Tonight my daughter Kelli and I dressed up for our church's youth group game of "Where's Waldo?". We had on our fake bums and dressed "down". When we entered the mall, we thought that everyone would stare at us. Only a few did...and no one in the kiosks asked us if we wanted to try their hand lotion or buy a crystal studded hair barrette. It was weird.
I drank enough pop to sufficiently burp while I talked to the kids when they "found" us. It was fun to see their shocked expressions. ha-ha
As you have probably seen on TV, Disneyland is giving away free tickets if you give a day of volunteer service. We signed up to clean up a Zoo in Prescott. AND it snowed!!!
First, we registered at a local church and watched a program about Martin Luther King day and how it has turned into not only a national holiday, but a day set aside to give back to the community. It was good. ANYWAY, we then went to the zoo. We were asked to take down the Christmas lights and to trim and haul away dead foliage from all around the park. So I was picking up a bunch of branches and walking further into the open field. All of a sudden I heard a growl. I looked up and there less that 3 feet away was this tiger ready to pounce! I had no idea I had gotten so close to the fence and even what cage I was by. It was so scary and exciting at the same time!
All our kids helped with taking down the lights and picking up prickly branches. Below is Slade unwinding the lights off a fence.
Nash and Blue found some really big branches by the lamas. It was so fun to get to be so close to the animals!
Xander sat on Glampa's shoulders to take down the lights of the entrance building.
At break time, Remi tried to eat an apple almost as big as her head.
And this picture is for Hilari. She is always so happy when I post photos of her wonderfully crazy husband. Gotta love that guy!
We were FREEZING!!! But we had a great time being together and cleaning up the Zoo. FUN!
Today it was my turn to host the book club that I'm a member of. This month's book was "Gravity vs. the Girl" by Riley Noehren. The very exciting thing about today was that the author came and talked to us about how the book came to be from conception to getting the story published. It was inspiring to hear about a goal and dream of Ms. Noehren's coming true. It made me want to pursue my own dreams, aspirations and creations. I felt encouraged to take the risks that accompany "putting yourself out there" when you try new things. Yeah for strong women who courageously allow themselves to grow!
Above is a shot of the table setting. I forgot to take a photo of the MAGNIFICENT salad of mixed greens with an Asian dressing layered high between very large fried wontons that my daughter Brooke made. It was a skyscraper of deliciousness. She also made orange roles and a cantaloupe, berries and mint salad. And I would have been a mess without my daughter Kelli to help me clean and host the lunch.
When we got our family picture taken, there was one family member who got kicked out of the photography studio. Many might think it would be one of my daughters (who I always think are going to get us kicked out of many an establishment...) but no, Cosmo the Iguana was ostracized for not being a member of the "human" race. I found him/her (we don't know for sure) a small dog Snuggie. I picked the pink as it would be a nice contrast with Cosmo's green skin.
Cosmo had to wait in the car. I even pulled the "I spend a lot of money here (in a nice way)" approach to make them let us keep him, but to no avail. In the future, we shall leave no family member behind!
Then I just happened to look up at the tree, and there is Cosmo. He had crawled up through the branches with no where else to go but down. (and I think he was a little scared) So poor Cosmo is in "time out". He is now in his parent's room enjoying the heat lamp. The branches on the Christmas tree were easily bent back to shape and all is well.
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