FIRST YOU CLEAN THE GARAGE

And then you can have a date. That's not how we planned it but that's how it worked out so very nicely. This garage has been a disaster ever since we started fixing the place up and then when we moved in, it got even worse. We wanted to paint it, but we just couldn't wait any longer to get it at least semi-organized. So Friday a.m., we attacked it with a vengence. Here Steve is removing one side of the railing that goes into the house. It makes it much easier to get things in and out of the house and there is still one railing in case any "old" or "young" people need to hang onto something.

I had a couple of appointments during the day, including one at the dentist, so I must admit that Steve did the majority of the work. He took a load to DI and organized the remaining stuff on the shelves.

The end result is that we can get the pickup and the Sequoia inside and still open the doors. Mission accomplished. It will be even better when I get rid of the stove.

After all the heavy work, I asked Steve if he wanted to ride with me to Park City to stage and keybox a condo I had just listed. It was a gorgeous ride. Everything was green and there were bright yellow wildflowers. It was at least 20 degrees cooler than the valley too. When we finished the condo set up and took pictures, we decided to stop at Squatters for a bite to eat. Steve had heard the food was good and it was. We shared Rueben & turkey avocado sandwhiches and sweet potato fries and onion rings. No room for dessert this time.

We got home just in time for a visit from Hilary and Adam and kids. Adam had an appointment Sat. so they came down Friday night. That way Hilary could do a long run with her friend Amy and Adam could play Bball with the old crowd early on Saturday morning.

Leaving Park City in the rain. It was delightful.

Saturday, Steve took Korinne, Britton and Jenna to the zoo while Adam and Hilary went to the temple and I did open houses for two of my clients. Boy, Steve has been to the zoo twice this week. What a great Zooker he is! And a terrific grandparent too!

HOORAY! CELEBRATE!!

After we mourned Tiffany and Abigail's departure, we started celebrating. Today I put a house under contract for some buyers I have been working with for just about a year. It will be 12 months by the time we close the house the end of June. They are getting a really great house in Bountiful and I think that everyone is SUPER HAPPY-ESPECIALLY ME!!! I owe a referral fee to another realtor and when it all shakes out I think that I will be getting about $.75 an hour, but I couldn't be happier about the results.
The second celebration comes because at 8 p.m. tonight after waiting since 8 this morning, the technician came from Sears and fixed our fridge and showed us lots of tips about using it. He said that it is actually a very good fridge, very efficient and has a lot of really quality features. Steve is very happy to have his filtered water back and have the doors completely level. Plus he knows a lot more about this piece of stainless equipment now. They didn't give us an owner's manual when they delivered the fridge so we really had to guess on how everything worked. Now we just need to get our basement ceiling fixed in the office and then we will celebrate again.

Memorial Memories 2009

We started the day with the traditional Scout Memorial Day Breakfast at the old Riverview Ward. It was yummy and Steve and I had a fantastic time visiting so many of our old friends from the ward. We enjoyed introducing Tif, Shawn and Abigail. Abigail played on the equipment and checked out the ducks while we talked and talked. It was probably a lot more fun for us and we could have stayed longer, but we didn't want our guests to be bored to death.

Then we headed to Hogle Zoo along with a big crowd of zookers. Even though there were a lot of people, we had fun with Abigail on the merry-go-round and train. I don't know when I've seen so many pregnant women during a 2-hour period--humans, not animals.

By lunch time we were on our way home for naps and a little cookout of our own. The weather was perfectly awesome-that means sunny but not too hot-in the 70's.

We ended the day with a short but sweet family home evening which included a picture of Jesus as a child praying with his mother and a lot of Abigail's favorite songs. It was a sweet day!Before Tif and Abigail left on the plane today, we managed to squeeze into the schedule a couple of visits to the Thatcher condo swimming pool. The water is warm and it's never crowded. Come for a visit and we'll take you over.

Tiffany and my new real estate apprentice, Abigail, were helping with computer details for my business right up until they left for the plane this afternoon. It was hard to say goodbye and let them head home, but I'm sure they were ready for a grandparent break.

Four Generation Photo

Today after church we drove south to visit Grandpa Great and Ann. We took "Ribs" and cheesy potatoes, etc. so all they had to do was set the table. We had a very nice visit and enjoyed sitting on the back porch watching Abigail jump on the trampoline under Shawn's supervision. Grandpa is doing quite well and it's always fun to get a four generation photo--Tiffany, Ann, Kristen, Grandpa and Abigail.

Abigail loved the outdoor mousing cat named Mims. She followed him around and petted him and then she leaned in for a secret and a kiss. This turned into a Claritin moment for Tif since she's allergic to cats.

Ann's flowers are beautiful. Her iris were blooming profusely and Grandpa has built more grow boxes and has his garden planted. It was an idyllic setting with mountains and fields so green, the cattle and sheep grazing, the flowers blooming and the temperatures in the 70's under overcast skies. If it weren't Utah County, Steve would have felt like he was in heaven.

It's Not All Fun & Games

Last Sunday night after Tif and I had left for Idaho, Steve discovered some water dripping from the ceiling of my office in the basement. He poked a little hole and a stream of water came down. He thought at the time that it was coming from our newly installed dishwasher. So he stopped using it and planned to call the installer to come back and fix the water line. Well throughout the week it continued to drip at times. We thought it was the bathtub, then the shower, then the kitchen sink. We tried to find a pattern when the drips came and connect it to the use of various plumbing items. It just wasn't making sense. On Thursday night, Steve finally got a saw and cut down all the wet sheetrock. Then he and Shawn spent the next several hours analyzing. He had pulled out the fridge several times throughout the week, but had never seen any signs of water. Well, they checked again and there was a little water and they could see how it had been running along the baseboards to a lower point between the bathroom and the kitchen sink and then down a pipe to the ceiling below.

After all the possibilities had been fully explored, it has been determined that our new refrigerator has a faulty water filter system. We have called Sears regarding this problem. We'll give you the update on how well they "step up to the plate" to resolve this. We are elated to know what the cause was and we're so happy to have only one piece of sheetrock to replace and not a bathtub, shower or main water line. It's been a bit frustrating but we feel thankful. It could have been so much worse.

Here's the culprit. Isn't she beautiful? But oh so dangerous. This is another case of you can't always tell what's on the inside by looking at the outside. Beware of judging by appearance.

A moment of relaxation for Tif, Shawn and Abigail in our new back yard. The weather has been so pleasant during their visit.

Happy Birthday Tiffany & Adam

Friday we headed north for some fun with the cousins. Adam's birthday was the day after Tiffany's so we celebrated again with hats, songs, treat bags for the kids, one present each for the honorees and a real birthday cake-white with raspberry filling from Schmidts Bakery, (yum). As you will notice, Abigail again felt it was her responsibility to blow out all of the candles. Tiffany donned a tiara for this celebration. And Adam didn't even complain when he received his second electric razor this week. Back I go to the store to exchange mine because he already used the other one Hilary gave him. Of all the options in the universe, how did we manage to give him the same thing? He barely mentioned when day in front of both of us that he needed a new razor and voila two appear.

Our activities included a trip to the Willow Park Zoo and the next day we went to a park just down the hill from Hil's. Ha, Ha. Well the weather was absolutely perfect for park play so that's what we did.

Some of us did a lot of pushing kids on the swings. Those people would be the ones not in this picture namely Tiffany and Kristen.

Shawn and the duck had a real communication thing going on here. Big K and Adam watch in amazement. Or is that amusement?

Happy Birthday Tiffany !

On Wednesday, the real birth day for Tiffany, we had a birthday breakfast. We sang and had special candles in a blueberry muffin. Abigail was thrilled with the hats, singing and festivities.

She was especially pleased when she blew out all of the candles.

It Wasn't Just Another Sunday...

Not with Abigail, Tiffany and Shawn visiting us. It was fantastic to have them at church with us. It was fun to show off our daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter. Don't doubt us when we say that the High Council speakers did an outstanding job. Everyone thought Abigail was so cute. So did we.

We had Dustin, Larah, Cassidy and Parker over for supper that afternoon. Here we smile between bites of Larah's spice cake. We thought it was fabulous and couldn't keep from slicing another piece or two on the sly. No one was fooled and Larah went home with almost an empty pan.

The kids headed straight for the costume trunk. It must have been a PURPLE DAY.

After dinner, Tiffany, Abigail & I loaded into the pickup truck and headed north for Idaho. We thought we would try to help out Heather while Aaron was out of town, and we wanted Abigail to have a chance to play with her cousins. It was a busy, crazy day on Monday and at least Heather got to take a shower. The cousins had fun. We visited, did laundry, baked cookies and helped out with a flat tire emergency. All in a day's work.

Elsie happily models Heather's dress shoes.

Anna orchestrated a tea party for Abigail and Elsie.

Here I attempt to comfort Quinn. Sometimes I was quite successful--especially when I had a bottle of Heather's pumped milk. He'll take it fresh or refrigerated. It's nice that he is flexible about that.

For a brief moment Heather got to sit down to dinner. It took three adults just to keep up with the pace of the current household. We were all busy all day and we still didn't get the house picked up or cleaned. When we left early Tuesday morning, we didn't know how Heather would manage but somehow she does. She's amazing!

Two + Year Olds Are So Entertaining !

Abigail just loved helping us pull weeds and plant flowers. Here she is helping Steve water the newly planted flowers.

Abigail licking the frosting off a cookie at the Naborhood Bakery in Gardner Village. It was yummy.

Shawn standing nearby as Abigail road on Prince at Gardner Village. Grandpa Bill's mother was raised in a home that overlooked this spot. We wish we had taken a picture before it was torn down.

Tiffany and Abigail blowing bubbles off our back porch. It was a perfect day-sunny, bright and not too hot.

Shawn had to come to Utah as part of a certification team for an air flight medical company. He will be working here for the next 2-3 days. Tif and Abigail joined him and they will all vacation here for the remainder of the week. We're so happy that they chose to vacation in Utah so we can join in some of the fun. We're also happy to have room for visitors in our new place! Hooray!!!

Steve's Attention to Detail

In spite of a painful week of gout in the toe, Steve has persevered. He didn't take any sick days from work, although he canceled his trip to Idaho. And in between computer work, telephone calls, and foot soaks, he changed hinges and doorknobs on a lot of the doors throughout the house. He also helped the HOA project manager remove the railing on our front porch. It was rather oddly installed and made using the porch impossible. It really looks much better and several of the neighbors have made positive comments. The neighbors were just happy that I was finally out front pulling grass out of the flower beds and planting flowers in my pots. Hooray for spring and a little time to enjoy it!

Steve finally went to the Dr. today in his slippers. He was doing better but got discouraged with the constant pain. The drug prescribed has really worked on the pain but now he has an upset stomach. I expect that "This too shall pass" as my grandmother used to say.

Ah! Mother's Day!

I miss the opportunity to thank my mother, Aloha, and Steve's mother, June, and tell them just how wonderful they are and how much we appreciate all that they did for us. I feel so fortunate to be a mother and so blessed to have such amazing kids and grandkids. I thank you all for your cards and phone calls. You all made my day! Since Hilary lives close enough to visit, she and Adam were very thoughtful and invited us to come up for dinner. Britton, Jenna and Korinne looked so nice all dressed up for church that we had to get a picture.

Adam did a great job cooking dinner and I bet all of you wished you could have been with us to eat some of his home made rolls. They were super delicious and he made enough for Britton and the rest of us too.

It was a rough weekend for Steve. Our original plans included a trip to Idaho to see some grandkids' programs. Then we were going to come back through Logan. Well Steve got an excruciatingly painful gout attack so Saturday was most unpleasant for him and we were both disappointed that we missed the performances. He was a bit better by Sunday so he endured the drive up to Hilary's and back. Thank heavens for those rolls!

Thanks, Steve, for enduring the painful ride so I could spend the day with one of our kids! It meant a lot to me. What a kind husband I have.

Today he is doing much better but his foot is still painful, needs soaking and soda water drinks and he still can't wear a shoe. However, he worked on the phone today and tonight he even got out his power screw driver to install our bathroom door and hardware. I couldn't figure out what the loud noise was that was coming from the bathroom. There he was in his birthday suit with his power tools. I guess he felt he needed to create some privacy before getting in the tub to soak his foot.

Wednesday Was a Good Day...

It started out with an early morning temple visit. When I came out the sun was shining brightly. It was so nice to have warm sunshine. Everything is green and the flowers are fresh because of all our recent rain.

Two other very good things happened that day. Kenzie and Taylor's new home was recorded into their name - 2 days early thanks to Adam's efforts. Here is Kenzie with her darling little Will in front of their new home. It's so cute from the outside. I can't wait to see the inside when they get it all fixed up. Good luck Kenzie & Taylor!

Here are Kenzie, Taylor & Will signing their lives away on Monday. It's been so fun working with them. I know that they will return this home to a state of complete charm.

The other great thing that happened was that we received a cash offer on a horse property that I have had listed for awhile...We were able to negotiate a deal that made both parties very happy so soon my sellers will be loading their truck and heading to California. I love it when I can help people realize their dreams. I'm grateful for such a good day!

A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words

Isn't Quinn adorable? I think this was his first outing with his mother. They went to her clinic for checkups. You can really see the family features. I think he looks like Aaron's brother Brandon. Elsie is fluctuating between babyhood and big sisterhood. Here she is in the baby mode. Anna looks smugly at the situation.

The root canal, Airborne and Halls Defense have done their magic. I worked a 16 hr. day on Saturday. I am a little low on the energy side and I sound kind of congested, but all in all I'm back.

Today we went to our new ward for the whole set of meetings. People were very nice and there was an abundance of the Spirit. It was good to meet some more of our neighbors. We have a young, energetic Bishop and two mature counselors. There were plenty of children so it's a good mix. I'm glad it's not just a bunch of old people. I think that it is the right place for us at this time. It will be okay.

Yesterday while I worked, Steve painted some of the interior doors and hung up hooks, etc. Paint is a wonderful miracle. It makes such a difference. Tonight we hung up some more of our pictures so it's starting to feel more like home around here. Everyday we get things a little more organized.

I have so much to be grateful for.