Emmi's birthday surprise

I found out that Emmi loves axe throwing.  I had no idea she did that or liked it.  Annie arranged a time for the whole family to go and surprise Emmi.  They all got involved and apparently had a fun time.  Where in the world Emmi learned about axe hunting is a mystery to me.  We will have to ask her how she got interested in it.  Annie sent me this picture of the family at the event.

Spring trip to St. George

Neal and I were invited to St. George for the week of  UVU's Spring break.  It was nice to go down and have a whole week without Neal running to the club house to get on the computer and do school work.  We had a wonderful time as always.  Ate well, played golf, played bridge and watched Criminal Minds and SVU a couple evenings.
Golfing was really fun. If you look really close you can see the St. George temple way in kthe back ground.  It is amazing how far you can see that temple.

Bridge is always a part of our trips.  Ron found this headline in the paper (that didn't have anything to do with our bridge game) but brought a round of laughter.

Judy is the bridge expert and Ron, Neal and I are continually being taught.  Every single hand has a lesson to it.  So we loved the bridge victim's grieving sign.

Ron had a puzzle going in the spare bedroom and he kept wandering in there and putting a piece or two in the puzzle.  He didn't have much spare time with golfing and bridge.

One of our traditions is to go to the Bear Paw for breakfast.  Friday morning about 11:00 we headed over and even at that late hour still had to wait for about 30 minutes.  That place is always crowded no matter the time of day.  They are open from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.  Food is absolutely delicious!

We went to the Pizza Factory for dinner one night and when we got back from dinner we decided we need to take a walk around the golf course.  It was a beautiful evening and Ron and Neal kept wandering off the cart path to find golf balls.  I guess one never has enough golf balls!!!

It was a perfect trip.  We left St. George Saturday morning and headed back to Salt Lake and reality.  We made three stops looking at BMW's for Neal.  He found one he liked and it is now at the BMW place in Murray being checked over.  It will be nice to have another car in the garage.  It works to share but much easier not have to :-)

Pedicures

Yes, it is time to get our feet some much needed and customized care.  Neal and I were going to St. George and knew we would be wearing sandals.  Time to get our toes and feet pampered.

I didn't take a picture of the finished project but they ended up a pretty bright pink!  Just mine, not Neal's!!

Must be Spring

It must be Spring and even though we are still getting lots of rain and some snow, the pansies and other flowers are blooming like crazy and welcoming in the Spring weather.  As I was backing out of the garage this morning, there were the ducks.  The disappear early winter and come waddling back early Spring.  I love that they always come by the pool and by our driveway.  They aren't intimidated by me and just keep waddling slowly on their way as if to say, "We are back and it is Spring."

Saints birthday

Abby and Lynda Ann came by with Saint.  They were on their way to the puppy class for Saint.  It was Saints birthday so Abby created a cake that all the dogs at the puppy class could have a bite of.  The dogs aren't given treats but on their birthdays they can have a 'doggie' treat.

Well trained dog.  Sitting there waiting for the go ahead to have a taste.  Abby has done an incredible job training Saint for someone who will need a guide dog.  What a wonderful service Abby has taken on.  We are proud of you Abby.

The car wash

I took the Jeep through the car wash before we left for St. George and just had to take a couple pictures.  You will notice Olaf still sitting on the dash board.  We bought him in California when we were visiting with Tucker and Jamie and the girls and he ended up on the dash board and apparently found his home.  Neal named him Olaf.

 Ahhhh!  Nice and clean once again.

Probably a silly thing to blog but I thought it was kind of fun to take some pictures as I was riding through on the automated tracks.

Cancer strikes again

Last year Neal had some cancer removed from his ear.  This year he had to have some removed from his nose.  We were at the hospital at 8:30.  Huntsman Cancer Hospital and Dr. Bowan performed the surgery.  Annie met us up at the hospital and spent some time with us before having to go to work.  Here are some before and after pictures.  He wanted me to take a picture of his nose before the surger so that is what these next two are:

 This is a picture of his doctor drawing out pictures of what he was going to do.  He was an interesting man and loved to talk.  Neal said he talked all through the surgery about the church brethren that he knew and experiences with them.  Very interesting character.  I didn't stay in the room.  I was out in the waiting room.  I don't do well with needles and knives.

 This is a picture just as I was leaving the room where the procedure would take place.

 This picture is immediately following the surgery.  We had to wait around for a couple hours while the lab did the biopsy to make sure that they got all the cancer.  This is when Neal, Lynda Ann and I went to the cafeteria on the 6th floor for some breakfast.

 Looking at the windows of the cafeteria we could see down on the building where Annie worked and we could see the helicopters where they come in and leave.  Annie works with the pilots and the doctors getting everything coordinated for the incoming patient.

 The biopsy came back clear so now they went back in and had to cover the open would with skin and stitch it all in place.  The doctor told us that there were three layers of stitches and over 100 of them.  Amazing.

 This picture was taken after all the stitching was done and before the bandaged him all up.

This last picture is of him all bandaged up and ready to go home.

He went to school and taught the next day.  Interesting thing is that a member of our Bishopric, Craig Cannon, showed up in church the week prior to Neal's surgery with the same bandage!  He has some cancer removed from the bridge of his nose.  So both Neal and Craig were were in church today with their noses all covered.

Joyce and McKay Phippen

Neal was in Bountiful to a Scout Awards Banquet and ran into our dear friends, Joyce and McKay Phippen.  Joyce and McKay lived just up the street from us and they were the ones who introduced me to Neal.  McKay is Judy Sealey's uncle.  I served in the relief society presidency with Joyce.  We loved the Phippens!  Lots and lots of good memories with them in the ward, serving with them, singing with them and spending time with them at Bear Lake.  Love these people.

Jamiek and the Eiffel Tower

I don't know anyone, personally,  who has been commissioned to build the Eiffel Tower.  I was amazed and surprised when Jamie sent me this picture of her and a friend building the Eiffel Tower prop for a dance recital.  She said it took her 40 hours of labor and a sore body!  I can only imagine.  What an incredible accomplishment.  It is amazing.

How would one even know where to begin.  Jamie should have been around when we were in charge of road shows!!  Most of you won't even know what that is.  Back when I was a teen, every stake was given a theme and each ward had to build a musical around that theme.  All the youth were involved.  The productions were all done on one night.  We traveled in cars to each ward in the stake hauling all the people and the scenery.  Usually took someone with a pick up truck to haul everything.  Every ward was judged and then we all gathered together at one assigned ward and awards were handed out for best road show, best scenery, best adherence to theme, etc.  Those were fun time.

Emmi's birthday

Lynda Ann sent me this darling picture of Emmi on her birthday.  She is official 22 and has a brand new car (well to her it is new) and will be graduation from BYU in April.  Lots of changes coming in her life.  She is planning on working at Dugway this summer and contracting a full time job with them before the summer is over.  In the mean time she is filling out applications for full time positions in her field of expertise.  Good luck, Emmi, on the job hunting, the new car and on beginning a new journey in your life.  That is total independence :-)

Pretty fancy wheels.  Of course her dream car is a new Jeep but that is down the road a year or two.

Stitching Project

Time to report on my progress for a month on my new stitching project.  I made some good progress but have hours and hours left to go.  I actually ran out of thread for the roof and when I went to the Craft Center they had just run out and my needed thread was on order.  So, I have to leave the roof half done and start on something else.  It takes about two weeks for the thread to come in.  Here is my progress for the month of February.

This is definitely going to be entered in the fair this year if I can get it done in time.  It is going to be one of my favorites along with being one of the more difficult ones I've done.  I shall keep you posted as I progress on this.

Andrew's Band Concert

Andrew had his second band concert for the school year.  I wasn't able to go out but Annie sent me these two pictures and I loved them.  Nice to see Andrew's funny side.

Moving from February to March

Goodness, March certainly came in like a lion.  We had one storm after another.  No complaints because we need the moisture desperately.  Seemed like I had just barely put the Valentine wreath up on the front door and it was time to change it to St. Patrick's Day.

Hair day with Annie

It was time to have hair colored so Annie and I met at Dave's to get our hair done.  I was there at 8:30 and Lynda Ann came in at 9:30.  Once Dave has my hair processing then he can get Annie's colored and processing.  It is always a fun time.  After the hair appointment was done we went to Coasta Vida for lunch.  I was hoping that we could do some shopping but Annie had to pick up Emmi and go hunting for cars.  So Annie dropped me off at the house.  Neal had the Jeep and was doing his own car shopping.

When Neal got home, I had already decided that I didn't want to go back to work so we looked up what was playing and went to see The Darkest Hour.  Such a great movie.  We both enjoyed it immensely and would recommend it.  Winston Churchill was quite a different personality but certainly gets credit for saving England.

The view out the window

Every now and again when I glance up at the window in the front room I will get an absolutely gorgeous view of the moon.  It has to be the right time of year for it to happen.  The other night I glanced up and saw the moon trying to peek through the clouds.  It was so gorgeous that I had to take a picture.  Of course, pictures never do the justice of real life but it does give us the idea.

A quick bite to eat

Neal and I were out running errands and decided that pizza sounded good to us.  One of his students brought some Pier 49 Pizza to one of his classes and he suggested we go there.  We found that there was one right by us on State and 5300.  We enjoyed the pizza and the time together.  Great smile, my dear!