Redo time

Even though it seemed like we just painted last year we most definitely did not so it was time to repaint the house. Not my favorite. The best part was we redid the floors too. SO the living/dining room and the family room and entry hall all got wood while the bathroom and the kitchen got tile. it was about a two month project but so glad that we did it. This better last for years and years though because I'm not even thinking about ever doing this again.

 The picking out process. Should be fun right...agonizing!

 I just love that you have to tear everything completely apart so you can get something done!

 The best part had to be not covering the floors. 

The weird part is very little drips on the floor now that it was ok??

 My helpers for the day!

 Yup we lived in some chaos for a few weeks.

 Out with the old marble entry way.

 Time for touch up painting. Also never ending.

And finally we get to the end:

 It looks like we have a whole new house. We love it!

Time to chilax and get ready for Halloween and Fall fun.

The Punkin Patch

This year I took Ashley and her kids to the FFA farm so we could go to their pumpkin patch. It's overwhelming there are so many pumpkins. It was hilarious watching the boys pick out their own pumpkins, Not sure what their criteria was but they each seemed to know just what they wanted.

After we walked the whole pumpkin patch they made their decisions. They carried (dropped repeatedly) them up to the front of the field. After our successful picking we met Grandpa at McDonalds for some ice cream. A super fun afternoon!

Labor Day Reunion

We had a great opportunity and we all couldn't pass it up. Rachel's brother was getting married in Rexburg over Labor Day weekend. So Jeff and Rachel were planning on being in Provo for 24 whole hours before they had to fly back to the east coast. So we all flocked to Provo for the weekend! 

Saturday Mendis & I picked up Hayden and Megan and started driving north. We didn't get too far before we decided to stop in Cedar City and visit Grandpa & Grandma on the way. Then after our lunch and a quick visit we headed back on the road to Provo. We grabbed Christina and went to Brick Oven for dinner. We tried to get Rachel Nettles for dinner but she couldn't make it. By this time it was too late to invite anyone else so we will have to try Jordan & Rey next time. After dinner we went back to Christina's and watched the BYU football game. Everyone needs more stress and frustration in their life! Luckily we won so we got a good night's sleep that night. The next morning we got Christina and found an 11 am Sacrament meeting to attend. By the time we changed our clothes after and got back to Christina's Jeff & Rachel had arrived! Not too much later Ashley & Benjy and the grandkids pulled up too. We spent a fun afternoon playing Wee and just visiting with each other.

 

 

 It's truly amazing that we all fit in Christina's living room but it was no problem!

Can't figure out why the kids get riled up?

After some playing around time we headed over to see Christina's new school. It was very cool. The  boys are really checking out the reading corner.

We checked out absolutely everything!!

And left messages to her class

Everyone had to get in on that action

Cooper really wants to get it right!

Dane just wanted to play in the cool water fountain in the back.

So after the school tour and fun we headed over to Chuck A Rama for dinner. There was no way I was going to try to cook for everyone in Christina's house. More mess, Lots of time, eating in shifts etc so off we went. Besides everyone can find something they like there. 

So we had a big family dinner and I got thinking after I saw the picture. Wow every single one of us was there. How cool is that. after dinner there was still lots of sunshine and everyone was full and happy so we went back to Christina's to hang out in her yard and visit some more.

Only when we got back we realized we were locked out!! Someone who will remain annonumous locked the wrong lock lol. Rees to rescue.

Outside Fun

Lunch at Zupas before we all go. So sad

Gotta get in some final hugs.

We were so grateful everyone made the effort to be there so we could get together. With everyone's schedules its so hard sometimes. Ashley had just had surgery two weeks before and she was a trooper. Hayden and Megan had school and we all had stuff going on. Luckily it all worked out and we got a great visit. Short but sweet. Now it will be probably Thanksgiving until we can get together again!

Happy Anniversary

August was our 34th wedding anniversary so we decided to celebrate in a cool location, literally. We packed our bags again and headed to San Diego this time. The El Cahon pass had been closed for a couple of days due to a fire so we headed straight south through Needles and went clear down to Blythe before heading west.

 It was quite the drive on a road that looked like it followed a cow path and didn't get leveled one bit before paving! The speed limit was 55 of course but getting stuck behind so many semis all searching for detours too made that about right. Lots of traffic at least until Needles. It thinned out after that.

 We came to this amazing area that was pure sand everywhere. Very cool. We drove about 1 mile north of Mexico as we were heading west. It was a pretty fun drive even if it did cost us more time. We finally got to San Diego and checked into our cool room. 

It was a brand new Marriott brand, The Pulse right downtown by the Gaslamp District. What was nice is we parked our car and didn't move it until Saturday! So that night we headed out to dinner and ended up at the Melting Pot because Mendis has never been there and I wanted to check it out.

 It was totally fun but completely over priced of course. 

But now we know and what the heck, it was our anniversary!

Friday we spent the day at Old Town. We shopped and wandered all around there. I even found a penny smasher there for the grand kids. We had lunch at the Mexican restaurant there.

We went over to the Mormon Battalion visitor's center. I think the church does a really great job of making it fun for everyone especially the kids.

That night we met up with Carolyn, Brent, Rachel and Spencer for dinner. Since we were meeting at Buca de Beppo we got the booth in the booth in the kitchen. It was pretty fun to be in there but it wasn't as action packed as I thought it would be. They must do a ton of prep before service because it was pretty under control. Good for them not us lol.

It was a great dinner and really great to see them again. 

 After dinner we walked down to Ghirardeli for ice cream treats. Can't beat that!

Saturday morning we had scheduled our time share blurb. Fortunately we didn't buy more points but we did buy a four night vacation to use next year. Unfortunately we are going to have to do another presentation but at least Marriott is not pushy. The rest of Saturday we spent most of the day watching the Olympics and being lazy. It was great. Then we got the car and headed over to Cornado to look around a bit. Then we went over to C Level for dinner.

 Dinner was great and even though you can't tell by the picture we had a great view of the water. Enjoyed dessert especially since it was a trio of creme brulet. We love that. The next morning it was time to leave. Even though we had a great time it was actually time to go.

 Driving home the El Cahon pass was finally open but driving through we could see the effects of the fire. It had been huge and pretty devastating. The worst was the Summit Inn at the top of the pass which was a Route 66 land mark.  

It was a great anniversary trip. The weather was perfect and believe it or not it was great to get away even though we hadn't been at home too long. Here's to a great 34 years and a whole bunch more!!

It's the End of the Road

There's nothing more dad to me than to come to the end of a vacation. I was going to say especially one that was so fun but every vacation we take is so much fun. It's not that I don't like to go home but I just love vacations. And in the summer who loves to go home to the heat!! SO we left Omaha and hit the road going west instead of east. 

This is a fun arch crossing the freeway by Kearney, Nebraska.

We spent teh day driving to Denver and made great time. We saw a little forest fire right in Denver that was probably caused by a lightening strike. We got into some stormy weather with some rain here and there and lightening. We love that! You could even smell the fire from our room which is a bit nerve wracking but it wasn't a problem after all. We had a good dinner at Carrabas and were off early the next morning. Driving on the I-40 is so beautiful through the mountains. It has everything. There are tunnels galore, huge mountains (especially being back east), cool air and gorgeous scenery.

I love the mines and ghost towns in the mountains.

 

Then there's tunnels and more tunnels. Who doesn't honk going through them?

It is a little tricky honking through this huge Eisenhower tunnel so we keep it down in there but...

When we go through the Glenwood Springs canyon it's bitter sweet. It's so beautiful but it's also the end of the forest!

As we left the forest and mountains we looked forward to a quick stop in Grand Junction for lunch and a quick break. We also had one more pretty part of the trip.

We love the reef area. The rocks are so pretty and we love to drive through the grand reef. And as luck would have it there was more rain to enjoy for the last day of traveling. Nothing beats driving through the rain and gloomy skies.

We drove through the rain and had dinner in St George. We made pretty great time because we drove into the drive way about 9 that night. We just got our suitcases into the house in time for a power outage to hit. Seriously? So that kept us busy for a couple of hours and then we knew the party was over. Back to our life. Christina left the next morning and I went back to work. We were so blessed to have such a great vacation. It was a blast. We didn't know just how blessed until the weekend when I took the car in for an oil change and found out our back tires were balding and had bubbles on the inside! Whew.