Happy 4th birthday Lily

Finally she made it, no more excuses of being only three
she is a big girl now

Family Party 2009

it was so fun-- I took no pictures
but what a beautiful day
and a beautiful park
and a beautiful family

Festival of tree sub for santa family

Festival sub for Santa tree
We get our tree delivery info late Saturday night and our list included a tree that needed to be delivered in SLC at 8:00 am. Sadly, I did not read the notes said “do not call”, family does not know you are coming; it is a surprise, sub for Santa family.
The address was first on our list by accident and we head to SLC to deliver. The address was a little interesting but we did not think about it much as we drove up to a very old, small house on 9th west and North temple. With our huge delivery truck parked out front we happily knocked on the door. The occupants looked out the window but did not open the door. After a little encouragement they opened the door but we quickly found out they did not speak English and we did not speak Spanish. We are at a stand still as they would not allow us to enter. We came up with the idea to go to the 7-11 and see if there was anyone there that spoke Spanish. There was one clerk and she did speak Spanish. She locked up the 7-11 and went down to explain that we were there with a gift for them. By now we had read the notes and contacted the buyer so we were armed with new info. The family let us in and the three children sat on the couch watching us with wide eyes and open mouths. The home was so old there was no electrical plug in the front rooms so we had to use 3 extension cords to get the tree to light up. The kids gasped in joy. We all left with tears in our eyes as the children gazed at the floor full of toys and food for them. What a wonderful Christmas this little family had and what a joy it was to be included.

You had to be there

Festival is collecting stories so I am writting a few down and thought I would share:Delivering the ski tree
Tree delivery was going smooth and we were on our last tree. It was a tree made by the Brighton ski patrol and was made out of skis. It was on wheels and had no attachments so we were thinking “sweet”. The tree was being delivered to an apartment above the zoo. We pulled into parking garage and wanted to unload. The manager had us move to down the street. No problem, the tree was on wheels so we parked up hill and just wheeled it down. The apartment was on one of the top floors so we planned to use the elevator. The tree would not fit. So then we decided we would use the stairs. The tree would not fit. The apartment has sliding glass doors so we stood on the balcony and hoisted the tree up. The tree would not fit.
We call the creator and asked about dismantling the tree. They said it could not be done. We had to take the tree back to festival and then I had my son take it home until we could contact the purchaser. She understood completely about the delivery issue and offered for me to keep the tree. But even in my house, the tree would not fit. She asked if I could find some one who would like the tree. After calling around I found the children’s museum needed a tree and it would fit so we delivered it there

Break my heart

We do have a very interested buyer for our home and they said they were going to get us an offer this week. They came over for the third time last night. The mother brought me over some of her sons work from school. It seems he was asked to pretend it was his birthday and to drawer a picture of the thing he wanted the most if he was able to give himself a gift. Well, he drew our house! It just broke my heart, it was so cute

Lesson Learned

Since putting out the for sale sign we have had several people want to go through the house. Thanks to the Diehl family for helping us get it sparking clean. But every time someone comes we still have to do the rush through to get it ready. Rob had to do it the other day and he did such a great job , I was really impressed. But then , i was missing stuff. I have finally found my favorite blanket-- in with the material closet, my red book -- in the sock drawer, my neck pillow in the other sock drawer, my gym bag in the closet with the cleaning supplies. The paint under the sink, the mail in the toy closet, and the vacuum in the garage
I still have not found the back scratch er and sadly the bag of clothes to go to the cleaners went out with trash.
but lucky we keep our sites on the goal-- get to Herriman

Selling our house

We have officially putout house on the market
we got a couple who are extremely interested
and hopefully they can sell their house so they can buy ours

but here is my house for sale blog in case you know any one who is looking
http://debbi-sellingthehouse.blogspot.com/

Lava Hot Springs

I bought a water camera to take with me to lava hot springs so I could have pictures to blog with. After getting them developed on a cd and finally loaded to my computer, I cannot find them to post. Not that they are all that great. It is hard to take a great picture when you have dumped yourself in the river and are trying to survive but I want to show that they have done an excellent job of not making any improvements to the location since 1940. Yes, Lava hots springs is a dump and certainly the idea has been replaced by hot tubs and spas in your home.
Still we had a great time with Cam, Shae, Kyler and Kinley. Kinley had a rough Sunday night and kept her parent up all night. With them tired and Kinley tired, it made Monday for Cam a bit overwhelming . Rob and I just watch and laughed. It is a great time to see your children understand something about what they parents went through. I still use the old 4 boys times 30 years and as the grand kids get older I think the kids have a greater appreciation of what we as parents have been saying all the time, it is hard to be a parent.
Any way-- thanks Kyler for riding up and back with us and for riding down the river with grandma and for forgiving her for dumping you into the lake. You are very brave.

Tending Hunter

I love spending time with Hunter because he is such a sweet child. While tending on Monday, I noticed how Hunter kept a close eye on me.
I went into the kitchen--- Hunter says grandma, grandma , grandma and runs after me
I went to the restroom-- Hunter says grandma, grandma, grandma and runs after me
I went upstairs--- Hunter says grandma, grandma, grandma and runs after me
I went to the other side of the playground- Hunter says grandma, grandma, grandma and runs after me
I thought mercy
then I noticed what I was doing
Hunter ran ahead of me to the park-- grandma says Hunter, Hunter Hunter and runs after him
Hunter runs to the other park-- grandma says Hunter, Hunter Hunter and runs after him
Hunter runs to the car --grandma says Hunter, Hunter Hunter and runs after him

yes, it is all learned behavior and children learn it very fast

BATMAN returns

First there was Matt, then Brent, followed by Cam and Colby. Kyler was a true second generation Batman and now Hunter is following in thier footsteps and he looks awesome.

Brooklyn's Charlie and the Chocolate factory Party

we made willy wonka candy houses
we made candy necklaces
we tossed gobstopper

we licked edible wall paper
climbed through a TV box
chewed gum

broke the pinata
had soda pop, chocolate fountain

and brought home a bag of goodies

thanks Brooklyn for inviting us to come

we had a great time

Keep them in your prayers

Our dear friends daughter had her twins and sadly the little girl passed away 2 hours after she was born. Her brother weights is just over 2 pounds. This family needs all the help they can get. Please remmeber them in your prayers.