Funny, Funny Easton

I have to tell about cutie pie Easton who each time he sees me asks "Is your house still messy, grandma?" He came over and played for a few hours during my construction mess and so asks each day and someday soon I hope to be able to answer him "No, Easton. My house isn't still messy!"

This is Easton at Hill Air Force Museum in July.

Four weeks of FRUSTRATION

Well it has been more than four weeks of my "three week kitchen remodel" and I am reaching the frustration saturation point. Here is how it has gone:

Day 1: tear out

Day 2 and 3: electrician and plumber come and do their work.

Day 4 through FOREVER!!!!: sheet rocker comes(usually after 11, works for 1 hour, goes to lunch for 2-3 hours, works for 1 hour leaves for day). Calls contractor(Shawn) on 28th asking for money so he can buy food for scout camp he will be attending starting Monday. He will finish when he returns. Oh boy, did the thunder roll and the lightning strike!!!!!! I hope it rained on him all week!

Day 24: (July 30th)new sheet rocker comes and finishes the job in 2 hours.

Through August 5: New floor is laid in kitchen and I get the painting done.

August 6 through 12: contractor has family reunion planned since January. He will be back Monday to install cabinets. I told him that I will have my granite chosen by then.

So needless to say, I am frustrated! It is a good thing that Larry has been gone the last two weeks as he was looking pretty pathetic when he would say "What's for dinner?" and I would say "well, let's see what's in the freezer that I can microwave." Salads are great, but they get tiring also. I think I have gained 5 pounds because of all the junk I have eaten. I know I am beginning to whine because after church on Sunday I got 2 invitations to dinner this week.

Larry has been to 3 countries and many cities on his trip and is hoping to be able to cut it a few days short if a Monday meeting can be moved to Friday. He spent last weekend in Copenhagen and will be in Barcelona this weekend (or at least on Friday). He asked me on the 21st of July if I wanted to go with him on this trip and we just couldn't justify paying for the airfare at that short of notice. But we did get notice that we are invited to the vision retreat on Sept. 13-16 in Maui! I'm so excited. I have always wanted to go to Hawaii. We are going over early on the 8th to Oahu and got a priceline car and hotel. I guess we will see what they are like when we get there. The flights between islands are only $45.oo and the company pays for the airfare to the islands. So it won't be too expensive!

I promise my next post will contain some photos and thoughts about our recent trip to Europe. Let me say that it was great to have our family all together while we were there, but there were definitely some challenges too!

On a random Hurray note, Sarah will be graduating from BYU on August 16th with a major in French and a minor in English.

My time without a Kitchen

Well, it has begun..the kitchen redo. We have been without a kitchen for just over a week now. And wouldn't you know it, I didn't take any before pictures. but I do have the pictures of the space just after tear out. It looks much bigger without the closets. And I am excited to see the finished project. But we are already behind as we have ahd to wait for the sheetrocker. He should be done by Saturday and then they will have to wait as I won't be able to paint until the first of the week.The living room is a mess as that is our "storage area" and also our 'cooking' area( what cooking I have done). This spring, when I went out to barbecue, there were birds in our 'barby' so we haven't used it. I just checked and the birds have now flown the coop. We will now be able to do some barbecuing for some of our dinners. Our appliances have been here for 2 weeks and the flooring has been here for 3.

I am so excited. I still have some decisions ahead of me....lighting fixtures, sink and faucet, and hardware......I hope I live through it!

As a side note, Today my nephew Scott left for the Leeds England mission and the Preston England MTC. Good luck Scott. We love you!

Wow, I'm Blown Away

What a voice. I had to share this video with those who may not have seen it. What an incredible talent. I hope we hear from him again.



http://www.chilloutzone.de/files/07061203.html



Paul Potts, contestant on the british equivalent to America's got talent. Thanks to Sarah for sending me the link.

She's gone and done it!

Yes she has! Amy has graduated from Brigham Young University (theY)! We are so excited for her! She is the first member of our family to graduate with a four year degree. It was a great occasion. Vice President Dick Cheney was the commencement speaker and did an admirable job. It was an honor to have the Vice President at the school. I may not agree with his policies, but we honor the office, not the man. President Hinckley was a surprise guest also and we were thrilled to see him. Larry was out of the country and nobody else could take the day off and still take the next day for her Convocation, so it was just me to witness this momentous event. We had to get in line at 2:00 and then sit for 2 hours in the Marriott Center. Overall it was a long, but wonderful, day.

On Friday, April 27th, the whole family of adults (and Amy's Boss, Kim, a great surprise for Amy) attended Amy's convocation for the school of Humanities. She graduated with her degree in Humanities with an Art History Minor. It was fun to all be ther to give her our support and praise. We are proud of you, Amy!

She and Heather found these great 2007 glasses to help us celebrate the great occasion. See the close up of the glasses below. It was a wonderful day!

It's not often that we all get to be together on a special occassion like this. We , as many others around us, all have very busy lives, and often can not celebrate a grand event on the actual date of the event. SO to be able to do so on this day was great! It makes me want to go back to school even more when I see how much she has grown as she has studied the art of the world. They now offer a program especially for people like me who have started a degree and never had the opportunity to finish it. Perhaps this fall when my life has settled down a bit, I will look into it.

I began serving in a new position at the temple this week. I am now assistant coordinator for my shift. That means that we plan the schedule and make sure that things run smoothly during our service at the temple. The time at the temple is a wonderful time. I serve with so many loving and giving sisters. I am humbled by their love and support. They are all so much more worthy and probably more able to do this. right now it is taking us about 5 hours to do the schedule for the following week. Hopefully as we gain experience, it won't take as long. It does mean waking up at 2:15 instead of 3:45 as I have to be at the temple at 4:00 and organize all the paper work before I go in.

We leave in a week for our Europe vacation. I'll post some pictures when we return.