista.

I hope you enjoy the walk down memory lane as well as the beautiful fall colors. What a special way of remembering our blessings this Thanksgiving season:-)

Vista

Vista Visit....

Thought you might like a sneak preview of the new Vista Charter School that I am working on as a design consultant;-) Right now it is only K-6, but as you can see by the artist rendering, they will soon be adding the middle school. Although it is not an easy project...it is certainly a fun challenge! It will be a "paperless" school rich in technology, music, dance and theater. Teaching our children a new way to "apply, analyze and create".

The photo above is of me with my "boss" Steve Goodman who is the Principal of Vista and one of the major "brains" behind the unique concept of this school. We are having breakfast with Jen (who teaches ballet at Vista) at one of my all time favorite places...The Bear Paw. If you have ever had one of their breakfasts you know what I mean!

As you can see it is located in one of the most beautiful spots in St. George (Ivin's really) near Tuacahn Amphitheater and Split Rock on Snow Canyon Road. Wow the pictures just don't do justice to the real thing! Lucky kids;-)

The following YouTube video was produced by Jordon, Utah School District and was one of the inspirations for Vista. I thought you might enjoy seeing the future we plan for our kids in St. George and hopefully many more Vistas to come. You may want to mute the music on my blog before watching the video.

Still going strong...

I could not help but laugh when I read a recent comment on Facebook from one of Micah's friends...he said, "it's nice to see you are still active"! Well, I too, am thankful that I have been blessed to be;-) In fact, I am rather proud of my most recent project...a dry creek in my front yard.

It was one of those "ideas" that wakes you in the middle of the night. I have seen this sort of thing in other neighbor's yards and decided I could do one too! Well, you know me...once I get an idea in my head away I go....

Micah DID offer to help, although as you can see he mostly provided the entertainment;-)

Here are a few pictures to prove that, yes, I am STILL active...still going strong;-) Although, I must admit, the next morning I was feeling the pain! But after all was said and done, I think it was all worth it.

Boo! THE SPOOKS ARE GATHERING! LOOK OUT!!!

Happy Halloween and hope you are having a wonderful day!

I have been starting mine lately with a morning walk now that the water in the pool is just too chilly. So each morning I try to get up and out just as the sun is coming up. Believe it or not, it has really been inspiring for my whole day!

The weather has been a little cool lately, but this morning was beautiful and as I walked along I found myself clicking pictures with my cell phone so as not to forget the magic of the moment. Fortunately we have walkways that go throughout our neighborhood. I thought you might like me to share my pictures with you. You will notice that some of the pictures are of homes I passed. They really have the Halloween spirit as you can see! So fun to see what families do for the kids (and probably themselves too). Now I really want to go back to see them tonight:-) Maybe it will inspire me to do more next year!

I loved the way the sunbeams were playing games with the tree branches as I walked along, so enjoy the views...I feel so lucky to be able to start my day this way;-) Come take a walk with me!

Happy haunting!!!

This 'n That...

Ok, so I am inspired again! Thanks to everyone for your comments...it helps keep me going;-) btw for those of you who respond via email, I hope you remember that if you click on the blue lettering "My Invincible Summer" at the bottom of the page it will open up to my actual blog so you can get the full effect with music, wallpaper, etc., etc....not to mention you see pictures of all my cute grandkids and can click on older posts at the bottom to catch up on those.

Well, I have another new book to recommend that I am so into that I am having trouble getting back to The Poisonwood Bible...and that is saying alot! So, I contacted my local library and found out that The Poisonwood Bible is indeed on CD and so now I am listening to The Poisonwood Bible when I run my errands in my car and reading Blink by Malcolm Gladwell when I have a free moment at home. This is usually just before I drift off at night. My book club ladies described it as "life changing". I am only on the second chapter, but will let you know. It is about the power of thinking without thinking...in other words how we process information in our brain in the "blink" of an eye. I understand his first book The Tipping Point is also really good, which is described as "little things can make a big difference". I will probably look for that one next. This one, like Poisonwood Bible, I found at Savers for $1.99--don't you just love a bargain! Anyway, if you have ever wondered why some things just don't "feel" right and you can't put words to it...Blink is the book for you.

Continuing on about new fun things I have discovered...my friend, Debbie, was cleaning her tile floors when I visited her the other day and going on about her new floor steam cleaner. Ok, so I was sold and stopped at Costco and picked one up for me (a pre-Christmas present or so described by Tom--ya right!). Anyway, it is the new little Shark steam floor cleaner they are featuring and I love it as much as Debbie said I would! If you have alot of tile floors to clean and it gets as "gritty" as mine seems to (desert dust, I guess), wow, does it get it clean! I cannot tell you how many times I have gone over my floors with a mop; and tried so many cleaners but to no avail still had a film.

Debbie said she was on her third go round with the steamer and is still picking up some black on the floor mit. I have only gone over it once and was amazed at how much it picked up! Now I plan to do a second run later today. I think this could be one of those "addictive" things if I am not careful! Oh yes, and it costs $99 and worth every penny...it also has two other size "mops" for smaller areas. You only use plain old water, so no chemicals:-) It will also "fluff" up carpets.

Anyway, I have included some pictures of Blink and the Shark mop. I have also thrown in a few pictures I took around the house today to get in the spirit of the season here...60s in the morning and about mid-80s by 4 pm with tons of sunshine. Perfect for me!

That's all for now. Hoping you will all keep in touch! It is so great to hear from you...