April Birthdays...

Caravaggio move over...

Here is the special effects shot of Lisa, Laura and Paula's birthday party!

A great time was had by all of the participants. Thanks Mark!

Whittier Stake Emergency Preparedness Fair

The fair was well attended on Saturday. The police were there, the firemen were there, neighborhood watch groups were there, the Boy Scouts had a display, the Red Cross did too, and I also saw Whittier Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital and the Home Depot there.

There were hand-outs and demonstrations of everything from first aid to how to sprout seeds. Brother Morin was in charge of that and had some very useful handouts on seed viability and gardening.








Each ward had a different booth, and there were also several Utah companies that sell food storage items represented.



Here is Alecia Lai (in blue). I'm not sure what she was doing, but she looked great, as usual.











I was able to talk to a lot of people and get all kinds of hand-outs on things to help you through an emergency.
















Here is the Home Depot group. They were handing out yardsticks and duct tape, so they were very popular.






Sadly, my photos aren't the best. I've been experimenting with different settings, and trying to get candid shots of folks takes some practice!



There are a few things I still need to be doing to prepare my own home for emergencies, but I'm getting there! It's nice to get good ideas from professionals. I suppose you are never totally prepared for a real emergency, but every little thing you can do, does help to alleviate fears. My latest purchases have been a tarp and a solar powered flashlight/radio. Baby steps...

Administrative Professionals Week

On Friday we jad the nicest surprise!  Here is our boss, Eugene, shown here with Carmen and Barbara on the steps of the Athenaeum.

The office ladies had a treat this week for Administrative Professionals day. We were treated to lunch at the exclusive, members only club at The California Institute of Technology, The Athenaeum.

The Athenaeum is supposed to be in the top 4% of private clubs in America.

The Athenaeum was built in 1930, and in 1931 hosted the first big formal party - for Albert Einstein.


It was fun getting to dine where Einstein had dined. I kept my eyes open for the seismologists they interview from Cal Tech all the time when we have earthquakes - but didn't see them! I had to be content to bask in the radiant erudite intelligence of the other clientele.

Lunch was a buffet with carved rack of baby lamb, swordfish steaks, fresh fruit, and more salads, veggies and yummy stuff than you can possibly imagine. Dessert was a white chocolate mousse with a hazelnut raspberry crust. Talk about hog heaven. I'd forgotten how lovely a 4-star restaurant can be. The white jacketed waiters kept out of site, but were there the minute you needed something. It was truly a treat.


Here are Barb, the office manager, Carmen, our receptionist and me in front of the entrance. The architecture was splendid and old world European, with coffered ceilings and hanging tapestries, It was just fun.  I'm so lucky to work with great people!

Earlier in the week, we received edible arrangements of fruit to nibble on. I spent all day pigging out on fruit. The pineapple was juicy and absolutely to die for, and they dipped the tart apples slices in chocolate, which is my favorite food group.

What a fun week!

Trip Down Memory Lane

Here are Even Iversen, my great-great grandfather and Kjersti Madsdatter, his wife. His children were the first Evensens of our clan and the first the come to America in the late 1800s from Ringsaker, Hedemark, Norway.

They gave up all they had to come to America.

They settled first in Murray, Utah, close to Salt Lake City.

Their son Nils is my great grandfather.

April Fools!

Yeah. Right. My brother sent me this photo today, claiming this is what his house looked like early this morning.

HE claimed that their Spring Break mini-vacation would have to be cancelled because of it.

Uh-huh!

Good one, Jay. I had a little chuckle. After all, I live in California where it never rains and certainly never snows... and today is a balmy 70-something degrees with a few lovely puffy clouds in the sky just to remind you that the weather report said it would be storming about now. ("Ha ha, fooled you", is what I'm sure the TV weather man is saying about now. He fooled me into wearing a turtleneck today! Off with his head!)


Then I looked at the weather report on MSN. Mea culpa, Jay! It really is snowing with temps in the 30s today at your house.

Bummer.

And, like, Brrrrrr....


Does this mean I'm getting punked later in the day by someone? Maybe.

This is not good. I thought I'd gotten the Fools day pranks done with early and could enjoy the rest of the day. Now I will have to keep my guard up.

Enjoy your mini-vacation with the kids, Jay!