We are home

We had a fantastic time in Glendale.  It was so exciting to be a part of Curiosity's landing on Mars.  Jim and Pam made us feel very welcome and I was super proud of my brother.  Seeing him in the control room was thrilling.  Pam had to go to work early this morning but Jim got to take the day off.  We had a relaxing day.  Pam came home for lunch.  Then it was time to head out for our daily fix of frozen yogurt.  It was 99 degrees. Whew.  They got us to the airport.  

 We got home safely.  Rebecca picked us up.  The house is in quite a state.  The deck is ripped up.

 The siding is half done.

 The part that is done looks nice.

I am not sure how I am going to get the car out of the car tomorrow.  I guess I need to get them to open up a path for me.

Curiosity Lands!!

 Jim goes off to work.

 We went to Cal Tech to watch the landing

 This is the auditorium where we were.  It was filled to capacity.  There were 3 other locations where people were watching in this area.

 Jim at work.  I could say he is the one in the light blue shirt.

They were successful!! It was so exciting to be in the room with all the cheers.  Camera's flashing, cheering, tears, hugs.  It was thrilling. I am so proud.

Sunday - count down

 We got to the 10am church service.  It was a packed church service.  It was a very lively service with a lot of praise singing.  It seemed very up beat and positive.  Then we went to lunch at an Indian restaurant.

Yummy that was a great buffet.  Naturally I ate too much.  After lunch we went to walk around the Descanso Gardens.  It was a very attractive garden.  It has this gorgeous home in the middle of it which is used for events like weddings. 

 Their restrooms are under construction so they had these temporary ones in the parking lot.  I put this picture in because I almost did not want to come out.  It was the only cool place in the garden (AC).  Though the rest of the garden was "cool" visually.

Then naturally we had to go back to the yogurt place.  It is nice since it is self serve and you pay by the weight you can pick what you want.  A lot of it was low or non fat.  So I got non-fat vanilla and put a bunch of fruit on it.  Hit the spot.

After a short nap, Jamie had to head off to work.

Manhattan Beach day

 What a fun day.  We drove to Manhattan Beach to ride bikes along the beach.  It was a gorgeous day and not too hot.  We had lunch and then we cycled to Redondo (sp?) beach for ice cream.

 I was impressed with the line of houses along the beach.

Then home.  Jamie had to go to work again - poor guy.  We had supper, made a dessert from Cooking Light.  Come to find out what made it "light" is that we were supposed to cut the 8 inch square pan into 48 servings!!!! Well it was good. We went on a walk while the dessert was chilling. And now we are watching the Olympics.  Very nice day.

Today was a quiet day.  George and I walked to the grocery store - about 1/2 mile away and then later we walked to where Pam works to say hi to her.  That was about 1 mile away. So we have been doing our walking.  Actually walked to the grocery store 3 times today for various reasons.  

 Jamie and Pam with their 2 cats. Mowgli and Sushi.  Don't ask me which is which.

 A sculpture my mom carved.  It is in my brother's living room.

 Pam at work - training another person.

 Pam and I went to the mall - Americana.  Very nice mall.

A tree in the front yard.
We skyped Debbie  that was fun.  She was on her iPhone and had a skype app.

Glendale, CA

My brother works for JPL and the big landing of the Mars Rover, Curiosity, is happening Sunday evening. So George and I thought that we would come down for the weekend and watch it all happen "live".  I am excited.  We got here around noon.  Pam met our plane. After lunch we went to the Arboretum. What a gorgeous place.

 peacocks everywhere.  They are noisy but like them.

 Of course I had to go to the orchid room.

 Queen Anne Cottage.  It is boarded up now.  But it looks like a museum.

 Even had a waterfall.

 We ended the afternoon at a frozen yogurt place.  That hit the spot since it is a warm day.

Jamie and Pam's home.  After supper we looked at some of my Anchorage/Juneau pictures. Then Jamie had to go back to work.
Tomorrow will be a quiet day since both Jamie and Pam will be at work.