Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Gardening, A Sleepover and Family Dinner

So this is how our week started. On Monday I walked with LaVern in Genola, and got home in time for a visit with my visiting teacher.  I did some house work, and prepared one of the planting boxes and put in my tomatoes, and planted some morning glories.  I also brought this hanging plant out front to grace my iron pot on the front porch, and loved how it looked.



That afternoon I headed out to Olson's Garden Shoppe to get some ground over, and a flowering almond bush, like the one my mother had when I was a girl.  I seem to know so many people that work at Olson's.  above are Chris Olson, one of the owners, and Cristie Peterson, who is the one who suggested we do flea.p.logy out at Olson's in January.  I ran into Cora Lee, my neighbor, as well.

Dad and I had dinner, then Dad had a quick nap, before we delivered this cupboard we had sold to Debbie Payne from the Park ward, at the last flea.o.logy.  It was very cool, because as Dad, Debbie and I where trying to Maneuver the huge thing, two different cars stopped, and men jumped out to help us!  lovely small town living!


I have always heard that Debbie was an amazing decorator, so it was fun to get to see inside her house.  Her husband, Eldon, always came faithfully to my Gospel Doctrine class, when we lived in the ward.  He was such an amazing thinker, and I loved his comments.  Besides which he always told me I was an amazing teacher, so I had to love him.  He was made the next bishop after we moved, and then had a stroke, and lived with brain damage for a couple of years before his death.  Debbie struggles with that, of course, she is so young, about my age ... Quitcherlaughing! !

That night, Davin came by to borrow the blue van about 11:00 to deliver some furniture Briahnna had found at a good price.  We cleaned out the van together, which was kind of fun.  Dad had been exhausted, and had gone to bed around 9:00, I guess there is something to be said for having both an early bird and a night owl in the family.


On Tuesday, I walked with Ginny, then headed to Salt Lake.  Dad worked out in Tooelle, so he missed out on our monthly lunch bunch group with our Salt Lake ward.  I am shown above with Zenabeth and Darryl Fereday, who came for the first time since I have been going, they said they see  Dad all the time at the Dan's on Fort Union.  It's always fun to visit with former ward members!

I then spent the afternoon junking, before hitting Trader Joe's for some Lemon Curd, before picking up Eva around 5:00. We were having a Relief Society activity and Ginny, who is the Relief Society President, asked us to bring grand daughters between the age of 5 and 18, to buff up the numbers, as they had a magician coming.

I had agreed to bring cucumber sandwiches for our 'ladies' lemonaide', and had found a recipe for lemon-dill cucumber sandwiches.  I also brought the lemon curd.  You can see Eva helping me to make the sandwiches.


Here she is at the event.

Then here she is at home with a TV dinner, which she insisted on eating in front of the TV with Aunt Cheryl, after she asked me why they were called 'TV dinners'.  It was pretty amusing. Of course Dad was at the temple that night, so it was a girls' night at home too!

Then she got to sleep over, and Dad took her home early Wednesday morning.

On Thursday Brittney and Spencer got home, it seems like they'd been gone forever.

Also, on Thursday, after walking with Ginny, I worked all day at Treasures, except for when I ran to the dentist to get my crown reattached.  I also found time at work to make the wreath above, so that I could do a craft blog post on my pollyanna blog.  Those have been few and far between of late.

After work, I had book clubs in Elk Ridge and we discussed The Runaway King.

Also that evening, Brittney was in charge of our ward's New Beginnings.  I love her decor ideas, doesn't the room look amazing!?  The theme was Adventure Awaits!

On Friday morning, as I was heading out to a couple of sales, I caught Brittney and Spencer working on their garden box ... They planted it before they headed to Europe for their cruise, etc, and since they were gone almost three weeks, they had a lovely surprise when they got home.

One of the sales I went to that morning was by Debbie Reynolds in Pleasant Grove ... I just met her at the last flea.o.logy, and she invited me to come and see her house.  I have heard of her for years, so it was fun to meet her finally.

Isn't her old house adorable?

... And she is a lot of fun too!  

After junking, I met Dad's cousin Karen for lunch in Springville at The Trolley. We have been playing words with friends for over a year, after finding out we both play at a funeral last year.  We've been meaning to do lunch, almost from the start, so it was fun to have it really happen!

That night we got take out pizza with the Kews and watched 'Finding Forester' at their place, which we all enjoyed.

I worked on Saturday, and it was fun when Bruce Alison came in to visit.  He has moved to Wyoming, and was in town for Memorial Day!

That night Dad had made arrangements for us to go to Salt Lake to see 'Belle' which is in limited release ... We both loved it!  

Afterwards, we went to Friday's for dinner, so we could see our dear girl, Ashley!

The late night on Saturday meant an early Sunday for me, as it was my lesson day.  I thought all my lesson helps strung out across the bed made for a great picture.  The lesson went very well, one of those times when the lesson went a different direction than I had planned, and I could feel The Lord directing it.  I love when that happens.

In sacrament meeting the Relief Society Presidency spoke, and Jane York told a remarkable story.  She talked about her time away from the church, and her strong desire to feel at peace, then she started going to church more and then prepared to go to the temple, on her own, since Brent didn't want to go. She said she always felt at peace while at church, while praying and while reading the scriptures.  After she went to the temple, she said she felt at peace almost all the time.  One day when they were working on the house they were fixing up in Salem, they needed to move a load of dirt they had dug for an intrance to the basement.  They got a back hoe to move it, but found they needed to shovel dirt from the top of the pile into the shovel. Jane and her two boys stood on the dirt pile, Brent drove the back hoe up to scoop what he could and they shoveled more In until it was full. They did this over and over... One time as Brent was approaching, she felt impressed to get off the dirt pile, she shouted for her boys to a jump off too.  Brent thought she was crazy, but when he went to stop at the pile, his foot got entangled in a hydrolicnline and the back hoe went up and over the dirt pile, where Jane  and the boys had just been standing, and then into the whole they had dug.  It wasn't too long after that that Brent also went to the temple and they were sealed.  I wonder if he was impressed by the experience.

After church Brittney and Spencer helped us set up tables and chairs, and we all had family dinner outside..

I love that the grand kids were playing in the garden house.  Here Addy looks like she is greeting guests.



Elias is roasting his hot dog in our new 'fire pit' , or fire place.

Here He is showing me what a great job he did.

Addy is enjoying the watermelon.

So that was our week!  Hoping your week wa fun too!

Sunday, May 18, 2014

Eating Out x 6 + Post Cards x 54 = a Very Happy Birthday Girl

 So this was my week ... it all started with a walk with LaVern on Monday ... during our walked we noticed lots of fun ice that had formed as the farmers used sprinklers to water overnight, and it had frozen.

 I headed home, stopping at Walmart for flowers to plant and paint to paint the mail box Dad had poured the the cement pad for the previous Saturday.

After planting some planters I headed back to LaVerns for a Mother's Day Luncheon.  She had invited a lot of neighbors from the Park ward, where she and I met.  
 We all had a nice lunch, then showed items we had brought that reminded us of our mothers.
 That night Dad and I picked up Kim and Ian, then Eszie and went to dinner at the Costa Vida where Eszie just got a job.  Eszie is loving meeting family members, and since it was her birthday the beginning of the month, and Ian's was the next day, they both got birthdays cards with money from Grandma and Grandpa.  Ian is going to get a video game with his, and Eszie is saving up money to get her driver's license.

On Tuesday I headed to Salt Lake to meet Arlene for our monthly temple session.  Then we had a nice long chatty lunch at Zupa's, her favorite restaurant.  Of course I spent several hours junking before heading home.  Dad, had his regular Tuesday Temple shift.

 On Wednesday I worked, as usual, and was pleased when Trevor and Nell stopped by and brought me flowers for my birthday.  Dad had headed to Logan for the rest of the week, that morning, so I had a quiet evening of reading at home.
 On Thursday at work I pulled out a week's worth of junking finds and got them all priced and ready to put out at the mall.  The rusty wire wheel was found while walking with LaVern in Genola.  There's a family there that has an incineration pit right by the road.  A couple of years ago I hauled out some rusty crib springs. LOL

Also that day, I had been invited to a luncheon with some friends from my book club and service group, We Can ... when I got to Patti's cute condo, just a few minutes from work, I found out it was a birthday party for me.  How sweet are these girls!!


 Carolyn had made a sugar free trifle for my 'cake', isn't she a dear girl?
 I did have to eat fast since I just have a half hour for lunch ... though Nikki told me to take my time, and I was gone a total of 45 minutes.  Then Nikki, who is a Jehovah's Witness, gave me a gift.  I told her my birthday was the day before ... and she laughed.  She said if it had been my birthday that day she would have taken the gift back and save it for a month to give it to me on a random day.  She is such a good friend, and I have learned so much about her religion.


 I went grocery shopping on the way home, then made dinner for Cheryl before heading upstairs with my dinner, and my comfy chair and more reading time.

On Friday I was up early and got some junking in around Payson and even drove down to Santaquin, which was a false alarm ... one of those people who have their yards and sheds set up to sell antiques, and are priced like an antique store, but who insist on listing themselves as garage sales .... grrr .

Then it was time to head to lunch with the kids for my birthday celebration.  I had made arrangements to deliver the Union Jack table I had done for flea.o.logy but had sold on the Reclaimologist site on Wednesday.  This gal is picking it up for her sister who is an Anglophile like me. And yes, Becca, this is the table I had time to do because I took the day off to help you paint murals. :-)
 Next it was time for lunch at Cafe Rio in American Fork.  It was fun to see the kids, and it was nice that we could eat outside ... not gonna lie, I am sick of winter and a sloppy cold spring!




 Then, as always, I was off to do a spot of junking before heading home for some down time ... oh and painting the mail box black, as well as the porch chairs, since we are going to be doing all the house trim in black, including the front door.  Its going to be an awesome back drop for seasonal wreaths, don't you think?

I pulled myself away from by chair nap/ reading session in time to make Cheryl some dinner before heading up to the park where Alexis, Nell's sister, was performing in a short play festival.  Not sure you can tell, but this actor is reading himself a little Pride and Prejudice.  Since the play was called 'Becoming Darcy' It all made sense.


 Here, the 'girl' played by Alexis, overhears something she should not!!  It was a super fun play, and being Austenish, how could I not love it!! Actually all the acting was quite good, fun and dramatic.  The plays shorts were well written and fun too!
 The guy in the middle is the faux Darcy, if you didn't guess.
 I stayed for another couple of short plays before heading home, to await my own 'Mr. Darcy', who had finished up his week in Logan, and came straight back to do a temple shift as a trade for one he is giving up for our antique trip to Texas!  I didn't actually see him until almost midnight.
 Saturday morning, my Mr. Darcy, AKA Dad, got the mail box installed.  We have owned it for a mere 10 years ... its just that all the digging and form building and cement laying, and bolt insertion designing in the cement pad was all just so daunting ... but alas, My Hero saved the day!! or should I say decade!

 Meanwhile I was off to Salt Lake to partake of bon bons ... well, of course I didn't actually partake of them ... but there was a lovely luncheon of BBQ chicken, fruit and salad ... and lots of sister-in-laws, nieces and grand nieces to be be enjoyed at Jack's fiance' wedding shower, held at Jill's house.
 Here we see Kim, Nina and Dianne.
... and Jack with Jane Middleton, and yes, she actually is Kate Middleton's sister, I guess that's why she's marrying into this royal family!!  



To the left are Natalie, Darby and Mary.
... and Mary again, this time with her Mom, JoLyn, and sisters Brook and Jill, with Brooke holding Jill's baby Addison.



Darby, Mary and Kristin ... it was all of lot of fun, and getting together with my family is becoming so rare, its definitely something to savor!



After the shower I ran by a local antique and gift shop who was hosting a Downton Abbey Tea Party ...

More Union Jacks, and the queen herself sans her Granddaughter-in-law ...

 Meanwhile, Dad had taken his Dad to see a Barbershop show.  He said that he was pretty quiet, but at least he looks pretty happy is this double grandpa selfie!!

After we both got home, we regrouped, changed clothes, got Cheryl's dinner, and headed north again ... this time to Highland where we were meeting the Heuers and Moes to attend their Stake Conference Adult session, before going to dinner at Zupa's Cafe.  We got talking about how bad movies have been lately, and how our favorite genre, romantic comedy, has largely gone to 'R' ratings, leaving us all out in the cold.

Barb mentioned they had just watched a fun one, and since they were house sitting Donelle's house, they invited us, at 10:00 P.M. to come and watch it in Donelle's theater room.  We did like the movie, Alex and Emma, and I thought it was funny at one point when Kate Hudson, who plays Emma, reminded me very strongly of Goldie Hawn, who I used to love as an actress.  When I mentioned, it Barb laughed, and said. "You do know that Goldie Hawn is Kate Hudson's mother, right?"  Silly Me.  Well, Dad and I felt kind of young and wreckless staying up so late! :-)  We got home by 12:30, so that wasn't so bad.

 After church on Sunday, Dad and I headed straight to Spanish to visit Grandpa again.  We took turns showing him pictures on our phones, which seemed to interest him.  He was much happier and much more animated that he had been at the Barbershop Show the day before, so that made for a nice visit. When we left he even said "Good bye," and "Come Again". :-)

After having a nice dinner with Cheryl, I headed upstairs and took some pictures of the post card birthday event I'd been experiencing all week ... to the left is the cute box that Nell made to hold the collected birthday post cards ... did you notice the polka dots?  ... what fun it was all week to go to the mail box and sort the mail looking for post cards ... the most came on my birthday with me receiving 17.  That was kind of fun, since that's my favorite numbers.  Other days I got 14 and 12 and 3 and 4 ... in all there are almost 60 at this writing, which is perfect for my 60th birthday, don't you think?

So that was my fun birthday week, with three luncheons and three dinners at restaurants.  The post cards coming every day added to all the fun!!  I would like to thank my wonderful friends and family for making this such a magical week!  I love you ALL!!