All puppies are cute

After a long wait, Ross finally got the puppy that was promised before we moved. Duke is so little and cute.

He was slightly mellow after being neutered but that made him so cuddly.

Ross made his own 'puppy bjorn'. Duke just likes being close to him.

Jill doesn't have any fear getting to know Duke and look how he is growing! More Bigger Doggy pictures to follow!

Oh to be young again...

Jeffrey was using the beast along with Stan clearing the way with a shovel..grueling work and they find out later how it all fits together for a purpose.

Stan and Jeff ripped all the shingles off the kitchen awning. A lot of dust and dirt will be replaced by some new galvanized corrugated tin. Out with the old and in with the new. Not everything old is going ....we were just simplifying to clean the cabin easier.

Carrie is making sure everyone is getting enough to eat. I'm pretty sure no one went away hungry. We had to keep the crew fed and energized!

more cabin work

More mixing ...it is going to take a lot of cement to create the strong footings for the cabin.

Ross worked hard loosening up the dirt for each of the holes for the footings.

Happy Birthday Cabin!

Well, in October some family went to the cabin and did some serious digging, figuring, cementing and demolition. It was such a blessing to have all the volunteers working to restore some strength and balance to the cabin. Through the years it had shifted and drifted. Thanks to my brothers in law...Jeff Bartlett and Kent Saunders the "how to" was there. Thanks to Jeffrey, Stanley, Ross, Ron and of course Dayton there was some strong backs. Some of us girls came to feed and clean and support. There was plenty to do.

Here is the beginning of the face lift. the guys worked well in to the night on Friday then got up early on Saturday only to charge forward. Between the cement and the upcoming winter....time was of the essence.
Dayton was trying to help with Stanley as his immediate supervisor

Here is the lady who started it all. I hope she felt like her goals for the cabin were coming to fruition. Slowly but surely.

Wet and Wild Mondays

Big sister is taking care of Chloe after a dip in Ron and Lisa's pool.

This picture almost has people in it. But you can see .....a bit of Sarah with Chloe hangin' on. Half of Sadee swimming with her goggles,and Emma kicking it with her 2nd grade smile......a work in progress.

A friendly game of volleyball ensues each time but some people (not to be mentioned here) get a little serious about it.

Thanks Ron for your hospitality. You have a lovely home and yard. A nice place to bond with extended family.

Wet and Wild Mondays

Ron and Lisa have somehow decided that it is a good idea to invite all the family over to swim and eat every once in a while on a Monday evening. It has been a really fun way to gather and here are some cute pictures of the grandkids that I couldn't resist. Little Camille is a carefree gal in the water. She had to be watched carefully because there is no fear.

Jillian has a little back-up to give her courage. As if the arm floaties weren't enough! :) You can see Sadee in the background giving encouragement. ......thanks Sadee!

Emma remembers getting together with cousins during the summers for Wet & Wild Wednesdays.....so seeing everyone is just a reminder to her of how much fun it is to splash and play with cousins and aunts and uncles. (don't forget the ice cream window)

Heber tried to swim but dad was too protective and no matter what he tried to say people kept holding on to him.

A New Member of our Family

It took us a long time to deliver the promise that Ross could have another dog......when we get a house. When the Dallas trip is over....when we can all agree on one. ..........etc. etc. To Ross it was an eternity. But I'm sure this sleepless night felt like an eternity too. I just had to get a picture of what I saw when I first woke up and went into the family room.

Love is a double edged sword ....as we all learn. I couldn't resist snapping this picture that very morning before Ross left for school. Clean up time! Anyone who wants to come visit and meet Duke give us a call and come over....you will like him too, I'm sure.

Did I Mention the Blessing of being Homeless?

Getting to know this little face better was so much fun. She recognizes us and now we have a bond. When she first ran to the door and greeted Papa with arms outstretched and saying his name ....I thought he was going to melt.

We were present for many discoveries and sweet times of laughter. Little sister, millers,monkey and baby..it doesn't matter what the name is she is one precious blessing. Papa and Grandma Netty were very blessed to have been able to bond with the Taylor kids.

Another reason being @ Alisha's and Jeff's was a blessing

The best blessing from the time we were waiting for our house to go through, was being around and bonding with these sweet faces....Jillian has the most surprising way of loving you. She is like her dad in that she has to gain your trust first but when you do....she is forever yours.

In this picture she is stuffing cherry tomatoes from the garden in her mouth. She called them candy and when they went out to pick them .....there were never enough to bring inside. They were gone before we could even wash them.


















Here her mouth is full and she had no remorse at all! That face takes me back many years when I was raising jeffrey and he was raising ............................the roof. (what did you think I was gonna say?)

Conference Weekend @ TT house

I just had to share this picture of the kids @ the TT house. They are enjoying the 'book nook' They climb in and have a bunch of cushions and a lamp and books and are welcome to spend as much time as they wish in there. So fun. Here, of course, Big cousin Emma is reading to Jillian and to Camille. They LOVE books. Aren't they all darling?

The story of this picture is that on Conference weekend all are invited to camp out in the backyard @ the TT house. Sleep together, eat together, watch conference together.....sounds a little weird but the kids really love it. Someday they will have great memories. I stayed in the tent until all were asleep and then went inside and slept on the couch. My discomfort would not let me sleep. This picture is Jillian and Chloe on the see-saw and Emma and Sadee helping them.

between sessions we all found something relaxing or fun to do. Floppy ball is a game that any age can play together. Here Ross is looking for his floppy balls, Jeff is getting ready to throw ...Emma is waiting her turn and Zach is the cheering section.

As it is now.........

Well, since Caitlin commented on my blog first I will do what she wants and here are some pictures of areas of the house. This picture is of the first room that we put together. We are planning on painting later so the furniture will stand out a little better than it does in this picture. But....a "before" picture is always good.

Lookin at the other end of the room you'll see the piano and a table against the window wall. The light fixture has to go because it is meant to have a dining table under it. you can see the curtain rod standing in the corner and the curtains are going on this window. The other window has a nice blind treatment. After paint, the blinds will stand out like the trim ....in white.

Here you see the Master bath from the doorway. This is daddy's side of the vanity ......I'm showing our little rack with baskets to hold all of daddy's "stuff'". Each bucket is labeled and there are 2 hooks on the side for his wash cloth and hand towel. So far, it has been a good idea. He can keep his things together and easy to reach. The top has his medicine, the second is cologne and combs, the third has shaving stuff and the bottom is his trash can. There are also little basket drawers. ....one has band-aid supplies, and the other has toothpaste and toothbrush, floss etc. So, daddy is all neat and tidy in the bathroom.

You must see that after we purged our closet and got everything accounted for......weeks later there are still no clothes on the floor of the closet. (major improvement) ...Dad and I both gave away bags of stuff to Goodwill. Here, you can see we are still looking at boxes but slowly we are emptying and throwing out and organizing. I will post other areas of the house soon and show troubled spots and problem areas. I also have a few victories here and there. Just glad to be in and bringing it all together. I kind of like puttering about and finding out where I want everything to rest.

All must leave this house!

I will take you on some of our adventures as we got ready to leave our rental home on Desert Basin Dr. to move into our new home that we were buying. We were so excited to be able to have this blessing. But......we must get ourselves out of the house and the bees that took up residence in our wall must also leave. (They weren't even paying rent!) First, we tried it on our own. Dad and Ross look like an amature swat team. (swat, get it?) But we couldn't swat these bees...they must be exterminated in the wall and then the wall must be completely blocked off with (we found out after our attempt) Cement!

Here we have our hose of death. Spraying the flying insect spray into the hose entering the opening to the hive....we were told ....would kill the bees, the first step in solving the problem.

The spray just dribbled out of the hose instead of going straight into the opening. Later ...the real bee killer used a spray powder stuff. Aha! it puffed into the hole and then days later the hole was sealed with cement. Then, they had to locate the hive ......in the basement ceiling. He took a great big black bag and pulled down big shelves of honeycomb. .....dripping with honey. I thought it was a little ironic that my food storage was in that same room. Should of just kept the bees working and used the fresh honey right out of the ceiling. The only problem is that their entry to the hive was right in our doorway and no one could safely come and go to the back yard. Especially the grandkids. So......they must die!