Yard Sale!

We started throwing around some ideas about 6 months ago about going on a different kind of girls camp this year.  The kids have Stake Trek in July, so  it's up to each ward to do what they want for girls camp. 
Bonnie is an avid hiker and threw out the idea of going to Moab and doing some of the cool hikes there.  We thought that sounded really fun, but thought the idea would probably get shot down by the Bishop.  So we hesitantly approached him and laid out the plan.  He listened patiently as we pleaded our case...the girls have been going to camp Timberlane since the beginning of time...the boys always do fun adventures...why should the girls not be able to fun things too? , Bonnie knows her way around down there...etc.  He sat there for a minute after we finished, then burst out in this big smile and said "Lets do it!"
So then the real planning began.  We picked a time to go that seemed to work for everyone ( or so we thought...I had them change it to a week later because Camille was due on the 12th of June and I had planned on being there with her when she had the baby to help with the kids.  Then in the past month, the Dr. has moved her date back to the 17th...which is cutting it pretty close to the day we picked to leave..the 20th....oh please, please please have her sooner rather than later!)

Then Bonnie started looking for a camp ground we could stay in.  She really did a lot of research trying to find the best place that was affordable.  She found a campground on the outskirts of town which was kind of a trailer park too.  She put some money down to reserve it but we weren't feeling great about it.  Then Reed Arnold went down there for a job he was doing and thought he would check out the camp ground.  He came to young women's the next week and said he probably wouldn't let his girls go there. He said it was pretty trashy and there were people out in front drinking and carrying on.  He said he was going to be working down there for a while, so he would look and see if he could find something better.  He told us later that he had checked out some camping spots in this national forest that is about 6 miles out of town.  He said they have nice camp spots, out houses, but no water.  But he said he had a big tank he would bring for water and he would even set up a shower  for the girls.  He is such a good guy.We were glad to get that figured out.

Bonnie had told us about some fun hikes she had been on down there so we started planning what would work for the girls...we have a big range of physical fitness among our girls so we needed to take that into consideration. We decided on some neat hikes to delicate arch and one in goblin valley.  We are going to be quite close to a lake there too, so we can play there if we have time.

When we first started planning, we wanted to include a river run in our activities. Bonnie checked on doing one and found they had some that were pretty mild that would accommodate all the girls.  It was kind of pricey though... so we thought we would approach the Bishop with the idea and a plan to raise some money for it.  He was all about the idea of the river trip and said if we could do a little fund raiser to help with the cost of the river trip, that would be great.

So we presented the idea to the girls and had them brain storm a bit on how we could raise  some money quick.  They chose a yard sale.   I loved this idea cause I had a ton of stuff I could donate to it myself and the girls and other leaders all said they would come up with stuff to sale too.  We decided to add a bake sale to that too.  We made it really clear to the girls that this was Their fund raiser and they were going to have to do the work.  They were great about it and were all willing to pitch in and help.  We made posters for it one night, then delivered fliers another night...then on Saturday morning, there they were, at 6:30 in the morning, ready to load the trucks and go to work.  They brought baked goodies and stuff they had rounded up to sale at the yard sale.  I was really proud of them.

We loaded up all the trucks at Becky's ( she had been collecting every ones donations for a couple weeks and had a garage full of pretty cool stuff) then we headed up to the church.  This really was the perfect place for the  sale...right on a busy road  where we would get a lot of traffic, but with a nice big parking lot they could pull off into to park.  Kelley, KC and I had gone around the day before and hung up the posters on the corners of the busy streets.

It was really helpful to have the church tables there to be able to set all the stuff out on. Grateful for Kelley and Rick and Randy for their help.  We had lots of electronics, kitchen things, decorations, sports equipment, toys, and tons of clothes.  The ward members had really donated some nice things for the sale.  .  We worked fast to get everything set out, but people started coming about 7:15.    The girls were great and worked hard to get things ready.

Kelley and I had to leave about 9:30 to go to Curtis's dad's funeral but at this point, everything was running smoothly.  Lots of people came and were buying everything!  Our ward was so supportive!  So many came and would buy things, or something from the bake sale or not buy anything and just hand us some money.  I was pretty overwhelmed.  When we left, we had made about 400.00.  We went back up there right after the funeral and they had cleaned everything up and were just driving away with what was left for the DI.  Bishop came up to me and gave me a big high five and said did you hear the good news?  I said no.  He said they had made over 1100.00 dollars!  Then when we added in the money Becky had been paid for things before the sale and some that was handed to me after the sale, we had over 1200!  I couldn't believe it!  Look out Moab...here we come!

We went up to Aunt Sherry's funeral on Wednesday.  I picked up Teina on the way and we met with Les and Brenda at the church.  It was real nice to see Sherry and Elmer's kids...its been many years since I've seen some of them.  They were really sweet though and remembered all of our names. We were the only one's there from Mum's side of the family...well I guess they are all gone now except for Janeen. She is living alone in St. George now that Marcell has passed away.  We walked by her casket and was kind of shocked when we saw her.  You wouldn't have even know that was her...This is how I remember Sherry...

 

It was sure a nice funeral. They had a bunch of the grand kids tell some memories of her, then Lee talked. He told a lot about their life growing up in Panacka (Nevada) and what a fun mom she was.  They had seven kids...6 boys and their last one was a girl.  So she had to be a pretty tough mom!  He talked about how she would  just get right down and play with the boys...wrestling and playing ball and all the things boys like to do.  I thought that was pretty sweet that that's what they remembered and loved about their mom.

 Then they had a musical number.."I know that my Redeemer lives" that was really something special.Then her home teacher and bishop talked.  Probably one of the sweetest funerals I've been to.

 

Sunday when we were at the cemetery, Curtis called Candice and told her his dad was dying.  He had been in the hospital for a little while with other problems, then had developed an infection in his bones.  They were going to try to treat it with super antibiotics, but when they looked at his spine, could see that the infection had spread and damaged a big part of his spine. I guess at this point, they decided to let him go.

We took Candice right up to the University hospital so she could be with Curtis.  Candice called  the next morning saying he had passed away.

 She said Curtis's mom was just planning the funeral arrangements and needed a piano player.  I told Candice I was happy to do it.  She said they had a guy that was going to sing for it and would need an accompanist.  I thought, well sure I can do that. 
This guy called me the next day and said he was going to sing "I walked today where Jesus walked"  Oh boy, one of my most favorite songs....to sing...to play, not so much.  Us girls had sung it several times and always had Ludene Knowles play for us.  I actually remember thinking as she played that that was a hard piece...lots of runs that have to go pretty fast or the song will be painfully slow.  We had the sheet music at home too, and I could muddle through it slowly.  So I thought, OK, if I have  a few days, I can probably get it.  He brought the music over the next day when I was gone and left it in the front door  As soon as I looked at it, I broke out in a full on panic attack complete with tears...  It was written in a lower key...four sharps.  Oh dear.  I don't do sharps good.  So I sat down to the piano and tried to play it.  It took me about 15 minutes just to figure out what the notes were ,with lots of double sharps and real low notes.  (continue crying)  So then I thought, OK, I will copy the music, then write in all the notes.  So I did, then sat down to play it again.  Oh dear, I still couldn't play it.  My fingers just won't do it!  (more crying...I so did not want to let them down)  About this time, Kelley and KC came home.  KC came in and saw me sitting there  with big red eyes.  He's like "whats going on?"  I told him what I had been doing.  He said "well play it for me and I'll tell you what I think."  So I tried to muddle through it. When I finished I could tell by his face that he was thinking real hard about the right words to say. He said  "You have a few more day's to practice...you can get it!"  I had one more melt down at that point.  Then KC said  "wow this is really stressing you out..You don't even know this guy and would have to practice nonstop for the next two days to get this down..., you should see if he will sing something easier"  Genius! 

So I called the guy ( his name was Shane and he didn't actually know Curtis's dad either...it was his brother-in-laws cousin? but he was super nice)  and told him about the trouble I was having.  He said he had been worried about it too when he saw the four sharps.  He was really cool about it though...he was just like..."well I'll just sing something else...this shouldn't be a stressful thing...no worries"  Curtis's mom had asked for "Oh My Father" in the first place so he said he would sing that.  So he came over the next afternoon and we practiced together. He really had an amazing voice!  Even though I just played out of the hymn book, it sounded really beautiful.
Kelley and I went  to the viewing early enough so we could meet Curtis's mom, then I went in to play prelude music.  Kelley sat with Candice while they waited for the funeral to start.
The funeral was real nice.  They had a cousin and their Stake president talk.  Shane sang beautifully, You could have heard a pin drop in there....he has one of those kind of voices. Then the Bishop gave a really nice talk (mostly to Curtis's  mom, Curtis and his sister)  that I wish I could have written the words down to...very sweet and comforting.

Curtis's dad on his mission to Scotland

A few pictures from this last week...

Haven't said too much about Pat,  kind of painful really, as we watch his health decline.  But the  situation is really consuming much of Kelley's life these days.  Kelley's dad is taking care of Pat now which is ironic and  not OK considering he is 93 years old. and should be taken care of himself.

In the past 6 months, Pat has changed into a little old man himself. This liver disease has taken its tole on his body, and his mind.   He has had surgery on his liver and been in and out of the hospital and rehab several times.  At a recent Dr. visit, he was told he had about 6 months to live. So sad to see this vibrant man reduced to this...hopeless, helpless.

His liver wont take care of the important functions it's supposed to do, so his body fills up with fluids and the ammonia levels go sky high making him kind of go out of his mind.  He has done some pretty crazy scary stuff.  His medications also have been giving him hallucinations and making him super paranoid. 

Kelley has been spending a lot of time over there, cleaning up after Pat, doing laundry, cleaning the house, taking Pat to the doctor, making Pat take his medication, and checking all the closets, under the beds and around the outside of the house (at Pat's insistence) for the men that are robbing them.

Kelley,  tieing Pats shoes after searching his bedroom (that's a whole other disaster...won't go there) for his one special tennis shoe he couldn't find..

 Kelley's dad writing down when Pat takes his medication. 
He has tried so hard to take good care of him.  Last Sunday when we went over there, he was totally exhausted.  He said Pat gets up several times in the night and wanders around the house...sometimes leaving the house.  He has had a real hard time since they told him he couldn't drive anymore and will sneak the keys from Kelley's dad and go out and try to take off in the middle of the night.  So Kelley's dad can't sleep for fear of what Pat will do.
One night, Pat got out the guns and was going to get the men who were in the house robbing them.  So scary!  Who knows what he would have done, considering the state of mind he was in.  Lisle called Kelley and he went right over and took all the guns and knives out of the house.
I think after this incident, Kelley's dad realized Pat needs to be in a place where he has around the clock care.  They are working out all the logistics now to make this happen. 
Such a sad thing to watch his life end this way. I just sat there and bawled with Kelley's dad that day when he told me he was still hoping for a miracle...

 Came out of their house that afternoon and saw Kelley's moms climbing rosebush blooming like crazy....such a sweet reminder of her.  She loved those roses. The rest of the yard has kind of gone to pot but the roses are still spectacular...I don't think that's a coincidence.

We took some pretty pink ones up to the cemetery that afternoon.

 Candice went around standing up all the pots that had tipped over in the wind....such a tender heart.

 Kelley and KC have taken on a new project.  In the back of this little house Dan and Kelley bought is a huge back yard.  They put the bees back there, so now they wanted something for the bees to pollinate.  I have always wanted to have a place big enough to grow some corn...(have made a few feeble attempts in our garden, but there just wasn't enough room)  So we decided to use that space over there. 

Kelley and KC went over and started tilling.  This ground was as hard as a rock.  Even after going over it two times, it was still pretty rough.  I don't think this ground has been worked for many many years.  Anyway, they kept after it until it was ready to plant. 

Watering may be a problem...  Kelley bought one of those oscillating sprinklers but  there wasn't enough pressure to even make it go around.  I guess this place is supposed to have an artisan well on it somewhere (we need to find out where!) but for now we have a hose that has a dribble coming out of it. 

 We had bought several squash, pumpkins, gourds, watermelon and cantaloupe and decided to put them over there where they could really spread out like they like to.

They planted several rows of corn and pole beans too.  I'm pretty excited about it.  I love to see some good come out of just an idea and some hard work.  Thanks Kelley and KC for making our dreams a reality!  My heart is just so full of love for these two, sometimes I think it's just going to burst!

 Bees a-buzzin

 Sooooo, Dan and Kelley have decided to sell the boat. This kind of pulls at my heart cause we have had a lot of good times on that boat. 
When these two put their heads together though, they come up with some pretty interesting ideas.
Their new dream...a big pontoon boat.  They have it all designed in their minds for the perfect fishing situation...with a cabin in the middle for us fair weather fishermen (women),seating all around, nice bathroom, and storage for all their poles...so many poles.(and other things on the bottom of the lake)  I could say so much here..( I am trying to choose my words wisely here to prevent being banned from the next boat)  note to self...don't mention that they don't need to buy a fish counter cause they have never caught that many fish..also don't tell them to go over by Kelley's brothers boat cause they are catching fish one after another...us, not so much, or ask them if you can use some of their bate....apparently not cool manly things to do.
Anyway, Dan came over the other day and him and Kelley and KC really scrubbed the boat down and had it looking just like new.  Then they took a bunch of pictures of it and listed it on KSL classifieds and Boat Trader.com. 
The company in northern California that put this boat together for them has offered to buy it back and sell it for them, so that is an option, but they want a big commission for it too, so I hope they can sell it themselves. 
I  have grown to love this boat...(when I first saw it, I thought it looked like a Popeye tugboat...did I say that out loud?  I couldn't really see the fascination with it.  My idea of a cool boat had always been those big ski boats with lots of seating, a deck n the front for laying out,  a nice cabin and deck out back for fishing.  I soon learned though that this is just another example of the very different ways a mans brain works...men are crazy about a boat like this!  Just bringing it home from Eureka, we probably had  at least 10 men stop and tell us how much they liked this boat, then up at Strawberry, men are always staring at it and making comments about  how sweet it is...I was like "really???"

But after riding it it, I could see what they were talking about.  It really is a great boat...just flys along over the water... also, pretty much perfect set up for fishing.  It has only had a few problems (some due to owner malfunction....ummmmm, little things like putting the plug in the bottom)

I have really appreciated the big cabin...it's kept me warm and out of the wind on some really cold days,  ( "Kelley would you put my pole in?...its so windy out there...thank you dear")  and the little cubby was perfect for snoozing in.

Looking back over the past few years on my blog sure brings back some good memories we made on this boat...it's sure been fun.

So I guess we will put it out there and see what happens...

(Dan parking the boat after taking pictures...we needed new sprinkler heads  anyway...haaaaaaa!)