First Campout of 2021!

 It wasn't a full-blown cooking everything yourself campout, but it was a wonderful one nevertheless.  We went on Friday afternoon.  We got yummy BBQ brisket from the store along with beans, mac salad and coleslaw and some little rolls.  All we had to cook was warming up the beans.  And we had hot chocolate/Postum with some of those little rolls to dunk for dessert.  We didn't get our first choice of camping spots, but we did find another very nice one.  There was no wind!  It was very cool, but we had such a nice little fire and just sat by it and relaxed after a pretty stressful week with worries about finding a place for Bean to rent, Paul's possible cancer and my already cancer.  This was truly outdoor therapy for us.  We piled on sleeping bags under and over our regular one and stayed warm.  It was clear and the stars were wonderful and there was no one nearby.  We didn't bring breakfast.  We planned to go to Cracker Barrell and share their Grandma's Sampler meal.  It was so good.  We were smoky in our camping clothes, but it was fine.  And we also went and checked out a few camp trailers just for the fun of it and also went to the yearly Art Show at the university.  It was such a fun morning!  We finally came home and put things away and got cleaned up.  It was just the "medicine" we needed.

These pictures are actually backwards.  The top one is sunrise and the bottom one is just before sunset!  

 

Valentine's dinner...early date!

 In order to beat the rush and get in at a super busy place, we had our Valentine's dinner on the Tuesday before.  It was still crowded, but we did get a reservation at Sakura.  Our kids gave Paul a gift card for there for his birthday and we used it to cover most of the cost.  It was so fun - we did the hibachi dinner where they cook it on a grill in front of you.  It's entertainment and oh such good food!  We had the Geisha special which includes shrimp, chicken and filet minion and we got fried rice, salad and soup too.  We had enough leftover for dinner the next night!  Glad our kids take such good care of us with fun stuff for birthdays, etc.  (One thing this cook did was make an onion volcano, set it on fire and then put it out...and then cooked up that onion into a yummy vegetable side dish.)

 

February birthdays!

 Kennis was our first birthday for the month - not too many this time.  We went a day early to enjoy presents and chocolate covered strawberries with chocolate ice cream.  Kennis is a sweetie.  She is very busy doing high school, college and track right now and you have to see her when you can.  She also takes piano lessons and gives piano lessons to some neighbors and some family members.  She, Ryan, Koen and Ferf all played for us that night.  Pretty impressive!  Kennis has really excelled and has earned some big awards for her playing.  

Happy #41 Weed!

My FB post: Today we celebrate our sweet Weed’s (aka Lenae) birthday and remember all of the joy and fun she brought to our lives for not long enough. So grateful for her and all that she was to so many people. Heaven is so lucky to have her there.

Weed's  #41 birthday celebration this year had to be a little bit low key because of, you guessed it, Covid-19.  We met in Supe's backyard for a bring your own dinner and memory to share night.  We had 3 of her favorite cakes for dessert - Black and White cake, Lemon cake with strawberry frosting and homemade cheesecake.  There was plenty of cake!  It was low key too in that not so many people could actually come.  But it was nice to at least gather with as many as could and think of her.  

Juge always posts something special on Weed's birthday: Birthday celebrations today for this most beautiful, kind, and hilarious of humans! We miss her every single day. Wishing I was giving her this cutest and very profound book for her special day. And because it’s her birthday here’s a few cake related pages to celebrate. Enjoy—then go give your people an extra better-than-cake hug and a smile as bright as hers to someone who may need it today in honor of our most loved “Weed”. (Along with this very Weed collage.)

Happy #89 to Anna Lou was the last of the February birthdays. We took her to lunch at Mo' Bettahs the day before so she could be home all day on her birthday to get calls. It was really crowded inside, but she had been wanting to try it, so since it was such a nice, sunny day, we just ordered by phone and then Paul and I went in and got it. They had a comfy, sunny spot outside, so we ate out there. Good food! Afterwards we shared a Nothing Bundt carrot cake and some locally grown birthday pistachios we gave her. It was a nice time. She got many birthday calls the next day and was very pleased. Glad she could have a birthday that made her happy!

Cactus Joe's and other unexpected things

 We had a free Saturday and wanted to get out of town.  Didn't want to be cold, so we went south trying to go to see Red Rock National Conservation Area down by Vegas.  I looked it up and it said it was open...but not that you had to have a reservation to get in.  We found that out when we got there.  Rather than wait around hoping for a phone reservation to go through, we just took a drive (while listening to The Secret Garden) and saw some interesting and fun things.  We found Cactus Joe's - which was a very big nursery for all things desert gardening.  We found a couple of little critters to put on our backyard stone wall shelves and just enjoyed looking around the whole place.  Then we drove over to Pahrump and ate lunch in a park.  There were horses wandering around...we wondered about them at first and then realized they were wild horses.  We had seen signs all along the road on the way there warning you to watch out for wild horses and burros.  In town they had signs warning you not to feed them (or you would be fined).  I wish I had taken pictures of them.  There were 3 at the park and we saw another just wandering around town on a sidewalk on our way out of town.  Crazy!  First time seeing wild horses up close for me.  Wish we'd seen a burro.  We just had a nice day listening to our book and seeing what we saw.  (Except I had these crazy pains that we thought were a gallbladder attack and then turned out to be something else to do with enlarged lymph nodes constricting flow between kidney and bladder which ended us up in the ER for a while that evening. It was really painful that day, and some the next day - took Tylenol regularly.  Now, it's just sort of in the background and not too bad.  Seeing a urologist soon and may eventually have to have a stint they said.  Not happy to have this cancer stuff showing it's ugly head.  It could just be because my lymph nodes are swelling even more in reaction to my Covid vaccine shot.  We'll see.)  

Oh, and on some walks and on a bike ride recently I have seen some beautiful scenery and a Valentine Cactus!

Let the grand edventure dates begin - 2021

We got off to a great start with Eden and Ellie when we attended St. George Musical Theather's production of The Secret Garden.  It was very well done and good, but kind of a different way of presenting it than in the book or movie.  We had fun hanging out before and after too getting treats at the store and then playing a round of Hells-a-Poppin' afterwards.  These girls are growing up to be beautiful young ladies.  Wow!  

At last - two things published!

 January was a big month as far as getting some long worked on projects completed.  Paul and Tony's book finally got published and we finally got our copies to give out to the family.  

Another project that came to fruition is finally getting the smile design just right on the Girlstyle T-shirt girl that Weed's drawings inspired.  We had 3 designers work on them to finally get it just right.  And we had 3 different T-Shirt styles printed to check them out.  So glad that we persevered and got it just right at last.  Supe has worked so hard to get a website/sales page set up for us to market them on.  I'm not sure they are going to sell very much, but it has been a labor or love to work on them.  If no one else loves them, we sure do! This is the one drawing she did when the idea first came about.  On the others we tried to keep her main face style as close as possible to this and then add bodies for different sports.

girlstyle - “Awesome girls doing awesome stuff!”

 

January Birthdays are all done!

 

We did a 3 in 1 party for the Randall's January birthdays this year. We celebrated Bryan #45, Afton #10, Brady #16. It was good to get together a little (even with Covid still going strong) and enjoy each others company and visit.  And we all enjoyed Afton's yummy birthday dinner and cake!  

Last up for January was Brendon celebrating #12!  We made a stop over with some Crumbl Birthday cookies.  He's a BIG Lego/Star Wars fan, so hopefully we made him happy with another set to build!  

These are some really wonderful folks and we love them all.  It's crazy to see these grandkids growing up!  Makes me feel a little old!!!

First Rock Trip of 2021

 We just needed a little bit a stone for an upcoming job. We were feeling the need to get away so we were glad this came up. We were able to go in the little truck - not as comfortable as the big truck, but much more economical. It was a more relaxed trip than usual which is just what we needed.  We left after lunch and a nice little nap (after a crazy morning at school for me).  I kept busy reading Paul his book that he is writing.  Didn't take many pics, but really loved this old truck at Jacob Lake.  We stopped in for our usual cookie snack and pit stop.  That evening we enjoyed going out for dinner at the Outback and got our favorite coconut shrimp and wedge salads along with some soup.  So good.  Then we had a nice walk.  It was cold, but sadly, there was hardly any snow in Flagstaff.  In the morning we had another nice, cool walk and then had such a great breakfast at The Crackerbarrel.  We were able to split Grandma's Sampler and come out just right without going away leaving food or feeling stuffed.  We didn't have to pick up our load until noon which made the morning relaxed.  The load was bigger than we had planned, so the little truck was loaded heavy.  We lunched as we left Flagstaff and I finished reading Paul's book to him and then we finished another one we had started and not finished a week ago on a drive with Bean.  Got one more cookie at Jacob Lake on the way by and made it home in time for dinner.  And it was just such a nice, relaxing get away.  

Jem - 6 months old cutesness!

 From his mom - Jem is 6 months old today!! He growls a lot, loves going on walks, only takes 30 minute naps which really makes it hard to get anything done but we’ve accepted it and just don’t get many things done haha and he is still bald haha we love our Jem baby!!

Priesthood ordination day for Brenden and Gaige

 It was a sweet day today because we got to attend priesthood ordinations for Brenden (deacon) and Gaige (priest).  So glad they live close enough that we could enjoy these milestones with them.  Brenden's bishop asked the grandmas to say a few things/bear testimony - not my favorite thing to do last minute - before the ordination.  Words came out of my mouth and Paul said they were good (if he's telling the truth).  I hope so.  I am so not a speaker...and especially not a spur of the moment one.  But I still loved getting to be there for both of these events.  Another one of those shout for joy days!  

This is the sky over the chapel when we arrived at Brenden's. Kind of cool!