Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Today I went to lunch with my friend Karen Schneider.  James has been using my car on the Dobson Ranch job because his truck is at Chandler Auto Body getting some body work done.  Karen picked me up.  We went to one of our favorite restaurants, Firebirds.  We love their sour dough bread, coconut shrimp and ice cream with hot fudge sauce.  Afterwards we did a little shopping at Barnes and Nobles.  Karen watched this series on PBS called "Downton Abbey" that she says is fabulous and I must watch.  I had heard about it from Christy Wanlass and Katy Glemser so I was game.  Also it takes place in England on a big estate and that's right up my alley.  I bought season one and two.  The third season hasn't come out yet.  I also bought a cupcake puzzle for Stacy.  Karen is such a good friend and we had a wonderful time together. I felt guilty all afternoon for spending money. 

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Tonite we attended a program at Addy's school.  It was the story of "Tikki Tikki Tembo".  Addy sang and she also had a speaking part.  She said it so quickly I didn't have time to take her picture. 

There was also some guy in front of me who kept standing up too.  Addy is in the second grade at Val Vista Lakes Elementary School. 
After the program we went to Ocean Blue for yogurt.  It was such a fun evening.  Ruby kept racing down the sidewalk and then coming back to me and saying: "Do it again?"  Soon Rowan and Addy were joining in the fun.  We also played hide and go seek. 
When Darrel's family went home James and I had dinner at Costa Vida.  Yummy!  It was such a fun evening.

Before going to Addy's play this evening I went shopping at Costco.  It's Dallin's girlfriends birthday and she want a huge teddy bear at Costco.  Since Stacy doesn't have a Costco card, I was elected to go get it.  I am so sorry I didn't get a picture.  This bear is 54" tall  and is huge.  Evan and Joshua giggled and laughed and rolled around on it when I brought it home.  It's bigger than Dallin but I guess he will take it to school tomorrow to give it to Laura.

Monday, April 23, 2012

I love these two boys, Joshua and Evan.  That had so much fun playing together today.  Joshua built a "Snake Castle" with the blocks.  In the next picture they are watching Ninjago season one on the computer.

The problem with going back and forth between two houses is you forget what you have where.  This morning James informed me that we were out of toilet paper.  I also noticed we had no ketchup but I have three huge bottles at the cabin so I refused to buy anymore. No one should ever be without either of these things.

I wanted to wash my car today at Sam's Club but their car wash wasn't working.  I ended up at Cobblestone and spent over $25 which included getting my mats shampooed.  My car looks beautiful!

We heard the news that Jen and Michael Baxter are moving.  They had there house on the market two days and got 32 offers.  They are moving to the Val Vista and Riggs area.  Michael was a ward clerk when James was the bishop. 

We had dinner at Black Angus this evening because we had a coupon that expired today.  We still spent $50.

Paid property taxes today.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

We attended the Vernon ward today and then had a meeting with Bishop Ron Hall in the afternoon.  He seems like such a nice guy.  I am a little nervous about attending a new ward.  This is the first time that I've moved in over 40 years. 
Even though it wasn't fast Sunday James and I fasted for family members.  We may fast every Sunday. 
We finished our Victoria Holt book "Snare of Serpents" and then I made an apple cobbler.  It was delicious.  We were a little sad to come back to Chandler just because it was so beautiful this afternoon.  The clouds were beautiful and it looked like it was going to rain.

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.