And The Weeks Go On...

Sunday evening after dinner, Tanner entertained the kids with his funny video discoveries.

One of Tanner's favorite places is to read and watch the sunset on the deck when weather permits.  We enjoy it too and you can see Steve's legs resting on the table.

Occasionally Jameson and AJ pull out the costumes and act out various scenarios.  This time we had neighbor kids involved in the action also.

Taylor and Jen drove to SL on the 15th for medical checkup appointments.  We thought it would be a good time to celebrate June's birthday so we drove to SL and met them for dinner.  They like to celebrate special occasions as Cheesecake factory so we joined them there and enjoyed a tasty meal.

June was excited and Preston was in rare form that evening.  It got a little crazy.

                                                 Preston liked the spaghetti!

We drove back to CV that evening.  The next couple of days turned cold and rainy and we ended up with snow in the mountains.  You will note snow on the high peak behind me.

We loved having the rain which made everything green and pretty.  We have had so many beautiful sunsets this summer.  I just can't stop taking photos of them.

AJ, Jameson and the neighbor kids have learned to ask what they can do to earn a popsicle.  I have gotten most of my peas picked and shelled this summer in exchange for popsicles.

The boys were feeling rambunctious one afternoon so I pulled out some toys we found in the barn.

They actually played with them and I got involved in playing toss games for quite awhile.  It was amazing since nothing seems to hold their interest for long.

Taylor's family was back in SG for June's real birthday on the 20th.  We got our own private concert with her new karoke machine.  All of the kids got into the act.  It was fun.  She also designed her own cake which turned out to be a masterpiece.

On Father's Day, the 21st, we celebrated all the fathers in our family.  Hilary and Adam joined us for dinner.  Steve is modeling the new reversible BBQ apron I made for him so that he can cook out on the smoker/grill.  He looks like a true chef now!

Here Steve is studying his scriptures and drinking the famous sugar stabilizing shake we tout.

When the sunny days arrived in earnest, we tackled the project of removing and re-staining our shutters.  I was a little nervous to have Steve on the roof, but we were tied together with rope and he was careful so it turned out okay.  After staining them with 30 year stain, Tanner helped him re-install the shutters.  It is the last time we will be doing that project ourselves.

Steve loves cold watermelon!  Sometimes after a long day of working, he likes to soak in the tub and enjoy a slice of nice cold watermelon.  This was a joke around the mission, so I took a photo and sent it to one of our favorite sister missionaries, Sienna Franco and our friends the Briggs.  It was good for a few laughs.

On the evening of the 24th, our friends, the Hogge's invited us to join a few others for a hot dog roast in Logan Canyon.  We had never been up Logan Canyon for a picnic.  It was a relaxing couple of hours and we enjoyed good food, friends and conversation.  Thanks to the Larry and Shaun for including us.

Steve continues to work on refinishing our old cherry table. It has to cure for 30 days before he can apply the final coat.

And I continue to tend our flowers which we love!

We drove to SL on the 25th where Steve worked hard repairing parts of the sprinkler system at the rental house.  It's a lot of work maintaining multiple homes.

I got to join in person with our bookclub at Heidi's house.  She lives on the Cottonwood Creek and has an absolutely gorgeous backyard.  We started out with masks but had difficulty talking and laughing so we just sat far apart.  One of our members had already left before we decided to pose for this photo.  It was so liberating to meet together with a small group of friends.

I invited my siblings to spend a day or two in our Logan house working on family history together.  The plan was to sort through some of the boxes of my dad's stuff and hopefully work on writing my mother's life story.  Our plan was shortened to Sunday and Greg had to work but we did enjoy being together, identifying people in photos and sorting through two boxes.  Jackie scanned a ton of photos with the help of Hilary's equipment.  She stayed over until Tuesday morning and spent all day Monday identifying and dating photos that she had put on her computer.  What a gal!

Because we needed a clean work area, I cleaned my desk and my quilting table and we worked up in the office.  That alone was an accomplishment!

One day I found a recipe for vegan snickerdoodle cookies.  Tanner decided to try it out.  The results were really quite tasty and he was willing to share.

Steve, Hilary, Jackie, Cathy and I were hard at work sorting, labeling scanning and tossing some things.  I wanted to serve them food that reminded us of our mother.  For lunch we had homemade clam chowder which was a favorite of hers.  For dinner I made old-fashioned chicken and noodles.  Of course, I used frozen noodles but we all remembered drying the noodles and shaking them out all the while trying hard not to eat too many before they were cooked.

We really appreciated Hilary's expertise and guidance.  It was nice to have a pro help us.

It was a rainy day but it didn't matter to us.  That evening Heather, Aaron, Anna and Quinn drove down.  They wanted to see a house being built in our neighborhood with a bball court.

It was fun to have them join in the fun and have a meal together before Cathy and Steve left.

Jenna and Anna enjoyed spending time together and laughing at the hairdos in our old high school annuals.

We walked through a lot of water to see the house being built by our neighbors.  They will have to do some major landscaping to control the water runoff from the hills around them.

Monday afternoon, Taylor and Jen drove to Salt Lake to see Jen's grandparents.  Her grandmother wasn't expected to live long.  They made it in time to see her while she was still alive.   Jen's grandfather, Hector, was so happy to see them.  The next day, Taylor brought the kids up to CV while Jen stayed with her family in Murray.  Maria passed away late that night so then they had a service to plan and final arrangements to make.  I think it was really helpful for Esther to have Jen there.

Jackie and I enjoyed Tuesday morning together.

She played the piano for me and entertained little AJ.

She had left by the time the sun came out and Taylor arrived with Will, June and Preston.

I quickly washed the sheets and towels and had everything ready for the next guests.

I was able to get the kids to help pick and shell the peas.  They all love popsicles.

The next afternoon when Jen arrived, we took the kids and went for a picnic up Providence Canyon.  It was fun to explore and wade a little in the cold, cold water.  They mostly enjoyed the Cheetos and the apple juice.  Everything else seemed secondary.

Later that afternoon, Jen and Taylor cut the boys hair and went shopping for clothes for them to wear to the viewing and graveside service.

That evening we had pizza some of which we cooked in the smoker.  It was a little crispy for us so next time we will try a lower temperature and less cooking time. Campbells happily joined us to try it out.

Have I mentioned how much we enjoy the beautiful sunsets?

That night Preston and June helped me bake cookies for Jen to take for the family dinner.
With covid restrictions, I couldn't think of any other way to help.  They included a few of their grandparents' closest Hispanic friends for the outdoor service and the lunch was attended by family members only.

They loved being my helpers until the neighbors, the Knights, invited Will and June for s'mores.

They all looked handsome for the services the next day, July 3,  which happened to be Maria's 93rd birthday.

Hector with his great grandchildren.

On the morning of July 4th, we started the day with blueberry pancakes.  June helped make a Mickey Mouse pancake for Preston.

The kids and neighbor friends helped pick and shell peas.  The word is out about the popsicles.

The girls played together almost all day.  They stayed for lunch and because it was a holiday without any parades, etc., Steve put up the bounce house and they played in it and then added the hose.  The water made it extra fun.

Steve and I picked cherries and dried them.  It was definitely a different holiday.  We were happy the kids had friends to play most of the day.  They got a little red from the sun but our aloe vera gel worked well.

Later in the day, we had brats, hamburgers, hot dogs, etc and had red, white and blue frozen pops for dessert with both Taylor's and Hilary's families.

Happy Birthday to the USA!  We love our country!

We enjoyed multiple fireworks from our deck.  The kids had glow in the dark bracelets, etc.

Sunday night we were up in our office when Steve noticed fireworks out of our front window.  We were shocked as it is an area where fireworks are banned.

Sure enough a few moments later, Steve saw smoke and flames.  The sparks had started a fire.  Steve drove up to the road above us to see if he could help.  A big group of teenagers were trying to stomp out the fire, but it got away from them.  Two firetrucks and two police cars arrived and quickly put out the fire.  We are sure that there were a few tickets handed out.  It was fortunate that the fire didn't spread to either of the nearby homes.  What an exciting evening!

Steve called me down to the barn to look at some recipes and files he had discovered.  Not only did we find an entire box of recipes, (shock) but he discovered employment files and tax records dating back to when we were first married.  There were also lots of momentos saved from my image consulting days with Melody Jaisson and the Just Imagine Toning Salons.  

When we removed the cherries from the 8 trays of our dehydrator, we ended up with 1 bag of dried cherries.  It sure seemed like a lot of work for such a small amount of cherries.  We will enjoy them, however, and it only cost our time and one plastic ziplock bag.

Steve spent most of the rest of the week building shelves and re-organizing his barn.  He has really done a great job of maximizing his space and we have gathered together a few things for my brothers' future garage sale.

The level is one of his preferred tools.

AJ helped me pick, shell and pull the pea plants.  He earned his popsicle this time.

Earlier in the week, we spent a busy day in Murray with Dr., dentist, hairdresser, massage and realtor appointments.  We really packed our day.

Thursday we met our friends, Jan and Doug Adams, for lunch at Beehive Grill.  An hour here and there that feel almost like normal is so helpful for our psychological health.

The next evening we had another lift when we met Larsens and Briggs for dinner in Layton.  Then we all drove over to a reception center for the wedding celebration of two young MIM missionaries we worked with in Independence--Rachel and Porter Bischoff.

We were surprised by the number of missionaries in attendance.  One couple drove up from San Diego.  Our mission president and his wife, who just returned from Missouri last week, were also there.  It was great to see them all.

The past two days we have had zucchini noodles with our spaghetti sauce.  We love them fresh from the garden and our spiralizer is a hit.

Sunday afternoon, we zoomed with members of the Price family to wish Britton well as he starts his home MTC experience on Wednesday morning.  Fortunately, we had their family to dinner an hour later so we didn't really have to say goodbye yet.  Tomorrow night, he will be set apart by the stake president.  The mission traditions are certainly being changed by the covid situation.  Fortunately, Britton has a great attitude and is willing to do whatever is asked.  He is eager and ready to serve the Lord!