Alyna's High School Graduation

This has been a busy and exciting week in our house. It is graduation week! Alyna has been so ready for this event and is looking forward to the next phase of her life.
On Monday we went searching for a dress for graduation, and if necessary, some shoes to match. We looked at all the stores in the mall (which isn't a great selection) and didn't find a dress or shoes that we both agreed on. As we were walking out of the mall, we had to go through JC Penney. I noticed some really cute shoes. Alyna tried them on, and even though they are a half a size smaller than is ideal, they screamed her name. They we had to go back and see what we could find to wear with them. She already had a cute black dress that just needed the right accent. We found a little dress - truly little - but the right color. A quick stop at the fabric store and a couple of hours of remodeling and we came up with this cute outfit. Alyna loved it and she got lots of compliments on the outfit.
Seminary graduation was really nice. It was nice to have the grandparents there. ( Lola and Ralph had to split up since it was Zeke's graduation in the other stake.) Katie spoke and did a really great job.
Mountain Crest's Graduation was held at USU's Spectrum. There were 460 graduates this year (the most of the three major schools in the valley. I thought it was really nice but not everyone would agree.

Dad didn't sleep nearly as much as we thought he would. He didn't get any sleep the night before in order to get back from Washington DC in time for the graduation ceremony. He was awake at all the important parts.
Lisa had a hard time sitting for that long. Look at the faces of the people behind us. Andrew sat and played on his ipod and texted Alyna the whole time. Lindsay colored in a coloring book.

By the end of the evening, the kids had their diplomas, well, at least their holders. The diplomas will be mailed out at a later date. Then it was time for lots of photos!

The Cousins

Even though it seems to me that the kids have been partying for weeks now, the real fun began this week. Alyna has a group of 12 friends that do just about everything together. They are a very smart and talented group of kids and they are so good.

Sisters

A sister can be seen as someone who is both ourselves and very much not ourselves -

a special kind of double. ~Toni Morrison

Last week I was able to get together with all my sisters for lunch. Unfortunately, it is an event that only happens once every three or four years. Kara flew in to run a half marathon with a friend who has cancer. Shaynie and LeAnn were both able to make it down. It was an event that took several months of planning and reminding - thanks Kara for making it all happen.

Kara and I met earlier in Salt Lake for a little retail therapy at Nordstrom. We had lots of fun trying on clothes and swapping. Some of the things she tried on and didn't like for one reason or another, I liked. I wish I had taken pictures of some of the things we tried. We had some good laughs and a few groans and moans when we found something we liked but it didn't look good on or it just brought out all our faullts.

We met up with Shaynie and LeAnne in Park City for lunch at the red Rock Junction. Mailee was the only daughter that was able to join us. We spent most of lunch discussing medical histories of ourselves and our parents, aunts and uncles. It was rather interesting to find out some of the health issues my sisters were facing. It was just so nice to be together and catch up on how everyone is doing.

After lunch, the rest of the sisters headed to the outlets to shop but I needed to get home.
On the way home, I made a brief stop in to see Aunt Kathy. It has been many years since I've seen her so it was nice to visit, even if it was just for a few minutes.

I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go

out and buy new ones. ~Author unknown, attributed to a 4-year-old named Lauren

Andrew - the Yard Boss

We have the good fortune of having Andrew working for us part time this summer. I have been looking around the yard all spring and despairing at how much work there was to be done and how long it would take me to do it. I knew I would have to hire someone for some of the heavy work so I was excited when I learned that Andrew would have some time to work for us.

The first project he worked on was redoing the little stream bed in the front yard. It had gotten filled with pine needles and dirt. He took all the rocks out, dug it a bit deeper and relined it. He also dug out a deeper area in front of the irrigation box so that the water won't get backed up so easily and run out onto the sidewalk.

Andrew and Lindsay dug up all the weeds and whatever else was planted in the back corner and planted dwarf arborvita. If they all survive and grow up it should be a nice backdrop for the swing.

This area use to be full of trees (some dead, some volunteer), piles of branches, weeds, metal roofing, the hay stack and general farm debris. Andrew cleaned it all up, plowed it and got it all ready for planting. We now have the whole area planted in pumpkins. We should have enough for the whole neighborhood if all goes well.
Our raspberry patch was a rambling mess with a lot of dead wood in it. Andrew cleaned the whole patch up and put up new supports and pruned out all the dead parts. It looks so much better now and will be much easier to pick.

The Izzy and V younguns brought home some darling baby chicks this spring. They have now grown into much larger hens. They need a much bigger place to live and so Dizzy has been working on a new home for the chicks. We call it the Chicken Palace or Mansion. I'm sure eventually it will have an official name.
The chicken palace is built behind the sandbox that now has a covering (tower) over it. The project is just kind of evolving and it will be interesting to see how it all turns out.
This is the last calf of the three that Izzys have been raising. I'm not sure what it's name is but I've heard that D calls it Hamburger. The young Izzy's have been talking about getting some baby lambs. Never a dull moment in the Heartland estates.

The irrigation company has been working on improving the irrigation line that supplies our place and our neighbors with water. That has meant pulling out a lot of big old trees along the ditch line along McM's and Gun's properties. This has changed the look of the neighborhood a lot. They put in a couple of new headgates and we had them dig a new line for us from the pond to a pump that will be used to water the back part of the both properties (if I understand correctly what is happening.) There will be lots of work involved in getting the pipe layed and the trench filled back in as well as preparing the pond for use. I sure am glad we have Andrew's help!

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.