Moose and more....

Have you ever had an experience, that when it was all over, you said to yourself, "I will never forget this for the rest of my life"? Well, Jim had one of these experiences, and, I'm sure, he will NEVER forget it...

Wednesday morning, Jim send me a little picture of a cast iron antique doorstop - moose and two little otters.  It was really cute, and considering some of the moose pieces I've seen and the fact that we need doorstops on all the exterior doors, this was above and beyond amazing.  I contacted the seller, paid for the piece with VENMO and was going to pick it up after work in American Fork.  Jim called me about 4:00 pm and said that he was heading up north, and he would pick up the piece.  I gave him the address that the seller gave me, and away he went.

About 20 minutes later, Jim calls and says that he thinks I gave him the wrong address because, it's definitely not the right house.  I double check the address, and he double checks the address and finds that the GPS changes the North designation to South for some odd reason.  Then, he recounts what happened.  He said he pulled up to the house and went to the side of the house, where we were told the piece was going to be, and it wasn't.... we're social distancing here still, so this was supposed to be a non contact pick up..  Unable to get to the piece, he knocks on the door, and a little old man comes to the door, stark naked... and I mean, completely...  Jim is trying to keep his cool, and divert his eyes, asks the man if he's at the right house to pick up the moose doorstop, and the man apparently doesn't have any idea what is going on... Jim is still in complete shock.. the man wants to be friendly and talk, Jim doesn't.. and the man must be lonely or - no shame  - no hurry to get back in the house....  Jim gets back in his truck and calls me... I am laughing hysterically.. and, Jim says to me, "Are you laughing at me"?  I tell him I'm not, but actually am to the point I'm all but crying...  So funny....Thus, an experience he will NEVER forget...

You have to admit, the little otters are super cute... 

I think after this story, the rest of this blog is going to be boring..

We drove to Coalville on Thursday evening to pick up another load of brick for the patio...  I swear, those bricks are getting heavier and heavier all the time.  I had the job of picking up the brick and heaving them over the fence - Jim's job was to pick them up walk to the trailer and put them in...  After 75 bricks, I thought I was going to die, but, I wanted to fill the trailer, so we were going for 50 more.. which ended up to be 65 more...The patio is going to look really pretty, but, oh my... the the ground sure is a long way down...

Here's the pile of bricks... and, the fence said bricks had to be pitched over....

And, here's the bricks as they were pitched on the ground on the other side of the fence....

And, finally, all pretty and lined up in the trailer... They remind me of cobblestone roads in England...  I think I need to take another vacation to England, to really check out the roads... and, then then, maybe, a quick trip back to France.. What 'cha think, Jim...?  Crickets chirping. . . .

Funny thing happen on the way home from Coalville.  The day before Jim thought he heard the front brakes squeaking on his truck so he changed out the brake pads thinking it would solve the problem.  When we set off for Coalville we could still hear the squeaking.  Turns out the noise was coming from the rear.  Once we loaded up the brick, we left Coalville about 9:00 pm for home, and drove into Heber.  When we got to Heber, we decided that because we hadn't had dinner, we would hit the Wendy's drive through and get a burger.. As we were driving into the Wendy's parking lot, Jim hit the brakes and his foot went to the floor...  not good... lost our rear brakes..  We still had front brakes, but we were about to go through the canyon.. for about 25 miles - up hills and down hills.. and, if we made it through the canyon and didn't end up in the lake, we'd have to make it through several stop lights in Provo... Was really a nail biting experience.  Jim was really, really solemn, so I decided to just talk to try and ease the tension... and, I'm blabbing on about some stupid murder series I was watching on TV the night before.. I don't think it helped Jim too much, but, it kept me reasonably calm... plus, it was dark and I couldn't see the edge of the drop off... hmmm...  We drove real slow and made it through the canyon just fine, and actually hit all the green lights going through Provo.... We had Lowell on speed dial - figured if we didn't make it home and call him within an hour, he could call someone to fish us out of the lake... and, if everything absolutely failed and we couldn't drive, he'd come pick us up.. But, we didn't even need to call him...  When we got home, Jim made a comment about me "blathering on"...  I got nothing further to say about that statement... giggle...  Needless to say, the back brakes got fixed today, and we'll be off to the cabin tomorrow morning...  gotta unload the brick...

We got a late start on Saturday - still had a little work bleeding the brakes to complete before we headed out... we had a nice drive, even though I did fall asleep for most of the drive...  Poor Jim - I'm like a little kid - I get in the truck and promptly fall asleep, and Jim has to drive all the way and doesn't even have a chance to hear my melodic voice... uhuh...

We got to Panguitch, and checked into the Quality Inn...  With no running water at the cabin, I'm still not a fan of spending the night there without a bathroom...  Here's our welcoming committee....

I'm not quite sure what this little beast is - but, I know for a fact, it's not a opossum or a chipmunk.  Jim thought it was a prairie dog, but, I am not sure what they look like.

We made it to the cabin before dark, dropped off the trailer and just had a few moments to chill before heading off to dinner at the Big Fish restaurant... just a nice, homey kind of restaurant..  kinda nice and low key.  Got to the hotel and had a solid night's sleep... I don't usually sleep very well away from home, but I must have been tired enough to fall asleep quickly.  I have been suffering with an ear ache and sinus infection for about a month now, so having a little sleep is amazing.

On the way out of the hotel in the morning, we had a "farewell party"... it's so nice to be loved and appreciated by the locals...

These little beasts aren't afraid of anything... Cars and trucks pull up right beside them, and they aren't phased...

It was overcast and a little rainy at the cabin, so we did more work inside than out... and, probably more sitting around and just talking and listening to the rain on the roof... I told Jim that I thought that when Lowell goes to the cabin with Jim for the weekend, they get all kinds of work completed.  When I go, it's more of a relaxing time... And, it was kind of rainy, so, we just sat and relaxed...  this was the view outside.

..and this was the sight inside the cabin.  Those legs are so white!

There were a whole lot of things we wanted to get completed this weekend... some of them got started, others didn't even get attempted (it actually was my jobs that didn't get started)... But, Jim did really well in his list of jobs... one of them was to put the wire mesh over part of the hearth so that the rock can start to be cemented in...  Here's the beginning of the project...

 

Thank goodness for power tools!!

And, another job Jim wanted to get done was put more outlets in the mainfloor bedroom... The whole job didn't get completed, but, he did get two more outlets wired in!

Sooooo pretty!

My jobs were to unload the brick out of the trailer, and clean out the RV so we can get it off the property... Well, the brick didn't get unloaded and we left the trailer on site, BUT, the RV did get cleaned out... with Jim's help....  it's time for Beluga to find a new home.

So, that's about it for this week... small accomplishments, lots of fun, lots of relaxing..and, another amazing adventure..

Love, Jim and Cheri

..the difference between the men and the boys.....

 The old saying goes, "The difference between the men and boys, are the size of their toys..." or, "Everything I learned in kindergarten, I used today..." came into play this weekend, as an 18 wheeler flatbed truck of blocks was delivered, and the two boys played with them for several hours...

These blocks are to be used for the retaining wall - 30 were delivered on Saturday, and we need two more loads... They are coming from Salt Lake - and, all I can say is, I wouldn't want to be the trucker hauling this load... 

Here comes the truck roaring up the hill...

Prepping the storage area for the 4' x 2' x 2' blocks

...Lowell connected up the blocks on the trailer, while Jim lifted them up with the backhoe and placed them onsite...  Even with everybody working together, it took 2.5 hours to unload the 30 blocks.

 

..and here's the pile of blocks these boys were playing with.. Lowell said his thighs were sore Sunday morning...  personally, I would have bagged working the next day, and just come home...  Jim said he sat down on the couch Saturday night and fell asleep pretty early...  Lowell turned off the TV and left him asleep on the couch...

The blocks will need to be put into place.. at a later date.

The boys standing in their play area... or, should I say, MEN?

After working like crazy on Saturday, and totally wearing themselves out, Jim and Lowell worked on putting the rest of the can lights up in the great room... First of all, they had to move the scaffolding from the one side of the room to the other side of the room... and install the cans, connect the wiring, add the light bulbs and then turn the lights on!!..

Lights On

and off...

and, a view from the loft... I love it...  gets more and more exciting every time.

And, do you remember the family of quail that were in the backyard a month or so ago.. well, they're all grown up, and living in the front yard now!!

In my attempt to stock the cabin with all things good and wonderful and tasty... I decided to buy a bread maker, because the thought of fresh baked bread first thing in the morning, with home made jam, puts me over the edge.... This, in my mind would be the ultimate.  I already have a jam maker (and Coy and I have made strawberry and peach jam here at the house in Provo), so I don't have to buy one of those... But, getting little kids to make some homemade butter for said bread and jam, might be a fun activity!

And, again, on this quest, I thought the kids might enjoy some cotton candy - as if kids don't have enough energy, I thought a little sugar might help them along...  giggle.. 

I was talking to Melody two weeks ago, and she stated that she makes her own yogurt at home.. less sugar, fresh fruit, and I thought that getting a yogurt machine would be a great idea... 

And, these are usually used for making pierogies, BUT, I thought making hand held apple or cherry pies, might be wonderful to eat late in the evening... Again, it's a sugar issue... or maybe it's a pie issue.. I really don't know.. just thought it would be fun..

And, like every family in the world, we lost the cabin's channel changer for the TV...  Jim called me and asked me where it might be.. I didn't know... the kids had it...  giggle.. So, I called Melody - she didn't know... So, we figured it would show up sooner or later... Jim and Lowell checked under the cushions, and under this and that... couldn't find it... Later in the day, after they had given up hope, it was found, on the tool table buried under tools... giggle... Just proves we are a normal family...

Brianne said something this past week that totally warmed my heart... She was writing on Facebook about what to do on the weekend and stated that she wanted to go to the family cabin, but changed her mind... What's this family cabin?  Made me smile... this is exactly what we wanted - a place for family.  She's caught the spirit...

I was asked today when the cabin is going to be done... don't know for sure... hoping to have the four way done by the end of this season, and we'll figure the rest out next year!

The adventure continues...

Love, Jim and  Cheri

AMAZING, AMAZING, AMAZING WEEKEND!

There are some weeks where I kind of am in a total pickle trying to decide what to write in this blog...  If Lowell and Jim are only working on can lights, there's only so much you can say about can lights.. But, this week, "my cup runneth over"....

The weekend started out with a visit from our "down the street" neighbours, the Carmody's... Such a nice couple... They came over to see the progress we're making on the cabin - we love to show it off.  We don't get many visitors, so this was such a treat!  We got to introduce them to our family as well as show them around... they're always welcome...

As you can see, the grand-kids found an amazing toy in the front room... and, all this time, the adults didn't even realize that it was there... It started with Mahayla finding the toy, and then Brea joined in, and then Coy... I believe to this point, only Lowell kinda knew this amazing toy was there, and tried it out, but only a few times.  Jim and I, and the rest of the gang have avoided this one, like the plague...  Giggle... Jim's been up it only a few times as he doesn't like heights.

I guess Jim was sitting down below to catch anybody should they slip...  (not really, but it makes a good story...)

There wasn't tons of work that was completed, but we sure had fun!  Friday was Pioneer Day in Utah, which means, it's a holiday and Jim and I had the day off work.  So, little Coy was dropped off at our house at about 11 in the morning, and we all drove down to the cabin to spend the weekend.  I had lots of activities planned for the kids, and Coy was so excited he couldn't sleep the night before.  

The cabin isn't quite ready for actual sleep overs so we all checked into the Quality Inn at Bryce Canyon Friday afternoon at different times.  It's an interesting hotel... it was originally designed to be a boy's camp.. don't know what happened to the camp, but now it's a hotel.  The kids all said that they wanted to have rooms next to each other, so Melody and family checked into room 401 and Brianne and family checked into room 402.  The hotel is not just one big building, it's broken into several smaller buildings with 6 - 8 rooms in each building, and each building has a different name.  For example, there is a building called "Broncos" and one called "Wranglers", one called "Rattlers" and one called " Mustangs" and one called "Rustlers".  I was talking to Brea and telling her that she was a Rustler and that Rustlers were horse thieves... she wasn't particularly impressed, and we went through each building explaining that Rattlers  were snakes, etc... And, then I asked her if she knew what a Mustang was, and she immediately said, "A hockey team"... for a second, I was like.. a hockey team?  Then, it hit me, Brea plays hockey for the Ogden Junior Mustangs.. so, of course, Mustangs are a hockey team.  I didn't realize, that cowboys, in their spare time in the wild west, were playing hockey... I wonder if they were Canadian cowboys...  giggle.

Later on Friday, we all met up at the cabin, and the most fantastic thing happened right as we pulled up... The kids were already there, and as we were getting out of the pick up, three little grand-kids came running over the bridge to meet us... this is exactly what I imagined while we have been building this place... it's a place for family, for grand-kids, for kids, to be together.  It was amazing..  made the whole trip worthwhile right then..

We brought all our food with us, and Jim packed the most of it in a HUGE white cooler that we have.  Lowell and Jim picked it up to put it into the cabin, and both of them mentioned that it HAD to weight at least 200 pounds... lots and lots of food..

Even with all the food, we decided to have dinner at the Cowboy Steakhouse in Panguitch on Friday evening - a favourite of ours... The BBQ ribs, beef, turkey, and beans are really delicious, the loaded potato soup is more like seasoned mashed potatoes, the cousins all sat together and enjoyed each other's company.  The owners know us personally, and the staff all think we're locals.  Was an amazing dinner and we all walked or rather waddled away, having to undo the top button of our pants!

Brianne and Lowell got to the restaurant before we did....  waiting, waiting, waiting... such a cute couple..

I would love to say that we got up bright and early on Saturday morning, but, that would be a lie...  And, if you didn't notice in the paragraph about the hotel, I didn't say that Jim and I got a room beside the crazies... we didn't... we were across the parking lot.  The crazies switched rooms back and forth, lots of laughing, lots of noise, kids switching rooms, and they had a blast.  Jim and I, on the other hand, did the grandparent thing and had a quiet and peaceful sleep... giggle.

Apparently, the shenanigans went on all night, and in the morning, they were still pooped... It's nice to know that these kids do slow down every once in a while... even if it's when they are sleeping.

Lowell and Brianne were our chefs for the weekend, and we were treated to toad in the hole, eggs and sausage and fruit and breakfast and yummies all weekend!

The kids were excited for activities, and I had hoped I had enough ideas to keep them active all weekend.

The first activity started before we even got to the cabin.  I thought it would be fun to build tee-pees for the kids, and because Melody was going to be there, and is an amazing seamstress, would be the main focus.  Also, it would keep her stationary because she recently had foot surgery.  So, beforehand, I placed an online order with Home Depot for 10' PVC pipes to make the framework of the tee-pees...  At Christmas time, I bought Jim and I a tandem bike (bicycle built for two).  Well, that whole bike fit into my Kia Soul.. it was front to back and a challenge to get the box into the car, but we did it.  Anyways, I figured, these poles should fit in... I was kinda wrong.  We tried ten different ways to get those poles into the car - not happening. The poles were about 6" too long and because the back window doesn't open, they weren't coming home in my car. So, I had to call Jim to come to the store with the van.  We're been married long enough that he should really know to expect stuff like this... But, even then, he was a little, let's say, surprised.  He came to the store, picked them up, and cut them down to 7' (in the Home Depot parking lot) like we needed and then bundled them all up in sets.  We were going to make four tee-pees, one for each of the kids, but that didn't happen.  I was cutting fabric, while Melody sewed up a storm, and even then, we got one and a half done... that's going to be a project for the next time.

  

While we were sitting in the Cowboy Steakhouse, Coy went up to Melody and started with, "Melody, you are beautiful, and so nice, and I love your ponytail, and I love your blouse..."  Melody countered with, "What do you want"... and it came out that Coy wanted to be the first one to get a tent made... Flattery apparently, will get you EVERYWHERE... She agreed to make his first, but told him that the first article is usually the one you make the most mistakes on, but that didn't matter.  His tee-pee was completed and he was absolutely thrilled.

While tee-pee making was going on, Lowell taught the kids how to build bird houses... Lowell put the bird house kits together, and four little kids were excited to get started.. I found little kid hammers at Lowe's, so each child had their own hammer...  Lowell was fantastic... and was incredibly patient as he guided the kids through the process... Just imagine, four little kids hammering, all at the same time.  I think Lowell must have lost hearing (or his mind) over that one!.  But, the day was bright and sunny, and the kids had a blast.  After the little bird houses were built, it was my job to help the kids paint them, and they did an amazing job... just a few splatters on the deck, but, nothing that couldn't be sanded off.

Every time we have put out bird food in our feeders, we have tons of chipmunks and squirrels that appear/raid and have a feast.  This time, we put out four square bird feeders, and one regular bird feeder and not a single bird or squirrel or chipmunk showed up.. We really wondered why... until all the grand-kids wandered away, and it was super quiet, and then every bird in the neighborhood showed up... We had several beautiful blue-jays that were feeding, as well as crows and chickadees and a plethora of fliers... It was almost like a scene from Hitchcock's "The Birds"... really was pretty to see...

Like most people, heavy industrial equipment seems to be a draw, and this seems true for these grand-kids... they were totally enthralled by the bucket truck, so Lowell gave them rides!  At first, they were a little nervous to get into the bucket.  But, after Brianne took a ride, they were all in line for multiple rides. I don't think Brianne was particularly excited about being in the bucket.  The kids kept yelling to her, "Face Your Fear!"  When Brianne got into the bucket with Lowell, little Mahayla said to me, "I think he should marry her"...  giggle...  I agree.

 Saturday night, we planned a family dinner, all of us sitting around the huge table...This would not be our first dinner, but it was our first dinner as a family.  (Several years ago, my brother Bart and his wife Jackie and family came to check out the cabin... We only had the basement and the main floor completed, but we had an amazing dinner and visit with them...hope they come back).  This time we had the table set up with all the chairs, and it was just amazing.  We dined on pesto chicken, grilled asparagus and tomato, bacon wrapped corn, fruit salad and green salad...the company was amazing and the food was amazing also... Mahayla sat at the head of the table and said that she felt like royalty!   There were nine of us and we all fit.. and still had room for more... What I think is funny, is that nobody seems to mind there was scaffolding and ladders around us...

These pictures were taken by Lowell, with his GoPro...  interesting angles...

I must be getting really old... but, there are things that I never, in a million years, thought would excite me, and this furnace is in that category... This is the last piece in the "four-way inspection" puzzle... We have the plumbing done, and inspected... the structure done and inspected... the electrics are about 3/4 of the way done, and we are about to start on the furnace and duct work!!  And, this furnace will be heating the upstairs and loft... We already have the small furnace for the downstairs... So, this furnace is pretty amazing looking!!

And, as a side note, we bought this little trailer years ago at the beginning of this cabin building project... We paid $600.00 for it, and we wondered at the time, if we would ever get our money out of it.  We bought it after renting a similar trailer from U-Haul for $60.00 per day - we took the first trip with the trailer to Coalville to pick up a load of bricks to be used for our patio downstairs...  Since purchasing this little sweetheart, she has been back and forth to the cabin about a 100 times, including picking supplies up and a plethora of other "stuff"... I think we have got our money's worth!!!

Mahayla brought some games and the cousins enjoyed "quieter" times, just playing... was just fun to see.




And, we bought a ROKU for the TV... the kids enjoyed a couple of movies.

One of the games that Brianne played with the kids was... Chubby Bunny...  where you pack your mouth with as many marshmallows as possible and then try to talk...  I think Brianne was the winner... The kids loved it!!

I stole this idea from my sister in law Jackie...  You take cutouts and put the negative space up to something to make a picture.  Mahayla loved it...

One of the activities was making friendship bracelets... Each one of the kids picked out their own colours... was kinda fun...




And, we had to do tie dye shirts!  Couldn't find a plain white t-shirt in Ben's size, so, he didn't get one made.  Hopefully, we'll soon find one and get his shirt made.  The girls seemed to like their shirts!




It was so nice for the kids to have "cousin's time"... Brianne and I both agree that it's great that the cousins all get along.  Coy and Brea are best of friends, and it's sweet to see them interact with each other...



It was late, late, late on Saturday night, and the kids were promised a fire in the fire pit, so, we did away with roasting marshmallows and making Smores, to just watching the fire for a few minutes.  It was such a busy day, and everyone was super exhausted, but Lowell came through and made dreams come true for little kids. I had found a box of "stuff" that you throw into the fire and it makes an assortment of colours in the flames, and Brea was excited about throwing that in and watching.  The fire displayed colours of blues and greens and a few pinks... Was really fun to watch.

..love these guys...

And, of course, they had to explore the area... there isn't much for them to see or do outside - we're still kind of in the construction phase, but, these kids found things to do and see.







On the construction side of the weekend, Lowell and Jim got the can light circuit hooked up and working... They found they have to make a few adjustments to the can lights, but, the rest of the can light installation is going to be coming soon..

And, the fan in the main floor bathroom was installed... I didn't realize that if you don't have a window that opens, you have to have a fan.. So, here it is.  In this bathroom, the two windows are my stained glass sunflowers - nope, they don't open...

And, this was totally exciting.  Jim got the stove hooked up, so we can actually cook a meal.  I had bought an electric frying pan to cook in before this.  We also have a microwave and a hot pot there.. We haven't done much cooking there, but, now all that's going to change.

We must have had a whole lot of rain because everything around was super green and pretty... Is this any way for a desert to act??

And, this is how the day ended.... love and trust and family and exhaustion.... all rolled into one...



..what a fabulous weekend...

The adventure continues... Love, Jim and Cheri

PS: Just remembered one more thing...  Lowell pulled the four wheelers out and he and Brianne took the kids on rides...  one busy, fun filled weekend!!!

Cheri