Counting by 3's

      Another three weeks of summer is gone. The re-flooring project is ALMOST done. All that is left is the baseboard touch-up in the dining room--which means the grandfather clock still sits in the guest room and because of that I feel I have a pass NOT to get everything back into place. Like I need a pass to NOT clean and organize my house and focus on other things.

Things to focus on:

**Drive the Vette to see Mesa Falls. I had never been there before and was quite impressed by the falls. Lower Falls are way off in the distance, but we could see people down close we just didn’t know how to get down there. At the Upper Falls there are walking trails and lots of viewing platforms. We stopped and ate at Big Jud’s in Ashton on the way home.

View from the parking lot for Lower Mesa Falls. We could see people standing on the hill on the top right, but we didn't know how to get on the trail and I didn't have on hiking shoes.

All the above pictures are views of Upper Mesa Falls. Beautiful place and worth the drive.

**We went to dinner at Smokin Fins with the Thompsons and Dances. It was a fun night of catching up and feeling like we were doing something normal again.

**Go to the cabin with Katie and the boys. I went up Monday after my hair appointment and Katie and Sandra were already there. The boys and I made a lot of trips on the golf cart, threw rocks (and golf balls thanks to Rhett) into the pond, golfed--or at least something close to it, the older boys went swimming, played in buckets of water, pushed them on the swing a lot, and watched Despicable Me EVERY day--sometimes twice. Rhett was trying to get me to find this movie on Netflix and all he could tell me about it was, “The yellow one with blue.” Not a lot of help and I didn’t figure out what he was talking about until Katie started D.Me.

Monday morning Sandra went out and starting digging up tree roots that she was afraid would reach to her foundation and mess it up. As soon as Dax heard about 'digging' and 'ax' and 'shovel', he was all in. He spent the whole morning out with her "helping" and giving his nonstop expert advice.

Wes is scooting around pretty good now. He is content playing on the floor for spurts of time. He also enjoys the swing, getting packed around, and riding on the golf cart.

**Take another drive to Bear Lake. We were able to get fresh raspberry shakes and the place was crawling with people. The beaches were also packed. We took a tour through the town of Lava Hot Springs on the way home, and if I had to guess, I would say it was filled with even more people than Bear Lake.

I took this picture on the Lave Hot Springs golf course. I'm convinced these are wild turkeys (Quinn is not so sure). This was only a portion of the birds we saw.
**Sewing.
**Another trip to the cabin with Sandra. We golfed on Saturday morning (me only 9), went to lunch at Juan’s House of Tacos, watched lots of episodes of The Rockford Files, walked, relaxed, and updated this blog.

I started with this pillowcase dress for Summer Early Bird in San Carlos. Mary called me as we were driving to Star Valley to thank me. I always enjoy my talks with Mary and catching up on the goings on in San Carlos.

After making Summer's dress, I told Amber I would make one for her niece. Amber mentioned she had three other nieces, so I've made three so far. The fourth one is in the works now.

Sewed the silky binding on some reversible minky for Kristine to give to Aaron.
**This and that:

Regan's souvenir from her summer softball season--proof that softballs are not so soft.

First day of school for the girls. Rylee had a tough morning, but had a much better day on their second day of school below. They are only going every other day for now.

Dax's first day of school picture. He talked his mom out of a haircut, and told her after school that there was a boy at school with a "mad face" and he thought it was because he'd gotten a new mohawk haircut.

Katie snapped this shot on Sunday afternoon. Wes doesn't sleep well away from home, but this is proof I can get him to sleep.

I see at least one deer every time I come to the cabin. This one let me snap her picture from my car.

Summer Marches On

     Three weeks since my last post and it is hard to remember what takes place on a daily basis.  If I don't fill out our movements in my calendar, I can't go back and even remember what I did or when I did it.  I could write in golfing for Quinn everyday and be correct 90% of the time, but as for me, I don't do much.  Here is what does stand out because I have pictures to remind me:

    Both Quinn and I celebrated birthdays.  We had a hamburger dinner on my birthday with Katie, Matt, and boys and Sandra.   The next day, I made the trip to St. George for Chad's birthday.  Our intent was to hike some more, but we got sidetracked:

    First we drove to BrianHead to Doug & Kristine's cabin.  They were still there, so we got a personal tour and had a nice visit.  From there were drove to Cedar Breaks Lookout.  As we drove past the resort, Peachy spotted the chairlift, so that was our next stop.  The three pictures below were taken at the top of BrianHead.  As excited as Peachy was to try out the chairlift, she was a little stressed by the ride.

After the chairlift and C&P rode the slides, we drove through Yankee Meadows and I took these pictures:

    The next day we drove to Las Vegas to grocery shop at the Seafood Market.  I enjoy going there because I see things I never see at my local market such as the following:

    Chad & Peachy bought a bag of rambutans.  Here is how you eat them:  Peel the curly brown outer layer off, pull out the little egg shaped fruit, then nibble off the fleshy part and when you are done, you are left with the seed.

    I've tried the halo-halo before.  It includes all the ingredients shown, plus you can chose a flavor to be added.  It is kind of like a chunky milkshake.  The chunks are similar to cubes of gummy bears, but not as flavorful.  It was unusual in flavor and texture.  

    After shopping, we went to the Brazilian restaurant Fogo de Chão which serves 16 different meats and as much as you want.  It was all yummy.  I really liked the apple salad and the flank steak.  Next, Peachy wanted to see the M&M store.  We had to wait outside (they gave us umbrellas to stand under since it was over 100 degrees) because they were only allowing a limited number inside at a time.  Once inside, we participated in a scavenger hunt to win a slouch backpack.  The Filipina clerk gave us two because she liked that we could talk about visiting the Philippines.  As we drove out of town, there was either an air show or a rehearsal for one flying above Nellis Air Force Base.  We had quite a spectacular show to watch in celebration of Chad's birthday.

These pictures were part of our scavenger hunt.

        We also went bowling, I did a little shopping with Peachy, they cooked me some delicious food, and Peachy gave me an amazing foot massage.  I had a great time.                                                                     When I arrived home from Vegas, I walked into a construction zone in my house.  The contents of my house had shifted and they had already finished the floor in the kitchen and bathroom.  That night Quinn and I moved as much furniture as we could out of the living room and master bedroom.  The carpet guys (4) arrived the next day and carpeted those rooms plus the office and hallway.  I felt sorry for them because our air conditioner was not working at peak capacity and it got HOT.  They didn't have enough to put the flooring in the laundry room--the place that started this whole process to begin with.  It was painted a few days after the carpet layers left and the floor was done yesterday.  Today we are waiting for the guy to come and put up all the baseboards and the painter will come and do any touch-ups.  We can get everything replaced and put back to normal soon.  I really like the results so far and it is worth all the hassle to have it looking so nice.  Since we were in upheaval anyway, we got some other things done too; replaced the ceiling fan, moved out the gun case, washed and cleaned out the spoon case and curio cabinet, and I redid the pillows on the couch.  Here are some before and afters:  

    Every everything had to be stuffed into this bedroom and it isn't too different today.  We have slowly been moving things back, but without the baseboards in, there isn't much point.

Some other miscellaneous happenings:

    I attended some sports events for the grandkids.  That would include t-ball for Dax and Gus, softball for Adi, Rylee, and Regan, and flag football for Kash.  I just don't have pictures to represent all of them.

Gus had his 5th birthday.  He was happy to model his new dirt bike gear.

    Rhett celebrated his 3rd birthday.  I think Dax was more wound up than Rhett about the cake, candles, and presents.  This time I remembered to get a picture of all the grandparents.

Saw this meme on FB and find it applicable to the year we've had.  When I shared it with Jacob and Amber, Jacob's answer was, "Four pounds of butter."

    Another drive to check on the progress of the Pocatello Temple.  The windows are getting put in, lots of landscaping, and the scaffolding on the steeple indicates they will be finishing its exterior.Lots of grain dust and a fire in Arco make for a beautiful red sun at night which looks white in any pictures you take, but trust me it is red red.