A Dead Phone a Boutique and an Amazing Missionary Farewell.

 So, it was a crazy week again ... with just a last few days to get ready for the Reclaimologist Boutique, which was Friday and Saturday.

This is the stuff I worked on, on Monday.  I distressed the chairs, made the wreath, painted the orange stuff, and refinished the dresser.  Dad did some serious wrestling to repair the stuck bottom drawer.

The picture was taken to be put on the site as a preview for the sale.

Tuesday was more of the same, but in black and white.  I had done some of the base black painting the day before, but finished off the drawer fronts on the desk, the label on the black chest, and the stamping for the subway art on the night stand ... which I loved doing.

 

I took a break to make dinner and pick up the missionaries.  Because Dad is away at the temple on Tuesdays, I had to provide a chaperone, and invited Jane Johnson, the wonderful 80 year old former Southern Baptist who lives in our ward, and is really the bright spot here for me.

 

I took pictures, but unfortunately, they are in the dead phone you will hear about later.

 

After dinner I ran dinner over to my visiting teaching partner, who has been sick, and then did one visiting teaching visit on my own.

 

I worked a normal Wednesday, with Nell coming in to help me choose goodies to take to the show, from my booths at the mall.  Cheryl's ex-husband, Craig, happened to be in the store as well, and I introduced them.  Craig was amazed to learn that Trevor is married with three kids and a beautiful wife ... yep, another picture that was lost to human knowledge in the dead phone.

 

On Thursday, the missing pictures is of an amazing lady who came in and told me an awesome story (She also sold me some goodies from her mother's estate.)  Her name is Susan Hughs and she lives in Salem.  She and her husband are into family history, and have started finding old family head stones, and photographing them (as well as others) to add to a website that collects them and makes them available to people who are searching for the info they contain. 

 

I think Trevor and Nell saw such a photo of Philo Dibble's grave before seeking it out on Memorial Day a couple of years ago, and I ran across some when I was doing the little  bio book of my Great Grandmother Ida Alice Dorris.

 

Anyway, the Hughs were back in Iowa, searching for the head stone of a great grandmother, in a small town ... they had an old land plot number, which is no longer in use there, and started with a lady having a yard sale ... she got in their car and took them to a farmer's place that she knew had a small family grave yard.  He took them to the correct plot number at another farm.  Eventually they picked up an Amish man, who went along, even riding in their car, to help them find, in the end, the stone in the barn of still another farm.

 

The stones had been turned upside down, at one time, by some intermediate owner, and had been used for stepping stones, but the current farmer, who always has a sense that a small rise on his property had been a grave yard, and never used the land for crops, had grown up walking on the stones, one day turned them, and found them to be grave markers, preserved from weather by being face down, had cleaned them and put them in a barn, for safer keeping.  (The stones were of the sought after great grandmother, and the stone for a set of twins in the family)

 

When Susan saw the stones she just bawled.  The farmer agreed to have them reset, and told her a man in town could restore them.  The next day, in visiting with a woman she had met at the records place on coming into town the day before, she found that this man (the stone restorer) was her husband.  He told them of a society that would fence in the small grave yard, and another man, maybe the Amish man, used a stick like a water witching stick, and 'witched out' the graves.

 

So now the stones are restored, the Amish man offered materials to make the fenced area offered by the 'grave yard society' larger,  ... and no one, will accept any payment.  Susan said the experience restores her faith in human kind ... all of these people came on board and we concerned about her search, and supported her.

 

Of course she has sent contributions to the society that restored the site, but the warmth that she feels whenever she shares the story is the biggest payoff of all.  I loved the story, and the people in it.

 

BTW she later came into the ROCC show, and I got her picture with her daughter.  She is the one on the left.

 After being delayed a tad, by Susan's story, I managed to get to the show site, right on time about 2:30, and was mostly set up by 6:00, when Dad came and got me to go to Elden Brough's wedding reception in Salt Lake.

Here are some good friends, old and new, from shows I have done ... Angie Farmer, (of the pink trailer fame) Jenn Reed, who had the idea to name flea.o.logy, the girl from the Vintage Cupcake company who has been on cup cake wars and knew of Eric, and Jennine, a long time flea.o.logy dealer, all smile during a break from set up.

Unfortunately during set up, my phone died ... I have had it, a gift from all you kiddos almost two years ago for Christmas ... though my 15 years worth of contacts were lost, my biggest regret was the few pics from this week that I also lost.

 

So on Friday morning, my 'Super Daughter' appeared magically with her family to get my phone replaced for me.  She went to the Sprint place in town, (I am on their plan with them) and spent hours, while they tried to recover my data ... then she came back, like an angel of light, with the new phone!!  Bless her cotton socks ... she even enlisted Brittany as an assistant angel (via Dad) in finding me a polka dotted phone case, because they ones they had at the store were 'boring' and she knew I wouldn't like them!!  What great kiddos and spouse I have.  Love you guys and thank you a million times.

 

Nell came by and brought her items for sale, and helped with set up.  Sales were super slow the rest of the day, but I got to know my neighbors, and visited with my friends who came by, like Wendy, and Susan, and other folks I had shared the info with while at work the last couple of week.

 Saturday was a lot more fun, as Brittany and Spencer came and spent the day to man their 'Hatchet Eyewear' table, which gave me the freedom to roam the show and to get acquainted with the other Reclaimologists, I had there to fore, only known by a thumbprint on our ROCC blog.

Of course Spencer is always entertaining, just by being himself, so that was fun too!

Dad showed up in time to help me take down at the end of the show ... and by working fast, and stuffing, and stuffing in all the goodies that didn't sale, back into the van ... along with a darling desk that Brittney and Spencer bought ... we were able to make it to the dollar movies next door to see almost all of Austenland for our fourth time.  :-)

 On Sunday I made cookies, while Dad went to meetings, then we headed to Highland, with Spencer and Brittney, for Ryan and Jake's combined farewell talks.  It was an amazing meeting, both young men feel like nephews to me, and I was pretty teary to see them go.  They are both amazing, and will be a great addition to the Lord's Army. 

Above you see most of our kids and grands who joined us at the church, then Davin and Bri at the Moes house where we were all treated to a frozen yogurt and cookie bar ... Don't you love that Adilyn is looking for all the world, just like her dad?  So like she's all mom on the outside, and all dad on the inside?

 

Of course I had to take the opportunity to get a picture of Spencer with Daniel and Eric, the Moe and Heuer compatriots that he grew up with like cousins .... I think I remember a similar grouping from our Bear Lake camping days ....   twenty years ago.

On the way home we stopped and visited with grandpa.  It was fun to read the book about other visits he had received this week.  I do know, however, that Darby is not signing the book, because I know she took him to Café Rio for lunch ... so Darby, The book is on the shelf in his closet, be sure to let us know about your visits too.

So that was our week ... thanks to everyone who helped with my projects this week ... I journal every day about my contacts with my children, and I am amazed at how often you drop by, or text me, or call ... and this week I even had a couple of face time episodes with grandchildren ... which I am really loving.

Love you all and sorry about my penchant for run on sentences.  xoxox

The Texas Talleys!!!

Bekie with the little doll
Grandma Talley made her

Hello, everyone in Utah! Wanted to give 'y'all' an update on what this little Talley family has been up to in Texas. We have been diligently looking for a new home. Rebekah, Liam, and I have been staying with Sam's parents in Bonham, a small town an hour outside of Dallas, and Sam has been staying with the Larson's (dad's old counselor when he was the bishop) in San Antonio. He started out in hotels, but staying in a hotel every night is a little ridiculous in pricing.

Grandpa Talley with these babies

Sam saw this and said, "It's like Liams' saying 'I make this look good!'"

Sam's been doing amazing at work, has made tons of friends, and is really happy. There are many Latinos in San Antonio, and they are all amazed at this 'gringo' Sam and how beautifully he speaks Spanish. (Argentine Spanish is a lot like Spain Spanish- very clean and polite). We're definitely not in Utah anymore, where it seems like a second language is commonplace. I love to hear all of his fun stories of how he shares his testimony and Gospel principles, since he's been a bit rusty in his seven years or so in Utah. Sometimes they are just funny, like, 

"Hey man, do Mormons ever take breaks?"-guy at work

"Breaks? What do you mean?"-Sam

"Like, can you come with me to a strip club and just take a break from being Mormon for a while?"

"....No."

Ha!

Bekie and Liam have been happy with Grandma and Grandpa Talley, but they sure miss their papa bear. Sam comes up on some weekends, but has had to stay in San Antonio on other ones in order to look at homes/sign paperwork/meet with the inspector, etc. 

Feeding the ducks at Bonham State Park

He can stand up in his pack and play by himself now

We had a contract in on one home in Somerset, a Small town 30 minutes from Sam's work in San Antonio, but after an inspection showed huge foundation issues ($13,000 or so....) we decided to back out. Finding a home is hard work! Goodness. We are putting an offer in on a home in San Antonio, 8 miles from Sam's work, but about a 20 minute drive. I really like the set up and it seems like a good fit, but we will have to wait and see if our offer is good enough for the seller!

I'm so glad when daddy comes home..

Swings!

Liam is sooo big! We've only been gone for almost 6 weeks and in that time he has gotten two teeth, has mastered crawling on his hands and knees, learned to sit up by himself without falling over, pulls himself up to standing position and has actually stood by himself once or twice (usually followed by a big fall). He is so sweet and hardly cries unless he is hungry or tired. He doesn't even cry when his big sissy sits on him, swan dives on him, or smacks him in the head. Oh, older siblings.

Messy messy

Bekie is happy and as energetic as ever. She is the queen of singing and dancing. She doesn't know the words to hardly any songs, but she will try to sing along anyway. Her favorite is from Sleeping Beauty. She'll grab both of my hands, start twirling in a circle, and sing in a super high pitched voice, "I knoooow judeislkjtoiwkj deeeeeeeeam, I knoooooooooooow sldkfjawioj" etc.

Bekie has crawled into my MIL's yarn cabinet

She is still learning her animal sounds, but should have them mastered soon, since there are chickens a few houses away, horses and donkeys across the street in front of the house, sheep and goats across the street on the side of the house, and plenty of neighbors to the back of the house with cows. When she sees chickens, she says, "Bawk bawk bawk". When she sees ducks, she says "bawk bawk bawk". When she sees birds, she says "bawk bawk bawk." My favorite was when she saw Tinker Bell flit across the TV and she starts shouting, "bawk bawk bawk bawk!" Apparently everything with wings is a chicken?

So, life is good- excited to be in a new home together and excited to be together as a family again! I was talking to Sam's brother, Paul, and told him, "I miss Sam- I even miss all the things he does that annoy me." Paul replied, "Yup, that would be Sam all right." And I do! Can't wait to be together. 

That's our family! Miss you guys and are hoping to come out for a couple of weeks this summer!

\ 

The Witches' Have Tea ... and Christmas Names are Drawn.

 On Monday I was off ... working on my tea party details that is ... a little house cleaning, a little party planning, a bit of decorating ... you know the drill.

On Tuesday, while walking with Ginny, I stopped and took a picture of Raelene DeWitt's Hawthorn tree all full of berries ... and so pretty ...

Then I ran to Kaysville to get my newly upholstered couch from my friend Arlene!  Of course lunch was included, at Zupa's, my second favorite lunch place ... with some serious DI junking coming and going, and it all added up to my perfect day!

I stopped at Trevor and Nell's on the way home, as I was borrowing mugs for my Witches' tea, and snapped some pictures of her, as always, cute holiday décor ... I then used those pictures to knock out my blog that night ... yawn!

 On Wednesday, while I was at work, Ashley stopped to get the keys to Payson Cottage, as she was picking up the couches she and Andy bought from Emily and Sam ... she also brought me some furniture pieces that I was buying to rehab for my upcoming show!  It was great to see her and we got a bit of a chance to visit.

Ashley and Andy dropped by after I got home from work to bring the furniture, and Darby came by to help.  Here she is shown with Aunt Cheryl ... I just wish I had pics of Ashley and Andy moving the furniture ... I can't wait to see their redone house, they are working so hard on it! 

 Thursday morning, before work, I swept off the front porch and walk ... which was covered in branches from Ben's tree work, and hung my Dead and Breakfast sign in anticipation of my upcoming witches tea.

Then it was off to work .... doing a couple of projects for my upcoming Reclaimologist Boutique in Spanish.  After work I stopped and did my shopping for the tea ... which was ... yikes... the next day ... and I still had soooo much to do.

 Friday morning and the table is set ....

 The creepy witchy food is prepared ... deviled spider eggs, bug infested chicken puffs, and eyeballs too..

 Above are the witches from my ward ... Ginny is my walking partner, Raelene is my former walking partner and Andrea is my visiting teaching partner ... all girls that are a lot of fun... The rest of the guest list was made up of flea.o.logists and antique mall shoppers.  Nell came along to mingle with the flea.o.logists and generally to show her support of my witchy world.

 

This is Angie, one of our flea.o.logy dealers, leaving with her completed craft ... pretty cute eh?

 So what's a witch to do after the party is over?  ... well in this case she got her favorite Wizard to take her to the movie about the missionaries who were kidnapped back in the 90's ... which we both loved ... then she got him to take her for some serious chilling at Maui Chill .... yummmm

On Saturday I focused on finishing up projects for the Reclaimologist Boutique this coming weekend ....

While Dad finished up the tile work at the Payson Cottage, and fixed the leak in the new tub!  YIKES!

 

 On Sunday we attended meetings, and Dad got to do his High Council talk for this month, with the Stake President in attendance, which made him not one bit nervous, so he says.

When he got home from his second set of meetings, we all piled in the car with Spencer and Brittney and stopped to visit Grandpa on our way to Darby's house for family dinner.

Brittney gave grandpa a lemon bar, which he loved, then later, when the inmates were having dinner, she played the piano for a while, which they all seemed to enjoy.  Our favorite other tenant, Bill, came over and sat by us and was singing along with the hymns ... so fun.

 Darby provided pizza for everyone, while her siblings filled out the menu ... everyone had fun, though the 3 year olds got frisky at one point and need hushing, its just too fun to get together with cousins!

 

Oh no, I don't want to go home ... save me Aunt Brittney ...

 

... and while we were partying in Utah, the Talley's were celebrating Sam's birthday in Texas ... thank goodness Sam had Beckie to help him blow out the candles ...

Of course, with Brittany's prompting from Idaho, we did the Christmas drawings and here are the results.

Kim has Charlie, Ian has Elias, Zach has Alex, Kai has Zach, Alex has Titan, Charlie as Eleanor, Scott has Kim, Eva has Ian, Eleanor has Kai, Elias has Scott, Beckie has Eva, and Titan has Beckie.

Also, Brittany M. has Spencer, Mike has Andy, Ashley has Emily, Andy has Darby, Darby has Brady, Trevor has Ashley, Nell has Brittany M., Ben has Briahnna, Davin has Sam, Briahnna has Nell, Emily has Brittney P., Sam has Mike, Becca has Davin, Brady has Trevor, Spencer has Becca and Brittney P. has Ben.

and that's all folks ... love you all!  BTW family dinner in two weeks is at Davin and Bri's new house!

Visiting Grandpa and Some Other Stuff like Kylie's Call!

 Yep, another week has gone by ... and here is how we, fairly quietly, spent it.

 

On Monday we had We Can, the gal to the right is a member, and shows off the twisted pipe cleaners we did has part of the picks we are making for our Festival of Trees tree that goes up next month.

 

Below is a sign that Lynn, our hostess has on her wall ... I like it, don't you?

 

On Tuesday, Darby took Grandpa to lunch, on her first day to visit him.  Isn't it fun they got to have an outing?

 

 While on Tuesday I was home blogging, crafting, finishing my witch party invites, doing laundry and hanging it out on the line, doing dishes by hand as the dishwasher power isn't restored yet .. painting stuff for our  Reclaimologist Boutique which is coming up in two weeks, and basically being a homemaker type.

 

Dad,  of course, came home to change before heading to the temple in Provo for his Veil Coordinator shift.

I worked on Wednesday and Thursday, and had Ben drop by on Thursday for a visit.  Here he is posing in front of my 'manly booth'.  Doesn't he look manly?

 

 Meanwhile, Becca, who was watching Trevor and Nell's kids while they headed to a wedding of one of Nell's high school friends, took the whole gang to see Grandpa, and decided to take them all for a 'turn about the neighborhood.'  Lucky grandpa!!

On Friday I did some junking around Utah county, then spent the afternoon spiffing up my piano for Halloween, and for a blog post, of course.

 

Scott got off work around noon, and used the rest of the day to get the power run to the fixture in the dining room!  He is absolutely my hero!!

 

He even quit in time to take me to dinner at Café Rio ... does it get better than that?

 On Saturday Dad was off for his long run, over 6 miles, and stopped off to visit the Payson Temple and see it with the Angel Moroni in place!!

I did a bit more junking in Payson and Spanish Fork, and stopped by to check on our Grandpa Man ...  Since he was also wearing orange and black, I thought we ought to have our portrait taken together. The nurses aid's name is Rachel and she lives over by Hillman Field here in Payson.  She's been working for three months, and says she loves the lock down wing, because the residents are so sweet, and if they yell and swear at her, she knows they don't mean it ... Oh yes, she has tried to shower Grandpa. LOL

Meanwhile, back at the ranches, our Jack of all trades, Dad got the tile surround grouting done on the tub at Payson cottage .... then he proceeded to lay the floor, except two tiles, as he was short.

 

He headed off to the BYU game, which he enjoyed with Davin and Bri, then stopped on his way home for a case of tile ... Yeah Dad!!

 

And while he was at the game, I was on the computer planning my menu for the witches' tea which is coming up, when Barb called and hooked me up to listen to Kylie read her mission call!! Yep, Barb and Randy will have THREE missionaries out at the same time ... Kylie got her call to Australia, Chinese speaking ... she leaves on March 5th, and the fun thing is that if Brittney is still teaching Chinese at the MTC here in Provo by then, Kylie will get to have her for a teacher ... what a small, small world.

Today at Church, Dad got to hold a rock and talk about the weight of being in debt ... Denise Ekins always does a great job on her lessons, and they are a joy to attend.

 

After church, I took a nap, while Dad went to his second set of meetings.  Then we worked on dinner together, and ate, before he headed to stake choir practice.  When he gets home we will head over to visit Grandpa, since both sets of peeps who have Sunday are out of town ... what are the chances?