Saturday, April 21, 2012

You would think that cleaning off one's driveway would not be a difficult job...not so.  This driveway was caked with huge chunks of mud.  I had to use a shovel to scrap some of it off and then sweep, sweep, and sweep some more.  Now comes the fun part, trying to hose it off.  The slope goes towards the middle of the driveway to a drain but the drain was packed with mud so we have to take the grates off and clean out the mud.  After hours of spraying I finally had to have James come out and spray while I swept the excess water into the drain.  The driveway looks great but the next time it rains the fun will start all over again.  Mud is one of the things I don't like about living here, but I must say the good things usually far out weigh the bad.

I finished putting away all the canned goods we brought up.  Our pantry looks beautiful, but there are still 3 big boxes sitting in the dining area with stuff in them waiting for someone to unload and put away.

We made a trip in to town to dump garbage, do a little shopping, get some lunch and gas for the trip home tomorrow.  We got another BBQ chicken pizza at Pappa John's and we each had two pieces before we started our fast.

It was a nice day and we are both sad that the week is coming to an end.  We are going back to Chandler tomorrow after Church.

Friday, April 20, 2012

Today we took our first Ranger ride of the season down what I call "Christmas Tree Trail."
It is so beautiful and refreshing especially when you think that it might hit 100 in the valley.

I have been working on cleaning all the mud off the driveway since I got here last week.  It is a bigger job than I first anticipated.  Once I swept and scraped the mud off I tried to spray the rest off but the hose we have is so bad I told James we had to get a new hose the next time we went into town. 

We are loving our time here and almost feel like we are on vacation. 

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Today James and I took a ride to Greer.  He hasn't been there since the Wallow Fire last summer.
I love Greer.  It is one of our favorite places to go when our kids and grandkids visit us at the cabin in the summer.  We go down and play in the water and afterwards we almost alway stop to get an ice cream.  Today we stopped to get an ice cream but the place wasn't open yet so we had to go to the Dairy Queen in Springerville so I could get a cherry dip cone. 

I had a nice visit on the phone with our neighbor in Vernon, Kathy Crane.  I had to call and find out when we could dump our garbage at the little dump between here and Show Low.  I also ask if this Sunday was fast Sunday and she said no but it didn't matter to her because she fasts every Sunday for a family member.  I told her that we were fasting for members of our family also and I liked the idea of fasting once a week.  We had a nice visit.  She wanted to know when we would be here permanently and I had to tell her not until the last week in May.

James and I are really getting in to our Victoria Holt book "Snare of Serpents."  I am afraid we are spending too much time reading and not enough time unpacking. 

James went out on the Ranger this evening looking for elk horns.  He said he walked about 5 miles. 
I stayed home and watched Chopped and American Idol.

Happy 16th Anniversary to Sheri and Ian.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Here is a picture of our cabin taken from the Ranger as we are coming up our road.  This picture really doesn't do it justice.  I have loved being here this week.  It has almost seemed like a vacation.  I was a little upset when the electricity went off for about an hour on Monday morning.  Note to self and James: "Get a generator for backup."

For scripture study this morning James and I read from Alma 44.  We were reminded that the Lord will defend the righteous. 

For the first time this season James and I went on a Ranger ride.  We didn't go clear to Christmas Tree Trail because we both got cold.  The high in Vernon today was 70.  It's hard to believe that it is getting in to the 90's already in the valley.

Spent time texting and talking to Trina and Stacy about the big move.  I certainly hope every thing works out. 

Watched American Idol this evening.  My favorite was Holly singing "Rolling in the Deep."

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Nice looking elk.  I wonder how James got close enough to take this picture.  One of his favorite things to do is look for elk.  Every morning when he gets up he goes to what I call his "lookouts", the upstairs balcony's and glasses for elk.  Usually if he sees any he comes downstairs and give me the report.  This is the time of year when he, Terry and Dave saw about 300 elk, last year.  They are coming up in a week or so to look for elk horns.  They use them for handles for the knives they make. 

We went in to Show Low again today and got the tire for the Ranger.  We also shopped again at Walmart and Home Depot.  I bought an enamel coated cast iron pot and came home and made meatball stew.  I got the receipe on "Giada at Home" on the Foodnetwork.  We both loved the receipe. 

This evening while James was on the computer I took a trip down memory lane and watched "Gidget Goes Hawaiian."  This movie was made in 1961 when I was 13.  I loved all the Gidget movies and I especially like James Darren.  Afterwards I watched the DWTS results show.  Gavin DeGraw, Karina's partner went home. 

I finally got all my dolls put in the doll cabinet and all of the dolls stored downstairs. 

Monday, April 16, 2012

Happy 14th Birthday to Alexander!  For his birthday we took Alex to dinner.  He had asked to go to Nello's Pizza although Grandpa tried to influence him to go to Golden Corral.  I am glad Alex stayed strong and we went to Nello's.  My pizza was the best I've ever had.  James also loved his crab pizza with whole wheat extra thin crust.  Alex is probably more like his Grandpa than any of the other grandkids except maybe James.  He loves to fish, hunt and be out in nature.  He is a great kid and we love him very much.

When we woke up this morning we had about 13 elk in our side yard.  I didn't get a picture but I will post a picture of some elk tomorrow.  We went in to town today to get the tire for the Ranger but the shop was closed.  It wasn't a total waste though. I got a BBQ chicken pizza at Pappa John's for lunch, we washed my car, and we did a little shopping at Walmart and Home Depot, our two favorite stores up here in Show Low. 

This evening for FHE we read an article from the Ensign entitled, "Receiving and Retaining a Mighty Change".  It was excellent.  Afterwards I watched Dancing With the Stars and James came in afterwards and we both watched Castle.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Object is actually muddier than it appears in this picture. This is a picture of Lexy after driving on our roads to get to stake conference in Show Low.

There was a good spirit at the conference. The theme was "Living up to Our Privileges." We heard from the President of the Snowflake temple and his wife, and the President of the Arizona Tempe mission and his wife, the Johnson's and the Hansen's. There were a couple of speakers who were converts and then the stake presidency all spoke. Pres. Williams spoke last. He talked about the importance of family and encouraged us to study and memorize the Family Proclomation. He quoted from Sister Julie Beck and said that those who are anit-family are actually anti-Christ.

On the way out we saw an old friend from high school, Leon DeWitt. We saw several people from the Vernon ward but no one else we knew. This doesn't feel like home yet.

James grilled us steaks for dinner. We read from our latest Victoria Holt book and then took naps. This evening I worked on my blog and did some indexing. James watched a movie on BYU TV and then we did some more reading. It was a good sabbath day, but I miss my family. I sent out a family email, something I want to do on a weekly basis.