Super Birthday Weekend

I had a grand celebration for my birthday! It started on Friday Dec. 5th. I took Mom grocery shopping. We ran into our friend LaRae Norton and talked for about a half hour! It was great getting caught up on family news. The Norton family was a great moral support while I was on my mission.
Then my friend Julie Taylor won a free lunch for four at Sizzler. I heard that she had won the contest on the radio-KLCE. (They are playing Christmas music 24-7 and I love it!) She invited me to go with her and her husband and Brett Furhiman and his wife and 5 year old daughter. We could order anything we wanted! It was super! I had my favorite-Steak and all you can eat shrimp.
I hurried home, cooked pancakes for Anna and finished packing. I got away before 5! The weather was beautiful and I had a pleasant drive to Tricia's. We went to Temple Square to see the lights. (I highly recommend that you avoid travel on West Temple at all costs! Lots of construction!) It was awesome! They have a new nativity scene that looks like it is porcelain! Mary and Joseph and the baby are a little island in the middle of the reflecting pool. It is gorgeous! I took Tricia home and went over to Murray's and Georgette's.

They are putting up a real tree. Georgette showed me this cute ornament-A mama bear, papa bear, and baby bear. The mama bear is very round and has an arrow with baby written on the tummy. I looked at her and asked, "Are you?" She smiled and said, "Yes" and I gave her a great big hug! The little one will arrive sometime in August. They are so excited! And so is Gramma Ann!
At work, Murray helped with Elder Wirthlin's funeral. And Andrew is so cute! He army crawls all over! He loves to get under the tree and pull on the branches-at 6 months! They are going to be real busy! I spent the night with them and we got up at 4 am Sat. to have breakfast with Murray before he went to work! He has to be to work at 5:00 am.

At 7:30 I left to go to Thanksgiving Point. There, iLearningGlobal had a mini-conference. It was great! There were 4 speakers, one of which was Leslie Householder, author of The Jackrabbit Factor and Hidden Treasures. The meeting was in the room above the dinosaurs. It is an awesome building and museum! I had lunch at the museum with some friends.

With the sun shinning brightly, I went to Provo and visited with Aunt Donna. She shared a lot of stories and information about the Hacking family. She knows so much! Then I went over to my cousin's, Janice Eggleston and spent the night with her. Thursday she had a new pacemaker put in and came home Friday. She's doing fine. She just can't use her left arm until the incision heals. We had a wonderful visit and she photocopied some family photos for me. I am so excited! I've even got a picture of Grandma Vivian Green's house in Oakley!

Sunday, after visiting with Janice and LaMoine some more, I went to Tricia's and had lunch with her. We had a great visit. I left about 3:30 and had a beautiful, uneventful ride home. Then Pat and I watched the Christmas Devotional. What a grand birthday weekend!