To sew or not to sew

Loving the backyard

2011-05-08T13:03:00.000-07:00

The bridge that has been here since we bought the house, was getting very scary to walk across and so we decided to have a new one built. The grandkids are going to love crossing it....it creaks alot! When they won't be scared we will tell the troll story. They will have fun throwing sticks in the water or floating boats. We are loving the new birds that we have been attracting to our feeder too. Mother's Day was having lunch at my new table set, enjoying the nice weather (FINALLY), and watching for birds. We saw a Baltimore oriole for the first time today. The birds are Indigo Bunting (blue one) and Summer Tanager (orange one).

Happy Birthday Hugh

2009-05-31T19:18:00.001-07:00

Hugh had his big 50th birthday this weekend. We celebrated with the family by taking a dinner cruise on Lake Michigan. The weather had been cloudy and rainy all week, but cleared up in the afternoon and we had perfect weather for the cruise. We played a family feud game which was a lot of fun. The questions were about Hugh and we had a lot of laughs over the game. We also celebrated Lisa and Jared's birthday and had Lisa's family drop in on their way back to Utah. It has a very fun weekend!

Conference Weekend

2008-10-05T16:51:00.000-07:00

We had a spiritual and fun conference weekend with Adam, Lisa, and Jared. There were so may great talks that inspired us We got busy and made a lion costume for Jared on Saturday. That is becoming our October conference tradition! Jared is getting so fun and makes us laugh and laugh! We can't wait to have two more grandbabies!

Fun in Utah

2008-09-01T12:45:00.000-07:00

We had a great time in Utah! We loved being at Bear Lake with the Holts and playing with their toys. Notice the picture with the guys on all the toys! Trevor and Tyler got settled in and we said good-bye until Christmas. Feeling the loss of having the baby move out, I decided to get a new "baby". Great to be done with mini vans! (Except for hauling stuff and using for work installs). We are now adjusting to an empty nest and what to do with ourselves.

Dominican Republic

2008-07-20T16:44:00.000-07:00

We had the most amazing trip to the Dominican Republic last week! It was so fun to have Tyler waiting at the airport to greet us! We loved meeting all of the missionaries at the food court in the mall. They all congregate at the Mega mall on the P-day after transfers. We loved meeting the converts and seeing the growth of the church and the faith of the members there. The people were very friendly and hospitable to us. We met some amazing humble people. We enjoyed the Dominican food, especially me, since it fit well into my diet. We spent a day scuba diving which we all enjoyed. We found it so interesting to visit two different sacrament services in different villages (pics). There were a lot of stray dogs around and they were all about the same size with short hair, just different colors. The heat and probably malnourishment kept them all laying around. The poorest area was where the Haitians live and Trevor and Tyler had fun passing out stickers to the kids and putting them on their foreheads. More and more kids kept coming! It was a once in a life time trip and we all came back appreciating what we have in this country and for the blessings of the gospel. When you see how much it changed their lives, it make you appreciate it so much.

The best way to see Chicago

2008-06-07T13:49:00.000-07:00

On Friday night, we along with the accounting group at Hugh's work, went on a 3 hour tour of Chicago on Segways. It took a little training and then we were off. The night was beautiful and the Blues Festival was at Grant Park so we had music to dance to as we rode along. We had to stay in turtle mode for awhile and then we were promoted to 8 miles per hour. There are only 2 companies that offer this service and they have only been in business since fall so everyone stared at us. Some yelled at us, and some gave us high 5's. One man yelled out, "Jesus doesn't like segways!" One young guy yelled out, "Segways are for lazy people!" He was just jealous because he was walking. By soldier field they have evenly planted rows of trees on a hill and we had slalom races down them. We also went down the hill with hands up and everyone yelling. It was a lot of fun. We had dinner outside by millenial park and enjoyed the night skyline. It finally felt like summer!

Memorial Day Fun

2008-05-31T18:57:00.000-07:00

We had a great time over the Memorial Day weekend with the family together. We celebrated Lisa's birthday, Hugh's birthday and Trevor's graduation. On Saturday morning we went to the Morton Arboretum to see the BIG bugs. It was a beautiful day, but just a little chilly. Killer Bunnies was the game of choice over the weekend and Portillo's was the choice of food as usual. Hugh was sick but hung in there with all the games and activities. We loved having the family here!

Tortolla Fun

2008-02-13T14:16:00.001-08:00

We had a great time in Tortolla with the Holts. I am happy to say that Dad and I are certified scuba divers. I dreamed that night after we passed that I got a report card on my diving and I got a C with a remark that I need to practise more. I was just relieved in my dream that I passed. Dad got an A of course. I felt like my teacher was easy on me and I will practise more! Next year in fact! The Holts are already planning the next diving trip. It is a beautful Island and we thought alot about Tyler while we were there especially at church. We saw a lot of beautiful coral and fish and the most amazing dive was the wreck of the Rhone which happened over 144 years ago. A few of the port holes are still down there and the Holts ran into a Baracuda! Luckily I missed seeing him! They said he was very scary looking at 6 feet in length with big teeth.

The Frog and the Fly

2007-10-27T06:35:00.000-07:00

Last night was our trunk or treat party at church and we dressed up for once. Dad made his own costume and won the prize for the best adult costume! Yes, I am wearing parts of Tyler's costume from 4th grade. I think I could eat that big fly, what about you?

New York is the place to be!

2007-10-14T06:39:00.000-07:00

New York is the place to be! At least for a weekend. Dad had a law firm administrator's conference at the Hyatt and I tagged along for fun. Dad learned a lot of good stuff and I had a fun time shopping!!! Macy's is amazing! I did educational things too. I went on a tour of the UN and found that pretty amazing too. I also went to St Patricks Cathedral which was also amazing. When dad could join me, we went on a city tour on a double decker bus and got a good overall perspective of the city. We rode the subway a lot and even tried the bus to the Manhattan temple. The temple is beautiful inside, but on the outside it looks like just a normal NY building. We caught Mary Poppins on Broadway at the last minute one night and saw Stomp off broadway on Friday night. We loved them both! We were mostly entertained by watching people everywhere we went. The last thing we did before we headed to the airport was ride in a cart powered by bicycle which was pedalled by a young man from Turkey. It was a beautiful fall day and that memory will be with us for some time.

Ribbit Ribbit

2007-10-07T15:50:00.000-07:00

We really enjoyed conference this weekend. The talks were all so good and many spoke to me individually as they always do. We really enjoyed having Adam and Lisa come to visit. We enjoyed Jared who can giggle and talk and makes us laugh. He is getting bigger and is very cuddly. He really loves his bath and stroller rides outside. They can turn around his grumpiness in a hurry. Lisa and I made Jared a frog costume since he likes to kick and loves the water. Dad and I leave for New York on Wednesday and will update the blog with new pictures from New York.

Trevor needs new friends!

2007-09-19T13:27:00.000-07:00

On Monday night at about 2am we woke up to Benny barking. Dad got up to see if the garage was left open and racoons were getting into the garbage. As he went down the hall he heard the doorbell ringing. I got up then and looked out the window in the guest room to see what I could see. The doorbell was ringing over and over like someone wanted something quickly. I could hear voices outside that were quite loud and I could tell it was a man and a woman. I thought maybe it was the neighbors and they were drunk and had a fight because I could tell by the man's voice that he was very drunk. Dad opened the door and the guy who was drunk said that he had met our son and that he told him he could come and spend the night. He said he was an alcoholic and he could not go home like that. He was so drunk that he could not walk unassisted and was leaning against the house so that the bell would ring and ring. Dad said our son is in high school, are you sure it is him. This guy was in his mid 20's had his shirt off , had plenty of tattoos and piercings. It took dad several minutes to figure out what he was wanting of us, he was insistent but his speech was so slurred it was hard to understand. I was nervous about the whole situation and called 911 to have the police come check out these two. It is very upsetting to be awakened out of a deep sleep with someone ringing your doorbell in the middle of the night. The girl said she was sorry that they must have the wrong house and helped him back to the car that they parked on the street. It took her 10 minutes to help him back to the car, get his shirt back on and into the car. By then the police arrived and checked them out and let her drive away. Of course, we sat glued to the window waiting to see if they would let her drive. We didn't know about her sobriety. The police looked around in the car and asked them questions and let them drive away. Needless to say we did not fall back to sleep too quickly after that. We teased Trevor that he really needs to get better friends!

Driveway is Done and is GREY!

2007-09-15T19:54:00.000-07:00

The driveway has gone through many phases, but I am pleased to announce that it is in the final phase and we are all so happy. My favorite phase was the mauve rubble! They came with 6 guys to help and had cool weather on their side. Delfino saved the job and did a great job (the guy with the bond). We can't drive on it for 5-7 days but it is beautiful and DONE! The picture shows it dark and wet but it will dry to a normal concrete color. The neighbors all came over to congratulate us and were relieved that their home values had gone back up. Cathy Silmon was going to bring sparkling grape juice to celebrate. After the job was done, I had 2 people stop to find out who did my driveway because it was so good. Sorry, Elias no referals for you!

Mauve Driveway- Phase II

2007-09-09T05:07:00.000-07:00

After many visitors coming and expressing their opionions this week, we are now calling our driveway a mauve color. It is not pink, but not quite purple so mauve is what we are calling it now. Our favorite contractor said he would come and tear it out on Wed. but called and said he was sick and would come on Thursday. He came on Thursday at about 11:00 am and worked for maybe 30 minutes and the bobcat broke down. He spent the entire day trying to get it to work and after giving up, loaded it up on his trailer to go get repaired. Needless to say, we now have mauve rubble! I think the driveway is cursed! Hopefully next week he can get it taken out but now our extra helper is going to Mexico. I will keep you updated on the next phase. I told you I would show you an after picture or one with me with my hair pulled out, but I decided that I like my hair style as it is right now and that would be a waste of a good haircut and we have had enough waste going on around here!

Jared's Zoo

2007-08-18T11:25:00.000-07:00

This was a time "to sew"! I had a lot of fun designing and making Jared's nursery bedding. You can tell that he likes his new crib and elephant! Maybe he will like his room so much he will sleep through the night and take consistent naps! Unpacking his room was my first priorty when we got to Champaign. Cute little Jared!

2007-08-15T19:53:00.000-07:00

Bear Laking

2007-08-15T19:44:00.000-07:00

We had a great time at Bear Lake with the Holt Family. They were great hosts and they have a lot of fun toys. We especially liked the ATVs, Jet skis and the boat. They had wild animals all around- 240 stuffed bears and other animals lined the walls of all the bedrooms. We now know why it is called "Bear Lake"- Brad lost his shorts as he flew off the tube and the rest of us almost did. Luckily he had a swimming suit on underneath! Trevor held the record for hanging onto the tube despite wreckless boat driving and being airborne. He used his long legs in crazy directions to keep his balance.

Washburn Moving Co.

2007-08-15T19:25:00.000-07:00

We had a great time in Utah helping Grandma settle in to her new house and helping Adam and Lisa move to Illinois. Dad especially liked the part of breaking down in Sidney, Nebraska. If only it had been Sydney, Australia! They have two speeds in Sidney,( according to Dad ) slow and slower. After 2 days, the part finally arrived and they fixed the car and Dad and Adam were on their way again. Dad especially liked the food there in Sidney because it helped him lose 12 pounds in 4 days. Just kidding! We don't know if he got food poisoning or the flu, but it makes a better story if he got food poisoning in Sidney. Mom got training driving a Uhaul and Trevor learned to pack a Uhaul, so we are ready to start our own moving company. Baby Jared slept the whole way to Champaign so he will never remember the move.