THE FOLKS AT HOME

More pictures of Pot Holes State Park

2010-10-27T10:25:00.000-07:00

Susan's Vacation Alone!!!!!

2010-10-27T10:12:00.000-07:00

About a month ago I decided that I needed to get away for a bit. We have our trailer why not park me some where and let me have some down time. Eric and I decided Pot Holes State Park was the best idea. Not too far away but far enough. Eric drove me out there on Saturday the 16th of October. He stayed till very early Monday morning. The weather was so very beautiful there. It was between 65 and 70 degrees. The trees were just starting to turn colors when I got there and were pretty into full color by the time I left. Pot Holes State Park is a very beautiful and scenic park. I could see the lake from my trailer. I brought my sewing machine, lots of movies for my flat screen tv and my Kindle for all my books. I found out I could get my email and facebook on my Kindle so I was not all that out of reach. I put together a quilt while there and watched alot of movies. I took some walks and took pictures with my new camera that Eric bought me for my birthday. I spent my birthday camping.
I came away with a better outlook. I enjoyed being by myself. I was not lonely. The trailer was great. When everybody arrived we had dinners together in our trailer, the weather had turned icky. We were able to get 8 people and two extra chairs in there and it was not crowded. I had the best time. I am looking forward to doing it again.

2010-10-27T10:01:00.000-07:00

2010-10-27T09:52:00.000-07:00

About half way through my alone time my friends Sandy and Bob to join me. It was great. I love it when we get together. Sandy and I went shopping in Moses Lake. OR I should say we got lost alot in Moses Lake. Niether of no the area very well. But we finally found what we were looking for.
They arrived Wednesday night so I fixed dinner for them. I made hambergers. I had some left so I cooked a little bowl of hamberger for thier dog Mac. He is now my friend for life. Of course I also bought him some dog treats. I enjoyed having him around.
Eric and Mom arrived Thursday night. Andrea came the next day. There were 8 in our party.

2010-10-27T09:36:00.000-07:00

At the end of my week of vacation Karen and Bruce came to join us. Saturday the guys wanted to look at the lakes in the Pot Holes. There are a bunch of little lakes all over the Pot Holes. Bruce was scouting places to use his kyaks. We found some very beautiful little lakes. We came across a beautiful Heron. I turned my head away from him just as he was taking off so I missed a picture of him flying.
We came across a lake called Upper Goose Lake. Bruce and Eric got out to look at the surroundings and watched 2 men pulling out 3 trout in 10 minutes. Eric decided we needed to go on to Othello right away and go to Walmart to buy a rod and reel. He wasn't sure if he had left one in the trailer. So we bought one, got back to the trailer and found 2 more rods and reels. Andrea of course wanted to go fishing,then Bruce decided he would join in. The 3 of them took off and an hour and a half went by and I got a text from Andrea saying they got skunked. No fish. I thought, there goes that darn Clifford curse again. When they got home I told them how sorry I was that they didn't catch anything. Andrea says taa dahh!!!!! And held out a whole big bag of trout. They had caught 13 pretty rainbows. SOOOOOOO..... the next morning we had a big fish fry for brunch with the 8 of us. It was very tasty.Every body has decided that we will go back to the Pot Holes every October and fish more than the one day.

Busy Summer

2010-09-08T12:11:00.000-07:00

I think we are going to have an early fall. For the last 2 weeks it has only been in the 60'S. The nights are alot cooler than thay should be. According to the weather people we are 12 to 15 degrees below where we should be.

We are in the process of getting all the vegetables from our garden. We picked about 300 ears of corn on Labor day from our garden. I have frozen alot of the ears whole and then I scraped the corn of the ears and got 5 gallon bags of frozen corn. I have put up 2 gallon bags of green and purple peppers. I froze 1 gallon bag of hot peppers. I have canned 12 jars of beets and 7 jars of pickled beets. I am now waiting for the winter squash to finish ripen so I can pick them. My carrots will be ready to pick in the next couple of weeks, I will be freezing them. I wish I tomatoes would ripen a little faster, I would like to make salsa. Oh Well.

The weather rumor is that we are in for a longer colder more snow year than we have had for the last couple of years. I am prepared hopefully. I caulked around my windows. Hopefully sometime this winter we will put french doors upstairs and downstairs.

We are talking about raising our own chickens on the property we are barrowing. We are going to talk to the owner this weekend. I think that would be great.

It has been a great summer for me. A little short but productive. I was able to relandscape the front yard, finish the basement and camp once of month in our new trailer. I will be redoing my mothers bathroom in the next couple of weeks. I am collecting materials I will need. I need to do the new tile floor all in one day. So I bought mud that dries in 2 hours so I can tile and grout all in one day. I bought a new vanity that does not take up so much room. I am trying to make the bathroom more senior citizen friendly. Later this winter I will gut my bathroom and redo it. I am so looking forward to these winter projects.

I need to finish a quilt for Lisa and Jacobs new daughter. I love it when life is full. I love to be occupied.

The New Bathroom

2010-09-08T09:18:00.000-07:00

The new linen closet is an open concept with baskets. I finished the top of the shelves with tile. It put a large tile in the center and mosaic tiles around the large tile. It turned out well.

The New Bathroom

2010-09-08T09:12:00.000-07:00

We are finally done with the girls downstairs bathroom. Okay I still have the baseboard wood to put in. Most of its in but the small pieces need to be installed. the girls and cats are enjoying it very much. The only thing we have left today down stairs is the little things. Eric is doing those in the evenings and on weekends. The carpeting is the biggest thing we have left. It is not in our budget yet but it will be soon.

The Large Family Garden

2010-07-18T09:08:00.001-07:00

Eric and I decided we needed a bigger garden this year. We borrowed some land from a friend of ours. So far the garden is a success. This our test year. We know what we will do next year and what we will not do. Keeping up with the weeds has been fun. The garden measures 55ft by 85ft. We harvested some potatoes for dinner last night. Very wonderful. We also have our garden at home. We harvested all the peas this weekend. We got a gallon and a half of peas in the freezer now. I am planning a second crop. When the corn is ready we will have a big corn boil and have a party.

Front Yard Landscaping

2010-07-18T09:00:00.000-07:00

We finished phase one of our front yard landscaping. The retaining wall area and in front of it is done. I am very happy with what we did. Meredith and Andrea were big help. we all worked very hard. The next phase is the slate patio in front of the livingroom window. I am also taking the sod away from around the two trees between the sidewalk and street. I am looking forward to getting the work done.

2010-07-18T08:48:00.000-07:00

Our family decided to meet at Kyak Point this July for a family campout. It was great fun. We got to know 2 new people. We met Kendall, Ben's friend and Jachen{sp} Monicas'friend from Swizterland. We met every night at our campsite to sit around the campfire. It was so cold that we looked like we were camping in the winter months. If you look at the pictures we are all bundled up. We also met Mallory's friend Scott. It was a great time. We did miss the family members that were not there. We missed Amy and her family and Jacob and Lisa. Maybe they can all come next year.

MOSES LAKE CAMP OUT.

2010-06-15T19:48:00.000-07:00

I had to work at my job near Moses Lake last weekend. So we decided to make it campout and drive back and forth from Shrag. Our dear friends the Eraths decided to join us at the campground. Their trailer was parked behind us. On Saturday our dear freinds the Olsens came to see us. We had a great time. We had water front property. We weren't supposed to but it has rained so much that the camp area in front of us was under water. It was kind of soothing listening the waves. Eric, Andrea and Meredith went fishing quite a bit. They did not catch anything though. I don't think they cared, they had fun. The only fish we got was the fish our campground neighbor gave us when I traded him a bowl of dutch oven chili for it. Not bad if I say so myself.

OUR NEW TOYS!!!!

2010-06-15T19:27:00.000-07:00

A month or so ago Eric and I went camping in a tent. We froze to death. When we got home we decided we were going to buy a trailer. We found one we liked very much. The bathroom is huge. It is not a regular trailer bathroom. It has lots of shelves and drawers so that everyone can have a shelf and drawer for themselves. It has a regular corner shower. Not one of those small showers you usually find in trailers. The rest of the trailer is also roomy. After we bought it we started having nightmares about our old truck not being able to pull the trailer. We were right. So we ended up buying a new Diesel pickup. We went on our first camping trip last weekend. It was great. We were not freezing to death. We are very grateful!!!!

SPRING AND SUMMER HAPPENINGS.

2010-05-30T11:49:00.000-07:00

I am sorry it has been so long since I posted. Besides landscaping and camping we are going to have a fun time in our new trailer. I will post pictures when we get the trailor.
I am tiling the girls bathroom and should be done by the end of the week. I will post then also.
We had a great Mothers Day. My sister Karen came to see Mother. Our friends Elaine and Bob Erath came to visit on their way to Yakima.I worked Karen and Elaine to death. I had a catering job that weekend. They helped me quite alot. They also went with me to serve. I forgot to take pictures but I did get pictures from the one event I catered the weekend before.
I think we will have a great summer this year. The Fourth Of July will be great. The WHOLE family is getting together at Kyak Point, north of Seattle. It will be a great weekend. We will be getting to know Ben's girlfriend Kendall. We are really looking forward to that. I hope we don't over whelm her. We will be getting great pictures then also.Have a great summer everyone. I will try to be more diligent in my postings.

2010-05-30T11:45:00.000-07:00

2010-05-30T11:24:00.000-07:00

Last week Eric and I and our friends Bob and Sandy Olsen went camping. We started camping last year and decided it should be a yearly thing. We went in May because we were to slow in getting reservations for the summer. It was so cold. We went to Steamboat rock near Grand Coulee Dam. It was a beautiful place. Eric and I slept in a tent. The first night it was so so so cold. The next not as cold but still pretty cold. We went home on the third night. And yesterday we bought a trailer. It is about time. I will have pictures later.
One thing I got while camping was ROCK! I needed rock for my new landscaping. Eric kept looking for the rock police to come and get me. They didn't. I ended up with quite a few pieces of white granite.
We had a great tour of the dam. Because the elevator was not working to get us to the tour they took us by van. And we got to go on the top of the dam. Very few people have been on the top since 9/11. We got to see the turbines spinning. I expected alot more vibration from them, there wasn't much if any at all. Great tour.Next year we want to go up to Canada to the hot springs.

2010-05-30T11:21:00.000-07:00

2010-05-30T11:05:00.000-07:00

This spring is a very busy one for Eric and I. I of course have thought of many projects for the spring and summer. Eric can't do alot because he had shoulder surgery in March. I do most of the heavy lifting. But thats okay I am in pretty good shape and nothing is more important to me than new projects.I decided that the front yard was boring. Understatement. It needed a retaining wall and more landscaping. I love to landscape. We finished the retaining wall yesterday. It is great. I first had to reduce the size of my lawn on the premise that we really don't want alot of lawn to mow once we get older. So it was reduced by half. We got rid of 2640 pounds of sod. And brought that much in retaining brick back in the truck. Poor truck. It is a half ton truck. But it did well. I will be buying the dirt for the flower beds this week. We gave most of the old shrubs away. We also put our river rock of Craigs List and got rid of all of it in a week. We also put our old cement curbing of craigs list and got rid of it in one day. My favorite new addition to the landscaping is a black birch tree. Instead of white bark there is black bark. The leaves are a dark moroon green. Very beautiful.

CHARLIE

2010-01-26T10:34:00.000-08:00

My mothers cat sits rather strange when he cleans himself. He has no problem sitting up from a laying postion because he lays flat on his back. He weighs about 18 pounds. The vet thinks his weight if just fine because he a rather large cat. He talks but doesn't really meow.

Wall of Windows.

2010-01-26T10:30:00.000-08:00

We will be taking out the Wall of windows. We will be getting rid of the two side windows(they leak air). We will be putting walls up and put french doors in the center. IT will be great and beautiful and IT WON'T LEAK COLD AIR!!!!!!

The bathroom.

2010-01-26T10:24:00.000-08:00

We are still working on the design. They made the room so you can't put a standard tub in it. It is too narrow. So Eric and I will build our own shower pan and tile the whole area. The problem now is to locate a glass door that will fit in the space. Again we will have to special order. We will have a fairly large linen closet in the space for storage. We will finish is in cherry wood. We still have not purchased the vanity.I have a hard time making up my mind.That is also my problem with the tile selection. We are going to start the bathroom in 2 weeks.We should have it done by the time Meredith gets home from Dubai.

The new hallway.

2010-01-26T10:16:00.000-08:00

We made the opening to the hallway from the family room larger. It just makes everything flow better. The door on the right is the door to the food storage room. I have a food room with a door. Pretty cool. Across from that door is Merediths room. We are not done with her room yet. She won't be home till spring so we have a little time. The woodwork, closet doors and murphy bed still need to be done.The room at the end of the hallway is Andrea's. She had a cute entry way into her room.

Christmas Projects.

2010-01-26T10:09:00.000-08:00

For Christmas, Eric and I decided to buy an new TV stand and book case. We went to the unfinish furniture store. The TV stand is for when we can afford a new flat screen. You know, the cart before the horse thing. OhWell.Actually I think it turned out wonderful. We had 3 big CHEAP bookcases in the family room. I thought they made the space too small. So I opted for the small book case for the dvds. We finished the wood in a cherry color. It matches the wood on the couch and chairs. We are also going to finish the new bath in cherry wood.

The family room.

2010-01-26T10:00:00.000-08:00

I decided I did not like the color of my biege family room. I am a little more bold than that. So I bought a dark gold and navy blue for the walls. It turned out beautiful. The office is a mess right now. We threw out all the old office furniture and are ordering Mission style office furniture. It won't be here till the end of February. It covers the whole back wall and has a great big deck for in front of all the book cases and computer space. Right now my treadmill is taking up the space for me. And my computer is on an old game table. Its a mess and I can't wait till its all gone. I bought really cute pillows for the chairs and couch. They have cats and dogs on them and really great colors.

Andrea's new bedroom

2010-01-26T09:55:00.000-08:00

Andrea's room is 99% done. All we need to do is the woodwork around the closet and carpet. Carpet will not go in till the bathroom is done. Drywall dust in the new carpet is not what I want to deal with.

BREAD!!!!!!

2009-11-03T15:06:00.000-08:00

I am always looking for new bread recipes and new ways to make. I saw a pan that would make my french bread crunchier. It is a stone bread crock. You put it in the oven cold and bake for about 45 min. I also found a recipe for bread with cranberries,raisins and nuts. I started to make it last night because it has to raise for 8 to 12 hours. You make it into a 15 inch loaf and put in the baking crock and let it rise for another 2 hours. It turned out beautiful and the crust very crunchy. Eric had a slice right out of the oven. He said it was great. I don't really eat bread, so I leave the taste to other people. I just love to make it and smell it.

LEMON TREE VERY PRETTY.....

2009-11-03T14:55:00.000-08:00

A few years ago Meredith wanted a lemon tree for her birthday. Eric and I said,okay.A year or so later it produced 12 good sized lemons. Its all in her blog if you want to check it out.(cliffordinarabia.blogspot.com) Well... You know all those catalogs you get after Christmas for gardening??? Eric and I saw for $10.00,a lemon,tangerine,orange tree. What the heck, we ordered it. it was about 6 inches when we received it. It was three different trees together in a small bundle.So we planted it and set it outside when the weather got warm. It is now 2ft tall.We brought it in just before the frost. It loves the family room window,it gets alot of afternoon sun. We noticed a few weeks ago some blossoms forming on the lemon side. We are pretty excited. If Meredith can do it in New York City, surely we can do it here.She said it took about a year for the lemons to be ripe enough to use, no problem. I think this idea is going to be very cool.

REMEMBERING LAST WINTER

2009-11-02T10:10:00.000-08:00

We had our first snow last week. It wasn't much,but enough to make us think about last winter and the fact poor Eric came home from work and had to shovel the driveway from 4:00 to 10:00 just about everyday. So we decided to do something about it this year. We call it insurance for the fact we will probably not ever have snow again.

2009-11-02T10:06:00.000-08:00

LOOK WHAT WE GOT!!!!! YAHOO. A BRAND NEW SNOWBLOWER.

MEREDITH AT HOME!!!!1

2009-10-29T11:39:00.000-07:00

Meredith was supposed to be in Seattle October 1st at 4 in the afternoon. Andrea and I got in plenty of time to help with luggage or what ever, okay were excited!!!!! We waited and waited and waited. I finally asked where her plane was and was told it would be late. It did not come in till 2:00am. We went back to Karens house for dinner. Everybody was a little disappointed. After dinner Andrea and I went to Alicia and James house. We were staying there. We thought maybe we could have a little nap before we went back to the airport. We just had to wait for about 45 minutes, although it felt like forever. Finally she came up the escalator. What a sight. She is even more beautiful than I remember. My heart was very full. We found out why the plane was so late. There was plane trouble.Shock. They were 6 hours late taking off.If it wasn't for one of the passengers seeing fuel leak and smoke coming from the engine Meredith and everyone else on that plane would probably not be here...
We got back to Alicia's house and went to bed.The next morning we went to the mall to find some clothes. Meredith did't find to much in the way of clothes but did find baking sheet pans. Since I was providing the dinner for Saturday night I needed to get back to Karens and start cooking. Friday night Andrea,Meredith and Eric and a bunch from Karens family went to a Mariners baseball game.I was supposed to go but I was tired and busy baking.
Satuday we went shopping again. Meredith found some clothes and a few other things she needed.
It was general conferance weekend so we watched it also.
We had a great family dinner Saturday night. Debi,Mallory and Mitchell came to Karen's house. Mike had to work.We were sad. Meredith wanted pork since it was a long time since she had pork. So I bought beautful pork loins at the commisary.I made rolls, fresh applesauce,mashed potates and gravey. Debi brought a great green salad. For dessert I made pumpkin pies and cast iron apple cakes. Everything turned out well. Everybody enjoyed the food and said it tasted delicious. I didn't eat because I never do when I cook for hours.
Sunday morning Eric took off to a friend he hadn't seen in many years.Mom,Andrea, Meredith and I headed over the pass and over to my friends Bob and Sandy Olsen. They live in Ellensburg. We stayed a couple of hours. We always have so much fun. I love going to there house. We raided her garden. She gave us fennel. We went through her cook books and found a great recipe for the fennel. At least everybody in my family said it was great. I had to work the night they had it.Oh well, I have decided to grow some of my own next year.
Monday morning I took Meredith to Best Buy and she and I went in together and bought her a new Apple computer. Then we took her old computer and bought a new battery so now I have a lap top of my very own.Which is what I'm typing on.Yahoo.
Meredith took off for Arizona on Wednesday to visit her sister Amy and her family. You will have to read Merediths blog to find out what she did there.
When she got back she worked on her computer. I worked nights. I left at 1:00pm and I got back at 10:15pm. My favorite part of this vacation of hers was when I got home from work, she and Eric and I would sit on our bed together and watch tv and talk. It was great. Of course some nights we didn't get to bed till 1 or 2 in the morning.Of course going to work the time she was here was a little tough. I was very tired.But I didn't care at all. I loved having her here. And I believe with all my heart that she will be going back to school somewhere here in the country after her contract is through in Dubai.I can't wait. Of course you are saying.Well where are all the pictures you took. OOPS. I forgot!!!! Sorry.Maybe next time.

TWO CARS IN THE GARAGE!!!!!!!

2009-09-14T18:58:00.000-07:00

This weekend Eric and I worked very hard on reorganizing and cleaning garage. We took a load to the dump and a load to Goodwill. Then I reorganized it. We were then able to get 2 cars in the garage. Wow what a surprise for Andrea when she got home from Seattle. We have never had 2 cars in any garage that we owned. As soon as the basement is done we will be able to move the furniture back down stairs and then maybe park the truck in 3rd garage. Our vehicles won't know what to do with themselves.

BACK YARD AND GARDEN FINALLY DONE!!!!!

2009-09-08T15:30:00.000-07:00

Eric and I finally finished our yard and garden for the year. The grass is beautiful and the garden is lovely. We have planted the second wave of seeds in the veggie garden. It is doing very well. We will have another batch of veggies in about 3 or 4 weeks. Next year we plan to build a shed and start to replace the upper deck and add bottom deck.We hope to build an outdoor kitchen also. So next year will be a busy one also. But at least the veggie garden is completed. All we will have to do next spring is plant. YAHOO!!!!

ANGEL AND THE CABBAGE

2009-09-08T15:23:00.000-07:00

About amonth and a half ago we noticed our last cabbage was being eaten. We checked it for bugs, there were non. We thought maybe we have a bunny problem. But nothing else was eaten. Not the lettuce or spinach or beans or peas. It kind of crossed my mind that maybe our Angel was eating it. She loves fruit, especially dried fruit. But maybe she likes cabbage also. About a week ago we noticed Miss Angel was sitting next the cabbage chewing. So I thought I would take pictures of her sitting next to the cabbage.

DESSERT

2009-08-15T20:19:00.000-07:00

We had an activity at our ward last night. Eric signed us up for a dessert. It turned out wonderful. I thought I would share what it looked like with you. It is Filbert,chocolate rasberry tort. It was very tasty.

BEAUTIFUL GARDENS

2009-08-15T20:13:00.000-07:00

There is a man in our Ward that has a garden I envy. It is everything I love. We as a Relief Society visit it every summer and have a dinner there. It was great. It gave me many ideas.

2009-08-04T10:47:00.000-07:00

2009-08-04T10:39:00.000-07:00

2009-08-04T10:30:00.000-07:00

2009-08-04T10:20:00.000-07:00

2009-08-04T10:14:00.000-07:00

2009-08-04T10:09:00.000-07:00

Wyatt's 3rd Birthday Party!!!

2009-08-03T13:09:00.000-07:00

Benjamin brought his boys up for us to enjoy this summer. Wyatts birthday happen to fall on their visit.Lucky for us. Karen and Bruce came over to see all the Grandkids. They decided to bring Leah,Natalies oldest girl.It was time for the little cousins to meet. We had a Pinata and cupcakes and we brought Mcdonalds food home for the little ones.I think they all had a good time. I know I sure did.

Squirt Guns and fun!!!

2009-08-03T13:04:00.000-07:00

We gave the little ones squirt guns to play with. Little did we know that Aunt Karen would be their target. She was drenched.Oh well the Kids had a blast.

STRAWBERRIES ARE SO GOOD TO EAT

2009-08-03T12:49:00.000-07:00

We decided it was a perfect time to go Strawberry picking while the kids were here.
It was pretty warm outside but with all of us picking it did not take very long.The strawberries were very tasty. I made a rustic tart.

THE PROJECT

2009-08-03T12:43:00.000-07:00

While Sam and Elizabeth were here Eric gave them a project to make. It was a dog house. Sam learned how to use power tools and Elizabeth took most of the pictures.She also learned how to hammer nails. I think it was a good time had by all.I know Eric enjoyed doing something with his Grandkids.

Silverwood Park

2009-08-03T12:38:00.000-07:00

While Amy, Sam and Elizabeth were here we took them to a local amusement park named Siverwood. It had lots of huge rollercoasters which we found out that Elizabeth loves to go on. She was a maniac. We did some fun water rides and just had a great time being together.

Camping With Sandy and Bob Olsen

2009-08-03T12:31:00.001-07:00

When Benjamin was up to visit this summer he brought his boys and his trailor and truck. He left the trailor and truck for us to use. We and our friends the Olsens decided to go camping in Wenachee for 5days. We are so glad we had Bens' trailor. It had air conditioning. It was over 100 degrees while there. The campground was very clean and beautiful. It had bike trails, walking paths,beach,volleyball courts,tenniscourts and beautiful campsites. We enjoyed being with Sandy and Bob. I was able to do some dutchoven cooking. Something I love to do. Good food,good company,you couldn't ask for more. Thanks Bob and Sandy for a great time. Can't wait till next year.

2009-08-03T12:24:00.001-07:00

We went to Leavenworth to look around. We had a wonderful lunch and I found a beautiful picture for my bedroom wall at one of the shops. I have always loved going camping and shopping. Very fun.We had such a wonderful time being with friends we have known for a very long time.

Camping with Jodi and Scott

2009-08-03T12:14:00.000-07:00

The end of July, first of August Eric,Andrea,Mom and I accepted an invitation to camp with our friends Jodi and Scott Riggins. They share property on Lake Roosevelt.It was 105 degrees there. We had a good time. The mosquitos and wasps were very hungery while visiting outside. When we got there,there were deer laying in their yard. They were very content,until we got there. The view from the property was very beautiful. We very much enjoyed our little vacation. Thanks Jodi and Scott.

DEAR FRIENDS CAME A CALLIN!!!!

2009-06-16T20:32:00.000-07:00

Thursday night I received a phone call from my dear friend Elaine. We haven't seen each other for a couple of years. They asked if they could come over.Of course they could. What fun we had this weekend.Working our buns off. It was great. Then they were off visiting their daughter in Montana.Thankyou Bob and Elaine for a really great and fun weekend.Can't wait till we can see you again.

PUTTING THE NEW DRAIN IN!

2009-06-16T20:18:00.000-07:00

Bob and Eric decided to put screen on the end of the new pipe so our cat would not decide to get herself stuck in it.Would she do that? You betcha!!!!!

2009-06-16T20:09:00.000-07:00

The yard has always had a mushy spot. All right, a big mushy spot. I woke up Saturday morning last and found 1 inch of water standing. Bob started digging and found that the builder had put drain pipe in ground to drain off the excess water but only put about 10ft long. So for 10ft the water backed up and caused a swamp.When Eric got home from work they dug a trench and buried a pipe to the end of our yard and now the water drains. We still have a water mystery, but thats for later.

DEAR FRIENDS WORKING TOGETHER

2009-06-16T19:52:00.000-07:00

Because we had to rip up the yard to fix the swamp in the yard. We thought we might as well lay the brick while we were at it.

2009-06-16T19:41:00.000-07:00

We found the brick at a local brick yard. We wanted something that would compliment the stone. The brick has iron in it.When it is wet, it is either burgandy or navy blue. The top is really rough. Unless you look close you can't tell where one ends and one begins. It turned out beautiful.

2009-06-16T19:36:00.001-07:00

BEAUTIFUL STONE!!!!

2009-06-16T19:22:00.000-07:00

Prepareing and planting stone. We started to run out of stone in the middle of the project so ran to the "Sunrise Stone" supply center just as they were closing and bought what we needed to finish the project. Of course we had a thunder storm in the middle of the project. Heavy rain caused to go in the house for awhile. We stopped to have dinner. We finished just before it got to dark outside.

2009-06-16T19:16:00.000-07:00

The beautiful entrance into the garden. This is the finished product. We had alot of fun putting this puzzle together. What a way for really great friends to end their fun but very productive weekend together.

OUR BEAUTIFUL GARDEN

2009-05-25T17:11:00.000-07:00

We have worked very hard this year on getting a vegatable garden together. Every time we have planted the dog gets in there and unplants it. We have been patient and we think we have the solution, the picket fence. Lets all pray that it works. The garden is now starting to show promise with such a cold spring.

2009-05-25T16:52:00.000-07:00

We took a boring part of our yard and put raised beds in for our gardens. We actually started last fall. We took the sod out last september. Built the boxes early this spring. We have battled with the animals as to ownership. We hope with building of the picket fence our claim will win.Well at least with the dog. Not much you can do with the cats.

2009-05-25T16:46:00.000-07:00

We had to put a plastic fence around our garden beds thinking it would keep Sara out of the gardens. Didn't Work!Hence the start of picket fence.

2009-05-25T16:42:00.000-07:00

After alot of hard work we are at least 90% done. I need to paint the fence white. We need to ajust the gate. I still think the puppy can get under the gate.We need to finish the barkdust. Oh and plant 24 daylillies in front of the fence. It will be even more beautiful than it is now.

2009-05-01T15:24:00.000-07:00

EASTER DRESSES

2009-05-01T15:04:00.000-07:00

I had the opportunity to make some Easter dresses.Because my granddaughter is pretty well grown up and I can't make frilly girly dresses, I decided to adopt acouple of little girls to sew for in our ward. Their names are Sofia and Courtney. It was fun to sew little girl dresses again.

Dining Room

2009-04-09T08:06:00.000-07:00

I finally finished the upper dining room wall. The wall paper on the bottom will replaced later. I'm just not sure what I want yet.

2009-02-01T18:22:00.000-08:00

Just another view of the cast iron stove and a picture of our Angel.

FINALLY WARMTH!!!!!!

2009-02-01T18:16:00.000-08:00

We had a cast iron gas stove installed in the basement last week. I am a very cold blooded person. I am finally warm. I was surprised how much it warms up the house. I didn't turn it on today and the whole seemed very cold to me. So I quickly ran down stairs and turned it on. Its not very big but it is cute.

UPDATED KITCHEN

2009-02-01T18:05:00.000-08:00

We finally updated the kitchen. All the appliances are black and the sink is stainless steel. We bought a new faucet also. The oven is from Electrolux. It is a Dual Fuel Oven. So it is gas on the top and the oven is electric convection. The drawer on the bottom is also a full fledged oven.The inside is colbalt blue, very beautiful. The oven has a slow cooker button which I have used instead of my crockpot twice now. Pretty cool. It cooked pork ribs really well. It has a defrosting button and a dehydrating button. The top has 5 burners. It is pretty cool and I am having alot of fun trying all of the settings.The microwave is just like the one we put in the old house. Fairly simple but everything I was looking for.

THE NEW CAR

2009-02-01T16:42:00.000-08:00

After two weeks of looking and alot of internet serching we finally settled on this car. It has all the bells and whistles I could ever ask for.The main is the seat warmer. Since I am cold all the time this was a must. It also has memory so when I put my key in it, it ajusts my mirrors and seats to me. And Eric sits in it, it ajusts to him. It has a moon roof and hands off phone and a whole bunch of other things.IT only had 4800 miles on it.Its a 2008 Ford Taurus.Lots of room in the back for Mom and her friends.

AND IT KEEPS PILING UP

2008-12-30T15:25:00.000-08:00

Mom had a doctors appointment today that we had to cancel because we could not get out of the drive way. After Eric left for work the plows came and cleared the street and made a 3 foot burm for me to dig out. Thank heavens for neighbors.They helped Eric last night and me today. We did not make it to the doctor but at least Eric does not have to do it when he gets home. We got 10 more inches of snow yesterday for the total of 63 inches for december. We are expecting more tonight. Eric and I bought new boots last night so that we can work out in the snow. We have decided we will buy a snow blower next year. If we could find one this year we would buy it now. But they can not be found.

WINTER SUNSETS

2008-12-30T15:21:00.000-08:00

We have had a few breaks from the storms and have enjoyed some beautiful sunsets.

SNOW STORM CONTINUED

2008-12-18T16:02:00.000-08:00

Compare these pictures with the first winter storm pictures I put on this morning. There is a 5 hour difference. Where did the penguin go. And where did Andrea's car go? How much more snow is on the deck?

2008-12-18T15:58:00.000-08:00

Eric shoveled the snow last night from our walk. He is now doing it again. It is now 4:00PM thursday night and the snow is finally slowing down.

EXTRA PICTURES

2008-12-18T11:36:00.000-08:00

Here is Andreas car in the snow. And a picture of our cat Angel in front of our Christmas tree. MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERY ONE!!!!!

WINTER STORM

2008-12-18T11:23:00.000-08:00

It has now been snowing for 30 hours. It has been averaging 1 to 2 inches an hour. They do expect it to stop until 4:00pm. Then it is supposed to dip into the single digets and then on sunday another snow storm.Sorry about the two pictures of our poor peguin. He is almost covered. My snowman lights that line my walk way were blinking up until this morning. I was put a picture of Andreas car on which I will and show you how much snow is on it. My honda is in the garage. It is beautiful and I will get alot of baking done.I am glad I do not have to go out in it.

THANKGIVING WITH THE BOYS

2008-12-18T11:16:00.000-08:00

We had our Thanksgiving dinner on the friday after so that we could celabrate it with Ben and his boys. Are they not the cutest? They have grown quite a bit. Before dinner we took then to Build A Bear where Ezra built a Shaggy Dog and Wyatt built a Monkey. Boy was that place crowded (day after Thanksgiving)duh! Oh well we had fun with the boys and that is all that mattered.

TRIP TO NEW YORK TO SEE MEREDITH

2008-12-18T11:04:00.000-08:00

October 30th Eric and I were able to visit Meredith in New York. Little did we know we would being saying good buy for awhile while she went on another adventure. We blessed to have been there when she got the job offer. The Lord blessed us immediately with calm hearts. She is in the right place. While we were in New York City she walked our feet off. She of course was comfortable in what ever shoe she had on. We loved the trip. Eric could only stay a few days but I got to stay 10 days. When Meredith had to work her roommates took me out. They are beautiful women. Boy you men out there are really missing out.I had a lot of fun. I will miss them. Eric and I miss Meredith very much. BEIRUT.... who'd ever thunk.

2008-12-18T10:59:00.000-08:00

Holloween night Meredith took us to a town north of New York City where they really knew how to celabrate. They must of had tens of thousands of pumkins. It was great.There were so many people there that your tickets gave you a time to show up so you didn't all show up at one time. It was incredible.

2008-12-18T10:53:00.000-08:00

A beautiful drive to West Point to see the scenery and old friends were part of our goals for trip. We had not seen Brenda Erath Sparrow in lot of years. It was good to see her again and to meet her children. The Autumn colors were out of this world. I have always loved the east for its Autumn colors.

2008-12-18T10:47:00.000-08:00

While we were with Meredith we went to the Museam OF Natural History. It was fasinating.But the best part was the butterflies.We were able to go to a room where butterflies were able to fly free and land where they want. One landed on Meredith. But it flew away before I was able to take a picture. It was a beautiful room. Alot of beautiful flowers also.

2008-12-18T10:41:00.000-08:00

2008-08-17T19:20:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately this the only picture of Meredith that I got. I hope other people got more.

2008-08-17T19:19:00.000-07:00

Little Leah

2008-08-17T19:17:00.000-07:00

Special Cousins!!!

A CUTE COUPLE

2008-08-17T18:53:00.000-07:00

Here is Mom and my brother Mike. It was really good to see them at the wedding.

THE WEDDING DAY

2008-08-17T18:45:00.000-07:00

Stephanie and Rob after being sealed for time and all eternity.

2008-08-17T18:44:00.001-07:00

2008-08-17T18:43:00.000-07:00

2008-08-17T18:42:00.000-07:00

2008-08-17T18:40:00.000-07:00

Stephanie's proud parents.

2008-08-17T18:36:00.000-07:00

This was the courtyard where the reception was held. It was at the North Seattle Stake Center. That is the Stake center our family was Baptized in.

2008-08-17T18:32:00.000-07:00

This was the candy and drink station. The station on the left was the candy station. You could fill up little bags of Stephanie and Robs favorite candies. And the drink station had rootbeer, lemonaid, lime soda, coke in old fashioned coke bottles,and ice water.Very Fun!!!!!!

2008-08-17T18:29:00.000-07:00

Natalie did a wonderful job on this reception. Everything was just beautiful. The centerpieces were great. All the decoration were fun.

2008-08-17T18:18:00.000-07:00

I catered the food for the wedding. It was my first time. I actually had fun. I worked on the food for about 2 1/2 weeks. I was to make enough food to serve 200. Whether we had that many or not we are not sure. All I know is there were alot of people there. I served a couscous salad, a pasta salad, a green salad with raspberries, kiwi and sugared pecans, pulled pork sliders, chicken salad in puff pastry, cream cheese spread on baguettes.I had three helpers from Karens ward that were wonderful.

2008-08-17T18:11:00.000-07:00

Instead of a wedding cake Stephanie and Rob chose their favorite cakes. There was a carrot cake, a pink champagne cake, a pistacchio cake, the family's cherry chocolate cake that Meredith made,and Lammingtons from Austrialia. Quite a choice.

2008-08-17T18:05:00.000-07:00

Stephanie and Rob shared Lammingtons instead of wedding cake. I ate one. They are delicous. They are sponge cake cut into cubes dipped into chocolate and dusted with fine shredded coconut. MMMMMMMMGood...

THE HOUSE IS SOLD

2008-08-12T19:32:00.000-07:00

We finally sold the other house. We will close next week. We are excited to finish this and move on with our life. I also finally feel at home at the new house. It feels comfortable. And I finally feel excited to be here.

OUR PHOENIX VACATION

2008-07-17T16:07:00.000-07:00

Unfortunatly I did not take alot of pictures of our vaction to Amy's house. I don't have my own camera. I had to use mothers. We enjoyed our vacation very much. We want to bring our Grand kids up here next summer. We love our family very much.

2008-07-17T16:05:00.000-07:00

Ben and Eric. It was good to see Ben. We have missed him very much. We had a good time swimming and having fun with the Grand kids.

2008-07-17T16:00:00.000-07:00

Sam and Shawdow

2008-07-17T15:59:00.000-07:00