Here Come April Showers...

We arrived home the evening of March 28.  We were delighted to see a few tulips blooming in our Murray yard and we enjoyed walking on the parkway amongst the developing greenery, with trees beginning to flower and the snowcapped mountains in the background.  It is still chilly but we felt the hope of warmer weather to come.

 I immediately went to work and listed a townhouse and held an open house.  About 20 prospective buyer groups came through to see the home.  We had 7 offers.  That is what our real estate market is like here right now.

 On Friday, we had a birthday lunch for three of my siblings.  Jackie and Val drove down since it was her spring break from school.  Jackie was born March 2; Steve on March 21; and Cathy on March 29th.  I made homemade chicken and noodles served over mashed potatoes since that was a favorite dish my mother, Aloha, made when we were children.  Jackie brought Aloha's china so we could use it for lunch.  We had a very enjoyable time reminiscing.

That evening Steve and I drove up to CV.  Jackie and Val drove down to see Ann in Mapleton.  They thought they would come up to CV to see our place there and stay the night.  As it turned out, they stayed in Murray instead, but drove up on Saturday morning.  We were working on the rental house and listening to conference.  We all drove over to our place and had lunch and Val gave Steve some lessons on pruning fruit trees.  That was a nice bonus.

After Jackie and Val left for Idaho, we went back to the rental to continue working while we were uplifted by Conference  talks.

 The new stove was delivered this week.  Nice don't you think?

We honored Taylor on his 33rd birthday by thinking of him and working extra hard.  This weekend I came across this photo of him standing in front of the Hackettstown hospital where he was born on April 1, 1984.  We were on a family trip to visit Tiffany when she lived in Pennsylvania when this photo was taken.  I believe Taylor was about 13 years old.

 We were able to watch some conference with the Campbells on Sunday morning.  After the afternoon session we had dinner together.  We enjoyed our first watermelon of the season.

Here is our beautiful sunset on the evening of April 1st.

I love it when the snowcapped mountains surround the beautiful green of the spring fields in CV.  I can never get enough of the magnificent CV scenery.

 On Monday, we were back in SL and were lucky enough to have a visit from Heather who came to a banquet honoring her Weber State coach, Jim Blaisdale, as he was inducted into the Utah Sports Hall of Fame.  I think she had a wonderful time visiting with teammates and coaches.  The next morning she and I squeezed in a temple session at the Oquirrh Mountain temple.  It was wonderful and the tulips were beautiful.

 Heather had a few errands to run and I had appointments so it was a short but delightful visit.

 Later that day, my sister Cathy and I, took time for pedicures together as a birthday gift to her.  I have two amazing sisters and I love them dearly.

Here are some pelicans were have observed lately on our Murray Parkway walks.  We haven't seen pelicans before on our walks but have noticed them several times this year.  The weather just keeps bringing spring surprises.  It has rained a lot and snowed several times.  Interspersed between storms we get some sunshine.  

 On a rare sunny day, Steve had Britton help with some work at the rental.  We really appreciated his help.

 Steve has renewed many dormant skills including repairing sheetrock. setting toilets, installing dishwashers and faucets, installing bathroom flooring and baseboard moulding, etc.  He has really worked hard on our renovation and it is shaping up.

 Once in awhile we stop and relish the beautiful sunsets or rising moons.  We truly live in a beautiful place and we love it!

Nothing's Fina' than S. Carolina!

Directly after our cruise through the Panama Canal, on March 23, 2017, we flew to Myrtle Beach to visit Libbie and Jeff's family in their new home.  We arrived late that night so we didn't see the kids until the next day.  Benson was off to school, Sadie was home still under the weather from having a fever and flu for a couple of days.  Xander was in his prime and so happy to see his Papa!

Steve and Jeff immediately set to work on projects.  I believe the first was to assemble and install a storm door on their back door.  It allows a lot of extra light into the room and with the soft close feature will keep the door from banging. So first we went shopping at the nearby Lowe's to purchase the door.

It wasn't all that easy, but Jeff and Steve with a lot of help from Xander managed to finish it off perfectly.
We always hope for warm, pleasant weather in South Carolina but for some reason we usually arrive along with a cold snap.  This visit was no exception.  However, it was still warmer than back home and we had rain instead of snow.  Mostly it was just cloudy and chilly.
Below Steve and his vigilant helper, Xander prepare the wall of the garage for painting--a little mud and a bit of sanding.  Libbie wants a home gym and she has her plan ready.

That afternoon, Steve and I, bundle up and go to a local high school to watch Benson compete with the high school tennis team.  Since he is in the 8th grade, that is pretty impressive.  He had a brand new partner for this set of doubles so they didn't pull off a win but Benson did a great job and we enjoyed watching.

Saturday morning, I went with Liberty to the boot camp class she teaches with Char.  They make the class a lot of fun.  I wish that I could participate all the time.  I would be in good shape if I did.
Meanwhile Steve had painted the wall and was ready to begin installing the gym equipment.

The weather was warm enough and it didn't rain, so the kids had a ball playing with their new neighbor across the street.  She furnished a lot of fun toy options and was so happy to have playmates.  Their mother played too.

Libbie's friend, Char, gave Steve some gourmet cupcakes since we were trying to eat so healthy with Libbie.  She thought our sugar withdrawal after the cruise might be difficult and it was.  Steve generously shared them with our birthday boys, Benson on March 18 and Jeff on April 6.  Of course the rest of us joined in except for Libbie.  She was so good.

Monday night we went to a Japanese restaurant, Miyabi's, to celebrate Benson and Jeff's birthdays.  It is a fast food version of  the fancy Japanese teppanyaki style food.  It was delicious and we all enjoyed it very much.

Sunday was probably the highlight of our visit as we were able to observe Benson being ordained to the office of a teacher in the Aaronic Priesthood.  It as great that Steve was able to assist in the ordination.  After church, Benson, Libery and Jeff drove 2 1/2 hours to the stake patriarch's so Benson could get his patriarchal blessing.  Xander and Sadie were so happy we were there to take care of them so they wouldn't have to go along for that ride.

Between all the projects, Libbie, Xander and I slipped over to the beach.  Steve was intent on finishing up some details so he missed the beach entirely on this trip.  He is "dadicated."

Both Steve and I went to Brookgreen Gardens with Libbie and Xander.  Many of the flowers got frozen in the cold snap but it was still beautiful with lots of daffodils and some tulips.

There were lots of blooming azaelas in the area which we enjoyed too.

 Below are a few pictures of Libbie and Jeff's new home.  It is very pretty and functional.  We think that they will really enjoy having a home of their own again.  The location is perfect near the club house, tennis courts and swimming pool and overlooking a lovely pond.

 Below are my cold blue toes in the ocean.  I always have to get my "feet wet."

Thanks to Liberty for squeezing in a foot zone just before we left.  I love to have my feet zoned.

We loved walking around their neighborhood.  It is a pretty place.  Of course we checked out the bigger new homes being built right across from her back pond.

In this photo of Xander and Steve, you can see the back of Libbie's house--the green one on the right. To the left of Xander is the big pond.

Xander loves Brookgreen gardens and below he was busy vacuuming Sadie's bedroom.  Just as we were winding up our last day, Libbie discovered that her friend and son had lice.  She suspected that Sadie would have it too since she plays with Ryder all the time.  Libbie started washing bedding, clothes, etc. immediately.  She texted us from the airport that Sadie indeed was infested.  Of course after lots of hugs, etc., I was concerned that I might have it too.   I itched a lot the next couple of days.  However, I was spared.  It became a nightmare for Libbie though as Sadie went through two rounds and the washing machine broke in the middle of the whole mess.  Jeff to the rescue.  Jeff is becoming quite handy.

We loved our five day South Carolina visit.  I surely wish that there't weren't so many miles in between us.  Xander surely loves his Papa.  He said he wanted us to live nearby.  It was a sad moment when they hugged goodbye at the airport.