Mini Christmas in Phoenix

We invited ourselves to Scott's since we didn't get there for Thanksgiving.

I asked Jess if maybe we could have a mini Christmas while we were there.

I also asked if she could make Fred a Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie for his birthday.

She happily agreed.

Our first night there, we were presented with our very own Christmas Pajamas.

It was such a surprise and both Fred and I really love our new jammies.

Mine fit perfect, just the right amount of warmth and super cuddly.

I think Fred looks like one of the boys in his thermal shirt and pants. 

 I just kept looking at him thinking how youthful and cute he looked. 

Fred was able to enjoy some bonding time in the morning with all the boys while we girls slept in. I love listening as their big man voices carry through the house.

These boys sure are blessed to have a Daddy that loves spending time with them. Scott gets them breakfast and just spends time with them. Graham held on to this football the entire time we were there.

We held a mini Christmas morning opening our gifts to one another. I'm so glad we did this. A little practice for the boys to get the hang of taking turns.

Evan and Graham were very good at unwrapping, taking turns and showing enthusiasm for their gifts.

Jess picked out this remote control car set for Fred. It was fun watching Evan play with it and Fred and I took a turn too. We need to get it back out and try it at home. It was a perfect gift.

It was a very nice morning.

The Daly men bonding time.

Another picture of Fred in his new jammies. Oh and Jess included

 matching socks for both of us.

In the afternoon we took Evan down the street to the park. 

I decided to be adventurous. 

 

At the park was a family from their ward so Evan had some kids to run around with. Graham was sleeping so we spent some time with just Evan.

He speaks so much clearer now so communicating with him was so much enjoyable.

 Evan seemed to be very comfortable with us. Not one bit hesitant to cuddle up next to either one of us. I love this picture. He certainly is a sweet little boy.

Here are food pictures from our visit. We had a nice big breakfast after opening gifts. Scrambled eggs with ham, sausages, toast, homemade strawberry jam, and homemade cranberry bread. Very fancy!! And yummy.

I should have taken a picture of the pie before we dug in.

It was beautiful and delicous.

For years Joy Abbey would bring us this Christmas Bread. I got the recipe from her, but never tried to make it. Jess was game for bringing one of our traditions into our visit. The recipe makes it sound pretty simple, but I think it's pretty intricate. Jess added some orange zest to the glaze.  That was yummy. That bread is simply the best ever.                           

Time for goodbyes..
We made big progress with Evan this trip. He didn't have any trouble being with us.
Graham didn't mind us a bit either, but he's not quite ready to be in our space.
We like to let the grandkids go at their own pace. When they are ready, we're ready.

So this was so nice for both boys to willing come up and give us both a very nice goodbye hug. 

A perfect time together.

Rearranging

Here are some highlights of the past month. I don't have any pictures so this will just be a report.

Before my Dad moved to the Veteran's Home, he had been up to  Salt Lake and brought home boxes of his younger brother Jack's. They were filled with pictures and documents etc.... and Dad wanted to post them all on Family Search. He entered the Vets Home before he was able to return them. I got in touch with my cousin Ali and she arranged for me to take all of this to their former neighbor who agreed to store them until she could make a trip there from Oregon. 

Fred and I drove up on a Friday night to Provo. On our way we stopped in Cedar City for a Del Taco dinner. We ate in the car. While I munched on my churro, a chunk of my baby tooth broke off. It left a very sharp edge. It was annoying all weekend. We stayed the night in a hotel in Provo that night. The next morning we met Craig and Lynette in Sandy for breakfast at Big Bear Diner. After breakfast, we drove the three plastic tubs to their neighbor. We stopped at a DSW shoe store and I bought two new pairs of shoes. I've decided my feet deserve comfortable shoes and the cost is no longer an issue for me.

When we got home on Saturday night, I took a nail file and filed off the sharp point of my tooth. That made things so much better. I got to the dentist on Thursday and it was decided that I needed a crown on that tooth. Dr Baker did a better job than Smiles Restored did on my other crown a few months ago. His office was able to make the crown the same day. My jaw was sore for a couple of days. 

 My Dad called Fred one day and asked if we still had the box for his tv. Fred asked why - are you moving? That is how we found out that after all these months it was finally determined that he could not afford to live in the Vets home.  Last weekend when I locked my keys in my car when I went to visit Dad, I ended up waiting for Fred at the little restaurant across the street from the Vets Home. There I met Tomas who knows my Dad from their days as ordinance workers in the temple. It just so happened that Tomas and my Dad had been talking on the phone and Tomas offered him a bedroom in his home. So that is where Dad is moving. He made no indication that moving back with us was a consideration.

So next Saturday he is moving in with Tomas. A nurse at the Vets Home said she would like to help him move and she has a truck and trailer. Fred and I went on Saturday to meet Tomas while he had a window visit with Dad. We drove Tomas to his home (mobile home) so we could see it. Tomas does not have a car. He rides his bike and also lives on the bus route. His home is very humble and I mean that in a nice way. It is a single wide and it is crowded. He is Mexican so it definitely has that feel to it. Dad's room is smaller than his room at our house. He and Tomas feel confident that they will get along just fine. Dad says it's like meeting a new missionary companion. I would say this mobile home definitely fits that category. Tomas feeds seven stray cats on his porch. The home is old and the yard is a wreck. It's obvious that Tomas is busy at work all the time. He has two jobs. Four days at Harmon's grocery and two days at the Icebox restaurant. I thought he was the owner of the Icebox when I met him last week.

I'm definitely concerned whether my Dad will be able to do this. Tomas talks non-stop. I hope it works out because Fred and I have switched gears completely. They do not include my Dad. Of course, if it comes down to him coming back we will do that. I honestly don't think he wants to.

We are in constant motion with planning for our new home. Yesterday Fred sat down and made me these scale maps of our livingroom and bedroom in the new home. He can visualize things by marking our current home with blue tape to see how things fit. I told him that I can't do that. So he made me these paperdoll models to play with. This is how I think things will fit. The bedroom does not allow for much different. The livingroom probably has lots of options.

Our two little end tables don't really have a place to go. I think at least one of them I'll put by my bedstand in the bedroom. I need more space for my night time stuff. I really didn't want to set the couches in the middle again. I think it makes the room look and feel crowded. The piano is the extra furniture piece that hogs up the wall space. I'd like to just have the reclining love seat and a sofa. If we can get rid of the little loveseat - that would open things up. 

So now we are in the organizing and purging mode or I should say Fred is. We are both talking retiring sooner than we had planned. Like maybe next October for me. Fred by this spring. Fred will need at least 6 months to really get things done. We need to get the backyard finished. He has the office, garage and the hall closet to go through. We want at least three months to do all the things we have wanted to do, but haven't because we haven't had enough spare time. I'm tired of getting up at 6am and going to work. I've almost been feeling like I want to quilt or do sewing projects. How scary is that??? 

We shall see how things unfold in the next little while with my Dad. See if it will really work out for him living with Tomas.

Fall break 2020

 Shannon and the kids made the drive to see us during their Fall break. 

They arrived in the early evening on Tuesday. 

Instead of a meal, the kids agreed to try some of Grandpa's pistachios. 

They liked them. 

Blake did like them, but obviously I did not catch him with a pleased expression.

Thursday morning Shannon and Grandpa had bank business.

I looked out the window and saw a balloon that looked like it was headed to the High School. A week ago Fred and I were out walking and a balloon landed in the high school field. So naturally I assumed the same was happening here. The kids threw on their clothes and shoes and when we stepped out there were three balloons. We headed for the high school only to see that the balloon was no longer coming down. Kind of disappointed, but it was fun to see them.

Thursday night we went to Staheli Farm for their October festival activities.

B was a good brother and ran M around this horsey thing.

Looks like M knows how to shoot a basketball.

Shannon and B went off to do some stuff together so I don't have 

any pictures of that. 

Big swings here.

 

They have animals, but it is not a petting zoo. No Touch!!

Here's a better picture of the kids on the horsey thing.

Friday we went to two new parks that we haven't been to yet.

I didn't take any pictures. 

We ran into Danica (Daly) Francom. She recognized me and Fred.

It was a really nice surprise. We enjoyed a nice visit. She took this selfie.

So Brian is a big fan of the YouTube channel following Winder Towing. It's located in Hurricane just north of us. The kids wanted to go and see if they could meet Matt. Well he wasn't there, but we met the old guy. I can't remember his name. They were equally thrilled to meet him and the dogs. 

The show follows Matt going out to rescue off roaders here in the sand dunes and mountains. I haven't seen this big rig in any of the videos because he is always in his jeep. But this big rig was impressive too.

Here is the famous jeep and dog.

We did good on excitement on this day. Dairy Queen afterwards.

It was a very nice time together. Shannon pretty much does the cooking for us when she comes. I like that! She made a bow tie sausage dish that was yummy and a French Toast breakfast with big fat Texas Toast bread. 

I made homemade ice cream one night too. 

Just a few things

Corinne had these beautiful flowers delivered to my work. 

She tried to send them on my birthday, but the florists didn't cooperate with her.

Two florists canceled the order.

So a couple weeks later, this was a nice surprise.

I've never had flowers sent to me at work. I loved it!!

Here they are at home.

I sent some clothes to Clara. She is growing out of her clothes so I had to make myself shop for her. I bought her 3T size so they are a little big. But cute just the same.

Since I have been having weird foot sensations, I found that sitting in my recliner triggered that. So I suggested trying out the couch. Fred isn't super attached to his recliner, so he was all for it. It is a bit awkward, but we are adjusting and aren't ready to commit either way.

There was a job posting at work that actually looked interesting to me. I applied. We'll see what happens. I'm finally ready to consider a change. 

 

Labor Day Weekend in Phoenix

We drove to Phoenix for the Labor Day weekend.

I packed us a lunch to eat in the car while we drove.

Fred scoped out the eating along the way and it looked no one was offering

dine in. We didn't want to order food and then park somewhere in the 100+ weather.

Eating as we drove proved to make for a much faster arrival.

We arrived in time to go with Evan to his swimming lesson.

His swimming lesson is held in a private facility. I've never seen anything like it before.

Scott grilled us some Kabobs, minus the skewers. Pineapple, peppers and steak. It was very delicious. 

Scott and Jess have a list of home improvement projects. 

Scott and Fred tackled this project. Actually Scott did 99.9% of the work. 

I thought Fred was a great supervisor. He pointed out a few options and Scott made the decision.

I loved watching this process.

On Saturday afternoon, Fred and I drove to Scottsdale to meet Shan and Judy Hubsmith for lunch.

It was great to see them and catch up on what's been going on with our lives since they moved away.

That evening they tackled one more job. A new light fixture over the dining table. 

First meal under their new light fixture.

Here the boys are cooling off while Scott and Fred were working on the lights.

When we first arrived, this was the birthday greeting the family

created for me. The boys helped too.

A very sweet gesture!

Looks like necklace examining time for Evan. The boys seem pretty comfortable with us. They are still young so Fred and I are still navigating how to interact with them. We aren't comfortable being too pushy with them. We sure do like being there and watching everything going on.

We did go swimming on Sunday afternoon. That was fun. 

Jess worked on wedding cake flavors and we got to reap the benefits of that. 

It was a good trip. Comes and goes very quickly.