. Just Imagine the Good Neighbor: Where did August go?

For one thing, Steve spent a lot of time here and there repairing the ceiling in our basement bathroom apartment after the toilet upstairs leaked. It was quite a process which involved replacing sheetrock, texturing and repainting the ceiling and part of the wall--not to mention replacing the upstairs floor and toilet. He often waited for tenants to be gone so that his work didn't disturb them. What a guy Steve is?

On Saturday evening, Aug. 5, we offered to tend Will and June while Taylor and Jen had a date night. Campbell's had discount coupons for the Jump Zone, so we took the kids there. They had a ball!
It was really fun watching them, especially AJ since it was a totally new experience for him. Loved those big smiles all around.

Everyone just hanging out, chatting and eating on Sunday after church.

Kids loving their ice cream treats and visiting with the neighbor's cute little dog.

One last yummy meal with ribs and produce from the garden before Tay and Jen leave this week.

As we were putting dinner on the table, we got a call from our tenant saying that our condo in SL was on fire. She and her dog had escaped without injury. After dinner, Steve and I drove down directly to check things out. What we saw totally shocked us. This was a major fire with severe damage to at least half of the building. We were happy our tenant was safe but there are many questions that will take some time to get answered. At this point, we hope our insurance coverage is good, but since it is a Sunday, Steve had a couple of sleepless nights before he could get answers to his questions.

Our unit was not burned down but has smoke and water damage. Residents were locked out for several days, but someone did let Lois go in to gather some medication and clothes. We are so grateful that she and her beloved dog were safe.

Monday night we got to spend a couple of house with Will and June before their departure on Tuesday.

We had to cook spaghetti since they love spaghetti so June helped me.

Then we drove to a local Wendy's for the frosty special. It's been so fun having these kids around a bit this summer. It's always hard to have them return to China. Luckily we will see them in September for Will's baptism!

Tuesday night Steve and I attended a brief celebration for my realtor associate, Miriam, who celebrated her 80th birthday and she is still going strong.

Tif drove down from CV with a plan to visit petroglyphs a few miles outside of Price. I had no idea that we had petroglyphs that close so we were eager to join the excursion and search.

We followed the directions that Tiffany downloaded from he website and when I saw these buffalo looking water marks on the rocks, we thought we had hit pay dirt. We later had a few good laughs when we saw the real thing.

There were several pioneer cabins, pony express stations and ghost towns along the way.

Seeing the real petroglyphs was amazing. We only saw one other tourist looking diligently at the rock drawings. He pointed some out to us and we pointed some out to him. He had a serious camera.

Our excursion took us down Nine Mile Canyon. At the beginning was an abandoned coal mine that has only been closed in recent years. It is kind of sad to have that economic contribution to the area closed down.

We had to stop in Price and check out the university where Tiffany and McKay had both gone to school. At the time it was called College of Eastern Utah. Now it is called Utah State University Eastern. The campus has changed a lot but Tif's dorm was still there so we took photos of Tiffany and Abigail in front of it. It was a beautiful drive and we loved exploring and enjoying a day with Tiffany and Abigail.

In between adventures, Steve continues to work hard on the bathroom floor and fix up project.

On Friday, the 11th, Steve and I attended the graveside service for Arnie Lieberman, age 90. Arnie was married to Steve's cousin, Hazel Price Lieberman, who passed away about several years earlier.
After Hazel's passing, Arnie renewed his activity in his Jewish faith so it was interesting to participate in a Jewish memorial service. Below I am pictured with Marla Payne and her son Danny. Marla was married to Steve's cousin Parley. Parley and Hazel were siblings.

Jon Lieberman's sons but his first marriage.

Here I am with Lindsey, Jon's 2nd wife and her three children. We really enjoyed the time we were able to spend with Jon and Lindsey. Lindsey is a Christian with strong faith but she really supports Jon and appreciates many of the Jewish traditions.

The next day, Saturday, we gathered in the back yard of Audrey Hoggan to put together the Zimbabwe baby kits. Audrey and her family members have spent countless hours sewing diapers, gowns and blankets. Thanks to her leadership and everyone's generosity we were able to donate over a 100 baby kits for Zimbabwe.

After we worked for a couple of hours assembling all the kits, we took a break and headed to the Cache County Fair for a bit with Tiffany and Abigail.

We ran into our neighbors Chayce and Payge. Abigail knows them from my primary classes.

Abigail and Camdyn help put soap in the kits.

Korinne and Abigail help make cobbler with berries from our garden. They enjoy helping with baking.

Some of the neighbor girls opened a stand to sell some of their past treasures. Capitalism, yay!

AJ loves pouring water and drinking water too.

We were able to attend one of Jenna and Britton's cross-country races held at Sugar House Park. It was a very hot day and I think Jenna got dehydrated.

My cousin, Debbie, was in Utah for the birth of her first grand baby. A couple of us, McMurray cousins were able to meet for lunch. Left to right Kristen, Debbie, Steve and Vickie.

AJ is a cutie. We still love taking pictures of him. He is our current celebrity.

Britton celebrated is 16th birthday on the 20th. Steve's birthday was the next day so we kind of celebrated together.

Here are two handsome birthday boys!

The 21st was the day of the total eclipse. We were only in the 97% area so we didn't see the totality except on TV. It was amazing, however. We were especially surprised to realize how much the temperature dropped when the moon covered the sun. It was literally "cool" and as it became chilly, I had to get a sweater.

That night we went out for some pizza to celebrate. Tiffany was still driving back from Rexburg so she missed this little party. AJ loved his first taste of root beer. Hilary thought she would give him a taste. He wouldn't give her back the cup. He's a root beer guy!

Before Tiffany and Abigail left for Texas, we had to squeeze in a pedicure. Here we are with our fancy toes and our big smiles.

Thanks for coming to visit Tiffany and Abigail. We love you both!

On the 24th, we gathered in the back yard with our primary class for our pioneer class activity.

The kids really enjoy making cobbler and playing pioneer games. It is a good reward for accumulating enough balls in the bag when they did their reading assignments. We all worked together for accomplish this goal.

It's been a busy summer and Steve and I have only been to the local farmer's market a couple of times. We stopped by for a visit on Saturday morning, the 26th.

There is usually something yummy to eat and I think Steve found it.

In between work and events, Steve has worked consistently on organizing his barn/shop. It's looking great and he knows where things are.

A big surprise for our neighbor Carrie on her 40th birthday-a girls' trip to CA! She was so excited!

We helped with the kids a little--watching AJ while Adam got Jameson enrolled in his first day of kindergarten! Exciting times!

Steve finishes the bathroom floor in SL and then installs the new toilet. He looked great when he was finished. We are really enjoying our new toilet.