Sunday, March 7, 2010

Visit to Brenda, Colton, Kadie




We went to visit Brenda and family February 21st-February 24th between temple days.
We left Sunday right after church and arrived in Cashmere about 9:00 p.m. Washington time.
They were already for us, and it was so GOOD to see them again. We hadn't seen them for a long time since they did not come for Thanksgiving or Christmas this last year.
We had gone up for Kadie's baptism the first week in September. Here are some pictures of Kadie's baptism. It was good to go and spend a few days.





Kadie and I had a wonderful time exploring the forest, her little private cozy spots in the trees and brush, then we walked through the orchard in their backyard and picked apples to our hearts' content and ate them. Here are some pictures of the apple orchard last fall during harvest.




This trip we gave the kids their Christmas gifts. :)
Colton got a big double pack of jerky from Costco, and some dominoes. Here are pictures of them with their gifts.


Kadie with her little apron and cook set. She is making some peanut butter cookies. They turned out great!



Dad and Brenda are having an enjoyable time working on the taxes! :)



Brenda and family have a very beautiful home nestled in the mountains of central Washington near Wenatchee in a small community named Cashmere. I have some pictures of the exquisite setting of her home. This is the great room with the rock fireplace.


We are proud of Colton-----he is a good student and always makes us proud. He is a self-starter and always excels in what he sets his mind to. Congratulations Colton!

Here are a couple of pictures of the kids catching the school bus at the bus stop. I had a great time walking with them to the bus stop. Cashmere is a very beautiful place. It was a nice brisk walk in the mountain air.




I spent some time fixing Kadie's hair. She has very beautiful and manageable hair. Stephen's girlfriend had given her a haircut. It looks very cute on her.






These next pictures are Kadie's bathroom and bedroom. Her room is a powder pink with the little green and pink and white comforter and sheer curtains.




















This is Brenda's hot tub and shower area. She was having some trouble with her tile work, and was getting it fixed at this time. She has a seperate toilet room and a lovely walk in closet. Her vanity area is also shown below.







These next two pictures are Brenda's bedroom. She has a lovely bedroom. The sheetrock had not been taped properly, so some re-taping and painting was being done. She had the room painted entirely the very pale yellow. With the bay window, it is a very comfortable and light room. She was so nice to let Dad and I sleep in her beautiful room. Thanks Brenda.










The next two pictures are of her entry way and living room. The door just to the left of the front door is the entrance into her office. She has a bathroom that opens off the back of her office. The other door to the left is the coat closet. The pillars separate her living room from the great room. They are painted a little darker color.









The below pictures are the great room, the double doors open onto the covered deck outside. There is also a door from the kitchen/dining room area that opens out to the deck.




This is the view behind the door opening from the kitchen area to the utility room. A nice big utility sink and plenty of cabinets and drawers.




This is the bonus room. It was also being re-taped and painted while we were there.



This below is a view of her pantry and a corner desk area. It is a nice little cabinet. You can also see part of the kitchen island.


Her kitchen/dining area/family room is a lovely room. The wall is actually a little more burgandy. This shows more pink or plum.


Below is a picture of the dining area and family room area with fireplace, etc.



She has a beautiful, rustic kitchen area. It is very functional and nice.



This is her front door, porch and entry way. Very nice.


This is the back door that goes into her utility room. That is quite a stairway. I didn't get the right angle on the picture to get the full impact of that big stairway with railings.

Wow----huge, triple garage.




This is the back view of the house. The covered deck, dining room windows on the right and her bedroom bay windows on the left with the bathroom window and on the deck the window for the kitchen, also the double doors and sidelight windows plus the door into the dining room if you look closely. The orchard is just a few feet more into her backyard.


I tookk this picture on my way home from the bus stop. Her home is very beautiful.

Look at that view!




This is her driveway and front of the house.
Side view with the mountains. The house is so picturesque in the mountains. Beautiful location.

Brenda, you have done such a good job getting your home built. We are proud of you. Thank you for letting us come. Wish we could live closer so we could help you more.

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Candace and family visiting

Candace and the kids came to visit during the week of July 25th. They came on a Monday and left for home on Wednesday afternoon. We really enjoyed them staying a few days.


Monday we got settled and picked Mike's beans and peas. (Mary Jane was coming home that night after being gone to visit her family for a couple of weeks.) so Mike had to get those beans picked!!!!

Hayley picked the raspberries and we had some raspberry smoothies. We had smoothies everyday. Wow are they good. Then we had some raspberry shortcake the last day.



I told Candace she could have some of our red beets, and she cooked and froze I think 9 big packages. We also picked our beans (just a few and cooked them) Wow I love fresh beans picked straight from the garden.

The kids had fun playing in the water as we flood-irrigated the lawn. Bryce was in his glory hunting birds. Grandpa taught him how to shoot a BB gun. We have been inundated with too many birds eating our fruit----they just fly in flocks from tree to tree pecking at apricots and apples.

The kids picked up pine cones on Grandma Dayley's lawn and visited her for a few minutes.

In the afternoon, Candace, and the girls (and Jaydon) went to the mother-daughter activity. It was a water party, with dinner, a program and crafts. It was supposed to be overnight camping---however----Hayley and I were the only ones who spent the night! It was really nice to have some one on one time with Hayley. I forgot to take some pictures of Hayley and I and our lone tent. :)

Janet and Grandma were at the mother-daughter activity also, and Mary Jane and the kids spent a lot of time with us. All in all it was a fun time. Thank you Candace for taking the effort to come and see us.




Candace, Ashlyn and Jaydon making their pop sickle stick stars.


Hayley also making crafts. She also made a stitchery of a star with a
pink frame. They also made some little flower hair clips.

Austin, Hayley and Bryce playing in the flooded lawn.


Hayley and Ashlyn feeding the sheep some beet leaves. Hayley
was fast enough even to pet the lamb once!



Grandpa sitting on the steps enjoying the little boys




I'm sure Bryce will never forget the fun he had shooting birds.
Nothing took precedence over that shooting activity. Grandpa
even played Axis and Allies with him while we were at the mother
daughter party.
The apricots were nearly ripe. Here is Ashlyn picking one.




Visit to Joel and Cindy

We went to Salem to visit Joel and Cindy and meet Melanie who was on a business trip from Texas to the JC Penneys stores in Salt Lake.

We arrived on a Monday night and saw the new bookshelf that Joel had just finished. Dad helped him nail the back on. Boy is it a beauty. I thought you might like to see the bookshelf empty. Cindy had a picture on her blog with it filled up! It is really a darker color than this picture shows. It is a rich dark walnut color.



We hurried and fixed a yummy taco salad for supper while we were waiting for Cindy to get home from work and Melanie to arrive from the airport. Cindy had made two kinds of homemade salsa. I especially liked the pineapple-kiwi. It was pretty tasty! They were caught in a traffic jam---Joel went to class. Then we ate quickly and went to pick Joel up from school and go to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house. We arrived right on time for our appointment at 8:00 p.m. It was closed!!! We drove around and found a Cold Stone Ice Creamery and enjoyed each other's company.

The next day Melanie went to work and dad and I went to the temple open house. It is a beautiful temple with the theme for the stained glass windows and chandeliers being stars. There were also tall, thin evergreen trees around in the temple.


We met Melanie for lunch then headed home. We stopped in Uintah at Valley Nursery to buy a peach tree. I didn't even buy anything else, though I was tempted! :) Then we went to Brigham City and got our pickup which Joel had left there to be repaired when he borrowed it to take his bookshelf home----and it broke down!

Joel and Cindy have a nice home and Cindy is very talented in decorating and Joel in fixing things up and building great additions like the deck and the bookshelf and refinishing the table. You are both amazing. Keep up the good work.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Visit to James in Colorado Springs




We went to visit James in Colorado Springs on June 29 through July 1st. What a beautiful place!

First we went to the Garden of the Gods which is gorgeous rock formations and isn't very far from town. There is a visitor's center and walking paths to see the formations. I had a great time imagining animals and things in the formations. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed our time there. In the evening we went to the single's family home evening and enjoyed a Mexican buffet. I helped James to make a taco salad. The lesson was nice and the food good. We met some of his friends in the branch, his roommate, and his girlfriend Natasha. She is a very nice girl and we enjoyed being with her.

The next day we visited the zoo. It was an amazing zoo----we went early in the morning and saw a lot of animals out and about. Their giraffe area was just great. I have always had a "thing" for giraffes and they are always my favorite animal in zoos. There were about 15 giraffes, babies, moms, a dad, and you could feed and pet them. We saw a little baby kangaroo and it was an albino and we were able to watch them feed it and we could pet it.

In the afternoon we went on a cog train to the top of Pike's Peak. The narrator told us a little history about the train, the mountain, and the area around Colorado Springs. The scenery was exquisite. Dad especially liked this ride and still talks about it. That evening James and Natasha went to Institute and Dad and I stayed home an watched a movie-----we rarely do that. It was a good movie and a treat. James was nice enough to let us sleep in his wonderful bed---thanks James.

The next day we went to the air museum at Peterson Air Force Base. We went through some of the airplanes and the museum and learned a lot about the defense systems that were used a few years ago. Then we went to the Chapel at the Air Force Academy. It was a very unique and interesting building. We were busy every minute.


Dad and James in the Garden of the Gods. The man who owned the property donated it to the City of Colorado Springs as long as they never charged for entrance, so it is free to the public.

Dad and I with the Garden in the background. This was at an overlook.


The rocks were huge and we really were awed at their size and their beauty. There were red rocks and white rocks standing right together, which surprised us.



This was right before I petted the giraffe. They were so healthy and beautiful.

James and Natasha at the zoo overlooking Colorado Springs in the distance.

This is the cog train just as we were embarking. We all got just a little motion sick----but loved every minute of the ride.


This picture was taken at the summit. Just about the time we got there, it started to snow and was really cold. We had to all go inside the building because there was lightening and thunder. We had some hot chocolate and donuts.
Thanks James for taking time off work---and showing us such a great time! and taking us to Denver when our flight was cancelled!!!