Toffee

Well my Toffee arrived. It was waiting by the front door when we arrived home. I couldn't wait to open it. Gosh it smelled so good and taste... well I was delighted. this is really great toffee. Mr B loves it too! I wonder if we'll have any left by New Years Eve? What do you think?

Yum

Christmas Past

I've been thinking a lot about Christmases past. Memories are sometimes all we have left. I am glad that my Christmas memories are happy ones.

Our Christmases were modest ones. Just a couple of gifts, and sometimes I did not get what I wanted. And just the same as in Glenn Beck's 'A Christmas Sweater' I just didn't realize what Christmas was all about and the wonderful things that I did have all those years.

Since both of my parents are now gone I have been cherishing those memories more and more. Mama loved the Christmas Carols and Hymns. Her favorite she told me was 'Silent Night'. If I'd have had to guess I would have chosen 'O Holy Night'. She loved to sing that song, and it was beautiful.



THIS IS MY DAD ON CHRISTMAS MORNING. SEE THE TINY FAKE FIREPLACE? WELL THAT'S OUR CHRISTMAS TREE ON THE MANTLE!




THIS IS ME ON SANTA'S KNEE. THIS WAS PROBABLY TAKEN AT MAISON BLANCHE. WE'D GO THERE EVERY YEAR TO SEE MR. BINGLE AND SANTA. I WAS ASKING SANTA TO REMEMBER TO BRING ME A DOLL. I THINK I WOUND UP WITH 50 DOLLS OVER THE YEARS AND THEY ALL WERE PLACED ON MY BED.


MAMA, ME AND THE TURKEY. I WAS THE BASTER AND THE TASTER. MAMA MADE THE BEST TURKEY'S AND A MEAT BASED DRESSING. YUM YUM




I'M THE CUTE KID ON THE LEFT.


THIS IS ME AND FATHER CHRISTMAS IN DUBLIN IRELAND. I REMEMBER HOW GREAT IT WAS TO HAVE JUST SEEN SANTA CLAUS IN NEW YORK THE DAY BEFORE!


THIS WAS ONE OF MY ALL TIME FAVORITE CHISTMAS GIFTS. I LOVED THAT PIANO.

Toffee Doesn't It Just Sound Delicious?

Some words are just enough to make your mouth water. Toffee. Oh yum. My friend Andrea has a blog post about this delicious Toffee over on her blog SwampSuburbia, which is a great blog. She's been raving about how great this candy tastes and personally I can't wait to try it myself. There's a contest going on so go check out her blog. You can check out her blog over at SwampSuburbia and get all the info on how to get your own toffee.

Natchitoches Festival

We drove on up to Natchitoches last weekend to see the Christmas lights. There were several private parties along the river. No chance getting into them.... they were heavily guarded by bouncer's wearing Security T-shirts. At least we got to listen to the cajun bands. We parked quite a bit away and walked to the river. We did a little bit of shopping. They have some great little stores. I LOVE anything fleur-di-lis and saw plenty of stuff. There were great electric switch plates, key chains, pillows, and paintings. I tried but could NOT resist the Craw-di-lis print. It looks mighty nice in my guest room. Since we got there so late in the day it wasn't too long before the fireworks display.

Let It Snow Let It Snow Let It Snow

Whew! Long night waiting up all night to see the snow begin to fall. I kept checking, the weatherman said it was due to fall at 4am. At 3:40 I gave up and decided to get a little nap. Hubby woke me up a few minutes later and we went outside and F R O Z E but did see a few flakes. Then I checked again a little later and the house across the street had a white roof.

I'm just so excited to see it!!!

Oh the weather outside is frightful

And the fire is so delightful

And since I've no place to go......


L E T I T S N O W L E T I T S N O W L E T I T S N O W

I'm really in the mood to make pralines now, if only for the excuse of hovering over a hot pot to keep warm. But that will have to wait, I'm off to check out the weather again once more.

Now this is just plain crazy.....

See Ya Later Alligator.... Afta' While Crocodile.

As a kid I always loved

"See you later alligator"

to which my mother would say...

"After While crocodile"

Back in 1956 when we spend nearly a year in Northern Ireland I learned another line:

"Not tonight it's gellic night"

Not much use for that line when I returned back to Louisiana!!! Thank goodness!!!



But back to the gators.... For years we'd love to see the Alligators in Audubon Zoo in New Orleans. As a kid it was free to enter the zoo and we'd go almost every afternoon after we got home from school; we only lived a few blocks away. This past Tuesday all the schools were closed due to the schools being used as voting polls.  Originally we had BIG plans to do some home canning at Erin's house but.... (there's always a but) since the kiddie's were out of school we put off those plans and loaded up the kids and headed to the Jennings Oil and Gas Park to see the Alligators. Much more fun!  And personally I think it's an insane idea to try and can with ALL of the kids underfoot.  Anyway the decision was made to make a lovely day of it at the Alligator house.  It took about 20 minutes to find everyone's shoes and get them ON the kids and then get the kids IN the van.  That's the one great thing about being a Gramma, you don't have to hunt down shoes and struggle to get them on kids all of the time.  Bless the mama's out there, nothing is quick and easy.  All outings are filled with hurry up and wait, where's your shoes, come back, here, who needs to go to the toilet, hurry.  By the time you have most of the kids loaded there's always one who has left the scene and needs to be shephered back.  

Son in law said to take the little man with us  because he wasn't sleepy AT ALL,  and he didn't need a nap. Yeah right!!! Doesn't look awake to me.




Once inside the Alligator House we were told not to scream or make any loud noises as it would disturb the baby alligator and someone might get bit. My big fear was that little man might wake up.... he didn't and none of us got bit either.  It really was fun seeing the kids hold the little gator.  

It was a fun day. Got lots of brochures and plan on going back that way soon. Next time I'll bring hubby along. Then I'll suggest we stop at Fezzo's for lunch. Now they have some good food over there! The smells will just about make you think you've died and gone to heaven.   You know I hope they have some good cajun food in heaven!!!  When we eat at Fezzo's I never make it to dessert. I'm always stuffed from the main course.  Oh man, I'm making myself hungry just thinking about their fried catfish and their crawfish bisque.

Yakity Yakity Yak

We headed out of town this afternoon for a few days. We took a 4 year old grandson with us and he talked the whole way. I tried just putting in the earphones and listening to music but he would just yell louder until I'd answer him. I know I must have responded to at least 500 questions on the trip!

First he didn't want to stop to eat because he wasn't hungry, but when he found out we were stopping at Cracker Barrel which has a great store inside he was thrilled. He came out with a flashlight that has candy in it... one for him and one for the cousin we are going to visit.

Next it was a scream to go potty. Then it was a stop to potty again. Then it was jumping up and down in the seat needing to go again, but this time we were caught in a Texas sized traffic jam on the 610 loop around Houston, so we just pulled over and he did his business at the side of the freeway.

There we helicopters flying circles above us. I doubt they were after us for the breach in potty etiquette! Most likely due to the accident of an 18 wheeler that had lost his load of 2x4's on the roadway. But little man was so excited and he kept using his 'outside' voice yelling for me to look again!

We tried to convince him to play the quiet game but he wasn't buying it. In fact every 10 or 20 seconds he would just remind me that I was winning. I would have preferred to have won in silence! All the while he was chewing as much of his HubbaBubba Bubble gum that he could possibly fit into his mouth.

I am so glad we've arrived! He is playing with his cousin and having a great time!

I am so blessed to have him with me, but I feel so sorry for his mama. She must be so lonely, surely her day was boring without him asking her all those questions! I bet she just had a miserable day reading a book in a quiet corner or something.

Och and a Knee-0

I have now become an orphan.

Late last night the Girl From Belfast City passed away. She was 96 years old and went peacefully thanks to Hospice care which she had been receiving over the past few months. As much as it is the natural way of things for parents to die before the children, the pain of it is still there. All I can think about tonight is that at the age of 57 I have now become an orphan and I feel quite alone. Oddly I feel the pain of my father's death renewed. I thought I had dealt with that already but now find myself acutely missing him as well. All my childhood memories are tied to them, they are the ones who watched me grow. They knew all of my memories. Mom had a memory that was unbelievably strong up to the end. She could recall so many details of things throughout her life. I feel as though my details have now been lost; she was the historian.

Mom enjoyed life. She loved to sing, to tell stories, to hold a baby, to chat with friends. Over the last years of her life she lost most of her vision, nearly all of her hearing, her ability to do the things she wanted. What she did not loose was her determination to endure to the end. She never lost her faith, she never lost her gratitude.

I cannot say enough good things for Mom's nurse Pam and her CNA Deborah. Both cared for Mom so lovingly. Pam stayed with her til the end, refusing to go home and get some well needed and deserved rest. I am so grateful they were with us.

My family rallied round, some taking the day off of work, others coming when they could. Little children filling our home with the sweet sounds of children and helping us to not dwell too much on the empending loss. Life does go on and that is what those sweet little ones were showing me. Our little Spencer still kept coming to Maw Maw's bedside to check the nightstand drawer for Starburst candies. You see she had taught him that she would keep putting candies there for him as a special treat, in return he would give her a sweet hello and a kiss. He would crawl underneath her wheelchair to get to the drawer. 11 grandchildren were here yesterday, 5 of my 6 children were able to be hear along with most of the in-laws.

Some had to syphon gas out of other vehicles to be able to make the trip. They were coming from Houston where you can sit in a line for gasoline for 3 or 4 hours. With a dying grandmother there just wasn't time for that.

These past few months caring for my mother in my home has brought me many gifts. I am sure over the next weeks and months I'll be able to reflect on just what those gifts are. I miss her already. Dad died just over a year ago. No living parents so I guess I really am an orphan.

While I am trying to sort out where I am in my grief I prefer to think back on the happy memories. I have been thinking about my Dad too. Here my mother just died and yet I have wept for my Dad. I thought I was through that, but here comes another tidal wave of grief. I was looking at some pictures of him and mom and have come to the realization that my heart has a picture of him. That picture has him the age he was when I was about 5-10 years old. That's the face that my memories are drawn to. As I look at Mom's pictures I get different emotions depending on how old she and I were in the pictures. A tremendous sense of loss envelopes me when I look at much younger pictures and then a sense of helplessness arrives in the older pictures. I could not take away her ageing, I could not solve her hearing and sight problems.

Mom knew it was her time and she accepted it willingly even with great anticipation. She missed my dad and said she was quite anxious to meet up with him on the other side. She said she was excited to be with him and then the two of them would just wait for my brother and I when it becomes our turn to cross the veil. She mentioned the other day that one of the great things about living to such an old age as 96 is that she won't have long to wait on the other side for the rest of us to arrive.

I imagine that as I was holding her and weeping into her hair, catching those last familiar scents, that her mother and father were waiting to greet her with wide open arms and joy that equals or perhaps even exceeds all of my pain. I am sure as I sit here tonight that her sweetheart of more than 60 years was there waiting for her. The same group that will await my 'homecoming' in the future when my time here has been fulfilled. I dreamed last night (and it was such a short and yet vivid dream that it awoke me) I dreamed I heard her voice calling my father's name. Just the one word "Bill", so short but yet so real. I wish I could hear it again now.

My grandmother would say "Och and a Knee-0, my sweet lover. He must have been bad (ill) or he would have been here. Och and a Knee--0"

I miss you mom, and while you are physically gone from me you are so much a part of who I am that you will always be here in some way. I will not forget you.

Louisiana History Lesson

I did not write the following and don't know who did or I'd give credit where credit is due. I grow tired of people knocking my state so read, enjoy, learn.



For those of you who think Louisiana is just about Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, bayous, swamps, crawfish, hotly seasoned food and Cajuns here are a few factoids for your edification and enlightenment. (Don't have time to check out all of these so will just log them down as facts.)

ct



In case you didn't know...


A Little Louisiana history lesson


If Hurricane Katrina causing the levees to break in New Orleans is the only thing you know about Louisiana, here are a few more interesting facts about the Bayou State :

*Louisiana has the tallest state capitol building in the nation at 450 feet.

* The Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans is the largest enclosed stadium in the world.

* The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway is the longest over-water bridge in the world at 23.87 miles.

* Louisiana's 6.5 million acres of wetlands are the greatest wetland area in America.

* The oldest city in the Louisiana Purchase Territory is Natchitoches, Louisiana founded in 1714.

* The first bottler of Coca-Cola, Joseph Biedenharn, lived in Monroe, Louisiana and was one of the founders of Delta Air Lines, initially called Delta Air Service.

* Delta Airlines got its start in Monroe, Louisiana when Parish Agent, C.E. Woolman, decided to try dusting the Boll Weevil that was destroying the cotton crops in the Mississippi River Delta from an airplane. It was the first crop dusting service in the world.

* Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana is the largest predominantly black university in America.

* Baton Rouge was the site of the only American Revolution battle outside the original 13 colonies.

* The formal transfer of the Louisiana Purchase was made at the Cabildo building in New Orleans on December 20, 1803.

* The staircase at Cretain Point, in Sunset, Louisiana was copied for Tara in "Gone with the Wind."

* Louisiana is the No. 1 producer of crawfish, alligators and shallots in America.

* Louisiana produces 24 percent of the nation's salt, the most in America.

* Much of the world's food, coffee and oil pass through the Port of New Orleans.

* Tabasco, a Louisiana product, holds the second oldest food trademark in the U.S. Patent Office.

* Steen's Syrup Mill in Abbeville, Louisiana is the world's largest syrup plant producing sugar cane syrup.

* America's oldest rice mill is in New Iberia, Louisiana at KONRIKO Co.

* The International Joke Telling Contest is held annually in Opelousas, Louisiana.

* LSU (The Ole War Skule) in Baton Rouge has the distinction of contributing the most officers to WW II after the U.S. Military academies.

* The Louisiana Hayride radio show helped Hank Williams, Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash achieve stardom. It was broadcast from KWKH Radio in Shreveport, Louisiana from 1948 to 1960.

* Opelousas, Louisiana is the birth place of Jim Bowie, the inventor of the Bowie knife and one of the heroic defenders at the Alamo.

* The term Uncle Sam was coined on the wharfs of New Orleans before Louisiana was a U.S. Territory as goods labeled U.S. Were from "Uncle Sam."

* The game of craps was invented in New Orleans in 1813 as betting was a common activity on the wharves.

* When states had their own currency, the Louisiana Dix (French for ten) was a favored currency for trade. English speakers called them Dixies and coined the term Dixieland.

* New Orleans is the home of the oldest pharmacy in America at 514 Chartres Street in the French Quarter. These early medical mixtures became known as cocktails (guess they were good for what ails ya), coining yet another term.

* New Orleans is the birthplace of Jazz, the only true American art form.

Jazz gave birth to the Blues and Rock and Roll music.

Viva La Louisiane!!!

Now you know!

Louisiana Daytrip

Mr retiredUPSman and I headed out the door this morning with no real idea of what we were going to do or where we'd end up. As it turns out we had a nice ride down HWY 27 to Holly Beach and then through Cameron and back north again. We ended our day out by riding along the river. The weather was great, bright sun, no rain for us, hot but not unbearable and the humidity while high wasn't too much. There was a great breeze along the coast. We saw people fishing and many were out there crabbing.









We only spotted one gator and he was a small one. You can barely see him in this photo.










This is a picture of the waves rolling in at Holly Beach. The beach was almost empty except for a few ladies picking up bottles and cans.

















These were taken along a river on our way home. Go further down the river the other way and you'll find houseboats too. There were lots of kids fishing along the river this afternoon. Everyone who lives along this part of the river seems to have HUGE dogs. Almost all of the houses are raised pretty high. When the river rises you can't get in or out as the road floods. It sure was a pretty view.

Cher Bebe

Last night some of the grandbabies were over for a visit (their mama's and daddy's came along too). While the older ones played a DVD game of Clue, I sat on the back porch watching the fireworks with the little ones. It was a real pleasant night out there was a light breeze and the humidity wasn't too bad (of course our back porch is screened in and so no mosquitoes had us for dinner.)

When it was time to go home this little bebe's mama had to search around to find him. First place she looked was in my mama's room. Mama is almost 96 and she puts out little candies for any grandchild that comes in and says hi to her. Little SJ visits her the most, in fact he's been known to lock himself in the room with her so she can continue to hand out the sweets!

His mama found him gone 'do-do' in the guest bedroom. He had climbed up in the bed and put himself to sleep. He looked so content and sweet we let him sleepover.

la bella

Apple Escargot? No thanks, not for me.

I don't care for Escargot not even if it's from tasty sounding Apple Snails.

They've reported an invasion of these fist sized snails in Terrebonne parish. Although the name sounds inviting they can carry health concerns for humans.

Since they are mostly underwater the way they make their presence known is seeing their eggs. The eggs are laid in large clusters a few feet above the waterline. The clusters are pink in color, reportedly the color and size of a bubblegum wad. These snails can be found in ponds, bayous, swamps and rivers as well as being a popular aquarium pet.

They are a risk to our rice fields. So how do we fight them? With brooms, and paddles and scrapers apparently! That's the weaponry of snail hunters in the bayou. Folks have been asked to report any findings of eggs to authorities. If you see apple snails or their eggs, you should report them to Salyers at 225-765-2641 or bsalyers@wlf.louisiana.gov.

On the lighter side suggestions I've read are:
"Someone please train the nutria to eat them"

"Heck train THEM to eat nutria!"

"Good, I have time to take a nap, do some laundry, and read war and peace before I have to evacuate."

"They don't stand a chance at survival in Louisiana. I'm getting the rice and gravy ready now"

Zippidy Zoo Days

Friday's travels took us to the Baton Rouge Zoo. First time zoo goers there! Pretty neat zoo, all this time of traveling through BR we never knew about the zoo. So happy we got the invite from our grandson.

It was the perfect day at the zoo, the temperature wasn't too hot. I remember a trip to the Audubon Zoo back in the 1981 when the temp was 105 degrees. Now that was some hot zoo trip. But yesterday was just lovely. Slightly overcast at times with a breeze. Once or twice we felt a rain drop but that's all, most of the time the sun was doing her thing.

The zoo was larger than I'd imagined, it takes the little train 20 minutes to circle the zoo. Our grandson told us that the zoo is 800 miles long!


As we began our walk along the path I caught the sent of summers past. I don't know exactly what it was, but it immediately brought me back to my childhood summers. I love it when that happens. Something small just has those happy memories flow.

We saw tigers, otters, bears, giraffes, a rhino, hippos, monkeys, ducks, turtles, flamingos, rose colored spoonbills, an elephant, snakes, alligators, and lots of fish.

Some days are just good. Yesterday was one of those days.

Wedding Bells

We had a wedding here last Saturday. Here Comes the Bride was loud enough to stop people on the street. I noticed a few walkers had stopped hoping to catch a glimpse of the bride. It was a delightful outdoor wedding. The weather was sunny and cool with just an occasional breeze. It had rained the day before but the ground had dried nicely.

Our yard really did look nice. Our lawn maintenance crew worked over the last couple weeks making sure the yard would be at it's best (they even came back the morning of the wedding to make sure everything was right). Quite a change for our backyard, when we purchased the house there was very little grass. Now it's all lovely and green with bushes and flowers at the rear. Hubby worked on the pool and had it crystal clear.

The best man was 5. The fella who gave away the bride is 7 and the delightful flower girl ... well it would be impolite to mention a little lady's age!

I do's have been said, well wishes received and now the happy couple have gone off for a few days. We had a great time and hope that all our guests did as well. We ended the evening after most of the guests had left by letting the little kids go swimming and then watching a movie on the patio while the adults enjoyed jamming with ROCK BAND.

Gone are the strawberries, the cake, leftover sandwiches, and about a gazillion mints (gazillion IS a real number so says one of my grandsons). The tent is gone, all the pretty white lawn chairs are picked up and gone, so is the beautiful silver punch fountain. The little children loved that fountain. They could help themselves to something to drink over and over and over again. Some children even wanted to know if that fountain could stay here! They hinted that someone should give it to me for a birthday gift. I can see that it would be welcomed by old and young. But I heard no volunteers offering to buy it, so next party we won't have it but we just might drag out the chocolate fountain!

What I miss most is the shade of that big beautiful white tent. I told hubby that we really are going to miss that. Because we have few trees it seems the sun just hovers over us while swimming. A nice place of shade would be welcomed.

I lost my digital camera before the wedding. Hubby and I looked everywhere and couldn't find it. As if we didn't have enough things to do before the wedding we were looking under sofa cushions, under beds, behind dressers, through drawers, in cabinets, in the trunk of the car. What we found was more dust bunnies than we care to even know exist. Hubby broke out the vacuum and vaporized a few of them. Finally I gave up and admitted that it was lost and bought another camera, an Olympus. The morning of the wedding as hubby was getting dressed he found that lost camera tucked away in his dress shoes. Immediately a suspect came to mind. We had babysat the previous week for 3 adorable boys and I figured it was one of the younger ones. Yesterday I checked out the old camera, a Sony CyberShot, and found out who hid the camera! The culprit took his own picture!

Here's a vid of the wedding. So happy for the new couple.

Utah Trip

We had a great trip out West. We flew into Salt Lake airport and rented a car. Now I don't ever worry much about what kind of car we have as long as the ride is nice, not too bumpy, and if I am driving then I like the steering to feel easy like cutting into soft butter. That's not too much to ask is it? Oh yes, at times it is very important that we rent a vehicle large enough for vacation purchases! But no need to worry on this trip as we were flying and I didn't have plans to bring anything LARGE back with us.

First night we stayed at the Marriott Downtown in Salt Lake. We got up to our room and opened the drapes. What a view! Temple Square all lit up.


Next day we headed over to the Joseph Smith building and met up with an old friend Rob Hildebrandt. We've known Rob since the mid 90's, but most of that friendship has been over emails as we both moved away. It was nice to catch up on old times with Rob. We had a delightful lunch at the Nauvoo Cafe, it was a delicious Turkey Pot Pie. Just the warm filling kind of lunch that you desire on a rainy and snowy day. We toured the Family History Library where Rob spends most of his days doing research and he introduced us to folks from Sweden, Germany and a variety of other countries all taking advantage of all the millions of microfilms available there.


View of Temple Square taken from the top floor of the Joseph Smith Building.



Ernie Me and Rob in the Family History Library (Rob is holding on to his can of Tony Chachere's!)

After bidding farewell to Rob we headed on over to Provo and checked into the Marriott there. Next morning we registered at the Computerized Family History Conference. I was so excited when I was viewing the various vendor booths and recognized John Vilburn. John wrote the program PafInsight which I use almost daily!


That's John and me. I was so excited to be at the conference!

After the last lecture of the day Ernie and I headed out to just sightsee a bit in Provo. It isn't too often a bayou girl gets to see mountains let alone mountains with snow on them.


We were coming up to a red light and there was a police car in the other lane. Ernie comments to me that the cop is driving a Dodge Charger, just the same as the car we are driving. He says that the police like that model.

Ernie slows down approaching the light. The cop slows even more. Ernie stops, the cop stops, rolls down his window and waves to us to come up along side of him. Now Ernie is thinking 'What did I do?' We pull up along side of the police vehicle and roll down my window. The policeman smiles and says "Nice car!" We smile back. Cop says, "What ya got in it? A V8 or a V6? Ernie says, "Don't know, we're renting it"
Cop says, "Renting? Ah, probably a V6" They chat a little more and the light changes and the cop takes off. Ernie jokingly comments, "Gee I thought he was going to ask me to race" .... that's the kind of race you are definately going to loose.
Must admit though it was a nice car.

After all the conference lectures were over we met up with friends Joyce and Tom. Tom is quite a character and always has new jokes to tell. Joyce and I have been friends for years. Close friends, almost sisters. Don't even get me started on how we met and became friends. It's too complicated and I think it's Top Secret.

Over the next few days we ate so much good food, but the oddest thing for me was going out to an Italian place for ST. PATRICK'S DAY. Joyce and I love all things Italian so I guess that's why. Shhhh! Don't tell my Irish mother.
But by far the best edibles were had at the Caffe Cocoa, we had a prosciutto and Havariti Panini and Italian Hot Chocolate. Small little cups of thick and I do mean thick, hot chocolate with tons of cream on top. It was like drinking warm pudding. So rich and delicious. It was a treat I will remember for quite a long time.



We took a trip up thru the mountains, thinking we could get to Midway. We didn't get that far but did enjoy our time anyway. I guess because we're from the south we didn't realize that they close roads in the winter. Snow thick and everywhere! Eye candy to this southern girl.

Some meals are just meant to be remembered, whether it's the company you are with, the service, the meal, the scenery or all of the above.
Well this meal was great because I was with a great guy, the waitstaff was friendly, the meal was so delicious and the scenery was outstanding. We sat at a window overlooking the deck and beyond it the snow covered mountains.

There was a cracking fire warming the room. Every table had lovely fresh flowers.


Across the room was another window, but the only thing you could see was snow. The snow was as high as the window. We ordered sauteed turkey tenders in gravy with mashed potatoes and a salad. That meal was quite a surprise. The turkey was great and tasty. The gravy had a depth to it. The mashed potatoes, well this Irish girl says YES to them. They were flavorful and had a wonderful consistency. The salad was not just the regular iceberg lettuce, there were other greens as well.



Sadly our trip was over and we had to say goodbye to Utah. But the memories will last and we will surely go back again!