Thursday, September 3, 2015

The Amazingly Fun Yard of Andy and Amanda

We all love it when Andy and Amanda welcome the whole family to their back yard for a summer dinner party. Their yard is so big and has such fun things for the little children to do while there.

At this point, I would show a picture of the swing set the kids love to play on. And I would show a picture of the play house that has a slide coming out of it and a fireman pole in the middle of the house. And I would show a picture of the chicken coop that houses the chickens the little ones love to feed.

The only problem is I didn't take any pictures of those things this time, so refer to Rebecca's and Sarah's blogs to see those.

There were definitely some added things to enhance the experience this time. Like--the Paris photo booth.

Since Glen and I got aced out of the Paris part of our European vacation, we (okay, maybe only me) were anxious to step up to get our photo taken by the Eiffel Tower.


Okay, enough of us!! Next up is the Golden family. It is impressive Madison appears to know what she is doing with her prop.
Brooke and Caroline are in French immersion classes at their elementary school so they actually know what the words they are holding say and mean.

The Excell family steps up for a pose.
Look what Carson found...
Spencer soon joins him in the canoe and they begin paddling as if their oars were really smoothly gliding through water and not clunkily hitting rocks.
Cute Rachel has had practice at posing since the photo booth was made for the activity day girls in her ward.
Dennis, Kaelyn, Samantha and Robyn strike a pose. When asked if Dennis would like a prop, he said he already has a mustache. Silly question to ask wasn't it!
Bryce consented to have his picture taken. In the background Andy had set up two telescopes for viewing mountain goats on the nearby mountain. After ten tries, I was finally able to spot the little critters through the tiny viewing hole.
Clint was willing to pose for a photo as long as it was taken right where he was sitting in his lawn chair. He was busy helping Nani with her computer.

I am just now noticing I did take a picture of the chicken coop (in the background of this photo) and also a picture of the playhouse (albeit a tiny sliver of the playhouse) with Spencer demonstrating the fun slide.
It didn't take long for Eli to join the other boys in the big boat. Carson and Spencer took turns with the net bending way over the side of the boat to scoop up fish from the side of the boat.

Not every family member was willing to jump in the photo booth, but Seth and Kenna were more than happy to do so.
Sister pose!!
Soon Caroline and Madison joined in the boat fun.

Look at this cute couple! Dad said he and Mom didn't need to get a picture because they already have a real life photo of them in front of the Eiffel Tower from back in his military days.

But I am so happy they were good sports because this picture is adorable!! So thankful to call these people my parents.
Just can't say it enough--thanks for hosting the dinner party Andy and Amanda. The grilled chicken was delicious and the yard was out-of-this-world fun!!!
Wish I could photo shop Andy's eyes all the way open because this picture is so darn cute!!
We can't wait for next summer to roll around so we can have another memorable back yard experience.

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Some More Summer Snapshots

Let's start with the spotty-dotty Glen... Every 6 to 12 months he goes in for a zapping by the skin doctor. Never fear! It only took about a week for him to heal and get looking back to his normal self.
G&K sprang for a family Lagoon day again this year. Dallas did another great job designing the matching t-shirts for the company. All the employees really stood out this year in their florescent orange shirts. I loved them!! 
Look at this guy here who has been living with us since April. Anybody recognize Ben in there? He's sporting the new t-shirt he bought for himself. 
Lincoln is studying that face...
 ...yup! He found his uncle Ben behind all that facial hair.
I went on a major de-junking kick a few weeks ago. It felt so good to go through everything and decide what to keep and what to throw away or give away. It was a walk down memory lane for the whole family as I pulled things out and checked whether to keep or not. 

Sarah and Ben made quite a few creations in their high school ceramics classes. These two Sarah creations now adorn the shelves in her bedroom as I deemed them keepers. 
Ben was telling us how good he was at clay pottery spheres.
These are his spherical creations he keeps on his dresser because he loves them so much.
Jacob and Laurie chose not to have me continue keeping Jacob's Scout memorabilia wall hanging. They said there is not a place for it to hang in their home.  
In one extra large box, I found all these trophies of Abe's which he gave the okay to throw away. He did request a picture of each one and suggested I take pictures of things that mean something to us before we throw them away. Good idea!!
 I had my own pile of trophies--in the form of plaques--which I earned for shorthand and typing. I figured if Abe could part with his trophies then I could part with mine.

Well...I did keep the one where I earned the title of National Typist. Maybe in 15 more years when I de-junk again, I will get another thrill out of seeing it and then maybe I will throw it away then.
How could we ever forget the Abe's head creation his friend Sam Quick made for him.
It kind of freaked Abe out at night when the head was sitting on his dresser. He ended up putting it in his closet so he could sleep.

The head is modeling the BYU helmet creation Abe made before going to a football game with Glen. Don't worry everyone--I kept the head and the helmet.
Sarah came over one day and I showed her all the old dolls and bag of (homemade) doll clothes she had been keeping. 
The bald baby sure loved the bald doll.
This was probably the kitchen cupboard that prompted all the cleaning. 
Here's the after shot of the same cupboard. 
Before drawer photo.
After photo. Hmmm. Still a junk drawer, but a little more organized junk?
I even got Glen in on the action. He pulled out the old computers and began cleaning off all the data.
This office closet was so crammed full of stuff. Now there are empty spots on the shelves and we can see the floor.
Here is a priceless picture I came across in my cleaning. Glen with his study buddy group at their Georgia State University graduation in June of 1998.
These are all the school books and binders Glen used during those intense couple of years of graduate school. They were stored on the bookshelves and in the corner of the exercise room which is also the room where the buckets of toys are kept for the grandchildren.
For YEARS I have wanted to get rid of those books and now my wish has come true. Unfortunately I didn't take a before picture, but picture all those books and binders on and by these shelves. And look at them now!
The basement storage room is another spot that needed lots of attention. Voila!! Now there are empty shelves down there!

I am really glad this project has come to an end.
There are still a few drawers here and there that could use a little attention, but pretty much all of the de-junking has occurred. What a great feeling!!

Sunday, August 30, 2015

Quotes of the Week

"The secret of happiness is to count your blessings while others are adding up their troubles." 
 -- William Penn 

"If you can't forgive and forget, pick one." 
 -- Robert Brault 

"The naked truth is always better than the best-dressed lie." 
 -- Ann Landers 

"There is a great difference between worry and concern. A worried person sees a problem, and a concerned person solves a problem." 
 -- Harold Stephen 

Sunday, August 23, 2015

Quotes of the Week

"The things you take for granted, someone else is praying for." 
-- Author Unknown 

"I learned that we can do anything, but we can't do everything... at least not at the same time. So think of your priorities not in terms of what activities you do, but when you do them. Timing is everything." 
 -- Dan Millman 

"If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door." 
 -- Milton Berle 

"Go as far as you can see: when you get there you'll be able to see further." 
 -- Zig Ziglar