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!