Saturday activities...

Kelley started working on "the list" ...

1.repair the chimney.

The trees from Leslie's yard hang way over into our yard and bang against the chimney when ever the wind blows. It's kind of beat down the chimney and knocked part of it down over the years.

When Kelley got up there, he found out it needed a lot more repair than that. He took down a big part of it and is trying to rebuild it stronger this time.

I remember when he was building our house, he was really busy! Several houses in the neighborhood were going up at the same time and he was doing the brick work on most of them. I think that was how we got to know a lot of our sweet neighbors...Kelley working on their houses. It has been a blessing over the years to have friends with different talents and skills....Everyone just helps each other out! It made it real nice for being able to do a lot of work on our own houses and getting some work equity.

Anyway, when he was building our house, he was really in a crunch for time...you know how it goes, they want everything done on their time schedule, then you sit and wait till they get around to all the inspections and closing on the house so you can move in.

Our's was really a joke. We had to be out of our old house (sooo grateful we could sell it!) by the end of June...I was 8 months pregnant with Candice, and we couldn't move into our house till the middle of July.

Soooo we moved all our stuff into the garage of the new house...(oh no you can't put it in the house!) Then we moved in with Kelley's folks for a couple weeks! They were really great to us and helped out so much with Katie and Camille while we were trying to get moved in here.

Anyway, while Kelley was doing the brick work on the chimney (back in 1986), he was doing some fancy work on it and making it real cute when a big wind storm came up and blew it all over. I remember thinking "oh boy, what else?"
Not doing it so fancy this time...making it more sturdy!


Picked this enormous cantaloupe ...the one that was hanging from the fence. It was delicious!

I got in one of those cleaning moods and decided to do all the blinds. I hate to admit this, but the last time I washed the blinds...I mean take them down and scrub them...was, well....Never! I have just dusted them and wiped them down with a damp cloth. Let's see, it's been about 15 years now! That's embarrassing!
So Kelley helped me take them all down and we took them out back. I scrubbed every fake wood slat...
We put them in when we remodeled the kitchen...a good friend of Kelley's, well his wife sold them..we thought they were really cool at the time..."some sort of magic material...completely indestructible...won't fade or yellow!"
Not so much. Several have broken, won't open and shut like they should and they have yellowed where the sun shone through the window on them. Then theres the one's in the living room...they are really sad! Daisy chewed on them and left big scratches and teeth marks all over them. She also broke one of the slats too! ( When I discovered what she had done, she had to be removed from the house to prevent a premature death)
Man I need some new blinds! someday.......


Anywho, after lots of scrubbing, they came pretty clean, but there was some spots that were just not budging. I got to thinking how great these magic erasers worked on the white lawn chairs, so I tried one on the blinds....it was like a miracle! They really came clean and white again! So I went over all of them with these and they look pretty darn good....except for the ones that daisy got...can't fix chewed!
Mr. Clean...my new hero!
(kind of reminds me of somebody...)

I spent a glorious day in the garden and canning today!

Went out bright and early (well 9:00) and started picking ...tomato's, peppers, squash, more peppers, basil, beans, more peppers....we have a lot of peppers. This basil plant is huge and fabulous! As soon as you start picking it, the smell of fresh basil fills the air...heavenly!

My cilantro plant didn't do so good.How beautiful are these eggplants? So perfect and shiny and purple!

A couple of weeks ago, we had this freakish hailstorm that really beat up the garden....this is what it did to all the big squash leaves.That didn't stop them from growing lovely yellow squash though. I think we have had squash about every other day all summer long. Love it...can't get enough of it!We have a really nice cantaloupe growing on the fence Kelley put up for the beans to grow on...figured out after a few months that the pole beans were really bush beans and the cantaloupe...I don't know what it was thinking. It's just about ready though...I think we will have to have a celebration when we finally cut it down and eat it...we've been watching it grow for a long time! So many peppers! The red, yellow and orange ones are really wonderful...I thought they were going to be hot cause they look a lot like those other orange ones...scotch bonnets? ...that are reeeeeeeely hot. But they are sweet and have real good flavor. I dried the basil in my dehydrator...didn't take long at all!This is my new favorite thing! We have been trying to acquire a salsa chopper for about 6 months now. Our old one had really had it...blade was dull, handle broke off...I threw it away once, then pulled it out of the garbage when I realized we weren't going to be able to get one from the swap meet any time soon...that is apparently the only place you can get these things. I have gone in every store I can think of asking if they have anything like this..."uhhhhhhh, nope...never heard of it"

So in the mean time, we have been either chopping by hand, or using the old dull blade chopper and mushing them to death.

Well the other day, I was thinking about all the chopping I was going to have to do when I started canning my salsa, and I thought I would make a last ditch effort to find a chopper. I went into Ross, just as a last resort...sometimes they have random things..."As seen on TV!" sorts of things. I walked right past this at first...it's much fancier than the one's you get at the swap meet, then took a second look....it had the same fabulous inner workings as the one's we have bought before! I will take three!

I was pretty excited to show it to Kelley...this is kind of a big deal. Anyway, we got it out of the box and got it all put together...came with added feature of a suction cup base that keeps it still while you chop! Kelley put in some onions and peppers, and two easy spins of the handle and they were beautifully chopped! Ha! I love this thing! This is mom's Victorio strainer...also fabulous but not so easy to assemble.

After about 20 minutes of trying to make all the pieces fit together...I notice the instruction booklet in the bottom of the box...very helpful!

After cooking tomato's onion, garlic, and other spices together for about 3 hours, I had a lovely smelling mush that I pour into the top...turn the handle, and voila! I have tomato paste coming down the chute!

Kelley came in just as I was finishing up. The job he has been working on is finished and the new building won't be ready for a little while, so he is going to have some time off!

Bad for the budget, but I'm looking forward to having him around! He asked me to make a list of some things I'd like him to get done while he's home... hmmmmmmmm...our house could definitely use some repair...I know the chimney needs to be repaired, and the upstairs has been put on hold for about 3 years...waiting for the right time when we can remodel up there ( wanted to take out the wall between bedrooms and make one big bedroom for us and also a nice big bathroom) Kelley really needs to have a nice closet for his clothes...they have kind of been dispersed between the two extra bedrooms in those closets cause there is no room in our bedroom closet...I don't really have so much, they are just small closets! (ok, I might have a few shoes)

Then there's the basement... it's a disaster area on the one side where the air conditioner thing leaked....we had to move everything out and take the carpet out. That's probably the most urgent project. He's probably not going to want to see this list. Anyway, this is what we ended up with after a good day's work. I know you can go buy tomato sauce for practically nothing, but there's something about picking the stuff that you've planted and grown yourself and making it into something wonderful that you can enjoy later that just leaves you with a real good feeling.

Who is that guy?The Young Men were in charge of the combined activity last night and had planned a "Where's Waldo" activity. Kelley had way too much fun with it. Dressed up like this scary guy and went to the mall and made himself inconspicuous...Ha!...not so much.

( They did this activity a few years ago... Kelley dressed up like a woman.. pretty fabulous...big blue dress we found at the DI, the nerdy "Poly-ester" wig, bright red lipstick ....not pretty! I think that was when they made up the rule of no cross-dressing!)

We all met at the church, got our assignments then took the kids over to the mall. All the leaders took off and "hid" in the different stores. The kids were supposed to find us and get a part of a scripture from us, then put all the pieces together and figure out what the scripture was. Then we went back to the church and Bishop talked about that scripture. It was pretty fun....and Kelley was extra sexy in that wig!(mustache and beard didn't stay on very good)

Sunday evening, we started smelling smoke. Went outside and it was really strong.

We thought there had been fires, but way down south. Kelley went outside a while later, then hollars at us to bring our cameras...the moon was red. (this picture does not do it justice!)

Pretty freaky. I went inside and turned on the news and found out there was terrible fires in Herriman. Started by gunfire training at Camp Williams...(that's probably going to hit the fan soon) They had evacuated about 1300 homes. Very scary....several friends live there. Our prayers are with them.They talked of having just 20 minutes to gather what they could and get out...some much less.

I thought...what would I take? What is really important to me?

First of all...Kelley, Lizzy and me....Somehow, I think the fish will live though the millennium....will not die! Then I guess my scriptures...I would be so sad if I lost them...lots of markings and notes and such.

Photo albums, scrap books and genealogy...baby books, I know where they are. I have a drawer upstairs that I keep all of the sweet cards and notes I have been given from people I love. I would be sad to lose those.

I am pretty unorganized as far as important documents are concerned...they are in several places....totally motivated me to get that in order. ( We did these binders a few years ago in Relief Society that are supposed to organize all your important papers...mine has about 3 papers in it) My piano music is important to me....have a lot of it. ok, I guess you can replace that....I would cry to think of my piano burning though.

I have a few nice pieces of jewelry that Kelley has given to me that I would get if I had time.

I've put together a emergency back pack for each of us that could keep us alive for a couple days...I'd grab those.

I was listening to the news today and there was a lady on there talking about losing their house in the fire. She said she was grateful their family was all safe, and the animals, but then she just started to cry when she talked all of the memories they had of that house...they had lived there for 35 years...one of the first homes built out there. Their family had horses and they had such great memories of their kids and grand kids working and playing on their ranch.

She said all of their journals and pictures were gone....

I found myself with tears running down my face listening to her. ( I think the reporter interviewing her was crying too)

Made me realize that the only things that really matter are the people you love and the memories that you have made together...those are the only things that you can really take with you anyway.

Things that made me smile this weekend...

Family

Time spent at the Temple

Got YW birthday gifts done

Ha Ha...happy yellow squash!

Flowers from my sweet husband ...so good to me

Breath taking colors on drive up to Strawberry

Hot air balloons

Beautiful warm day and calm water
Caught a fish...a big one!

Kelley's fish...really big! We had to get out the measuring tape on this one!

The lure got caught in the net and I thought he was a gonner, but after a few seconds, he snapped out of it and swam away...whew!

Candice and Aaron dressed like gangsters for Megan's birthday party...pretty cute together

I was feeling a bit sad...got a call from Roger L. asking me to come in and see the bishop Sunday...they were making some changes. I didn't really feel like I was ready to be done with Young Women yet...so I was excited when Kelley said Jenny had asked for me to be her first counselor instead of her advisor. Hurray! I love serving with the Young Women!

Without a doubt...very blessed

Before I went to bed Saturday night at moms, I started looking through some of her old picture albums. Some of my favorite pictures...

Candice the day she was baptized...I was just thinking it was funny cause she still has the habit of holding her thumbs like that. I find myself doing it too!Camille, Keelee and Katie at grandmasKate's graduation from Snow College...in some ways it seems like yesterday, and in others... like a million years ago...Has she really been in California for 5 years?Still how I picture daddy.... Saturday night, I couldn't sleep so I started reading through some of the old diary's...came across 1995...(haven't ever brought myself to read that one...I guess I was just afraid of the emotion it would bring back to the surface) I've wondered though if there had been any warning signs before daddy's heart attack, so I went to the end of the year and began reading....nothing unusual...he didn't mention feeling tired or ill. Him and mom were both pretty active...they went walking together all the time and were never ones' to just sit around and watch tv. They were very involved in the extraction program and would go down to the first ward church about every day and work on getting names off of the microfilm. Daddy had still been locking up the church every night just as a favor to the bishop... they hadn't been custodians for a while. Anyway, their lives were full and happy with the church, family, and friends....( daddy talked about going for a walk just a few days before his heart attack and stopping in to visit the Drury's for a while...then over to the Tracey's for a few hours...life long friends.)

Then on the 4th of January, mom took over the writing. She told about hearing daddy fall in the tub while he was shaving, and her trying to get to him, but he had locked the door. She had to wait till he came to and crawled to the door. She half carried him into the east room and laid him on the couch. He had no strength. She said she was calling the ambulance, and he said no, but she did anyway. They got him hooked up to all the machines and his blood pressure and pulse were both really low.

Uncle Ken and Uncle Buzz came and gave him a blessing and he seemed to be feeling better after that. Mom came home and wrote in the diary that she was so worried about him...what would she do without him...he was her everything. But she felt like he was strong and could get through this and would get well....if that was what the Lord had planned for him.

(I found out later that as Ken pronounced the blessing on daddy, he was distinctly told that daddy would not get well...that it was his time to go home....so they blessed him accordingly)

Mom called us and let us know what was going on and Kelley and I went right up there. When we got to the hospital, we were able to have a good visit with him. He seemed pretty good and was joking with us about how silly it was for them to keep him in the hospital....He was ready to go home right now!

I think that was only the second time he had ever been in the hospital. One other time, he had been working out in the sun all day and hadn't drank enough water and had become very dehydrated. I happened to be at moms when this happened, and it was pretty scary! I had never seen him so sick. What really scared me was when he said " I had better go to the hospital!" ... Anyway, they got some i-v's going in him and fixed him up quick and we were back home later that night. Other than that... just never got real sick.

The resources there at the Logan regional hospital are pretty limited...I often wonder if he had been in a different hospital if maybe he could have survived. I'm sure they did all they could for him, but after a few days in that hospital, they life flighted him down to St. Marks hospital.

We brought mom down here and she stayed at our house while daddy was there. She got pretty sick while she was here with the flu and could hardly drag herself around, but wanted to be with daddy all she could so she had us help her get to the hospital where she could sit next to him. The doctors here did all they could for him, but the medication they were giving him for his heart made his kidneys not work right. They put him on a life support system and took mom and us girls into a different room to tell us what the situation was.

He wasn't going to get better. They could keep him alive on the life support system as long as we wanted, but he would not get well again. I was just in shock...I think we all were. It just didn't seem real. He was strong, healthy, unchanging...He was the rock and strength of our family.

After many tears, we had them turn off the life support system.

The next few days were very tender and spiritual. I could feel his spirit as we planned his funeral and in quiet moments, could feel his presence. His viewing was an amazing celebration of his life with friends and family lined up to share happy memories of his life....and the funeral was a continuation. He had a lot of friends....people whose life he had touched, that we never even knew. We wanted to sing but knew we wouldn't be able to do it. All the grand kids sang ...families can be together forever and I am a child of God... it was pretty tough for them too, but they did a good job.

It was a pretty special funeral. Very special man who lived a life of service to others.

The weather was unseasonably warm for January, a blessing for mom... made it not seem so awful. I was so grateful that Angie and Lisa were staying with mum and daddy at the time. Mom says time after time how grateful she was for their help, and just for them being there. It really eased the loneliness of coming home with out him.

Anyway, didn't mean to go off like that, but I guess it was time to let those memories out. He has been gone for 15 years now. It's kind of crazy but when I go to mum's I still feel like he could be outside raking leaves or shooting the breeze with one of the neighbors.

I like in one of mom's later entries in the diary where she writes how she can see his hand in so many things around the yard...like he knew he wouldn't be here for the next spring and had prepared things to make it easier for her to deal with the huge task of taking care of the yard.

Sounds like something he would do...sure do miss him.

This is one of my all time favorite pictures of daddy and K.C....he kind of looks like him a bit...I know that's where he got his beautiful blue-grey eyes from. This was the last picture we had of him...at his 80th birthday party at Maddox.

He sure didn't like being the center of attention and probably detested this party, but humored us and let us fuss over him for a minute.
Sure makes me realize how we need to treasure every precious moment we have together...

you just don't know how much time the Lord is going to give us and the people we love.