These Weeks

The past few weeks in pictures:

Spring is upon us. 

Noble planted a little peach seedling in the corner of our garden a few years ago and has nurtured it even though I told him I wasn't sure it would produce anything. This spring for the first time it blossomed. It is beautiful.

I see this little tree as a metaphor for Noble's life. We have been trying to teach him a lot of things in his life about what is true, how to live and find joy. I hope like his peach seedling he will give place for those teachings and nourish them...and see them miraculously blossom and produce good fruit.

 Thank goodness for the two little boys who live at our house! They bring so much joy, and excitement, and wonder (and sometimes exhaustion). We all love them so much! I am forever grateful that Heavenly Father had two more in store for us.

Asleep in the same bunk.

Lunch time with Abner and  his buddy (the Kemp's youngest) and big sister.

Climbing the hammock in the warm April sun. 

Showing off his work from preschool.

One of the things I will sorely miss when my kids are all grown - little kids' soccer games. Here is Abner with his team. (Notice the kid with the pirate hat.)  While our other kids have ramped up slowly when it comes to sports, Abner is already a force to be reckoned with on the field. He scored a hat trick (3 goals) in his first game.........after he'd finished crying for half the game on the sidelines about not wanting to play (first-game-ever nerves).

 It is the sweetest thing in the world to still have a couple of kids who want to snuggle up and sleep.

 Our animals are fat and happy.

Literally, Pluto is fat from her winter of leisure (mostly spent in the house and garage, eating). With the weather warming up she is on the prowl on the easement once again...keeping the rodent population at bay.

River has made a miraculous transformation (coinciding with the acquisition of his new shock / vibration training collar). He is now able to roam with relative freedom around the house and yard, and behaves himself around little children and new people. He has learned that life is MUCH better when he's not constantly on a leash or in a kennel.

Nature appreciation

We had a couple of moon rises this past month that were sublime. Here is one I tried to capture with my phone.

A Near-Miss

Last night Noble had a run-in with the neighbor's dog line (like a zip line for dogs to exercise). It was dark and  he was running full-tilt across their yard. Next thing he knew he was thrown to the ground by the throat. Today his throat is swollen and his tongue too where he nearly bit it off. Ouch.

 More Reno With Roy

A few boulders had to be moved to finish the back patio. We had to transport them to a new home in the yard. This was Roy and Mike's genius solution to moving them. It was pretty effective.

The Vampire Room is officially gone! Demo day in the basement.

More demo. Roy rented an industrial sized tile remover and the boys went to work chipping up all the tile in the basement kitchen. Roy says that he found the one thing the previous owners did that was built right: the tile floor. Unfortunately for us. It was a bugger to remove. And it made a TON of dust. I hate that part.

Mike spent about 6 hours yesterday grinding / buffing the residual mortar left from the tile. What a mess. But we are now down to the bare concrete floor. Our plan is to make a finished concrete floor in the kitchen / soon-to-be game room.

Meanwhile Upstairs...

While the grunts worked away in the mud and the dust downstairs, Jessie was upstairs getting ready for prom. Thanks to Holly, who helped us line her dress. It was lovely. 

Jessie didn't get out of work scott-free though. She started her day pulling weeds. Her date told us later that in between morning and evening sessions of prom (ha ha - one of the things I love to hate about high school dances is the all day activities they plan with it) he was home pulling weeds as well. Our respect went up for this kid...or at least for his parents. 

Prom 2016

Reno with Roy

Recently, after nearly six years in our house, we started the monumental project of renovating our back deck / patio and basement. We persuaded Roy to act as our unofficial contractor with the understanding that Roy would also have the help of several Melton apprentices (Noble, Tillman...and pretty much the rest of us too).  And thus we set out - dubbing our project: #RENO WITH ROY.

Here are some of the highlights so far:

After closer inspection Roy deemed the existing slipshod deck-extension unfit for use, and began immediate deconstruction. Just thought you'd all like to know that those times we had the whole family crowded around out on the deck, throwing pumpkins off at Thanksgiving - the deck was probably not structurally sound.

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A few boulders needed to be relocated to make room for the new pillar and the patio that was to follow. Btw, Noble is using the old pillar (that used to hold up the deck-extension) as a lever in this picture and he BROKE it with his own hands. Makes you feel good about standing on that old deck, right?

After taking the old deck extension apart, Roy and Noble raised a new solid pillar, and then Mike helped them place the new beam. This thing was a beast.

New joists - actually pressure treated, as opposed to the old joists that were warping.

After replacing the decking

We kept all the kids busy for days as the construction went on by giving them the assignment of  "cleaning the wall" (essentially painting with water on the cement). It worked liked a charm.

After the new and improved deck was up, the cement guys arrived to frame up the new back patio. I know my whole family is thinking, "didn't we spend a whole Saturday once breaking up SIX TONS of concrete in the Melton's back yard and hauling it away?!" True--- but that was a bad back patio. Really bad. This one is going to be awesome.

Here are the little boys last Saturday rapt in amazement, watching the new concrete being poured.

Cement and pumping trucks.

Our new back patio. It still needs to be acid washed and sealed.

Next step: the long-awaited steps off the deck (yay!), and finishing touches.

Meeting Up and Skipping Town

Last Saturday night Mike and I got together for dinner with this bunch. Good friends from high school days. Out of all the people in this photo, only 4 did not go to school with us. I sure love these guys. We laughed until we cried.

Mike had a weekend get away - just the two of us - to Bryce Canyon planned for my birthday. It's been a challenging week here at our house - and we almost didn't end up going. So glad we did. We stopped on our way south and spent time in the Payson Temple, getting some peace and clarity. Bryce was stunning this time of year with the melting snow, contrasting with the orange hoodoos. We enjoyed a couple of days with time to talk, be together and soak up the beauty all around  - it was so perfect. Thanks Mike!

Also, this trip was a big milestone for our family; the first time we have left our children overnight on their own (sort of - I had my sisters check in on them). The kids did an amazing job! Not only was the house still standing, but they had done their jobs, taken care of the animals, and managed to get along...all without Mom and Dad there to prod them along! We have great kids.

Where to begin...

Procrastination + infectious disease x technical difficulties = over a month without checking in here on the blog.
To sum up the past month: We've been busy with projects & accomplishments, rest and rejuvination and germs running amok.

Projects and Accomplishments

On a rainy MLK Day Mike and Noble put together this SWEET sk8 and long board rack.

We shoveled lots of snow this spring

Abner was pretty proud of this this Lego ship with a Star Wars windshield, pizzas and a Christmas tree on top. And that is the party hat he made a preschool.

Grace made the honor roll at Providence Hall

Sully and Abner built this space ship and space helmets

Our desktop computer finally breathed its last (after 7 years of diligent service). The U.S. Army (Sean) swooped in to diagnose the problem, back up our hard drive, help us choose a new computer, and then load all our info onto the new computer (remotely from Logan. like magic. while putting baby Mae to sleep. Sean has super powers.) - this took him two lengthy house calls, and another evening from home.

The kids had fun with baby Mae when Sean and Kim came to call.

Webcam pic of Sean the man. Fixing computers and putting babies to sleep with his SKILLS.

Rest and Rejuvenation 

Sully leading an afternoon yoga class in his room. 

We took the 4 day Valentines/Presidents Day weekend and went south - spending a day skiing / snowboarding at Eagle Point, east of Beaver, a day at Zion and chilling at the Melton's (our cold weather get away destination) in St. George. Here is the at Eagle Point.

ALL SIX KIDS on the slopes (Eagle Point has great week day deals - which makes taking 6 kids skiing possible).

This is how Sully nd Abner finished the day.

Zion was really crowded - but cleared out as the afternoon  went by. The weather was absolutely beautiful.

Walking the river at the Temple of Sinawava

Weeping Rock

Hanging out at Grandma and Grandpa's

Oldest and youngest - at the Costa Vida in Fillmore

As soon as we got back home from our trip Abner wanted to get straight back up to the slopes.

Germs Running Amok

With all the other stuff going on  -  we have also been fighting one infectious disease after another - for about 3 months.  I AM SO DONE WITH SICKNESS. After a couple of rounds of strep, I got on Amazon and bought a box of  rapid strep tests. Between strep, the most potent cold virus in history, strep again, and now hand, foot and mouth., I have really had enough. Sometimes that's how it goes. I'm going to go disinfect some more stuff.