Rick & Lexia

New Year's Getaway

2012-01-12T20:29:00.000-08:00

Here's to the New Year! and a hearty thank you to our children for the beginning of 2012. In April 2011, our darling, wonderful, amazing, (what other adjectives can I throw in here?) children gave Rick and I an anniversary present for our 35th anniversary. We settled on Madera Canyon for our getaway and Jan 2-4 were the days we got away. It was a wonderful break. So here's what our gift encompassed. Madera Canyon is south of Tucson in the Santa Rita Mountains. It is a birder's paradise. This is the road up to the canyon, and you can tell that the temperature is colder than home just from the snow still on the hillsides.

This is Chupasrosa Bed and Breakfast up at the top of the road in the canyon. The owners live upstairs and there are 4 suites on the ground floor. Breakfast was left in our refrigerator and Dad had all the raisin bran he wanted. Luis was one of the owners and very friendly and helpful.

The livestock was very entertaining. Unfortunately, the birds were harder to spot.

Our room was right in the corner you can see.

There was a creek next to the house with a bridge across to a patio on the other side. The dark spot is a seep on the side of the mountain. There is a connection to a trail that goes up and down the mountain from here.

A rose vine is trained over the gate. I'd love to see it in the summertime.

I love this fountain. I'd like to find a distant cousin I could put in the ivy by our front door.

On our trip down, we stopped in Tucson to see the Fremont House. Silly us. Jan 2 was a holiday. Nothing's open.

San Augustin cathedral just a few blocks over from the Fremont House. We found out later that it was part of the chain of missions that were established up out of Mexico hundreds of years ago.

Tuesday, we went to Tumacacori and Tubac. This is the garden fountain in Tumacacori.

Tumacacori mission. Somewhat different from when we were here last, 35 years ago. Doesn't seem that long. This time we could go inside the mission.

Tubac is the old presidio used to house soldiers, both Mexican and US, over the years. Part of the museum includes the old school house that was still decorated for Christmas.

We enjoyed the time away from the usual routine. We saw lots of historical stuff, took lots of pictures for future paintings, and even picked up a signed Hal Empie print. Thank you again for our wonderful getaway. We love you all!

Last One

2011-06-07T17:26:00.001-07:00

So here's the latest of the many faces of Dana. Last shot before going through the security gates at Sky Harbor. Even though it was 6 am, there's a last smile for her paparazzi mom. And so begins 18 months of growth, new things, new people and SNOW!!

She's ready to go and everything is in the bags. Well, not quite. There's still a winter coat she will need to acquire. But she does have the boots.

However, some things never change. Her first email home included a list of things she had forgotten, needed to be changed or hadn't thought of while we were in preparation mode. We're excited for her and glad to be going through this phase of parenting for the last time.

Grandchild #10 - Lucy Elinor

2011-03-13T21:33:00.001-07:00

This is why we went to Texas. Can't think of a better reason. She's a cutie! She slept right through the whole event and looked adorable. Warning! Baby kissing ahead!

A boy and his truck. Once upon a time . . . well, just see for yourself how this works. First boy runs with truck.

The sister pushes boy in truck.

Then dad pushes boy in truck. Faster, right? It gets better.

Boy uses gravity to speed down the driveway, with dad as the backstop. What more could you ask for? The grin says it all.

Craig and Corban have created a new form of locomotion. It's a back belt carrier. Just hook in your toes and away you go! No hands needed.

We enjoyed our trip to Texas. It was great to have Rick's dad go with us. Spending time with Craig, Janessa and the kids was fun. Blessing Lucy was just neat. Everyone is doing well. Now we have some time at home before the next event Conference weekend.

Only at Disneyland

2011-03-13T21:20:00.001-07:00

Random shots of things that could only happen with Disney . . . such as dancing gators.
And dancing dogs. I love the look on the drummer's face.

Julie Andrew's horse on the carousel.

Where else would you expect to find fairies?

Overalls!

How long do you think they stood there for her to take all those photos? Those are cameras on the paving in front of her, folks.

Disneyland with Grandchildren

2011-03-13T20:43:00.000-07:00

So Katie said, "Why don't you go with us to Disneyland? We'd really like you to go with us." So . . . we went to Disneyland. During the coldest weekend ever, with snow of the mountains around the LA basin, and we had fun, rode rollercoasters, walked, put on rain ponchos, saw princesses and fairies, laughed, walked, shot aliens, rode more rollercoasters, walked, took off ponchos, saw a goat, rode boats, walked, sang songs, put up umbrellas, ate snacks, climbed a treehouse, rode another rollercoaster, walked, and had more fun. This, of course, does not describe everything we did, nor do the pictures cover everything, but they give a feel for our adventure.
Friday morning at one of the best breakfast bars I've ever seen. Only one drawback, according to Dad. There was no raisin bran.

Very first ride of the adventure. Go Space Scouts!

Dad gets into the mood in Toon Town.

Waiting for the princesses Saturday morning. Katie says the 45 minutes waiting in line was worth it. We were second. I should explain. Katie and Emma waited. The rest of us rode the Matterhorn. It was great!

Have you hugged your princess lately?

All the princesses in a row! Rachel's smile is just great!

Twirling for the fairies.

Dad's favorite part of the whole time. Holding grandchildren.

One of Jacob's highlights of the weekend. Riding behind the engine on the train. The other two were Space Mountain and Thunder Mountain Railroad, or as he called it, "the crazy train". We had a great time and were glad to see Charlie, Marilyn and the kids. We came home with lots of memories, stories and the feet were only sore for a couple of days. You'll have to ask Dana about her hat.

What happens when you don't read directions

2011-03-13T20:39:00.001-07:00

This is a very good example of why you should ALWAYS read washing instructions.

All the sweaters we've had in the past were acrylic. Not this one. Lamb's wool and ramie.

Summer trips

2010-08-01T20:25:00.001-07:00

These photos are out of order. They are from our trip to the Tulsa Zoo on Friday. I forgot to include them when I was uploading photos. After I had the words in, I tried to add the photos. Unfortunately, when I try to move them down the line to their correct place, the screen won't scroll. It's too much work to move, scroll down, move, scroll down, etc. for each photo, so I'm leaving them here!

Our thanks to Jeff and Melanie for letting us party in their room.

Okay. So now that summer is almost over, figuratively speaking, and all the trips are finished, it's time for a recap of what has happened and where we've been. I've been remiss in keeping things current, so we're playing catch-up.

Memorial Day -

We introduced Melanie to the cabin and took Grandad back for the first time in two years. We had a fun time. Temperatures were perfect. Cool breezes. Barbecue on the grill. Watermelon rind chucking contest off the back deck. Meeting Grandad's neighbors. Singing, Phase 10 and reading. Some repair work on the trail. A little fishing. Watching the beavers in the lake.

Logan -

End of June. Dad's SARE meeting this year was at our old hometown. We flew in and spent two & half days during some of the hottest part of the month. Fun tours including sheep training, organic veggies, and coyote behavior studies. A nice, long visit with Elizabeth, talking and taking photos in southern Cache Valley. A brief tour of our homes in River Heights. They're still there, but the raspberry bushes are gone from the green house with the ditch and sheep in the back.

Pre-Tulsa-
Dad and I spent four day driving out to Tulsa. Kind of a "real" vacation. We drove through northern NM, via Albuquerque, Taos, past Philmont to Raton, Clayton, to Black Mesa B&B near Kenton, OK. We stopped at Elizabethtown (a ghost town) and Capulin, a volcano, and saw lots of wide open emptiness.

Our bed & breakfast place was a refurbished ranch headquarters built about 100 years ago. Has a beautiful view of the mesa from the front porch. It is totally away from any kind of town. No lights at night. Lots of quiet, rocking chairs, wind blowing, deer, antelope, two kittens, two huge dogs and no cell service. The landlords were friendly, the food was good, and it rained. We did have a good laugh over the directions to see dinosaur footprints and the 3-corners monument. They consisted of the following: "The first cedar tree on the right after the Black Mesa parking area, turn right. You'll see a place where lots of people have parked. The dinosaur footprints are there." and "Follow the road until the pavement ends. That's the state line with Colorado. Take the first road to the left. Go down two cattle guards. The monument is at the 2nd cattle guard." The directions worked!

That really is a dinosaur footprint under Dad's hat. The rock it's in is covered with a layer of sand.

Cimarron County Museum

Cimarron County, the westernmost of Oklahoma, has a cool museum andf one real claim to fame. There is no stoplight anywhere in the county. We drove from Kenton to Tulsa on Thursday to begin the festivities there.

Tulsa-

Dad's last official meeting with NACAA. We're so glad everyone was able to come and play with us. I know it's stressful to travel, deal with hotel rooms and kids, and then all the activities that are part of the annual AM/PIC, but we loved seeing you all and playing with the grandkids and talking and singing and everything else. The pictures will give just a taste of everything (pun intended).

Blue Belle Ice Cream

Belgian Chocolate Store

Dad and the playful puppies.

Wednesday's family tour - barbecue sauce, big mansion, Pawnee Bill's smaller place.

Dinner and playtime!

Thursday morning and playing in the water park.

We headed home Saturday, July 17. We pulled into the cabin about 10:30 pm. We were up and on the road again by 6:30 am on Sunday. We did take time to sit on the porch and enjoy the cool bnreeze and water the lilacs. We I guess I should say "I", wanted to be home on Sunday since it was our ward's first sunday in our new building. Dad was kind enough to humor me. Thought: Dad and I are TOO OLD for L-O-N-G road trips. The fourteen (I think) hours from Tulsa to White Mountain Lake were too much. Six or seven hours is much nicer.

Boulder, CO-

Yearbook summer camp. Beautiful campus and buildings and mountains. Lots of information and new ideas about running yearbook class and new design ideas. I thook 3 students, including Camille Gibson Ashcroft, and they are ready for the new year. I have never seen a place as agressively pro-recycle and conservation-minded as CU campus. We had lots of fun with squirrels and I even saw two raccoons one evening next to the dorms. No AC made it somewhat miserable in the dorms, but my bed was right next to the window and things cooled down at night.

Just for Jacob.

So the trips are over for now and we're back home and getting ready for another school year. Matt is finishing his summer classes. Dad is sorting through lots of papers and the phone isn't ringing quite as much and he isn't talking to his email as much either. Lots of fun. Lots of memories.

Spring is sprung

2010-04-11T21:57:00.001-07:00

It's Spring! Better look fast because it will be gone in a couple of weeks. We're already seeing afternoon temps in the mid-80's. The climbing roses we planted on the arch have bloomed. They have a light fragrance and look so pretty. Everything else is growing. Dad says there will be a good crop of apricots if the birds don't get them and they don't fall off.

Grandad said it couldn't be Easter without doing eggs so he and Dad did the honors.

Part of Spring is the Spring Board meeting for NACAA. This year was our last one and it was held in San Antonio during the last week of March. We got to go on a tour and I explored downtown San Antonio by trolley and on foot. We walked a good section of the River Walk and saw some historical sites. This is the Navarro House. Part of it is built of adobe and part of caliche blocks. Built in 1850 something. Very simple, very nice.

Dad at the Governor's Mansion, unfortunately closed for renovations.

Our tour took us south of San Antonio to two ranches. One ranch was over a hundred years old and still run by the same family. Part of it was still a cow/calf operation and the other part was a wild-life hunting range, wild life being deer, wild hogs, and a variety of birds. The other ranch is dedicated to breeding "true" long-horn cattle and run by the Detmer family of BYU fame.

This horse pestered anyone standing close to the fence to "pet me, pet me!" And this is a long-horn, in case you couldn't tell.

The trophy room at the wild-life range.

Okay, all you rock people. The storage for fodder for the cow/calf operation was in a BIG hole dug out of the hillside. This is what we saw inside. You can see the layers from the plants and soil on top down to the limestone underneath. Or caliche. Dad would know which.

This is the ranch house for cow-calf set-up. It was built in the 1850's of limestone quarried on the ranch. The owners just finished remodeling and restoring the building. Very beautiful with big windows to catch the breeze. Big old live oaks around the fence for shade. Love the porch.

I shall miss the trips, the places we've been, and the people we met. Spring Board has taken us to Myrtle Beach, SC, Corpus Christi, TX, Albuquerque, NM and now San Antonio. Fun times.

Popcorn Popping!!!!

2010-03-14T20:41:00.001-07:00

It is always amazing to me how much like popcorn those apricot blossoms look. It is Spring! For us, at least.

This is the nursery out front. Dad's babies are doing well. This is the plum tree.

And this is the apple tree. Of course, with all the rain, the desert is covered with winter grass and filaree. Green everywhere for a while. : )

It's harder than I thought.

2010-02-14T11:07:00.000-08:00

I was able to catch this moonrise. Thankfully, the rain was over and the clouds cleared enough to see it rise. Peaceful, serene.

This posting is an odd collection of images. Everything was in breathless commotion in November and December with Thanksgiving, Stake Conference, the end of school, and Christmas. And then losing Mom seemed to place everything into a surreal state. We went through the motions but were disconnected in many ways. I didn't know it would be so hard to write about the events, but it is. I feel it's necessary, so here goes.

We had the opportunity to see Frank in a different setting. We also got to see the Titan missile silo and all it's paraphanalia. It was a wonderful presentation and placed many things in a different perspective. It was daunting to think that the history Frank was relating was what we lived through all those years ago. Loved the gift shop, such cool stuff!

Melanie is a kid magnet. She seemed to gather kids for a while and then they leave. Sooner or later, they seem to gravitate back to her side. I think she has the same effect with her sibling's children. It's fun to watch. We're glad to have her in the family.

All the Gibson's (but 2 - Dad will remind me)

Mom always said that she had to wait for her sons to marry to get her daughters. She always made us feel loved and welcome and treated us as if we were her daughters. I have always been grateful that I married the man I did with the parents he had. Mom loved her boys, but she missed doing the girl things that go with daughters. She made up for that once the boys started marrying in 1976. And when the grand-daughters started to arrive, she continued. She loved taking the girls shopping, out to eat, painting fingernails and toenails, watching fashion shows of granddaughters in hats, gloves, and jewelry and listening to the stories, games and conversation of her girls.

Mom loved all her family. She enjoyed being with them. She loved cooking for them and having them visit. She loved the Savior and the gospel and she loved Dale. There was never any doubt as to who came first in her heart.

I'm grateful that Katie wanted her children to connect with their ancestors and took advantage of the opportunity presented by the trip to Snowflake.

It reads Louise Cross.

It's all about the next generation. How we love them and wish we could see more of them.

We love you all!!

You Want It Done When?

2009-11-08T20:47:00.000-08:00

This seems to be taking forever. We spent Labor Day Weekend and the following weekend putting up wallboard so these gentlemen could come tape and texture. They did a beautiful job. They also rebuilt the wall in the backyard.
Before the texturing

This is just one of the notes, measurements, and lists that are now under paint and texturing.

Taping & texturing took a week. Then one of the construction fairies sprayed the ceiling and walls with primer and the ceiling with white paint.
Then it was our turn. We did the walls in a toasty yellow. I know, it looks brown, but it's not. We had a week. And we did it. My feet felt all of it. I got to stand on the ladder and paint the edges aroung the ceiling. Brought back memories of working at McDonald's and how my feet felt at the end of the day.

We had a deadline because the tile layers (more construction fairies, gnomes, elves, whatever) were going to be coming in to lay the tile. No tile for a week. A lot of back and forth and waiting and they were on again Halloween weekend. We went to Las Cruces for the weekend. I got to visit with Melinda and Grandma. Rick got to move wood for Grandpa. We also got to attend a very nice Stake Conference.

Back home, part of the tile went down. Monday morning, last week, (we are now at November 2) the cabinets came. Look pretty good. One thing, there is no grout between the tiles, yet.

The the electrician came Thursday. Now we have lights, fans, switches, and outlets.

There is grout in the bedroom, closet & bath. I think all the tile is in. Still no countertops. The water is not hooked up. We painted baseboards and the folding doors yesterday. Rick keeps assuring me that we will have this finished by Thanksgiving when Craig and Janessa and the kids come.

How do I know there are construction fairies? Look what they left behind!

Just for Dana

2009-10-07T20:36:00.001-07:00

Here is a tour of Suite 1445 at the DoubleTree Portland. We had both doors open on several occasions. My only addition to decoration was several bouquets of flowers that were beautiful all week.

NACAA in Portland

2009-10-04T19:40:00.000-07:00

Here we go. It was a packed 9-10 days. I'm trying to distill all the events down to give a feel for the events without overwhelming you all with a kazillion photos or interminable details. I'll take this day by day to give some direction.

Saturday morning was the only time it was rainy. This is the view from our balcony. The tall spire is where the Convention Center is. All the meetings, programs, auction, etc. took place here. You could walk to it in 10 minutes or ride the train. We got lots of walking in.

Our suite had lots of room. There was something happening every day or evening. This is the Wyoming/ Montana group, on Saturday, stuffing bags that they handed out for dinner Sunday evening. They cooked lamb, coleslaw, and corn on the cob. It was all good.

We also had the Arizona/New Mexico group in one evening to prepare stuff for breakfast on Thursday. There were several committee meetings, a couple of hospitality get-togethers, and the Spouse's Reception in this suite.

This photo is for Dana. Portland had lots of

trees and the houses are close together and it is

very green.

Monday - Dad went to meetings. The spouses

went across the Columbia to Vancouver, Washington.

We went to Fort Vancouver. It is 1-the original

Hudson Bay Company outpost, 2-a still active

Army Post (since 1854 or so), 3-a still active air

port since WWI. Interesting place.

This was the headquarters for the Hudson Bay Company. A grape vine grew across the front porch. You could smell the grapes.

Officer's Row for the US Army. However, the Army didn't want the upkeep. They worked out a deal with the city. The city has the buildings on the National Registry and they are leased out to corporations for office purposes. Some were built in 1880.

The air field does have a museum, however the National Guard unit was standing down after a tour overseas in the museum and we couldn't go in. All I could get is shots of the airplanes outside.

The beautiful Columbia River.

Monday evening was the 4-H Talent review and a performance by a group called the Ringling 5 from Montana. They were a group of ranchers who make up songs and perform on the side. They sing about a rancher's life and the events he has to deal with. All humorous. For one song, they called up two people out of the audience. They slapped well-worn hats on their heads and had them pull up their pant legs. The group then sang a song about "Rancher's legs". The chorus has something about "they have knock-knees and bowed legs and the their legs are blinding white". If you can't tell, that's Rick in the middle of the group with the hat down to his nose and his white legs bared for all to see. I was sorry the kids weren't there to see.

Tuesday- Dad had meetings. I took a spouse's tour up the Columbia to the Hood River valley, up around Mt. Hood and then back to Portland. This is Multnomah Falls. Very tall, very beautiful. Very Lord of the Rings.

I walked up across the bridge to an observation point below the main falls.

And there was a train. We had to cross under the tracks to get to our bus.

Mt. Hood dominates the horizon. This whole valley is filled with small orchards and farms. This is the pear capital of the US. They also grow some apples and cherries.

One farm we visited had changed from growing pears to doing a variety of different things. They had a u-pick operation that included strawberries and blueberries and rows and rows of flowers. These are dahlias. I've never seen such colors. They've also included a wine-tasting room and grapes and a winery. More money in booze than in pears.

We went up to the Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood. It was built by the WPA in the 30's. Beautiful building.

This door is huge and so well hung that a child can push it.

This chimney goes from the basement up through 4 floors to the outside.

They told us that they have a booming ski business during the summer. The ski lifts take people up to the snow fields you can see. They get like 150 + inches of snow each winter. Maybe more, I can't remember.

Wednesday - Awards banquet and the passing of the gavel. The festivities in our room before the banquet was one of the details Dad and I struggled with. It is customary for the outgoing president to give gifts to the board. We settled on travertine coasters we stamped and painted. Kristy helped us find the directions on line. They turned out so well that Dad thinks we could sell them. Thanks, Kristy! Everyone liked them.

I don't have photos of the banquet. Trust me, the gavel passed to Phil Pratt and Dad started to relax.

Thursday - We toured small farms with diverse crops and produce across the Columbia in and around Vancouver, Washington.

This is an area that the city offered 20'x20' plots for people to garden. It was interesting to see what people planted.

Part of this experiment in urban gardening included 2 acres of carrots. The hard part was that they weeded and were harvesting them by hand. The work was provided by volunteers and others doing community service. The carrots went to the local food bank.

We saw a cow/calf operation.

Another farm was 5 acres that had every foot planned out and used. They had lavender, blueberries, goats, and sheep. They sold raw goat milk, goat meat, yarn from their sheep, and a variety of preserves and other stuff that they made. We had lunch here that included "chevrie" or fresh goat cheese. The garlic cheese was pretty good.

Another farm was getting ready for their Fall activities. They had a maze, pick your own pumpkins and a store with all kinds of pickles, preserves, jams, jellies, and cookies made from their produce.

They were harvesting Indian corn and laying it out to dry. The colors were beautiful.

They had rows of wheel barrows ready for their customers to pick up their pumpkins.

Some of the pumpkins were pretty big.

We saw more goats and chickens at another farm.

They had 5 acres that were set up as a co-op. One share was $530 and bought you a box of fresh produce for 20 weeks.

Friday - Dad had meetings. After packing boxes and some souvenir shopping, I went to the Chinese Garden in downtown Portland to take photos and draw. This garden is behind walls and takes a whole block. It's very quiet and peaceful inside.

This is a lion dog that stands at the entrance to Chinatown.

This is the jacuzzi in our suite. It was bigger than the one in Greensboro. Here we are floating "boats" and playing the storm game. Unfortunately, the turbulance was not as impressive as the one in Greensboro. Everything just moved around in a circle.

And that's a very brief overview of our trip. Portland is a very different place. We got a taste of using mass transit. We got to spend an hour in Powell's, a four-floor used and new bookstore. We got to see many people living on the street. Most of all, we got to make friendships with people from all over the country during the meetings and tours. We are looking forward to Tulsa, next July.

We have walls!

2009-09-13T16:24:00.001-07:00

This could rightly be called the Week of the Wallboard. We have done little since the beginning of the Labor Day weekend but put up insulation and hang wallboard, go to work, and snatch random moments to do necessary laundry and dishes and meals. And drink GALLONS of water. And shower morning and evening on some days. Trust me, you don't want to sleep covered in sweat and chalk dust.

Okay, before you can put up walls, you have to put everything in the walls that makes everything work, like electrical wiring, plumbing, and air conditioning ductwork. There are elves who do this for a living. You go to work in the morning. When you come home that evening, all this stuff has been stapled to studs and run over the rafters. And lots of little blue boxes sprout from the framing in strange places.

They even do showers stalls.

It is no fair that the crane to deliver the air conditioner came just as I had to go to work. I didn't get to watch!

How many men does it take to place an air conditioning unit? 5 - one for each side of the unit and one to drive the crane to place it on the roof.

After all the wall's insides are in place, it has to be inspected. Then we got to put up the insulation. This was last Saturday, Sep 5. Dad and Matt stapled insulation.

Then we took a break to properly celebrate Labor Day. Since we couldn't go to the wash, we did the next best thing and brought the wash to our backyard. Steak, dutch oven potatoes and dutch oven biscuits! Yummy!

Charcoal doesn't smell as good as juniper but it works just fine on the ovens.

Labor Day came and we really did. Our home teachers, Mark and Michael Smith came to help and spent the day with us putting up the ceiling. It took us all.

By the end of Monday, most of the ceiling was up.

We finished the rest of the ceiling Monday and then worked on the walls all week. We'd take an hour in the morning at 5:30 when it was light and then pick up again at 5:30 in the evening. Some nights we got a 2 - 3 hours in, some nights just 1-2. Yesterday, Sep 12, we worked from 7 to 6 and are almost finished. We need some studs in one corner to finish up.

Matt got to play the drills and dremel (wonderful, magical tool that lets you cut around the little blue boxes and other openings after the board is on the wall.). He got quite proficient at the whole lift and drill routine. Did you know there is a neat foot tool that you slide under the bottom edge of the wallboard and then you step on it and it pushes the board up and into place?

Bedroom

Bathroom

Kangaroo Matt! Note the pouches that are useful for holding screws, steel tape, exacto knife, pencil, chalk line, and the occasional drill. Be careful! If you touch him, you will be covered in a cloud of chalk dust.

This is after 10 hours as the drywall crew.

Dry wall by the numbers

1 thunderstorm that showed us there were still leaks in the roof before the drywall went up.

2 different drills needed to properly do the job

3 steel tapes. They would congregate in odd places and then get moved back to where they would be useful.

1 dremel. See above comment. Rusty's had a neat attachment that kept the bit at the correct height while you drove it around the boxes. Or wrote out your name in Chinese in a chunk of wallboard.

1 arrow used to push fiber insulation behind the shower walls. Dad spent most of Friday evening and Saturday morning doing this.

upteen kazillion square feet of wall board hung.

Jeff n' Melanie's Party Part 2

2009-08-23T21:23:00.000-07:00

I know, I know. Tomorrow turned into like two weeks. Just blame it all on school. And all the adventures we’ve been having, which is part of the story I’m going to tell. I just can’t decide how to organize it.

Let’s start with where we left off. The Casa Grande party. Jeff and Melanie came in Thursday evening. Lyn and Stacie and their kids arrived Friday. Riley got to raise the basketball standards.

Matt and Dana drove down from Provo Friday evening. (all by themselves!) We decorated Friday evening and Saturday morning. Melanie’s parents, Larry & Janie Bird, came to our house for lunch Saturday afternoon, when we served pit cook meat and various side dishes.

The party Saturday evening was low-key and fun. People came in a slow but steady stream all evening. Jeff said he got to visit with people he hadn’t seen in a long time. Grandad sang “Waltz Across Texas” and “Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?” to the newlyweds.

He also got to dance with his newest granddaughter. It was fun and everything went well.

Everyone was gone after church on Sunday. We were glad they all got home safely. We’re really glad they took so much of the leftovers with them. I finally got the broccoli in the freezer Thursday night. We still have cheese slices and peas in the fridge.

These are the centerpieces we put on the tables. There's a small LED light and some filler stuff like Easter grass in the bowl surrounded by birds and kisses.

There are colored lights in the plants and in the swags. Dad and Jeff draped colored lights from the crown moulding on the long sides of the room. It all looked very nice when we were done. The colored lights were more summery than white lights would have been.

So we're back to having only Matt at home and school and work and the addition to the house and Portland and yearbook and . . .

Our Adventures in Plumbing

2009-08-23T21:03:00.000-07:00

First, We have outside walls, windows and doors. Dad and I framed around the windows and Matt finished up on the doors. We still have framing to put on the outside corners. The plumbers came Monday, Aug 17. They did preliminary work which involved moving all my stuff out of the master closet (attic access) and clearing everything out of the utility area (except the appliances) so they could access those pipes. Tuesday, they put in the lines in the addition.

Kitchen sinkWash roomPart of this job involved putting in new plastic lines for whole house so we aren’t using galvanized pipe anymore. We put in the piping in the new kitchen and the plumber was to tie it into the new stuff. He was also to repipe the washer/dryer area and put in a new front faucet outside. Part of the question was whether we had put in plastic when we redid the master bath and redid the bath in the kid’s bathroom. We were sure we did, but the plumber couldn’t find the pipes in the attic, So Wednesday, they began to look for the bathroom pipes in earnest. This involved cutting holes in the walls to determine what kind of piping we had. I came home from school to find five holes in various walls.

Front faucet - living roomUtility room

Kid's bathroom plus 2 in the master bath shelves.

We will put the pieces back in the walls and tape and texture and repaint. Friday, the plumber was back to install new bath exhaust fans in both bathrooms. The final result? We now have no galvanized pipe in the water system. The fridge ice machine is chuckling away at keeping the bin full and we have decent water pressure again. The electrician comes Monday or Tuesday.

It Rained! In the House!!!!

2009-08-23T20:50:00.000-07:00

You’re never sure how good the new roofing job is until it rains. We were glad there was no rain while the roof was open to the sky. We heaved a big sigh of relief once the shingles were on and tied into the old roof. Then it rained Thursday evening. We had drips in the master bedroom along the first beam. It wasn’t too bad. The roofers came out and did some stuff. We were set. Saturday morning at 4 am, we woke to rain and drips in our bedroom. This time it was on the second beam and was pretty steady. We had to move the bed and set out a line of buckets to catch drips and towels to catch splashes. We also discovered a very large damp spot, with some drips in girl’s room. We moved most of the books off the top self and all the boxes and other stuff that were on the floor under the spot out of the bedroom.

The roofers came Saturday morning and worked on the roof. We hope it’s fixed. We worked on restoring order to some of the chaos. My clothes are now back in the closet. We sorted through three boxes of stuff from the utility room and some of that is back on the shelves. Some of the plumbing patches are back in place, but not taped yet.

I am realizing that in addition to the addition, we need to paint the rest of the house as well. No telling when that will get done.

Random stuff:

Flashlights found on the shelves of the utility area. Don’t know how many of them actually work.

The Great box migration

The adventure continues!!!!!

What a Party!!!!

2009-08-09T16:50:00.000-07:00

Jeff and Melanie are married! It was a beautiful wedding. The two receptions are over. They were fun. We enjoyed meeting Melanie's family and having everyone together for an all too brief time. All together now *whew*!!!!! This is a collection of photos from the different events. Little commentary, lots of memories. We had fun. Note: this could also be called "Grandad and the little ones" or "A good party is never wasted".

Friday

Saturday

In the park

Dancing in the park!!!

At the temple

Party 1 in Boise

The man I love!

Hokey pokey anyone?
Rodney and Emma

Rodney and Corban

The Gibson Thespian Troupe

The get-away car.

The travel car

And they're gone.

I'm going to stop here. It's getting very long and I have dishes to do. Casa Grande tomorrow.

Houston, we have lift off!

2009-07-30T15:29:00.000-07:00

We haven’t said much about our planned addition because there were a number of snags that had to be cleared. But finally, it is happening.

This is what we left on Monday, July 13, when we went to Cheyenne.

This is what started the next week after we came home. Progress!

Ready for the cement.

We had Kristy, Josh, & Katelyn visiting last week. We got to play in the sprinkler, staple paper, play with balls and watch the construction, among other things, like shopping and sewing.

They did get to see the cement poured for the slab. The kids got a kick out of seeing the cement trucks and watching the whole process. Katelyn was fascinated by their big boots, especially when they walked right into the cement to shovel and smooth it. The downside was the fact that they started work at 5 am and they were NOT quiet.

Katelyn and Josh got to continue the Gibson tradition of always leaving your mark whenever wet cement is in place.

Then we had to wait for the cement to cure.

Tuesday, July 28, saw the wood delivered for the framing.
Wednesday, it all started. At 5 am. It’s an interesting experience having power saws ripping through rafters and roofing waking you before the sun is up. Two guys are working the framing. They start at 5 am and quit at 2 pm. Their daily progress is amazing to me. They certainly know their job.

Wednesday

Thursday: They put the trusses up today, which was fascinating to watch. I thought they would use a crane. All it took was four guys and a notched 2 x 4. The trusses were upside-down on the walls. The guy with the 2 x 4 pushed up on the center of the truss. A guy on each end lined the ends up on the wall and a guy up on the rafters nailed a stringer along the ridge line to hold it in place. Once the trusses were up, then a guy went along the ends and nailed the beams securely to the walls.

They are putting the roof on and the working on inside walls. Dad has decided not to tackle the shingles, but we will be putting up wallboard in about 2 weeks. Anybody want to help? Bring a hammer.

Roaming Wyoming

2009-07-19T16:05:00.000-07:00

We are back from our trip north. We enjoyed seeing a part of the country that is new to us. Southeastern Wyoming is pretty. Pretty flat, pretty sparse on trees, pretty windy, and full of pretty scenery.

This jet hangs in the atrium of C Concourse at the Denver Airport. Dad is standing under it. Pretty cool!

It was quite impressive to drive north out of Denver with the Rockies on the left and the prairie on the right. We watched the mountains sink below the horizon by the time we got to Cheyenne. Then there was nothing but rolling hills, grass, and a whole lot of sky.

We were in Cheyenne for a SARE meeting. The focus is on "sustainable agriculture" which usually means ag with few or no chemicals, small farms, and alternate ways of growing produce. We've been to these meetings before, but not in the last few years due to conflicts with NACAA in the summer. There is always a day of tours to different farms and ranches and then a day of meetings.

Our day of tours was a loop that went north out of Cheyenne and then east along the Platte River and then back west to Cheyenne. We drove by Fort Laramie. The road follows part of the immigrant trail on the north side of the Platte. We later found a map that had the "Mormon" trail marked. The Saints came through this area to this fort for supplies on their way west. We asked the local agent if you could see where the trails went. He said no, but on his ranch, which was along the river, he knew of places where you could, only he wasn't telling anyone about them.

We saw two grass-fed beef ranches, an organic co-op farm, and the University of Wyoming experimental farm that is exploring different crop rotations and doing feeding studies on cattle, among other things.

We also saw about four of these. Guess what they are. Uncle Frank could probably get it. These are unmanned missile silos. I guess they are spotted all over Wyoming and Nebraska.

Dad likes the manure part of the tours. In this case, it's part of the composting system this farmer uses.

Don't you love the front porch? The wife of this rancher teaches K-6 long distance on her computer to students all over Wyoming.

This is called a track truck. The answer to delivering feed to cattle over 4 feet of snow.

This is the view from the front porch. M-m-m-m.

The next day, Dad did his meetings and I explored Cheyenne. It's a nice town. Fairly easy to navigate, not very big (thank heavens), and beautiful weather. There are a lot of trains in Cheyenne. (I know, I know, that's why Cheyenne exists. Very similar to how Casa Grande came into being.) Lots of cowboys and a distinct western flavor to everything. They were setting up for their Frontier Days this weekend and next week. And lots of military. Evidently there's an airbase in Cheyenne. We were informed that they have no planes or airport at this base. It exists for training and missile support.

There are about 18 of these boots around Cheyenne. Each one is painted differently and has a different theme. They are 8' high and for $3000 you can have one of your own painted to your specifications. Proceeds go to the Frontier Days museum.

I went to a train museum, the state capitol, the state museum and did some drawing in the afternoon. You get a good feel for how small the population is in Wyoming when you walk into the capitol building. The door to the governor's office is right by the front door. I'm sure you wouldn't find the same setup in Phoenix or Salt Lake.

Cheyenne by the numbers:

2 - milk cans used to cook lunch for the tour. Wyomings version of a low country boil. Warning - don't put the lid on tight or lunch will explode.

6 - members in the mariachi group that sang for us at dinner Wednesday evening.

5 - boots I found during my wanderings in Cheyenne.

0 - days the wind didn't blow. I was assured the wind ALWAYS blows in Cheyenne.

On the way back to Denver, we drove up to Estes Park through some very twisty canyons. We went from 6,000 feet elevation to 10,000 feet and then back down to the flat lands. Beautiful country.

So we're home. We're anticipating Kristy's visit this week and then I'm off to San Diego for yearbook camp. The week after, we'll see everyone in Boise. Whew!!! What a summer.

The Secret Garden has a doorway

2009-07-12T23:22:00.000-07:00

It's finished! It's done! I'm sure you were all just positive that it would never happen. But it has, so there.

What's done? The trellis. The trellis that Jeff drew the plans for. The trellis that Jeff and Matt buried the foundation blocks for. The trellis Matt and Dad cut the lumber for. The trellis that Matt and Dad stained the pieces of and it sat in the backyard for weeks. It's done.

It took Dad and I a couple of weeks and the main part of two Saturdays to get it completed. We've stared at levels until our eyes cross. We've become adept at clamping braces and drilling in screws. Dad's A-1 modification for the base braces is absolutely beautiful. In the process of completing that modification, he made a 2"x 2" out of a piece of 2" x 4". (Sorry, random trivia)

(This is the view out the kitchen window.)

So now we wait for the rose bushes to come in. Dad ordered climbing roses from Phil Bond. They will be planted on both sides of the trellis and we're going to train them up over the top.

Why, you may ask, "Secret Garden"? How many of you spent quiet hours on a blanket or in a chair in this side area? Now it's Dad's turn. A man has to put his garden wherever he can when he loses his garden in the backyard.

It's a Wedding!!!!!

2009-06-21T15:57:00.000-07:00

What it is about Gibson's and the special events in their lives? We can't seem to do things quietly and calmly. We make cakes, send sonograms, proclaim the news as we walk in the door. Little did we know that Dana and Matt's move north would turn into something else entirely.

We expected to see Jeff and Melanie after we arrived at Rodney's Wednesday night. Although it was after 10, they were anxious to come over. We were sitting and talking about stuff when Jeff asked when I start school (Note here: This is my remembery of events. The details will be different from someone else, but the gist will be the same.) I told him August 5th and he wanted to know what I would be doing the weekend before. When I asked why he said that it had something to do with this and he pulled Melanie's hand forward. There's a beautiful engagement ring and they both wore big smiles.

We were all excited about the news. We're glad to have Melanie in the family. She and Jeff go well together. The bad part of this is that Marja was in the kitchen when this went down and had to hurry back to catch up on events.

So, the stage is set for another family get-together. The wedding will be August 1 in the Boise temple. There will be a reception in Boise after the wedding and one in Casa Grande August 8. Everyone is moving into high gear to take care of details. There won't be a long receiving line. There will be dancing. Jeff has requested a chocolate fountain at the Boise reception and a pit cook in Casa Grande. Melanie's colors are rose red and daisy yellow. We'll have more information as the day gets closer.

Melanie and Jeff talked with Grandad and Grandma Gibson on Skype Friday morning after their photography session. We were able to meet Melanie's parents Friday night. They were on their way to Park City and detoured to Provo so we could get together.

This is a good beginning to a summer of frentic activity. We'll have lots of things to do before August 1. We'll need to coordinate family travel and make plans for Boise. We are looking forward to this wedding.

I do have a few words for those of you who called while we were traveling north. It was a surprise to have you ask how the trip was going. I didn't know taking Dana and Matt to Provo was of such interest to their siblings. I'm sorry we took so long on the trip that you couldn't talk to us after we received the news, but it's only fair, since you knew the news before your parents.

The Real Reason we went to Provo

2009-06-21T14:16:00.001-07:00

We are now "empty-nesters". Well, only temporarily. Dana and Matt are transplanted in beautiful, rainy, Utah valley and Dad and I are home.

We loaded up the car and drove up on Wednesday, June 17. As you can see, the car was really loaded. Trust me, the trunk was FULL. We had a good trip. The weather was cool. We stopped off at Lee's Ferry to pay homage, as Dad puts it, to those early ancestors who crossed the Colorado at that point.

Rain does have benefits. More than reviving thirsty plants. Why are rainbows so fun?

We arrived at Rodney & Marja's about 10:30 pm, tired, a little damp, but very glad to share Jeff and Melanie's news with them.

We parked Dana in Alpine Court Apts on Thursday. Took about 3 trips up the stairs to the third floor to get everything up to her room. No one was in, but they had left a note welcoming her.

Matt went to SLC with Jeff to catch the wedding of one of his companions in the SL temple.

Friday, I did grocery shopping for Dana while Dad and the boys had adventures in Spanish Fork and Springville. The shopping was fun. Macey's has all kinds of neat stuff. I'm talking food storage stuff, although the bath poof critters were cute. Dad found an old friend who works with rocks gone from his shop and Jeff couldn't find the printer he was assured was in Springville. The address was in the middle of an alfalfa field.

We got Matt's books and moved him into his room. Sorry, Dana took photos, I didn't, but if you've seen one cinderblock-walled dorm room, you've seen them all.

We met Melanie's parents Friday night as they stopped on their way to Park City. Then Saturday, Dad and I were headed south again. In the rain. We had fun along the way with a motorcycle "gang".

We spent about an hour in their company, either behind them or in the middle of them before we could pass them. This was between Hatch and Junction. This are not a lot of passing lanes through the canyons there. They were riding along about the speed limit. There was about 12-15 cycles, most carrying double riders. Got very frustrating.

We got home about 5:30, Arizona time, and were able to get unpacked and back into the groove.

There is one good thing to come out of this change. I am getting faster at texting. We had text sessions going with Matt and Dana on the way home, mostly checking of move-in questions. But Dana helped speed the day along.

About Kanab came a message, "Mom, how do you make no-bakes?" "Call your sisters."

Then Flagstaff, "Mom, how do you make no-bakes?" "I don't remember. We'll be home in 3 hours."

Then Phoenix. Low battery signal. "Are you home yet?" "1 hour. Low battery." "So? Tell Dad to put the pedal to the metal." "He's pedalling as fast as he can." "What. Dad's speeding?" "LOL" "No! I forbid you to use LOL."

Riggs Road. "Are you there yet?" "20 minutes. What is this? 'Are we there yet?'." "Sure!"

We laughed. It sure helped Dad and I stay awake and alert the last bit to home. She did finally get the recipe and the cookies turned out fine.

So Matt and Dana are spreading their wings and Dad and I are going to learn how to do things with just the two of us again. Life is good.

It's Emma's turn!

2009-06-10T21:37:00.000-07:00

Same event. Different place and people. Same fun. Does that make you feel like you are interchangeable? Naw, you are all unique and we're glad it's that way. So . . . Ohio. Beautiful weekend. Nice temperatures and, as Dana says, "It's green!"

Dana and I flew into Columbus on Thursday evening and were able to spend the next three days with Katie & Michael and kids. We enjoyed playing with Jacob and Rachel. Had a good time at the zoo and really got a kick out of watching the menagerie that lives in their backyard. Sorry. When all you're used to seeing is lizards, occasional cats and birds, and the odd scorpion, squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, and cardinals are very interesting.

Our trip to the zoo was fun, especially for Jacob and the boatride. He was so enthralled by the boats that he watched them more than the animals. I liked the aquarium and the clear sides that let you see all the fish.

One afternoon we played in the backyard, blew bubbles, watered the garden and other stuff.

The fun doubled Saturday evening when Peter and Kristy and family and the Simpson grandparents came in. Katelyn and Josh moved right in and all the cousins had fun playing together.

The blessing Sunday went off without a hitch. Emma was quiet during the whole thing and didn't protest until we took pictures. Sound familiar?

We had a great time, just visiting and talking about families, jobs and other stuff. It's amazing what kind of conversation you can have about someone's cell phone directory. Ask Dana about it.

One thing we girls decided was that we need a girl's day, night, or weekend (right, Janessa?). We just need to figure out when and where. We realize that may need to be postponed a bit until the babies are bigger and can be left with daddies, but put your thinking caps on and let's see what we can come up with.

A note to close with. I am just a little annoyed when the pilot of my airplane does a sales pitch over the intercom for a company credit card. It's bad enough that my knees are scrunched and it's a four hour flight. I just wish I had my caller ID so I could "Mo-o-o!" back.

Richard the Fourth

2009-05-31T20:55:00.000-07:00

So the fourth Richard Gibson has been added to the line. What fun. Dad and I went out to Dallas and its environs to attend the happy event. We flew into Dallas in the middle of thunderclouds and then spent 2 hours struggling with map directions from the internet and Texas highway reality to make a 45 minutes trip down to Mansfield to spend the weekend with Craig, Janessa and the kids.

Mansfield is a nice little town. We enjoyed the clouds, the greenery, the critters (saw squirrels and rabbits), the rain and the company. Craig has some swallows that have taken up residence in the roof of their patio. It's a beautiful nest. They like to perch on the fan and go around as the wind blows the vanes.

Janessa's family came in on Saturday also so there were cousins galore and lots of talking, stories and food which makes for a good visit. Craig grilled hamburgers and hotdogs Saturday evening and we had Janessa's yummy enchiladas (in three versions: chicken, beef, and veggie) Sunday.

Corban slept through his blessing and Sacrament meeting. When it came time for pictures he was ready for dinner and yelled through the whole thing.

We got to take time for walks on Sunday and Monday before everyone took off. Sunday evening was fun with lightning bugs and rain. Monday was cool and a nice stretch of the legs before we had to leave for the airport. It was too short. We'll have to go back.

Does he not look like his Daddy? I've got find the baby pictures!

IT'S FOR REAL!!!! As if there was any doubt.

2009-05-03T18:03:00.000-07:00

As Jeff commented, he can now put "Engineer" on his resume instead of "student". It was a fun weekend and I'm sorry I'm so slow on this. The end of school is always crazy. I can see all your heads nodding in agreement.

We had a great visit in Provo. The weather, as usual, played along and gave us a beautiful graduation day that degenerated into a wet, snowy weekend just for Dana's benefit. Heaven knows that the rest of Provo and environs was heartily tired of the white fluffy stuff. Allison Leybas spent her Spring break from Alpine Elementary just the week before in Arizona with her Mom and Dad because she was tired of the snow. I know, Peter, there's no accounting for taste.

Back to Jeff and the reason we were in Provo in the first place. Elizabeth and Grandparents Larsen went with us (us being Mom, Dad, Matt and Dana) to the Smith Field House to watch the commencement excercises for the School of Engineering. It was a very nice program and it moved along nicely. I guess they have to if they have 3 or 4 taking place in the same building and you have to move all those people in and out in a timely manner.

We were sitting and waiting for "Pomp and Circumstance" when I realized that we had failed to find out from Jeff which side he would be on. Someone said to just look for a real tall graduate. That lasted about the first 30 seconds. Do you know how many tall robed men there were? And quite a few were taller than Jeff. However, we found him and watched him walk. So now it's official. He's a grad student! Check out our graduate.

We got together at Rodney & Marja's Friday evening for dinner. Jeff cooked the steaks and Marja and Whitney provided the salads and dessert. Austin and his fiancee came with Whitney and Craig. Jeff's friend, Melanie Bird, came also to share the event.

We had a good time, although it was too short. Dad and I came home Saturday morning. Dad was officiating at Marilyn Cooper's wedding in the afternoon and I was taking my editors to meet with the Herff-Jones artist to create our cover for next year's yearbook. Matt and Dana stayed over until Sunday evening. Dad's instructions to Jeff were to show them a typical BYU weekend. From what I've gathered, they helped Melanie move, went bowling, walked to church in the rain and walked out in snow. Sounds typical to me.

We enjoyed the visit. We enjoyed meeting Melanie and spending time with Jeff and the rest of the Larsen clan. We are very grateful to Rodney and Marja for opening their home for us. Let's see. . . what's next? Oh yes, baby blessings. The fun never ends.

Two Not So Easter Stories

2009-04-12T19:19:00.000-07:00

Story #1

There was a contest at Dad's office for all the staff. It was a coloring contest. Everyone was given two Easter eggs on paper to color. They cut them out, put their names on the back and voted on the best one. There was a prize involved, which stimulated the competitive juices to a high degree. Dad colored his first one at the office with crayons, but he brought the second one home, seeking some artistic input from his wife and daughter. He wouldn't let us help, but we could advise.

He took me up on the offer of colored pencils. We talked about the colors to use, which I then selected and he set to work. Dana thought this was great and grabbed the camera. It's not often you see a 61-year old man coloring an Easter egg.

Although I offered to help speed up the process, Dad was adamant that he do it all himself. The ladies at the office were being really strict about this. We thought the finished product looked very nice. He did a good job of staying inside the lines. Sometimes, you have to. Evidently, the people at the office really liked Dad's work, because he won the contest. When it was discovered who had won, there were cries of unfair advantage and how he must have had help, which were only somewhat in jest. We never did find out what the prize was because Dad gave it to the secretaries and never did see it opened.

Story #2

We had a hunt in our backyard on Friday, but it wasn't for Easter eggs. It was for a septic tank. We are beginning an addition to the house and needed to find the septic tank and "take care of it". This means poking holes in the top and bottom so water won't collect in it. Matt and Dana did some preliminary digging in the garden. They got down about four feet but were only hitting caliche, not a tank cover. How deep was the swimming pool you guys dug out there that one summer?

Friday morning, Rusty Riggs brought in the big guns, er shovel. Dad said, "You've got neighbors." When I looked out the window, this is was I saw.

It was a very amazing process, watching the driver inch the backhoe into the yard between the house and the shop. He put out the shovel as far as he could, pushed it into the ground and used the hydraulics to pull the cab into place.This is how close the cab was to the buildings on either side.

Once the driver was set, the hunt was on. He started by digging up the garden area. It was much faster than Matt and Dana and fewer blisters. No septic tank.

After some discussion, they moved closer to the lawn. No tank. Closer to the orange tree. No tank.

After more consideration about the lay of things and the sewer pipe, they tried again, in front of the shop. Bingo!

The sewer pipe ran across the top of the tank. They carefully moved the lid and proceeded to "poke" holes in the tank with the backhoe. Every time they hit that thing, the house vibrated. Finally they were finished and filled everything in. Then the driver carefully inched back out and they were gone.

We meet with Rusty Monday evening to talk about scheduling and other stuff. So it begins.

It's been four weeks and what do we have?

2009-02-15T18:40:00.000-08:00

Let's play a game. Look at the two pictures and see if you can tell what is different between them. The clutter on the counter doesn't count.

Look closely.

Ready? You may have picked out the microwave above the stove. Matt, Dana and I hung it Thursday evening.

Anything else? "En-n-nt" (That's a buzzer sound, in case you can't tell) Time's up! There isn't anything else that you can see. It's a trick question. For about a week we had a beautiful kitchen as you can see in the first photo BUT no water and no electricity. The electricity was finished on Friday. The water was connected on Thursday but we had sediment blocking the flow until Saturday. Now, it all works. I cooked dinner with the stove and microwave and we are running our inaugural batch of dishes in the dishwasher as I type this. It doesn't seem real in some ways. I know Janessa asked about being able to cook on a real stove again. I have to admit that it was a bit of an adjustment to use more than one burner at the same time. And the water was hot in less that five minutes!

So this is the new kitchen. We still need to attach handles to the doors and drawers and finish the floor under the fridge and freezer. The appliance garage had to be reordered. We need to move back in. It certainly makes the kitchen much bigger. More room for bodies.

I have been warned that it won't stop with the kitchen. The rest of the house will look shabby and need to be redone. I hope not for a while. Now you all need to come visit so you can see the end result. The best part? I can put the roaster up in a cupboard and leave it there.

New Kitchen Part 3

2009-02-03T20:14:00.000-08:00

We are beginning our 3rd week of chaos. Actually, semi-chaos. The gritty, dust-all-over-the-house, trip-over-extension-cords part is mostly over. There is still dust in odd corners and still an extension cord plugged into the freezer, but we are making progress.

We smoothed over the new wallboard with mud. Then we sanded it all down. The plastic sheeting kept the dust localized.
Then we textured all the new stuff. I finally
got the hang of it towards the end.
That was Monday, last week.

Tuesday - We took the rough edges off the texturing, primed it and painted the ceiling and the walls. We got finished about 1 am. FYI - the kitchen walls are NOT white. They are "moonlight white", a very, very, very, very light yellow.

We did find time to celebrate Dana's
birthday on Tuesday. For the first time ever, she had enough chocolate and pizza to last a lo-o-o-ng time. We were reduced to lighting one lone match and sticking it in her cake since the candles are buried in a box somewhere.

Wednesday - The cabinet guy came in and installed
cabinets. I came home from school that afternoon and the kitchen was no longer a great, big emptiness. Matt even got to help set the shelves. The cabinet guy's name is Rick. He spends his winters here, doing cabinet installations. He lives in Alaska the rest of the time. Has a 4500 sq ft custom-built log home, spent his early years working on the oil line and building homes in his off-hours, and never stops talking. A very nice gentleman, and very helpful as we make this transition to a new kitchen.

So now we have cabinets. Very beautiful cabinets. They are cleaned out and the shelves are in most of them. They have no handles yet, but we'll take care of that. And I can begin moving stuff back in. The only problem is . . . I don't know where to put things. The whole layout is different.

Monday, they installed the countertop. It all fits together, the paint, the cabinets, the countertop, and the floor tile.

We ordered the stove, microwave/vent, and the dishwasher last night and they will be delivered Friday. Then we get to assemble it all. Lots of details to take care of, but we're on the downhill side of events. Wow!

New Kitchen Part Two

2009-01-25T14:14:00.000-08:00

We had a special visit this week while we're under construction. Lynn and Riley dropped by. They came to Casa Grande to spend a few days with Grandma and Grandad Gibson. Riley warmed up when we shared gold fish crackers. He discovered the fact that he could go around the hall and kitchen in a circle. The only thing preventing him from running that circle, like his cousins, was the wallboard on the kitchen floor, which he couldn't walk over.

We finished taking down the soffits around the kitchen. I guess I should say that Dana and Matt took down the soffits. The wood still looks new and is good and solid. I look at it and wonder what we could use it for. I really don't want to take it to the dump.

While Matt worked on the soffit over the refridgerator, Dana and I took out the rest of the cabinets and the sink. The electrician needed an open area to run wiring and put in plugs, etc.

Rusty Riggs is our general contractor, head honcho, and mentor. He was kind enough to stay till midnight on Friday, helping us with the taping and mudding of the new wallboard and building an extension for the ductwork.

So here we are. Soffits all gone. New walboard up. Outlets and plugs in place. We're ready to paper and mud. We finished the first coat about 2:45 am Saturday, set the blower, and fell into bed by 3 am.

We spent Saturday morning catching up on chores and waiting for the mud to dry. Late that afternoon, we began to sand. We got a lot of tips from people when we were getting ready for this project and the best one, so far, was to close off the area when we worked with the wallboard. We duct taped plastic along the ceiling between the family room and the kitchen and closed off the living room door. It was a good thing, too. That dust went everywhere. Our hair and clothing and faces were covered in it. We borrowed a shopvac to clean it up, but there's still dust in odd places. We got the second layer of mud up and tomorrow, Monday, we texture the new stuff.

Here is the old kitchen. We need to sort out whatever we can recycle and take the rest to the city dump. I told Dad he couldn't turn the kitchen sink into a planter in the front yard.

One comment. When we started into this and discussed what would happen and how we would deal with the disruption, my original thought was, "This will be easy. It will be just like camping." No, it's not! Camping works because you're not doing anything else. This situation involves juggling work and other activities with the construction stuff and trying to figure out what to eat that isn't take-out or sandwiches all the time. But, we are FLEXIBLE!!!!!

New Kitchen Day 1

2009-01-20T18:19:00.000-08:00

Well . . . it's started! I know, I know. We've talked about it for such a lo-o-ong time, but this is for real. I have pictures! So here goes. No comments about the clutter. It took days to go through all the cupboards. We are clearing things for the electrician who will be here tomorrow morning - 7:30 am to rewire for the new stove, the dishwasher, the disposal, the undercabinet lights, and the overheads. Take a deep breath and say good-bye to most of what you remember about the family kitchen.

Before

Now we've gone through ALL the cabinets (more about that later) and we are ready to remove, demolish, alter, modify. What other verbs would be appropriate?

Matt began by removing the doors. This made it easier to see where things were screwed together.

Then we pried the frames from the soffit.

Once we did one side, we then did the same to the other side.

The next step was to remove the front wallboard all the way around the soffit so

the electrician can see where the wiring comes down from the ceiling. Matt got pretty slick at taking the wallboard down.

Imagine our surprise (not) when we opened it up and the insulation was sitting there. We will have to remove the entire soffit before they will be able to put in the new cabinets. Also imagine our surprise (for real) when we discovered trails in the insulation. Remember the mouse problem we had years ago?

After taking down the upper cabinets, we took out the stove. The dark stain in the right-hand corner is scorch marks?!!!! Don't know when. I do know it wasn't there when the stove was put in. That might explain why the breaker popped.

Dana finally got her chance to wield a sledge hammer.

I think all the renovation shows just fed this desire to destroy something with blunt force. After we took off the countertop, Dana and Matt took a sledge to the cabinet. What fun!

Right Now This Evening! This is what we have. It still seems unreal, but, one thing I know for sure, there's no way to put it back the way it was. We can only go forward!

Kitchen remodeling by the numbers - Part 1

18 water bottles - found in the corner cabinet
6 kinds of hot sauce - from the cooking spice cabinet
2 bottles of bubbles - I don't know where they were hidden. They just appeared.
1 unopened package of raisins - expiration date 2006
8 half-eaten packages of crackers from the cereal cupboard
1 fun-size box of Fiber 1 cereal - unopened. Wonder why?
13 boxes of kitchen gear and assorted paraphanalia
4 BIG boxes of stuff for DI

We did keep the Barney bowl and the yellow bowls but not the sippy bowls or all the chipped plates.

The new cabinets are supposed to arrive next Monday. We'll see what happens. Definitely interesting times.

Christmas really happened!

2009-01-11T13:26:00.000-08:00

It's only a week and a half ago that the last grandchildren and parent left, but it seems longer and shorter depending. Christmas was a wonderful two-week collection of family, food, and fun. Lots of laughter, teasing, games and catching up.

Kristy, Katelyn and Josh arrived Dec 18. I finished up school, Dana worked on her room and we were all involved in helping Grandad with Grandma. Grandma (Lee) broke her ankle Dec 17 and required help moving between chair, wheelchair, and bedroom. Peter arrived Sunday, Dec 21. We did find time to make tamales on Monday with Grandad. Dana's room was finished Tuesday, just in time for Craig, Janessa, Grace and Abby. Craig & Janessa let us know that Craig Jr. will arrive in May. We're excited about that. The more the merrier. Jeff arrived Tuesday evening, just behind the storms that swept through Utah and northern AZ.

We did a pit cook on Wednesday. We also helped move grandparents into an assisted living home while Grandma's ankle heals. The "boys" were great about moving furniture and other essentials. I got to Christmas shop and wrap.

Katie, Michael, Jacob and Rachel arrived Wednesday evening. The luminarios were lit, the outside lights were on and the pile under the tree was growing. We had EVERYONE home for about 20 hours. It was a wonderful, noisy houseful.

Stockings were hung. Christmas jammies were opened. More presents were wrapped. Lots of Mario Cart and computer games.

Christmas morning began about 7pm as small voices began to sound. Stockings first. What treasures for little ones. Then the tree and the ocean of presents under it. We started out slow, watching each present being opened. That gradually changed. Uncle Matt was kind enough to find presents for the grandchildren. The adults were content to watch the children open their presents. They got to their gifts after the children were through and settled playing. One of the simplest gifts that was the most appreciated was Rachel's box of kleenex. Her face was sheer joy as she got to pull out the tissues and no one stopped her.

We took family photos this year, with the help of Matt's tripod and the timer on Mom's camera. Not too bad.

Here's the grandchildren. Won't be six for long with Katie's baby due in March and Janessa's in May.

Kristy and Peter took their small ones off to Idaho for Will's wedding Christmas afternoon. We celebrated Craig's 30th birthday on Friday with a steak fry. Lots of steak and potato cake. Lots of steak sandwiches for the next week. One very intense Uno session. Great fun.

Craig and family left Saturday. Michael flew back to Ohio on Sunday. Jeff stayed until Tuesday. He and Matt worked on projects for Dad, one of which was setting up a board for Dad's train set. Dad and Jacob spent most of Tuesday and Wednesday playing with the trains and eating oranges. We did build gingerbread houses with Jacob and Rachel. Katie and kids left Wednesday evening and we were suddenly back to just four of us. Wow!

It was a wonderful time. It was long anticipated and I believe the reality lived up to the expectations. Everyone was willing to share bedrooms, bathrooms, car seats, and vehicles. We are very blessed and grateful for family. My only regret is that we can't do this more often. Every two or three years seems too long to wait.

Merry Christmas

Happy New Year!

I love a parade!

2008-12-02T20:50:00.000-08:00

Grandad and Matt have all the fun! They got to ride on a float in the Junior Parada in Florence last Saturday. They got to wear hats, bandanas, and wave at the crowd. Matt got the best job. He got to throw candy to the crowd. Can't beat that.

Check these two handsome dudes out. Make sure you catch the sign. Grandad was the guest of honor for the CAC float.

Does it bring back memories? Check out the Shriners cars.

If you recall, the parade lasts all of fifteen minutes. But it's fun and nobody is taking themselves seriously.

Messiah spirit

2008-12-02T20:47:00.001-08:00

It has happened once again. At least once during all the practices for our community presentation of the Messiah, the Spirit bears witness that the words we are singing are true. It's never with the same song and never at the same time, but you can count on having the experience sometime.

It is a testimony to me of the power of music and the inspiration Handel enjoyed as he created this series of moving pieces.

She's gone!

2008-10-08T22:02:00.000-07:00

She came into our lives one April evening in 1995. She disappeared one night about two weeks ago. I'm talking about "Momma Cat". She hadn't looked well for a couple of weeks. She was slowing down. She wasn't as spry. We figured it was old age. Then on a Saturday, she looked so bad we took her to the vet. She was dehydrated and you could feel her ribs. They drew blood and sent us home with our own container of Ringers lactated IV solution and sufficient needles to give her an IV twice a day until she began to eat and drink again. We did this for a couple of days and she began to look better. (Did you know that animal skin will pull away from the muscle when they're dehydrated. You can give an IV subcutaneously and the bubble of fluid will absorb into the muscle.) For about a week everything was normal and then she began to fade. We had a couple of days where she didn't move from her spot in the ivy, even to eat. When we checked on her one evening she was gone. We looked all over the yard, the neighbors yard, across the street. No cat. She never came back. So she's gone, after 13 years, 3 kittens and countless doves and lizards.

I'm glad to finally have NO ANIMALS to care for for the first time in what seems like forever. Dana's glad she didn't have to watch the cat die. Dad's a little disappointed we didn't get to add her remains to the collection under the apricot tree.

Labor Day at the wash

2008-09-02T20:55:00.000-07:00

We have made our annual trek to the Park Wash for the Reidhead reunion. This year was a minimal wash experience. No tents, no s'mores, no sitting around the fire at night, no stars. But, we got to visit with Craig, Janessa and the girls and we were able to help Grandad get to Sacrament Meeting so it was successful. I don't know if there were any wild grapes this year. We didn't even look.

We arrived at the cabin late Friday night. Craig and his family were already there. Saturday am, after Grandad's wonderful sourdough biscuits for breakfast, we loaded up the water cans and headed to the wash. We set up a tarp and unloaded the chairs and ice chest. Dad was ramrodding a branding activity so he took off. Nothing too crazy. He has a small branding iron with John Reidhead's brand that he would heat up and then anyone who wanted to could brand a slice of juniper for their very own. Grace was very interested in just what Grandad was doing.

There were several games for the kids this year. A balloon toss, a three-legged race (which we did NOT get involved with) and others. The best was the Easter egg hunt. It was divided by age groups and there were LOTS of eggs. The girls made quite a haul.

The Craig Gibson's headed to Albuquerque about noon and we just vegged in camp until it was time to cook Dutch oven potatoes for dinner. We had enough coals and time left over, so Dana sweet-talked her dad into cooking a batch of biscuits. It was great.

The weather was cool all day Saturday with lots of clouds. We went back to the cabin that night. Sunday morning, it rained . . . and rained . . . and rained. It was wonderful! Dad and Grandad went to church while Dana and I stayed with Grandma. Lunch was hamburgers with tomatoes from the garden and sweet corn.

We always enjoy the wash and all the people and friends and food. This year was different, but still fun.

He's Home!

2008-09-02T20:39:00.000-07:00

It's not a dream. It's for real, as was so quietly murmured today about noon. Matt has returned home from Arcadia, California. He looks and sounds great. The baptism on Sunday that he and his companion participated in was a wonderful way to end his mission. We're excited to have him home and now it's full steam ahead, after a couple of days adjusting to heat, no 24-hour shadow, being able to take off your shoes, and listening to music other than Tab choir.

Check out the luggage that came home. The front part is Matt's name. Across the back of both is a sticker that give the "no other success" quote in Mandarin symbols.

Dana took Matt off to Institute tonight. We'll see how that goes. And yes, to silence all the speculation, Matt has a bedroom with a bed, made up and ready to sleep in, a closet with hangers, and an empty chest-of-drawers to fill.

Matt is scheduled to speak in Sacrament Meeting on the 14th and all are invited. Our meeting begins at 11 pm. We're looking forward to it. He promises to speak longer than 4 minutes.

Las Cruces and other trips in June

2008-06-29T20:36:00.000-07:00

The last time I tried to post, I got an error message. I can only hope that this time around everything works as it should.

We'll start with the most recent trip and work back from there. We went over to Las Cruces to help out with Brad & Elizabeth's open house at home. We helped turned Mom's backyard into a fairyland with about a kazillion ivy bowls with tealights hanging everywhere in the trees and shrubbery and from the fence. The temperature moderated as the sun went down. Then a thunderstorm cell came through and closed things down just as the party was ending. The backyard cleared in about 5 minutes and all the decorations, refreshments, tables & chairs, etc moved inside. We had a good time and got to see old neighbors and cousins.

During our preparations and shopping I decided that we needed to fill a deficiency that Dana has been experiencing since we live in Arizona. We proceeded to buy a bunch of sparklers and other fireworks, which we used, watched and played with in the backyard at about 10 pm after the storm had blown through. Sparklers are still fun after all these years.

Saturday morning Brad was introduced to breakfast at White Sands. He thought the beach was okay but the heat was just too much. We cooked breakfast over wood fires which was a unique experience. We got the obligatory photo of Dana sliding down the dune. We even got away without too much sand caught in pockets and rolled pant legs.

The second week in June, Dana went to girl's camp and Rick and I went to Albuquerque. Rick had two different meetings back to back, so he met and I explored Albuquerque and Santa Fe. We did get a chance to go up the tram to Sandia Peak, which was fun. It got very cold at the top as the sun went down, which shouldn't be too surprising since it's 10,000 feet in the air.

My time was spent in shopping, which was fun since I found a small Christmas shop in Old Town, Albuquerque, and in taking photos. There are a lot of interesting little alleys and doorways just begging to be drawn or painted. I did the same thing in Santa Fe, but I also got a chance to sit and sketch the main square for an hour. FYI: Old town Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and Old Mesilla all look the same. A square, a church or two and an inordinate number of shops crammed into all kinds of spaces.

We are now preparing for the BIG trip to Greensboro, NC. We have our checklists and Dad is stressing even more. Only 11 days!

What a week in Cache Valley!

2008-06-08T21:45:00.000-07:00

We have spent a very wet, cold and fun week in Logan. We got the cake made, Elizabeth is now officially Sister Hansen and we got squeaky cheese from the cheese factory.

This is probably a story Brad and Elizabeth will tell their children. It rained all week until we walked out of the temple after the wedding. The clouds broke. We had sunshine. Temperatures rose a little. The reception took place at Von's Park. Friday morning it was raining again.

Dana and I spent Wednesday making a three-layer German chocolate cake for the groom's cake. It was beautiful and there was nothing left after the reception. It was great.

Aunt Melinda made the wedding cakes Thursday morning and had every kind of disaster possible take place. She perservered and the cakes looked lovely and tasted great. White chocolate with raspberry filling.

The wedding was very nice. A room full of Hansens and Larsens. Elizabeth and Brad were relaxed. The sealer, Br. Lind, was very good and presented some new insights into eternal marriage.

The park for the reception was just the right size for the festivities. Everyone helped assemble everything. We had fun. We broke it down afterwards and shipped it all off to Grand Junction for the open house there on Saturday evening. Jeff was intrigued by everything. Having missed our family weddings, he was surprised to learn how little input the groom really has in the reception.

Everyone left on Friday, so the four of us, Rick, Jeff, Dana and myself did a grand tour of Cache Valley. We saw the Martin Harris memorial, stopped at Gossner's cheese factory for squeaky cheese and mango milk, drove up to the Bear Lake overlook and then stopped at the Wind Cave trail in Logan Canyon. We had a fun hike up to the cave along a muddy, gloppy trail. It was like going up CG Mountain except the scenery was better and greener. It was certainly muddier and more slippery coming down.

The best surprise of the trip was finding the used bookstore at the corner of 200 North and Main in Logan. There was too much to look through and not enough time.

We have spent our weekend at home. Laundry done and bags are repacked. Dana goes to Girl's Camp and Rick and I head to Albuquerque for the week. More fun times.

Graduation week

2008-05-30T17:35:00.000-07:00

A week ago we were just finished with Dana's graduation and on our way to Salt Lake for Peter's. What exciting times. Dana's graduation was rained out from the football field to the gym. By the time we arrived at 7 pm, (festivities began at 8) it was SRO in the cafeteria where we were. They graduated about 500 students. The gym, the cafeteria, and the auditorium were packed and we watched the proceedings on live feed projection. They ended up cutting the program down to just reading the names and having the kids walk across the stage. It still took half an hour to get through them all. During the whole thing it was pouring rain. The damp doesn't seem to have diminished Dana's excitement.

We flew to SLC Friday evening so we could be there for Peter's graduation from Medical school. He is now officially Doctor Crane. The program was short and sweet. The speakers were great and they had the best sandwiches and brownies for grads and families afterwards.

The Gibson's went to Cabella's in the afternoon. We've heard about this wonderland but it does kind of take your breath away as you walk in the door and see all the mounted trophies on both sides of the room, the rows of shelves with everything a sportsman needs, and the beautiful displays of a taxidermist's skill everywhere. Of course, Cabella's does give a new understanding of camouflage and camping in your vehicle. We finished up the evening at the Brazilian Grill where Peter and Jeff were in 7th heaven.

Sunday was Joshua Peter Crane's blessing day. Peter did and wonderful job and so did Josh. He didn't cry one bit. Josh, not Peter. We had a picnic lunch after church and got to spend time with Rodney & Marja & Alex, Elizabeth & Brad, and Amber and her family (Kristy's past roommate). After we dispersed, the Gibson contingent went down to Temple Square. We walked around the gardens, looked into the tabernacle and the assembly hall, and ended up at the Historical Museum. We've been there before, but it's still absorbing. We finished up the evening with soup and Phase 10.

Monday found us at a pancake breakfast in the rain on the quad at Kristy & Peter's. We did get a chance to read stories to Katelyn and hold Joshua before we had to catch our plane home. We enjoyed the weekend and the opportunity to spend time with the Cranes before their move East. Our next adventure is Elizabeth's wedding next week. 4 days in Logan. Fun!

It's about time!

2008-05-27T23:09:00.000-07:00

We have really enjoyed reading our children's blogs, looking at their photos and following their activities. With school now in hiatus and the stress level below the intense level (for some of us), it's time to join the rest of the family.

Of course, Dana will insist that since we never do anything, why bother with a blog at all. I think it's more a matter of the small things, the random thoughts that help build the ties we're looking to strengthen. Distance really used to be a difficulty when all you had to bridge it was a telephone and letters. Now we're not limited to when and how we can "reach out and touch someone". Even a computer camera can provide instant connections. A blog is another tool, just like letters and a telephone.

So this is a beginning. Rick and I are both comfortable with technology, just a little slow in learning new applications. But we're flexible. Gibson's are always flexible!