A Surprise for the Fourth!

I know...I'm running behind!
Our Fourth of July was so nice this year. We had the most wonderful surprise! Early in the week Dee and I were in our room watching a movie. It was pretty late, a bad habit we must curtail, when our door opened. We both thought Richard needed us for something but who should appear? It was Lucas, Nick , and Diana! I was overcome with joy! (Really, we need to stop surprising each other like this or someone may have a heart attack!) Their plan was to come in late, only letting Richard and Brittany know when they got to LasVegas. They were going to go downstairs and get in bed, surprising us in the morning. That would have been amazing too! They let Britt and Richard know when they would arrive and gave Richard instructions to just get the bedding ready on our little toddler bed for Lucas. Just before I went to bed I came upon my son getting into the linen closet in the hall. "Oh! I'm just looking for a blanket", was his excuse. Really? An extra blanket in July? I told him he could also turn his ceiling fan down! When Diana's little family pulled up into our driveway at 11:30 that night they saw our bedroom light on. "Dang it! Why are the old parent people still awake?!"  I ask myself the same thing every morning. They decided to just come right up and so they did! Who can go to sleep after having been so happily hugged by a little blond boy, knowing he is just downstairs?

The following days were full of fun and just good times being together. We got up early and watched "Nemo" and then Lucas helped Gramma do the laundry.

 

 Later that morning we took the boy to Cookie Cutters to get an affordable haircut 

(as in NOT California Prices!)

 

 I love this photo I caught of this sweet family, Lucas all fresh and clipped with his red balloon! That's Uncle Richard on the right who as Grandpa George would say has become "a tall drink of water"!

We drove on down to Provo and had lunch with Auntie Britt at Brassa's Mexican. Oh, was it ever good!

 Sisters and goofs!

On our walk back to Google Fiber HQ we found a store front with Lucas' favorite superhero "Steeeeve!!"

Auntie B brought out one of the fleet of Google Fiber bikes. Isn't it cute?! I want one, really, a lot! The team ride them all over downtown. They were getting them ready to ride in the Freedom Festival Parade.

Each bike had been equipped with an awesome bubble blowing machine for the parade. Lucas loved it!

At home, later that day I heard some noises from the powder room and found my grandson being very conscious of his dental hygiene, as well as his dirty feet!

 I took him outside where he met our neighbor's friendly tree. Of course he had to give it a big hug!

Then he and his Mama made some driveway art.

 We pulled Uncle Richard's out lawn mower out of the garage and Lucas had a blast!

If only it really cut grass we'd be in business!

 There is always some monkey business going on with this kid. I don't know what he was doing in the tub, but he was having a great time!



Then he went across the hall and had some fun jumping on Aunt Rachie's bed. Have you seen those Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles prints-gone-viral online? I have the originals in my house! I'm also painting this room a calmer color now that the artist lives in Provo!

The men and I ran to Wal Mart to grab a few last minute items on July 4th. We found a bin full of those personalized Coke bottles. They literally spent the next 30 minutes trying to find one for everyone in the family while I did the shopping. That was very helpful. They were there so long that they were helping everyone who came by because they knew where all of the different names were!

See the little guy in the green Monsters Inc. hat? Yes, that's my grandson mowing all of the grass at Thanksgiving Point where we gathered for fireworks!

 Along the way he made friends with some cool kids and their way cool air rocket launchers!

It was a lovely, cool evening to relax, read, and play games while we waited for dark.

Here's Nick and Diana after they had chased Lucas for the millionth time and brought him back to the fold!

I swiped this one from Diana. It's all of us who were there. Poor Brittany had to work an event that night and we missed her, but she wouldn't have liked to be at her old workplace anyway. 

It was a fun, fun Fourth of July! The fireworks were spectacular and the grandson just made it sweeter!

Time Travel Tuesdays~

One of the sweetest Valentines I ever received~

Richard ~February 14, 2001 

 

This is what showed up on my doorstep one day after Kindergarten. I was in LOVE!

This boy of mine stood nose to nose with his 5' 8" mother yesterday and his nose was about an inch higher up than mine! When did that happen? Just last month we were dead even! Sigh...

Sending LOTS of LOVE your way!

We Are Thankful!

It seems life is so hard these days for everyone. Hard economically, physically, difficult to avoid the harsh immorality that surrounds us. I have, however, felt this week that life could not be better! We are healthy and we love each other. We have food on our table and the Gospel of Jesus Christ to guide us. There are hard and everyday present trials we are going through, but I know that God loves us. His blessings and promises are sure!

This year Grandma came over the river and through the airport to see us! We are so glad she is here! We had Nick and Diana and the grandbirdies Evie and Augie. Chris and Christina Faria joined us for Thanksgiving day along with Christiana's brother Tim from Maryland by way of BYU Idaho. The house was full, the food was good, and I am happy.

 

"Blessings" rising! Yum!

 

Lots of pie too. Britt got a head start on her Christmas wrapping.

Technology was never far away. These sights amused me!

It never hurts to have a sense of humor when consuming mass quantities of pie!

The Grandbirdies were chirpy and happy (that they were not turkeys)!

 

 We had Grandma Helen to serve up our pie.

By the end of the day the Little House on the Corner was half-way lit for Christmas too!

I hope your Thanksgiving Day was as lovely as ours. Blessings to you all!

Time Travel Tuesdays~Eat Like a Pilgrim!

Today we travel back in time to last night. Lame? No! Pretend it is the year 1621 and you are attending the first Thanksgiving feast in Plymouth Colony. That's what we did last night! We were time travelers in the Show Barn at Thanksgiving Point as we attended "Eat Like a Pilgrim".

We entered the hall at 6:00 p.m. and saw this lovely sight, tables all set with real pewter plates, mugs, and goblets. "Pilgrims" escorted us to our seats and then invited us to walk about and see all that was there.

The Master met a nice Pilgrim lady who is actually a teacher with the Alpine School District and a historian as well. They had much to talk about as you can well imagine! She invited him to travel to Plymouth and Jamestown with her group in 2 years. (Not unless I get to go too!)

There were Pilgrim games to play and exhibits of artifacts to see.

Soon the dinner bell was rung and we all gathered. (The pilgrim boys here were having way too much fun!)

The men were instructed to wear their large muslin napkins in the proper way.

Men were considered more "active" eaters and therefore had to drape themselves, messy guys!

We were served a lovely salad of greens, cheat bread (basically sour dough), roasted turkey & pork, corn pudding, and stewed pumpkins and squash. I liked it all! We had only a knife and large spoon because that is what the Pilgrims ate with. Governor Brewster reminded us all that the Good Lord gave us all "10 good fingers with which to eat". Most of us could not bring ourselves to eat our meat with our fingers, and minus a fork we all got creative! Using the knife for the meat was fine as Richard demonstrates, but eating salad greens with a spoon was a challenge.

Our final course was dessert! We were served a yummy berry cobbler.

There was no whipped cream. Pilgrims thought cow's milk was unclean and preferred goat milk.

 Some Moms might like a set of these in the backyard!

 This is sweet Jupiter, the goat Brittany loves!

 The lady in charge of the evening looking a bit harried. Kami can relate, we are sure!

As the dinner progressed we were roused form our seats for a tug of war between the English and the Natives. Nick helped the Englishmen take down Squanto's team! There was dancing. The Master and I were the head couple in our group. Whew! What a great what to burn off that cheat bread and cobbler!

There were also many Pilgrims placed into the stocks for various violations.

One poor man had a wife he could not control. She had things upon her legs that only a man should wear and her head was not properly covered. Shame! I do like the fact that HE got the punishment!

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Don't Rain on My Parade!

July Fourth was pretty fun at the little house on the corner. For days before, Nick had kept us entertained with amazing pyrotechnics in our driveway. Aerial fireworks are legal in Utah this year so nobody had to drive to Wyoming to get the high flying stuff. Not that we ever did...seriously! Then yesterday I arose early and made two little batches of vanilla ice cream while Dee got the barbecue preparations ready. We decided to eat mid-afternoon so we could get out to Electric Park in Lehi to enjoy the fireworks show. We hadn't been to a show in years but Brittany was in charge of this one and we wanted to support her and be together for the holiday. We got there early hoping to get a good parking place for a quick exit after the show. Brittany had saved us a sweet spot on a hill by putting our quilts down. I was a bit embarrassed by the huge traffic cones she used to keep the quilts from blowing away. We all felt like V.I.P.'s as she used her official golf cart to give us rides from the paring lot to our spot for the evening.

We settled in and everyone went to doing what they would have been doing at home...electronics! Argh!

Soon that was put to rest by Diana teaching us a new card game. There were also naps to be had, books to be read, &  photos to be taken. 

I made the black and white bag I carried my stuff in. I am proud of myself.

 More video games, treats, and lovely views. Do any of you grandkids of Helen remember this quilt? Oh, and note Dee's straw. Red vines and Dr. Pepper are actually very good together!

It wasn't long before the clouds that had been threatening all day began to drizzle on our happy little group. It was just  a sprinkling but went on long enough that we put up the umbrellas to keep dry. We laughed at the many Utahans that scattered and ran for cover as the drops intensified. Being former residents of Washington State we thought they were rather wimpy!

Below you see the progression of the weather throughout the afternoon.

The show was spectacular! We had so much fun "oo-ing and ahh-ing" with the crowd.

I am so impressed every time I watch my daughter do her job. She was made for this kind of thing. She handles the public with such respect and kindness. She deals with her vendors in a professional but caring way. She's awfully smart and pretty too!

Good job Miss Britt!