Fabulous Fun in 09

We started 09 in Arizona enjoying friends and wonderful desert scenery.

Also, I have been practicing making a joyful noise and lessons have been highly recommended. This is part of my pre-retirement activities even though it will be several years before I take join my 'retiring' friends.

Then I went to Tennessee to spend time with my Mom and family. What a special reunion with her sister and my cousin. Another wonderful time was a "girls" weekend in Sonoma where we had a timeout from children and family responsibilities. Great memories of wine, great food, shopping and sharing stories. When do we get to go again?

And finally John got his birthday wish.....the train to Reno with adventures at Lake Tahoe with Doug and Bin. Hope you're ready for Spring adventures!

It was a very good year!

Ok, so they say a picture is worth a thousand words. Since I have not had much time to write on the blog, I have decided to highlight some 08 activities through family and friend photos. I do take photos, but finding the time to download and write, that's another story. My New Year's resolution is to do better. See if you can match the photos to the activities described.

We are relaxing in the Cancun, Mexixo, hiking on the Zuni reservation, working in NYC, then it's Fall and I am in Maryville, Tennessee for my class's 40th reunion with great friends and celebrating my Mother's 93rd Birthday. There's a special photo of me with my Aunt in Denver after we have hiked around a lake. Then we have the fun Melillo trip with Grandkids to Bob's Pumpkin Patch in Half Moon Bay, Ca. We celebrated our first Thanksgiving in Anthem, AZ with Bin Bin, Doug and his Dad and wife and her extended family. Then we get the young and old grandkids having fun at the annual Melillo Christmas celebration. Finally, there's the holiday decorated fireplace and mantle that John remodeled this past year and your's truly on Christmas morning delivering fresh baked gingerbread scones to John. It's was a very good year. Happy New Year with the promise of more details and photos for 09.

Mother's Day in Tennessee

What could be better than spending Mother's Day in East Tennessee with your 92 year old mother? Even though I miss being with my son and family on the west coast, I am grateful that I still have my mom and can be with her. I love being able to do things for her and to hear the fun in her laughter no matter what we do. Her favorite activities are going to her church, seeing friends who remember her, eating out and # 1 is shopping. We did all of these and more.

My favorite memory of this trip was taking her to a benefit concert at her church and watching her reaction to the lively blue grass group. As they played and sang, she became caught up in their beat and started accompanying them with her "air piano" Wow, she can still move and groove at 92. My only regret was that I didn't have my camera to capture the pure enjoyment she was having and the fun reaction the audience had watching her. Not only is her music spirit still very alive, but so is her sense of style. Way to go Mom. Thanks for your ongoing inspiration and joyful spirit.

Fun in the Arizona sun with Friends

Each year John and I head to the Phoenix area to recover from the holidays and enjoy the wonderful sunny and usually warm weather there. This year our adventure included friends Tim and Ann from our local Bay area running club. They braved stormy driving conditions with high winds and tumbleweeds attacking their van, but declared it was worth it when they finally arrived. One of the zaniest times was our Sunday trek to Carefree, AZ, where we saw an art show, did a high class dumpster dive, visited local galleries and had a late campagne brunch at the Carefree Station Grill and Bar.

Tim and Ann helped us with our traveling restaurant critique that we started this summer during a vacation in Sedona. We evaluate each restaurant based on 5 criteria....Presentation, Price, Ambiance, Service and Taste/quality of the food. The Carefree Station was a winning experience for all with 5 spoons across the board. The chocolate brownie dessert with a spicy chipotle flavor was a really big hit. That will be first on our return favs when we get back to Arizona again.

Happy New Year

We get ready to say goodbye to all the activities of 2007 by reflecting on all the year has brought. As we look back there is a theme that emerges.....Life is good! Did you know that there are even shirts, pjs and mugs that proclaim that? We got John a sweatshirt with that message and it became an ongoing reminder to us that life is good. However, it is only true when we let our eyes see and our hearts believe that. We feel blessed in 2007 with our family, friends, work and opportunities to grow. We look forward to exploring more in 2008 with you.

Thanksgiving 2007

John and Jenny 's excellent turkey adventure with our son and new daughter began with Mom and son running to the grocery store to get last minute food items and John and daughter doing home repair.