A Busy Month

The last several weeks have been filled with fun and memorable events. For example, all the college kids finished their school year and for all the BYU kids it meant lots of changes. Cameron graduated and Lisa and Cameron moved from Provo to Park City. Jessica packed up all her stuff and brought it home, only to repack again and move to Virginia for the summer.

Dennis officially moved into the "big office" and although it is not decorated yet (at least to my standards) his furniture is all arranged and personal belongings stored. He has been on the road a lot, flying to Colorado, Washington and driving to Virginia with Jessica so he hasn't really been bothered by the lack of wall hangings, matching furniture.... Of course, at the pace he is traveling, or maybe just because of who he is, he may never be worried by those things.

Our friend, Lydia, came to visit for three weeks. We have been busy seeing all the sights we can. Our first weekend was spent at BYU Women's Conference. despite the rain and snow and cold, we had a great experience and learned a thing or two along the way. It was fun to run into people I knew and to meet new people. It is so fun just to sit down next to someone and begin talking to them. You just never know who you might meet. We sat down next to a big group of ladies and come to find out they knew a family from our ward in Arnhem. Amazing.

We celebrated Netherlands Queen's Day with about 30 people at our house. It was fun to meet new "dutch" friends and see old friends who all had been on missions to Holland or had lived in or visited there. We had LOTs of food and fun orange decorations. Everyone seemed to have a good time.

The next week, Lydia and I went to SLC and met friends along the way. We met her friend Rachel early in the day and then we met up with Sherryl van der Stek at the Lion House for lunch. It was a beautiful day and the gardens at temple square could have rivaled those of Kuekenhof.

Later that week, we headed to Yellowstone. It was cold and rainy and snowy up there but it just added another dimension to a place that we usually only see in the summer. We couldn't drive all the way through the park and near the lake and the canyon area the snow was still 2-3 feet deep. It was interesting driving through the park with the contrast between the cold air and the hot water bubbling causing lots of vapor. We couldn't decide if it felt more like a sci-fi scene or an end-of-the-earth scene.

This Bison and I were traveling in the same lane but opposite directions. I wasn't sure which of us had the right of way so I just stopped and he had to go around me. I really wanted to unroll my window and pet it but decided maybe that wouldn't be such a smart idea.

For mother's day, we went to Ralph and Lola's for a family get together. Our food assignment was some fruit.
After we got done eating, we got to hear Trevor as they did their mother's day call from grandma and grandpa's house. He has a very thick accent. It will be really fun to see him when he gets home. We took a picture of the family that was there that day (except Dave had already gone home.)

The last couple of days, we've gotten 14 new windows put in our house. They look so great. Partly because they are the only clean windows in the house. I have been blaming Mother Nature on my very dirty windows but I got motivated to clean at least the inside of the remaining windows and I guess not all the dirt is on the outside. It has probably been about 3 years since they were all cleaned well - at least I don't remember cleaning them the summer before we moved overseas.

This is the most changed spot on the house. Back in the olden days, all five windows were there but since we've lived in the house, only two of them have been opened. One had a swamp cooler in it and the other two were sided over. There is so much more light up in that and the adjoining room now.

Great Times

Yesterday, I got to take Alyna, Tina and Emily (Katie was up during the night with the stomach flu) down to Salt Lake City for some shopping and eating and then to the Young Women Conference. We had such a nice time and it was a beautiful day. The shopping was a little disappointing since I didn't find anything that I was looking for. But that doesn't mean I didn't buy anything and shopping with a bunch of girls is always entertaining. We went to the downtown Smith's market place and while Alyna and Tina were trying on shoes, Emily and I tried out all the patio furniture and had a great time relaxing and visiting.

The YW conference was wonderful. The talks were so good,. I especially enjoyed Sister Cook's and President Uchdorf's. It makes me sad that my memory isn't better because I think as I hear something that it was so profound that I will be able to remember it - and I kind of can until the next profound statement comes along. Therefore, I can't wait for them to come up on the internet. The one thing I do remember is that Pres. Uchdorf promised the girls a "happily ever after" if they stayed virtuous. It made me so excited for the upcoming General Conference.

The parking and getting out of the parking terrace afterward was quite an adventure. It took 20 minutes from when we got to the parking terrace to the level of the first available parking slots. Afterward, we sat in the car for 45 minutes before we even bothered to turn the car on and try to get out. All that and we weren't even close to the conference center - we pratically had to trek across the plains in our high heels to get there. Okay - it was only about 4 blocks but with all the construction downtown it seemed like a really long way. But despite sore feet (Tina had worn her brand new shoes and had to take them off and walk barefoot half way back to the car) we had a great time. I have to admit, I was really spoiled. I had the most darling girls with me and they were so fun to be with. We finally got on the road and made a stop at Nielsen's Custard shop in Bountiful. It was packed with girls and ladies stopping on their way home from the conference. We were there at about the perfect time because we were the last of the conference crowd to get there and after we ordered, there was a place for us to sit and enjoy. YUMMY!

Life has Returned to a Routine

I haven't posted anything for a long time because it seems like nothing much has been happening that is newsworthy. But I have been reading my daughters blogs and they are so fun and interesting that I decided I out to get to work.

Our house is back to a livable state. That's an interesting statement. What is liveable for you or other people is not always what is livable for me. So what do I consider livable? I've never stopped to really think about it. I know I can have some dirty dishes in my sink and the stove not wiped clean and be okay with having someone drop by. I can have piles of bills and papers around as long as they are on the counter and not on the dining room table or island. My bathroom counter top down't have to be spotless as long as I know it's been cleaned good at least once in the last week. But, the living room does have to be clean and free from junk. Since you can see all the way through the living room, dining room and kitchen when you come in the front door, then at least that whole line of vision thing ought to be clean. I like things to be nice enough that when I have someone show up unexpectedly and I want to show off the house, I don't have to worry excessively about under ware and dirty socks all over the place.

Okay so, you've seen some getting the house put back together pictures. Here are some of the new living room furniture. The first picture is the old furniture. It looks pretty good but that is because you can't see all the holes in the sofa and love seat.

And the new. It seems to make the room a lot bigger. One of my friends said it makes it look more like the destination then the passageway to somewhere more important.

Obviously, we still need to get all the pictures hung on the wall and some of the little knick - knack things out but it is coming. Just today, we got the replacement part for the antique lamp that belongs in the living room so we were able to get it put in its place.

January - All projects on target - well almost!

(Painting is all done and we are ready for carpet.)

This has been a busy month. The goals for this month were to get Christmas put away and to get the 3rd apartment updated before our shipment arrived. The third apartment has never been completely tackled before so now that it's tenants had moved out and we were re-arranging a lot of the house anyway, it was the perfect time to tackle that project. It involved -

*Removing all remaining detritus

*Repairing and patching walls (we had a painter come in and bid the job at $1,000. It was a BIG job.)

*Painting - Thanks to Darlene and Alyna , we were able to get it all done in 1 week

*Ripping out old carpet, removing all tacks and staples from the floor and screwing down the squeaky and/or loose boards - Thanks to Andrew, Alyna and Dennis for all their hard work

*Getting new carpet installed

*Moving furniture in and setting up the new sewing room - Again thanks to Andrew and Lindsay, also Lisa

*Replacing old light fixtures - not a simple job since it involved crawling up in the attic and replacing old wiring and in one case, putting a cross beam in to hand the light box on. -Big Thanks to Dennis who spent a day and a half on this project when he had many other things he should have been working on.

We got the carpet installed and furniture moved in on Friday the 22nd and our shipment arrived on Tuesday the 26th. So that all worked out perfectly.

I still have a few little Christmas things I've noticed here and there that need to be put away. There are still boxes of things in the parlor, bedroom and bathroom that need to be unpacked and put away. The old sewing closet needs to be cleaned out and refitted for an office. Finish organizing/setting up the new sewing room. I'm hoping that I will be able to get most of those done this next week so I can dig into February's projects, which are: finish work on the 2nd apt. and clean out the loft. I think I will need lots of encouragement and maybe even some help or I might wimp out on the loft. It will be another big job and I am tired.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

We made the move home and are finally feeling a bit settled. It was a much more difficult transition than I had anticipated but I think we are finally feeling like this is home and not just a visit or vacation. I think it helped to have Mandy and Dan's wedding and Senior Ball the day after we got home and then all the Christmas parties and events.

It was soooooo cold as we all stood around outside waiting for the bride and groom to come out.

Mandy was the bravest one, or maybe the most in love. Everyone else had coats, and she was in short sleeves.

Alyna and Tina with their dates for Senior Ball.

The kids had worked hard and the house was nice and clean when we got home. It lasted until we had to open our suitcases and start digging through the garage and loft for dressers, hangers, and such so that we could put all the things from our suitcases away. (Remember, our house had a little flood in June and so everything from the front half of the house had to be moved to the loft or the garage so that all the walls and floors could be repainted and recarpeted.) So, for the next two weeks, the house was a disaster. We had to go through a huge pile of stuff - sorting out what things we wanted to keep and what things to give away and then putting the rest away. At one point, we had one side of the garge full of stuff waiting to go to the DI and the other side of the garage had furniture and boxes that still had to be brought in or sorted through.

Jessica and I took a morning and made some fun fresh floral arrangements.

While all this was going on, we also got to celebrate Christmas on the 19th with Lisa and Cameron and the kids. We spent most of that morning arranging a new cell phone plan and buying new phones. It took forever and most of the time it was really boring.
Our theme this Christmas was regifting and the kids did a good job and had some fun coming up with gifts to re-gift.

Alyna gave Dennis his cordless screwdriver back along with some cute little stuffed animals.

We had a Christmas party at the Van Natters for that side of the family.

Shaynie and her family came down and we had a party with them.

We had a Briscoe family Christmas party at Izzys. We had a fun gift exchange and played "In the manner of the Adverb" and Psychiatrist and Spluff. It was really fun.


The High School and College age kids welcomed in the New Year with a big party at our house and Izzy's. They had around 40-50 kids here at some point.

All the married folks and young kids celebrated at Bonnie's. We ate great food and played "Three on a couch" and then did a 550 piece puzzle in just over an hour.

In between all that, we made some big purchases. We bought two 2010 Honda vehicles, a Crosstour and an Odessy which we drove home on the 31st. (That gave us a big incentive to get our garage cleaned out enough so that we could to put the cars in it.)

We also ordered a whole new living room furniture set. It won't be here till sometime in late January or February. That's okay. It will give us something exciting to look forward to. Our shipment should also arrive sometime in the next couple of months so we will have a lot more sorting and rearranging to do in the coming months.

Pack out Day

December 4, 2009

My sewing room all ready to be boxed up.

As soon as Thanksgiving was over and cleaned up, we started preparing to move home. We spent days trying to make some sense of what should go home and what should stay here, sorting and organizing. We ended up with piles of stuff everywhere. Finally we got all the things that will stay here into a room and invited friends and neighbors to come see what they wanted. Much of the big furniture items where taken and a lot of the little stuff so now we are left with just a couple of boxes of things to take to the local second hand store.

With all the trips home, we brought quite a bit of stuff back with us and we have made a lot of Americans happy as we have shared our extra food (like Orvillereddenbacher Popcorn, Muffin mixes and cake mixes, baking soda, Fruit Loops, Twizzlers.....) and items like Ziplock bags.

The couches were all wrapped in cardboard- not an easy or quick job.

Kitchens always take so many boxes! It's a good reminder
for me to be grateful for cupboards, pantries, etc.

My friend, Marga, came over and spent the day with me to keep me company while
the packers were busy. We looked at perspective colleges for our daughters
google maps of places and things that we thought were interesting, etc.

Our container and packers.

We came here with 25 - 30 boxes and it took 16 weeks to get here. We are heading home with 85 pieces (2/3 full container) and we're hoping that it will take 6-8 weeks.

Such a happy and sad day. It was a good thing Marga was here of I might have sat down and had a good cry as the truck pulled away but it is nice to have the piles out of the way.

Now - just cleaning and final travel packing to do. One week from today, we will be at home, enjoying being with family and friends at Mandy's wedding. It's good to have a happy thing to look forward to because saying goodbye is so hard. I like these quotes:

How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard. ~Carol Sobieski and Thomas Meehan, Annie


Parting is all we know of heaven and all we need to know of hell. ~Emily Dickinson, "Parting"


Why does it take a minute to say hello and forever to say goodbye? ~Author Unknown

Happy Anniversary

We are all a little weird and life's a little weird, and when we find
someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up
with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.
~Author Unknown

On Friday, we celebrated our 28th wedding anniversary. It was a very busy and somewhat stressful day for Dennis. We celebrated by attending a Vital Scientific farewell party and then went to dinner with the management team. Our wonderful France and Rome trip was our anniversary celebration.

I have been so blessed to have a married a good man who is patient with me and is constantly encouraging me to learn and develop my talents.

A wedding anniversary is the celebration of love, trust, partnership, tolerance
and tenacity. The order varies for any given year. ~Paul Sweeney