No matter how many toys and play things...

. . . . every once in awhile, a girl just has to run, and run; back and forth.

Note how bare the tree is. This was taken April 10. We've had about 4" more snow since then.

Guggie's Playhouse

About 6 weeks ago in Costco, there was a most fabulous playhouse. Laura must've played in it for 20 minutes, at least. I knew I had to have one for my back yard.

Here, Laura is cooking hot dogs, just like she did at Costco. I think she has a future in being a "sample lady." She calls the tongs "grab-nabbers." (must hear to appreciate)

Here she is pointing (with chalk) to the front porch of the house. She had just rung the doorbell - you can't quite see it, but it's above the painted flower. The door is missing because we hadn't latched it the week before when we went inside. We had a big windstorm, and the door blew off. Papa has it in the garage while he repairs it. These are plastic insets - similar to window boxes. The yellow one is for digging for bones - I do believe I posted pictures of the ones I've been collecting all winter for such a purpose. The blue one is for "swimming." Maybe we can get some plastic fish to make it a koi pond. I will be adding a plastic wading pool to the area. That is, if it ever gets warm.

This is the other side window. It has the metal grill, including a cover, for cooking hot dogs. Too bad it doesn't make churros like Costco.

The red curtains are dual purpose: it is also a puppet theater! On the far side, there's a chalkboard marquee to advertise your production. Two puppets came with the house. Also note the basketball hoop above the window.

This is the most frequent visitor to Guggie's playhouse. Note the "Big Sister" shirt. Since Sarah is now obviously pregnant, I thought she could have it for Easter. We sit next to each other in our lawn chairs and blow bubbles while wearing our sunglasses. Hers are Dora, from Target. Mine are not. We mention this everytime we wear them.

More and More Whining

I called the doctor today, whining about how my cast was caved in and broken/splitting. Since it had been 3 weeks, I naively thought he might take it off. Oh hahahaha. Instead, they reinforced it and built it up anymore. It's quite a bit thicker and throws my hips out even further when I walk. Like I have a wet diaper on, or something. When I first stand up, I almost fall on my face.

Can I possibly stand another 2 weeks? Or more?!

One more post and I'm done for today

On April 2, Jenn turned 24. We celebrated by going for Korean food - even Grandpa liked it. Instead of a birthday cake, she wanted lemon meringue pie. Jenn blew out the candles once, Laura 3 or 4 times. Happy to You, Jenn!

Take the Keys and Lock Her Up!

We were tending Laura a couple of days ago. She reached into the drawer and fished out all the plastic and some baby utensils. (She isn't actually tall enough to see into the drawer) She then proceeded to make "locks" for our cupboards. We have never had to use this method for her, as we have locks installed inside the cabinets. This was her idea -- locking doors is her favorite thing to do. Just ask Sarah about the garage!
Anyway, after she had done this, she announced that the locks were to keep the Guggies, Dans, and Jenns out of the cupboards! (Pretty much all those who were home) What a character!

Happy Anniversary!

Today is our THIRTY-FIFTH (yes, 3-5) wedding anniversary. It's hard to believe it's been that long.. . .seems like I turned 35 years old just a couple (oh, say 20) years ago! We were married in the Provo Temple. Now, we live in Provo, and I can see the temple from my upstairs every day.
THE SCORE:
Four Children (3 girls, one boy) and their spouses (2 husbands, one wife)
Six Grandchildren - five living and #7 due in July - 3 girls, 4 boys
We each have one parent still living: My mom is 78 and Mel's dad is 91 next month!
We've lived in Arizona, New Jersey, Illinois, northern California, Germany, southern California, New Mexico, Nevada and Utah.
We've had nine jobs between us: I've had 6 and Mel has had 3 (Air Force counts for 23 of those years)
I don't even want to think about how many pets, houses, rentals, yards, painting, repairing, fencing, gardens we've done.
We've lived in Provo, in the same house for 12+ years.
I guess 35 years was barely long enough to do all that!

Springtime in the Rockies - Happy Easter!

Yes, it is April 4 and this is what we woke up to. It was probably 3" of heavy, wet snow. At least we didn't have to shovel any, since the ground is somewhat warmer. They are predicting more tomorrow and the day after.

Notice that the mountains are completely hidden by snow/fog. There was another close up picture of our flowers covered in snow, but it was hard to tell what you are looking at. Only a few daffodils and the snow crocuses have come up.

I am tired of cold, snowy, overcast days.

SPRING??? WHERE THE HECK ARE YOU??

Why my big plans dissolved. . . .

I broke (?) my ankle back in the fall, although it had been hurting for several months. I wore a boot for about 6 weeks, but it didn't help much and I didn't pursue it after I was done with the boot in December. It still really hurt, so I went to the podiatrist in early March. The xray showed a much worse break, with soft tissue that had formed around it, and encapsulated it. I was sent for an MRI which showed a torn/ruptured tendon. I went to the Dr. on Thursday afternoon, and was operated on the next Wednesday, March 17. Once he opened my ankle, he found TWO ruptured tendons, one completely separated by a couple of inches, and another about 2/3 ruptured. He repaired them - one with a "jacket" to help it heal-- and scooped out the tissue surrounding the fracture. I ended up missing 8 days of work, and working partial days when I first went back. This cast will be on until at least April 20 (although if it doesn't come off by then, I will need a straight jacket for myself).

The cast is flamingo pink and I have matching glitter toes. :) On the left picture, you can see where Brody (5 years old) signed it. The right picture shows where Laura (2.5 years) "signed" her name. When she saw Brody signing it, she was a little horrified and reminded us "We don't write on our legs!" We assured her it was OK on a cast. My daughter Kate and sister Pam signed the inside; my daughter-in-law wrote her own little poem on the bottom of my foot. Something about a break and how awful I've felt. ;)

It really has been much more painful than I anticipated. It was same-day surgery and I figured I'd be good to go after 2-3 days. Ha! I still have to keep it elevated quite a bit to keep it from swelling. When it swells, the cast is unbearable.

Obviously, I haven't been able to do much of anything.

Long time, no blogging

Well, it's Easter. . . about that Lent issue....I did begin cleaning the basement, but didn't get far.
It does look better than this now -- well, somewhat better.

This is the view from the hall way as you enter the sewing/office/scrapbooking room.

It's bad. Really bad. So far, I have carried out over 5 big trashbags to give away; and probably 2 of trash.
I do have a really awesome excuse. At least for some of the time.