Wedding Weekend!

A good friend whom I've known since college tied the knot this weekend! It was a beautiful ceremony over which Fr. Dave (our priest from St. Mary's) presided.

I had never been to the Orange County Mining Co. and

we were glad to have the opportunity to go. What a neat

location, with a view of the hills. And even though

Disneyland is a few miles away, you could see the

fireworks from here. So, the bride and groom got

their own show.

So great to see you guys so happy. Congrats Sean and Mindy!

The next day we figured that since we were already in the area, we couldn't pass up a perfectly good chance to go to Disneyland! This was a particularly special trip because while Neal had been to the Magic Kingdom in Florida, he had never been to Disneyland in California. I think that Tinkerbell and the other fairies conspired to make this a good first experience for him because we didn't have to wait very long in any of the lines, Indie broke down but miraculously opened again within an hour, and after a drizzly morning, the sun ended up making an appearance and it turned out to be a beautiful day. Thank you fairies!

Okay, here in California we might have the better

Pirates of the Caribbean ride, but Florida has so got us

beat on the castle.

The Jungle Cruise

On Pirates. Ever since I was a kid, I have ridden this ride

and passed by this restaurant a hundred times. I have

always wanted to eat there and yet, have never done so.

One of these days!

Haunted Mansion

Neal's face says exactly how he feels about this ride.

The Matterhorn - another first for Neal!

Inside the Innoventions dome is this program that predicts

what you will look like when you're older based on your

lifestyle and habits. Amazing, I never knew your skin

actually started to fall off your face in old age. I also never

knew that your glasses got old right along with you!

I'm just glad Neal will still have hair at that age, and

that it will be the same color it is today.

The Submarine! I hadn't been on this ride in at least a

decade or two. It's now a Finding Nemo themed adventure

but still pretty cool.

Congress

One of the largest Catholic conventions in the country, the Religious Ed Congress draws thousands of people to Anaheim every year. We have always enjoyed this event as sort of a mini retreat to rekindle our faith.

This year our favorite talk was given by Fr. Ronald Rolheiser, a speaker, author and columnist for the Tidings. Years ago I read his book, "The Holy Longing" and have been an admirer of his ever since. His talk this year was entitled, "Giving Away Our Deaths" (all about the three stages of discipleship as outlined by John of the Cross) and was excellent.

The arena

After our first day of Congress we headed down the street

to Downtown Disney for dinner.

It was a beautiful night - full moon and all.

Disneyland fireworks over the House of Blues

On Sunday, after our morning talks, we gathered in the

arena for Mass with our new Archbishop, Jose Gomez.

Coincidentally, he was the Archbishop of San Antonio

for a number of years and during our time in Texas, we

had the opportunity to hear him speak. We were very

impressed with him then and are thrilled to have

him here in L.A. with us now.

A great way to conclude our weekend retreat.

Guy's Trip

The guys just couldn't get enough skiing in this winter, so they made a day trip to Mountain High (the closest place to ski). They returned at the end of the day sore and happy.

The man who started it all.

My dad didn't learn how to ski until he was nearly 40,

and I always admired his tenacity to master the sport.

He loves it today as much as he did when he first started.

And thanks to him, not only do I enjoy skiing but now Neal

has grown to love it also.

Neal took a picture of this sign on the way to ski his

first black diamond. Sweet.

Mammoth

When I was growing up, I thought there was no man on earth who loved to talk skiing as much as my dad. As it turns out, I was wrong. He has met his match with Neal. I don't think I've ever seen Neal so excited about anything and when he and Dad get on the subject (which is all the time) it's like watching teenage boys talk about their brand new Ferraris. It's so fun watching him fall in love with this sport. I have a feeling he'll be outskiing me in no time.

Since life seems to revolve so much around skiing these days, we could think of no better place to spend President's Day weekend than Mammoth. They had record snow fall this season and although we knew it would be freezing, we set out for an adventure and more snow than either of us had seen in a loooong time.

Leaving at 6:30 pm for the 5-hour drive was no joke. We drove

in pouring rain the first two hours, and then had to stop in

Bishop (25 miles outside of Mammoth) to put on our snow

chains at midnight. It's a good thing there were a hundred

other people there doing the same thing. There's nothing like

a snow chain party in the middle of the night.

By the time we rolled into our hotel (around 1:30 am)

all we saw was white everywhere.

And in the morning......brrrr.

Buying his first pair of ski boots. :-)

Driving to the main lodge was beautiful - a pure

winter wonderland.

First time on the new skiis!

Sunshine can be deceiving. It was so cold that I could only

muster up enough courage to take my gloves off once for

a photo. By the time we got off the slopes at 4 it was 12 degrees.

We headed straight for the lodge to thaw out and reenergize.

Mmmm....now that's what we call an after ski snack!

Cheers.....to the mountain

The Village

For three mornings we ate breakfast at the same place -

the restaurant at our hotel. They had live music, a warm

cozy fireplace, delicious food and half price on their entire

menu for the month of February. Can't beat it.

We stayed at an apparently infamous hotel in Mammoth -

the Sierra Nevada Lodge. Back in the day, it attracted the company

of people like John Wayne, Jerry Lewis and the "rat pack."

A good find indeed.

Day two skiing

A little warmer, but not by much

Driving home

La Reina Reunion

Since we moved back, I haven't been able to spend much

time with my old friends and former colleagues from

La Reina. My good friend Joanna, who graduated a couple

of years after me and also returned to teach there, was in

town for the weekend so we planned a gathering of friends. I

had every single one of these ladies as a teacher in either

jr. high or high school, and I consider them such dear friends.

Seeing them is like seeing family you haven't seen in a

long time - you pick up right where you left off. I am so

happy and grateful to have you ladies in my life!

Brian's Visit

My cousin Brian was out in California on a business trip and we got to spend the weekend with him, which was so much fun. We don't see each other nearly enough, and this visit inspired us to change that.

Since he was visiting from Bend, Oregon (where it was snowing),

Brian asked for two things - sunshine and beach - so that's

what he got with a relaxing day trip to Santa Barbara.

These guys were just hanging out under the pier. Beautiful!

Since it's not often that we're all together, we couldn't

pass up a night of story-telling and Smores by the fire pit.

Infectious smile. :-)

"I am man, see me set marshmallow on fire."

Even though the stars were beautiful and Dad and Brian

were happily star gazing with their iphone apps, something

seemed to be missing. Neal got right on it and pulled out

the big guns - his new telescope. We were then able to

see Jupiter with its moons (SO awesome), the Orion nebula

and other great wonders of the sky.