reMoDeliNg

We have started a remodeling project that we have been thinking about for a couple of years. A few years ago I wanted to update our kitchen by getting some new countertops. Well........new countertops are just the beginning for this MAJOR project. On February 16th a hole was dug on the north end of our house. It will tie into our existing TV room where we will add a kitchenette and a bedroom and bath. On the main floor we are extending out our family room and to the west we are adding a music room. I will say that this is end of the house is Rick's dream........mine was the kitchen.

(Although I am certainly going to enjoy it too!) Our good friend Charlee is the contractor for the job. He has helped us through the years with other projects we've done. He built a false wall in our family room so this is where we lounge. A little dusty and uncomfortable but we're surviving.

The walls are up............

basement access will be nice

The roof and windows are in. The plumbers and electrician have been here for 3 days so things are coming along there. Charlee will be ripping out our kitchen within a couple of weeks and that's when the real fun starts. Hopefully he will have the kitchenette put together within a few days of tearing out the kitchen so that we don't have to go too long without one. I am really excited about this kitchen! We are extending into our 3rd garage for a little more space. We put the finishing touches on the design and chose the cabinetry just today. So many desicions!

It will be finished around the end of May!

CHILDHOOD FRIENDS

On Saturday Kendra and I drove down to St. George for a get-together with my growing up friends. I have known each of these ladies (except Karen) since age 5 when we started kindergarten together. Isn't that amazing.....that's 38 years! Jody (on right) lives in Hawaii so when she comes to visit her family on the mainland our group tries to get together too. We met at Deanna's house and had a BBQ. Some of us brought a few kids along and Jackie even brought along her husband (who is as funny as he was way back when) and had a good time mingling.

From left to right....Deanna (D'Alessio) Mckeighan, Me, Karen(Eckman) Rounds, Gretchen (Garner) Maxwell, Jackie (Chamberlain) Thomas, and Jody (Strickland) McCune. Toward the end of the evening Kathy, another friend from Jr. High stopped by also. We had a great time.... even pulling out the yearbooks so we could remember people. It's strange how you forget so much through the years. I was so glad to get together to remember the good old days and to catch up on what's happening now. It was good to see you all!

Gary's Band in the Sociable

Thursday night Gary performed with his band at the Children's Sociable here in Grantsville. The Sociable is such a big deal here (a tradition that's been going 100 years plus) and I read in the newspaper that for a long time "they" did away with the Childrens Program. I'm glad they decided to bring it back. Ever since I've lived here they have had the kids perform a few nights before the adult shindig. I'm sure glad that the kids have a chance to shine.

There were some really cute acts. Gary's group has been practicing for a couple of months now.

They performed " Don't Wake Me" (by Skillet) and did a great job.

Gary was on acoustic, Keith Leavitt was on Bass, and Ashton ? was the singer.

Great Job Boys!

Brian Regan Night

Last night was a super fun night! Rick and I, Brad and Ruth, and Darrell and Matt got to see one of our favorite comedians in person! Rick purchased tickets back in November and we have been waiting for this day to come. I personally have never been to a live comic show before and it was great! He is so funny and we all laughed until we couldn't laugh any more! We started out the night at a restaurant named Cuchina Toscana. It is in downtown SL and Brad and Ruth had been there before and recommended it. The food was great and we enjoyed the experience. DeeAnn had been planning to come with Darrell but at the last minute decided to stay with her son Austin who was having his 17th birthday.

Matt didn't mind a bit filling in for his mom.

Here's Brad and Ruth waiting for the show to start!

...and here's Brian doing his stuff. It was all new material and I am still amazed how he could go on so long without forgetting his routine. That's a LOT of memorization. For his encore he asked the crowd what they wanted from his old stuff. He performed "Pluto" and "Poptarts". As you can see we were clear in the back. Rick bought the tickets right as they came on sale and this is the closest we could get. Little did he know "they" added 3 more nights of shows after the fact. Anyhow it was a wonderful performance and it sure felt good to laugh!

SISTERS TRIP TO THE OREGON COAST

This past week I took a trip with Rick's sisters. We left Monday morning and returned Friday evening. We flew into Portland and rented a van so we could all fit. Before heading off to the coast we stopped at the tram and took a ride. It offered a beautiful view of the Portland skyline. While some wanted to stay in the car and rest..... Karen, Darla, and I enjoyed the ride:) Before going back down we stopped at the lookout point gardens. In this picture if you look real close right between our heads is snow-capped Mt. Hood. (It's very hard to see in the picture) We also had a great view of Mt. St. Helens from here.
Next we headed off to Lincoln City where we stayed in a cute house right on the cliffs of the ocean. It had a great view, and that first night the waves were very ferocious no doubt from the earthquake just a few days before in Chile. After we got settled and freshened up we headed out to Kyllos Restaurant. Here we all are enjoying our dinner! Fom left...Kathy, DeeAnn, Ruth, Janell, Karen, and Darla.

This is our view off of our wonderfully huge balcony! WOW!

On Tuesday after enjoying the morning we headed out to Newport. Lincoln City to Newport is just a short 30 miles but we stopped along the way many times to get out and enjoy the fantastic views . Here we are in Depoe Bay where we stopped at a little shop for a bowl of homemade clam chowder and some fresh cut fries.

Once we got to Newport we went looking through the little souvenir shops. We had to stop and watch the sea lions sunning themselves at the wharf.

They are very interesting creatures. And loud!

The girls found the leather shop and had a heydey. They each bought a new piece of luggage. Dee Dee bought way more than that. I know it doesn't look like much but add that to the 12 OTHER pieces of luggage we already had it was crazy! We had a whale of a time fitting everything in our van when it was time to leave on Friday. We were stuffed in that minivan like sardines but we truly got everything home in one piece. What a MIRACLE!

On Wednesday we didn't do much. We lazed around and got ready by Noon. Did a little shopping and then came back to watch a movie. We watched a show called "Bells on Their Toes". I had never seen it before but what a cute show. It is the sequel to the old "Cheaper By the Dozen". I want to watch it with my fam! That night after lounging the day away got dressed up and went to dinner at Tidal Raves. Good Food and Great Company!

Thursday morning low tide was at 9:00 so we went exploring on the rocks. The tidal pools are amazing and we saw some neat stuff. This is a picture of our little house from the beach. It's the smaller house right in the middle of the pic. To the left are the 101 (by my count) steps that we came down to get to the water. It was nice to have the steps just off of our deck. We climbed those steps many times during our stay!

DeeAnn, Karen, and Ruth exploring the tidal pools! The rocks are covered with mussels and barnacles!

Lots and lots of Sea Anemones!

And HUGE Starfish! Hundreds of them!

That night for our last hurrah after dinner we climbed the steps one last time for a bonfire.
Personally I was dreading it because I just wanted to stay warm and not go out in the cold again but actually it wasn't too bad. Kathy and Darla after an few attempts got the fire started and we had a nice time. Some made s'mores and then we ended the night by singing campfire songs. What a great way to end a good week!

Friday morning we packed up and headed back to Portland. We had originally planned to stay in Portland on Thursday night so we could get to the temple Friday morning but we loved the coast so much we adjusted our schedule and stayed in Lincoln City an extra night. I am so glad we decided to do that. We actually had enough time on Friday to get to the temple befor our plane left so it worked out great! Thank You sisters for a wonderful time together. I LOVE YOU ALL SO VERY MUCH! You are such a strength and help to me. The one advantage to being married to the youngest one in the family is that I get to learn from your experiences.

Let's do this again next year!