Happy Birthday

The past few years my mom has enjoyed throwing herself a birthday party for all the grandkids to enjoy. Once, she rented a pony. Another year we had a squirt gun fight and watermelon. This year she treated us to a taste of the Old West at This Is The Place Heritage Park. It was lots of fun for the kiddos with pony rides, a whole playhouse village, a shootout and yummy lunch. Here are some photos. It was a very fun day. Happy Birthday Mom!

This is the place!

Pioneer chores

Grace loved washing clothes. Apparently I really need to invest in a washboard. Good-bye Maytag, hello Grace Power!

What happens when you misbehave in the Deseret School

Model students

Pony rides

Petting Paddock

Playhouse village

Sisters-in-law, Stephanie and Lindsey
My youngest brother, John. "Hey look, I could be a model for those stock photos. I have [insert horrible disease] but it doesn't bother me!"

Cousins playing pioneer games

Stilts!

Never Underestimate the Power of a Ziploc

I'm pretty sure we didn't have Ziploc bags growing up. We had those sandwich bags that fold over but not those zipped-tight interlocking, blue-and-pink-make-purple bags. Or it could have been that my mother never spent the money on them. Either way, plastic wrap, aluminum foil and those fold-over sandwich bags were all I remember.

When Darrel and I got married, we planned a long honeymoon. Darrel was very involved with photography at the time and was writing a book about temples in the United States. We planned to fly to Seattle and get pictures of the temple there, then drive down the coast to Portland and San Diego to get pictures of those temples. We bought some snacks and various food items to keep in our hotel room mini-fridges and when it was time to drive on, I just couldn't stand to throw that perfectly good food away. I couldn't escape the thrifty background from which I'd come...and Darrel thought it was hilarious when I carefully sealed up all our pretzels, licorice, crackers, etc. in Ziploc bags to bring with us on the trip. I believe he even took a picture of it which I may dig out and add to this post.

Ever since then he's liked to tease me about my love of Ziplocs. I seem to recall him showing me an ad for giant Ziplocs big enough to put clothing in to store when they're out of season. And he most definitely gave me a hard time on our most recent vacation when we packed up to leave Florida. To my credit, I didn't take anything perishable along with us (darn rules about bringing liquids in carry-ons) but I did bring home some instant oatmeal packets, crackers and bread, I believe. I told Darrel he should be grateful to have such a frugal wife which is partly why we had money to go on our vacation in the first place. I'm not sure he saw it that way.

Today, we went to Darrel's oldest brother's house in Kamas to celebrate Father's Day and my mother-in-law's birthday. It's about an hour's drive from our house and we'd gotten about 10 minutes into our journey when Grace announced she was feeling sick. I looked around and found, what else, an empty Ziploc! I think even Darrel was grateful for it then. Poor Gracie went on to fill another Ziploc on the way there and two on the way home. Never before had I been as glad for that leak-proof seal!

And with that, I can say to Darrel--so THERE! Ha ha! I love my Ziplocs (and my Darrel). Ziplocs--never leave home without 'em!

At Long Last...

Justin's wish has finally been granted! We finished up his truck room this week and moved all his heavy equipment back in. There are a few finishing touches left, but the bulk of it is done--and a mighty fine job of it, if we do say so ourselves!

Before:

View from the doorway.
Corner #2 A few remnants of the cowboy room still on the wall.
Corner #3
Corner #4 Careful with that hammer kiddo!

Our conversation during this photo:

"Mom, look, I can put dad's knife out. Can I cut something?"

I retract the blade. "Don't do that it's very sharp."

"But I can do it just a little bit." Pushes it out one click so just the tip is showing.

"I know you can do it, but it's sharp, so don't."

Justin still looking at it with longing...so tempting!

Drywall dust never looked cuter.


After:

Come on in for the grand tour! Don't forget your hard hat.
View from the doorway.

Corner #2

Corner #4
Justin loves this little "hideout" in the corner with cute truck hooks for all his important things.


And the reason for it all...

Under Construction

That's right, folks. Over the next week or so, Justin's room is getting a facelift! He is very excited and can hardly wait for "construction" to start. We have insulation for the outside walls scheduled bright and early Monday morning, then the rest is up to us. We'll be sure to post before and after photos. Let the fun begin!

A Taste of Summer

A warm sunny day at last!  The kids took full advantage of the beautiful weather on Sunday and I took a few photos.

 Justin took a couple, too...

His tricycle, freshly washed

And something about those cute bare toes just makes me smile.  Ahhhh, summer!