First free flight

For Brad's 13th birthday (yes, I do have a teenager!) we promised him a trip to San Fran to see Wicked the Musical, which is my favorite! It just so happened that we were able to get a flight and tickets on Aug 18th, one month exactly from his birthday. We just knew it was meant to be. Brad and I flew to San Fran, got a hotel, tried to get lottery tickets but had no luck and ended up buying tickets 9 rows from the stage! I was in heaven. I could see everything. It was pretty surreal to be at a theater performance with my son since that is what I did with my parents. It brought back many good memories. Show was fantastic!! Theater was beautiful. Elpheba and Glinda came from Broadway so we in for a treat. We stayed the night and hung around San Fran for the day. It was a shoppers-heaven. Now, I must admit, I am not a shopper. So walking around for hours was not that appealing to me or Brad but we had fun and tried to enjoy it since our flight didn't leave until the afternoon. Brad couldn't believe stores could be 3-4 stories, a full level just for a certain gender. We flew to Long Beach and unfortunately, we could not get on the flight that night to SLC so we had to spend the night in Long Beach. The flight home was stressful because we didn't know if we would get on that flight and it was an hour delayed. Ugggh! I guess it's not a good idea to fly during the summer or without Paul (you get pushed down on the totem pole if you are not flying with an employee). Even with all our setbacks, it was a great trip that I was able to enjoy with my son Brad. He deserved it and much more! Thanks to Paul who reassurred me all was well at home when I didn't get home for a day later.

FYI: The trolley's are not free and San Fran is so cold even in August!

Remembering Lola

Lola as a pup & Lola all grown up

Our dog passed away this weekend. She was very young and this was not expected. She stopped eating and within days was dead. I don't understand why she died. Did she eat something? Did she get heartworm? Many unanswered questions. It has been really hard for my family, especially me. I am really not a dog person but Lola was a great dog. She was very obedient, well-behaved, low maintenance and loved us unconditionally. I cried for days. Every time I would think of her I would cry. My heart aches that she is gone. I wonder if there was something we could have done. But, then I wonder if the medical bills would have been too much. I consider a blessing in disguise that she died peacefully in our backyard. We don't talk much about where dogs go after this life. Have you seen the animated movie "All dogs go to Heaven"? It doesn't seem like a heaven to me if there are a lot of dogs barking all night, only my dog (which she rarely did, bytheway, only for strangers). I find comfort and peace that she will be waiting for us on the other side and we will still be her masters. We send off balloons with messages to her in the sky for FHE. We love you, Lola.

Diamond in the ruff

Our new favorite spot-Splash park in Highland. The kids love it!

Some pictures of our 4th of July Festivities