Crazy, Busy, Couldn't Fit One More Thing In Trip To Utah!!!

Maybe you could tell by the title, but this was one busy trip!  So...there are lots and lots of pictures!  On the way up, we stopped at Mike's and dropped off a couple "treasures" from cleaning out the house.  First was "Shoot The Bull" game- appropriate for Mike with his hunting skills. It was fun also to see his new property and his grocery store. We did NOT play the freezer game though- our Arizona blood couldn't handle it.
















We also left the old school desk with the family.  Here Joe follows instructions- "Do Your Homework".  Love his grin!

On the way to the Taylors, we stopped to see the Provo City Center Temple- the Temple on stilts!  (For just a little while)

We brought the red marble chute for the Taylor family that my dad had made. Alice and Anna loved it!

Tim has the grandfather clock in his office.

We brought up Will's birthday present from Carole and us- a metal detector.  Tim hid some coins outside and Will spent over an hour hunting for coins. Fun!




















The whole reason to go to Utah was for Sarah's mission farewell.  It was a wonderful blessing to be in the Temple with her on Saturday.  Here are Rinda, Jack, and Anita Taylor, Tim and Becky, Sarah, me and Don.

We wanted to check out some couches while in Utah and Anna went "window shopping" with us. Dad and Anna try this one out to see if it is comfortable.

Saturday night was Outdoor Movie Night.  What fun to have Mike and family, Mark and family, Ruth and family, us and the Taylors all together! Mike provided lots of yummy treats. Rats, when will my diet ever be over??? Maybe next time I will eat double share of popcorn and chocolate.
















Sunday was the farewell at Church. Here is Ruth and Becky. Aw, Sisters! Time to get some food ready for visitors at the house.

Caroline helped get the house ready for the guests also- lots of shopping to do and there is always vacuuming!

The kids loved playing in the sandbox during the open house.  New, fresh, clean sand that no cat had touched!

Brenley and Caroline became friends. Blonde-haired Barefoot Beauties!
As Savannah would say "Isn't this adorable???"

And here we are- super proud grandparents with Sis. Taylor.

Sunday night we went to Provo and stayed with Mark and Mandy. Since this week was Caroline's birthday, we gave her presents from us and Carole while we were up there.

We left the green tool/game box with Mark and also the wheat grinder.

Mark took us to see where he works. Here's the plane he went up in last summer. I think- no, I know- I am glad he doesn't have to go up this summer!
















AND we celebrated Mark and Caroline's birthdays. YUM. Ice Cream!!! It's hard to believe but we did ALL this in just 4 days! We went home with an empty car but lots of memories.

Special School Programs!

We were invited to a couple special school programs this past week.  The first one
was for Savannah- "E-I-E-I-Oops".  This was a very clever take on Old McDonald.
Savannah dressed in pink and got to be one of the pigs- this program had lots of
music and rhythm and even some "adult" humor- jokes that adults could appreciate.
These kids in the second grade had practiced a lot and it was super well done. 
Good job Savannah!


















Mom, Dad, Evie, and Brenley gave Savannah a special message after
her performance- a candy bar letter!  You can tell Savannah loved it
by the big grin on her face!!!





















Here is a small clip from the program.  Enjoy.

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The next program we went to was in Mesa for Sydney and Elijah.  Hale School
put on "Suessical" and Sydney was one of the Bird Girls and Elijah was in the
chorus.

The Nays brought a special Candy Bar Message for Sydney and Elijah.
What a great performance!!!

And here is a little clip from this program.

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Gorgeous Tile! Gorgeous Carpet! Gorgeous House!

Well, the grout was put in- gorgeous! The carpet was laid- gorgeous!! Everything has come together after a lot of mind-boggling decisions (to me) and we have a beautiful home! 

The white ceiling fan was installed in Grandma's Doll Room.

Pretty snazzy!

Here's the carpet in dad's office.  This carpet is made from corn, of all things, and
is under life-time warranty to not stain, even if bleach is spilled on it!  Where was
this when I had all the kids at home???  The color blends in perfectly with the walls
and the tile and is set off with the white baseboards.  Dad and I had fun and wrote
our favorite scriptures on the concrete floor before the carpet was laid- dad picked
1 Ne 3:7 for the office and Joshua 24:15 for our bedroom and I picked 2 Ne 32:3
for my office/doll room and D&C 109:8,9 for the guest room.

The carpet is soooooo soft- Evie, Savannah, Tyler and Brenley

make "carpet angels"!!!  It was fun to hear a friend comment that

the carpet felt like silk.  Guess what- that IS the name of this carpet-

"Silk"!!!   We love the look of EVERYTHING!  What an

absolutely beautiful home!!!

No Longer Homeless!!!

Well, we are "homeless" no more! We spent Tuesday checking out landscaping trees and plants and getting lots of keys. Here dad uses the key to our little kingdom for the first time.

We also got keys for lot #5 mailbox.

It was also a busy week for John.  He did lots of extra things for the house- dad and I picked out these pulls and knobs and they got installed- L O V E those pulls!!!

John also got in 4 of the 5 ceiling fans.  The last one, which is white and goes in my office/doll room, needed to be ordered.

John put in toggle switches for the fans.  Very nice addition.

He also put the flourescent lights in the garage.

And then John picked up and unloaded the tile.  As he says, this house will never blow away.  The tile weighed over 6,000 pounds!!! There are only 6 tiles to a box and each box weighed almost 90 pounds.  John really worked up a sweat unloading these babies! AND I did not even offer to help- I would have dropped them for sure!

Jose (sub-contractor for John) started laying tile on Friday and it should be finished being laid by Sunday and the grout finished by Monday!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Mother's Day was a fun time with everyone in the Phoenix area coming over to the apartment to celebrate- all 16 of us!!!! Dad planned a great sandwich buffet dinner that everyone helped contribute to- meat sandwiches on Costco rolls, chips, potato salad, olives, pickles. Carole was sweet and made a special "bread" that I could eat. Yum! And I loved the cards and presents- so much love! These pictures are taken with the camera. Things came in a pretty velvet bag that was the perfect size for two little girls- Myra and Brenley are friends.

And I got new gumballs to fill up the bubble gum machine.  Very

appropriate since I am known as the "Bubblegum Grandma".  Nice

new soft fresh gumballs! 

There were ice cream cones for dessert- we took advantage of the lawn in front of the apartment for eating. All drips and spilled pop were on the grass. And then I had a little fun treat- candy whistles.

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Walk Through- One Week Left!!!

This week was the walk-through on Tuesday. We checked out everything in the house and put blue tape for paint issues and green tape for "other" issues. Things have been done so well that there really wasn't a lot to have corrected. After the walk-through, we went to the title company to sign lots of papers! It's almost ours!!!

Here we all are- Dad, Mom, Rick (Aire Libre Superintendent who co-ordinated all the contractors), and John Transtrum (acted as our real estate agent).  What a big day!

Spam Dad

Last week dad got the stitches removed from his cheek. They put on new butterfly bandages to help it heal with a minimal scar. Saturday dad was busy with outside work and wanted to protect the bandages so they wouldn't get dirty/come off too early and so he used his SPECIAL bandage. He said he wanted to wear this for Church tomorrow also. Think anyone will notice???

We're Getting Close!!!

Tuesday is set for the house walk-through.  There is a lot that will need to be done before then- Monday should be a VERY busy day!  This week started on Monday when we picked our flooring.  We thought we had everything done on the Thursday of the previous week, but we found out that the tile we had chosen wasn't the price that was quoted and it was just too expensive. Dad and I decided to put tile through the house, except for the bedrooms which will have carpet.  So Monday was back to the drawing board but we did get a tile that we really like.  Here is a sample of the tile and then the carpet that we picked.  We are going to get a large area rug (same carpet but bound edges) for the family room area.   We are getting to be "green" people- but not on purpose.  This carpet is made from corn! And you can tell how soft it is by its name- Mohawk Silk!!! It does feel like that- it is just gorgeous.  AND it is super stain resistent- you can
pour bleach on it and it will not affect the carpet!




















The front door was delivered and installed this week. We absolutely LOVE it.  The
door frame will be painted next week in the same brown as the garage door.


























This door is just as gorgeous from the inside as the from the outside.  Plus, it lets more light in.


























The microwave and oven were also installed this week. I am getting
soooo modern- I will have stainless appliances!