Healthy green drink Anyone???

Many of you might be turned off just by the color of this drink but give it a try, it truly is an amazing drink and tastes great. Actually I have gotten to the point that my body craves it. My neighbor Carol shared her green drink smoothie recipe with us. I have tried many different recipes through the years and haven't found one I like as much as this one. It's pineapple juice base makes it very sweet. Wade and I have been having it for breakfast every morning and it gives you energy through out the day! Thank you Carol for sharing your recipe! Here it is-

Carol's Green Smoothie

1/2 cup pineapple juice
1 lg carrot
2 stocks celery
a hand full of spinach
a scoop of protein powder
1/2 cup ice

Put all ingredients in your vitamix blender and blend for a few minutes and then enjoy!!!

Scrapbook Convention

My friend Kathy Rollender invited me to come with her and her sister Melanie to the Scrapbook Convention. I felt like a kid in a candy store! The convention was bursting with creativity it was crazy trying to absorb it all! It was such a fun day and motivated me to come home and get organized so I can catch up on all my memories! Even though I love digital scrapbooking I still find a need to scrapbook hands on. I came home with so many new ideas to incorporate! Thank you Kathy for the invite and it was fun to get to know her sister Melanie that flew in from Maine. It was a fun filled day!

Easter Sunday!

Here's a few pictures we took after church on Easter.

Easter Weekend!!!

I guess some things you never grow out of and that is "Holiday Traditions"! Nana called and asked the kids if they were still in for dying Easter eggs this year and they said "Of course". Nana and Paul go all out with holidays for their grandkids. Grandpa Paul is always the Easter bunny and hides the eggs in very tricky places. The kids look forward to finding these eggs that are filled with "money" every year. This year they made a haul! Nana had so many activities and contests! She always makes it so much fun! It was such an eventful weekend that when Wade and I went Friday night to the Hale theatre to see our monthly play we feel asleep before the 1st act was over. We must have been so exhausted, we woke up at intermission and called it a night. The funny thing was we were the only ones with out gray hair and they all managed to stay awake and laugh through the comedy, maybe they got a nap. I think Wade and I will have to not go next time on such a busy weekend.
This was such a special Easter this year because we have actually felt the atonement change our lives. It has been such a comfort and blessing these last few months. We feel so grateful for our Savior, his life and his atoning sacrifice. One of my favorite parts of Easter this year was our Stake Easter Cantata. Wade was the keynote speaker and gave the most beautiful message of hope if we turn to our Savior. We feel so blessed to have this knowledge in our lives.
We always look forward to seeing all of our extended family for Holidays. The Jacksons always have all of us over for a wonderful dinner. I can honestly say, ( not just because they are family) these are some of my favorite people to be around. They are so non judgemental and make you feel so loved. We had a talent show with singing, playing the piano, and dancing. They always make the kids perform, it's been a tradition since the children were small! We always leave feeling better ourselves just for surrounding ourselves with these amazing people. We have the best family EVER!!!

Good Friday

I've always heard that,

" A family that hikes together stays together !"

If that is true,

I think I'd like to hike a lot,

because I really enjoy spending time

with this CRaZy, FuN bunch

that I call FaMiLy!

They make everything so much fun!

It truly was a

GOOD FRIDAY!

One of my favorite things!

Everyone that knows me, knows that I could make a list of 1000 things I love about living in Arizona, but this has to be on the top of my list! We love our citrus trees that are in our backyard. We have 13 trees so we can never use the produce ourselves so we give 75% to the food bank and we thoroughly enjoy the rest! We have fresh squeezed orange and grapefruit juice every morning for 6 months out of the year. This is the time of the year when we have to say goodbye to fresh squeeze juice but we get to enjoy the beautiful smell of orange blossoms in the air. I love this time of year! I feel so spoiled to be able to live in Arizona!

VIVA LAS VEGAS

Wade has wanted me to go with him to Vegas since his last business trip a year ago. I really have never had a desire to go there, but since my Aunt Julie and Grandma Young live there, I wanted to visit them and then meet up with Wade for the weekend.
I was so surprised how fun Vegas was. It felt like we were in Italy staying at the Venetian. It was a beautiful hotel with so much to do right in the hotel. It was like a city inside the hotel! Our luxury suite was amazing it felt like a high rise apartment. We have a new favorite eating place, it was ordering room service in our room at our own dining room table. It felt like we were at a private restaurant with a beautiful view of the city lights.
The gondola ride was so romantic. We paid to have the whole gondola to ourselves. Our gondolier sang beautiful Italian music and kept telling us how romantic it is to kiss under all the bridges, so we took his advice. It felt like we experienced a little bit of Italy.
We met up with Rob and Jen Pickles at night to go to dinner and see shows. We love this couple and always have so fun with them. Rob and I go way back some 30 years... I shouldn't be disclosing this on my blog, but I used to babysit him.) It really ages me but we really are only a few years apart. We saw La Rev a Circ de Sole show put to beautiful relaxing music and water. It was the most amazing show, it truly defied gravity. We also went to see Phantom of the Opera. This was our third time...I can never get enough of this musical. The special effects at the theatre in the Venetian were spectacular. The Phantom music is my favorite all time music. I loved how everywhere we could hear the music playing through out our hotel, even in the elevator.
The architecture was stunning, it was an exact replica of some of the buildings in Italy. It felt so European. There was so much to do at the hotel, we ate along the canal, walked through the all the shops...they went on forever.
We walked to the Mirage and went to the wildlife exhibit. We watched the dolphins play for hours. They are so fascinating to watch and very entertaining. It was a beautiful exhibit. It was a wonderful relaxing and enjoyable get-a-way. Wade makes everything so much fun, I am so glad that he talked me into going to Vegas with him!

Strawberries anyone!

Laurisa is selling Strawberries as a fundraiser for her "Light" performing group. She sent out a mass email and this is what happened---she got so many orders they barely could fit in the van. She is selling a whole 8 lb flat for 12.00 dollars. Her second shipment comes in to tomorrow! Our family loved them so much we almost ate a flat in one night...of course we dipped them in white chocolate. Way to sell those strawberries. She worked so hard keeping track of her orders and delivering them!

Make-over

I flew into Vegas and had a day with my Aunt Julie, and Grandma Young while Wade was at his business meeting. I loved spending a whole day together. Aunt Julie spoiled us with a gourmet lunch she made. It was so delicious. We spent the day catching up and Aunt Julie did a make-over on me. I felt so pampered! She is starting a business selling Mary Kay. Mary Kay's new product line was featured in Oprah's magazine in the "Love It" section. If you try it--- you will see why everyone loves it! I got to pick out my eyeshadows, blush, lipstick and bronzer and it all fits in this compact case. I love that it is magnetized so you can replace them with different colors. You have to try it...you'll love it!!! The website to see what I am talking about is www.marykay.com/jfrankenberger. Let me know what you think! I feel like a New Me!

Wrestling Season comes to an End

The boys had a great wrestling season this year! They just had the annual end of the year wrestling awards banquet. Mitch got so many awards his coach asked if he needed help carrying them to the car! He got most pins and most take downs. He won 1st at the All Arizona tournament. Jake also had his banquet a few weeks ago and received many awards including most valuable wrestler for the Junior High school (I forgot my camera to take a picture) I think the boys were very happy with their wrestling year and they sure had a great fan club that enjoyed watching all their matches! Way to go Whiting Wrestlers!!!

Guess Who's Coming for Dinner???

Our church party theme was "Guess Who's Coming for Dinner"! The idea was that there were certain assigned host families that would have 10 surprise guests for a themed dinner. The guests knew who they were assigned to, but the hosts couples were completely in the dark. Being one of the host couples Wade and I decided to have a Luau since one of our favorite places to visit is Hawaii! It was so fun to be surprised when our guests showed up on our doorstep. We greeted each one with a lei. Our surprised guests were the Vancleve's, Suzanne Garner, The Rodger's( a new family in our ward) and Joslyn. We had Hawaiin Haystacks for dinner and everyone brought a portion of the meal! It was such a fun evening getting to know these wonderful people better. We had fruit sorbet's in the shell of coconuts, pinapples, and oranges for dessert. It was such an enjoyable night that it was hard to have it end, I think we should repeat this activity again it was so much fun!

Gifts of Service

When we were first married Wade and I took the love language test and he found out pretty quickly that my love language was gifts of service. So he has spent many years doing countless acts of service for me! Sometimes I feel guilty because I feel that I have the high maintenance love language but he has a way of giving the gift of service with so much love!
When we were in Mexico and he was home alone for the weekend he surprised me with planting a garden that we had only briefly talked about planting when I returned home. It was the garden that I always dreamed of! He truly meets all my love languages now I just need to be better at reaching his! I have it easy, believe me!
For family night we planted some marigolds to keep away the bugs and a few more tomato plants! Everyone is welcome to our tomato's (four different varieties), squash, zucchini, salsa garden, strawberries, cucumbers, and peppers! I think we'll have plenty to share! Thanks Wade for this amazing gift that should keep on giving through the summer months!

My Childhood Best Friend!!!

Kristin Merrill Howe (my best friend since 1st grade) came down for a visit! We were able to spend some fun time together! It was so much fun to catch up on our lives and reminisce about the good old days. Kristin is an amazing person and has always been such a loyal friend. She was such a great example to me all growing up! She is always kind, I have never heard her speak unkindly of anyone. She was always there for me with a listening ear and so much fun to be around. We had such fun times together, 1st grade through our college years. Her house was where the fun was at with 11 siblings! Her oldest sisters daughter, Aubree Harper and my daughter are best friends so when she came down they set up a date for us at their favorite place---Mesa Frozen Yogurt. Laurisa just loved hearing us tell stories that we remembered and her favorite part was hearing me laugh! Laurisa said that will be her and Aubree sameday! Lets hope so! Forever Friendships are the Best!!! BFF's Forever! I love you Kristin!

Wade and Laurisa's Spring Break!!!

Some people may think going to New York would be a great Spring break but considering Wade had to be there on business without his family I think one may reconsider the fun factor! This is what he was doing in New York! Learning about 7 new drugs (pharmaceuticals) and their disease states and the science behind them! He studied and took test on all this material in less than 3 weeks. Some may think that would be impossible but he did it! Wade we are so proud of you!
Now on the other hand, Laurisa's spring break was a dream come true! She got to experience a once in a life trip with her "Light" group. She had the time of her life sight seeing and performing in Chicago and Nauvoo with her "second" family. It was so fun because the group had a blog and posted every night what they were doing so us at home could feel like we were experiencing it with them!

Spring Break---The Beach (part II)

There is only one word that can describe the last 6 days of our Spring Break and that is "Relaxing". After 2 days of skiing we drove with Nana, Paul and their good friends the Johnsons to stay at their beach condo in Rocky Point Mexico. The drive was quite an adventure when we realized the car with the men in it must have got talking and lost us. We couldn't catch up to them but we found our way all by ourselves. Way to go girls! I usually can find my way somewhere if I've been there once before. Thank goodness we arrived just before dark, so they didn't have to come looking for us!
We let our hair down and just enjoyed every moment of the beautiful beach and perfect 85 degree weather. Everyday Joslyn and I would go down and set up camp at the beach and read. I never left the beach until the sunset every night! It truly was what the doctor ordered for this mom. I felt like I was in Heaven. I hesitated making this post because I know Wade and Laurisa felt left out! We tried not to have to much fun with out them, so instead we just did boring things like reading, flying kites, building sand sculptures, floating in the pool and going down the slides, jacuzzing, game and movie marathons, throwing footballs, and buying food and gifts by the vendors(after a while we got very good at saying NO Gracias) although many had an attraction to Joslyn. I couldn't leave her on the beach alone because the locals always came by to talk to her. It was a great way to catch up on our Spanish though.

The highlight was when we said yes to the locals and hopped on horses on the beach. What a treat. I grew up riding horses on Saturdays with my mom so it was so fun to ride horses with her after all these years. We rode into the sunset and it was so beautiful! I just love spontaneity!

I have never come home from a trip so relaxed and rejuvenated! I had so much fun bonding with each of the children. Joslyn and I got a lot of time together reading, laughing and sharing with each other in wonderful conversation. My children are truly my best friends and there isn't anyone I'd rather spend time with! Thanks Nana and Paul for making this such a wonderful vacation. Wade I promise next time we will bring you with us!