The Olive Tree

A week ago Saturday (the 21st), Kevin got out the chainsaw and tried to cut down the olive tree in front of our house. Well, the chainsaw whimped out so he was only able to cut off two main branches. Then last Saturday he bought an electric saw and proceed to finish cutting down the tree. Now, you may ask, Why was he cutting down a tree that has grown and given us shade for many years (about 30)? I'll tell you why--because the olives leave a huge mess on the patio pavers and we get olive tree starts from all the pits the birds leave for us. Last year he thought he was going to dig it up and transplant it to the back yard where it won't affect any pavers. When I asked him about cutting it down, he said it was easier to do that then to transplant it. I agree.

I took this picture on Sunday after all the work was done. Thank goodness I had to go to work on Saturday or Kevin would've enlisted my help, I'm sure.

We let out lawn die last year because it needs to be completely reseeded.

Lunch at Koko's Kitchen

As soon as Mitchell and Austin left for the bus, I got ready for my day and called Jenny, Danny's wife, (I'm still getting used to saying that) to see if she could take me shopping while Rachel was in school. She was busy blogging and came over without any makeup. After we were done shopping, I suggested we meet Danny for lunch at our favorite sushi place, Koko's Kitchen. I love to sit at the sushi bar and watch them make our lunch.

Here's Rachel eating edamame. Jenny told me the correct way to eat them--just the peas inside not the whole thing. Much better that way!

More Rachel

This was taken by Rachel. She did well considering she was sitting right next to me.

I really like this shot of Jenny and Danny. Did Rachel take this one too?

I remembered after we were all done that I didn't get any pictures of our food so I took one of this rice and fish thingy. Danny ordered this. I think it was mackeral

I had Danny take this picture because I noticed earlier in the day that Jenny and I had sunglasses that were almost exactly alike.

Uncle Danny taken by Rachel. What a fun morning we had together and we arrived back at Mandi's just 5 minutes before the boys were scheduled to be home from school. Thank you Jenny, for being my chauffeur! I love you (and Danny too)

Snow!

We woke up on Thursday, March 5th, to snow. It was so beautiful I had to document it.

Austin and Mitchell on their way to the bus stop.

If you look real close, you can see the boys on their way to the bus stop.

Mandi's backyard.

Later in the morning I took this picture of the snow where its melting from the tree limbs.

What, you may ask, is this? Well, its a long story. I made my footprints in the snow and took this picture for Aunt Vicky because she always teases me about my "baby feet".

Salt City Burger Co.

Danny is really getting into his Garlic Burger, Mitchell is a hippie. Haha

The girl's side of the table with Austin sneaking in too. Jenny, Austin, Rachel and Kathleen.

Jenny and Danny

Austin finished his Oreo cookie shake!

We don't do it that way!

This is what Rachel's hair looks like when she wakes up in the morning. One morning she was brushing her teeth (she saw me brush mine, so she had to brush hers. nothing wrong with that!), so I started brushing her hair. I was trying to brush out the 'frizbees'. She informed me in her best adult voice, "We don't do it that way." I always brushed my children's hair when they were brushing their teeth.
There was also the day I was cleaning Austin's glasses. I ran them under the faucet and then wiped them with a towel and Austin told me "that's not the way we do it". So I told him I washed them because they were really dirty. Aren't kids so cute!!!!

Mitchell's tooth

Mitchell pulled out his tooth!

The space left by his baby tooth.

His baby tooth.

One of my favorite times at Mandi's house was cuddle time. After we had family time in the front room where we read in the Book of Mormon and from Grandma Helen's life story, followed by famiy prayer, we would go into Mike and Mandi's room, get on their bed and read some more or watch TV. The length of time varied each night, depending on how close it was to Rachel and Austin's bedtime. One night, Mitchell pulled out a loose tooth!

Austin the jeweler

See, Kyra, you're not the only one to tilt your head. Its a family trait!

I have enough pictures from my trip to Utah to post quite a few more entries. You'll really enjoy this one. When Austin (age 7) came in from school on Friday, the 27th of Feb, it seemed like the first thing he said was "I want your rings". So I promised him that when I die, he can have my wedding rings. When he found out I have gold teeth, he said he wanted them too. I told him he couldn't have them and made his mother promise that they wouldn't take out my gold teeth. She readily agreed with that. Then a few days later, I walked into the living room and he said "I'm going to kill you." I replied, "Why?" "Because I want your gems." So I immediately handed him my CTR ring, which is gold. He enjoyed wearing it for the next several days but gave it back to me the day before I left there to come home.

More flowers

Back in December and January, a lot of customers were coming through my line buying bulbs--daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, etc. I kept saying I was going to buy some to set out. Well, I finally did and it was about the middle of January when I finally set out hyacinths, tulips and crocuses in these two half-barrels that were just sitting around with soil already in them, waiting for something. I was very hopeful that I wasn't too late. This picture shows hyacinths blooming, taken right after I got home from Utah.

This barrel shows a hyacinth and a crocus blooming.

I just took this picture this morning. I was so excited to have a blooming tulip that I called Kevin at work to tell him. I don't think he was as excited as I was. To the left of the tulip that is blooming is another one getting ready to burst. I love them! Isn't it interesting that right next to the tulip is a hyacinth of almost the same color!

Spring!

Spring is my favorite time of the year. I love daffodils, tulips and all the other flowers that come up then. This was my first sight driving in the driveway coming home from the airport on the 9th. Its always exciting when my daffodils bloom!!!

Rachel the great imitator

Isn't this the sweetest face ever?! On Saturday morning (Feb 28), I was getting ready for the day by putting on my makeup and Rachel was watching very carefully and asking "What's that" about everything I used. I finished the job and put everything away and didn't think anything else about it. The next afternoon I found Rachel in the bathroom off Mandi's bedroom very carefully applying makeup to her eyes from my makeup bag. Later, at dinner, Mitchell asked Rachel what she had on her eyes. So cute! This was taken on Sunday after I curled her hair for church.

Draper Utah Temple Open House

I almost forgot to take a picture but remembered just as we were getting on the bus to take us to Jenny's car.

The rest of the pictures I took as we rode out on the bus.

One of the things I really wanted to do while in Utah earlier this month, was tour the Draper Utah Temple Open House. I talked to Jenny about it, hoping that she and Danny could take me out there. Well, the week got away from me and it wasn't until Monday morning that Jenny and I went out there (Danny was working). Mike and Mandi were back from their cruise by then so I didn't have to worry about who would mind Rachel. Jenny picked me up at 8:30 and we drove to a church in the Draper area where we watched a short video and then boarded a bus to take us to the temple (Remember you are on the yellow bus!). We were lucky to get there so early because our group was small. The group that came in after us had about twice as many people. The temple is beautiful! I enjoyed another excursion with my wonderful daughter-in-law. Thank you Jenny for all our time together. I really appreciate your thoughtfulness. Note to readers: I posted all my pictures of the temple so Jenny could take her pick of the one she wants to post.

A better picture of Flamson

Here is a closer picture of Flamson under construction.

Random pictures

Just wanted to share some pictures with you out of chronological order. I took this picture of the house we lived in in San Luis Obispo. I really didn't want the car but it was there and so there you go. The house looks alot different then when we lived there. At that time, it was stucco, not siding. They also did away with the railroad ties in the front yard that my dad put in.

I took this picture one day last month when I was filling my gas tank. The main subject of my picture is supposed to be Flamson Middle School and the construction going on.

I'm sitting at the intersection of highway 46 and Golden Hill Road. I really was trying to get a picture of the concrete being poured for the Lowe's store going in on the opposite corner. If you look carefully you'll see the concrete tube-thingy.

Cody

I know I'm using this picture again but I really like it. Kevin and Cody picked me up from the airport on Monday night. On the way home, I was relating all the time I spent with Jenny and Kevin said "Sounds like you spent alot of time with Jenny". Then I replied "Just hangin' with my girl". Cody came back with "just hangin' with my girl?" So I said "I was just trying to be cool". He zinged me with "that's the problem".

Don't try this!

You're probably thinking to yourself 'why is she showing us a picture of toothpaste with perfume?''. Well, let me tell you a little story. After I returned from Utah (that will be another post, actually several), I was unpacking my cosmetics/sundries case (thank you, Mandi!) so I could get ready for bed. I grabbed my toothbrush and noticed it was wet so I rinsed it off and put it in the toothbrush cup. When I started brushing my teeth a few minutes later, it tasted like perfume! Yuck! I kept brushing, then decided that I really didn't want to continue with that perfume-infested brush so I threw it away and grabbed a new one out of the drawer, loaded it with toothpaste and proceeded to brush. Then I realized that I just wrecked a new toothbrush and gave up and finished brushing. It was really awful and I could still taste the perfume after I rinsed my mouth. I had to buy a new toothbrush! My advice to you if you're ever tempted to rinse your mouth with perfume like Scarlett in "Gone with the Wind", don't do it!!

Austin's temper tantrum

Mitchell and Austin had Friday off from school--something about a teacher's day. Whatever! Well, in the afternoon, Mitchell came to me and asked me if he could go bowling with his friend, Josh. I said it would be okay. Immediately, Austin starting asking me if he could go bowling. "I need to go bowling. I've never gone bowling before." He asked me about 20 times, each time with more emphasis (ie yelling). Finally, he threatened to "go crazy and not eat anything". I didn't reply to that and within 10 minutes he was sitting at the table, eating a snack and no craziness was in evidence. Ha Ha -- what a kid! I'll post pictures later since I'm not on my home computer.

Rachel again

Ok. This happened a couple of hours ago and I've been debating whether I should post it. So here goes. Rachel and Austin were eating lunch today and I went out of the room and heard them making all kinds of racket. When I went back in, Rachel said "He kicked me in the nuts". So I told her she didn't have any nuts. Then she said "he kicked me in the 'gina."

Rachel's thought

I asked Rachel to make her bed this morning and she said "not today. Miss Tiffany said I don't have to today and she's the boss of me." Rachel goes to Miss Tiffany's preschool on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Mitchell's funny comment

Mandi called me last year about March to ask if I would stay with her children while they went on a cruise this year to celebrate their anniversary. So Mike picked me up at the Salt Lake City airport on Friday afternoon and we drove to his house. Then later that afternoon Mike drove us out to the airport to start their vacation. I had just barely dropped them off and gotten on the highway when Mitchell pipes up, "Let's ditch the food they made and go out to eat every night!"