Back in the Spring...

I found some photos I took of our trip to the farm (my co-worker's) when Gail came down to Cedar in March/April for Spring Break.  It was when we went to Nick and Kaylee's for Easter, too.
I have taken Gail's children out to the Nelson Farm before, but Gail has never gone.  I had a fun time, telling her about the science and reasoning behind placement of sheep, corrals, etc.

 A three-legged sheep dog!  And J does NOT like dogs. period.

 No water in the concrete irrigation ditch with boards to cross over.  That was one thing Susan was concerned about--that we'd come when water was in the ditch. I suppose it is a scary liability with us "city slickers."

 They aren't really very cute, are they? (the momma sheep)

 This one actually got out of the pen and separated from its momma!  Luckily, the farm-owner (who is Susan's dad) happened by just then, so he caught the baby, found the proper pen with the proper mommy to put it with.  That was kind of fun to watch.  Those painted numbers come in handy!

I did not succeed in getting the shot I was aiming for.  ALL heads were turned toward us and it was kind of cute.  They all have different faces, believe it or not.  And they sound different, too.

Marching around the block wall

This is just such a funny picture of my grandson, marching around on the block planter wall in our front yard. Same day as the pushups with Corbin on Katie's back.  But this little guy, we decided, with his pj bottoms hiked up and his dark shaved head and his dark squinty eyes--he looks like a little old shirtless oriental man! Silly guy.

Gail's family left last week on Sunday morning, July 13.  You should have seen how PACKED their car was on departure!  Seth surprised his family by flying down to Cedar City on Friday afternoon/evening.  They got to spend Saturday together at the Chadburn reunion in Veyo, then went swimming at Katie's friend's house in St. George afterwards.  Gail's car was packed full when she came with just three bodies. They went home with FOUR in the car, plus things they'd accumulated.  I think they about had to sit on the trunk lid to shut it. ha.  They made it home safe and sound.  We haven't found too many things that were left behind.  Gail and kids had been here since June 29 and it was really fun to have them all here, having fun together.  When Katie left for home today, July 19, she was stopping first in Rock Springs, so I got to send some of the garden produce with Katie for them to share.  And some jams and jellies.

I do believe my grandkids could live on toast.  They all ate a LOT of toast while they were here.   So easy to please.  And they even liked my apricot jam. :-)

Sneak Peek

Here is a sneak peek at our new and improved kitchen!  Katie recovered the upholstered chairs.  I made the valance. Mike laid the hardwood floor (with some help from Katie), and the heat register is a nice, new shiny brass one. Or gold. Even the kitchen walls are painted.  The two loose electrical outlets were replaced, so now you can plug something in and it stays plugged in.

It's too bad I sewed the valances so well. I think I need to take them apart and put regular neutral white lining inside of them instead of the yellow I did. It makes them not the color I picked.  Too yellow.  They look nice...I'm still debating.  We hung them at night, so there was no sunshine coming through them, so it's a different look.

See how yellow the top valance is compared to the fabric swatch on the back of the chair?.....hmmmm.

The whole kitchen has a different look!  Well, not quite.  That's why I can't take a picture of the whole thing.  It IS canning season, you know. ;-).  I still haven't put everything back yet.  I'm still debating whether or not I WANT to put things back!

I asked Mike to removed the back door's storm door that we never use.  I moved the shoe shelves outside to the left of the doorway. Well, actually KATIE was the one who did that.  After a few days of living with it, I think it'll be okay, but I am in need of something inside to put our shoes in... we just don't remove them before coming in.  We removed them AFTER we come in...but the shoe shelves were really messy.  Always.  And shoes were always on the floor anyway.  Maybe a fabric box or basket, eh?

We still need to find some rugs and I need some new dish towels. The yellow walls are pretty and kind of warm.  But not too warm.  The wood floor feels WONderful!!  One afternoon, before we'd put sliders onto the legs of the table and chairs and the kitchen was still "unfurnished," I found Mike laying on the kitchen floor, doing his Sudoku puzzle. The light is best in the kitchen area, so that's where he was--tables and chairs or not! ha. Katie and I accused him of just wallowing in the pretty new flooring he'd just finished. ha.  I wish I'd taken of picture of that!

There is actually one more strip of wood to place before the floor is actually completed, but it will be done soon.  Mike also wants to add some tile to the stove's backsplash area.

Katie was a HUGE help while here!  We so appreciate her efforts to help out Mike and get it done.  Did I mention the ceiling was re-painted, as well?  Her boys had a good time, just playing outside all day long on their own.  They had some little water-play toys, buckets of water, the hose, their own cars and stuff to play with (Transformers!), etc.   At their house, they can't go in and out on their own, so Katie has to be with them all the time. The doors are too heavy, they live on the second floor, etc.  Here, it was nice.  They could come in and go out, get snacks and meals on the go (frequently eating sandwiches on the front porch--so cute!) and they stayed in the yards.  Happily.  It was so fun to watch them play.  Maybe Katie took a few photos of that.  Actually, she did post one picture of outside play--in their underwear!. ha.  They changed to living most the day in their swim trunks after that.

Katie and her boys left this morning to head home.  Now we are empty-nesters again. sniff.  'Twas a fun summer!

Garden in July

I took the image from the south side, looking North, instead of the opposite like I did in the "Before" pictures. But you get the idea.

We LOVE it!!!

Fishing and a picnic at Navajo Lake

Mike got his dad's little rubber inflatable boat all ready, we packed up some tin-foil (or "hobo") dinners and headed to the mountains one afternoon (June 25, 2014).  It was a lovely day, though breezy.  Mike took turns taking the grandkids out onto the water to try and catch some fish--and they did catch a few!  The wind blew on occasion, and that made it hard to be out on the water. The boat is light and just was blown everywhere.  Some people tried shore fishing. Some stayed at the picnic site and got some coals ready to cook the hobo dinners.  Some collected fire wood on the shore in the form of driftwood for our fire for later in the evening.

While we were picnicking and having our dessert of s'mores, a random Chinese man wandered through our campsite. We took pictures of him roasting a marshmallow and eating a s'more with HIS camera, but didn't think to take a photo with OURS. ha. Then he climbed into a car with a bunch of other oriental tourists and off they went.  How odd that they could find such an out-of-the-way spot to explore as a tourist.  I'm glad they had a chance to find out why Americans are so fat! ha. We had the mondo marshmallows that are the equivalent of at least 4 regular ones!  ugh. hard to eat.

Our little picnic spot. Dinner was delicious!  Did you know that Ella can roast a PERFECT marshmallow?

 Some shore scenes, looking up and down the lake from the shore as we waited for Mike to bring in the boat.

We stayed until late, roasting and visiting.  We didn't get home until 9 pm.  The sunset on the lake was lovely and the scenery was just delightful.  And the weather was great, too!  Not too cold as the sun went down.  And a good time was had by all, as the saying goes.