Mother's Day in Phoenix

 It just so happened that we were able to visit Scott's family over Mother's Day Weekend. I was pretty excited about that. I can't remember the last time I have spend Mother's Day in the company of any of our children. 

This year is my 40th year as a mother. Corinne, Shannon and Scott all went together to have flowers sent a week early so I could enjoy them before we left for Scott's. It was such a nice surprise. 

Scott sent me flowers the day after we returned from their house. That also was so thoughtful and meaningful to me. I loved the spring colors.

The flower container is quite unique. I really liked it. 

We did so many different things at Scott's. We arrived Thursday late afternoon. I brought some Toy Story Pancake shapes so Jess whipped up three different colors of batter and the boys helped. The pancake dinner was a success.

We have decided to do away with our grandchildren toy stash. Since we will be living at Shannon's, our place isn't going to be the central visiting zone. Most likely visitors will stay with Shannon. So we decided to see if the kids wanted more of their toys back. We took Scott's Tomy Trainset for his boys to play with and they were very happy to play with that.

Friday morning we drove to watch Evan play soccer. That was entertaining. Evan is much more attentive to his teammates than the ball. That's okay. He's learning new skills by being there and getting along with others and be a kind teammate. 

Scott and Jess have been changing their eating habits over the last few years. They have more foods that are clean - less processed and more natural ingredients. They shared one of their latest finds. Basically gourmet peanut butter. This is one of them. 

If Fred and I weren't trying to lose weight right now, this is a super temptation. It's a dessert for sure. 

Saturday afternoon Jess and I went to have a manicure and a pedicure. It was fun. First we went to the wrong place. It was a very nice salon. Jess was saying she had been in salons before where they play action movies blaring in the background. This place wasn't doing that. When got to the right salon, it was playing a Dwayne Johnson Action movie blaring in the background. Jess was apologetic about it, but I didn't mind at all. It will be a fun memory for us.

We met Fred and Scott at Claim Jumpers for a double date after that. That was a first for us to go out together. I'm really glad we got to do that.

Sunday we went to church. Their ward was very generous with the Mother's Day gifts. We got little succulents, a big fat chocolate chip cookie that did look homemade, but I'm not sure. They also brought in cinnamon rolls to class time and gave us a journal. 

We spent a lot of the afternoon watching the home movies we took to Scott. He wanted a copy of his musical performances. We watched a lot of those and a lot of fun movies of our family doing silly stuff. So much fun.

Jess had a puzzle set up and Fred spent a lot of time working on it. I had no idea he enjoyed working puzzles. I want us to make one of my Dad's puzzles boards so we can maybe start working puzzles in our retirement life.

Monday we dropped Evan off at preschool and then went along to Graham's swim lesson. 

I do love that the boys love to play in the water and know how to handle themselves. 

By Tuesday we had been prepped for our babysitting duties. Scott and Jess were going to Mesa to attend her uncle's funeral. With us being there they were able to attend and be present without worrying about the boys. Fred got Evan to and from preschool and I was in charge of lunch, diaper change and keeping tabs of Graham while Fred was away. Everything went smoothly. We were a little anxious before we got here wondering if the boys would not be comfortable enough with us. It was no problem.

We got in the pool a couple of times. The water always feels so cold to me in my old age. It was fun to watch the kids. They are so lucky to have that pool in their backyard. What a blessing.

Wednesday morning we packed up and headed home. Such a great visit. We're looking forward to seeing all the kids in Colorado in a couple weeks. Lots of time with our kids during the next few months before we move and live so much further away from Scott and Corinne. I see long road trips ahead or else we'll go back to flying.

Beginning to do stuff so we can move

Fred only had the time to put in the grass and gravel the first two summers after we moved here.

We finally fixed that. We bought about 25 plants/flowering bushes.

We had quite a few bushes/trees that we purchased way back that sat in the garden waiting to be planted. We salvaged two fruit trees, and a few other plants. I have the job of cutting up the dead branches to throw in the garbage can. I worked at that for two days straight. I quit for now. I've been having shoulder problems and there is no hurry. I'll get back to it.

I'm also mowing the lawn for Fred while he slaves in the backyard. He is amazing. He is a working machine. He does make an awful mess when he works on projects, but man it is magnificent when he is done. I don't know how he makes everything always look so good.

This is my summer apparel. I love this hat. I go for a walk every morning. Never have to fix my hair or put on makeup with this getup. I love it.

I think he looks a little dirty here.

So everything is planted and in place.

Fred now has to put all the gravel back in place around the plants

I just wanted to share how it looks in a somewhat finished state.

It took 2 1/2 weeks of hard sweaty labor on Fred's part. I just marvel at how hard he works and the hot and awful conditions he is doing this in. 

We both liked the same type of plants so buying them was pretty easy. We didn't really have a plan, we just had a rough estimate of how many. We really didn't even know for sure how we were going to lay them out.

We were going to plant two of something kind on each side of the bench, but neither Fred nor I wanted him to do anymore digging. I suggested planters with flowers. This is what we came up with. We will take them with us when we move. He'll remove the hanger....

This is a Lantana.

This is a smoke bush. We have a huge one in our front patio entrance. We love it.

I don't know what this is called, but it was so interesting. The colors in this picture aren't great plus most of the plants are not as vibrant as they were when we bought them. They have all wilted maybe just a bit.

Most of the bushes we bought blossom. This has an orange blossom.

Pink Blossom.

Here is the other little bush that was a vibrant red - almost blood red.

Snapdragons

This is a peach tree. It has sat in the pot for about five years. We will see if it continues to grow. Fred said it was more work than it was worth to get it planted. He doesn't do anything half way.

This is a fuji apple tree. Same story - sat in a pot for years.

This is a pretty bush that kept growing in the pot. All the branches are quite healthy, but it is so heavy that Fred is shoring it up so the root can catch up to support the bush.

Here is my hero. He works so hard on everything he does. He never does anything halfway. At times I wish he would, but the end result of his work is always beautiful.

Now on to the garage process. 

Fred's method for organizing is to pull everything out and spread it around. He made four categories. Throw away in the trash. Give Away. Sell in a Garage Sale and Take with us.

I don't know how he got through it all. I'm not sure if he really did. I'm just having faith.

 

Checking out the new home

We made our long anticipated road trip to see our new homestead in Aurora, CO.

While the senior missionary couple was out for the day, we went in and 

checked out our new space.

I think my favorite room was the master bedroom. Most likely because it let in the most light. 

I also know the kitchen and dining area are going to be awesome!!

We have picked out some beautiful cabinets and the pantry along the 

dining wall is going to be epic!

Day One we drove up to Winchester to the Butterfly Pavilion.

First we quickly stopped at a Chipotle for lunch. Surprising super delicious.

The kids both ate really good. This is a new thing on the last couple visits.

Pretty cute picture taking op

We stayed in the Butterfly area while Shannon was off with Blake at the play area. He was not feeling super great. Too many late nights with their two new kitties.

Not many of the butterflies landed for long. It was hard to get very many pictures. This particular breed was very stationary throughout the exhibit.

There was also a petting exhibit for fish and octopus and other gross type things.

I made this apron a few months ago and held on to it so I could take with us on this trip. 

It was very cute on M.

When we arrived, M said she wanted us to pet their new kitties and go to Cold Stone. So the first evening we spent a little time checking out their kitties and then Cold Stone. 

It was all very yummy.

The only downside was no eating inside Cold Stone. We had to bring it home. 

It got a little soupy for some.

Fred gave the kids a lesson in coin collecting. These are quarters of National Parks I do believe. M told Shannon she wanted to visit the National Park in Alaska and Hawaii.

We stayed a day longer because M wanted us to watch them at Taekwondo. Shannon had signed them up for 4 weeks. The class moved very slowly and it lasted an hour. I was really impressed how these two actually stayed focused and patient with all the waiting around. As you can see here, it wasn't B's most favorite activity. They won't be continuing.

So cute.

One morning this is what we woke up to. Fred got out there to shovel the driveway with Brother Garns the senior missionary living there.

On our anniversary we ate here. We never go to Five Guys because it is way overpriced in our opinion. But it was a place that was allowing dine in and we hadn't had a hamburger in a pretty long time. It was delicious though. 

Happy 42nd wedding anniversary to us.

It's a long drive to Aurora, but it's worth it. 

Shannon and I got to go shopping and go out to lunch one day.

Then lots of Hallmark movie watching. More for me than her.

Some out of this world delicious steak by Brian. 

That man can cook, grill, bake ~ you name it. He can do it.