Christmas 2009

Twas the night before Christmas.....




It was a different year without Jennie, Patrick and the kids. Jennie called during dinner and we were all able to talk with her. We ate, opened presents and sat around talking. Another great Christmas Eve.



Christmas day we headed over to Cameron's to see how the girl's did with Santa. I played bowling with Sammy and Erica on the Wii (almost lost to both of them!). Then we went back home so that they could spend the afternoon/evening with ReyAn's family. Jake and Whit spent the day with her family. Christmas evening, the Beidler's came up for eats and a visit. We had a great time with them. And as usual.....Christmas ends WAY too fast. Merry Christmas everyone!

Gingerbread!

Christmas brings so many traditions. One of the ones that we started last year was building gingerbread houses with the kids. We weren't able to do it while Jennie was here, just not enough time. This year I found trains to build, so ReyAn, Sammy, Erica & I started building. Cameron & Brent sat with us and visited. It was fun.

A visit from the Swains....

December started out the best way possible. My whole family together again. Jennie and her family came to spend a week with us. They arrived late on Nov 30th and stayed until Dec. 6th. We had to share their time with many people, but it was so great having them here. And it was fun to see the "cousins" all back together again. The one thing that the little kids all wanted to do was go to the Treehouse Museum in Ogden. So, Jennie, ReyAn and I packed up the kids and off we went. They had a ball!!!

That evening, the whole flam damily, including Eric & Cris Beidler and Kenny Swain, headed to Salt Lake for a cold, but festive evening of food and lights. We had a great mexican dinner at the Rio Grande Restaurant and then caught Trax over to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights. It was sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo cold. About 17 degrees!!! We made a quick trip around the grounds, then back on Trax to get into our cars and head home. We had a great time. It was a terrific day and evening. Nice to have all my family together after so many months.

The next night, we were able to get together again to play games and just hang out. The next day was a quick one getting Jen's family packed up to go home. My parents made it home from their cruise Saturday night and came straight from the airport to see them before the left Sunday morning. Hard to see them go. However, they weren't too unhappy about leaving the snow behind! We had good times, made great memories. I love my family!!!

Home to Snow.....

Friday, Dec. 11th, we took a trip down to Elsinore to check on Grandpa and our home-away-from-home. We left with the sun shining and a balmy 50 degrees. By the time we got down there, it was in the low 30's. BRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. We thawed out our little home and spent the evening and Saturday with Grandpa. The weather got much colder through the weekend. But, when we headed home Sunday (Dec. 13th) we had no idea what awaited. The roads were good, no storms until we hit Farmington! Then it just got worse. Needless to say, we had much digging to do when we got home. (Good thing we had the Christmas lights up already!) Welcome December!!

Is he still there.............

We went down to Elsinore yesterday planning to spend the weekend. However, when we stopped in Richfield to pick up our "Little-Home-on-Wheels-on-the-Prairie", there had been some problems with the warranty company. Not sure what to do, we went on over to our place to check on our "gopher guest". And low and behold......we no longer will be enjoying his company!!!!! Brent found him in a trap in one of his holes. (Sorry for the photos....but we are so proud & happy!!!)

It was such a relief!!! I was afraid that we would be contending with him all through the winter which would mean that we couldn't put the patio back together before the snow falls. So we repaired the patio & got everything back to normal, minus our home......

Then we cleaned up a bit, went to dinner with my folks who were down there visiting Grandpa. & then headed over to see him. He is still doing so well. He might even be up to coming north for Christmas. He hasn't committed yet.

Since we thought we'd be staying in our trailer, we were not prepared to stay down there without it. No toothbrush, pj's, etc. So, we just came on home. It was a long day, but a very rewarding one on so many levels.

Playing Cards with Grandpa D

This month started with a trip to Elsinore. Grandpa is doing really well and had been doing laps around the complex. He even wanted to go out for dinner. We took him to Pepperbelly's with Wayne & Marge for Mexican food. It was really fun and good to have him out and feeling so well. Then the big game was on!!!! The five of us went back to the Center and played Phase 10. He didn't win, but he was having a great time! I never get over the way he holds his cards (lol).
We have also had a guest at our place in Elsinore. Not an invited guest. We found him when we were there 2 weeks ago. He's a gopher. A very busy gopher. We had to take our trailer into Richfield to have service done, so it gave as the opportunity to try to "evict" him. Brent started to uncover some of his holes which then lead to tunnel after tunnel under our little patio. (He had even packed acorns from our oak tree into some of the tunnels.) Alas, so much for the patio and it was hard not to be impressed with the work done by this little rascal.


We packed some of his holes with traps and gopher bombs and headed for home. We'll see what's there when we return in a couple of weeks. Hopefully, he'll be gone. Too bad something so cute does so much damage!!!

October 2009.....Where Did It Go?????

Grandpa D Turns 93! - October 2, 2009
What a day for my sweet Grandpa! His daughters threw him a birthday party at the Assisted Living Center on Friday afternoon. Brent and I got down there to help celebrate, but the boys weren't able to get there until that night.We spent Saturday just kicking back. Brent, Cam, ReyAn, Sammy, Erica, Jake, Whitney, my Dad and Abby (his dog) went for a ride up Elsinore canyon. They weren't gone too long when it got cold and they headed back. Abby is a hoot with her doogles and hat. With all the dogs and trailers, it's quite a scene when we are all there.
That night, we went over and played cards with Grandpa. He wasn't up to going out for dinner, but wanted to play a game. It was fun, but he was tired, so we didn't keep him too late. Time there goes way too fast. Before we knew it we were packing up the truck to head home. It was our first outing in our new 5th wheel. It's so nice I didn't want to go outside!!! (LOL)

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Elsinore - October 23 - 25, 2009

We went down to visit Grandpa. It is so beautiful down there. The leaves falling, pumpkins on porches and in gardens, quiet country roads. I love it there! A sense of peace just falls over me when we come out of Aurora and onto I-70. It's amazing and so healing. We arrived to find a fall welcome from our old oak tree. It had dumped quiet a load of leaves but no where near the acorns that had come down. And the tree was still 3/4's full!!!! I raked and raked on Saturday. Then the wind blew all night long bringing the "plunk, plunk" sound of acorns hitting the top of the trailer. Alas, I raked about the same on Sunday before we left for home. The clouds coming over the mountains were awesome. I LOVE FALL!!!!Grandpa was doing really well. He wanted to go out to try a new mexican restaurant in town and then we played a game of Phase 10. Brent won with Grandpa right behind. It was fun and so great to see him feeling so well. I love him so much.

On the way home, we stopped at my folk's to watch the annual pumpkin carving/decorating festivities. Sharisse and her family, Darren, Cameron and the girls were all there and very busy.

It was a fun time for all. Then we headed home. Great weekend!!
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Halloween 2009

The month ended in the usual festivities. Cameron decked out his house and we went over there to look it over. Brent got very involved in his "spooking" the trick-or-treaters. Cameron was able to focus on making the Grim Reeper function, Brent snuck up on kids in his usual face mask and camoflauge.

I relieved ReyAn's mom from handing out treats while ReyAn took the girls out to get their treats. They looked so cute.
After that, we went over to trick-or-treat at Jake's and visited for about 1/2 hour, went home to check Jen's blog to see how their Halloween was (she hadn't blogged yet) and then I crashed. It was a big week at work and I was worn out. Another month gone. Great times and memories. But, we miss Jen, Patrick & the boys. It's so weird not having them here. We love you guys!

September Adventures!

As usual, I'm trying to catch up my blog.....

Arizona - Sept 4-11, 2009

The week of Labor Day we spent in Arizona with Jennie and her family. Before we arrived she gave us the news that the baby is a girl!! (I should be a betting man!) We are so excited!!! Grandbaby #5!!!!!

We spent the week just hanging around the house, swimming, touring mines, watching Jackson play soccer (& Jennnie coach!), and even got in some "girl" time with Jen. I have missed that sooooooooo much. We also celebrated Harrison's 2nd birthday a bit early.

Brent relaxed for about a day and then needed something to do. So, he built shelves in the garage and then put storage bins in the boys closet. Jennie and I got to reminise through the baby clothes sorting the things she could use and what she should give away. Time flies and they grow so fast. We really enjoyed the time with them, just always comes to an end too fast. Thanks Jen & Patrick for letting us "move in" for the week!!

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Utah State Fair - Sept. 18, 2009

We went to the fair with Cameron, ReyAn, Sammy & Erica. It was fun, the weather was actually pretty good that night and the girls had a lot of fun riding the ponies. There seemed to be more rides and a lot more food booths this year than anything else. But, the people watching is always a lot of fun!

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Out with the Not-So-Old & In with the New - Sept. 25, 2009

On Saturday, 09-19-09 we decided to go look at 5th wheels. It was supposed to be our "cheap" date for the weekend. (eye roll) Needless to say we found our dream trailer, got an awesome deal on it and trading in our 2004 5th wheel. Couldn't pass it by. IT'S BEAUTIFUL!!!!! We spent 2 days unloading the old one and brought home our new "Condo" on the 25th. We took it out the next weekend to Elsinore. Cameron & his family & Jake & Whit joined us. We looked like a regular RV park!!!! That's a quick summary of September. It went by quickly. The whole year has.

The Completion of a Cabin.....

The cabin was completed in early October. This s the video of the semi-finished project. They were able to get it done before the first snow fell. WAY TO GO!!!!

The Cabin That Brent & Jake Built (well...are still building)!

They worked through the month of August and it's looking great!!! I hope this video clip works. I will update when I have the September photos. :)

Fire!! Scipio Fire Sept. 4, 2009

We left for Tucson on Friday the 4th and went through Scipio. These are a few of the photos I got. We couldn't stop, so this is the best I could do. You could see where it jumped over the road, which had only been opened that day to public traffic. It was really awesome to watch, but sad at the same time.

Time Out!!!

We are visiting Jennie and her family right now. I will post when I return. Lots of catching up to do!!! Love you all. :)

The Cabin That Brent & Jake Built...

This month Brent & Jake started building a little "Bunk House" for a friend of mine who has a cabin up near the Uintahs. The idea started out late last summer as not much more than a "tough shed" idea with emenities. Well....over discussions and after I started the basic plans, it grew. So, they are spending time this summer building a small (432 s.f. footprint) 2-story cabin. The 2nd story is just a 200 s.f. loft.


After 10 days of hard work, it's really taking shape!!! The tall wall in the above photo took 3 tries to get it up. When it fell the 2nd time, it barely missed hitting all of them. (There are 2 other guys helping with the framing.) Their angels were very busy that day!
Their accomodations are the garage of the cabin. But, it has an entertainment center!!! And Brent built a shower (lower photo). He's so inventive (LOL)! Don't think there's anything he can't invent. Love that man of mine!!!! I'll keep you updated on the progress.