A Mini-Vacation to Rest before the Big Vacation! :D

Woke up this morning to two beautiful views-- the mountains and my sweetie (see pics). We always enjoy our trips to Wolf Creek. The bed wasn't the best in the world though so two nights in a row of flipping and flopping to find the comfort zone. I think we're just spoiled by our own, so we can't stand others.

So we started off the morning with some terrible tennis. Kali would be proud that I played, but not of the way I hit the ball. I did have some good hits, but we also spent some time looking for the ones that I launched over the fence. Since the resort has sloping driveways (happens when you're perched on a mountain) we were unable to find the one that curved on down toward the lake. The kids in the rec office were nice and didn't charge us for the missing one (they probably saw us playing and felt sorry for the husband since he chased most of them down). The good news is... we got our exercise! Then we went swimming. I really enjoyed that. And, I'm really out of shape. All I did was swim over and back 10 times and you would have thought I'd ran a marathon. It was still relaxing though.

After that we headed to town for breakfast but by then it was more like brunch. On our way out of the winding mountain we ran across a roadside restaraunt called "The Oaks" and you can sit right next to the river and eat. It was SO good. I highly recommend it. And the atmosphere alone is worth stopping. A word of caution though-- if you get an ice cream cone for the road-- do not order a double scoop. We could barely finish a single scoop (which had 4 scoops on it) and we shared it!

The waterfalls were running alongside the canyon walls and it was a beautiful drive. It was another hot day though. Yesterday we broke up the drive from Idaho to Utah by stopping at every DI along the way. This did give us an opportunity to see Brigham City. They have a lot of fruit stands. Today we went back and bought local raspberry jam, corn salsa, canteloupe, bing cherries, and zuchinni. We also got to see the temple they're building there. It's nice to see they are going with more of a historic look than the modern ones. I like the older style better. They're all beautiful, but I like old stuff. That's why I like the husband. Did you know he'll be an antique next year. In fact in three weeks and one year he'll be turning the big 5-0 which makes him an antique. I know this because he has informed me-- numerous times and in front of company-- that I will be an antique next year. Apparently he forgot that he turns 50 first. Who's funny now sweetie! :D

Well we drove a lot today and since we took our Craigslist gas saver car (translation tiny car) my hip is not enjoying the vacation like the rest of me and the husband is a bit scrunched up as well. We did save a ton on gas though. Of course that's easy to do when you cross the state line and it immediately drops from $3.79 to $3.39!!! I'm so fed up with the politics in our state. But that's another blog and it's been a long day so I'm going to go find a comfortable bed. :D Plus, I'm supposed to be relaxing......

from my laptop at our friends' house

Well I'm writing thia from our friends' house. The husband planned a little getaway vacation and the first stop is our good friends Ron and Alice. We've known them since high school and strangely it always still feels like we're young when we all get together. We marvel that we've somehow grown old. They were high school sweethearts. We were high school sweethearts. We've been through a lot together throughout the years. We've also defied the odds. Both marrying quite young and starting families young. It's always good to see them. Ron took us on a drive out to see the farm and we were trying to catch some other friends at home, but they were gone.

They showed Greg a cell phone app they use call fatbooth. You take someone's picture and hit some button and it makes your face fat. Of course Greg had to download it and try it on me. Nice. (not). He laughed so hard he cried. Rude. It is strange going to bed and neither of us having kids anymore. They had their grandkids over when we got here and one of their sons. Cut grandkids. Made me think of mine. Strange Sunday without seeing at least one of them.


The oldest son called to remind me that we had not called him to let him know we made it okay. He is the worryer. We're supposed to call when we make it to the resort tomorrow. We brought the little car we got off Craigslist to save gas so it could be a long drive tomorrow. We'll make a few stops to break it up and stretch our legs.

Church was good this morning. We had a return missionary from Russia speaking. In primary we had lots of visiting children because of our speaker. After church we ate a quick lunch, made cookies, did some family visits, paid our bills on line since we'll be gone and headed out.
Tomorrow is supposed to be 90 so we're heading out early. I'll try to take pictures tomorrow.

Busy days and big toes

So I tonight we all agreed the God has something to do with the fact that our hometeacher just happens to be an emergency room doctor. Hmmmmmmm. Isn't that con-venient! Considering the husband is the kind of ER trips.... yes! So yesterday he hit his toe on the lawn mower out in the garage. You have to know him to understand that he plows through everything at a manly rate so when I say he hit it, I mean the door was shut and I heard it hit. It turned many shades of purple and red and he moaned a lot. After determining he could bear weight on it, he put his shoe on and went off to ref. Jason ended up taking his first game so he could let the Advil kick in then he reffed the remainder. Thus, I'm sure it's not broken.

Today it developed a very unattractive blood blister the size of a small olive. He wants to poke it. Correction, he wants me to poke it and drain it. So.... I call the hometeacher who affirms that you should not poke it-- no longer recommended. So while he's here we also cover the jammed finger and the cough that's going on week 3. The poor man had no idea why he was divinely assigned, but now he does.

So we started of the morning with breakfast at sunrise with three little grandsons. They were quite cute. Hit a few yard sales, but they were disappointed to find very little for boys. As Tucker kept saying "It's just girls stuff and clothes." And so most of it was. I have been noticing a pattern on craigslist. Today's generation thinks that shabby or retro mean "cool old" whateveritis and really, it's just old. I don't even click to look now when it says retro. It may be a couch I had growing up! I don't need to see that again!

So after the children were safely returned to their parents, I went to Wal-mart and spent two hours (I do not exaggerate) scanning photos for the family reunion on the 16th. Carol came over later and picked them up and brought her husband Tom. I gave him a really cool antique (not retro ugly) sideboard I bought the other day that needs repairs. He does woodwork and they like the sort of stuff we like. He was excited and I'm excited to see how it turns out. Their family is ready for the reunion and will have 68 from their group. I am getting more and more excited to see everyone. It has been fun reconnecting with Carol.

Jason and Anne came over for dinner since we won't be here to have our usual Sunday dinner with them tomorrow. They had their own yard sale and were exhausted. We won't be here tomorrow because we're headed out of town after church. The husband planned some "us" time. I tried to invite the kids along, but he made it clear that I was missing the point. It is nice to be loved. I am blessed with a husband who loves me and provides for me and puts his foot down when needed. I am also blessed with children I love very much and their families who have made our life even more complete. On that note, I need to get to bed and say my prayers. :D

Grandsons and Grandpas

Musical chairs.... I mean .... .children

Today was a beautiful summer day. Not too hot... not cold.... beautiful. And we got a lot done today. Two nephews, Casey and Travis, came over and helped Greg create corner mounds of dirt in our backyard which is actually looking like a back yard now. We have mounds now and put down the weed block then Greg planted all the flowers and trees I bought yesterday then spread the bark shreds. Looks good. We just need to get some stone to trim the edges now and the corners are done. The strawberry patch put off enough berries to actually cut up a bowlfull to eat with some blueberries and vanilla bean ice cream (drizzled with a little chocolate syrup of course). And the garden is taking off with all this warm weather. The spinach is ready to pick and we have little squash and tall tomato plants. Tomorrow we'll go check the garden at Aunt Bertie's. Greg and Jason have been watering it this week.

So musical kids.... Jeremy and Stacy were taking their kids to see the new Cars movie and bought Rellie a ticket to go too, so I went and got him and met them at the theater. When they pulled up in their very large vehicle (has to be with 5 kids) I noticed another little face-- Baby Maddi (Jason and Anne's girl). So Jer and Stacy took ALL the grandkids except Kayson to the movie with them!!! Brave people! And the way Rellie talked... it was fun! So when I went to pick him up from Jeremy's I asked Bryton if he wanted to come spend the night (the two older kids were gone with Stacy) and of course he did. :D Then as we were leaving, Stacy came home (Baby Maddi was with them again... she's lovin' her cousin Daisha ever since they spent the night together Wednesday night at our house. It was Maddi's first sleepover without parents. She did great and slept all night. Don't be jealous mom and dad. :D

So... Tucker had to come too and I ended up bringing three boys home to spend the night. Papa had been reffing all afternoon so it was a SURPRISE! for him when he came home. It didn't take long for them to make their way outside since we finally have a lawn and the weather's so nice. And, it didn't take them long to find the squirt guns. When Tucker asked Papa if they could put water in them and he said "sure" I should have had the camera. So... I grabbed the camera and captured the action.... which was basically grandpa chasing and terrorizing the small children. :D I created a "safe zone" for them on the cement patio, but papa wasn't very good about sticking to the rules (unless I gave him the "eye"). They had a blast. After they got dried off Rellie spotted the little basketball hoop set in the garage so Papa hauled that out to the back patio and they played dunkfest for a while. Then it happened... the neighbors lit off a loud firework. The boys scattered and Rellie's heart was going a hundred mph. He was in the kitchen so fast I don't know how he opened the door. "What was that!" he yelled, half excited, half scared. The other two boys followed, screaming with drama delight. I told them it was fireworks and that was it.

They found Papa and begged to go get some. Papa was in a good mood after winning the watergun fight, so he said, "oh... okay." More squealing. More running. I've honestly never seen those three boys get their shoes on so fast. We took the truck so I could sit next to Papa and so all three boys were in the same seat. You have to think of these things. We went to the big fireworks store I pass every day going to work or picking Rellie up and he was SO excited to actually be stopping... finally. They had bin rows low enough for the kids to see like a candy counter and they acted like kids in a candy store! Okay... I'm just as bad when it comes to fireworks. So, long story short. They got their stuff. They went home and they discovered the joy of "snaps". Even the screaming bees and crackling whatevers did not excite them as much as throwing snaps. Then we had ice cream cones. That's another story. Couldn't find the cones. Knew I bought them. Knew I'd seen them somewhere today. Found them. In the freezer. Apparently I put something else away that was frozen the day I bought ice cream cones. Call me Gma Shorty!

Now the little angels are all on the fold out together (even though there are two empty guest bedrooms) watching a movie in their jammies (well Rellie is wearing Daisha's because he forgot his..... shhhhh) on papa's i-pad. They are so cute! Especially when they are sleeping.. :D j/k

Also had a walk down memory lane today when my cousin Carol came over and brought family pics for the July family reunion. As we went through each picture and talked about how the time has flown by, we were both reminded of how much time we all spent with our cousins when we were little and now we just don't . It's sad. I'm trying to change that with this reunion. We were all so close. I see our grandkids now on days like today and I just hope they all stay close. Family is a huge blessing. The best blessing. Like my sweetheart. This will be our 32nd 4th of July together. Love you sweetie.

Hot, hot, hot

Slept in this morning. Woke up to a hot day that just kept getting hotter. Went to pick up the estate auction stuff and of course.... no A/C. I won the bid on 16 boxes of Christmas decorations. I spent 45 minutes in a hot garage sorting it and condensing it so it'd fit in my car. I definitely got my $26 worth! Had enough to share with the daughter-in-laws and it was nice stuff. Also got a $10 box of "assorted linens" which turned out to be three drawers in a buffet. Ended up with a huge turkey platter that still had the price tag on it from Mervyns and was quite heavy along with lots and lots of very nice tablecloths and matching linens. One tablecloth alone covered the cost on that group. I was lucky they let me sort and rebox and throw away stuff I didn't want. Usually they don't let you do that. It made me think about sorting my own stuff and throwing away things that no one else would buy. Or, putting it in Jason and Anne's yard sale this weekend. :D Oh the joys and adventures of recycling and regifting.

Speaking of that... did you know there's a "free" category on craigslist? Why did I just find this out last week? The husband picked up a load of free sod this morning and it's not nicely planted in the bald spots in our back lawn. We're hoping that "free fill dirt" appears on the list in the morning.

So after picking up the auction stuff we went to Jas's house to split up the goodies, drop off yard sale stuff, and kidnap baby Maddi for her first sleepover. Then we went to Jeremy's so we could drop off some Christmas Deco and Greg could fix a sprinkler for them. Their grass is coming in nicely. We also kidnapped Daisha who is going to help me with some sorting and cleaning in the morning. Her and Maddi had fun playing tonight. It was very cute to watch. We were a little nervous about Maddi going to bed, but she was really good about it. My heat/allergies headache finally calmed down and I'm glad to see things will be cooler for the weekend.

I'm looking forward to the weekend!

Father's Day Pics