4th of July fun in the Sun

The 4th of July was a great day this year. We had a backyard picnic at Doug and Jessica's. They have a nice large tree that provided lots of nice shade. We had fried chicken, cooked outside for easy clean up, potato salad, cucumber mint salad, fresh corn on the cob and watermelon.


After playing yard games which weren't a very big hit, Jessica got out the water slide which was a huge hit. All four boys had a ball playing in it and spraying me. Braeden thought that was great to spray me and I must admit it did feel good as it was a hot day.

After playing in the water we had ice cream with fudge topping, blueberries, raspberries and a pastry. I think it was well liked by all as can be seen in the pictures. Happy fun 4th.

The start of the kitchen redo

When we moved into this house last year the kitchen left a lot to be desired. The appliances were 20 to 30 years old and they didn't work very good. The dishwasher would get the dishes wet and then dry but really didn't wash them so I hand washed most of them. The oven cooked very uneven and just the front part of the oven. It was also very small, a large turkey would not fit in the oven. The stove top worked part of the time. The burners would work then just go off when I was trying to cook something. The disposal would grind really loud and turn the food around and around but that was pretty much it. We decided we would get some new appliances for our Christmas present to each other. The ones we wanted were on sale after Christmas which was great.After the new appliances were in I decided to paint the cupboards. Next project will be to paint the walls. A little at a time we are making progress. I love the look of the painted cupboards. Who knew they could look so good for over 40 years old and with new drawer pulls.


We had saved our old sink from our kitchen in Idaho when we remodeled the kitchen. We put it in and got a new faucet and disposal. It is amazing what it is like to have new working appliances.

Family

During the Christmas break we had a family picture taken. There is a really neat park called the International Gardens here is Salt Lake City. I was hoping for a snowy background but, not to be. We did get a nice family picture.

Christmas Time

Christmas Eve we spent the evening with Doug and Jessica. We had our traditional Chinese Food for dinner. We started this tradition when we still lived in Nashua, NH. Christmas Eve day is alway a busy day getting everything ready for the big day that ordering take out seemed like a great idea. We have carried this tradition out every year except for a couple when the roads were impossible to travel on. When we moved to Idaho we invited my sister and her family to join us. It was always fun as our kids were the same ages and gender. I would host one year and she would host the next year. Even this year as we have moved and are unable to get together I called her on Christmas Eve and they were enjoying their Chinese Dinner. What fun memories

Christmas morning we went back to Jessica and Doug's. We had Egg McMuffins and lots of other good food. Then we got to open our presents. Doug got a new game that we played. It was a fun day.


We then headed up to Alice and Jeff's to have supper and share more presents. The boys all got BYU shirts. They love their Uncle Carl.

Catch Up Time

Wow! here it is March 12, 2011 and I have not updated my blog for over three months. Well, here goes. For Thanksgiving we went to Sue's in Rexburg. Most of the family was there which means a lot of people, over 40 but I didn't count. It was really nice to visit with everyone and eat yummy food. A few days later we got to spend time with Tanner for his birthday. He is really growing up. He is already 3 and is quite the talker. He has the cutest little mischievous twinkle in his eyes. He is into tractors. I was able to find some material to make him a tractor cuddly blanket.

Boston, here we come!

Joe had a business trip to Boston the middle of November and I got to go with him. We stayed in Cambridge just down the road from MIT. Joe spent three days at the ITT booth of the Energy Harvesting trade show with long days. I got to wander around Cambridge and Boston which I love. New England is one of my favorite places especially in the fall. As you can see the trees still had a lot of color on them and the temperature was wonderful and warm.

I love the contrast of the old and new in Boston. These pictures were taken from Cambridge looking over the Charles River at Boston.

I was able to spend one day at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. As I was waiting for the shuttle at the hotel to take me to the "T" to get on the train to go to the museum a lady was waiting and said she wanted to go to the museum but was afraid to ride the T. I invited her to go with me, so we ending up spending the day together at the museum which turned out to be a very enjoyable day.
Joe at the trade show. He is the one in the blue shirt. They, ITT, won the Best of Show Award.

After the show we drove up to Maine to spend four days for a break and rest. We got to visit our friends which we met when we were at BYU 37 years ago. It is great to have good friends. We also got to spend time and attend church with Joe's brother Ken and his family. They have a wonderful small Branch they attend. Great people. We stayed in a hotel right on the beach in Old Orchard Beach. The above picture is from the beach in front of our hotel. It was so beautiful.

How Does My Garden Grow Chapter 9

November was a busy month and here it is December. We got the furnace in and I am really enjoying the heat. The beginning of November started off cold but as the month went by it was a beautiful month. I finally picked the last of my tomatoes the middle of the month. Many were green but have ripen and we are still eating tomatoes from our garden. Amazing. We had peppers still growing before we left on the 14th of November to go to Boston for a business trip.
Of course it froze and a big winter storm hit just before we got home. We had an amazing garden for our first year and just plopping the plants where ever I could find spots.