The Long Farewell ~ Grantparents

I love Grandma and Grandpa so much!

They are a bundle of laughs and both are very unique characters.

In the 8 months I've been with them, Grandma and I have done lots of shopping,

ate out a couple of times, and done lots of projects around the house.

Grantpa is the energizer bunny, he keeps going and going and going

and going and going and going...

We haven't been able to steal him away much more often than mealtimes.

Tonight I put my foot down. 

Grantpa love love loves ice cream and has always been curious about my work at Sub Zero.

I got Grandma on my side and we wrangled him into dinner and ice cream.

Grantpa says, "Life is precarious, ice cream for dinner makes sense."

Grandma says, "That's not how it works, I need some food first."

We stopped at G-ma's favorite, Wendy's, for dinner.

Then it was on to Sub Zero.

G-pa and Royal got along quick. And they both said they'd heard great things about one another.

True story, and with good reason. 

Grant Holdaway and Royal Petersen are to of the most honorable people I know!

I love and respect them both so much.

G-ma got a yogurt with amaretto and coconut flavor with chocolate chips and coconut flakes.

G-pa ordered a large premium vanilla with chocolate chips and coconut flakes.

My last Ice cream in Utah was a half premium/half, half and half. Maple and cinnamon flavor with cookie dough and coconut flakes. 

Looks like we have some coconut love in our blood.

:) 

Grandpa was a champ. Finishing his mountain of ice cream before G-ma finished her small yogurt.

I hope I inherit his metabolism.

It was a short lovely trip and I'm grateful I got to spend sometime with the both of them before I leave.

Grandpa loves his ladies. And we love him!!!

The Long Farewell + Christmas

Holly and Mitch gave all us girls 'date' nights for Christmas. 

I asked them if I could make good on it before I left for the summer.

Holly and I went to see Water for Elephants at the matinée. It was bloody fantastic!!

I thought it was filmed beautifully and Robert Pattinson wasn't even a let down.

Then we stopped at Smart Cookie and got some treats for later.

I chose the Snickerdoodle and it was delightful.

We came home, watched T.V. waiting for Mitch, and then left for Dinner.

We ran some errands and ate at this Cheese-steak place. Yum.

After dinner I broke one of my personal resolutions.

Never go fake tanning? Yeah right.

Holly talked me into it and it was free so I gave it a go.

I still think it's a stupid way to increase you risk of cancer, and gain nothing more than a few minutes in an oven.

I would much rather work hard or play hard all day in the sun and have something to show for it other than some pink skin.

It was fun though to spend more time with Holly and Mitch.

We watched Black Swan tonight.

It was a really weird psycho movie. I didn't care much for the actual story.

But it was beautifully done. Cinematic-ally and the acting too.

It was a great night. I get to sleep with Jake. 

And tomorrow the moving plans and farewell continue.

Happy thoughts & focus

Working on a couple collages. 

One is for my summer focus.

One is for summer motivation.

One is for my goals.

One is for my past. 

Here is a sneak peek.

(I don't know why the color is so faded. They are both bright colored, and have a healthy dose of sparkles...aka... fairy sneeze)

The Long Farewell

Keeping with tradition, I can't leave the state or come back to the state with out stopping for my favorite Pizza.

Two Jacks Pizza in Springville. :) Yum. The rest of my week is getting crowded quick so I went for it tonight.

The Long Farewell

Beautiful, quick hail storm followed by a fast heavy burst of rain. 

A delicious precipitious treat for me.

It was so great for our yard too, Grandpa planted his grass seed yesterday

and look....!!!!

(Just kidding. It was sod. But it surprised Grandma and me. We didn't know it was coming)

The Long Farewell

And so it begins. My last 6 days in Utah. For a little while.

Last night my dear friend Landon came over. We watched a movie and talked late.

There's potential there. And then there's really bad timing.

I determined not to have any distractions this summer.

I will come home end of August, work through Pumpkinland, (possibly the last year), I am taking my mommy on a trip. I want to deer hunt again, among other 'fowl' creatures.  

And most importantly, I am going to work towards putting my papers in for a missions.

:)

This morning I slept in way too late, I went to work with Holly for a couple hours. I love planting!

Holly shared her first 3 tomatoes of the year with Susie and me. Yum! Makes me so excited for summer.

I went and got my fingernails done. I had more hours on my last check than I expected so I splurged. Just white tips, cut short, with a thin line of green at the base. 

I stopped at the pet store for a look see, and held a momma rat. She was super friendly and curious.

I am actually sincerely considering getting a rat for my next pet. Short life expectancy, loyal, trainable, curious, and friendly. Cheap. Sounds good to me.

Then I stopped at the grocery store and bought a jar of pickles. Actually, I paid 7 cents tax for a jar of pickles. I'd won a free jar on the radio last week and went to collect. Silly government. I win a prize and they get to tax me for that privilege? Silly silly.

Today is a great day so far. Hopefully I'll do something fun tonight. 

Farewell x 3

Tonight was my 3rd last night working at Sub Zero.

(Being the 3rd time I worked my last shift before leaving.... and probably coming back) 

:)

I miss my Brownie.

I'll miss my fiancee, Dr. Jon.

And I love love love and already miss my Little one.

Big World this is my Little One. Little one, meet the big world.

I'm just a little short next to Tiani.

HighLights

Jack and Sophie are growing fast.

I love carsenogenic pieces of burnt flavor on my potatoes. :) 

Silly Mommy. Didn't want to smile for the camera.

I love Faithy. She came to visit me after she worked at the Garden Center Thursday.

 And she was sleepy.

We have new BLack Petunias this year. They are so beautiful and add lots of contrast to pots and flower beds.

Momma goat wanted to taste my camera.

White Alyssum is one of my favorite spring flowers. It's tiny, it blossoms in a blanket of color. And it smells divine.

I hope you all had a great week. I will update other details tomorrow. :)

Monday continued...

After successfully vacuuming the entire house, I got dressed cute for the day. I ran errands for me and Grandma. They go much quicker when it's just my young legs and shallow pocket that is moving through the stores. I picked up the mugs Faith and I did at Color Me Mine last week(a late follow up on her 13 birthday) They look great, I 'll post pictures tomorrow.. Stopped at Costco for G-ma, stopped at See's candies for me, stopped at Walmart for both of us and made it home through the pouring rain.I came home and actually worked out. I was using Grandma's new Ab-Circle Pro. It was great for all of ten minutes when we realized one of the parts isn't working. We'll have to take that back tomorrow and get a new one or something. I did some homestyle crunches and ab work and then I worked out with my shake weight. If my tummy and arms burn in the morning that is a good sign!! :) And then, I cleaned up and got cute again... cause I had a date. A great friend of mine from high school finally took me out. We went to his Aunt's house (She is not much older than us and darling!) and we made dinner and ate with her and her husband and daughter. The little girl was so adorable and she repeats everything she hears. Especially when you don't think she's listening to what is being said. We got to watch a movie on their huge projector while they ran out for a couple errands. The Blind Side is a great movie.

It was a successful day and a wonderful night. Here's to a great first day of the week! :)

Monday

Enjoying a fairly lazy morning. Woke up and made pancakes for me and grandpa. Read more of Les Miserables and now am soaking in the grey morning. The plan is to watch the old house torn down today, and hopefully play with a friend. After I vacuum a 5200 sq foot home and clean the kitchen. Hurray for Mondays.

Jack

For the record. My sweet grandpa keeps goats because he has a couple Spanish ladies working for him that adore them. Lupita especially. Also, kids love them in the fall for Pumpkinland. Lupita gets to name all the goats. The two mommy goat names are, 'Lupita' and 'Princess'

Princess is the one who has the twin kids right now. I love them. The little boy was very shy the first day when I visited them, but not so much now. I sat down in their pen and just waited until his curiosity overcame him. (Bound to happen of course. Goats are very curious you know)

He finally came over and preceded to play on my lap like a jungle gym. 

He gave me lots of kisses, but still doesn't like being pet.

I like him a lot. I've decided he is my new boyfriend. :)

I am going to see him again today.  

If Lupita has not named him yet, I want to volunteer the name Jack. It's not short for anything. Just Jack.

And if she has named him, and I don't like the name, I am still going to consider him, Jack. :)

Here are a few photos from last time.

12 on 12 for 12

I feel like I am so so behind in blogging. I am thinking that perhaps if the reason I missed the internet the most for the last week, was for facebook and blogging, I am definitely not doing enough with myself. Ah well. It was a crazy, productive, stressful yet strangely therapeutic week. Nearly 60 logged hours between working on the house/move and Sub Zero.

I vow I will make up for at least some of the mayhem that went on. But it's late tonight and I told Holly I would start 12 on 12 for 12. 12 pictures on the 12th day of the month for 12 months. Here they are. Not just from today unfortunately, but form the last 3 days so I think it still counts. :)

Day 2

I worked on Grandma's craft/crap until after midnight. I'm tired and we have more left for tomorrow.

These pictures'll have to do. Good Night all.

who's-its and what's-its GALORE!

"We've got gadgets and gizmos a-plenty
We've got who's-its and what's-its galore
You want thing-a-mabobs?
We've got twenty (hundreds!)
But who cares? No big deal. They want more"

It is the end of day one moving Grandma and Grandpa's house. They are bitter and just barely getting through. We are tossing more than they'll ever notice long enough to miss. Deseret Industries is our dear friend this week. All of their children will be here together this week for some long, productive days.

We have dry hands, dust in our nose, aches in our necks, and a fresh resolve to never let our own spaces get that way.

I'm an Auntie!!!

Though I crave the image of a little Niece of Nephew around. And taking them out on ice cream and duck pond outings and spoiling them silly, Holly and Mitch are loving their life just the way it is. But, as thoughtful as they are, they have to beautiful puppies. Jake and Cezar are our nephews for now. And I enacted my rights. I took Jake on a hike. Spoiled him a little. And maybe he saved my life. I'm not sure.

We went to a beautiful hike in Alpine. I think it's called Horsetail falls. Or Horseshoe. I'm not sure. I've done it before and it's beautiful. We started up the steep trail and we were both doing great. Not even a 1/2 mile up, there was snow across the trail. Not new snow, but it was a little slick. We persisted. Jake was doing great and loving all the smells. We made it just past 1/2 a mile, when Jake stopped. He was dead still and wouldn't budge forward. Holly warned me that he may get tired, but this was different. He was fixated on a spot up the trail about 20 yards and just of to the left. I tried to get him to keep going and he dug his feet in. I tried to coax him forward again, and he bore his teeth. 

It's at that point where I thought to myself, I brought this companion for a reason and if he can see, smell or hear something I can't. And if it makes him stop still and not move like that. I wasn't real interested in continuing. :)

We headed back down, and then we eventually ran to the bottom. (that was my choice, it works your lazy muscles better)

I wasn't done though. I made that poor pooch keep it up. We went about a mile and a half in a loop on the roads leading up to the trail base. Jake was so tired when we finished. He lay down in the car the whole ride home. I returned him safe and sound to his mommy. And he's already recovered. I'm the one that can't move normal. ;)

Here is a short collage of our adventure that Holly put together for us.

This week and next...

Last sunday, I painted nails, played blokus, lost at blokus, and had a yawning war with Nanna. 

It was good silly fun! :)

Saturday day, I took my sisters dog Jake for a hike. We were only on the trail about 1/2 a mile when he stopped dead still and wouldn't go further. Jake was fixated on a spot just to the left of the trail about 20 yards ahead. I thought to myself, I brought this dog for a reason. If he can see, smell, or hear something I can't... I probably don't want to see, smell or hear it. We ran back down, and did some walking/running on the road leading up to the trail.

On the way home I passed the Peppermint Place in Alpine. I went in for a look see and found all these fabulously cute creations... 25 cents each!! :D

And Fruit loop sunday (otherwise known as general conference sunday) commences! 

Hope works on some stitching.

Puzzles our a tradition on General conference sundays. Also note the big bag of fruit loops.
I'm really not sure how that tradition got started.

Emma is a good helper. Took turns napping on both of the puzzles.

Faith has candy, fruit loops, a puzzle, and a smile. I love her!

I had a rare sweet moment with my baby Ellie... it was just a moment. She spazzed out and took off on me. 

See. She is a really good helper. She solves through osmosis.

Someone played with my camera...


We were going to have a little quiet dinner. Just us four girls and mom and dad. And then we heard the family was coming. 6 people turned into 17. And it was awesome!!

Lexi, Dan, Hope, and Dad

Uncle Jeff and my dear Aunt Karen. Ben and his lady Jess.

Holly brought a treat from her visiting teacher to share with us. Cute yeah?

Great week. Great family. Great conference.

Coming up... all the aunts and uncles are here to help us move from grandparents house of 50 years, to a new one they were forced to build by imminent domain. (blech. argh!)

Can anybody say too many chiefs, not enough indians?
I am excited to see how it goes. I'll try to keep up more than just one post a week! Love you all!