Golf and The Living Desert

As a recap for our trip due to Paul's company's Executive Summit Retreat, Tuesday was a traveling day, plus we went out to dinner and a movie...very rare these days. Wednesday we went on the tram up the mountain and had an opening dinner for Parsons, the company. Thursday, Paul started his business meetings while I went shopping at the outlet mall and made lots of fun new friends from all over the country. We also had a fun sports theme dinner where we wore our favorite sports team shirts...I wonder what sports team is our favorite?! Friday, Paul had morning meetings, went golfing at the resort's amazing golf course, and I went to a zoo/botanical gardens called "The Living Desert". We all were bused to eat with smaller departmental groups at really nice restaurants that evening. Today, Paul had meetings all day and I got some things done in the hotel room, plus went to a beautiful park to eat lunch. Tonight we are having a more formal dinner all together to end the retreat. Palm Springs has been wonderful and such a great memory for Paul and me!

These palm trees were HUGE!

Typical view of Joshua Tree (cactus) in Palm Springs Valley

Palm Springs and Desert Valley
(The taller peak is the mountain we went up to)

Saw some animals of the deserts around the world...this one is a porcupine

Desert plants and vegetation

An oasis along the San Andreas fault line...typically where palm trees live and water comes out.

Hummingbird

Cheetah

Me in front of a huge model train collection

Thanks Parsons for a great time!

From Desert Sands to Snow

The foyer area of our hotel

Our view from our breakfast table

Mommy and Daddy say, "Hi!!!" in the rotating tram up to Mount San Jacinto State Park.

The tram that we ride in up the mountain

Look closely and you can see our car down behind the tower...we are getting very high!
The Palm Springs desert valley seen from 8,516 ft. and 30 degrees colder.
The famous windmills

The view at the top of the path to go see the snow

From desert sands to snow...amazing!

See the tree cut in half to stay on the path?

Mommy and Daddy's Trip

For the first time in over 4 years, Paul and I are able to take a trip together without the kids. It has certainly been a mix of feelings so far; I almost have to convince myself that it's ok to give myself a break from everything. It has been a fantastic trip so far and we wanted to show the kids some pictures of what Mommy and Daddy have seen so far on our trip. All we can say is "Thank You!" to our fantastic family members who so graciously are taking care of our precious children. It's nice to know that they are being loved just as we would love them. We hope that we can show you how thankful we are for your most helpful, loving gift to our family! Hugs and kisses!

Mommy and Daddy love you, Kannon, Alexa, Braden, and Logi-bear!