FUN TIMES IN PROVO AND MARYLAND AND CHARLOTTESVILLE...and...THE HOUSE, IT IS A-CHANGIN'

WE BEGIN OUR ADVENTURES IN PROVO:

Dad was a very good sport at Tacanos when they sang to him for his birthday .
We were in Provo for Kelsey's performance and of course had to eat at Tacanos! He even danced around the table.
They said it was the best they'd seen! What a ham!!

She looked and sounded beautiful. Such a wonderful experience to be able to listen to her. 

Uncle Mark and Aunt Denise also came to hear the BYU Philharmonic perform Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring."
 I love that they are so supportive and that they love my kids!

AND THEN, ON TO LAUREL, MARYLAND!!

We went to D.C. to see the gorgeous cherry blossoms. Jen is spraying sunblock on her very fair child...this happened ALOT while we were there on that beautiful, warm, sunny day. Jen is a great mom!

This is the fairly new monument in D.C. of Martin Luther King, Jr. Very impressive.

The Jefferson Memorial peeks through the cherry blossoms.

Oh, yeahhh. Ice-cream on a hot day. Fantastic!!

Grandpa Ripp was the stroller chauffeur often. Look at those trees! Wowzaaa!

ON TO CHARLOTTESVILLE TO EXPERIENCE THE WHIT!

These pink blossoms adorned the grounds at UVa. Stunning.

This happened alot here...Whitney and Nadine hanging out together.
Notice the abundant blossoms "snowing" the ground!

This tree was amazing.

This also happened a lot...us taking photos of these beautiful trees!

Priceless: one aunt taking time out of her busy life
for her adoring niece that has all the time in the world
and wants to spend it here.

Shopping in Charlottesville with the pixie.

Cute mom-daughter pic at our hotel in Charlottesville.

Dad spent some bonding time with Thomas Jefferson. Visionaries.

Flora...or fauna? You decide.
(This is up at Monticello.)

This was a common sight: Aunt Whitten with her most adoring fan.
They both had cute skirts, but Whitney's didn't twirl as much.

Nadine is being one with nature here. We think these are magnolia blossoms .
They carpeted the ground and smelled fantastic.

We stayed at the Garden Inn, which has a huge pond complete with swans! Beautiful.

Nani absolutely adores her Aunt Whitten. And vice-versa.  Nadine was having a very sad , tired moment
at this bbq place, and Whit was the perfect person to console her.

Todd took us on a tour of Walter Reed, and Nani zonked out.
 I loved that Jen just cuddled her and carried her around.
(I don't know why this is out of sequence...sometimes this blog -computer stuff makes me crazy!)

Here we are in front of Whit's room on the grounds at UVa. Such a  once-in-a-lifetime experience for her (and hence, us) to be able to be a part of such a historical place. Who knows why Nadine is holding my hand when Whit is so close.

IN MARYLAND...

During General Conference I hand-sewed some cute neckerchiefs together
to make a "twirly skirt" for Nadine.  Fun, and effective!

What are five fun things you can do with raspberries???

The wave of the future: parking garages with hookups for electric cars! This was in the garage at Walter Reed Medical Center where Todd works. Look at the size of the outlet (bottom right)!!

Jen fed us wonderful meals almost every single night. We were treated like celebrities!
She looks like the hostess on a TV food network!

We enjoyed playing the Dr. Seuss memory-find game. She won this round fair and square.
Come to think of it, she won all the rounds fair and square!

Man! She's so cute!! She's proudly displaying a seed pod from a local tree.
I call it the "Horton-Hears-A-Who" pod.

Chuck-e-Cheese is the second happiest place on earth, apparently!
She was in hog-heaven!!
(Where does that phrase come from??!!)

If you're happy and you know it dance with the creepy mouse!
Nani loved  this and was the best dancer there!

Dad was in his element with a pinball machine!

Blossom wars! You can see the white blossoms floating down on Nadine.
These petals were settling in "snow drifts," making even the gutters look elegant!

At the close of a long, busy, fun day I got to put her down for the night.
She just zonked and looked so precious and sweet... And quiet.

BACK AT THE RANCH (AKA BOULDER CITY)

Lenna is showing us her run-run-running skills that she excels at!

Shannon joined us for Sunday dinner at Lindsay and Aaron's.
She is so good with happy little Gwenyth!

Up in the tree fort Daniel, Raquel, me and Tyler put leaves on a protruding little branch.
 Great fun. It doesn't take much. Daniel, Lenna, and Tyler could climb up and down from this tree fort easily. 

NOW: (drum roll) HOUSE UPDATE!

While we were gone for a week, lots took place. This front door arrived just before we left. It was a sight for sore eyes!

This is what a front door looks like before it is attached to a house. A thing of beauty!

And this is what a front door looks like after its been installed and had praises sung to it!!
This is a HUGE step in the house process!

The drywall is up, and the seams are taped. This is looking up the staircase toward the bonus room. 

Here, in the bonus room, are the openings to the storage area under the eaves. There is a mirror image one of these on the other side of the room. I'll let the kids use one "bin" area for a play house. They'll love it! It's all about the grandkids!

So THIS is how strong drywall-guys do all this!

Ismael walked around on these stilts like it was the easiest thing in the world. I asked him how long it took him to become good at it. "About two years," was the answer. 

This is what the garage looks like after drywall and taping. Huge.

The high-up window finally came in and was installed above the entry way!  Garage doors go in tomorrow!

Here is the front room. All rooms are textured now and waiting to be painted. Notice the beautiful ceiling coffers!

THE END IS IN SIGHT!!

Kim Fotheringham tells me that I should be in the house in no more than six weeks. The front door comes in 10 days, the interior doors should be here by then. Stucco is starting, as is insulation. Then there is drywall, texturing, and painting. Then wood floors, tile and carpet. And cabinets and appliances. And light fixtures inside and out. And sidewalks and a driveway. And landscaping. But that can wait a smidge.  Life is busy.

Least you think all I ever do is think about the house, here is my phenomenal score of -4 on a recent "golf" game. Notice the TWO JOKERS!!! And a KING!!! That was a happy hand. 

Most of the exterior doors and windows were installed. Hallelujah! This is the  view of the back patio with its french doors, and on the right is the master bedroom window and door. Anderson Doors and Windows---fantastic.

This view looking up the very substantial stairs up to the window is delightful.

The family room has three 3'6" x 6' windows. I didn't want a big huge window because they are difficult to do window treatments on. But these three will be easier. Notice the FIREPLACE to the right of the windows!!

The living room. Notice the coffered ceiling, which will have rope lighting in it
THAT  HAS THE OPTION OF CHANGING COLORS!!! Very cool.
The big window (which will need to be treated---help!!) and the stairs are cool in this pic.

This is what a fireplace looks like in the 21st century before it is  fancied up. Gas lines, emergency shut -off valve, electronic lighting switch, and a heat blower. The pioneers would be amazed. I'm amazed. Imagine some hearth-stone on the hearth to sit on, and the antique bricks on the face of the fireplace. Then imagine a mantel supported by two corbels. Then imagine two drawers under the hearth which will hold pillows to sit on and blankets to cozy up in. Ahhh.

These are the bricks that are going on the face of the fireplace.  They are 1/2" thick.

Adorable Kaitlyn! She found a frog jumping around over at the new house and even caught it. It peed on her. She dropped it. Little sucker holds a lot of urine! But I love it's Kermit eyes in this picture. She re-caught it and showed her family. Then she released it "back to the wild" in our front yard! And she washed her hands really well!

             NATURE PHOTOS THAT I TOOK WHILE WALKING AROUND THE "BIG LOOP."

The symmetry is remarkable. I love desert plants in the Spring! 

This is the first of this type of bird that I have seen this season. I love that random species will migrate through our area. Isn't the reflection serene of the bird and trees? And notice our mountains in the background. Ahhh.

Here are the Primary kids in our Alta Vista branch! There are SO CUTE...and mostly well-behaved!

Sierra got to bring "Honey Bear" home for the weekend from Tiny Tots. The three of us made cheesy biscuits for dinner last week. Sierra got to pour in flour, stir dough, and snitch cheese. Very cute.
NEW IDEA: Instead of rolling out the biscuit dough and cutting it in circles,
re-rolling out dough and cutting more circles, etc.,
I just divided the dough into two sections and rolled each one into a 3" diameter "snake" and cut it in 1/2" pieces.
Voila! round, perfect biscuits without all the fuss and muss.
And I LOVE my Silpat baking sheet!!

                    WELL, THAT IS ALL FOR NOW!! HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE SHOW!!

REMODELING TAKES A LOT OF TIME AND EFFORT

Hawaii was a wonderful break that we really needed. Even though I don't pound in any nails or pull any wires, I sure do spend a lot of time over at the house and doing house stuff. The process is exciting and exhausting, and I'll be so thrilled to be in it!  

Here's a review:  New garage being framed in.

The back of the house with all the stucco removed. Original windows still in tact.

The family room and patio are framed in. Those two windows in the patio area will soon be history.

Framing begins for the family room off the back of the house. Notice that the master bedroom window is still in the picture, so to speak, on the right side of the photo.

Here's what all the cars on Buchanan see. Quite the change.

The back of the house has a face-lift. None of the original doors or windows are still there. You're looking at the family room addition, with a covered patio (closest to us) and a bonus room over parts of both of them. You can see the bonus room window above the family room. This is one of my favorite features. Currently you get into it with a tall ladder!

This is taken in the bonus room looking through the window and wall toward the golf course across Buchanan Blvd.

Still in the bonus room, looking across the floor to the storage room under the eaves. This is mirrored on the side I'm standing in to take the photo. There will be lots of insulation to keep this room and storage area temperate.

Roofer guys! The paper is going down. And you can see the absence of a master window. There is now an added  alcove to the master bedroom, making it three feet larger. Hallelujah. And it makes the back of the house so inviting!

This picture makes me giggle because it looks like miniature roofer guys are pouring out of the fork lift, like little ants in a row going about their business. Be careful, roofer guys!! They had an assembly line going as they placed tons of tiles on the roof.

Master bedroom with its additional 3' of alcove space. Ahhh. You can see a door and a window framed in.

The front of the house starts to get it's face-lift.  If you look back at earlier photos, you can see that this framing is making the front of the house go up higher instead of angling back in the former "apron" style. Notice the two windows. Soon there will be three.

In what used to be the garage, there is now this framed food storage room. The door opening on the left will be the coat closet next to the door going outside to the new garage. I am standing in the craft portion of the room.

I am in the front of the new garage looking toward the back yard. On the right on the back garage door opening, you can see a two-story structure. This is a closet that originates off of the master bedroom. Cool!!!

You can see the framing dividing the living room from the kitchen and family room areas. You'll notice boards over all of the window and door openings. This is for security. We also park the RV there every night and remove it every morning for the same reason.

We're pulling the stucco off the front so that the new stucco will not have weird patchwork  places. Notice the big tall white wall above the entry. It will be gone soon.

Here are the framed in soffetts in the front room. They will hold rope lighting. There will also be canned lights, and two chandeliers in here. I like light. (C'mon, you can hear it...."I like light; light likes me; light and I fairly fully agree....") :-)

Here's the existing entry way with major changes occurring. Still the big white face above the door.

See where this wall, under the window, angles backwards to the ground? We are going to make it go straight down. The cement forms are sitting there.

Now see the lack of a big white wall above the entry way. There will be an 8' wide window there, that  is curved at the top. Kim created a little room up in there complete with a very sturdy floor, and easy access from the bathroom "attic access" opening. He'll put drywall in it to look like a regular room (it won't be air-conditioned or heated), so that I can easily decorate up in there and it'll look like a real room. Very, very fun!! It's also one of my favorite features of this house!

The front of the house looks like this now. The new windows  in the front are covered with boards , but they are framed in, too. The existing windows are gone. All the exterior windows and doors are being installed on Monday!!! Hallelujah! Then we'll be able to start enclosing this thing officially by putting on the stucco.

Here is the view from my fun little room above the entry way. This is strictly for decoration purposes; the window in here will not open, and there will be no official ventilation. But it's still very fun.

Here is Jaime bringing in one of the sides of the staircase framing.  Heavy.

Sorry for the dark picture. I took this just tonight because I was so excited to see the stairs installed! No more climbing up big, tall ladders to get to the bonus room!

TIME TO THINK ABOUT THE DECORATIVE STUFF!!

I really like these Lamps Plus coach lights. We'll see if the gal will give us a deal on them for buying 12. In the diamond center, there is a piece of amber-colored glass. Very pretty.

Also at Lamps Plus, we found this chandelier that we really liked. Hopefully we'll get a deal on these, too, since we need two with another smaller version of it.

I also really like these coach lights with the tree motif.

Fanco has these nice fans that are buy-one-get-one-free! Hooray!

At RC Wiley's we found some nice carpet to make another rug out of to put under the dining table.
 Here are some options....

...as are these. You can buy carpet and they will finish off the edges for you to be a rug . A rug that never wrinkles!

                                                                  GRANITE TIME!

We've narrowed our selections of granite down. Granite is so beautiful, some of the pieces are like gorgeous landscape paintings. However, since this is going on my island counter in my kitchen and on the counters, I want something a little more subdued so as not to over-power the entire kitchen. So we looked for something that would contrast with the cabinets (either lighter or darker) and that would not have too busy of a pattern.  These pictures do not do these beautiful pieces justice, but here they are. This one is Baltic Brown. 

Another crewman. Guy.

This one is called "Cinderella Blue." Really. And it is absolutely gorgeous, probably our favorite.
We'll see what the cost turns out being. 

This is Juparana Sinatra, and is our very close second choice. It is a lighter color (duh). We also found a beautiful marble for the counter tops in the master bathroom and the hall bathroom.

This is a fruitless pear tree and it has the most beautiful blossoms. But they literally smell like putrified flesh. So nasty!!! 

Grandma and I attended a bridal shower for a girl in our ward, and we got this photo. I actually like it, so I'll share it with you. Cute grandma Peterson!! She's very sweet with grandpa, and I know it is hard at times.