Happiest Place on Earth: part 3 the beach

The building behind me is our hotel. We stayed on the 9th floor. After taking this picture, O and I headed back to our hotel room. While we were there, the room started to sway as if we were on Pineview Reservoir. EARTHQUAKE! It lasted for less than a minute and nothing came crashing down, but wow, was it an eery feeling.

Happiest Place on Earth: part deux

It's a small world, isn't it?

Loved California Adventure!

(can you spot me...It wasn't especially warm and I didn't want to get wet.)

The Happiest Place on Earth, part 1

(Whomever invented the the Disneyland "Fast Pass" was a genius and I hope they were given a bonus that would make Bernie Madoff blush. )

Bye Bye Boatie

HELLO GORGEOUS! With spring around the corner, the CFO has started to shift gears from skiing on snow to skiing on water. What has resulted is his decision to sell the boat and buy another one. The Four Winns was a good vessel....she shall be missed.



maybe.

sURpriSE! SurPriSE!

The CFO and I have been putting off taking the kids to Disneyland. Well, the kids were at the right age. It couldn't be put off any longer. So, this spring we decided to bite the bullet. We booked the flights, the hotel, the Disney hopper passes...it was just a matter of when and how we were going to tell them. We decided to wait until the last minute to avoid several weeks of "I CAN"T WAIT ANY LOOOONGER!" cries. Then, we set up a treasure hunt. This video shows the big REVEAL. I love it because it shows their personalities so clearly:
E: helpful, reserved and in-charge
C: exuberant, class clown, good with the math/numbers
O: excited but not too much because she already had it all figured out! (She came down with a high fever the day before and took a little trip to the doctor. She HATES the doctor. She refused to open her mouth so the doctor could get a strep throat sample...after 15 minutes, the CFO had to "bribe" her by telling her she could go see PRINCESSES if she would just open her clenched jaws.)

Political Activism

I am very interested in Politics and follow the issues fairly closely but I have never done anything politically active besides vote. So, tonight I attended our local republican caucus. I'm told that the last meeting there were 17 attendees. At this one there were around 100. The republican agenda was read outloud (all very conservative). Then delegates were nominated. Each delegate answered to their views on health care, cap and trade, amnesty for illegals, taxes, education, etc. It was very substantive and people were passionate. Thank Obama, Pelosi and Reid for this. They have awoken a sleeping giant if this type of activity is happening across our great country (and I believe it is). We then voted on the delegates that will represent our districs. It is interesting that the group was very much against one of our Senators, Bob Bennett. They disagreed with him on several of the votes he had made and the bills he had proposed. It is local caucuses like this one that will send delegates to the state convention to nominate the republican candidate (if I now understand the process correctly). This is how we can affect the candidates that we conservatives will get and how we can get rid of those we don't want.

Just thought that I'd share and encourage all to get involved.

CFO

Heavenly Chocolate Mousse Bars

Thank you, Betty Crocker, for e-mailing me this easy and delicious recipe.
It is my new favorite.

1 pouch Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix
(1 stick of butter and 1 egg that is called for in the cookie mix)
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 pkg. (80z.) cream cheese
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup whipping cream

1. Make cookie dough as directed on package. Spread in bottom of ungreased 13x9-inch pan. Bake at 350F for 12-15 minutes or until light golden brown; cool.

2. Microwave 1 cup milk chocolate chips uncovered on high for 1-2 minutes or until melted and smooth. In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth. Beat melted chocolate into cream cheese. Beat 1 cup of whipping cream with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Fold the whipping cream into the chocolate-cream cheese mixture until well blended. Spread over cooled cookie base. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or until set.

3. Microwave 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1/2 cup whipping cream on 1-2 minutes until the chocolate is melted; whisk until the mixture is smooth. Spoon and spread the warm chocolate ganache mixture over the mousse layer evenly. Refrigerate until set. Cut into bite sized bars.