Happy Easter!

Easter came so early this year. I learned that it occurs on the first Sunday following the first full moon that occurs on or after the day of the vernal equinox (the first day of spring)...so basically the lunar calendar. I spent a wonderful weekend in Zion Nat'l. Park with Sara and Joe and all of Joe's extended family. We stayed in a great little resort just a 3 minute walk outside the park. Usually when I go to visit parks I'm camping, so this was a new experience for me. The resort was PERFECT for kids. Tons of grassy areas, a sandbox full of excavating machinery, jungle gym, pool, hot tub, etc. Saturday morning we had the easter egg hunt for all the kids...they had two dozen eggs for each child, there are 27 grandchildren...so that is 648 eggs!


After the big hunt we played human foosball. Then it was pool time...I played with Kyson and Kaden in the pool for 4 hours, complete with my first sunburn of the season.


I have such fun nephews and am grateful that Joe's family makes a point to include me in all their activities.

After swimming Kyson and I thought it appropriate to go lizard hunting. Kyson is the world's best lizard hunter and unfortunately the lizards in southern Utah found out he was in the area so they all went into hiding...except for two brave ones. Although we didn't catch any that day, Kyson has caught three lizards and is quite fast!


At a spec house Joe and Sara are building the landscapers ordered way too much sod, so we laid it at the house. We put the sprinklers on it all night and woke up to the scene below.

On Sunday I went to church with Joe and Sara because Joe, Sally (Joe's mom), and Susan (Joe's sister) were speaking in church. They gave touching talks that helped remind me the real reason we celebrate Eater...the resurrection of our Savior. It was a wonderful weekend, I truly live a blessed life!

The Whole Melling Clan

Happy Birthday!

Elizabeth Ann Lewis
Born 13 March 1982 at 1:45 a.m. Weight: 8 lbs. 8 oz. Length: 22"
Disclaimer: These were just off the top of my mom's head, and I'm #5 so who knows how accurate it is :)

So according to Lisa 26 is almost 30....ahhh! But shoot it's always fun to have a reason to party...what's wrong with almost being 30, haha?! My birthday was full of smiles and love, thanks to all my family and friends :) I didn't have anything too exciting planned...work from 9 to 5, then study in the evening for the exam I had in pathophys the next morning. But it was still a wonderful day and I have to give special props to my George. He brought me some beautiful spring flowers to work. They smelled SO good at my desk I had trouble concentrating.

Then Sara, Mair, and George made me enchiladas for dinner, mmmm! And for dessert my favorite ice cream - Ben & Jerry's Phish Food and The Cake...which is absolutely to die for. Here is the recipe (you have to follow it precisely to get the right results):

The Cake

Melt in double boilder: 1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1 c. butter - cut in chunks.

Mix until turns lighter color: 5 eggs, 1/2 c. sugar

Mix thoroughly into eggs: 1 T. cocoa

Then mix in slowly melted chocolate mixture;

Add 2 t. vanilla

Bake at 325F for 40-50 min in a bain marie

Works best if you use a spring form pan that is greased and sugared.

Enjoy...it's delightful!

One of George and my recent activities has been putting together 72-hour kits. We have most of the items gathered, but the problem was that I had mine stored in plastic bags on the floor. So for my birthday present he got me an awesome backpack for my 72-hour kit. Now I'm ready!

And this was probably more of a birthday present for Sara...but it was so sweet. Sadie was being fussy and wouldn't sleep unless someone was holding her, so George stayed up holding her til 4 a.m. Auh :)

Canyonlands Half Marathon

My little sister, Alethea, is my hero. Although slightly illegal, last Saturday she ran the half marathon for me. She not only ran it, but ROCKED it. Her time was 2:00:59 which is a 9:23 minute mile for 13.1 miles!! I'd been training to run this half marathon for a few months now. From my last post you noticed that I got the flu (which I just can't seem to kick STILL). So the morning of the race I asked Alethea if she wanted to run it for me since I was still sick. She said SURE. Who runs a half marathon with no training and just an hours notice, haha! Even though it was hard on my pride to wuss out I think it was the wise thing to do considering I was getting out of breath just walking around. It was a great weekend...I love red rocks!

The star herself cruising along...

FINISH LINE after 2:00:59 and 13.1 miles!!

George, Lisa, & Shena on a morning hike near our campsite

Lisa & icicles!

Desert Princess? Red Rock Princess?

Beautiful desert sunset

George and Shena at Landscape Arch

Alethea enjoying the campfire while the taco soup boils over.

It was wonderful to wake up to the sun shining on the red rocks...

I LOVE camping!

To health and euphoria!

"That's the difference between me and the rest of the world...happiness isn't good enough for me, I demand euphoria!" -Calvin

Friday's are the best...right? They're supposed to be...you know right before the big weekend your itching to get outta the office and have some fun! That's why it was so depressing to go home after work not feeling so hot. By 7 p.m. I could tell the bug was trying to get me. So I put the humidifier in my room and crawled under my down comforter to see if I could outsleep the bug before it caught me. It was to no avail...I got a fever of 103F and couldn't sleep and couldn't breathe very well with my sore throat. I'm not one that usually takes drugs, but I finally gave in at midnight and took some tylenol for the fever hoping I could get some sleep. The drugs helped with the fever, but not the sleeping. Saturday was similar...instead of in bed I spent most of the day in the recliner in the sunshine. The blessed sunshine. Of course that was the day it was 65F out, sigh. I'm sooo excited for spring...I can feel it in the air some days. By Saturday night I'd lost 5 lbs. Perfect weight loss program...NOT RECOMMENDED! Besides I'm sure it was all water weight anyway. Saturday night I got in a fight with my bed. We're still mad at each other. I woke up every 20 minutes...no exaggerating! It was awful...I'd feel like I slept for a good while and would check the clock and just a few minutes had gone by...this kept happening all night. I just couldn't get comfortable. So by Sunday morning I'd had it. My fever was still running high and my throat was worse. I downed some nyquil and had the most heavenly 2-hour sleep. Needless to say I lounged around all day Sunday. I even missed Melanie's enchilada dinner, sadness :( I knew I had to go to work Monday to do payroll to keep the employees happy (me included :) So being somewhat "fuzzy" I drove to work and puttered around there for a couple of hours. That wore me out and so I went back home and slept til this morning! Today I'm feeling great...I have a barking cough and my ears won't pop, but there's not fever or achy muscles, and energy levels seem to be on the rise, woot woot! This whole weekend made me so thankful for my health, and friends. I feel so blessed. George and Sara were so good, taking care of me...making me drinks and rubbing my back. To health and euphoria!