Scorching the World

Tom and I both woke up about 5:30am, so we went ahead and packed up and tried to sneak out without waking anyone up. We stopped at Walmart to get some more juice and salads to eat for the next two days, then headed to see Mike and Becky. The weather had cleared up, so even tho it was cold, it was sunny and clear. When we got there, they were waiting, watching out the window for us. So sweet! It was so exciting for us to be able to see our grandkids. They are so fun to be around. We laugh and play and just really enjoy their company. I went with Becky and Maggie for her to choose a prom dress. It was fun watching her try them all on  From there we went to Veronica’s soccer game, watched her make two goals, then after lunch went back to watch Oscar play. He’s really good for such a little kid. We hung out, played cards, visited, and later went to see Becky’s sister’s new baby. SO. CUTE! From there we took a drive up in North Logan and looked at the luxury homes in th...

We got out of the hotel about 9:30 and drove to Payson, arriving about 4:30 pm their time. When we got as far as Cedar City, it started to snow! Weather was so beautiful and clear when we left California, then we come here and hit snow? In April? It was very windy and very, very cold! So we were really glad to get to Payson and meet up with Carma and Vic and Anne and Acell. We went to eat and got to talk and talk. Then we went back to Carma’s and sat and talked more. Anne and Acell left near midnight, and even then it was hard to stop all conversations to part. It is wonderful to have family. It is the greatest blessing we have in this life, and it was especially great to be able to spend time with my sisters! Carma set up a very comfortable air mattress; it was already Saturday before we went to bed. The exhaustion was well worth the time we got to have together! Wish I had taken some pictures!

Course we take the long way around to get to Utah. We went south through Bakersfield because Tom had work he needed to do there. He checked in on several parks, talked to several people and got some work lined up for his marketers. Then we headed to Las Vegas. We’ve found that we really like to stay in Primm. It’s WAY cheaper than L.V. and the hotels are pretty good. So we checked in there and then headed to Las Vegas – it’s about half hour away. I really wanted to go to Carlo’s Bakery because I’ve been watching Cake Boss for about 6 years and was dying to know what the pastries tasted like. It didn’t take long to find it and we bought three goodies to share. They were delicious! From there we walked down the strip. It was really fun. We saw the fire show at the Mirage, passed by lots of strange people, heard lots of weird conversations, as well as lots of foreign languages.         If you look in the background, you can see we made i...

I really wanted to finish my project in the back yard, but was so sore, I could hardly squat. Still, I did it over and over until time to go pick up Caeli from school. I brought all the little Knudsens over here so they could see the squirrel Tom caught. He is really having fun trying to train it, and has bought snacks to feed it. He named it “Tim”, but calls it a she. Funny man! Tom finished installing and I helped him set up the timer for the sprinklers for all the grapes, greenhouse, and blueberries. He is so excited to have it finally done! Now we can go on our trip and not worry about that part of the yard. All my piano lessons canceled for tonight and I was glad. I started packing and took it easy in the evening. 

Tom arranged for the missionaries to come over to help with the yard again. Actually, they asked if they could come again. I think they like his breakfasts that he makes them before they go to work. I had to run to the store before they got there to get some things we were out of and made it back in time. They are good missionaries and it’s fun to have them here. Tom got quite a bit done with them here for a couple of hours. The rest of the day I worked on re-setting pavers between the patio and the pool. I created a walkway there already, but didn’t like how it turned out. Tom bought me sand to help set them more level and I’ve been working on them for several days now.  It involves squatting over and over and over, so I had VERY.SORE.MUSCLES. I’d get tired and go in and relax a little while, swearing I was done for the day, but after a little while I’d look outside and decide to do a little more. Over and over. Boy was I tired by bedtime! Tom had an appointme...

Like all good headlines, this one is an attention grabber and grossly exaggerated. Here’s what happened. I was doing yard work in the back yard.  It was a little windy, but there were very strong winds up high - in the tops of the trees. Very strong winds.  I was working in the far corner, under the palm tree which is about 80 feet tall. Then I went into the front yard to get some stuff. I was waiting for Tom and he was taking a long time. Finally he came around, all flustered and upset. He said he was in the back yard when he heard a loud crack in the palm tree. He saw a huge cloud of dust from the top, and saw a huge group of branches falling to where he thought I was standing. He called and called to me and was scared to death that I had been buried by the branches. If you don’t know, palm branches are flat was wide, with serrated edges. The part that attaches to the tree looks like a mermaid tail. It looks little here, but it's about 8 feet long. Anyway, he ran...

The Stake RS president who I am 2 nd counselor to The Stake RS President to whom I’m 2 nd counselor was out of town today and asked me to attend her stake meetings. The 1 st counselor, as well as the secretary were also out of town, so I was really the only one who could. So the day went like this: 7am Stake meeting 8:30am run to our building (about 20 minutes away) for our Sacrament meeting 11am run back to Stake center to visit another ward’s RS where I got a sugar cookie in the shape of the temple! 12:30 run home for nap 4:30 run back to stake center for another stake meeting. Tom made dinner and fed the missionaries while I was in meetings and then we met at Tanya’s for FHE and to get updates on Tami and Phil. She goes to visit them every Saturday. It was a really fun day. I loved the meetings I went to; they were very informative and lots of fun. People here are fun to be around! I really like this calling. It's way less stress than when I was Stake ...

Tom left at 6:30 to help the young women set up for their yard sale fundraiser. I went in time to do piano lessons but my student wasn’t there. She forgot to tell me she couldn't come. But my Wednesday student did come. I have to say, our Young Women leaders really know how to do a yard sale! They had tons of stuff to sell, and also had candy bars, fresh popcorn popping, fresh, hot tamales, hot dogs, tacos, and BBQ chicken! We bought a tamale to eat for breakfast and it was so delicious, we bought a dozen. Yummy! I went back home after my lesson, but Tom had to stay as the Priesthood leader. He got home at 4pm and immediately showered, shaved, and left to go out with the missionaries. After that, he will do his home teaching. While he was gone, I worked in the back yard. I shoveled rocks and moved potted plants over and over. I’d get too hot, come in, cool off and rest for a little while, then go back out and work on it more. I’m seeing progress, but it’s a slow proc...

I had to put the patio paving project (say that 3 times fast) aside until Tom buys me some sand, so I decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather to paint the fence. When we repaired it, we just put up the super old boards that we already had. But I wanted it to look a little less horrible so I bought a water sealer and hoped it would bring out wood grains and look pretty. It didn’t. It just looks like the same old boards but a little browner. Tom says it looks way better, but it isn’t the look I was going for. I only had enough for about half the fence, so I’m trying to decide whether to buy more and finish what I started, or try to find a better solution. Paint the fence a color? What color? Find a new color stain? I might have to stare at it a few more days to decide. Tom had to work for a while in the morning, then we went to see an H & R Block guy. Trina did our taxes, but because it was so complicated this year, she wasn’t sure she did it right and suggested we ...

Tom and I have always had a scripture reading schedule. We have been good and consistent about reading most of our married lives. We are better about it sometimes, and not as good as far as actually studying or being more in-depth about it at times, but we definitely are consistent. We read at least one chapter every night before we go to sleep. That is the minimum. Normally we read the Book of Mormon, so we‘ve read it through every year for many years. Each year when we finish reading it, we start something else, like the New Testament just before Christmas, or something like that. This year we decided to read the Doctrine and Covenants along with the Sunday School lessons and we’ve been reading at least one section every night. But in General Conference this month, our Prophet urged everyone to read the Book of Mormon. After we talked about it, we decided to read the Book of Mormon every morning, and continue with the Doctrine and Covenants at night.  So far it’s been ...

When Ryan and Anitta were here Sunday, I asked Anitta for ideas of how to design my back yard. I’ve tried arranging the potted plants in different arrangements, and tried to fix up and clean up, but it still looks just random and unorganized. She is such an artist that she has an eye for that sort of thing. We walked around and talked about some ideas and then she drew a picture of my back yard with her suggestions. The drawing looks like my yard could be so pretty that I can’t wait to see if we can pull it off. Part of it involves taking out my pavers I worked so long laying, and making one wide path where I currently have two smaller paths. It’s very hard work and I hate to undo what I spent so much time and energy doing, but they bug me anyway because they aren’t level. I’m trying to make them look better this time. It’s really hard work and will take a couple of weeks to do, but it will look much better. I hope. Today was the day to pick up Caeli from school and take her to ...

Tom needed to work in San Jose today, so even though I was still tired from the weekend, I went with him so I could help Trina on her house. She has sooooo much work to do to repair all the damage from the renters and because the house is just getting old and outdated.  We painted and painted and there is a lot more to do. If I could spend every day there for a couple of weeks, we could knock it out. Actually, we would need Tom there, too, because there are a lot of things we can’t or don’t know how to do. We didn’t get home until after 10 pm and I was beat! It is fun to spend time with Trina, no matter what we are doing, but sometimes my body can’t keep up with everything I would like to get done!

Trina is my tax preparer. She did ours last year and we knew this year would be difficult, but it was even more difficult than we thought. We sold three properties last year and are going to have to pay substantial taxes this year. L But Knudsens and Cai and Devin came over again and with the Pettus’ here, we had a good time while Trina worked on taxes.  Before Pettus’ left, we went to go show Tanya and Trina the model homes near us. They are just so amazing! Every time  we go we have to rush because we get there too close to their closing time. But it was really fun anyway to share comments and opinions with Tanya and Trina on the houses and the staging. By the time everyone left, Tom and I crashed on the couch.

I gave Trina the address of the church and Tom and I left early as usual. I really needed the whole time to practice because I knew I would have to play 3 of the 4 hymns on organ today, and also because I spent way too much time having fun preparing for company to spend enough on the organ. Trina and family made it just before the meeting started and the missionaries brought them headphones for translation. The meeting was really, really good. Two excellent speakers! And us organists did good, too. When we got home we found Marc and Alissa had arrived, so we had fun visiting with them. I got the rest of the dinner in the oven and then we sat outside and visited until Ryan and Anitta got there. Then I started serving the food when Tanya and family got there. Everyone was happy and sat outside and talked. We got to hear about Ryan’s trip to Brazil and Marc and Alissa’s trip to Las Vegas, and the Knudsens’ trip to Disneyland and Marine World.  Lots of people had had lots of...

I spent the morning baking. I made a small amount of Chilean bread and a cake for dinner tomorrow. It turned out beautiful with blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries. Yum! I got all the food for tomorrow ready so in the morning all I have to do is put things in the oven before church. I did have to go to Costco to pick up a couple more things, then I hung out in the kitchen (mostly) until the Pettus’ arrived! Super exciting. Trina came with all the younger children and Chris arrived after midnight with the older  working kids  .  It was so fun to have them here! The weather was beautiful so we hung out outside and just relaxed. I was glad there were plenty of snacks and all prep for tomorrow done so we could just enjoy having them here. Trina and I worked on our taxes in the evening. It's pretty complicated this year so it is taking a long time. We finally gave up when our brains were getting too foggy and went to bed. Marc and Alissa also came tonig...

I swept, mopped, and vacuumed, but just small areas that showed dirt, so it wasn’t all that much work but it helped the house look better. Then I baked some more. I made another batch of cookies to replace the ones that burned. I bought a few more groceries and spent most of the day in the kitchen again, getting ready. It’s exciting getting ready for company. I cleaned up a little more outside so now I can’t wait for the kids to come.

Tom’s computer has been really slow, so I made an appointment with Best Buy Geek Squad and took it in. He will be totally going through withdrawal without it. He uses it mostly for work, and is always behind on emails, so living without it for a few days is going to be hard for him! I made 3 different kinds of cookies. One batch burned and when the missionaries for Tanya’s ward stopped by and were just kind of hanging out, I bagged some up for them. I couldn’t let them in because Tom wasn't here, and they were just standing on the front porch with nothing to do, so it seemed an appropriate thing to do. They were happy, but frankly, neither of them needed to eat cookies, if you know what I mean. I gathered recipes and prepared a shopping list.  I spent so much time standing in the kitchen that I was totally ready to sit down and recuperate in the late afternoon when Tom got home. I like getting ready for our kids to come! so fun!

Knudsens with Cai and Devin had a trip planned for today, so I couldn't play with them and we’ve had some busy days lately, so today I decided to just take it easy. That said, after relaxing I did a bunch of Easter prep. I went grocery shopping, which was a major run this time. I made a new trim banner for the back patio, I painted the rugs, made some cute Easter cookies, and made a t-shirt for a “human piñata”.        Tom had to work in the Bay Area but I was afraid he wouldn’t be home in time for my piano lessons, so I didn’t go with him. It turned out that all of my lessons canceled except 1, so I canceled that one and stayed home. Tom got home in plenty of time, and even went to the temple with the youth. It has been such beautiful weather – on the chilly side, but sunny with occasional sprinkles. I haven’t turned on the heat or a/c for many weeks. I love it!

Whenever I say “Cai”, I actually mean “Cai and Devin”. It is just shorter to just say, “Cai”. So about 10:45 I called Cai to see what they had planned for today and invited them over for lunch. She and Devin have been on a “living foods only” diet for about 2 months, so I figured I might have to go pick up something to make for lunch, but when I invited them, Cai requested arroz con leche and bunuelos! I thought that was really funny! And I did have all the ingredients for it, so it made it easy for me. The whole Knudsen family (except for Tanya who was working) so I was glad I made lots of arroz con leche. We did run out of milk, and they stayed until 6pm, so they were hungry again before they left, but they managed to snack on toasted Costco rolls that I had. It was great to talk to Cai and Devin for a good long time. I love hearing her stories from work and all the things she has going on in her life. She has matured into a wonderful young woman. Course she was alread...

Tom had a quarterly meeting online at 1 pm, but we really wanted to help Trina with work she needs to do on her house, so we left early enough to get to Trina’s in time for his meeting. The internet is such a wonderful invention that he could do it at her house while I helped paint. We made it with only 10 minutes to spare, but he did get set up in time. Trina and I went back to Lowe’s for a few more things she needed, plus was able to get a rough quote on getting new cabinets in the kitchen. It was fun to see how they put everything in the computer and end up with what looks like an actual picture of the finished kitchen. When we got back to their house, I found out Tom’s video conference call lasted 2 hours! We set to painting immediately and got two whole rooms painted with the base coat. Only Trina’s room, two bathrooms, the dining room, and the living room left to do. What fun. Then we get to start over and paint it all again with the color paint. Tom had to call in...

Cai and Devin flew out to California last Wednesday. They have been staying with Tami since then, and only came to Fresno last night. Tom and I left at 6:30 am as usual for his Bishopric meeting and other meetings. I went at the same time and practiced the organ. The Young Women presented a program for Sacrament Meeting and it was REALLY good. I’m very impressed with our young women! We had gone in separate cars because after church Tom was going to be a companion for one of the missionaries while his companion went out of town for a baptism. Also, I took my car so after church I could go to Tanya’s ward where we finally got to see Cai and Devin! After church Cannon was ordained a Deacon! I can’t believe he’s getting so big! He was very embarrassed by all of it, but very, very happy to get the Priesthood. The blessing Todd gave him was beautiful. After that we went to their house for dinner and Tom brought his missionary companion. I hung out at the Knudsen house the re...

We decided when we moved in that we wanted to invite all the neighbors over, but decided to wait until we were finished fixing up the house. Now it’s been almost a year, and our house looks pretty good, but the back yard is still a mess. So we decided to go ahead and invite people over and not worry about the everything being perfect. We’ve also put it off because of piano lessons on Saturday mornings but we decided that if we prepare in advance, we can just make it a late brunch and do it after we get back from piano lessons and church cleaning. Tom prepared most of the food last night and magically we got home in plenty of time to finish getting the food cooked and some of the yard a little more presentable. We had 8 people come and it was really fun. Each woman brought a little thing – one brought zucchini bread, one brought darling flower looking cookies made with pastel M&Ms, and one brought a pretty purple flowering plant. So nice! They all pretty much knew each ot...

Tom needed to work in San Jose, and I went along for the ride so I could spend a little time with Trina. She has had so much going on lately and could sure use some help. They finally got to move back into their old house yesterday. They waited until a cleaning crew cleaned the house to sleep there. It is a little cleaner, but still not great. The house needs so much work done that they don’t want to move their furniture in so they all slept on the floor of the livingroom.   After I got there Trina and I went through the whole house and made a list of things she needed to buy and things she needed done. Then we went to Walmart and bought most of the things she needed. When we got back to her house, Tom was already there, ready to head home. Friday traffic is terrible going out of the Bay Area and we needed to get out ahead of it. We stopped in to see Tami on the way. We had hoped to also see Phil to give him his birthday present, and to see Cai and Devin who are staying there ...

We are supposed to get more rain this weekend. Some people are saying they are done with rain but I’ll take rain over hot summer sun any day. I did some yard work and decorated some stuff on the patio. We are hosting a block brunch Saturday and I want the house to look as good as possible, which isn’t really company ready. The house is ok but the yard is still kind of a mess. We’re working on it, but yard work takes TIME. In the afternoon I swept and mopped. Now the floor looks better. There’s just a little more cleaning inside I can do tomorrow. Tom worked from home most of the day and had to leave to go help a lady fix her dog run.  While he was gone, I ran to Lowe’s for some stuff for the yard. In the evening he had to go help the Young Women with their activity.

Today our Stake RS presidency was in charge of feeding the missionaries at a zone conference. I wasn’t assigned to do anything in advance; all I had to do was show up and help. I knew it would be fun because what’s more fun than hanging out with favorite sisters while preparing food and then feeding a bunch of wonderful missionaries!?! Tom left for work early; I had to be at the church at 10am, so I didn’t get much done before leaving. We were in the kitchen from 10 until 2pm, standing the whole time. It really was fun, but quite tiring. We made them sloppy joes and we also had potato salad, pasta salad, sliced oranges, and one ward was in charge of bringing desserts. We had been told to prepare food for 70 but when it was all over, we hadn’t served even half of the food. When we did a head count, we found that there were only 52 missionaries! We had tons of food leftover, which we donated to a couple of wards that really needed it. I took brownies to share with our mutual at ni...

I wish I could share the wonderful smell of my back yard. The orange blossoms are so aromatic! So it’s hard to describe yardwork, but today I focused mostly on cleanup. I tried using the blower to get the leaves to one area, I pulled weeds, I made tablecloths for our outdoor tables, I washed off the outdoor rugs, and stuff like that. I’m really sore from yesterday’s yardwork, so I know it has to be good for me, right? I also went to get my hair trimmed. There isn’t enough of a difference that anyone will notice, but it is a better cut than when I do it myself. I go see my friend who has a shop about once or twice a year, and it makes me feel really special and pampered. On the way back I checked prices on things to help our backyard look better and bought one seat cushion to see if Tom likes it enough that I should by enough for all the chairs. He did, so I’ll get the rest another day. It was a nice day. Oh – about 8:15 Tom remembered that he was supposed to go to jury duty...

I was going to take a picture of our orange tree with the blossoms on it to show how good our air smells. I wish there was a way to post a smell. Being outside is just heavenly! It was beautiful weather today. I raked, weeded, bagged 3 huge bags of yard waste, and set pavers. Tom had to do actual work most of the morning, but came out to help in the afternoon. We worked until almost dark, then finally collapsed on the couch for Jeopardy. Today we started a new tradition of only watching Jeopardy and then one other show, then spending the rest of the evening on scripture study and conference talks. I just wish I could share the smell outside!

I really felt bad not being able to watch Conference today but there is no internet at the lake house. While w aiting for people to wake up  I decided to go out to the car and read conference talks from last conference. They really helped me feel more like it was Sunday. Tom made his famous breakfast burritos and then everyone got ready to go out on the boat. Tami and Phil wanted to show us where on the lake Phil’s grandfather had a trailer when Phil was growing up. They spent all their summers there, and we also found out that Tami and Phil got their first kiss on that spot! It was cold being in the boat on the water, and very windy, but really nice. Only 3 kids got in the water and only Tami and Tanya went out on the kayak. The rest of us just relaxed. It was nice to be with the McGills in the one place they are most happy. We left there in time to get to Ryan’s for the monthly Saldivar Snack n Chat. Ryan and Anitta always make a huge spread of absolutely wonderful, delici...

Today was General Conference. I’ve been looking forward to it for 6 months. That's funny. but I really do love General Conference and love to just sit and soak in the talks. I try to take notes so I remember what I want to study more on later. However, this time I couldn't do that because we were headed to the Bay Area. Tom and I have been so sick for so long and have had so many things to do, we haven’t been out to see Tami or any of our kids for quite a few weeks. Our Saldivar Snack n Chat is tomorrow and we decided to go today to spend more time with Tami and Phil. We watched half of the first session while we got ready to go, then took off. It was so good to see Tami and Phil. When we got there, they were basically waiting for Tanya to get back with her kids and their girls from horseback riding so they could all take off for the lake house. We decided to go with them; we haven’t been up to Berryessa since we moved and we miss it! It’s always fun to spend time wi...