Tante Marianne's Life, The Universe and Everything

Happy New Year 2020!

2020-01-03T13:22:00.003-08:00

Annika and her cousin Violet celebrate St. Lucia Day

I have been truly remiss in posting to this blog in 2019. In fact, I skipped the entire year. It's probably for the best. 2019 was not a particularly good year for me. Neither was 2018, as a matter of fact.

However, I'm so grateful for my family and friends. I have been sustained by many good people through a myriad of trials, large and small.

Most notably , I've neglected to herald the birth of the most recent additions to our family: Samuel Jeffrey on April 10, 2019, and Lily Jean in July of 2019.

Samuel Jeffrey

Lily Jean

This brings my brother's grandchild count to seven! Such sweet little children, and all growing like crazy.

What a blessing family can be!

Violet's Grown a Bit

2018-12-11T14:22:00.003-08:00

Since I was last blogging, our newest family member has grown a bit. She's pretty tall! Hi, Violet!

Introducing the Newest Evensen

2017-05-31T10:01:00.000-07:00

Here she is! Violet Elizabeth Evensen arrived on Friday, May 26th. She is posing with her mom and dad in this photo.

The newest member of our family weighed in at 8 pounds 3 ounces and is 20 inches long! She looked very much like her dad, my nephew Nils.

I love the name Violet. She arrived with a full head of blond hair. What a sweetie!

She also has the chubby cheeks that run in our family, as you can see below. Violet is the 5th grandchild and the 3rd little girl of her generation in our family.

There's something wonderful about seeing a man tenderly holding a baby, isn't there?

Welcome to mortality, little Violet. I can't wait to meet you!

Happy Birthday, David!

2016-09-06T17:21:00.004-07:00

I love this photo!
David enjoyed our singing

My friend David has a birthday today, so Peggy and I took him out for hamburgers at Ruby's on Labor Day. We had a great time! The wait staff at Ruby's was the best. They were so kind, and got the whole restaurant to sing 'Happy Birthday' to him, and even gave him a hat to wear!

Peggy and David

Old friends are the best, right? We had fun - mostly just eating and talking. But it turned out to be a delightful day.

Our waitress

It's the simple pleasures that are often the best. Good times!

Farewell to Frank

2016-08-15T10:56:00.001-07:00

What are you doing, Marianne?

Yes, I'm taking your picture, Frank. I figured someone should immortalize this moment in time. You've been with the company for 9 years, which is a very long time in Corporate America.

One of our Senior Engineers, Frank recently left us to pursue other dreams in El Paso, Texas with his family. I was sorry to see him go.

The company held a nice luncheon in his honor the week he left.

The gang's all here

It was a good meal, but everyone seems very serious in these photos.

We're normally not this serious.

Company President, Jimmy, enjoying Frank's speech

Frank got up to say a few words and was sincere and entertaining. I've enjoyed working with him and miss his jokes and stories.

Good luck to you in the future, my friend!

A Chinese Kitten

2016-07-18T16:27:00.001-07:00

Livia and Sparkle reading intently

My grand-niece Livia lives in Beijing with her Mommy, her Daddy and her two brothers. (She's in the middle.) So, when her Daddy found a couple of abandoned kitties on the roof, she got her wish - her very own little kitten.

This is what kitties do!

Livia named the little fellow Sparkle. He's a little cutie pie of a kitten. As all kittens are! He is also very brave. As all kittens are!

"I think I can!"

Funny, he doesn't really look Chinese.

A Kitty smaller than the headphones

I don't think Sparkle knows how lucky of a kitty he is!

Sleepy Baby

He's very cute, and obviously very loved. Sparkle is a very lucky Chinese kitty indeed!

Even Daddy likes him!

Daddy likes him too

What more can a little Kitty ask for?

Little Girl Kisses!

Farewell to Sabrina

2016-07-15T10:06:00.002-07:00

Suria, Carmen, Sabrina and Tiffany

It's difficult when someone you care for moves away. Sabrina had been with my company since way before I came on board in 2008. She was a vital part of the Corporate Marketing team - she was also the last of that original Corporate marketing team to leave the company.

That leaves me. I've been around the longest now of all the marketing group in the company. It's a weird feeling.

Tiffany, Nikita and Mengzhao

But, as is often the case, Sabrina's decision to leave had little to do with our company, and a lot to do with moving to the State of Washington to be able to provide a better life for her family. Tough decision, but a good one for them, I believe.

Sabrina - I miss her acerbic wit

And so it was, back in May, that the Marketing ladies took Sabrina off to a farewell luncheon. We went to a Chinese-French fusion place called Savoy in Alhambra. The food was very good!

We sat outside under the awnings

Sabrina had 'trying escargot' on her bucket list, which is why Suria had brought us all here to the Savoy. She knew they served escargot. We allowed Suria to make the menu choices for us all, as the dishes were served family style. That turned out to be an excellent idea!

We allowed Suria (right) to make some menu choices for us

I have to admit, despite my many travels in the world, I'd never had escargot (snails) either. I was surprised to find that I really liked them. Of course, they were drowned in butter and garlic - what's not to like?

The last, lonely escargot on the above plate got snarfed up quickly

The other dishes were delicious as well. There was a spicy Asian curry and also Italian pasta dishes. It had looked like a lot of food when Suria was ordering, but we really chowed down on it. With gusto.

There was little left after the feeding frenzy.

The dishes were varied, but each was delicious

I've always enjoyed the company of my female coworkers. They are bright and kind and fun to be with.

My second helping of linguini

It was a fun get-together.

Sabrina has been gone a couple of months now. I still miss her. It still seems strange to not see her on the other side of the building, in the Corporate offices.

Hope all is well, my friend.

Pickering Ward Dinner

2016-06-30T12:11:00.006-07:00

My neighbor George looks pretty nifty holding that bouquet!

My Ward (congregation) is a fun and kind one. We are like a big, extended family and always have a good time together. On Saturday night, we had a dinner - a farewell to the delightful missionary couple from Utah who have been serving us with love and commitment for the last 18 months - as well as a summery fourth of July bash.

The place was packed! The Allens can be seen standing in the middle, speaking with my neighbor Sheree.

The Ward provided grilled hot dogs and hamburgers, while everyone pitched in with salads and desserts. There was so much good food there!

View of our table - Amy did the wonderful sunflower centerpieces

As always, there is a lot of chatter and catching up. We have fun together. If you look hard, you can see the tables set up with all the food along the back wall.

Our former Bishop, center, and his good wife (in green) were there

The atmosphere was festive

There was a bit of entertainment, too! Below, you can just see me peeking from behind the piano. Here the lady missionaries are singing with my neighbor Heidi on the guitar.

Yes. I have lots of good neighbors!

The Sisters did a couple of numbers, and here the Elders are singing with them as I accompany them. These are such good kids. They brought a wonderful Spirit into my home the night they came over to practice. I love playing for them.

Some of these photos are mine, but I also stole a good deal of them from Maristella Boyle (Thank you!).

My favorite rambunctious kid, Noah, and his mommy

David with one of the Elders

Maristella and Emily

Emily, Jessica, Zairah and Sheree

Sister Judy and Maristella

I'm going to miss the Allens so very much! It's like getting additional family for a year and a half. I've loved getting to know them.

Elder Allen (right) and Brother Gonzales

Sister Mariner fashioned beautiful leis for both the Allens. That was so thoughtful of her!

My neighbors Sheree and her sweet little redheaded cutie pie, Zairah

Our Sister missionaries are both from Canada - but from opposite ends: Vancouver and Nova Scotia!

The Sister Elders attacking Heidi

Come worship with us on Sundays! You will love having these people in your life!

A Reception In Bend, Oregon

2016-06-09T11:38:00.002-07:00

Nils and Rachel cut the cake

My nephew Nils wed his beautiful bride Rachel a few short weeks ago. There was a reception in their honor in the Salt Lake area following the ceremony at the LDS Salt Lake temple.

Last weekend, they took off to Rachel's hometown of Bend, Oregon, for another reception. This time, it was a more casual open house. It still looks like it was fun.

The cake looks yummy!

Relatives and friends from the Pacific Northwest came flocking to wish the young couple well! Some drove from very far away.

As there had been a theft of some personal items during the reception in Salt Lake, a high tech security company was enlisted to make sure that didn't happen again!

Christian looking like a Fed

Just kidding!

My youngest nephew Christian stood guard, taking his job VERY seriously. I love that photo!

The funniest photo, though, is the next one! Late Saturday, after the open house, everyone decided they needed a Walmart run before the return trip to Utah. They didn't want to be breaking the Sabbath unnecessarily.

Rachel thought it would be funny to wear her wedding dress to Walmart.

Rachel, Nils, Christian and mom Kirsti at the Bend Walmart

Sadly, there are so many strange characters at Walmart that (a) Rachel didn't look particularly odd wearing her wedding dress there and (b) few people gave them a second glance!

That kinda made my day.

I hope it made you smile as well.

Jack is Six

2016-06-02T09:38:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday, Jack!

My cat Jack turned six years-old yesterday. The years we have spent together have flown by. I enjoy the companionship of my little furry buddy. We do everything together. I think Jack is very nice to have around.

What to get the cat who has everything?

I puzzled over what to get Jack for his birthday this year. His favorite toys are his plastic coated springs and he plays almost exclusively with them. He got a catnip banana last year. The turbo track he loved so much and played with for 6 months solid is not so fun anymore. His super spinning battery operated toy that he got for Christmas turned out to be more fun to watch than to actually play with.

Then I saw it. A video for cats.

A video? Mom? Are you nuts?

I tried to carefully explain the concept to Jack before we began. "This video is specially designed for kitties, Jack. It has everything a cat could want to see. Give it a chance, Jack. Now you can have your stories, just like Mom watches her stories on TV."

Jack wasn't buying it at first.

If you say so, Mom.

Then I turned on the video...

Look!

Jack's reaction was instant. He immediately climbed up next to the TV screen to check out this wonder. He ardently watched the gerbils, the birds, the squirrels and the rats and the hamsters... he was mesmerized.

"Do you like your 'stories', Jack?"

"Be quiet Mom! I'm concentrating!"

Later, I explained that we were going to turn everything off for the night, but if he wanted to watch his stories, he could watch them any time, he just needed to tell me.

I began tidying up the living room, and made my way to the bedroom, when I noticed my little guy just sitting on the floor of the living room - gazing up at the blank screen of the TV.

"You want to watch some more?" I asked. He just kept staring at the switched off TV. I figured he was letting me know in a pretty obvious way what he wanted! "Okay, you can watch until I go to bed."

I turned the TV back on, slipped in the DVD once more, and Jack settled onto the cushion of a near-by chair, staring up at the screen like a veteran couch potato.

The thought occurred to me I may not get to watch "my" shows ever again! Ha!

Happy Birthday, Jack! I'm so glad you are in my life.

17th of May in Norway

2016-05-23T16:14:00.002-07:00

This lovely cake approximates the red, white and blue crusaders' cross of the Norwegian flag

We're a week late, but Happy Norwegian Independence day! May 17th is a special day in the country of Norway.

My second cousin Marit and her husband Jan

The 17th of May is the day all the schoolchildren march in parades all over the country. They are dressed in their Sunday best and all carry the red, white and blue Norwegian flag. Those who have the national costumes, or bunad, wear them on this day. In the photo above, my second cousin Marit shows off her beautiful Lier bunad, which is embroidered by hand with the apple blossoms of the Lier valley where my mother was born. Her jewelry is also authentic Norwegian - with brooches of ancient design.

The Lier bunad was designed by another relative, Ruth Strand (My mother's cousin Willy's wife), and was accepted as the official bunad of the Lier valley in the 1970s.

Marit and her husband were just recently released from their service in the LDS temple in Sweden, where Jan served as Temple President, and Marit served as Temple Matron. They are truly wonderful people. They have a bunch of beautiful kids and grandkids.

Jan, Marit and a couple of the grandchildren

It looks like this year's celebration was sunny and pleasant. I've attended May 17th celebrations in the past that were COLD and rainy!

Here (below) Marit stands with other women in their National dress - note the beautiful embroidery on the back of the bunad on the right. Every one of these dresses follow established patterns from the valleys of Norway; every one of them is a work of art.

Other countries parade their armies, their tanks, and weapons of war on their national holidays, someone once said. Norway parades and celebrates its children.

Cousin Marit and her family live in Drammen. This is a lovely city about 40 minutes west of Oslo by train.

Cousins Matts and Jonas (Both my 2nd cousins once removed)

My Oslo-based first cousin Gro always has a full table for her 17th of May dinner. I think of our 4th of July paper plates, paper napkins and hot dogs and cringe a little when I see how she's set her table for this fun holiday.

Cousin Gro Lene's table is set for company

My mother used to go to this kind of trouble for parties, too. I think the gene for elegant parties missed me.

Gro took this photo (below) of the celebration in her Nordstrand neighborhood of Oslo:

The entire country shows up for these parades and mostly celebrate with hot dogs and ice cream. It's a colorful, and peaceful holiday.

May 17th has passed, however, I do hope you have an opportunity for some terrific family gatherings this summer!

Cousin Gro Lene with my brother Jay

Introducing Mr & Mrs Evensen!

2016-05-16T10:09:00.003-07:00

Nils and Rachel exit the Salt Lake Temple as husband and wife

My nephew Nils is a new husband! He and his lovely Rachel were sealed for time and all eternity in the LDS Salt Lake Temple on Saturday.

The iconic Temple of Salt Lake City in the spring

The Salt Lake Temple figures large in our family history. Nils' grandparents and great-grands were married there. (His parents were married in the Seattle Temple as Nils' mom's grandfather was a Sealer there at the time, if I remember correctly. That's a lovely temple, too.)

The weather complied beautifully. It had been raining buckets off and on for weeks before the wedding, but luckily, the sun came out on Saturday to aid in the picture taking.

On the temple grounds as newly-weds

I heard 70 couples tied the knot there that day! It gets rather crazy in May.

The reception that evening was a lot of fun. All sorts of friends and relatives came to congratulate the pair. There was a huge crowd there.

Stepmom Merlene (standing) and Nils' second cousin Caitlin

My cousin Maribeth was there with her husband and daughter from Logan. Caitlyn and her dad were taking off for Peru the following day. They are visiting Machu Picchu and other historic sites in the lands of the Inca, celebrating Caitlin's recent graduation from college. (Sounds like the trip of a lifetime!)

Cousin Maribeth, Merlene and Maribeth's husband Alvan

Also on hand was a dear old friend of Nils' dad's. Jay and Paul grew up together in Phoenix. Paul came by with his wife Ann. I have fond memories of Paul's mother, who is a fabulous musician and gave me my only lessons on how to play the organ many years ago.

Merlene with an old friend from Phoenix: Paul and his lovely wife Ann

I'm grateful that Merlene sent me the random photos of the reception! I'm sure more photos will surface in time.

Rachel and Nils are boarding a Disney cruise ship in Florida as I type this. They are off on a Disney cruise of the (real) Caribbean!

Sounds like a fabulous honeymoon for two really great young kids.

I wish them all the best.

Jack's Fort

2016-05-13T16:10:00.003-07:00

I realized one day that Jack has essentially made himself a fort at the end of the living room sofa. He has carefully set up the pillows all around him. It's a little cat-size comfy place.

He will retire to his comfy place in the early evening, waiting patiently for me to go to bed.

If I stay up too late, he will begin to poke and prod me into retiring. He is very strict, this petit chat gris.

I may begin calling him 'His Eminence'.

Have a lovely weekend, my friends.

My Little Jack

2016-05-06T12:37:00.000-07:00

My little boy sleeps soundly on my lap

It's been a while since I've posted about my kitty. My little Jack is such a terrific companion. I sure love him. He's taken to our new apartment very well.

He sometimes hangs his head over the side of my legs.
I think he's watching for bugs. Because you never know.

He sleeps with me at night, enjoys hanging out with me in the evenings, and plops into my lap in the early mornings when I'm having breakfast and getting ready for work.

He enjoys tummy tickles, and also gives excellent hugs.

I love my little boy.

May you be blessed with such a loved one in your life.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

2016-05-05T13:17:00.001-07:00

Tiffany (background), Brian, Carlos and Ivy at one of the three stations set up with food

Today our company had a Cinco de Mayo potluck. Our pot luck luncheons are always top notch. There are so many different people in our engineering firm, from so many different cultures, that the food is always a surprise and a delight.

Today was no exception!

One table had everything from Mexican casseroles and crispy tortillas to ceviche

It all began with a couple of email blasts to the employees at 9 a.m. We were alerted to the fact that there were TexMex scrambled egg casserole and warm churros in the kitchen for breakfast. They were really good!

From there, we segued to lunch around 11:45 a.m. There was so much good food! We had to lay everything out at three different stations in the kitchen. (I suddenly realized I forgot to take a photo of all the goodies in the Conference Room! There was a large platter of huge cocktail shrimp in there, as well as all kinds of Mexican beverages in huge containers - horchata, tamarino and other delights.)

Desserts included a beautiful bundt cake,
but there were also taco fixings and salads to be found on this table

Our engineers like to eat! (Okay, I do too!) It's fun trying all the different goodies. We have a large percentage of Asian employees, too, so they bring fun things from their culture as well. You never know what you might end up with on your plate! I saw everything from tamales to Chinese noodle dishes.

It's hard to see, but here we have Carlos, Suria, Tiffany,
Ivy and Brian filling up their plates

Our luncheons are always enjoyable. People often go to lots of trouble and expense with their dishes. It's certainly more fun than the usual sandwich I pack along for lunch!

Someone even brought an elaborate chafing dish.
Carmen's spicy chili rojo was in the crock pot on the right

Carmen is known for her delicious salsa. Today, she not only made salsa, but a mean chili rojo. That's a meat dish with chunks of beef in a red chili sauce. It was very spicy and quite delicious!

We gathered in the Corporate conference room to eat. For a while, intent on our food, no one said a whole lot.

Enjoying lunch around the conference table

They take out the big, executive chairs and bring in smaller, office chairs so we can scoot more people around the table for these events. They even brought in a smaller table today, to accommodate the crowd.

Joe smiles as everyone else tries to ignore the lady with the camera

There was so much delicious food, and plenty of everything. I really enjoyed everything I put on my plate. I believe we were all happy campers!

Edward, Juan and our company President, Jimmy, enjoying lunch

Several of our younger engineers complained that the plates were too small, so they were forced to go back for seconds.

Right.

I'm on to you.

For dessert, there were more churros, bundt cake, chocolate-walnut brownies and these adorable little cowboy hat wearing cupcakes.

Cute little Cowboy hat wearing Chilis decorated the cupcakes!

Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone!

The Writing on the Wall

2016-05-04T10:05:00.004-07:00

Judy and David busy at work

What do you put on a long, blank wall above your bed? In earthquake country you think twice about that. No heavy thing should go up there, for sure. But what should it be?

I searched for a long time before I came upon the perfect thing. A stencil.

Missionary duties are varied!

It was hard finding the right message, though. I considered Disney themes and various Biblical quotes. One day I happened upon this text: "All I have needed thy hand hath provided, great is thy faithfulness Lord unto me."

I began to cry. I thought of how the Lord has lifted and sustained me, particularly through the last twenty years, through all manner of difficulties. I knew it was the text I wanted on the wall.

So, I purchased it and tucked it away for awhile, as it seemed a daunting task to get it on the wall correctly by myself.

I didn't know where the text came from, but through some simple research discovered it was from a poem written by a man named Thomas Chisholm. He penned this poem in 1923 about the goodness of God over his lifetime:

Great is Thy Faithfulness

“Great is Thy faithfulness,” O God my Father,

There is no shadow of turning with Thee;

Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not

As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

“Great is Thy faithfulness!” “Great is Thy faithfulness!”

Morning by morning new mercies I see;

All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—

“Great is Thy faithfulness,” Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,

Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,

Join with all nature in manifold witness

To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,

Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;

Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,

Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

The stencil looks nice over my bed.
And it won't fall down and kill me in an earthquake!

It's funny, but the framed art photo on the left is from the same time period as the poem. My newly-wed grandfather purchased it from an art shop in Oslo in the early 1920s because, he said, he thought it looked so much like my grandmother.

Putting the stencil on the wall seemed like a tricky task for one person, so I waited until I could enlist some help for the effort. Last night the lovely missionary couple serving in our Ward, Elder and Sister Allen, came by and it didn't take much coaxing for them to put the stencil on the wall for me. Bless them! It was a fun evening.

I am delighted with the results!

The Lord truly does bless us in myriad ways. I'm grateful for the good people in my life.

Have a wonderful day!

Annika is One

2016-05-03T09:51:00.000-07:00

My niece and her little cub, Annika

Our little Annika turned ONE on tax day last month. It's nice to have a big event to remind one of a birthday. It's rather hard to forget April 15th!

Annika has already had her first date.

He seems like a nice boy. He let her drive, after all!

They grow up so fast...

Tulip Time In Oregon

2016-05-02T12:13:00.000-07:00

Desiree's Tulip Pots

Okay, I'm late with this one. Tulip Time has technically passed, but I have been a slug about posting anything for the past few months, and I'm trying to make up for it.

So there.

Desiree, my Oregon correspondent, writes that her pots popped up with Hyacinths in February, and in March came the Tulips in Easter colors! You can see from the above photo she wasn't kidding.

Right now the Lily of the Valley and Columbine are probably in bloom. We'll have to see them later, I suppose. By July the garden will be going crazy with blooms of all kinds.

I asked for a photo of her kitty Rocky - a very macho kitty like my Jack - and I got this note:

I finally cornered Rocky in the bathroom to get him to sit still so I could get a picture of him. He's a "lounger" ...

I also notice he's sticking his tongue out at his human mom as she's trying to take his photo. He's a little character!

Rocky sticking his tongue out. He doesn't like photos!

Under her young cherry trees, Desiree has planted Apricot Perennial Tulips. I didn't know there were perennial tulips until I read her post and saw the photo. They're pretty, too, aren't they?

Meanwhile, in other parts of her garden, the white and pink bleeding hearts were just beginning to bloom (in the back, below), while the Adder Tongue (foreground) are looking lovely.

Adder Tongues and Bleeding Hearts

I love the colorful names these beautiful flowers have.

Thanks for sharing this brief tour of parts of Desiree's Oregon garden with me.

Happy Monday!
Have a great week!

Up Above the World So High

2016-04-29T10:40:00.001-07:00

The view from the City Club

The City Club Los Angeles is located in the City National Building at 555 S. Flower Street, in the middle of downtown Los Angeles. It's on the 51st floor, so there is a brief, stomach-dropping ride in an elevator up to the lobby, and a spectacular view once you arrive.

The Club is sleek and modern, but welcoming in its design

The Club, according to the website I looked at, is "the place where diverse community and business leaders come to connect, network, and do business".

My co-workers, Barbara and Carmen

In my case, it was the place where the administrative staff of our company was taken for breakfast on Administrative Professionals Day, April 27th.

My boss, Joel, and Juan, the Company CFO

My company has historically done fun and generous things on Administrative Professionals Day, and this year was no exception. We had a lovely time up on the 51st floor!

The view, even on a smoggy day, was sensational!

I'm lucky to work with nice, kind people I truly enjoy spending time with. When we go places together, the conversation is lively. I consider myself blessed in that regard.

The menu was varied.

The City Club Breakfast menu

Nikita ordered the omelet with veggies in it. That looked very good.

3-egg Omelet with spinach, tomatoes and mushrooms

I went more basic, and ordered scrambled eggs with applewood smoked bacon, hashbrowns and toast.

Scrambled eggs and hash browns

Others went for the blueberry pancakes. The pancakes were very popular.

The blueberry pancakes are a specialty

It was a pleasant meal in very nice circumstances.

Veronica from Accounting, and Suria, our Corporate Marketing Director

I kept snapping photos on the sly. Some turned out better than others.

Jimmy, our company President, and Nikita, from Corporate Marketing

The club is actually the penthouse of the City National building and there are windows in all directions. We had to wander around and tour the Club after breakfast.

Looking straight down was scary

I'm not sure how a cigarette ended up lodged on the outdoor ledge. You can see the plaza below reflected in the building next door. My former boss once took us to another restaurant in nearby Pershing Square. I'm not all that familiar with downtown Los Angeles, actually, even after 30 years of living in this area. I tend to avoid it because of the crazy traffic and one-way streets.

Many helicopter pads were visible across the skyline below us

The air looked dirty that day. Only a few days earlier, high winds had made the sky a clear, pristine blue.

There always comes a moment, for me, when up in a tall building like this here in California, where I start thinking, 'Man, I sure hope there isn't a strong earthquake while I'm up here!'

That would not be fun.

Coincidentally, I watched all of this being destroyed fairly recently, watching an old John Cusack disaster movie called "2012". These buildings crashed and fell apart very dramatically in that film. Nice CGI, but not fun in real life. I'll pass.

A bird's eye view of downtown

The place had a photo booth in it! Suria and Nikita got silly and took some photos.

Nikita's shoes are visible as she and Suria take silly photos

Photo booths seem to bring out peoples' inner child. There was a lot of giggling involved.

We spent a great deal of time just marveling at the view.

Joel, Jimmy, Juan and Barbara enjoying the view

Across the way, we could see orange-vested workers installing windows on the Korean Air skyscraper currently being built. They are tiny specks of orange just above the window line straight across and a couple of floors up from where we were standing.

This is also the building (below) where a worker recently jumped off and committed suicide. That was a grim thought as we stood there watching the building progress. I don't think there is enough money in the world to get me to work on a building like that! We could see the workmen were tethered with safety harnesses - even so, it looked very scary. I guess I'm a bit afraid of heights!

If you squint you can see workers in orange vests next door

As we toured, we saw the grand ballroom, and the Tom Bradley room (below) where ladies were decorating with cheerful pink flowers, as well as some small cacti, for a luncheon later that morning. They and their flower trolley are just out of camera range to the left.

The Tom Bradley Room

What a fun time we had up there on the 51st floor! It was a lot of fun to see. And all things considered, I'm sure happy to work in a building much closer to the ground, thank you very much.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

It's that time again!

2016-04-01T14:33:00.001-07:00

The Conference Center in Salt Lake

It's spring! It's April! It's time for LDS General Conference in Salt Lake City! It's that special weekend that comes every six months where I can wear my jammies to church... so to speak!

Yes, all General Conference sessions are broadcast via BYU-TV, or on the internet at LDS.org, so they can be watched in the privacy of your own home.

Spring has brought us such a nice surprise...

Sessions are broadcast live - in California they will be from 9a-11a and 1p-3p PST on both Saturday and Sunday.

This is a great time to check out a Mormon church service without actually having to attend church in person.

Or, consider it a treat to hear a prophet speak and give direction to us for the next 6 months.

The Salt Lake Temple grounds are in full bloom for April Conference

Very often it snows for Conference. This year, however, I hear they are expecting delightful temperatures.

The iconic Salt Lake Temple

I look forward to Conference every six months. It's a break from my usual church going, sure, but it's also a time to hear from some very wonderful people who are inspired in the messages they provide us for our time.

My friend Don on the Temple Grounds

My friend Don sings with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They are a pretty awesome choir. They will be performing throughout the services this weekend. It's really a treat to tune in just to hear them sing.

You can also play "Where's Don?" with me. (Hint: He's usually on the right in the front row of the choir.)

Among other speakers, some, or most, of these wonderful men will also be speaking (below). Behold the Quorum of the 12 Apostles. They are regarded as prophets, seers and revelators by the church membership. I have a great love for these selfless guys. Particular favorites of mine are Jeffrey R. Holland and Russell M. Nelson.

But oh-my-heck (to use an old Utah expression), I love them all.

Here is the General Relief Society Presidency (below). Some of these terrific ladies will also be addressing us.

And, of course, there will be words of encouragement and comfort from our Prophet, President Thomas S. Monson. He is now 88 years old. I don't think he's been doing very well physically since his beloved wife passed away.

He is by no means the oldest of the general authorities, though! President Nelson is 92!

Tune in and hear for yourself. I promise you, you will feel uplifted and edified.

Whatever you do,

ENJOY YOUR WEEKEND, EVERYONE!

Happy Easter!

2016-03-25T12:10:00.002-07:00

He Lives! And because He lives - all of us will, too.

Happy Easter, everyone!

The Great Paper Airplane Contest

2016-03-23T12:03:00.001-07:00

Barbara, Veronica, Carlos, Vincent, Anthony and Carmen gear up for the competition

Last week our office had a contest. A special kind of race. A PAPER AIRPLANE smackdown!

Brian, Doug, Mengzhao and Frank have their airplanes at the ready

It was a simple concept, really. Make a paper airplane out of one sheet of plain paper. No cutting or tearing of the paper was allowed. Fly it from the marker in the corridor and see who can stay in the air and fly the farthest.

We had a long hallway as our race field.

Frank G's plane makes a disappointing crash landing

Everyone who participated had to make their plane in full view of other participants, in the conference room. Then, they got two tries to fly the plane down the long "airstrip".

Frank B's plane fared little better

Employees were strategically placed along the corridor to judge on range and height of each throw.

Carmen, our receptionist, tosses a winner!

Amazingly, it didn't take an engineer to make the best plane, or to throw it the farthest.

Barbara gave it a good try

This was a lot of fun, whether you flew a plane or not.

I caught Vincent's plane in mid-flight!

I'm glad so many of our employees got into the action and participated.

Nikita photoing the attempts

Amazingly, some of the best engineered planes went awry. If you look closely at the photo below, you'll see one plane stuck into the ceiling tiles along the wall! That was pretty funny, actually.

The aftermath: The floor was littered with the remains of the paper planes

A good time was had by all.

Morgan's Kitchen Shower

2016-03-18T13:15:00.000-07:00

Morgan and Ronei

My young friend Morgan got married recently in the St. George, Utah, LDS Temple. In an odd turn of events, because she's currently attending school out-of-state, her shower was held about a week later in her home town of Whittier. I hear her official reception won't be held for a couple of months when the groom's parents will be coming for a U.S. visit from their home in Brazil.

...And so it was that a bunch of us ladies gathered last Saturday to celebrate Morgan's nuptials and have some fun with a kitchen-themed shower.

Andrea reads off the list of spices to (L-R) Morgan, Evangeline and Mary Beth

We started off with a game to guess some commonly used herbs and spices. I only got five right, out of a whole tray full, and still won the prize! They were the herbs and spices I use most often, though, so that made sense to me: Paprika, Parsley, Cinnamon, Sage and Fennel, if I remember correctly.

There were many you'd go, Hmmmm... smells like spaghetti sauce... and others you knew but couldn't quite place. I felt terrible that I missed some like Basil that I've actually grown!

Heidi, Janice, Ellen and Jeanne

The shower was held at Jeanne's fabulous home in Friendly Hills.

The Bride's sister, Heather

I went through all my photos and realized I hadn't taken a single photo of Morgan's mom during the whole afternoon. Isn't that the way it goes sometimes? Oops, sorry Meredith!

Morgan taking notes

We haven't seen much of Morgan in the past few years. After graduating from High School, she left on a LDS proselyting mission to Ecuador for 18 months, then went away to school in Cedar City. She is a busy, and accomplished, young lady.

Our Beautiful Morgan

She and her new husband were leaving the next day to return to school and their new home in Cedar City. They still have a bit of schooling left to finish.

I kinda love this photo (below) of Sara and her squirmy worm baby daughter. That's just how kids are, right?

Sara and her baby in motion

Sara's husband offered a cooking demo for us, geared to help the Bride make some healthy and easy breakfast/brunch choices. We later ate the yummy egg dishes for our lunch.

Brother Soto did a fun cooking demonstration despite his daughter's "help"!

I had never thought of adding shredded yams to a dish in place of cheese, but it was not only low in calories, it was very melty and tasty!

Sara, Heather and Morgan

We all gathered around the kitchen island to enjoy the demonstration.

We were a rapt audience

I got some good tips from Brother Soto's demonstration. We were a rapt - and very hungry audience!

Jeanne had recently remodeled this kitchen

Jeanne has a spacious, and rather fabulous kitchen. She recently remodeled her home and doubled (or possibly tripled) the kitchen in size. It has a shelf-lined walk-in pantry as well. It's just lovely.

I loved this peacock china pattern!

I love this house. I've been in it many times before, but not since the latest remodel when it went from merely fab to spectacular.

The entryway

If you'd like to see it in person, Jeanne's home will be a part of a Whittier Home Tour benefiting the Whittier Museum and the Bailey House at the end of April. I'll be posting more details about this in a future blog post.

In the meantime, here's a glimpse of the formal dining room:

The formal dining room

Now, where was I?

The luncheon also featured lots of yummy fruit.

Lots of fruit And chocolate!

There were tables set up outside and indoors. It was a lovely spring day, but (surprisingly) the wind was a bit chilly. I love that gazebo! (below)

The home sits on a hill and has a terrific view overlooking the Friendly Hills golf course. I've spent a terrific 4th of July up there watching the fireworks display!

Dining al fresco

After lunch, we returned to the lounge for the gift opening.

Morgan opening her gifts

This was a kitchen shower to help the young couple get their kitchen set up. They got a varied selection of useful kitchen items.

Morgan, looking very much like her mom in this photo!

Morgan complained she didn't really know how to cook. I can only assume this next year or two will be interesting for her in the kitchen! (I'm sure she will do fine. Hunger and a limited student budget often work together to produce good, solid, and highly inventive cooks.)

My neighbor Sheree (below with her baby daughter and her mom) was in the Young Women's Program at church with Morgan. It's nice to see these beautiful young ladies moving on - serving missions, getting their education, and marrying in the temple. I taught them for a while back in their high school years. It's strange to think of them as young wives and mothers now!

Sheree, baby Zairah and Ellen

I spent a very pleasant afternoon at this gathering. (I know some of the nicest people.) It's nice to get together every now and then - and this was a fun celebration.

I swear this is a longest sofa I have ever seen. This photo shows half of it.

They're long gone back up to school, but I wish Morgan and Ronei all the best. (And good luck learning to cook, Morgan!)

Engineers' Night Out

2016-03-09T15:35:00.000-08:00

The entrance to Luminarias is beautiful

Our office recently established a committee to organize some fun for the office staff, and one of the things they decided upon was going out after hours once a month for drinks. I don't know what the committee is formally called, or who is on it, but they've come up with some fun ideas so far.

It all formally started in January with an after hours party that I didn't have the chance to attend. Last week, however, I remedied that! This time the venue was just up the hill from our office building at a restaurant called Luminarias.

(L-R) Giuseppe, Frank, Gerry, Carlos, Mengzhao, Victor, Brian and Ana's arm

It turned out to be a lot of fun. When my carload of ladies arrived, there were only two engineers at the bar. We soon remedied that! We ended up with more than 20 people there.

Edward and Giuseppe bellied up to the bar early, while Ana watched in the background

Luminarias is in a pretty setting and their bar has huge windows overlooking a hillside with a panoramic view.

Ana and Veronica

People trickled in throughout the evening.

Carmen and Ana

We decided to order some food. Everyone was hungry, and the nachos and quesadillas disappeared so quickly I couldn't get a picture of them fast enough.

The chips were toasty and tasty

We snarfed them up with record speed. (Well, I did, anyway!) The food, by the way, was really good!

We made short work of the super nachos and the quesadillas

We pulled a bunch of tables together in a corner of the room and enjoyed conversing with our co-workers and friends.

Despite what it looks like in the photo above, our conversations were animated. There was a lot of laughter!

By 6:30 the place was packed with nearly our entire office staff. For some reason, I didn't manage to catch many of the late arrivals in my photos, so you'll have to trust me! We had a large group that came later and sat on the far end from me. I sat and nursed my Diet Cola and enjoyed the conversations buzzing around me until we finally left sometime around 7 pm.

I really like the people I work with and it's always fun to get together outside of the office for some well-deserved down time.

Thanks, guys. It was fun!

The Soup Thief

2016-03-04T08:45:00.001-08:00

Hmmmm... what is this? Smells good!

You have to watch these kitties! They'll steal everything in sight, including your dinner.

Yes, I hesitate to name names, but Jack has been known to appropriate my stuff from time to time. Okay, ALL the time. Because, you know, everything is a cat toy. I was surprised, however, to discover he liked soup.

This is pretty yummy!

I wasn't quite finished with that bowl of Chicken Corn Chowder, Jack!

B-b-but it was chicken, Mom! This was yummy!

That little pink tongue hanging out is a sure sign that my boy is totally spoiled. Yep. Surprised?

Jack and I hope you have a great weekend!