Disneyland Update

Most of our faithful readers are probably in the loop and received these images, but . . . Sarah reports that the family arrived safely in California, and made connection with Aunt Carolyn. She also reports that the Cole's rental home (remember they had an electrical fire in a back bedroom of their home?)is very nice. Sarah, Aaron, and family are hopeful that Aunt Carolyn will join them at Disneyland later in the week. That would be great.

Jerry graciously took everyone to dinner at the Claim Jumper last night. I guess The Ly warmed right up to he and Rhonda. You can see that aside for her interest in her nose, she is comfortable with them.

Jake also enjoyed a little attention from his big cousin, Jerry. Hurray for the family!

Buboppy

Saturday After Thanksgiving

Although it was a little chilly, Saturday morning was really nice and sunny. We took Andrew to Discovery Park to run him out a little and he had a fun time climbing on the equipment and sliding down the slides.

Of course by the time we got him home, his pants were pretty wet in the seat from all of the sliding. I think he was happy to be out and free to do what he wanted. After a quick lunch of mac and cheese, he took a much needed nap.

The Wells children joined us at about 1:00 PM, and after lunch Bubby, Sarah, Rosalyn, and all the kids except Ly went to the American Children's Christmas Festival at the Heritage Center. The parade was going too, but it was a bit chilly to stand on the street. They saw lots of well decorated theme trees, and of course had fun looking around.

While they were at the Festival, and Wee Wee was sleeping, Daniel, Aaron and I hung the outside lights so we would be ready for the Christmas season. I know it is not Aaron's favorite thing to do, but he was a good sport about it. I appreciated his help. We had the lights up by the time the gang got back home.

Of course Bruno's was on the menu for dinner, and we had a grand time. I took a photo of Andrew, sauce from ear to ear (the kids all had pasta and meatballs), but it ended up on Sarah's camera. We'll have to get a hold of it though. The kids all ate really well. We tried to play a game after everything quieted down, but it was not to be. Lydia would not go to sleep with what else was going on, and Katie and Jake were fighting. I don't think any of the Wells children is feeling very well. I hope Disneyland works out for them. Sarah just called and reported that they took the little girls to the hospital on their way home last night. I have no details, but it sounds like trouble for their trip.

The BIG NEWS is that Aaron got the results back from his recent Las Vegas trip. He scored a 91% on his certification exam! He is ready to license himself as a rad-tech. Very exciting news and I know he is pleased to have done so well. This will definitely help with the job search. He is supposed to hear something from Murray on Monday or Tuesday.

Buboppy

Dutch Christmas

Dutch Christmas day dawned snowy in Cedar City. We had to shovel the driveway before we could get out of the driveway, but there was only about 1/2 inch total. Fortified by Bubby's blueberry pancakes, Andrew thought it was great fun, though, and he helped his Dad and Poppy right up to the end. We ran over to the office so that Daniel could gather up some music and the install disks for Leopard. Eventually, when all our preparations were complete (brownies for Bubby, a relish tray for Rosalyn) we drove down to Ivins and the park. We met up with the family there and the senior patriarch was very much in evidence, as you can see from this photo. The day was lovely, if a bit chilly, and the sun was out.

The kids all loved playing on the playground equipment, and you can see lots of photos of Katie, Elle, Alisa, Jake, and Andrew having a great time together. We had a good lunch of sloppy joes and potluck, and plenty of fun conversation.





It was really fun to see that independent, wild child, climbing up the jungle gym, just like the big kids, sliding down on her own, and heading back for another ride. Sarah's girls were twinning, and looked very elegant in their faux fur trimmed white nylon vests.

During the arrival and lunch preparations, Joshua brought all necessary for a spirited game of Dutch football. Of course both Ashley and Barby got right into it. Barby scored multiple goals for her side. Daniel and I settled for some frisbee with Kenon and Jon. It was a grand day in the park.

Following our lunch, we had a new version of the Dutch Christmas present game. One per family, $5 max. It was fun to see what everyone came up with for the event. I think it was kinder for the younger families and so all were satisfied. Uncle Jim got his own box of mousies for a later party.

Bubby prepared a tea party in a box, which the Jim Lee family picked out. The jan hagel cookies were shared with all interested. About the time we were mid-way through the present exchange, and cold wind started blowing steadily out of the North. We suffered through the rest of the presents, but reconvened at Auntie Nell's for further festivities. Lots of fun for everyone. Our grands had the most fun, I think.

Our final stop before returning home was Alberto's and we were joined there by the Wells. Jake ate his own plate of rolled tacos, and Daniel bought carne asada fries for Andrew, although he had pretty much reached wits end, and was ready for some well deserved rest. Not much went to waste, and Andrew fell asleep on our way back to Cedar City dreaming of brown juice and slippery slides.

Buboppy

A Quiet Thanksgiving

Ours was a quiet Thanksgiving. Bubby had somehow wangled an invitation to Gary and Marsha Wells' home, and so our preparations for the great day were light. We had responsibility for the rolls, and Bubby made them good and sticky. We drove down to St. George to try to help Sarah get ready. She had the green bean casserole and mashed potatoes. Bubby also used that time to set the rolls and baked them. There were quite a few that came up missing from the pan. We had a good time visiting at Sarah's and went to the party. The event amounted to a house full of people all trying to stay out of each other's way.

Gary had turkey cooked two ways: deep pit and brined and smoked. They were both delicious. I think all had fun. Of course we began our turkey-day celebration with a stop at Alvaros and breakfast burritos. Very tasty indeed.

Thanks to the Wells for a pleasant day.

Buboppy

Saturday at Home

We spent the day at home. We started with our usual Walmart run and added a stop at the Depot. The toilet in our bathroom has been running a little because the flapper valve was leaking. However, when I looked in the tank, the thing didn't have a normal flapper valve! When we checked it out at the Depot, there was a little gasket you replace (much easier than a flapper valve), and I performed the repair. It took a couple of false starts, but it seems It be working now.

We also spent some time making pomegranate jelly for Christmas. Bubby is already starting to worry about having everything ready for our trip to State College in December. Mainly, I washed dishes and the like. Bubby made the three batches of jelly. I put hot peppers in most of them, but Auntie Nell came, and we sent her home a bottle sans chili flakes.

Once we got the jelly done, we made a run to Hursts' and the cleaners, along with other chores. Then we got to work on the outside chores. I needed to drain the sprinkler lines, but of course, the main drain valve broke, and I had to replace it. Once I got all the lines drained and the hoses disconnected, I went back and found Bubby wedding the flower bed outside the solarium. She had butchered the bushes back there, and I could see that we were going to have a load for the dump, so I did a little trimming on the spruce trio. We raked the remaining leaves, put the BBQ in the shed, and generally got a little closer to being ready for the first snow. I also needed to run the boat motor out of gas, because we didn't get the chance to run it out in the wind storm. After our trip to the dump, we finally got our showers for the day. Bubby said "simple pleasures are what it is all about!"

We went to a reception for Stephanie Madsen. She married a Reeder boy she met at USU. It was great to see the family, and Bubby had a great time catching up with everyone.

I left her in Auntie Nell's capable hands, and I went to watch the T-Birds run. It appears to be another long season ahead. They got beat by CS Fullerton. They are in sore need of a point guard.

I am going to have a piece of French coconut pie. I'll pass judgment on it when I have tasted it.

Bubopyy

We did, but probably shouldn't have

I read a report on the internet that said the fish were still biting at Sand Hollow. We made arrangements with Beany and Jake to meet us there. It was a nice enough day, probably 70°, but the wind was steady when we arrived. I asked the ranger at the gate if the lake was in white caps, and he said, "just barely, and it settles right down when the wind stops blowing". Well, as I backed in to launch, I had a funny feeling I shouldn't but, hey, we were there, and I didn't want to spoil the fun. Bubby and Bean couldn't control the boat once I got it off of the trailer. Bubby doesn't know how to operate the engine, and somehow, she ended up driving. We had a wild ride out to our fishing grounds, once I got the boat underway, but as soon as we got in the lee of the hill, it was pretty nice. Jake still enjoyed bundling up in the wool blanket Bubb brought just for him.

Aaron caught the first fish, but we never got it landed. I only caught two, and here there are. The report said that only the small fish were being caught, but the first one would have gone two and one half pounds. Anyway, it was fun, as long as we stayed in the wind shadow of the hill.

Beany did hook a monster, but got excited and broke him off. I would have liked to see that fish. We started back in, as soon as the sun dipped under the hill. The ride back across the open lake was wet, and wild. I couldn't see because my glasses were all spotted with water. I thought as we trudged across, "this is nuts! I am not worried about the safety of any of the adults, but what if something happened to Jake?" I don't think I will do that again. After a little excitement, we were able to trailer the boat in the wind. All is well that ends well, because we finished off with dinner at Alberto's in Hurricane. The beans were awesome and the special was a carne asada burrito, beans and rice.

Buboppy

Saturday in St. George

As I stated in our last post, we headed down to St. George early Saturday morning to help Sarah with her yard sale. Auntie Nell spent Friday night with us, and we rose early to be at the sale by 8:00 AM. Mainly, Sarah needed help managing the kids while she wheeled and dealed. Of course Bubby is an excellent yard-salesman and convinced many a customer to make that purchase. In the end, the sale was not wildly successful, but it did move some things out of Sarah's garage because what didn't sell went straight to the DI.

My job was to take Jake for a haircut and return Auntie Nell to Ivins. We didn't say anything about our plan to Jake, just loaded him, over much protest, in the car and drove straight to Arthur Hale's barbershop. There was one in the chair and only two ahead of us, so Auntie Nell read her book in the car and Jake and I waited. You can see how great he looks with his hair freshly cut. I gave him a dollar for being so cooperative, and his mother gave him two dollars for some chores he had done. He is clutching his cash in this photo. He tried to convince me that one of my errands was to take him to Target to buy an action figure, but I was born yesterday.

The real challenge was the Ly. She was either climbing the kitchen table and stools or going through the sale items. Gary and Marsha showed up to help, and Gary spent quite a bit of time pushing her in the stroller. At one point she climbed into this box and I got her to pose for a photo. She only had to have three make-overs while we were there, which I am told is very common. She is a cutie, but loves to make a mess.

We were all starving after the yard sale, which closed at 11:30 AM. Before Aaron had to go to work, we headed to Ernesto's and had the lunch special. Everyone was really hungry, and cleaned up their plates. The salsa was to die for, as usual, and it was a nice lunch. We went to the DI, Costco, Target, and Harmons before returning Jake to his house. We talked to Booty on the phone and they are in their apartment, but have no furniture, yet. It is supposed to arrive today. I heard Bubb say, "the better the day, the better the deed", so you can guess what the plan will be for Sunday. I hope they are able to go to their church this morning. They need to start making the important social connections there.

Bubby and I spent a quiet evening in Cedar City last night. One grocery stop and then home. We ate leftovers for dinner and watched a Netflix. Today is Sunday–church, home teachers, choir practice, bishop's council, etc., etc.

Buboppy

Approval!

Bubby and I met with the condo association last evening and after watching them squabble over whether or not the Recreation Association is paying its fair share of the property insurance, presented our proposal to put a gate in the back fence we share with them.

Of course they wanted to know how often I would use it to put the boat in the backyard. They also wanted to know whose fence it was. I told the woman who asked, that if it was my fence I would not have come to the meeting. After a couple of false starts, we got the approval and got out of there. The whole thing reminded me of why I don't serve on the recreation board anymore.

We had a fun time with Booty and Laurie on Tuesday night, before they left for Techits. We did a Costa Vida run, which is everybody's favorite, and then Laurie said she had coveted the 10 lb. Chocolate Cake at the Garden House ever since she saw Jakie eating his. So off we went. It took Laurie, Booty, and Bubby to finish the thing. I just sat back and smiled.



We talked with them in Amarillo on Wednesday night, and again when they arrived in Dallas on Thursday night. The movers are supposed to arrive today, and I hope everything goes smoothly. Booty has to go to work on Monday, so it had better. I guess the reality of a really big city like Dallas is a little daunting, but I am sure that they will learn to love it. I am counting on their ward to give them a very warm reception.

Bubby has run off to play with Auntie Nell (visiting Jodie), and I have to hang around for Distinguished Scholars Day. We will have much to report after tomorrow and Babsy's yard sale.

Buboppy

Sunday Morning Tea

After all of the post pinning partying, we had a quiet breakfast at home this morning. Due to the change from DST, we had enough time for a leisurely tea party with our breakfast. Andrew is trying to learn not to be so "boyish" in his handling of Bubby's tea cups etc. He is getting the idea and kept repeating, "I be gentle".

Here is Bubby all posed up and ready for a sip. She loves to share her love of this particular social grace with anyone who can hold a cup. Andrew loves to play tea party with the toy set. We awoke this morning to him standing by our bed with a cup and the teapot, ready to get started.

One picture of all the "grands" after the pinning. Lydia was pretty upset to have to share her scooter, but we got past it. They all like to hang out together.

Buboppy

Pinning Day

We are on our way to Beany's pinning ceremony. Jake is being a major league queeker. He doesn't want to wear the appropriate shoes. He says they make him look like a "one-eyed" freak. I told him the shoes didn't make that much different, it was his permanent scowl that made him look like a freak!

It is done! Here is Bean with the rest of his graduating class. There were twelve in the program. You can tell he is really happy to put this behind him and move on to new opportunities. We wish him well in the job hunt, and hope that he doesn't end up in Timbuktu. But if he does, we will just have to come and visit him.

I did get one picture at the pinning of the whole family. Jake is wearing the same expression, but I think that was mostly for effect. The little girls were darling, and Lydia slipped away from us during the reception, found a plate, and started filling it herself from the buffet line. It seems her two great talents are climbing and eating, in that order. We love her!
Buboppy