Wednesday, March 16, 2011

just waiting for spring

I'm tired of all this SNOW.....

I just want it to GO AWAY...

thank goodness for ACS(American Cancer Society) daffodils to brighten my day!

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Everybody has one...

yep, that's right....I'm talking about a HERO. My heros are those people that inspire me to be a better person. Yes, I'm probably talking about YOU as well. My life is filled with people that are kind and generous and just want to make the world a better place. Here are just two heros that have been influential to Lea. This is Dave Braithwaite, Lea's physical therapist since she was a baby. He was instrumental in about EVERY milestone in Lea's life....from sitting up when she was 2 years old....to eventually walking when she was @ 6 yrs old. Lea loved to work with Dave and always gave him her all. She always wanted to work hard just for Dave!

Isn't this just the sweetest look on Lea's face...she's thinking...hey, I can do this walking thing!

This is Lea's 1st grade teacher at Canyon Crest Elementary...Miss Cannon. She LOVED having Lea in her class and made sure that she treated Lea "just like everybody else". Lea blossomed in Miss Cannon's class and made tons of friends.
SO, who are your heros?

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Melanie's weekend

I left Jackson this weekend to attend the wedding of my niece Kourtney down in southern Utah. My sister Val and I chauffeured our parents. We spent Friday night right outside the Ponderosa Ranch down by Orderville, Utah. My father, who is a national park groupie wanted to take the "scenic" route through Zion National Park. And being the dutiful daughters we are, we agreed and went the long way. My dad had a lot of memories of working at Zion's when he was 18, 19 and 20 yrs old. (btw...Dad turned 80 in Nov) It was a beautiful time of day as we drove through this magestic landscape.

The next morning, we headed back through Zion's again to go to the St. George Temple. This magnificent temple is just blindingly WHITE! It was amazing to me to see palm trees on the temple grounds. The weather was incredible and I can totally understand why so many people want to retire or snowbird in this area.

Here's me and Kourtney's friend just waiting for the bride and groom....and yes, enjoying the warm sun!

Announcing....Mr. and Mrs. Jake Millard !!! check out cute little Kourtney's shoes...they match her hubbies!

FAMILY....it's what it's all about. Here's my brother Keith and his entire family with spouses and his first grandchild, Addison.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

GUESS where I went?

HAWAII!!!!! Went to Maui and stayed at the Grand Wailea with the JAZZ 100 club (thanks Nedra and Rob!)

We went to the whale festival on Saturday and had some great people watching...check out this guy and his dreds! This place was full of hippies....so fun to see.

The Grand Wailea is such a beautiful hotel...we had stayed here about 20 years ago and it's still incredibly gorgeous. Here's a view looking into the Botero bar. There is 30 million dollars worth of original art here in this hotel; all these Botero sculptures are very fun.

Here's the Botero we passed by everyday to go to breakfast or the beach...kinda reminds me of someone....

My favorite sculpture of all....hula men...saw them everytime I used the elevator to go to my room.

These dolphins greeted you as you went to the "adult" pool.

Nedra and Rob arranged a whale watching expedition on a cool yacht--here's the boys Derek, Kirk and Brooke just taking it easy checking out all the action.

some of us were just messing around....

I apologize for the lousy pictures, but all I had was my little point and shoot and when you zoom SO much it gets blurry...but here was a whale breeching....so awesome to see.

saw a lot of these!!!

this cute chapel is on the grounds of the Grand Wailea....even saw a bride head in there one afternoon

our view when we ate breakfast--isn't it gorgeous?
I hope I made you all absolutely JEALOUS with these pictures....it was such a treat to head out of Jackson and all the cold and snow...thanks again Nedra and Rob!