Tile

My brother in law has been working on the tile in our house for the last few weeks.

Here is a view of the front entryway tile. Mike and I chose this particular style because we liked the variety of color it offered....just to liven things up a bit.

Here's a closer look!  Dont you just love the multi-colored look?

Well, we do!

And here's the half bath upstairs next to the entry.

Here is a portion of the tile in the kitchen. 

Here is a veiw from the laundry room into the kitchen.

And here's a veiw on the other side of the kitchen where the kitchen table will sit.

This tile will also be in the laundry room and the master bathroom.

Lovin the master bathroom so far.

Here's another view of both the tub and shower.

And there's My Man (what a Stud) downstairs in the basement working on baseboard and trim.

The dark stained baseboard and trim will be going upstairs in the kitchen and living room.

Next up will be installing the hardwood flooring and granite counter tops!

Soooooooo excited!  Stay tuned!

The Boys are back in town!

This song has been ringing in my ears all week as I have been watching Michael and Adam be together again after being away from each other for 2 years.  It's as if they haven't missed a beat.

Now that Adam is living with us, it's been fun to see how these two newly returned missionaries have changed and how they have stayed the same.  Michael reminds me a lot of myself when I was his age. I always had one best friend who I was always with.  Especially as a young adult it was fun to have someone who I could tell anything too, someone who had the same goals as I did.  And that is just like Michael and Adam's friendship.

Michael and Adam have been best buds since the 8th grade.  Michael was always just an all around good kid and he got along with everyone.  But it wasn't until he met Adam that he finally had a real best friend for life.  Adam is just an all around great young man.  Always kind, crazy, hard working , and the life of the party.  Michael has always been kinda the constant solid one always kind, thoughtful and true to the bone.  Not that Adam wasn't all of those things too, just a bit more fun- loving and goofy too.  Michael likes that about Adam.  He enjoyed Adam's free spirit because he carried a lot of the pressure to be the responsible one in our home being the oldest boy.  When he was with Adam he could really just let his hair down and have a good time without any worry about getting into trouble.  They were just two good boys trying to do the right thing and preparing to one day serve missions.

So, now that they are both home after serving their long awaited missions, they are back together trying to prepare for the next phase in their lives.  What one does, pretty much the other one follows.  They are so good for each other.  They build each other up.  They work hard together.  They inspire each other.   They are both planning their schooling and are striving to keep their mission habits part of their daily lives.  But I think they are having the most fun meeting new girls and going on dates together!

They are a couple of real charmers.  Michael is always sharing his feelings and thoughts about life with me....something I have always loved about him and missed so much about him when he was away.  And Adam is such a cutie and a flirt.  Makes this old lady not feel so old.  The other day I was at the computer and he ran up to me, rubbed my shoulders and gave me a kiss on the cheek.  I love that boy!

 So, if you ever get the chance to meet one of these two sweet, fun, and good looking young men you will probably meet the other one too. They are "Two Peas in a Pod".  A couple of great guys!

Michael and Adam

Yep!  "The boys are back in town"!

And there they go! 

House progress

Well, aside from the painting we've done recently,

 we have been making some additional progress on our house.

This picture shows the color a little bit better. 

The color is called "Basket Beige".

Dad is now working on our cabinets for the inside of the house.

As you can see, our garage is basically his

 woodshop at the moment.

And you can see how the back door of the garage 

leads outside our backyard and right out to Mom and Dad's house.

Just look at my cute father in law. 

 He is such an awesome craftsman!

And here is my awesome brother in law Mark

working on the tile in our master bathroom.

While trying to save money, we found this wall tile that Dad had left over for our bathroom. We had to match it up with the rest of our colors. In fact the little square sections were cut out and replaced with these little square colored glass stone pieces.  Then strips of the same were cut out to string around the whole shower.  The tile for the floor is next.  Just wait to see the way it all goes together.  I"m excited!

Here's a closer look at the shower tilework.

Great job Mark! 

(oh, and here's the new hired help!  Yes, they are both available)

Stay tuned for more house updates!

California Dreamin'

Okay, so we finally took a trip back to Sacramento California last week after a long year here in Utah.  Since Michael wanted to get out there to visit friends and the old ward, we thought now was a good time to take that trip.  Mike stayed home to work.  So, just the 3 boys and I ventured out.  And we had a blast!

Our first stop was to pick up Sophia! 

 The boys just love her to death!

Then we headed over to our good friends Don and Trudy Somers for dinner.  They were a great help and support to Michael while he was on his mission.  They are great people and they were happy to see Michael again.  I stayed with them all week while the boys stayed at the Hogges.

On Thursday Sandy and I took a bunch of the kids to Lake Natoma to enjoy the outdoors and play in the water.

The kids saw this cute young couple walking along the shore.

  He was carrying a guitar and so Michael stopped them and asked him to play a song for us.  Michael is still in that MIssionary mode....I love it!  So, they stopped and played for us.  He also let Michael borrow his guitar so that he could play one of his songs that he wrote for us.

 Nina reminded us so much of Sophia....and Andrew had a beautiful voice.  Anyway, long story short...They ended up  being members of the church married 2 months and he is the son of a friend from my young single adult days. I dated his dad's best friend and we doubled with his mom and dad. 

 Wow! Such a small world!

That was a blast!

On the way home from the lake, Sandy took me to a shooting gallery.  She has been wanting to take me forever.  Well, she finally talked me into it.  She is such a guy!!  Anyway, I shot a Glock 19 9 mm gun!  Yes, I did! And I have to say it was a bit empowering, having the gun in my hand. 

 If you look closely you can see that I was a pretty good shot!  So, be afraid, be very afraid!!

On Friday we drove to Oakland where Michael and I had the priviledge of witnessing Kelsey and Tyson Ewing being sealed in the temple for time and all eternity.  Kelsey is the oldest daughter of our good friends the Hogges.  It was a fun-filled day for everyone.  Sophia and the boys came with us and there was a nice luncheon for everyone who attended afterwards.  

On Saturday I took the boys up to Roseville where we met my good friend, from my Taco Bells/Roseville days, Trina for lunch.  I just had to introduce them and we had a blast!  The boys wore headbands as they were gearing up for the wedding reception that night (they were doing a dance with the Hogges that they had been planning with a black light....it was awesome btw).  They got a lot of looks especially with Stephen being his regular goof-ball self. 

 Trina loved my boys and I cant blame her! :)

On Satruday night we all got dressed and headed to the Hogge reception for a great time! Got to see alot of our freinds there from the old ward and stake.  We all had a blast dancing!
 And I felt like a teenager again!  

Okay, I have to admit it was way fun taking this picture!  I can't believe Sophia's pose!  I've never seen her do anything so crazy!  I love my kids!

On Sunday morning we attended our old Vineyard Ward where Michael was able to give a brief testimony to the Ward as a return missionary.  It was a great experience as each of the boys got up to bear their testimonies.  I was pretty teary eyed the whole time.  Bryce was the last person to our surprise to get up and share his sweet testimony.  Our whole row and I think a few others in the congregation were pretty emotional during that time.  

Afterwards we got to reconnect with many many friends there.  We felt so loved by the many members of our old ward who seemed so happy to see us again!  I'm glad we took the time to go before heading home that day.

The hardest part was having to leave Sophia in the parking lot of the church before heading out.  She was so upset and so were we that we had to leave eachother again.  Sophia is definately part of our family.  It is so interesting to me how she just fits right in with all of us.  My boys adore her and really look out for her.  But, no fear, we will be seeing her again soon. 

 The holidays are right around the corner.

We headed out at about 1:00 that afternoon with about 60$ in my wallet.  We left on a full tank and gassed up once in Winnemuca.  We stopped at McDonalds there for lunch and I had $2 dollars left.  By the time we got to West Jordan we were on empty.  But, we made it home to Springville safe and sound.  Yes, we like to live on the edge! ( spent every cent we had but it was totally worth it!)

Thanks to Trudy for spoiling me and making my vacation so awesome! 

And thanks to the Hogges for putting up with my boys for a whole week!

We have great friends in Sacramento California!

Michael's Homecoming

Well, here we all are back together again!  Michael's homecoming has been a week long thing.  Tuesday July 12th we left for the airport to meet Michael there.  I didn't know what to expect as far as how I would react.  I was tempted to be really upset because Mike found out at the last minute the day before that he would not be able to be at the airport.  I finally decided that we were lucky that Mike had a job and if it meant that he couldn't be there then so be it.  However, we had other family members there.  Anyway, It was a great reunion.  I basically lost it!  Didn't expect that.  I had a difficult time controlling my emotions when he was actually back in my arms.  I apologized to him over and over.  It was as though the past 2 years just flashed before my mind in our embrace and I was so extremely happy to have him back. 

After visiting with family, we left and headed back towards home to meet Mike at his job in Provo.  Mike called and told us that he was headed home shortly and would meet us there.

So, Mike finally showed up shortly after we arrived and jumped out of his truck to welcome his missionary son home again.  Yes,  he was teary eyed.....  What a great reunion.

We then took Michael to the Stake President's office where he met with Michael to release him as a missionary.  Michael rejoined us with red eyes and a tear streaked face. We then went over to Cafe Rio for dinner and family time just the 5 of us.  We went home that night and Michael shared with us the many souveniers he brought home for our family, shared some personal experiences with us and then we had a family prayer before going to bed.  It was a beautiful and wonderful day.  Filled with the spirit of love and thanksgiving.  

On Thursday morning Adam and Katie...two of Michael's best friends showed up with a bunch of other friends from home.  That's when the festivities began and it was a very fun reunion with Michael and his friends.  Harry Potter, Resevoir, Games, movies and a whole lotta fun!  On Saturday we had a big welcome home bash with food, volleyball, music and fun.  We must have had about 100 people all in all show up.  

On Sunday we had Michael's homecoming talk and the minute I sat down in the pew I started to cry.  Sitting on the front pew my view was, Michael sitting on the stand in his blue suit, Stephen at the sacrament table in his black suit and Bryce sitting in front of Stephen ready to pass the sacrament in his white shirt and tie.  To see all 3 of my boys fullfilling their priesthood duties all a the same time was just a dream come true.  It was definately a highlight in mylife!  My heart was filled with joy! We were blessed to have many family members as well as friends come to his homecoming.  Stephen had planned to sing for Michael, the song he sang at his farewell which was, "One Voice".  However, the bishop said that he better not sing in church since it would look too much like a missionary homecoming and they are not supposed to have those anymore.

So, after church we came back for lunch at our home and then we had our own homecoming meeting where Mike and I had the opportunity to express our feelings about our first missionary coming home and the blessings that we have recieved over the past 2 years.  Then Stephen had the opportunity to sing his song which was absolutely sweet, heartfelt and emotional.  And then Michael had the chance to share his feelings and give family and friends the opportunity to ask any questions they had about his mission.  

After Michael's words and questions being answered, we ended with a beautiful arrangement of "Come Thou Fount" by a group of Michael's friends.  It was such a great day!

So, this is the rundown of how the reunion went.  It was great and such a memorable time.  I will be back to talk about some other details as I continue to reminise on this glorious event.  And I will be writing about more of my feelings and observations in my Still Standing blog.

BTW Michael is still on fire....and I love it!!!

The broken collarbone

On Tuesday June 28th after dropping Stephen off at a one day camp session of BYU football, this is the way I saw him next when I received a phone call to pick him up at the Out patient medical center in Provo.  It seems that Stephen tried to run thru his opponent instead of letting him tackle him and he was successful in knocking him down and he believes even giving him a consussion.  However, what Stephen had not been successful at is staying in one piece when he was finished!  He had broken his collarbone in half!

He was looked at by one of the many doctors that work on some of the BYU football players and the following week he was operated on by one of BYU's orthopedic surgeons.



  Stephen felt very confident in Dr. Kimball.  He knew what he was talking about, kind of a no nonsense kinda guy.
Dr Kimball did a great job putting Stephen's collar bone back together!

BEFORE

AFTER

So, now Stephen has a metal plate in his shoulder with 7 screws holding it together.  This will help it heal correctly though and get him functioning and back to normal in about 6 weeks.  Poor Stephen!  It's been a tough road but he sure has been a trooper!  

Well, at least we got the surgery done before Michael returns. 

 So, now he can heal and we can get on with the party!!