Traveling in November

This has been a very fun month! I started out in Vermont for a week watching the kids while Emily and Austin went to a conference in Arizona and then just enjoying being with the family. I feel bad that I didn't take any pictures, it was just very relaxing. Then Austin put me on the train for New York and Sam picked me up at Penn Station.

Friday I finished up some homework and then wandered around Brooklyn until they got home from work. And let me clue you in, those two have become excellent cooks!! I am so impressed with their abilities and came home with some new recipes to try out on Dylan and Jef. Saturday we wandered around Brooklyn again and then come home to get ready for a night out... Sam took Heather and I to eat at the Oyster Bar in Grand Central Station, what a beautiful building!! And then we went to the New York Philharmonic. It was so fun, I felt so cultured. Sam and Heather are such wonderful hosts. On Sunday we went to look at Heathers pier projects which are close to where the world trade towers were, and we checked out the building where she works. After 3 days of walking my feet were about ready for a rest. (That is not to say that I couldn't have talked them into a few more days....) Sam and Heather took me to JFK late Sunday afternoon for my flight home. It was nice to be home, but I had such a wonderful time visiting and seeing the sights .... I am trying to figure out when I can go back!

I even tried out one of my Sam & Heather recipes last night on Dylan and his friend Kalee. She seems like a really nice girl, and the meal was great. I would call that a successful debute, thank you to the iron chefs of President St.

We leave on Thanksgiving to spend time with Lydia, and then we'll just settle in for a while and try to get more work done on the Bungalow. It looks like the Cockaynes will be here for Christmas, YEAH, and we are hoping that things can work out to have Christina here for at least some of the holidays. Time to begin planning for Christmas Eve, you're all invited. Then it will be time for Rose and James to bow to tradition and my superior knowledge and admit that they are so excited to be welcoming a daughter in May..., or else of course we'll all be excited about buying blue....

Fall All Ready?

It is finally a sun shiny day, but there is a chill in the air. Jef went out to the car to go to work and decided it was too cold in the car so he started it and came back inside to have some breakfast to give the car time to get all warm and toasty inside before he drove to work.

I think we just enjoyed being in Hawaii a little too much (is that possible?) All that blue sky, hot sandy beach and warm water was hard to leave behind. Especially since we got home to rain and cold. It took us all a week to just feel normal again. Last wednesday morning Jef just couldn't drag himself out of bed so he called in a sick day, he finally got up about 11, that is pretty unusual!!!

I had a fun birthday party on Sunday, Dave and Kara made dinner while I got to play with the kids. Rose & James made a yummy cake for me, Dylan had to go to work but took me to lunch on Monday. I like those extended birthdays!

Rose and I have been working on Halloween costumes, she and James are throwing their annual Halloween party and they are Ninja Turtles this year so we have been working on turtle shells and accessories for "Michaelangelo and Rafael." I had thought when the kids grew up I wouldn't need to do this anymore, guess I was wrong! I can't wait to see the pictures when they get all the parts together and are all dressed up.

Another week or so and I'll be heading for Vermont and Brooklyn. We are going to go down to Lydia's for Thanksgiving. I am very excited! November will be a big travel month, I sure hope I have time to do my homework.....

Arizona Dreamin'

This has been a huge week for me. I drove down to Arizona last Saturday to take care of Sarah, Collin, and Mason while Lydia did a Dental Hygiene internship on the Hopi Reservation. Jeffrey is working 2 jobs so he leaves at 5:30 AM and doesn't get home until after 7 PM, it would be difficult for him to manage getting the children off to school and bring them home beside all the regular stuff. May I take a minute to express my sincere admiration for any mother who has small children and is also in school. I am so proud of Lydia and what she has been able to accomplish. I also wish to thank the Lego Company, Cartoon Network, and a wonderful granddaughter who ‘watched the boys’ while grandma finished up her homework. Yes, I am taking one on line class, Organizational Behavior, it is very interesting but takes a lot of time. I drove home on Friday, and seem to have gotten a Mason's cold. It's OK, all those wet sticky kisses were well worth it! Collin called me on my way home to let me know he already missed me. It was hard to not just turn around and go back for a few more days.



Dylan picked up Jef from his trip to Ghana. It was a busy 3 weeks for Jef but he did manage to bring home some treasures. He brought some new baskets that have a little different shape, another drum so that we can have a bigger drum circle, and a funny woven tree shaped like a Baobab tree. I think it looks like the evil trees from Snow Whites run through the forest. It will be fun to decorate it for holidays.

Jef and Dylan are outside on the roof installing the sky lights in the Familyroom and stairs. Those areas are SO bright we'll
have to wear sun glasses in the house. Which reminds me I'd better get out there and look helpful!

Workin' and Playin'

It is pretty embarrassing that my last post was 2 short months ago. Thanks to the rest of you for keeping up better than me!

I have enjoyed my break from school, it gave me a few weeks to work on other stuff, like Grandpa's party (fun!) and the Bungalow. Every project at the Bungalow seems to spawn ten new ones. We get something done and it just makes everything else look worse. We finally decided on a color to paint over the ugly blue paint someone used on the house, not knowing any better I chose semi-gloss ... not such a good idea. My "Library Mahogany" looked like giant Hersheys chocolate bars. I was afraid of finding the neighbor kids licking my front porch. Dylan called it the Gingerbread House, all it needed were a few gum drops and some icing. No kidding, I'd go out and check it just to make sure it wasn't melting onto the flower beds. Fine, back to the drawing board, decided I should go with bakers cocoa instead of Hersheys. What's another coat of paint, nice 'flat' paint, no yummy reflection in the sunshine. (Secretly I am just experimenting to see how many layers of paint the house can support before it collapses from the weight.) Check this out... no ugly blue paint (except on the steps but they don't count, but don't tempt me). I just finished painting the columns, (a color called Brown Teepee, just trying to get away from the food theme.) I'll have to get a longer ladder to finish them the rest of the way up but it's a good start.

Dave and Kara called to see if I wanted to go on the 'easy' hike from Aspen Grove to Stewart Falls. Only 2 miles in, practically flat. Next time I will probably not bank on David's hike hardness assessment. I didn't see much that was flat, seemd like it was either up or down. It was a lot of fun though. My feet hurt by the end but they earned it. We finished off with a camp fire and hotdogs with dip-dip (that's catsup in Anna-ese).

School has started again and I am wondering WHAT WAS I THINKING! If I can get through the first week and figure out what the professor wants and how to get my computer to do it I think I will be OK. Next week I go help watch Lydia's kids while she works on the Hopi Reservation. Dad gets back from Ghana while I'm there so Dylan gets to meet him at the airport. On October 4th Dad, Dylan, and I head out for a week in Hawaii thanks to Dad's Directors meeting. Then I can rest up for a few weeks before November and I go to spend the weekend with Gavin Monster Bat and Lucy while their parents are away. Emily kindly arranged it so I can go visit with Sam and Heather on my way home. School? Homework? Sure, I think I can fit it in....

Company for Dinner

We had a guest fly in the other day while we were eating dinner out on the lani, a blue & gold macaw. Now that's something you don't see every day! He had 'escaped' from his owner, a new roomate was moving in and between the confusion and the open door the bird decided to find a quieter place. I was calling around the neighborhood to see if anyone knew if someone in the area had a macaw when his owner knocked at our door and asked if we had seen his bird. He was very glad to get his bird back, he lives across Wasatch Blvd in a condo. It was exciting for us too.

The weather has definitely changed over from rainy June and the lawns have lost their green luster.. now we are fighting to keep them from just turning brown. The raspberries have come on. Jean came for a few days and picked several buckets, we froze them whole. Grandpa Nix came up and picked a bucket too, I think he picked 2 buckets but half of them he stored in his belly. He was in raspberry heaven, some of the berries are the size of cherries ... of course those ones didn't make it to the bucket. Dave & Kara came and picked several buckets and I think they are coming back today to pick again. Don't worry, we've got plenty more ... just stop on by.

We have been working on the bungalow, filling in some walls. Every little bit helps. We really have to get down to replacing the electrical wiring so we can put up some sheetrock on our new walls. The back bedroom ceiling is sagging a bit so we have to secure that back where it should be, of course that means putting in a supporting beam across the attic for Jef to screw the old rafters into. Yeh, we're just looking for stuff to keep us busy.

I have been doing a lot of work for my class, I am starting to get the hang of this college stuff and I find that I really do enjoy it. I may change my mind about that next semester when I have more than 1 class..... I got a laptop computer so that I could take my classes on the road and spend time visiting with the kids, or work on homework over at the bungalow. When Dylan and I were looking for one I had the option of buying one with a 17 inch screen, Dylan said go for the big one. Well, I did, and it is. I have a nice backpack with a computer section, opps, can't zip up the top; and a roller bag with a computer section, can't even get it in. Didn't think about that little problem. So I will have to check and see what I can find that fits a 17 inch laptop. Other than this small (large) storage problem I quite like it! Jef has his Directors meeting in Maui this October, Dylan and I are coming along and we can work on our homework between enjoying the beach... Christina wants to do her homework in Maui too, she hasn't been successful yet at making a deal with Dad, but I don't think she's giving up easily... it would be so fun to have her along!

Lydia and family are coming this weekend, I can hardly wait for them to get here. I sent out the family invitations for Grandpa Nix's 90th birthday party, it's going to be August 22nd before I know it... the plans are starting to come together. And by the way I need family pictures of all Grandpa's descendants, have you sent me yours yet? Better get right on that, otherwise I might have to pick one you don't like as well...

Strawberry Days

Strawberry Days

With all the rain the middle of June the strawberries went WILD! We probably have one more big picking.. so far we have put up 47 pints of jam and made 2 huge pies. Anna is very helpful, she eats them so fast I don't have to put up as many... We have sent a bunch home with Dave and Kara, and Grandpa Nix took home some jam and a container of big beautiful berries. It hasn't rained for a week and you can tell because the berries are't as big, I guess that means we will be watering more for the next couple of weeks. Just in time for the raspberries to come on.

We have been working hard at the bungalow. Remember how we wanted to put in some stairs up to the attic? Well..