July... what happened to June?

Greetings,

So I'm finally comnig back to the blog after a bit of an absence. I went on vacation for two weeks, and of course couldn't be bothered to blog, although I facebooked quite a bit. And went through my email. After all that I was kind of tired so I would go to bed.

I spent the first part of my vacation actually working. We had a meeting for my satellite mission in Redondo Beach, California. We stayed at the Portofino Hotel and Yacht Club. I would just like to say that if I am ever in a position to have a honeymoon, this place is on that List. It was fabulous. My room faced the harbor, and the seals would come in at all hours and bark for us. I loved it. Many people did not like to hear the seals, but I did. I even caved and bought the seal they left on my bed each night (a stuffed one). My excuse is that part of the proceeds goes to help the seals. It was wonderfully relaxing--I think I spent most of my time there (when I wasn't at my meeting) sleeping!

My sister Dus picked me up on the last day of the meeting, and we went to her house. Apartment. Whatever. It's cute and small and absolutely stuffed with books and movies. My kind of place. We watched a lot of movies, mostly on DVD. She had quite a few I hadn't seen. We also went to the movies. We saw The Proposal at the Arc Light in Hollywood. I absolutley adore that movie theater. Apparently there's opportunity to see tv and movie stars there, although there weren't any that day. Afterwards we went to The Grove--kind of an outdoor shopping mall. I got the cutest skirts! I wore one on Sunday, I may wear the other this coming weekend. We also went to see UP. I really liked this one too (see reviews to the side). This was in a normal, AMC theater, though. I had some passes, so it was free for us :)

After about 5 days of movie overload, we got back in Dus's Honda CRV (it wants to be silver but it's only aluminum) and drove to Southern Utah. We met up with our sis Beckie on the way, in Barstow, and took Malena with us for a while. We switched kids at a rest stop and had Bonnie the rest of the way. We even ran into a thunderstorm. In Las Vegas. 400 miles of empty desert and where does it rain? Where there's the most traffic, of course!

The purpose of this trip was to go to our family's very first Andersen Family reunion. My dad and his kids. All 9 of us. Well, 8. Mike didn't come. We found out when we got there that he had a job interview on that day, and since he's been out of work for over a year (just temp stuff, really), it was a good thing. Two brothers-in-law and one sister-in-law weren't able to make it, and I do have a couple nieces on missions, but for the most part everyone was there, at least for part of the time. Even the great-grand-kids were there! Ok, so there's only two of them (so far!), so it wasn't too hard, but it was so great to see everyone! yes, I have pictures, but not with me! I took a lot of casual shots.

The first full day there (Thursday) we went up to Zion's Canyon. They've closed the canyon to traffic and will now make you take a tram all the way up and back. It was so cool that my whole family took up an entire bus all by itself! Ok, there were like 4 people there that we weren't related to, but it was great. Collin made me sit by him (he's Beckie's 4-year-old), which of course I was happy to do. As we rode up, I got that special feeling in my heart that I only get when I'm surrounded by my family. I love them so much.

We were supposed to go to the temple that evening, but only three of my sisters made it. I think one of the things that really worked was that everything was optional. One major activity was planned per day, meals were assigned to family members, and everything was kept low key.

The next day (Saturday) we went to Overton, NV, where my Mom is buried. We went to the cemetary, then drove around to various places. It was sooo hot!! Dry heat my foot--after 110 degrees it doesn't matter if there's humidity there or not. My head got sunburned! I felt kind of bad for Nancy tho, my dad's second wife. She came, and she was a sport, but she really isn't a part of our family. Having us ask Dad about Mom and how they met and stuff, that had to be hard for her.

That night we had our 'family meeting' where some things were decided, but Kathy suggested we all go around the circle and tell what's going on in our lives. It was fun. Afterwards I stayed to watch Bolt in my brother Glen's back yard. I hadn't seen it before, and I really liked it.

Sunday some families had to return to their homes, but some of us stayed for church and a final dinner. I was about burned out, so when Dus was ready to leave I went with her (we were staying at a time-share in St George--Glen lives in Ivins, over the hill from St George to the West).

Monday Dus and I went with Kathy and her kids to go Letterboxing. Thats' this thing, kind of like GPS cacheing, only older. Someone will leave a box with a book and a stamp (usually home made) somewhere near where they live, then post directions on how to find it on letterboxing.com. Then other people go find the boxes and put their stamps in the book and put the letter box's stamp in their books. Kathy let me use one of her stamps (she has a big one and a small one) and a blank piece of paper. We found two stamps around St George. It's a good way for someone to give a little background on their territory to someone else. It was alot of fun. I'm thinking maybe I know what to give Kathy for her birthday (now that it's past--oops!)

Dus and I finally returned to her apt in CA, and the next day she dropped me off at LAX. It was a good trip, but I was ready to come home. Kitty was happy to see me, too. I think. She hasn't scratched me yet, so that's a good sign.

I'll try to get some pictures up soon, I promise!