Nice surprise from the California grandchildren

When we got home I found these darling notes from Jordyn Lyn and Peyton.  I have a feeling there are some from Lexi, I just haven't found them yet.  "Thank yous" are always nice to receive and I appreciate every thank you that comes my way.  They just make me feel like I've done something good and memorable for these three darling girls when they come to visit.
The first note says:  Dear Pa:  I love you so much.  You are so funny.  I love your jokes.  Pa you are many words.  I like your shirts.  They are so cool.  Well Pa I am going to miss you, Love Peyton

 The second note says:  Dear Gam, I am going to miss you so much.  I don't forget every time we visit you always say to me I love that cute little hiney Pey Pey.  Well Gam I am going to miss you so much.  Love Pey Pey

 Pa, I love you so much!  Thank you for everything!  All your jokes, treats, and especially all of the card games.  We will miss you so very much!  We definitely will see you again soon!!  Love, Jordyn Lyn

 Gam, Thank you so much for always letting us come stay here!  Yes, I know, we never stay long enough!  I appreciate all that you do for the family!  I love you so much!!  I hope we can see you very soon!  We will miss you Gam (with our cute little hineys!)

I love all of you clear to the moon and back!!!

A short weekend in Scofield

After the Tucker Maxfield family pulled out and were on their way, Neal and I came back in the house and did a few necessary things before doing our own packing to head to Scofield.  Neal needed to do some school work for his classes and I wanted to get a couple loads of laundry completed before leaving.  I'm always a bit afraid to leave the washing machine going when I leaving for fear it might break a pipe or something will go wrong that it will flood over.  We finally left for Scofield about 3:00.  When we arrived, Ron and Judy were waiting for us with a delicious dinner.  We ate, visited, unpacked a few things and then played some bridge before going to bed.  Saturday, Neal and Ron went golfing and Judy and I stayed home and nursed her knee and talked about all her family drama and all mine.  Her situation is a little different because neither her or Ron had any children living at home but the combined family dynamics seem to bring out that same rather ugly and unnecessary scenarios.  She has also experienced the same, "no matter how how I try it isn't good enough" syndrome.  So we did some crying on each others shoulders (so to speak) and a little complaining and some whining and basically felt better when our talking came to an end.  Judy's knee was giving her problems so she took a nap and I went up to my bedroom and read a book (snoozing myself in between pages).  The men got home and we fixed another delicious dinner, played games and then to bed.
Today we went to sacrament meeting at the little Scofield Branch, came back and had a sandwich, sat around and visited before heading home.  It was a delightful weekend and Neal and I enjoyed it immensely!
The first picture is the cabin across the road from Ron and Judy's.  There are four swallow nests.  Their little community is very interesting and very, very messy.

 One or our delicious dinners out on the patio.

Family prayer

There is always something very reassuring to me when we have family prayer before going on a trip or before sending our children on a trip.  This morning was spent gathering things throughout the house, starting loads of laundry, cleaning the wood floors, feeding everyone and then having family prayer to send Tucker, Jamie and the girls safely on their way to California.  I was fine until the prayer and then I could feel the tears starting to form and my emotions starting to take hold.  But, I pulled it together, mostly for Peyton's sake.  She was looking right at me and I thought if I let the tears spill over onto my cheeks it might upset her.  I quickly asked Jamie if she would take a selfie of all of us and that got us all smiling.  We love having them with us and will now start counting down the time that will bring us together again.  What a blessing this family is our lives.

Farewell dear family - we will see you in September!  :-)

The last evening together.

Our family loves to play games so everyone that could, came over to the house and we played Reds until about midnight.  I don't think anyone even check the score.  Last night it wasn't about winning, it was about just being together laughing and talking and soaking up our last little bit of time with Tucker, Jamie and the girls.  Of course, there is always a picture of everyone sitting around the table looking at their phones!

 And what would a post be without a crazy picture of Tucker!!!  He always manages to know just when I am going to push the button.

 I need to add here that Tucker and Neal went golfing two days.  One day at Old Mill golf course and another day at Bonneville golf course.  They said the had a fabulous time together.  Neal said that Tucker can hit the golf ball a country mile and usually out drove Neal.  However, Neal said he was able to still beat him both days. Tucker sent me this great picture.

And so as I'm posting this morning, the sadness is starting to creep in that they will be leaving today.  I love having them here and miss them greatly when they are gone.  Peyton and I will always shed some tears as we hug each other and the wave that finally goodbye as the car pulls out of the driveway.  LOVE YOU GUYS!!

A project for Jamie

It seems that every time Jamie comes to Salt Lake, I can always find a project that I would like her to do for me while she is here.  The amazing thing is that a task that seems overwhelming and impossible to me usually takes her a matter of minutes to figure out and complete.  When we were at the Wood Connection I found something that I thought would be darling for Ron and Judy's new cabin in Scofield.  I asked Jamie what she thought and she said she liked it and could do it for me.  That evening as we were talking, Jamie layed it out on the table and began the process.  I think all in all it maybe took her about an hour.  She had it done and leaning up against the wall as we headed to bed.  She is amazing.

Can't wait to give it to Ron and Judy this weekend.  Thanks Jamie!!  I also noticed that there were a few phone calls from Annie to Jamie about some projects that she had purchased at the Wood Connection.  Annie was getting some hints on the best and easiest way to apply the lettering.  Then last night Lynda Ann had Jamie helping her design a project that she wanted to do for a friend.  Jamie had it designed and sent to Walmart for Annie to pick up on her way home that night.  Thank you Jamie for sharing your expertise and knowledge with us.  

Putting out the fire and heading home!

Of course, part of the fun of any outing in the woods is putting out the fire.  It seemed that every one had to take a turn pour some water not only on the fire itself but also along the rim of the pit,  The cement was hot enough to fry and egg.  I almost wished I had an egg with me to see it cook on the rim of the fire pit.

 On a side note, when we got back to the house Lynda Ann's van was running hot and as she pulled in the driveway all the antifreeze in her van poured out the bottom of the van.  She asked if she could take the Jeep and on their way home they would drop the van off at Quan's to be repaired.  Annie called me later and said that as they were driving on 215 out to Quan's the van red lined so they pulled over quickly and stopped.  Abby suggested they have a prayer.  They did and when Annie turned the van back on she said the needle stayed in the black until they got to Quans.  Miracle?  Absolutely.  The other miracle was that Quan called her the next day and they were not only able to get the van fixed but the bill was only $150.00.  Just one blessing after another.
 

The Skunk!

As the evening was coming to a close and we were all sitting around the camp fire, Jamie spotted a skunk going across the bridge and down along the river on the rocks.  Of course, curiosity took over and everyone ran to the bridge to see the sunk.  The comments were, "don't get too close".  We watched this creature run along the side of the bank and up the embankment toward the road where it disappeared in the underbrush.

More fun canyon pictures . . . . .

Andrew found a rodent of some kind.  We thought at first it was a baby mouse but as we looked at it closer and all decided it might have been a baby possum that had fallen out of its nest.  We could tell it wasn't going to live but Andrew was determined to bring it back to health.  He gave it fruit, meat and water.  However at the end of the evening when we were ready to go he put it under some trees and dug a little grave for it.  Andrew does have a very tender heart.

These next pictures were entitled "What you are missing in the woods"!

We had a fun evening in the canyon and hated having to pack up and go back down tot he valley.

Monday cont. . .

I have to add here that I think I put our pedicure, lunch and shopping on Saturday events instead of Monday events.  You'll just have to recognize that it is old age and lack of sleep this week.  Besides, it really doesn't matter what day it was as long as I have the events recorded, right?

So, to continue with Monday.  The three of us got home, packed up the cars with food and headed up Millcreek Canyon to roast hot-dogs and marshmallows.  Surprisingly there were very few people in the canyon which made it really nice. Here are some fun pictures of the evening.

Jordyn Lyn and Hayley created their own selfie holder out of a stick that they found.  Pretty creative you two!