Mom's Perfect Day

Here's a perfect day--everybody working together--laughing, sweating, talking, what's not to love about that!!  We had a great goal, our 20th Annual Independence Day Party at the Peach Place.  I got pictures of the prep, but none of the party--ah, typical...

No better beginning than Duane straightening up the garage.  We had to move stacks of insulation out to the barn and then move a ton of bamboo flooring into the garage, to await instalation upstairs.  We also had to clear off a couple tables to use for the party

Trevor attacked the driveway with the power washer.  After a couple weeks tearing out sheetrock and then putting new sheetrock in, the driveway was a mess.  He, with Gale's assistance, even dug into the sidewalk cracks--looks wonderful!
 

Duane polished up the BBQ--a couple of them in fact!

I spent some time in the garden--always weeds to pull

and Lettie played in the grass

Scott hauled some weeds, he was jack of all trades and willing to do whatever we needed.

Jen and Marni weeded the beans and corn--the garden has been so fun.

Gale, Duane's brother,  has been working on the tractor and mowers and cars--spends long hours helping with mechanics.  Brett has had a huge part in organizing us all, and doing anything and everything.  Here he gets a little break on the mower.  The yard looked wonderful and the weather was perfect for the party--we had a great time!

And back to "before" pictures of the remodeling project--we pulled up the old carpet and linoleum, moved everything into the den or onto the front porch, turned off the water in the kitchen, no sink, no stove, no counters--totally bare...

...and Duane unpacks the first bamboo flooring--these boxes weigh 90 lbs each--and they have to be toted upstairs.  Luckily we have some strong sons, who have been working the entire day installing this floor.  It looks amazing! 

Fun in a drawer!

Liza loves to be in charge of Sarge. 

The floor is progressing...

Jen has had a huge job watching over babies who have no place to play, and sometimes no quiet place to sleep.  She's taken it in stride with no complaints! 

There was no possibility of cooking at home tonight so we all went to our favorite place for a crowd--Jade Garden!  And now we're home and they are still working--want to finish tonight!  Yahoo!

An Arizona Vacation

Duane and I have some dear friends who moved to Arizona about 1 1/2 years ago and we haven't seen them since--they invited us and we decided it was time to get together.  We left the remodeling in the capable hands of our sons and took off for about 5 days.  We had a blast!  We got to see their new business, a scrap yard which they have built from scratch.  It is Lake Havasu City, a very hot place--even in May!

Our first stop was at the Las Vegas Temple

One of the highlights of the trip for Duane was snorkeling and spear fishing in Lake Mead.  He caught a carp and a bass.
Then, they got on Jerry's son's boat and did some night fishing--they got home 4:30 a.m.

While we were in Arizona, Scott found out that he would be going to Midwestern University for Med School in the fall.  It is in Glendale, about 3 hours south of Kingman, where Jill and Jerry live.  They were willing to take us down there--it was so nice to get a tour of the place Scott and Marni will be living for the next 4 years.  It's a great town, everything looks clean and new.  And it's hot there!  We ate at a teriffic BBQ place.

Then we had the most amazing opportunity.  The Stake Jill and Jerry are in in Kingman is responsible for providing speakers for Sacrament meetings 3 times a month in the bottom of the Grand Canyon.  We were there on Mother's Day and no one had been scheduled, so Jill was able to arrange for Duane and I to be the speakers.  A generous soul has paid for the little church building down there and also pays for the helicopter for the speakers.  What a sweet deal! We were expecting the man and his wife who are members to be there, but didn't know if anyone else would be attending.  We were very surprised to walk in and see about 35 people there--all clad in shorts and tee shirts.  After church we had time to walk around a little--but had to catch the last helicpoter out at 2 pm.  Very fun!

Here we are in front of the little church building at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.  We were the ONLY ones in skirts and ties!

The scenery in the canyon is beyond beautiful!

This was a fun side trip to Oatman, Arizona--an old gold mining town.  One claim to fame are the wild donkeys that wander through town--descendants of the miners' burros from around the turn of the 20th Century.

And all too soon it was time to go home.  On our way to the Las Vegas airport we stopped very briefly at the Hoover Dam.  They have recently completed a new bridge.  We walked out on it to take a look back at the dam--very impressive.  We tried to get some pictures of the massive electrical wiring for our budding electrician in Minnesota, but it was hard to capture.  We need more time here!

Some Cute Kids

Liza loves when her cousins come to visit

Someone found Grammy's make-up

She likes to do whatever sister is doing!

I took a quick trip to Seattle for this ballet recital.  Is she too darling!

And brother enjoyed the traditional ice cream after a performance!

While I was in Seattle I got to visit Mom Cochran for a morning and got a couple pictures of her in her beautiful back yard.  She's still unhappy that her sons have taken her chain saw away!

Remodeling is Fun To Do

Here are a couple "before" pictures

 And the walls come tumbling down!  We took out a wall between the two kitchens and also the big wall between the kitchens and living room.  It was a mammoth job, happily Brett and Scott are both here to help.  Scott ended up doing the lion share of the electrical work, with Trevor coming a couple times from Portland as his mentor.  Duane and I snuck a quick trip to Arizona in the middle of everything and were so pleased with how the boys carried on.

 

Everything's more fun if there are a couple kids helping you!

 Whoever has the most power tools and the biggest tool pouch is in charge!

Can you say "open concept"?  We definitely have open concept here.

Marni did the best job of cutting in the top edge I've ever seen--it's such a stark contrast with the bright green wall and white ceiling, very impressive.  She was also brave at the top of that ladder.  Brett did a huge cutting in job equally wonderfully--and he had to go around 8 celestory windows as well--at the top of the ladder.

 This is from the "den" looking out toward the living room and front door--we LOVE this new arch. You can see the different ceiling color--the left half is newly painted, the right half will be soon, we never realized how much lighter it could be! We're anxious to start laying the bamboo floor tomorrow, then we can move the cabinets back in--they've been on the front porch for two weeks.  How many trips to the front porch does it take to make dinner???

And this is from the corner near the windows and stairs.  Whaddayathink?  We hope the green is bright enough...

Here's another "before" picture--we took out these two closets in the bedroom and rebuilt one big one in the space that was the old hall.  We did alot of changing!