New Decor

Have not decided on the lamp yet so that is why the tag is still attached. I love having homegoods so close with all the great deals you can get. I just love the mirrored night stand. You can't get enough bling!




With the arrival of Mike and Christy back into our home on the 25th of this month I thought it would be nice to change things up a bit. Sorry Kandis but the purple and gold had to go in the guest bedroom. I decided to go with black and white and aqua. Ava and Jack will be sharing this room and they will move the white crib in the bedroom with a white dresser so it should look really nice. I also purchased black curtains for the window treatment to keep the light out when napping. I am thinking of getting HUGE vinyl letters of their names for the wall but have not firmed that one up with Christy. The other bedroom has Kristin and Thomas' bed in it with their bedding. All I added was the picture over the bed and a mirrored night stand. The other mirrored night stand is in the kids room. They are really cute and I got them at Target! The Laundry room got a new rug and a picture on the wall to make me happy when I do laundry. ( I'll let you know about the happy part!). The shower curtain rod has been changed to the type that is in hotels. It is bent to give the person more room for the shower. Pretty cool. I hope you enjoy the pics. This is the first time I have done this with my new computer. (go apple!)

All ready for the kids to move in a couple of weeks. I will be in Kentucky when they come so I hope they like it!

So Sad

Well, we knew this day would come but it didn't make it any easier! Thomas and Kristin flew to London on Monday and the trip to San Francisco was very memorable. The flight did not leave until 7:15 pm so we decided to leave around noon so we could be there in plenty of time and possibly grab some dinner before they needed to be at the airport. We start out getting on 80 west from our house and the traffic was packed bumper to bumper pretty much all the way to the turn off for the Sacramento airport exit. We were going about 5 miles an hour stop and go when we get rear ended by the car behind us in the middle lane of the freeway. We pull over and get out to check the damage and luckily we were in Sid's truck and didn't have any damage to our car since Sid has a tow hitch on the back. The bumper of the other car was punctured but we were fine. The bump woke up Mason from his nap and he was not very happy about that. We got ourselves back in the pile of cars and headed forward again. The clock was ticking and we really did not see how we were going to make it to San Fran by 5:00pm. We would cruise for a little while and then come to a dead stop again. Very frustrating and tense in the car.( You can imagine how Kristin and I were in the back seat) Thomas was calm and cool about it but we were a little tense! We get to the bay bridge and pay our toll and then on the bridge a car was stalled and a tow truck pulls in front of us and stops. We have to go around it and then off we were to the airport. The clock turned to exactly 5:00pm when we arrived. We pull all the luggage out of the truck and get a cart to push everything in the terminal. I am pushing Mason in the stroller and Kristin is pushing the cart and Thomas has 4 bags trying to find where we needed to go. The luggage falls off the cart and we have to stop and pick everything up again. Sid had to wait out by the curb with the truck and then the police car came and told him to move it just as I was walking out of the terminal. I ran and jumped into the truck and off we went. Sid didn't even get to say goodbye properly and I was a sobbing mess! We haven't heard a thing from them yet so we hope they made it on the plane and are in London at the Holiday Inn.

We have a couple of weeks before the house will be full again with Mike and Christy and their 2 kids. Mike will get assigned his internship at the Kaiser in Sacramento so they will stay with us while he completes that part of his schooling. They will probably be with us for about a year. Life is always changing around here and keeps us busy. For now there is quiet on the home front but I sure miss Mason's giggle and smiles and all his jumping in the jumper! Next time we see him he will be walking and running.

Sid got his Antelope

Here is Sid's big antelope for the Nevada archery tag that he drew for this year. Before he left on Friday I asked him if he would shoot a big one the first day if he saw it and he said," No Way, I have the whole week off". Well, as the story goes he saw this big guy by 11:00am on the first day and shot him and was home Sunday night!

We have gone back and forth about getting this bad boy stuffed and I have laid down the law and told him no more animals in the house. He said this one will go in his dental office! Yeah right, we will see how long that will stay there. I told him the elk in the garage needs a friend to talk to so that is where he will go!

The night before Sid set up the trail camera and didn't bother to look at it. You can see his truck and trailer in the background. He really didn't need to go very far from his camp to get this big guy! He was already in his hot blind waiting for his antelope to come into his watering hole.

Monday morning I walked out of the garage to see a carcass hanging from the tree and a big black garbage bag in the refrigerator in the garage. Sid was quick to show me the head in the bag and I was not so excited to see meat hanging from the tree. Sid said you might be married to a redneck if you have a head in your refrigerator and meat hanging in the tree. I KNOW I am married to a redneck! It was great having him home for the week but he went back to work on Wednesday and Thursday! Right now his back is killing him and he can hardly walk. He needs to take it easy! The garden is killing him this year.

Slacker

I know I have been the blogger slacker lately. I have been really busy with helping Kristin and Thomas move, having house guests (Josh & Alexis, Jacob and Julia) Still not an excuse for keeping everyone that wants to know informed about the goings on in our home! It seems like the days are going faster and faster and I get less and less done. I still work at the temple on Tuesday nights and for that I am grateful to stop the day and just ponder and have peace in my life.
Sid bought a 4-wheeler for riding in the mountains and has been giving the grand kids rides. The garden is over flowing with produce which takes time to harvest and preserve almost daily. I must say we have come up with some wonderful zucchini recipes for all the zucchini we are picking.
We had a scare with Betty Boop eating slug bait and almost dying. She seems to like to eat anything she can get in her mouth. She will be going to live with Kandis in a few weeks so we will see how long that will last. Life is great, fun, busy, wonderful all at the same time. I am trying to walk with my good friend Gayle Wheeler in the mornings and finding time to relax in the pool if I can with the kids. I can't complain, we have been truly blessed with wonderful kids and grand kids.

Another Turkey Hunt

Mike came up for Mother's day weekend with the family and went hunting with Sid on Saturday morning. They went to the same place that Sid got his big tom. They set up the blind and called the turkey and waited for the big moment to kill one. While they were talking up came a tom to their decoy and they jumped into action. Mike shot it and off it ran limping. They waited awhile and then started out to find it. An hour and half later they found it and claimed their kill.

A very nice bird with a long beard! Gobble Gobble! We are not having it for dinner today but they will have to take it down to Richmond and cook it up later.

Quick trip to Provo

This past Wednesday I drove to Provo to visit Kandis, Nic and Nixon. My friend Cindy was going to women's conference at BYU and asked me to drive out with her. The weather forecast was crazy cold so Sid gave me the truck and the trip was on! Going over Donner pass they posted chain controls but if you were in a truck with snow tires you did not have to chain up. We started up the hill and about a third of the way up the hill I hit some ice and spun the truck in a complete circle. We were now facing the on coming traffic and luckily for us they stopped behind us and let us get facing the correct direction. I put the car into reverse and turned it back around and started to head in the right direction very slowly. Cindy mentioned that we needed to put the car into 4-wheel drive. I made the comment that I did not know how to do that. I did not want to wreck Sid's truck so I thought we would need to get the car manual out of the glove box and read how to do it. Just as we said those words the phone rang in the car and it was Sid on the phone calling us to tell us how to put the car into 4-wheel drive!! We were so excited to press the little button on the dash and off we went with not a single problem the whole way! I know Heavenly Father was watching out for us. Sid was not happy about us going in the cold weather but I am sure glad he listened to the prompting to call us when he did! How could I miss seeing such a cute little grandson like Nixon?? We were at Quilted bear in Provo and Nixon saw these stuffed animals. He grabbed the biggest bear he could carry and wanted to squeeze him. So cute!

We found some treasures to put into Kandis's home and it was a great time.

We did the Sam's club run and while we were there we saw Julia's sister Christy (sp?) It was good to see her! When we got home we set the hose on the front lawn and Nixon climbed on top of it and was afraid to get down. He LOVE'S being outside. Even if it is snowing and raining he wants to be outside. He points to everything and tries to say the words that we would say. The funny word he says is "Happy" at this time. He loves the song "If you're happy and you know it clap your hands" and that is why he says Happy all the time.

All dressed and ready to go shopping with Grandma and Kandis. We went to Quilted Bear, Thai Pan, Ikea, Sam's, Macy's, University Mall etc. On Saturday we went to Wayne and Laurie's house and saw how the addition is coming along. A jaw dropping job of an addition. Way to go Laurie. On Saturday night we went to a concert in Salt Lake with the Utah Symphony and the Temptations. Yes, you read it right the Temptations. I didn't think any of them were still alive and singing concerts. The last original Temptation is Otis Williams and next year he said he would have been doing concerts for 50 years! Wow that is a long time. They were great and it was a fun evening with Matt and Val. Church was on Sunday and Kandis will be great as the new YW president in her ward. The girls will have a lot to learn from her. She is a great example and so darling! Monday morning I packed up the truck and headed home. No rain, snow, ice but a lot of wind. I will take wind any day! 85 degrees and now I remember why I live in California!

Library Time

At the Library they have reading time for little babies and toddlers and we took Nixon over to participate. It was really fun and such a great place to be when the weather is so cold. They had a big stuffed animal zebra that Nixon loved to hug.

He was having grand thoughts of riding this bad boy but the librarian put an end to that dream!

They have a 1/2 hour of rhymes and puppets and books and then you can do it all again in Spanish! Starts out with the morocco's and cucaracha song. The kids LOVE shaking their instruments to the music. Fun to watch.

Kandis and Nic are getting into the song.