Car Escapades!

Having difficulty with cars is not fun for the pocket book or for your inconvience, but especially when it involves vandalism and robbery! Yesterday we were going to watch our daughter's children so she and her hubby could go out to dinner and celebrate 10 wonderful years of marriage! Well, he never showed up at our house...finally she gets a phone call. She is to go the car repair shop! Someone had entered hubby's work parking lot and totally cut off and stole his catelitic converter (sp?) (this is the 2nd one now!!!) again off his vehicle! So to figure out how to borrow another car for hubby to get to work today (Friday) so his vehicle can be repaired. So daughter and I figured out this elaborate stragedy. See if you can follow this: Last night when daughter and hubby came back from dinner they picked up our garage opener and left me a key for their mini-van as I was at Roundtable with my car. This morning at 5:15 am daughter's hubby uses our garage opener to get my vehicle & key so he can get to work leaving mini-van here for me. At 7:20 am I then drive the mini-van back to daughter's house and together we take all 4 kids with us ... we drop of daughter and my granddaughter off at school. The other 3 kids go with me out to Rainbow Valley to pick up a most important package that was delivered yesterday. Back to daughter's house to play with 3 little ones until lunch time. We all load back up in mini-van and go get daughter. Daughter then drives me home where I will be the rest of the day. So...that is how we got daughter's husband to work and me to daughter's house to babysit so daughter could go to her child's class at school. If we would have lived a long time ago, no one would have gotten all of these things done!!! Modern times bring on the modern thinking of strategy. Now let's hope daugther's hubby's vehicle can be repaired by Monday. If not then...more strategy will be in play!

A Day with Hubby

Saturday was a great day! We spent the entire day together doing stuff...not separately...but together! We started off by going to the temple and after a session, we sealed my grandma to her parents. Totally great spirit with them all! It was great seeing old friends on our session...Missy & Corby Gardiner!!! We are definitely going to re-connect with them in a few weeks! Curtis was his counselor in the Bishopric in Tucson. We also saw Stephanie Walker's mom! She asked us to keep taking care of her kids! We do...we love them!!!

Went to Seagull book to pick up the latest copy of Gerald Lund's book "The Undaunted"!!!! When he was called as a 70, I thought to myself..."Oh no...does that mean he won't be writing great historical novels any more?" Once he was released...he was back to writing. I love reading his books. I learn so much more about the history when you add personal feelings to it!

We then tracked down an Office Max in Mesa for hubby to get special pens. He is so particular what kind he carries in his pockets and use. But...we FOUND the ones he wanted.

Off to Trader Joe's. Oh how I miss having Trader Joe's so close to where we lived in Tucson. Now they are a half hour drive away...so we tracked down the one in Mesa while in that neck of the woods. We had this awesome Havest Grain rice blend at Serina's in-laws in May. Oh....sooo good. So I bought 4 packages for the pantry. Each bag was only $2.69! You cook it in chicken broth and it is yummy!

Since hubby's office is closing here shortly...we went to Things Remembered to find special gifts and have them engraved for his "special employees". I told him he should buy himself a PARTING gift...but he wouldn't.

We then went and had a very nice romantic lunch at the Legacy Suites (our local time share). They have a great restaurant (and we have free coupons!!!). So it gives us a relaxing time together.

Then home...to write out bill payments, plan the week, and we watched an old movie with Frankie Avalon and Annette Funacello "How to Stuff a Wild Bikinii". Old movies were so much safer to watch than today!!!

I certainly enjoy days where we can be together. You would think with no kids at home that would be the norm....NOT. So I LOVE it when it happens!

Fun with some Grandkids

Saturday, Aug 1st, Heidi had invited Grandpa Curtis and Grandma Sandi (me) to go to the Childrens' Museum in Phoenix. We were there from 9am when it opened until about noon. We had some fun with Heidi's family and Jason's family. Haven and Carter were great play mates in what I call the "Pinewood Derby" area. They kept getting these little cars and launching them down the track, I would lift them down, they would run to see the cars cross the finish line and then return. They were sooo cute!! Curtis was with the older kids...I hardly saw him during the morning. Here are some photos he took to document the event:

Haley driving Christian and Carter on the trike through this little carwash.

Christian, Haley, and Jaren would pick these plastic flowers and then re-plant them.

Grandma Sandi with Haven driving and Carter hanging on.

They pretended they were going F - A - S - T !!!!

Carter, Jaren and Jason with the cars.

What a fun day. I got to hold Jaycie and Noelle a bit...they mostly slept in their strollers! Had great visits with them all. We left about lunch time. Once we got home...we slept for 2 hours!! But we are ready for the next adventure!

Special Luncheon Date

Patti and Ashley (my sister and niece) Prodromides were driving back from Las Vegas this morning from seeing Steve & Emily's new baby Wyatt. They gave me a phone call to see if I'd be home today at noon. You bet. Nothing on today's schedule. So they stopped in for lunch and a really nice visit. I miss being closer (in miles!) to them. They showed me photos of new baby Wyatt and how cute he is. We yaked for about 1 1/2 hours and then they finally had to head down the road to Tucson.

Bus Tour of School District

This morning I got to have a lot of fun! As most of you know, I am the President of the Littleton Elementary School District here in Avondale, Arizona. Today we had induction of our new teachers to our district. It was fun meeting them at breakfast and finding out where they came from and now which school and grade/subject they will be teaching. After breakfast at one of our schools, we loaded up a yellow air conditioned bus and hit the road. I got to be the tour guide! It was so fun!! I shared info about the original days of Avondale being called "Coldwater" and about the founder Billy Moore. History about each of our schools, who they were named after, when they were built. I pointed out landmarks like....Fry's, Bank of America, Phoenix International Raceway...Cashion...post offices, etc... You get the idea!

A yellow school bus, similar to what we took this morning.
This is Estrella Vista Elementary School.
It is in my subdivision. This is one of 8 schools in our District area.

Computers and Bugs

We live in the modern age of computers where you just can't live without them! Emailing, checking weather reports, news, staying in contact with friends on Facebook, etc... Well..our computer on Sunday morning got a virus! Called msa.exe. Let me tell you...it is one bad problem. So finally last night after dinner we were tired of having all of these little pop ups from the internet! Sometimes there would be 15 of them on the screen. Someone figured out a way to get into the computer and took control. We have Norton Symantec service. So I get on the technical chat on line help with them (so great...not holding a phone to your ear for hours!) ... we were able to type back and forth about the problem. Well after $99.99 the technician could go in and repair the problem for us. So when his name pops up on the screen as to whom I am typing with....it was a long one. I recognized it as an "indian" name from India (not native american). So I asked...are you in India? Yes, he was. But after an hour and 20 minutes he had cleaned out the insides of our computer and removed that terrible bug and reinstalled Internet Explorer for us. So today we are bug free and not getting any more anoying pop ups. So my advice to all...be careful what email you open! I accidentally hit open instead of delete and hence our problem.

Wicked

Sat, July 20th we went to see the broadway play Wicked at Gammage Theater on ASU campus. Here is a photo of Sandi and Heidi at intermission. We had a great time. The message of the play was very good. It basically lets you know how all the characters from Wizard of Oz knew each other or were related and how they came to be viewed by others for either good or bad even if it wasn't true. The biggest message was "be yourself" and not let others label you. It was an emotional play. The audience was carried with every emotion from laughter to tears. It was the only play Curtis and I had ever seen where at the end when the two main characters "Glinda (the Good) and Elfiba (The Wicked Witch)" came to take their bows...the entire theater in breath stood on their feet and cheered! All these characters did a superb job in acting. Three of them were the understudies. I was impressed at how well it was done. Curtis was busy analyzing the entire play from a Bishop's point of view. He had a hard time with it but did like the ending.

Sandi & Heidi at Wicked

Camp LoMia near Pine, Arizona

I finally have time to post a few photos after being sick with Asthma for several weeks. Curtis spent a week at Girls' Camp for our stake near Pine, Arizona. The Camp is called Camp LoMia. It would be interesting to find out how that name came to be...if anyone knows, please share. Anyway...I was with my mom and dad during the time of Girls' Camp, however on Sunday I went and spent from 2:30 pm to 10:00 pm with the girls. The following photos were taken before the testimony meeting at the Ward cabin.

Sandi & Curtis (Bishop Nielson)

Becky Phelps, Cherish Parker, Callie Brown and Stephanie Walker.

L-R around the table:

Susan Walker, Morgan Fuller, Kassandra Smith, Kami Finlayson, Mackenzie Davies, Ericka Davies, Rhiannon McBride, Raeana White, Raeana's cousin, and Megan Burgess

Peter passed his Pharmacy Boards

Great news! Peter flew to Albuquerque, NM to take his National Pharmacy Boards and then the next day took his Arizona Law Board. He got word that he passed both. So he is OFFICIAL. He is just waiting for his Arizona License to come in the mail. They are now busy house hunting in the east valley. Peter we are proud of you for doing so well...and to you Meggan...Yeah it is over!

Rough Week and a Half

One never enjoys being sick! Two Sundays ago I joined Curtis at Girls' camp for the rest of the sabbath activities in the dirt and trees. Apparently the dust and pollen really came crashing down on my Phoenix induced Asthma! I go months with no problem and then it hits really hard. So as I started having problems I thought it was just allergies or a minor cold. Well after not being able to talk since last Wednesday, July 1st...and not breathing on Sun, July 5th evening...it was time to see the doctor. So first thing Monday morning I was in my doctor's office. Brian Hawkins is a wonderful MD. Come to find out my asthmas was out of control. I ended up on 8 different prescriptions (not the Over the Counter stuff) when I left. At noon I just wanted to die, ever feel like that you'll never get better? But by 6:00 pm that same evening...drugs working their miracle in my poor body...I finally felt like it was okay to live. Then Tuesday morning, I awoke with energy I hadn't had in weeks! I cleaned house, baked cookies, ran a few errands, and even got in a nap. I am so blessed to live in a day where modern medicine can work hand in hand with priesthood blessings and bring about much Miracles! I just have a minor cough lingering...hopefully gone by the end of the week!

Saturday Fun in the Mountains

Yesterday, Saturday, we did a lot of hiking. We'd hike during the day and then again in the afternoon. This picture below was our scenery! It may be hard to see from this photo but the mountains in the distance are the San Francisco Peaks in Flagstaff. Flagstaff is 57 miles from where we are camped.

San Francscio Peaks Mountain Range

Mom and I are hiking...this is a self-taken picture of us by some rock formations.

Later after dinner, Lauren (my niece came up yesterday), and my mom went up to the fire pit for a fun evening of S'mores! Lauren and I drove over to the little store at Clint's well and bought $4 box of graham crackers, $2.25 for 3 bars of hershey, and $2.00 bag of marshmellows...therefore $8 S'mores!!! Once we started eating them....it was worth the expense!

Here is Lauren cooking the first 2 marshmellows.

This was our finished product. Ohhhh they were yummy. It was the first time I was able to make S'mores and not have to manage children or clean up messes. It was a real treat! We ate and ate. Now on to dietiing again today!

Time in Happy Jack

I arrived at Sunrise Resort between Happy Jack and Clint's Well, AZ yesterday. Curtis dropped me off at my parent's motorhome. We had lunch and listened to the afternoon rain before he left for girls' camp in Pine, AZ. I get to hang out with my mom and dad for 5 days! I have taken a photo diary of the area. This is a great summer get-a-way.

This is the TINY cute post office here.
This is the little LDS branch house where my mom attends up here.
It has a chapel, primary room and relief society room,
Branch Pres. office, library, store room
and restrooms. The organ is a casio electric piano/organ.

This is the local cafe. Boy...all home cooking and inexpensive! Enough food to share an order.
We ate there last night.

This morning we made a trip to Payson, AZ. This is taken inside the Beeline Cafe.

We had a great breakfast there this morning before we hit the super Wal-mart!

Once we were back to the motor home. I laid in the hammock and read!

The little black square piece laying by my head is my dad's MP3...playing music!

Mom and I also took a long hike up trails into the hills for over an hour. Fun day...so far.

I just made two loaves of zuchinni bread for my dad (zuchinni from our garden). He

thinks I am a great cook.

Our 34th Wedding Anniversary

We have had a very fun two days as we celebrated our 34th wedding annivesary! We were married on June 20, 1975 in the Salt Lake Temple in Salt Lake City, Utah. Wow! That seems like forever ago. We have had a great life...so far...together. We have covered the globe and enjoyed life with family and friends. Last night we went to a dinner and theatrical play of "Bye Bye Birdie". It was great! I remember seeing the movie in 1963 or 1964 when I was a little girl in Newfoundland, Canada. Apparently the movie was based on the stage play. I have always liked the fun movie. Some scenes are re-arranged in the movie. It was good to laugh!

Then we went to the Mesa Arizona Temple this morning. We spent several hours there doing a variety of things. Saw the Lundstrom's from Tucson there! Matt was getting his endowments! Then we went to lunch at Legacy Suites Resort and sat on the patio of the golf club and listened to great oldies while we ate.

This is what we look like today! 2009

This is what we looked like on our wedding day. It rained! So all my curls left, and Curtis' got more so. This photo was taken just before our reception which was held at the Kaysville Stake Center in Utah. Same building I was baptized in only 3 years prior. I sure love this man I married!

Celebrating Peter

Friday evening of June 12th 15 of us went to Carrabas' Italian Restaurant in Avondale to celebrate Peter's great accomplishment. Jason and Carrie had to leave early (hence no photos of them) so their babysitter could go to his own birthday party! We all had a great time visiting and eating!

Sandi & Curtis

Stephen Wallgren (of Tolleson Ward) and another waiter sang
"Best Wishes to You" in Italian.

Heidi & Jace Larkin and baby Noelle

L-R Vanessa & Dale Berg, Connie & Wayne George, Gavin Berg, Warren & Megan Grantham

This is the George Family. I didn't get Lauren in the photo

Meggan and Peter celebrating with their ice cream!

Look at Peter's smile!!! He never stopped smiling all day!

Peter Nielson, PharmD - Our Son!

Friday, June 12th, 2009 has got to be one of the highlights of 2009! As I mentioned before, this is the year of Vacations of Graduations for Curtis and I. Peter, our son, finally Pharmacy school. He graduated as a Doctor of Pharmacy!! Way too go Peter!!! We are so proud of you!

Meggan & Peter right after Graduation.

This is the school he attended in Glendale, Arizona - Midwestern University

This is Peter walking up to get his Doctor hood attached to his robes and receiving his Diploma!

Everyone who came to the Graduation!

Meggan's parents (Gene & Suzanne Lines) and siblings, Warren & Megan Grantham (cousins), Heidi & Jace Larkin (sister), and Peter's grandparents Larry & Betty Gibb, plus some babies.

Our two Pharmacists in the family!

Jace Larkin (Heidi's husband) and Peter Nielson

Peter with his official Diploma. Now to get it framed!

Bishop & Scouts Adventure!

My husband, the Bishop of our Ward, got this great idea to have fun with the Boys from our Ward and the other two wards in our building. Instead of taking them to Scout Camp...he took them to our Time Share in Tucson at Starr Pass Resort. He then used that as a base for day trips around southern Arizona which was our stomping grounds for over 20 years! I am posting a photo from each place they went...especially for those mom's out there that want to know what their boys did!

This is Tucson, Arizona taken from "A" Mountain

Here the boys are climbing on the "A" which
stands for University of Arizona,
is there any other?

Here the group is gathered around the Mormon Battalion Monument

in downtown Tucson. I still can visualize when Pres. Hinckley came to dedicate it!

Trevor Smith attacked by an Alligator - at the Wildlife Museum

The group gathered around monument in old Tombstone, Arizona.

I am assuming this is Wyatt Earp.

All suited up in slickers, hard hats with lights ready to go into

the Copper Queen Mine. This was an underground Copper Mine for years

located in Bisbee, Arizona. By the way...great hills to experience driving!

Listening to guide at the Titan Missile Museum in Tucson, AZ.

Our great pilot, Geoff Smith, flying a plane at the

Pima Air Museum in Tucson, AZ. This Museum has thousands of planes

from World Wars, Presidential planes, etc, Great fun!

Living room & Kitchen of the resort. They had three 2-bedroom

apartments. That meant each person had a bed of their own.

So different from a cot or sleeping bag!

Every evening the boys went swimming in the pool to cool off.

The last day they drove up to Kitt Peak and saw about 15

different observatories. The solar one allowed you to see the sun. Lots of

hills to hike around. Then they headed back to Avondale/Tolleson, AZ.

Time With Grandkids

Monday morning Heidi had to talk Haley to the doctor, so Christian and Haven got to be with me! We played with Fisher Price toys that used to be Heidi and Jason's when they were little. We even played with He-Man toys from Peter's growing up days. We read stories. Had snacks. Then they wanted to watch Peter Pan. They are so well behaved! It is so fun to spend time with them. But I forgot to take any photos! I'll have to capture those cuties later.

Then Wed (today) I had Jaren and Carter (Jason's two oldest). I called my friend, Stefany Dean, for ideas this morning. So off we went with a terrific list! We went to Pratt's Feed/Pet Supply in Glendale. They had rabbits, hamsters, chicks, birds, reptiles, etc... During the winter they carry puppies. The man told me in the summer it is too hot for the dogs.

Here is Jaren & Carter looking at the rabbits.

I would hold them...they would pet.

This lasted for about 40 minutes! We had fun here.

Then we went to the Cerreta's Candy Factory (also in Glendale) and had free samples and tour. While we were there 100 school kids from Anthem schools came! We went and bought a piece of candy for each of us and left while the getting was good! Too much noise! But the candy was awesome! I'll have to go back when I can head straight home with the treats so they won't MELT!

Carter at the Candy Store with their tour info sign.

Jaren & Carter trying to be patient to wait for the tour.
You can see part of the factory behind the boys.

Then we drove to Friendship Park (in Avondale) and fed the ducks at the pond. That was really fun and we were able to do it from the shade of a tree! Then off to Burger King for chicken nuggets and fries for lunch and back home to mom. Grandma is now exhausted!

Week Without Hubby

While hubby is off to Tucson with 10 boy scouts and 3 other adults...I am certainly keeping busy. I know by the end of the week I'll be exhausted and missing him!
Yesterday I spent with a terrific friend, Leasa. We went shopping for frames to put all her newly acquired LDS Artwork in. We shopped from 10 am to 3:00 pm. And then started putting pictures together in the frames. I brought home two and worked on those until late evening. But ohhhhh they look great. I should be a framer for Michael's or something!
Today I am going visiting teaching, doing some mending (quiet things to relieve the back!), and then on to School Board meeting at 5:30 pm.
Today hubby and crew are in Bisbee touring the old underground Copper Queen Mine, and then off to Tombstone (such a fun place to visit!). These guys are going to all our favorite stompting grounds with our kids and family. Kind of wish I could have tagged along. Oh well...relive the memories...

Dilated Eyes!!!

Today I went to the eye doctor for an annual check up and to have my eyes dilated. I just hate that appointment! Good ole Rita Clift rode with me so she could drive me and my car home! Most people...including my hubby...it only takes an hour for eyes to go back to normal. It now has been 4 hours and they are no smaller than at 11:00 a.m.!!!! So I have laid on the couch with my eyes closed, blanket on top, and listened to BYU TV. I have heard some great talks. Can't see the screen! Any way....I am surviving. I'll be glad when the day is over!

Ashley's Promotion

On Wed, May 27th we traveled to Tucson to our neice's, Ashley Prodromides, promotion from 8th grade. Her school actually called it "graduation" and it was fabulous. Each of the 14 graduates invited their special guests. The 7th grade class served everyone dinner. Here is Ashley's Committee.

L-R around the table: Kevin (Ashley's dad), Ashley, Wayne & Connie George (my sister), Morris Kinghorn (head of the table - Kevin's dad & Ashley's grandfather), Glenna Kinghorn, Betty & Larry Gibb (my folks & Ashley's grandparents), myself and Curtis. Patti (Ashley's mom) was taking the photo.

Patti, Ashley and Kevin

Mrs. Jeppson (the principal) showed about 15 slides of each graduate, the student then gave a 2 minute talk about their memoirs of their time at Carden of Tucson. These talks were incredible. This is the photo of Ashley at the podium...before it all started.