Iron Girl

Aflac sponsored Iron Girl today at Lake Las Vegas in

Henderson, NV. Natalie was one of the athletes that participated.

We had a great time today watching the three legs of the event.

Natalie is standing in front of the second cabana from the left
by the girl who is wearing a pink top.

Natalie is standing in line waiting her turn to
jump into the lake for the 800-meter swim.

In the picture you can see some of the athletes as they swim
their way to and from the finish line near the Loew Hotel.

Natalie is out of the water and sprinting to the transition

area before beginning the 30-kilometer bike ride

which is about 18 miles.

Natalie is waving good-bye as she begins a difficult

bike ride up and down some tough

mountain grades.

This is one of Natalie's friends named Mynda in the hot

pink top. Natalie and Mynda both work in YW. They had a lot

of fun together as they encouraged each other on.

Natalie is on the home stretch here. She's seconds from crossing

the finish line after running a 5K up and down a strenuous

course around the Lake Las Vegas area.

Here's Natalie with her cute family supporting her

all along the way.

Yes, we are Natalie's proud parents!!

Natalie and Mynda, church friends and now Iron Girl friends.

Natalie's badge that she wore throughout the competition.

Natalie borrowed a bike from a friend so she could participate

in Iron Girl. During the ride the chain came off, and she had to put

it back on. Who says girls can't be handy?

All the athletes got signs. This is Natalie's. Some families

wrote on the back of the signs and held them up and cheered and

hollered as their family member or friend ran or cycled by.

Donny & Marie at the Flamingo

What....lipstick marks!

Marie Osmond's Dancing With the Stars Costume

Donny Osmond's Dancing With the Stars Costume

I didn't know flamingos were gold!

Truly, a remarkable resemblance, I'd say.

We just got home tonight from the Donny and Marie show at the Flamingo Hotel. It was a great show with lots of dancing, songs, clothes changes, energy, and humor. We had a great time, and we even got to see a display cabinet of the tuxedo that Donny wore on Dancing With the Stars when he won the competition. We also saw the dress that Marie wore when she participated in Dancing With the Stars, but it was in a different season than Donny. In the competition she danced to the song Buggle Boy of Company B. Her dad died the next day, so it was pretty sentimental when she referred to her parents and her son's passing in tonight's performance. I enjoyed going back in time to popular songs of different decades as we were entertained tonight. Thanks again to my husband and children for providing such a great mother's day present! The surprise moment occurred at the end of the show when Donny and Marie danced through the crowd shaking hands and yes, kissing certain people's heads. Wouldn't you know it; Steve was one of the lucky guys that caught Marie's attention. She said something to him like, "Love the gray hair."

An Early Mother's Day Celebration

Since Julie and Jace were going to leave for Oregon on Saturday afternoon, we decided to celebrate Mother's Day on Friday evening. We played outside for awhile with the grandkids since the weather was so incredibly beautiful. It truly felt like a spring day in Vegas; go figure! Once Steve had the dutch oven chicken dinner ready along with the girls assistance, we had a fabulous meal together. After we ate, Julie had two games for us to play. One was a word scramble game in which all of the words had to do with mother's day. Then we played another game which had 20 questions all about "How Well Do You Know Mom." Since I was supposed to prepare the "key," I felt somewhat surprised that I didn't exactly know the answer to some of the questions. How funny is that? What is my favorite color anyway and what is my favorite restaurant???? After the games I opened a number of cards and gifts. Everyone joined together in giving Steve and me tickets to go to the Donny and Marie show at the Flamingo Hotel on Saturday evening. I am so excited. In fact, I need to get ready now. It's been something I've really wanted to do for some time, but I never thought we should spend the money. So, thanks to all of my girls and their husbands for providing a "dream date." On Saturday morning Julie and I were able to spend a little mom and daughter time. We enjoyed making cards. Life doesn't get any better than that.

BYU Women's Conference

This year for the Anderson sister weekend we invited our daughters to go with us to Women's Conference in Provo. Although not everyone was able to attend, we enjoyed the combined activity enough to want to do it again another time. The weather didn't cooperate. Driving near Beaver to right before Nephi was a nail biter to say the least. It snowed so hard and lasted for so long that it was very difficult to see the freeway adequately to feel completely safe. We finally arrived in Highland, Utah which is where Marci and Kristie both live. Julie, Natalie, and I stayed at Kristie's along with Becky, Amy, and Valerie. The rest of the gang stayed at Marci's. We enjoyed two days worth of meetings and classes in spite of cold, damp weather. Thursday night there was a great concert at the Marriott Center that included Hillary Weeks, Michael McLean, a group called Mercy River, and a singer by the name of Dallyn Vail Bayles. He has a fantastic tenor voice and has performed on Broadway in Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables. We went out to dinner a couple of times and ultimately, yes, we found ourselves all in the University Mall shopping our hearts away!

Natalie Turns 27

Julie and Jace arrived a few days before Natalie's birthday. We've had a lot of fun with all of them. Coincidentally, both Jace and Ashton have matching summer outfits, so I had to take a picture of both of them sporting their new attire. They are the cutest little boys ever! Their mothers are equally as cute, but I have no reason to be biased, right? On Natalie's birthday the girls went to a matinee while Steve and I stayed home and tended the grandchildren. When they returned, we had an enchilada dinner which was Natalie's pick. Thomas surprised all of us with a beautiful chocolate cake that a friend from their ward had made for our celebration. As it turned out, the friend is a baker at the MGM Grand Hotel. The cake was the hit of the evening. Not only was it delicious but it also tasted divine. By the way, the cake was completely edible.

How Can My Baby Sister Be 50?????

Linda's 50th birthday party was yesterday. She invited friends and family to help celebrate. The party was held at an RV park in Pahrump. We didn't stay overnight, but we opted instead to go for the actual dinner and party Saturday night. It was lots of fun. Amy made a game based on facts from 1960 which is the year when Linda was born. Jennie made a funny black hat. Allison made a memory book and picture wall, and Leslie made a yummy cake for dessert. The park had a swimming pool plus an area for boating. Cali enjoyed the playground and all the Sutton cousins. My big question is if Linda is 50 and she's younger than me, where does that put me on the time line??? Ugh, I think I'm on the other side of the hill now!!!!! Oh, I don't know, maybe the new 60 is the old 40......

Some of My Greatest Blessings Call Me Grandma GG

Above are pics of Cali and Ashton with the Easter bunny and Jace all decked out with his new Easter suit. I don't have Easter pics of Kyra, Skye, and Dane since I wasn't in Missouri this year for Easter. I think being "older" comes with some perks. I like watching my grandchildren grow, and I love to hear them call me Grandma GG. It's just too cute! When the kids want to tease me, they call me Grandma Gayle. I HATE, HATE, HATE that name. The only thing worse would be Grandma Galler. That basically makes me feel like I'm as old as the hills! Why couldn't my first name have been Susan?????

An Early Easter in Oregon

Last Sunday we went to church with Julie and Sheldon. It was Fast Sunday just like in Las Vegas because of general conference being held on Easter weekend. Sheldon gave the Sunday School lesson in the Gospel Doctrine class. It was nice to sit back and watch and listen while someone else taught class for a change. I went to Young Women's with Julie. She's the president. Each of the adults gave a part of the Easter lesson. Julie had assigned each of her leaders a part of the Savior's life to talk about. They went from birth to the atonement. It was a very spiritual meeting, and I thoroughly enjoyed reviewing in my mind the events of Christ's life. It really was a summary as you would imagine. Julie ended the lesson with a four-minute segment from a church DVD. After church we headed home for Sunday dinner and a family Easter party. It reminded me of days gone by when my four girls were little. It's nice to see family traditions continuing on into the next generation.