House Projects, July 4th, and Packing Up
As per our usual, we accomplished an astonishing amount of things in a short amount of time. After we landed in Idaho Falls late on Juneteenth, we went right to bed and then woke up catapult-style and hit the ground running.
Here's the rundown . . .
Friday, June 19th: Scott's work buddy, John Ryan, picked us up at 0630 to drive us to the Venice Airport. It was so nice to be able to sleep through the night instead of having to catch the shuttle bus from the base. Unfortunately, when you fly to the US, most flights leave first thing in the morning, and if you want to make that early morning flight, AND if you need the shuttle bus, then you'll be climbing aboard said bus at 2:00 a.m. Gross. Thankfully for us, it was a federal holiday and John offered to just drive us.
When we arrived in Frankfurt, Germany for our connection to the US, we were not prepared for the inefficiency that we encountered there. In order to head up to the Z Gates within the terminal, you had to go through an extra passport control first, due to the newly imposed EES (Entry/Exit System). Normally this wouldn't be an issue, and I'm not sure why the process was so bogged down. There was a line LITERALLY a mile long, and I'm not even exaggerating, just to get to the kiosks where you get a photo taken and place your right hand on the scanner for fingerprinting. THEN, you snake through another huge rat maze to get to one of the TWO guys that *still* stamp your passport. It took forever to finally make it through that horrible mess so we could RUN to our gate.
Thankfully for us, our flight had also been delayed which allowed us just enough time to get to our gate before the plane left without us. I have never seen such a rigamarol/mess in Frankfurt. EVER. But it definitely made me not want to fly through Frankfurt anymore.
In-flight lunch (on the way to Denver): Chicken, potatoes, corn, bread, brie cheese, quinoa salad, and a mousse for dessert.
Important Announcement: Nothing bad happened in Denver. *For once*. I was very wary the entire time, like why is this going so smoothly??? Lol.
We chased the sunset between Denver and Idaho Falls . . .
Saturday, June 20th: As I mentioned earlier, we hit the ground running the next morning. What I failed to mention is that we hit the ground running at 4:30 a.m. ha ha. We had to wait for not only the sun to come up, but for a reasonable hour to start making noise in the neighborhood (aka Scott's tools). I was showered and home from the grocery store before 7:00 a.m. Yeah, I know, super impressive.
The yard was quite a mess to behold and I was quite livid with the landscaping company that we've been tolerating for the past few years.
Video describing the back yard issues: (1 min, 4 seconds)
1) The lawn hadn't been watered in months and was quite dead.
2) The back yard couldn't be mowed because of the tree that fell down a few days before we arrived.
3) Branches galore needed to be trimmed.
4) The fence still needed fixing from when the huge tree fell down into our backyard neighbor's yard earlier this spring.
5) The patio needed a lot of cleanup and the window wells for the downstairs rooms were full to the brim with dead leaves.
Scott got to work pulling off the old trim on the north side of the house: (10 seconds)
Video of the front yard issues: (37 seconds)
1) Trim the "Umbrella Tree".
2) The water valve needed to be replaced. It was swampy and bulging and leaking into the street.
3) Trim the other bushes and trees.
4) Start hauling a hose/sprinkler around to bring the lawn and plants back to a healthy green state.
I became the Go-fer for the next 2 weeks, something I was happy to do. Scott needed me to help with several things, like these for example:
1) Go pick up some additional siding supplies
2) Make phone calls to check on a few things - logistics mostly
3) Give a tour to the 3 different guys coming over to give us an estimate on how much it would cost to install some wall-mounted AC units in the house
4) Go get him a new air compressor when the first one stopped working
5) Haul stuff to the dump
Not to mention things like, what are we eating today? Because oh yeah, we're starving, ha ha. Plus I started cleaning the inside of the house because it had been sitting and collecting dust for several months.
She'd occasionally get the Zoomies: (24 seconds)
Our backyard neighbor, Don Blatter, spoke in Sacrament meeting. Normally I don't take pictures of people in the middle of a meeting, unless I have a really good reason. Don gave a wonderful talk about fathers, including his thoughts about his own father and the loving qualities of our Heavenly Father. He was pretty emotional as he shared a few stories about his dad, so I took a photo to send to his wife Helma - who was visiting her family back in Austria at the time. She was so grateful that I did that, since she couldn't be there in person.
By the end of the afternoon, the whole north side (minus the tippy-top) was done.
Once I got home, Liz and I loaded up Ben's truck with all the old trim that had nails sticking out everywhere . . .
And then we loaded up the U-haul with a bunch of branches and yard waste . . .
We all caravanned over to the Hatch Pit, where we offloaded all the junk and then took an overheated and sweaty-mess selfie before parting ways for the night . . . Don't we look lovely?
After dinner, Scott worked his way around the corner to the back of the house before calling it quits for the night . . .
That afternoon, we went to the Idaho Falls Temple together and ran into an old friend, Michelle Stratton. She is the mother of our son Jacob's friend, Adam Stratton. Adam and Jacob both served a mission for our church in the Philippines at the same time, but in different areas. A couple years after they returned home, they went back to the Philippines for a visit over the Christmas holidays together. They rented motorcycles and rode all over the mainland together, stopping to see some of the families that they had taught along the way.
Something that surprised me during our temple session that afternoon was how deeply connected I felt to the teachings and covenants that I made, simply because I was hearing the words in my own language without any headset and without any extra distractions (such as a foreign language). It was a powerful reminder to me that our loving Heavenly Father wants us to hear His voice, His teachings, and His promises to us in our native language. It really does make a difference.
I loved the tight layers of these white roses on the temple grounds. They were nestled all snugly together . . . so pretty.
Aaaaand back to work again as soon as we got home . . .
This leaning fence was a real concern, but it would take a few more days before it would get taken care of.
Thank goodness that our friend Rich Garner was able to come for a portion of the afternoon to help. After he and Scott did some demolition on the front porch, removing trim around the window and doorway and taking down the light fixtures, Rich tackled that tedious and boring job on the bay window with the recommended chisel and hammer. What a good friend!
That being said, I had arranged to take my niece, Mari, out to lunch that day - since I hadn't seen her since last August. She was so looking forward to spending some time with me, even though she knew we were tight on time. We went to the Manwaring Cheese restaurant near her house, where they make the best grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup.
And they have some delicious gelato there, too.
He and Rich accomplished a lot while I was off playing with Mari. But each day, I would make sure that I fed Scott a hearty lunch, along with whoever might be helping him, too. Sometimes I would pick up something in town, if I was already out running errands. And sometimes I'd just make some grilled cheese sandwiches or PBJ's with some crunchy and/or fruity sides. Finally - - Scott was actually agreeable to eating a LUNCH!! I'm sure it was because he was working so hard and burning so many calories . . .
The new air compressor that I bought for him worked marvelously, and he was grateful every day for the errands I would run for him, taking care of this, that, and everything. :)
By the end of the afternoon, he finished the siding on the back of the house and even took down some of the old trim on the south side, too. I was the cleaner-upper lady, picking up all the pieces of wood with nails poking out every which-er-way and putting them in the back of the truck to go to the dump. I also kept my eyes peeled for any stray nails that had fallen as he was working, and then I'd tuck them back into the pouch of his tool belt that was strapped around his waist.
As the day was wrapping up, I kept coming out to check on him and to see when he was ready for quitting time. He kept begging me for more time, ha ha. I would often "hold" dinner until he was all done, and then we'd eat together.
Back to more yard cleanup and trimmings . . . Ben Lemons came back over and helped me reach several branches that I couldn't reach or didn't have the upper body strength to snip with just our pruners. We made lots of messes, ha ha.
Those two made such a good team. We are so grateful for both his and Rich's help.
Mess on the south side . . .
Piles of tree mess in the front yard . . .
And I baked a strawberry-rhubarb pie in the middle of it all!
Our friends, Cameron and Everett Preece arrived that evening. I fed everyone a crockpot full of shredded beef along with all the fixings. Afterwards, they helped us load up all the branches and mess into Ben Parkinson's borrowed trailer out front, and then they went with Scott to the dump while I worked in the kitchen to clean up from dinner.
The Preeces live in Vicenza, Italy, too, but they were down in Utah visiting their extended family for a month. By law, when a military teenager needs to get their drivers license, they have to do the process while IN the United States. They cannot do it overseas. Everett is 17 and needed to get some driving hours in, so they incorporated this plan into their summer visit. They stayed the night with us after visiting the local DMV and getting his permit so he could start logging some hours behind the wheel.
Scott was able to finish up the north side that day. Yay!!
Once he finished the south side, I helped him move the pieces of scaffolding once again, this time in a different configuration.
South side, all done.
Back side, all done.
Accent area above the garage door, coming along nicely.
They had to dig down about 4 feet in order to reach the problem area. They did a good job, but they left some mud on the driveway and front sidewalk that needed to be cleaned up afterwards.
Gwen was being . . . Gwen . . . ha ha. She used game pieces for eyes and had some blueberry pulp stuck in her front teeth. I told her we should save this photo for her wedding reception someday. :)
The porch was all done in a jiffy . . . New trim + new siding. Wowzers!
That evening, Amber prepared two s'mores platters: one sweet and one savory.
West built us a nice campfire and we had the best time hanging out in the back yard together . . .
Later in the day, Amber and West went to hang out with some friends and so I got to be on "Mimi Duty". I took the girls with me to Lowe's so we could get a spray seal for all the trees whose branches we had lopped off. We quickly found what we came for, and then the cutest personality traits emerged from both Abby and Gwen.
Meanwhile, Gwen had noted a display of insects for sale just before we entered the garden center, and she couldn't wait to get back over to them and see what all the bugs were, ha ha.
For our BBQ feast we had ribs, chicken, watermelon, mashed potatoes, chips, and corn on the cob. The Preeces drove up from Utah to join us for dinner and the fireworks, and they brought chips, dips, and cookies for dessert.
We then scurried around putting the food away and loading up all the things we needed for the fireworks show. Traffic was heavier than I've ever seen it before, but eventually we found parking places for all three of our vehicles and then we walked about 1.5 miles to get to our favorite spot next to the Snake River. We were directly across the river from where they launch the fireworks, and it is always a truly spectacular scene to behold!
But then he moved down closer for a second photo . . .
Goodbye beautiful house! We'll see ya again from time to time . . . XOXOXO
Benson only stayed one night with us that weekend because he needed to get back to work for the week, bless his heart. Daisy likes to hang out between your legs, probably because Benson has taught her the cue word "middle" as a designated safe space.
Monday, June 22nd: Our longtime friend Ben Lemons and his new wife Liz came over to help us for the day. When Scott had his very first teaching gig at Bonneville High School back in 1994, Ben Lemons had the classroom next door for several years. Ben is just one of those people in the world who has your best interests at heart. He is high energy and a barrel of laughs, but he will also drop whatever he's doing to come to your aid. He just retired from 17 years as a principal of an elementary school, and what he was looking forward to the most was helping with some construction projects for any friends who needed him. We happened to be his very first "project" and we were so grateful!!
Both he and Liz are HARD workers. Like seriously. And sheesh. They made us look like lazy fools, ha ha. And just to be clear, we are not lazy fools!!
Video of Ben's cleverness in removing the trim up so high with the torque of a shovel: (15 seconds)
I took the U-haul pickup truck to go get some parts for the siding project, but then I got stuck less than a half-mile from the shop because of a train. I sat there for a full 45 minutes waiting for the train to get things figured out so the intersection could clear up. I felt so bad because I wasn't back at the house helping everyone . . . but it would have taken quite a while to drive back home and then come back again later, so I just stuck it out.
Video of the north side: (7 seconds)
Liz and I picked up some lunch for the 4 of us, and then I had to race off to a doctor's appointment that I had set up months before with my primary care doctor, Laura Mason. What I didn't anticipate is the need to do a full "wellness check", aka the invasive appointment for females that thankfully only comes around every few years. Blech.
Tuesday, June 23rd: First thing in the morning, I had my annual checkup with the dermatologist. All was well. No skin cancer to speak of.
Scott made some good progress on the siding while I was gone for a bit . . .
One of the "go-fer" jobs that I lined up was for a tree removal company to come give us a bid for taking down another large and iffy branch that was leaning on the Blatter's fence. Plus, I still had some branches and rubble to remove in the back yard. I used a rake to clean up all the bits and pieces and smaller branches that were cluttering the grass, mainly because I wanted the lawn to get mowed and this would make it safer to do so.
At the end of each day, I would send a short video or two to our kids so they could see our progress. We called it the End of Day Check-In.
Here are the two that we sent for June 23rd.
Video #1: (11 seconds) Progress on the back of the house.
Video #2: (12 seconds) Watching Scott stare down the bay window as he contemplated how to remove some stubborn trim. https://photos.app.goo.gl/XALaSvWjaxbESLgY7
Wednesday, June 24th: As the world's best secretary, I was tasked with reaching out to Scott's brother-in-law Ken Vian for some advice on how to remove the trim around the kitchen bay window. Ken is a retired contractor who had worked on projects large and small all over the US for many decades.
Here's the problem that Scott was having trouble with: When he tried to use a small crowbar to loosen the trim pieces, only a few shreds of wood would splinter off. Once we heard back from Ken a short time later, the advice wasn't for any quick fix, though. His only suggestion was to use a chisel and a hammer to tap, tap, tap away until all the embedded trim could be successfully removed.
I feel the need to say that I was not just sitting around while Scott did all the work each day. I could have helped him, and I would have loved to help! But I was busy doing "all the other stuff" both inside and out each day. :)
Scott did some measuring for how much new trim we would need from Lowe's - and was about to send me to get some, but then we decided to wait until the next day when we could go together.
As the day was wrapping up, I kept coming out to check on him and to see when he was ready for quitting time. He kept begging me for more time, ha ha. I would often "hold" dinner until he was all done, and then we'd eat together.
Scott discovered that using his jigsaw (?) to cut the siding was a huge blessing and a timesaver. Using the typical "snippers" takes a long time to cut a piece by hand, not to mention how taxing it can be on your forearms!
Video of his shortcut method: (9 seconds)
Video of him getting that LAST piece tucked in for the night: (1 min, 8 seconds)
Thursday, June 25th: An interesting thing happened that morning. Kind of a miracle, you could say. I had been cleaning the downstairs of the house, preparing for our friends to come stay the night with us that night. I vacuumed each room, and the hallway, before arriving in the last bedroom at the end of the hallway. I moved the plug to an outlet in the bedroom, just inside the door, and then turned the vacuum on. It made a fraction of a startup sound, and then promptly quit.
At first, I thought that maybe the vacuum was tired or maybe overheated since I had been vacuuming so many rooms. I decided to give it a small break - to let it evaluate its life and think about what it needed to do.
When I came back a short time later, it still wouldn't turn on, not even a faint attempt to start up. I tipped it on its side and noticed that the roller brush was being choked by so much hair that was wrapped around it. Maybe this was the problem. I grabbed some scissors and performed a surgery of sorts to extricate all that long hair. (It wasn't MY hair, ha ha)
But the vacuum still wouldn't turn on.
I hopped on my ChatGPT app to do some further diagnosing, typing in the make and model number and the specific problem I was having. One of the suggestions was to try plugging it into a different outlet. Brilliant! I tried the bathroom outlet across the hall and sure enough - it turned on! Hmmm. What did all of this mean?
I went outside to find Scott and let him know what I had discovered and to see what advice he might have. We ended up calling our neighbor, Don Blatter, a retired electrician, to get his take. He wanted us (me) to pinpoint the outlet issue more specifically. So I went downstairs and found a nightlight that was plugged into the hall outlet to use as my "bait". It had an on/off switch so I knew when it was meant to be ON.
I had to plug it into every single outlet in that last bedroom, to see if the night light came on, or did it flicker, or was there no reaction at all. Then I was instructed to do the same process in the middle bedroom. The whole point of the exercise was to try to isolate where the problem was, because clearly there was a disruption in the "flow" of electricity in those two bedrooms. Oh! I forgot to mention that the middle bedroom had no power anymore, after I had finished vacuuming in there earlier. No lights, and no power to the outlets either. The last bedroom had lights overhead, but no power in some of the outlets. So I had to try to find the "epicenter".
In the last bedroom, I could get power to the night light in a few of the outlets, but in the spot where I had encountered the problem with the vacuum, I got nothing. Not even a flicker. In the next bedroom, I started with the outlet closest to the problem in the other bedroom, and I got a tiny flicker. Some of the other outlets had a stronger flicker until I reached a couple of outlets where I had full power.
Scott praised me for my diligent detective work and then we called Don Blatter again to update him. He came right over with his tool bucket and supplies and got to work. He removed the outlet cover and discovered that the wiring that was supposed to be WHITE . . . had a section inside that was all BLACK. So basically, it was cooking or getting fried. A silent and potentially deadly problem that could have led to a house fire in the very near future!!!
He took care of the issue and advised us to check the other outlets in the house to see if the wiring was "newish" or old, like this one was. We ended up putting Weston on that job once their family arrived 2 days later. I think (crossing fingers) that everything is okay now. But wow. What a miracle that this happened WHILE WE WERE HOME to notice it.
It felt like we were dealing with so many similar emergency issues during those short two weeks, but all in all, it was a good time for everything to go wrong. It was important for us to be aware of the problems, get them fixed, and make it a safe place for Amber's family to live for the next few years.
Video of the piles we made in the back yard: (9 seconds)
More piles in the back yard . . .
I wasn't initially planning to bake a pie, but I needed to. As Scott was rounding that first corner from the north side around to the back of the house, he was tromping all over my precious rhubarb plant without even noticing. It was partially covered up in dead leaves from the winter still, but there were plenty of stalks that were ready to be picked. I picked the good ones and tossed all the wilty ones - because nothing had been watered in quite a while, including the poor little rhubarb.
Then I gave Scott explicit instructions to watch out for the now cleaned up and manicured rhubarb plant. I gave him a smallish "what-for" as I reminded him that his mother - who has been gone for 3 years now - had given a portion of her rhubarb plant to me, and I didn't want him to kill it because of carelessness. He promised me he would be more careful. XO
I slipped out for a couple of hours to meet with my friend and massage therapist, Marie Webster. I had brought her a couple of small gifts from Italy to share, and then I was surprised that she had put together a thoughtful gift bag for me as well. She gives the best massages in the whole world. I was so grateful for her talented expertise.
I'm not sure exactly how it all works, but from what I gathered, they have to do business with a DMV in the state where they last resided before going overseas. So that's why they had to come up to Idaho instead of just taking care of it down in Utah.
We were grateful for their muscles and willingness to help with whatever they could while they were with us. :)
Friday, June 26th: Scott headed out early to pick up some scaffolding that I had reserved for him. Because I'm his personal assistant and this was in my job description. :)
He would be using the scaffolding to reach the upper portions of the south and north sides of the house.
Cameron and Everett Preece also helped Scott put on a new silicone tread (??) on the bottom of the garage door. We were trying to fix the problem of too much of a gap between the door and the ground when the door was fully shut. Mice can come in, and we don't want that! But even after all 3 of them worked together to slide the pieces on, we noticed that the garage floor is a part of the problem - it's high-centered in the middle. So no matter what we do to the garage door, it's not ever going to fully take care of the problem. Darn it. It's not like we have the time to pour a whole new garage floor, or pour out some gooey leveling epoxy on the surface, etc.
Video of him climbing up that scaffolding like a mountain goat: (7 seconds)
Saturday, June 27th: I helped him move the scaffolding to the south side and hand some of the pieces up to him. He is one strong guy, lemme just say. I would use all of my strength just to lift the upper yellow cross-pieces to him - and I only had to lift the whole thing a foot or so off the ground. He was standing on the upper decking and could then reach it and heft it up the rest of the way. He made it seem like he was lifting up something made out of toothpicks, whereas for me it felt like I was hefting up several bags of concrete to him!!
Video of Scott fitting a piece in: (23 seconds)
We also paused on the siding to tackle that crazed back fence . . . I was in the back yard, raking and cleaning up the last of the mess of branches, when I heard Don Blatter mowing in his back yard on the other side of the fence. When I noticed him trying to mow around the rigged and dangerously angled fence, I told Scott we have GOT to help fix it so Don doesn't injure himself.
The solution ended up being:
~ Take off the upper section of fence because it was too bunged up anyway
~ Secure the lower portion with ratchet straps until a new post could be put in
~ Scott put the new post in a few days later, after the siding was all finished
Video of Scott taking down a section of that upper fence: (7 seconds)
I was the cleaner upper lady on that job, too, hauling the wreckage out to the Uhaul pickup in the driveway and then later taking it all to the dump.
Sunday, June 28th: Amber and her family drove all the way from Portland, Oregon down to Idaho Falls the day before, arriving just before midnight - bless their hearts. I had fallen asleep in bed while waiting for them to arrive, and when they knocked on the front door, I jolted awake to run down the hall and greet them. Scott slept like a rock and didn't wake up at all, ha ha.
Amber and the girls came to church with us on Sunday morning, choosing to walk to our old stomping grounds in the Coronado Ward this time. The reason for that was because Hailey Reisner, one of the young women that I used to serve several years ago, was speaking in church before heading out on a mission to MILAN ITALY!!! I hope with all my heart that she gets to serve in Vicenza as part of her 18 months of the mission. That would be so amazing!! The Reisner family had a luncheon at their home down the street after church, and I had prepared a macaroni and cheese casserole to share. It went perfectly with the BBQ pork and other sides that were already provided. We had fun visiting with several of our longtime friends before walking home.
From there, we had a much-needed relaxing Sunday afternoon together. We also went over to Edgemont Elementary School, where Abby and Gwen will be attending school this fall, once they get all moved into our house. The girls had fun playing on the playground and checking out the school campus.
Video of both girls traversing the monkey bars, with Abby giving lots of encouragement to Gwen:
(28 seconds) https://photos.app.goo.gl/cTsXr8yrHJ5XWqkb9
Video of me and Abby racing down the slides: (5 seconds)
Video of Scott playing with Griffin before bedtime: (46 seconds)
Monday, June 29th: Back to work after a nice day of rest. Scott started working on the porch again, prepping and preparing to add the new trim. It was a super cold day for the end of June, with temps only around 46-50 degrees along with rain off and on throughout the day. The porch was a great place to work, since it was protected from the elements (except for the cold). We all had to dig through the house to find enough layers to keep us warm, lol.
The Sprinkler Medix company came to replace the water valve out front, the one that had been bubbling up and making a swampy mess for weeks on end. Too bad they had to work on such a miserable day, though.
Abby wanted to learn how to bake a pie, so I helped her make a rhubarb pie and a little baby apple pie. They were both delicious!
Video of Abby gathering the dough together: (4 seconds)
Video of Abby learning how to crimp the edges of the pie: (6 seconds)
Video of Abby drawing "vents" on the top crust with her left paw: (6 seconds)
And here are the finished products!! Bellissimo!!
Tuesday, June 30th: Abby and Gwen were brave and climbed up to the tippy top of the scaffolding. It took Gwen an extra minute or two to be as confident as her older sister, but then she was so proud of herself once she got up to the top.
I enlisted the help of both girls to help me with some cleanup chores around the house, both inside and out. They helped me empty all the trash cans and get the dumpster out to the curb for the garbage man. And then we went outside for some "fun" chores.
Video of the girls sweeping the curbing around the entire house: (3 seconds)
Video of the girls riding their brooms back to the garage: (5 seconds)
We filled more than one bucket full of construction supplies that needed to be thrown away.
Video of Abby breaking down all the siding boxes and putting it into the truck: (32 seconds)
I asked Abby to take a short video of me at the dump, since I'm always the one behind the camera, with no proof of me actually working, ha ha. I like her commentary as she's watching me through the window!
(25 seconds) https://photos.app.goo.gl/CnLub8mWkBHPdVat9
Here is a VERY short video of the girls helping to hose off the sidewalk and get rid of all the mud clumps from the crew that fixed our valve the day before. I know it looks like they're just playing, ha ha, but they did a great job hosing off the driveway and sidewalk, too.
(3 seconds) https://photos.app.goo.gl/neCsdR1jaF7Je5Cg9
Ben Lemons came over again to help Scott for part of the day . . .
Scott had me do a video to describe one of the problems he overcame, so that we could share it with Jacob: (1 minute, 5 seconds)
Wednesday, July 1st: The accent section over the garage was finished, and all that was left to do was the last bit of the front porch and a tiny little section above the living room window.
We had (at least) two resident bunnies who loved to munch on some of the weeds in the back yard. We found one of their dens hidden among our woodpile on the north side, but often we'd also see them hop through an opening in the fence into what used to be Ellen's yard. Gwen decided she wanted to try to coax the bunnies into our yard a little more, so she put together a dressy platter of carrots and lettuce, setting it on the curbing under the big pine trees to wait. We so hoped that we would see them happily munching on those carrots, but they never did. Maybe they smelled the human hands that had prepared the plate and then chose to keep a safe distance.
Video of the completed porch: (9 seconds)
It only took Scott maybe an hour to put that last little bit of siding above the living room window. And then he was all done!! *I realized after we left to fly off to other places, that we had forgotten to pull those old green shutters down . . . darn it. I guess Amber and West will *get* to do that after they move in and get settled.
Amber explains how to make the savory s'mores (we wanted to share her process with Jacob):
(1 min, 27 seconds) https://photos.app.goo.gl/Xrij35e97SbUREJJ7
Gwen was the traditional s'mores queen, offering to toast us a marshmallow to our liking. She'd ask, "Would you like yours to be pale, light golden, crunchy golden, or burnt?" Once she re-learned the safety features (the metal parts of the roasting stick can get hot at the far end, don't set it down on something that can melt, choose a pocket of coals to hover over instead of an open flame, etc), she was off and running with her marshmallow roasting business.
I made a slow-mo video of Gwen eating a gooey marshmallow, but it didn't transfer as a slow-mo video to my Google photos . . . So here you go anyway, a video of Gwen in marshmallow heaven:
(9 seconds) https://photos.app.goo.gl/YwigVjRFTwd4ebqAA
Mari and her boyfriend Connor came over and joined us for the evening, and it was really nice to hang out with them. Connor is a gentle soul, easy to talk to and very sweet. I'm so glad that Mari found someone who treats her so well.
Background L to R: Mari, Connor, Amber, West, Abby, Scott, and Gwen. Me, of course, taking the selfie.
Also, Abby and I played Corn Hole against each other and it was so fun!! I didn't know that I was capable of so many holes-in-one, but there I was . . . nailing one after the other.
Abby finally found a technique that worked - and I happened to get a video of her landing her very first HOLE!!!
Video of Abby: (14 seconds) https://photos.app.goo.gl/YiLMrqhhJhhS4GHg6
Thursday, July 2nd: Amber, Abby and I squeezed in a short shopping spree . . . to just one store, lol, since we were pressed for time. I had been wanting to pay a second visit to Roolee, the store that Hannah suggested last summer and we both scored something that we loved. This time, I didn't find any world's cutest dresses that worked for me, but I did find a super comfy shirt. Abby was enamored by this clutch purse with a wrist strap in the store, but I convinced her that I could find something cheaper and *real leather* when I get back to Italy. I took this photo for reference, and now the quest is ON . . .
Abby was super interested in all the pretty flowers in the garden section, and wanted to wander down each aisle, admiring the plants and noting what their names were.
Also, as we drove around in the truck running our errands, I asked the girls what color they would like in their new bedrooms as they moved in.
Abby: I want light pink, light sky blue, and pale yellow. With flowers and cheerful stuff.
Gwen: I want a painting on the wall with a bright red fire, and people painted black that are running away from the fire, and a big monster lurking up behind them that's also dark and black, with a little bit of a purple haze behind him.
A few minutes later, Gwen changed her mind to a galaxy theme with stars and a hazy purple and black scene.
We also stopped at Target to find some cute outfits and accessories for the 4th of July. The girls ended up with matching baby blue "skorts" and white tank tops, with patriotic hair clips and ponytail holders. They were so delighted to be "twins". XO It reminded me of when my sister Charmaine and I used to dress up in "twinnie" outfits that our grandma had made.
After a simple dinner at home, we set up some supplies downstairs to paint our fingernails in red/white/blue while we watched half of "The Sheep Detectives", a new release with Hugh Jackman as the shepherd. It was such a CUTE movie!!! When Scott couldn't keep his eyes open any longer, and because it was 9:15 pm, we called it a night, even though we were only halfway through the movie.
As I was tidying up downstairs before tucking myself into bed, I accidentally kicked a piece of furniture down in the family room as I was moving it a few inches. For such a small incident, it sure caused a lot of damage!! My big toe took the brunt of the hit, and it must have hit squarely on the front of my toenail, because it split it right down the middle. What a painful injury to say the least . . . Blood started flowing and wow, the throbbing pain. I started hobbling up the stairs to where my first aid closet lives, hollering for Scott as I went up each step. Abby was the one who came to my rescue, bless her heart.
She ran ahead, calling for Papi to come help Mimi, but no response. He was fast asleep in bed already!! Not until Abby stood right in front of him, still hollering to get his attention did he actually wake up. Being slightly cheeky, she also changed her tactics slightly, hoping to jolt him to attention by shouting, "Papi! Mimi broke her TOE!!" And then when his eyelids started to flicker open, she adjusted with, "Well, her toeNAIL . . ."
He was too groggy to offer much assistance, even though he did get out of bed to make a showing. Abby was the one who did all the nursing and errand running for me. She even made me a little compress with an ice cube wrapped up in a paper towel to ease the bleeding - and the pain. She stayed with me the entire time, bless her heart! What a champ.
I put a big bandaid over my toenail and wrapped my toe with gauze to keep it in place for the night, and then settled down into bed.
Friday, July 3rd: With my new injury, I wasn't as "muy rapido" as I was before. I couldn't just dash downstairs to grab something or haul down more piles of stuff that needed to be organized eventually in the craft room. I needed others to transport the things I was cleaning out of the office and down to the craft room instead, and anything else I needed to do, I had to do with strategery. But onward and upward I hobbled. I managed to clean off my entire desk space in the office, as well as continuing to clean out some areas in the master bedroom.
Knowing that Amber and her family would be moving in soon, I wanted to help clear a path for them before we would be on the other side of the world again. After traveling back and forth for the past 4 years, it was easier to part with the clothes that just weren't getting any use and were just collecting dust by hanging in the closet. Scott was done with the siding, and even though he found another leaking water valve in the back yard that needed fixing, he still found time to come help clean out his section of the closet with me. We ended up hauling several garbage bags full of clothes to the thrift store to donate. It felt really good to get rid of so much stuff!
Mid-afternoonish, Benson arrived with Daisy again. Amber had thoughtfully researched ways to introduce the two dogs, so she was all prepared with a plan by the time he arrived. Griffin was still in his kennel downstairs after having a nice long nap. We let Daisy trot around upstairs sniffing everything and every corner. We placed a gate at the top of the stairs so she couldn't run down and then get distressed by smelling Griffin on the other side of the door and start barking.
We put Daisy in the back yard briefly while Amber retrieved Griffin and got him ready for a walk. Once they were out the front door, then Benson let Daisy inside and helped her get ready for a walk. Amber and Benson stayed on the phone together and kept each other apprised of where they were. They "met" while on a walk in the neighborhood. The dogs sniffed each other and sized each other up. Then they all went for a walk "together". The idea was to introduce them in a neutral location, with the owners clearly being fond of each other. Then, continuing on the walk, the dogs could still enjoy being with their respective masters and occasionally acknowledge each other as they trotted along. By the time they arrived back at the house, the hope was that they would be more comfortable with each other.
Daisy, being more anxious and needy, was definitely the more intense of the two. Griffin, deciding to defer to the larger dog, kept a low profile and acted appropriately submissive. Amber regularly slipped him a kibble treat as he chose to act calmly and maturely. A couple of times, he REALLY wanted to play with Daisy, and he'd army crawl a few inches toward her, with his little tail wagging, and a little bark of excitement.
Daisy was still a bit unpredictable, though, with her shepherding instincts. She came across as a bit too aggressive and intimidating at times, so it was best to keep her in check and on her leash. For the remainder of the weekend, we had to keep a close watch on the two of them, allowing Griffin the space that he needed so that he didn't feel intimidated. It was a bit stressful for me, because I always felt like I needed to be on high alert whenever Griffin was awake from his latest nap. But Amber and Benson each did a great job working together to create a safe environment for the doggies.
Video of Gwen showing absolutely NO FEAR in playing with Daisy: (11 seconds)
That evening, we all trudged down the street to the Vance's home (some of us slower than others). They were having an Open House to celebrate the recent wedding of their daughter, Rachel. On the invitation, the title was, "Love, Pizza & Gelato". Say no more! ha ha
We had a lovely time visiting with several neighbors and friends that we hadn't seen in a long time. The pizza was great, and the gelato was fabulous, too.
These "kids" all grew up together in our neighborhood and so we had to take a photo.
L to R: The new bride Rachel (I didn't actually get to meet the groom - he is not pictured below), Jacob Burtenshaw, Isaac Smith, Amber, and Benson. Isaac was regaling us with stories of his latest dating fiascos and we were all cracking up the whole time. He is such a hoot!!
Saturday, July 4th: Benson and I went to the grocery store mid-morning (while it was still open) to get supplies for dinner that evening. Amber and her family went to watch the local parade - something I would normally jump at the chance to attend, but I didn't want to hobble/limp to TWO big events in the same day.
We bought 4 racks of ribs + 4 packages of boneless skinless chicken thighs. Benson did all the prep and barbecuing for our large group that evening. He rubbed mustard all over the ribs and then seasoned them heavily. Our grill wasn't as nice as the smoker that he has, but it would have to do.
I made a separate document on my Google Drive, with tiny snippets of info about 17 of our ancestors who served or contributed somehow to the Revolutionary War. I printed it up and cut the profiles into strips of paper, tucking them into a cute little red bucket that was positioned at the end of the banquet table.
Each person chose a slip of paper, and after we had finished eating, we took a few minutes to let everyone read their paper out loud. I wanted to make sure that we SAID each ancestor's name out loud, along with the year they were born and where, and something interesting that they contributed to the birth of our nation. If it weren't for THEM, we wouldn't even be having this fabulous moment 250 years later.
Someone's patriotic lawn next to where we parked . . .
I took the first group selfie, only to realize that Scott wasn't really visible . . .
The Preeces are up at the top (Stacie, Everett, Cameron, and Cordell).
Gwen was looking down at something in her lap.
Scott, West, Amber, Abby and me are in the lower half of the photo.
Video of one of the first big rounds of fireworks - in the first 3 minutes as a matter of fact:
(7 seconds) https://photos.app.goo.gl/nZ6v4rnmBE76TzZy9
Video while Whitney Houston sang "God Bless America": (1 min, 45 seconds)
Fireworks set to the song "Defying Gravity" from the movie Wicked, with Abby singing right along:
(52 seconds) https://photos.app.goo.gl/rFrFk69JFhjHfwNZ7
Some of the "slower" pace of fireworks during the show: (1 min, 13 seconds)
The PRE-finale: (1 min, 18 seconds)
AND last but not least, the FINALE: (1 min, 51 seconds) "God Bless the USA" (my fav song)
We could FEEL the ground rumbling beneath us with all the fireworks launching so close to where we were!! It was so cool.
This was the best fireworks show I've ever attended. So spectacular and moving and epic. Wow.
After the long hike back to our cars, we chose to take the back roads to get home a little faster and it worked. We got home around midnight, and then one of Benson's Air Force buddies came over to get a plate of food before driving back to Mountain Home. I was worried about him driving home so late, and I offered him a bed for the night. He was pretty sure he would choose to drive home, but said he'd consider the offer while he ate.
I couldn't start getting myself ready for bed yet, wondering if he would choose to stay or not, so I hung out with Alden and Benson for way longer than a 54-year old grandma should have . . . By the time I got into bed it was past 2:00 am . . . Alden ended up driving home during the middle of the night, letting Benson know as soon as he arrived home safely 3.5 hours later. His logic was that he is normally up during these hours anyway because of his work schedule on the base, and that if he stayed at our house he would most likely just be staring at the ceiling all night anyway, so he might as well just go home. I was just so relieved that he made it home okay!!
Sunday, July 5th: The Whitworths packed up to drive back to Portland, while Scott and I got ourselves ready for church. I was so tired and it felt like I could very easily tip over . . .
After church, Benson got all his stuff packed up to leave as well. I talked him into taking Scott to the Idaho Falls airport on his way, since it wouldn't add but a few minutes to his overall drive time and because I was dizzy and didn't feel up to driving.
And then I was all alone in the house.
I confined myself to a few simple tasks for the remainder of the day, taking down wall decor for example. I had to restrain myself from trying to do too much on the Sabbath, even though I knew there was a monumental mountain of work to accomplish in the next 2.5 days.
At least I had plenty of ribs, chicken, and corn on the cob to feed myself, ha ha.
Monday, July 6th: I got up early and started in.
The tasks I toggled back and forth with:
Washing bedding & towels
Vacuuming, sweeping, and mopping all the floors
Cleaning bathrooms
Packing up and clearing out items in the kitchen, living room, dining room, office, bedroom, etc.
Hauling stuff to the thrift store while I still had the pickup truck
Cleaning out the fridge and pantry so food wouldn't spoil
I also paused long enough to take Mari out to lunch one more time. This time she chose Great Harvest, which is a cute locally-owned sandwich shop downtown. The weather was hotter than an Idaho summer usually is, so as we were commiserating about not having any A/C in our homes, I learned that she only had one floor fan. After we finished eating, I took her to Walmart where we found a box fan that she could place in front of the window above her bed to draw in some cooler air at night. I also ordered her an additional fan from Walmart.com because it wasn't available on the store shelves. She has since reported back that the fans are helping to keep her apartment cooler and that she is surviving the heat wave. Yay!
One of the things I struggled with, as I was packing items up for storage, was this painting that Amber made for me shortly after their visit to Italy in September 2023. She painted one of the buildings in downtown Vicenza, situated in the piazza across from the Basilica. It's such a beautiful painting, but I didn't have room to haul it to Italy with me, nor did I have a good spot for it here. She instructed me that I could just wrap it up in saran wrap to protect the oil paints, so that's what I ended up doing. I hated to tuck it away instead of letting it be seen by the world, but I also didn't want anything to happen to it in my absence either. She was okay to have it be stored away, though. She will have plenty of other art pieces to fill the spaces of our partially emptied out home.
Tuesday, July 7th: More of the same. I was putting in 12-14 hour days of sweaty physical labor, plus mental fatigue from making so many decisions along the way.
I also received several visits from friends on this day - just no selfies of us together, darn it! I kind of forgot . . .
My friend ReNae Cunningham came over in the morning. We chatted about their family's plan to come stay with us in Vicenza during their next spring break in March 2027.
Next, my sweet "daughter" Jasmine came to see me in the early afternoon. I got to meet her adorable little boy, Phoenix, who is just over a year old now. What a cutie! I am so immensely proud of her and all the good things she's doing, including working on a degree to be a medical assistant. It was also a win-win for both of us as I needed to empty out my fridge and pantry, and she was a willing recipient. Score!!
A little later, my neighbor Kim came over to hug me again and to say goodbye. Followed by a visit from my friend Jenn Anderson. I'm so grateful for each of these several women and for the things they've taught me and the love they have given to me over the years.
Wednesday, July 8th: I was down to the wire, and still scrambling to not only pack up as much as I could from within the house, but also to pack my own suitcases!! There's never a dull moment when I'm in the last hours before locking up and leaving for a long period of time.
I made a final walkthrough video for Amber so she could know what I had cleared out and how some areas were now ready for them to move on in. It's basically a quick tour of the house.
If you're interested, you can watch it here: (7 minutes, 51 seconds)
I also took a couple photos of the storage totes that I filled up and stacked in the garage, so she could see where I put everything for now. Once they arrive in August, West will secure a storage facility where we can put a variety of things for safekeeping, including the things that I packed up.
Goodbye beautiful house! We'll see ya again from time to time . . . XOXOXO
Next blog post:
~ My trip to Springfield, Missouri to see Jake, Hannah, Jack, and Maisie
~ A visit with my (adopted) daughter Chelsea in Denver
~ Settling in back in Italy
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