Waiting for Emily to Pop!

Our somewhat crazy, party laden week, began on Monday with a visit from Emily and Beckie, wherein I was very entertained.  Emily had business in north county and kindly took Grandpa to Becca's for day care, which made it much easier for me to get to the dentist in Provo by nine.  Afterwards, I did some junking in Provo, came home and did one visiting teaching visit, before collecting Grandpa and calling it a day.

On Tuesday I dropped Grandpa off at Nell's before heading to Salt Lake to meet my friend Arlene for a quick lunch, which was cut short by the carpet layers who needed me to open Aunt Cheryl's condo so they could lay the new carpet. More junking rounded out the day in Salt Lake.

 

Dad dashed home from St. George so that he could put in his Tuesday evening temple shift, before heading back Wednesday morning.

 

On Wednesday I had to work which precluded me attending Darby's big birthday bash.  As you can see there was quite the turn out!!

 

I also worked Thursday, as usual and ...

 hurried straight to the Relief Society Birthday party immediately afterwards.  It was actually a couple affair, but fortunately there were other single sisters to hang out with ...

Friday was a little crazy, with me running Grandpa to Becca's before hitting a couple of pathetic sales in PG and AF ...  Fortunately I also had a buying appointment in Springville that day at this house .... please note the striped doors.

I have known Linda as a customer for several years, I just never understood that she was a kindred spirit.  Above is a picture of her fairy room, it opens off her dining room, one of the double doors is open on the miniature room, the stool is for interested grand children's convenience.  I love her play house out back too!  Oh and she gave me great deals on everything I got from her which was about 90 percent of what she showed me, which is very unusual, a typical buying appointment will see me leaving with about 10  to 20 percent of the items I am shown.  Whoa!

Then it was back to pick up Grandpa in Highland , and when I got home Dad had made a very nice dinner for us all.  How sweet is he!!  Next we got to spend a 'romantic' evening getting our accounts ready for the tax man the next day!!

Saturday started early as we had to empty the full van of the results of my buying appointment the day before.  Three pieces of furniture went to the mall, in the snow storm, that morning Thanks Honey.  Then it was back to the house for a waffle breakfast, in which we were joined by Emily and Beckie, what a nice surprise!!

Then I was off with my book club to meet the potter who had written the book, Remembering Isaac, that we had read for March.  We had lunch, and shopped and shopped, but meeting Ben Behunin, and watching him work, was amazing... as was his art!!

When I got home, Scott was back from the accountant, with news of what is likely our last ever tax return ... so sad.  I took Grandpa over to Emily's for the evening, and snapped this cute picture of Beckie!!  I should have taken a picture of the back stair case in the cottage, they have painted it all and it looks amazing!  Then Dad and I were off with the Kews to the Cajun place in Payson, before returning to Kews house to watch the last Batman movie ... compliments of Sam and Emily.

Sunday morning Dad got the eggs ready for the egg hunt to be held that night, before heading out to speak in another ward for High Counsel Sunday.  I worked on getting the tables set for our 'Early Easter Event' and starting the food.  He picked me up after attending his other ward's ward counsel and we headed to Salt Lake.  We attended Kristen's oldest son's missionary farewell.  He is headed to Hong Kong.  Here is Dad with my brother Emory and nephew Jon.  We also saw and talked to my nephew Andrew who was there with his three oldest children.

 

We had just a minute to talk to Kristin, promising that we would be able to hang around and visit when Leah goes on her mission, sometime this late summer or fall.

Then it was back home to finish up dinner, and start welcoming our beloved children and grands.  Here is Dad with Reagan, so precious!

Here is Emily in the last weeks of her pregnancy, feeling very big.  To the right is Titan, who brought his basket, and put in lots of 'little black eggs' with small holes in them ... yummy (olives)

 

Here is Adilyn with her Daddy, wearing pigtails for the first time!

...and here Adilyn and Grandpa get acquainted!

After dinner, it was time to find the Easter bunny and get him to hide the eggs ...

 This bunny looked great but just didn't make the cut ....

 

Instead it was this bunny who did the job!!

Its always fun to see the little one's doing a hunt ... here they are all ready to run ... Do you think Elias is excited?  I loved how the big kids helped the little ones to gather the eggs.  It was all new to Beckie this year, and I am not sure she knew just what to think of it all. 

 

It was a lot of fun to watched not only the grand kids, but to watch our kids being parents, and Aunts and Uncles ... they all do it so well!

So that is it for our week ... lots of fun lunches and dinners and just general fun sharing and caring for each other. 

Walking Partners Past and Present!

So here is our week.  Dad was in St. George for a big makeover, but came home Tuesday afternoon to do his shift at the temple, leaving again on Wednesday, early. 

Here's my week: On Monday  I walked with LaVern for the first time since the big chill that was our winter.  Then I took Grandpa to Becca's.  She showed me the cute princess outfits she made for Reagan for their upcoming Disney World trip.  So cute!

Here is Grandpa getting settled in.  Be sure to note Titan behind the couch with a pot on his head!!  While Grandpa did time in Highland, I ran to Salt Lake to pick our carpet for Aunt Cheryl's condo.  Oh, and did some junking too!

 On Tuesday, I missed walking with Ginny because she was sick, but then I took Grandpa to daycare at Nell's.  Becca met me there, since she helps Grandpa with his Tuesday shower.  Loved Eleanor showing Reagan how to do blocks!  I did some junking, then ran home to do a visiting teaching visit. 

Then I ran back to Pleasant Grove where I worked on princess books with Eva, before bringing Grandpa back to Payson, and making him dinner before doing another pair of Visiting Teaching visits.

 Just have to say I love Eva's cute school outfit, don't you?

And here I am with my new visiting teaching partner, Andrea, who is also a blogger. 

 Wednesday and Thursday were normal work days at the antique mall for me, with Emily watching Grandpa. 

After work on Thursday Sam watched Grandpa while Emily and I went to my ward's book club, here's part of the group, shown above.

 On Friday I ran to Salt Lake to let in the man who was to measure for Aunt Cheryl's carpet.  Then got in some junking including a quick trip to Vine Street Antiques before...

 ...heading south again to meet Ann (former walking partner) at her new house in Salem, to help her choose colors for paint and carpet in her new house.  Its a repo, and they got a great deal ... the house is huge!!  And I am so jealous, in the basement there is a room that is 15 feet wide and 35 feet long .... I want that for my banquet room, how cool would that be? (It was formerly a batting room, as the original owners had two sons that played professional baseball!)

 

Dad, finishing up his week in the south,  had to take the gondola movers back to Salt Lake for another store to use over the weekend, so he was able to pick up Grandpa at Becca's on the way back.  We met at the house in time to head out for dinner and a play with the Moes and Heuers. (I think that Barb and I were walking partners at one time, for maybe a week, or something.)  Here are the guys and Robin before the play starts ... as always it was great to get together ... and to talk about our upcoming cruise ... wahoo!  (Emily and Sam took care of Grandpa that night, and even brought him back to the house and helped him to bed!!)

 

Saturday Dad caught up on some small chores, then ran the load from cleaning up Grandpa's house last week, to the dump.  I worked, and Spencer and Brit dropped by to see what antiques I had that they might want to use at their wedding breakfast/reception.  That was a lot of fun, of course. 

 

That night Dad and I got a Redbox movie that was a waste of time ... but it was good to be together.

 

On Sunday Dad and I went to church together, for sacrament meeting, then I headed to Pleasant Grove for the Farewell of the Campbell girls.  The Campbells were in our ward in Orem, in fact Heather and I were walking partners for a couple of years after Ann moved to south county, but before we did,

 

The girl's talked about obedience (Shelby and JayLynn) and one of them told the story of the time their parents went to tithing settlement, at a time when money was very tight for them ... The bishop told them about a story he had just read.  President Spencer W. Kimball had told a stake conference group, somewhere, that if they would double their fast offerings, their income would double too!!  The Campbells took the challenge and it happened!  I knew immediately that the former bishop was Dad, because I knew that another family in the ward had the same experience, so cool!!

When I got home from the farewell, I made a nice dinner so that when Dad got home from his assigned ward's church we could have dinner early, hoping to get him off to St. George, before it got late.  Unfortunately the guy with the gondola movers was late getting them to us ... see above ... and Dad didn't get off until 8:00.  We did run over to Emily and Sam's to see all the work that he has done on the yard before Dad headed out.  The yard at the Payson Cottage looks amazing!!

And Emily got to show us her extreme shopping skills with this dress that she got for about a third of its original price ... yea Emily!!

 

So that was our week of separation, and there is more of the same this week.  So gotta run now, off to take flowers to RaeLene DeWitt (former walking partner) for her birthday!

Things That Made Us Smile This Week.

On Monday Scott was smiling as he dropped grandpa off to be watched at Becca's because he got to hold Reagan!!  Maybe grandpa is made because its nothis turn yet?

 I was smiling because I got to go to We-Can where we made hooded bath towels for the Christmas Box houses.

 Then I got to go with Spencer to check out some barns in Payson for his and Brittney's wedding reception ... this one is in our ward, and I had never noticed it until I started looking for barns!!  Brittney was still in DC so missed all the fun!

Tuesday I got to run to SLC to meet with our realtor at Grandpa's house, for a walk through.  I even had a chance to visit with Aunt Karen, which made me smile ...  Then I got in some junking.  I found this subway style night stand that has Utah references on it  and that made me smile!!

Tuesday night, Cheryl kept an eye on grandpa for a couple of hours, before I got home to make them dinner, since Dad was off for his night at the temple.  And speaking of the temple, it made me smile that Trevor wore his bow tie for the first time to the temple ... he's trying to work his way into it, slowly... Trevor sent Dad and me this picture, which, of course made us both smile!!

 Dad and I both worked on Wednesday and Thursday, as usual.

Then on Friday I put together the mantel in the dining room with my new Easter crafts, I had made to blog about, so that it would be ready for our family dinner on Sunday.  Of course crafting and decorating also makes me smile.  Afterwards I headed to Salt Lake to get a start on Grandpa Carlo's house, getting it ready to sell ... lots more to do there.

Saturday was a guilty play day for me, and I was all smiles all day.  Here I am with friends visiting the new Vintage Whites show at the Utah Fair Grounds.  (Meanwhile the clan was at Grandpa's house cleaning and hauling.)

When I saw these vintage shirts with fun 'hipster' bow tie price tags, that absolutely made me smile, and made me think of my own hipster son/s.

On the way home we stopped at a boutique in Lindon because I knew it was being held at a 'barn' that Spencer had found and I wanted to see it.  As soon as we walked in the door, we saw this --->  that definitely made me smile!!

Meanwhile my dear family had finished up at Grandpa and had moved on to  Aunt Cheryl's condo where they pulled carpet.  

Not sure the slave labor of a two year old would make anyone smile ... or does it? A special thanks to Darby, Trevor, Nell, Scott, Eva, Eleanor, Emily, Davin, Bri, Elias, Adaline and Becca ... of course Dad was in the thick of things, and I know that working with his kids always makes him smile!!

On Sunday Dad and I did our regular morning at church then headed to Emily and Sam's ward to hear them speak.  Beckie wasn't feeling good, and Grandpa managed to work wonders with her.  The talks were both great, and Emily said, after hearing Sam's talk "No wonder everyone in the other ward loved his Gospel Doctrine lessons so much."  She had never heard one, since she also taught Sunday School.  Hearing them speak definitely made Dad and me smile!!

 

 

That evening we had everyone to dinner.  Emily and Becca were first to arrive!  Hearing there banter, of course, always makes me smile.

I know that sitting next to Brittney made Eva smile!!

Hopefully not having to make dinner made everyone smile ... and I know that the fact that Brittney and Spencer did the dishes made ME smile ... Other smiling moments included:

Snuggling sweethearts!

 Holding babies!

 Special Surprises!

 ... and being faux forced to eat the black jelly beans ... by our favorite jokester made us all laugh and smile and guess what?  We found out that Nell actually like black jelly beans ... a little known fact!

Watching our little cuties eat lots and lots of little cuties ... hmmm is that cannibalism?  Another little known fact ... Eleanor can peel her own little cuties!! That's a pretty talented two year old if you ask me!

... Then watching Adalin eating her Uncle Trevor's, very clean, head, was also a cause for many smiles and even some laughter ...

 

But the thing I missed, that even the thought of makes me laugh ... is that ... Titan and Eleanor were discovered jumping on my bed each holding two fists full of pennies ... (from the pile of 60 pennies that Davin and Bri gave Dad for his birthday!)  How fun and funny, so sorry I missed that, but even writing about it

 makes me smile!!

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More Painting and Painting and Furniture Moving too!

This past week, Dad spent most of his time working on the Dick's store in Bountiful.  My week was pretty laid back to begin with and I got a lot of reading and blogging done.

 

 On Tuesday, I spent the morning painting the bedroom of the basement apartment.  I had a couple of appointments to show the apartment that day as well, since we were trying to get someone in by the beginning of March.  I also managed to get my visiting teaching done, in two different shifts. 
Dad brought grandpa home from being watched at Nell's after I finished up my first two visits.  I was able to fix dinner for him and Cheryl before showing the apartment to the man that we would later sign a lease with.  Then it was off to do more visits. 
Brittney, Spencer's fiance, is in Washington DC this week, and sent me this picture she took on her phone, telling me it made her think of me ... boy would that be fun!! She is having a great time, but I know that Spencer is really missing her.

On Wednesday, Emily came over until the carpet layer left, so now we have nice medium brown carpet in the bedroom of the basement apartment.  She had Grandpa that day and Thursday, and sent me this cute picture of Grandpa and  Beckie eating crackers together.

 I worked again on Thursday, coming home to dinner made by Dad before heading off to book club that night, which is always enjoyable.

On Friday I had a buying appointment in Spanish that I had made the day before.  The gal was selling heirlooms from her Grandparents, as her husband had just been laid off.  I felt bad until she told me she had never unpacked the stuff since she had been gifted it 15 years before ... now I have some nice stock for my next show ... and yes, I was very generous in my buying amounts.

That night Dad and I went to see The Life of Pi with the Kews, and then to dinner at Wingers.

On Saturday we had intended to spend the day painting the apartment kitchen, but Aunt Dorris (Uncle Blaine's wife) passed away Wednesday and Dad was giving the family prayer after the viewing thast morning.  He then went on to the grave side service in Payson.  I attended the viewing with him before heading to Genola for an estate sale, and then I picked up Emily (see Beckie and Sam saying goodbye?) to meet up with the girls, who could make it, at Becca's baby shower lunch at Mama Chu's in Orem. 

We all had a great time visiting, and Becca seemed to enjoy more baby gifts, as well!!  We missed Darby and Brittney and Brittany who were all out of state, Darby in Nevada, Brittney in DC and Brittany in Idaho ...  Ashley was in state, but had to work!

After lunch Emily and I headed to Salt Lake to pick up Aunt Cheryl's dining room set, that she and Sam will be storing until Aunt Cheryl is ready to go back to living in her condo.  Here is our very preggers girl helping me move the very heavy table ... OK, heavy to us, when we got back to her house Sam, bad back and all, carried the thing into the house by himself ... maybe we are just wimps  Anyway, Becca's been working like crazy get the condo emptied and cleaned and has finally been able to list it.  Unfortunately it looks like we are going to have to recarpet most of it before we will get any takers, dang.

I got back from unloading furniture at Emily and Sam's in time to take Grandpa back to Emily and Sam's so that Dad and I could go out to dinner with the Brough's in Orem.  We had a nice visit, hoping we would have time to paint when we got home, but they were more chatty than normal, so no painting happened on Saturday.  Dad had fixed the shower in the apartment, and done a couple of other things at our house as well, while I was dawdling with the girls, so he was pretty tired and ready for bed. 

 

Then on Sunday it was off to church, three hours for me and 7 1/2 for him.  He started with  his bi weekly high counsel meeting, then came to our ward's Fast and Testimony meeting and Sunday School, then he went to his assigned ward's ward counsel, before going to choir practice for our ward, then he attended his assigned ward's three hour block!!  Yeah Dad!  When he got home I had dinner ready for him, then it was into painting clothes to go to the basement to get out ox out of the mire, painting the kitchen of the apartment, which took an hour and a half.  Then Emily called and invited us over to watch Love Actually with them.  We went over in our paint grubbies and enjoyed the movie, getting home by 9:30, so Dad could put grandpa to bed, and then head there himself.  By the end of the day he was exhausted, as may be expected, so I ended up cleaning up the paint dripped floor in the apartment myself ...  Alas, we really need to plan better, I guess.