A Trip Back to Los Angeles

We headed back to SoCal on Wed., 2-4, for a few days. On Thursday John gave a wine seminar for his Mom's church group. It started with a delicious lunch, then John was on. He was planning on a 45 minute presentation, but it stretched to 90 minutes. He sure can talk a lot about wine! There was some good questions, and good discussion. The leader said it was the best attended function in years. We told you the food was good.

The big surprise for both of us was the attendance of Pastor Birner and Freida. Pastor Birner married us 40 years ago, and was our Pastor during our high school, college, and early married years. He also married our son Matt, and his son David was in our wedding. Freida bought some pictures so that we could catch up with family news. David is a serving in the Missionary area managing many of the Lutheran overseas missions. It was so much fun learning of our friends life's.

It was enjoyable staying with John's Mom in Laguna Woods. It's a senior active living development similar to Del Web, with lots of activities. John's Mom works with ceramics and makes many beautiful pieces. In fact, while we were there she gave us a beautiful wine chiller. She also cooked us one of Linda's favorite dinners, pot roast. Thanks, Mom, for a great time.

On Friday we had to leave because John had a Doctor's appointment for his hip. It continuing to heal, but it's still sore and John has a limp when he walks. So he'll have to return in March for another checkup. It sure takes longer to heal when you're old.

One of the Christmas presents the family gave Linda's Mom was a home makeover with the labor provided by the Grandkids. Since we were in town, we used this weekend for the projects. Michael & John put in a new dishwasher, Linda, Donna, Katie & Tif pulled all of the old wallpaper out of the bedroom and bathroom, then on Sunday Michael, Matt, & Suzanne painted the rooms. It turned our really nice, and Lois was happy with the results. And everyone had a great time!

On Saturday John headed out to Perchanga Resort, where Matt works, to attend a wine festival. There was over 80 wineries represented and the event was sold out.

There's was a lot of great food from the 7 different restaurants in the resort, including the new grill at the recently opened golf course, Journey.

There was also a silent auction for the Red Cross, cheese tastings, and more. The event was so much fun, John was glad to learn they're planning to repeat it next year. You can see more pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/winequest/PechangaWineFestival#

After the event, John went back to Matt & Suzanne's house. They recently had some work done in their yard to put in a patio and grass. Some of you readers may remember our entry when John helped Matt put in the sprinkler system. Now the project is complete, except for some plants.

As you can tell, every time Matt works on his landscaping, it pours down rain!

But it did turn out really nice. Now Matt & Suzanne can get a dog!

So it was a busy 5 days, but very rewarding. On Sunday night we headed back to Surprise and Happy Trails to relax and recover.