Tucker Turns 54!!!

 I can't believe that five of my children are over 50!  Wow.  What happened to all those years?  Neal and I took Tucker out to lunch for his birthday.  He chose a Mexican place on State and 7800 South.  The food was delicious.  It was fun to spend a couple hours with him and hear about his job and dating life.  He seems happy and that is the most important thing for me.  Just that my kids are happy.  I love that Tucker gives me unconditional love, respect, acceptance, support and a listening ear.  Thanks Tucker for all our years of fun and laughter, happy tears and some sad tears.  You've been through a lot, as we all have, but you seem to come out on top and I'm proud of where you are now.  Love you so much!  Hope you had a very happy birthday!

Tucker and Neal at the last U of U football game.  They are loving their season tickets!!!

One More Project - Completed

I now have pull out drawers in every cupboard in my kitchen that are needed for storage.  They are so nice and I love them.  Not a day goes by that I don't pull out one of the sliding drawers and comment on how nice it is not to have to get down on my hands and knees to find things in the back of the cupboards.  The last one that I wanted done was under the sink.  It was a bit tricky because the main pipe is just off center so Chris had to allow for the pipe and also had to create a cupboard that could be removed if we ever had to have a plumber redo anything under the sink.  Chris was able to come up with the solution.  He built a box with the sliding drawers that inserted right into the right side of the cupboard just barely missing the main pipe.  Now if we need a plumber to come we can easily remove the whole box making the pipe totally available.  This is before.  You can see the main pipe that Chris had to work around.

And this is what he created.  I LOVE it!!!  

Just barely have room for the garbage can in front of the garbage disposal.  

 

Cabin Day 3

 Jennie stayed with us until about 6:30 p.m. on Sunday evening and then decided she ought to get down the canyon before it got dark.  It was raining fast and hard so we were anxious to hear that she got home safely - which she did.  Annie and I worked on my Christmas gift to my little primary class in between playing games.  We were able to get them all completed.  They are little nativity figures with a magnet on the back of them so the kids can put them on their fridge at home during the holidays.  I'll probably give them out the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

Annie badly needed to have some hours of sleep.  She has been fighting a miserable cold and then having to deal with all of the "Ray" issues.  Sunday she 

layed down on the couch about 11:30 and slept soundly until 3:30.  We didn't bother to wake her up.  The three of us just went about playing lots of games and enjoying lots of fun and laughter.

Lynda Ann had made chicken enchiladas for our Sunday dinner.  They were delicious.  We stayed up until about 11:00 and then off to bed.  

Monday morning came way too soon because it ended our three day stay-cation.  Thanks to Lynda for arranging and paying for the cabin in Sundance.  What a beautiful location and the cabin could not have been more perfect.  Cozy and perfect and I hope we can do it again next year.  

Monday morning also brought a happy birthday to Mallory Sue!  We packed up, loaded the cars and headed out in a rain storm.  We figured it probably rained 90% of the time we were up there.  It made staying in the cabin even more cozy.  Annie had a roaring fire going every day.  There was a huge wall TV and we were able to watch lots of Christmas movies.  As we were leaving the cabin, Lynda Ann noticed the back of Mt. Timp was covered with snow.

We also saw a flock of wild turkeys.  Never seen them in the wild before.  That was fun.

We got home safely and met Jeffrey and Andrew at Chicano's for a birthday lunch celebrating Jeff and Mallory's birthdays.  So fun and very filling.   Our stay-cation over and lunch ended, I drove Mallory back to her home in Lehi.  Told her I loved her and wished her a happy birthday. Love this granddaughter of mine and especially our temple adventures.  Happy, happy birthday Mallory!!

Cabin Day 2

 Our day began with Lynda Ann building us a nice roaring fire.  The temperature outside was on the really cool side.  The fire was perfect.  The we were served a delicious breakfast casserole and whatever else we wanted to eat.  After breakfast we put on a Christmas movie and decided to tackle a game of Mahjong for a while.  Annie and I haven't played this for a very long time but between the two of us and looking at some written directions we were able to play and teach Mallory and Jenny.

We then decided with the rain stopped for a while should we go for a nature walk or drive down to Sundance and check that out.  Sundance got the most votes so we piled in Annie's suburban and off we went.  

We wandered around Sundance and took some pictures and of course had to buy a souvenir from Sundance.

On the way back to the cabin we saw some deer.

We did end the day with a quick nature walk and a delicious steak dinner with salad and baked potatoes and after dinner a couple more games before heading to bed.  Fabulous day.  Love being in the mountains in a cabin with stormy weather.  Just can't get much better than that.

Cabin Get-A-Way

Annie needed a weekend get-a-way from Ray and all the responsibilities of taking care of Ray and Russell, paying all of Ray's bills for both homes, providing dinners, taking them to the store, etc. etc.  So she found a cute little cabin up in Sundance, rented it and invited Mallory and me to come along.  I would never turn down a chance for an outing or trip with Annie!  

We left Salt Lake about 11:15 and headed to Heber to have lunch with Susan.  Mallory met us there and had Brinkley with her so we found a place that was dog friendly - but you had to sit outside.  It was called Cafe Bristo.  Nice little place and they served breakfast all day.  Poor Susan showed up and can barely walk these days.  She was using a cane.  Her knees are, I'm sure, bone on bone.  Very painful for her to walk.  That aside we did have a nice lunch and a fun visit before heading up Provo Canyon.  

We were able to check in a little early so we parked Mallory's car at the cabin and she and Brinkley got in the suburban and off we went to explore a new canyon called Kyhv that leads to Buffalo Peak.  It was beautiful.

We figured out that this was the back side of the Y mountain.  Absolutely unbelievable and beautiful.  Look at the rock formation on this mountain!

We were right on the tail end of the Fall colors, but it was still beautiful and colorful.

We didn't see any wild life except for one deer.  Annie spotted the deer off the side of the road but it disappeared before we could get a picture.  We made it back to the cabin about 5.  Annie certainly knows to to pick places to stay.

Mallory noticed the squirrel on the beam of the cabin. 

We got settled in and pieced on chips and salsa, veggies and dip and crackers and bacon spread.  So delicious.  Annie had also made s'mores for dessert.  We played a game of Rummykub that Annie found in the cupboard.  It has been so many years since we played it that it took a couple rounds to remember how to do it.  Annie ended up beating me by 2 points!  Fun game.

Love these two so very much!!  Had a fun evening and turned in about 10:00.