We Love Dallas (and I don't mean Texas)!

We had so much fun having Don's youngest sister, Dallas, with us for the last 8 days. Every day we did something together. Besides going to the zoo (see last blog) we went to the Home Show, the Car Show, and shopping. Jennifer and Nicole enjoyed getting to know their Aunt Dallas (they haven't seen her in many years). One evening we went to a show at the Gaslight Theater. Below are some pictures we took afterwards.


Dallas and I.


Don and Dallas.


Don.

We also had Paul and his family over for dinner and watched old home movies from when they were all younger.

Paul with his grandson, Preston.

Dallas with Preston and Dale (Paul's son).

Cali (Paul's daughter) with her daughter and son, Trinity and Preston.

One day we went out metal detecting...too bad there wasn't any gold (just old bullets and pieces of tin cans and wires). That afternoon as we were 4-wheeling through the desert, we got stuck. It took us over an hour to dig the truck out. We laughed a lot, and we sweated a lot...it was a hot day. In spite of the unexpected delay, it was a fun day.

Don and Dallas digging up something they found with the metal detector.

Dallas and I in the creek willing to dig wherever Don told us to.

We took a couple of calls while Dallas was here. The rattle snake was straight forward. But below is a picture of a ringtail cat that climbed down someone's chimney into their gas fireplace and couldn't get back out. It was hard to work around the log, but eventually Don got him out.

I wish you could see his beautiful tail. It's long and bushy and striped like a raccoon.

All in all, we had a REALLY FUN time with Dallas, and hope that she will come again soon. We also hope that her husband, Aaron, will be able to pull away from work and come with her next time. LOVE YOU, DALLAS!

Something Going On Everyday!

It's been so hard to find a few minutes to write! Andy and I got into a local studio last week and got three songs recorded as a demo (just guitar and vocal). Andy put down the guitar parts, I sang lead, and we both did back up vocals. It was a lot of fun (I always love doing studio work)!






On Saturday I spent most of the day setting up or participating in a Super Saturday (craft day). It was a successful activity.

Don's youngest sister, Dallas, flew in that morning and is staying the week with us. It's been a lot of fun having her here. Yesterday they went to the zoo with Paul (another brother) and his family, and then they all came out here for dinner and to spend the evening talking and laughing.

They took pictures while at the zoo. Some of them were beautiful...

...and some of them were silly.

Below are three of the siblings in Don's family. I'm glad they all enjoy being together.

We have things planned for every day this week...I'll try to blog this weekend.

Back in the Saddle Again

This week my friend, Andy Hersey, came to spend a couple of days with us. He's a singer-songwriter who has played all over the western US. I got to do back up vocals for his last album at a studio on 16th Avenue in Nashville, Tennessee. It was a blast! Anyway, Andy got a phone call from a friend of his who is a producer/studio owner in Nashville. He has a new artist he's going to start producing in November and asked if Andy and I would write a couple of tunes for her. Andy told him "yes", gave me a call, and came up for a couple of days to write. We haven't seen each other in quite a while, so it was great to have him here. We wrote for 8+ hours a day for two days and got three songs done. On Monday we'll go to a small studio in Tucson to cut a demo on the three songs that we finished, and then send them to Nashville. After that, we'll just wait to see if he and his artist like the tunes and if they are going to put them on the new album. I'll keep you posted.

Here's a couple of pictures. We spread out all over the dining room table with our water, root beer, papers galore, and a pile of sharp pencils. And that's where we stayed for two full days.

I've played the guitar so little in the last few years, and after two days of guitar playing my poor fingers are SO sore! But it was worth it.

We thoroughly enjoyed General Conference today and are anxious for tomorrow's sessions. How blessed we are to have living prophets and apostles of Jesus Christ on the earth again. How wonderful it is to be a member of God's Kingdom on the earth, and how grateful I am for the privilege.

Bats and Balls

Today we worked on a bat job on an 8-story building. We had to figure out where the bats were coming and and how to keep them out. Don figured it out and then began excluding them. It took most of the day. This is Don on a lift working on a ceiling that is 2-stories high outside the entrance doors. Never a dull moment around here!



Last night was another soccer game. I know these pictures are dark, but if you zoom in you can see that Don is the keeper again this season, and he's doing a good job.

Everything is going well for us...life is good and we are happy. Women's Conference will be starting in a few minutes, and next weekend will be General Conference. I LOVE General Conference!

Quick Update...

Quick update on another busy week: bat jobs, rowdy dogs, busy callings at church (Don went rappelling this weekend with his boys, I helped teach a cooking class on oats and powdered milk and began preparing a Christmas program), genealogy discoveries, another win at soccer, etc. I'll try to get some pictures taken this week.

In summary, work is good, callings are great, family is best! Hope you all are well.

Another Good Week

We started the week by going on a hike. We took (I should say "Don took") the rappelling gear thinking that we would have time to rappel, but we didn't. The hike, however, was nice. It's good to get out in the fresh air, be with nature, and have time to talk. Don always packs most of the gear for us as you can see in this picture...I only had to take a small backpack.

Dixie (Jennifer's 9-month-old German Shepherd) and Trooper (our little 18-month-old Dalmatian mix) love to play with each other. Tug-of-war with Don's old socks is one of their favorite games.

We did three bat jobs this week. One of them involved several historic buildings (built in the 1920's) that needed to have their attics and crawl spaces (underneath) checked for animals and then screened off. This is a picture Don took of me helping him screen off the crawl space ventilation bricks on one of the buildings. (The attics have the same open bricks for ventilation.)

We knew that one of the buildings housed a large colony of bats (and had housed them for MANY years) in the attic. When Don climbed into the attic most of the bats were gone. He took this picture of the rather large pile of bat guano that was there. I'll spare you the picture of the roofing beams that have been totally stained with urine, including one place that has been used so many times for so many years that it has crystallized and looks like a small stalactite--gross!. I was glad Don was wearing a respirator and not breathing that air!

I was grateful that we were able to spend an afternoon in the Mesa Temple. We love the peace that we feel there.

"No Greater Joy..."

I didn't get anything posted last weekend...the first time I've missed, I think, since I started blogging. And somehow this week has flown past me also. Between the dogs and the wildlife, the house and the laundry, the cooking and the cleaning, the shopping and the projects here at home, the days fly by. I appreciate those of you who do a better job on your blogs than I do, as I enjoy keeping up with you and your families.

This week we did an enrichment night at church on provident living. It went really well. The classes dealt with financial matters (and the importance of doing whatever it takes to live within your means) and how to build up your short-term and long-term food storage. The tasting table included many foods that can be made from staples (wheat, rice, oats, etc.) and their recipes. It was a good night with a lot of food to eat. It took many hours of preparation, especially the last three days...but it was worth it.

The highlight of the week came in the form of a phone call from Nathan (in Germany) saying that he has been called to be the Bishop of his ward (at the tender age of 31). My tears are tears of joy for his integrity and the trust that the LORD has in him. My thoughts echo the words of the apostle John in his third epistle (3 John 1:4) where he wrote, "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." And since no Bishop serves without a strong and faithful wife at his side, those words go equally for his wife, Sarah. We love you all!