An idea to fix the economy?

I saw this on the internet and had to pass it along. This was proposed in response to a Newspaper's request for ideas on how to fix the economy.

Dear Mr. President:

Please find below my suggestion for fixing America’s economy.

Instead of giving billions of dollars to companies that will squander the money on lavish parties and unearned bonuses, use the following plan.

You can call it the Patriotic Retirement Plan.

There are about 40 million people over 50 in the work force.

Pay them $1 million apiece severance for early retirement with the 3 following stipulations:

1) They have to RETIRE.

Forty million job openings.

Unemployment fixed.

2) They have to buy a new American CAR.

Forty million cars ordered.

Auto Industry fixed.


3) They have to either BUY A HOUSE or PAY OFF THEIR MORTGAGE.

Housing Crisis fixed - Bank Crisis fixed.

It can't get any easier than that!

Blooming in Tucson

It seems I may not have missed the Spring in Tucson after all. Things here are blooming and though the colors are subtle as compared to all the tulips and blossoming trees in Utah this time of year, it's nice to see the desert in bloom.

































Also, it seems housing here may be picking up. When I first came here last fall, the subdivision a bit south of ours had a sign that said "Only 11 left". This is a different builder with houses and lots smaller than ours. With the real estate downturn, I wondered how long it would take for the number on the sign to be reduced. While walking this week, I saw 3 houses in that subdivision under construction and was pleasantly surprised that they had revised the sign to say "Only 2 left". See photo below.





However, they also revised the prices - lower of course. Maybe things are picking up in the Tucson real estate market, which would be a good sign for the economy.

Top Ten

How many fun things are there to do in Utah with 4 kids under the age of 5?

Here are the Top Ten things we did while Suzy and baby, and Kevin and family were visiting.

1. Planetarium - including a walk on Mars and a walk through the Gateway. The tulips are great this time of year.

























2. Temple Square - including a ride on Trax and the always fun activity of jumping.
































3. Aquarium - including a chance to touch the rays and other fish, and Suzy and 4 yr old discussing the turtles and alligators. (Thank you Evan for the tickets.)





































4. Kennecot Mine - Big holes in the earth and REALLY big trucks are always interesting.
5. Walk the Lagoon trail and see Buffalo, Elk, and Roller Coasters.
6. Play at the Cemetery playground in Farmington - the new orange slides are super fun.














7. Bountiful pool playground
If you live anywhere near Bountiful, the new pool is great for pre-school age kids.














8. A ride on the FrontRunner train up to Ogden - including a visit to the Ogden train museum. Can you tell these kids love trains?

























Yaya and boys drive the steam engine.













9. Shake the cherry tree blossoms off the tree to make "snow."
10. Watch Suzy and Kevin battle to see who can win the most games of Hearts. (It seems the good natured sibling rivalry never ends. )

Cute kids!

It has been so fun to have Suzy and baby Claire, and Kevin and family visit here in Utah.
Suzy went back to Massachusetts on Wednesday. Kevin and family will be here until Sunday.
Here are some pictures of the cute kids!

All four dressed up in Sunday best.













2 yr old sitting in the same high chair once used by his dad.










4 yr old so excited to see the fish at the aquarium.









8 month old sitting up and playing with toys.










2 months old with a message on her feet.









While they were all here, we had a fun family get-together for all the extended family in Utah. Thanks to all of you who came and we missed those who live too far away. I took some pictures of the party, but somehow none of them were very good. For pictures of the event, see Joanna's blog. (Thanks Joey!!)

I gave my camera to the 4 yrold and he took some interesting pictures, including this self-portrait I just have to share.














More pictures of the some of this week's activities coming in future blogs.

Claire - ified

Claire's blessing day in Orem, UT.















Casey & Suzy and Claire are visiting with Casey's family in Orem this week.
Next week Suzy and Claire will spend a week in Farmington. Kevin and family will be coming up too!


Claire smiles!

Las Vegas and Cheap Hotel Rooms

This all started when I got an email offering a great rate at Bally's Hotel in Las Vegas. Since we were going to Lake Havasu for the Half Marathon (see prior blog), I thought it might be fun to break up the trip and spend a night in LV on the way home. This particular hotel was interesting to me because it is right next to the Paris which IMHO has the best breakfast buffet by far in all of LV. It's also right across the street from the Bellagio which has the beautiful fountains which "dance" to the music every 15 minutes, one of the best free shows in Las Vegas.

So I was standing in line to check into this hotel room which I got for a very cheap rate, along with a long line of people who apparently were there for some convention. I was sure that when the clerk saw how much I had paid, she would give us the worst room in the place. However, when I finally got up to the counter, the clerk said since we were only staying one night, she would give us a suite. I said fine, thinking it would just be a larger hotel room with maybe a couch at one end. When we got into the elevator to go up to the room, I noticed the floor we were going to was the top floor.
Top Floor = Penthouse suite? This was starting to look very good. When we opened the double doors to the room, this WAS the Penthouse Suite, with the Penthouse VIEW! The room was actually 2 huge rooms, about the size of at least 4 normal hotel rooms. The first room had a marble entry, 2 seating areas, dining room table, wet bar, refrigerator, microwave, 2 TVs and separate bathroom. The second room was the bedroom/bathroom with an elevated jacuzzi tub in the middle, 2 separate sinks on each side, a walk through shower, and more. The whole width of the room was floor to ceiling windows looking out on the Eiffel Tower (remember the Paris was next door), the Paris pool area and a great view of Bellagio fountains. The view was even better at night, but sadly I only have daytime pictures.


Eiffel Tower and Bellagio











Room 1













Room 2










For one of the lowest prices ever paid for a hotel room in LV, this was by far the best room I've ever stayed in. And that's what happened when we stayed in Las Vegas. Oh yes, I did get my breakfast at Paris in the morning. Great crepes!!

A Bridge Too Far?

Last weekend we met Kevin, Caroline and family at Lake Havasu for the Half Marathon run. Ken, Kevin, and Caroline ran and I stayed with the kids.
( I think I got the best end of that deal.) The 13 mile race course went over the London Bridge and along the lake shore. They each finished the race with times that were their own personal best! Finishing times were 2:02, 2:05 and 2:09 for those who are interested in these things.

After the run, we enjoyed seeing the London Bridge and playing on the beach at the lake. Yes, the real London Bridge has been moved from England to the Arizona/California border in the middle of the desert. Who comes up with these ideas??

The pictures below show the baby and I in front of the vacation house we rented in Lake Havasu City, AND the 4yr old and 2yr old having fun at the pool and hot tub just across from the house. It was much warmer there than in SLC, which was a welcome change.


















On the way back to Farmington, we decided to stay in Las Vegas one night.
What happened there will be the subject of my next blog.