SUSHI and LIBERTY LAND

Monday, April 13, 2009 Corey called and asked if I could be with Jayden and Bailey while he went to an appointment. The kids are out of school all this week for spring break and Stacey was at work at FedEx Kinko's on 12300 S. in Draper. We, along with Jim, Greg and Danny Palmer met at Simply Sushi for lunch. Jayden was very adventurous with the raw-fish sushi as well as California roll etc. I was a little hidden from Bailey so I’m not really sure what she ate. I drove to Simply Sushi with Jim in his new Honda Civic Hybrid; really nice. It is black with tan interior. He got it a couple of days ago. I drove back with Corey and the kids in Corey’s new Toyota Tacoma; again really nice. He has had it for a week or so. On the way back to Wendy’s in Lehi where I had left my Camry, we stopped at Quality RV and looked at trailers. It would be fun to own one. At one point Jayden was getting bored, wanting to get to Liberty Land, and declared, “I’m a real man. I want to live in a tent!” At Wendy’s, Jayden and Bailey got into my car with me and Corey went to his appointment on Fifth West in Lehi. The kids and I went to Liberty Land on Third West where they rode on the roller coaster (Jayden only, Bailey was afraid.), Bumper boats, miniature golf, lazar tag, go carts, airplane ride, ship swing ride, Merry-go-round, rock wall climbing, frog hopper etc. They both fell in love with rock wall climbing and did it over and over. Both of them struggled but both persisted and a couple of times reached the top and rang the bell/pushed the buzzer. Bailey conquered a lot of fears today. I took Jayden to Liberty Land a week or two ago but only for a short time and he didn’t get to do much. It was also cold and rainy outside. Ever since that time both he and Bailey have been on my case, reminding me I promised to that them there again. Promise kept!

HODGEPODGE

Saturday, April 11, 2009 Several days ago I went to the lab and had blood drawn. Today I received the following from my doctor/nurse practitioner. “Fred, You are looking Great! Keep up the good work. Shelly” That is a complete 180 from the first of the year. Good for me. Today was the dress rehearsal for the ward choir’s Easter performance. It went well and afterwards, as always everyone and their families came over to our house for a brunch and as always there was a ton of food left over even after a lot of the people took their dishes home with them. All of our family except Stacey who had to work came over to eat after everyone left. In fact Chris, Jim, Corey and Niki came early to help with the brunch so that when the ward showed up everything was ready to eat. I guess Sierra, and perhaps Austin and Molly helped too. Later we lit the candles of a birthday cake for Austin and he got a few gifts. He will be fifteen tomorrow. We also put $.25 in each of a bunch or plastic Easter eggs as well as candy and hid them in the basement for the kids to find. Chris jokingly put $500.00 in one egg and made sure Sierra got it. You should have seen the look on Austin’s face when he saw the money. Sierra was in on it and gave the money back to her dad. Chris installed the new kitchen facet that Judy bought several months ago and has been behind the door in the laundry room forgotten. As a chance I happened to think about it today and Chris jumped right on it. It looks nice. Thanks Chris

STILL MOVING IN...still haven't closed...hmm

Friday, April 10, 2009 This is Jim’s weekend to have Austin and Molly, and since it is Easter, Sunday, there was no school today so he picked them up last night and brought them out. This morning Niki called and asked if I would go to her new house and put away clothes. There were, and still are bags and bags of clothes in the house and in the garage to be gone through. We put on hangers and hung up a bunch of Greg’s shirts and pants and some of Niki’s stuff. Sorting through Alexa’s old clothes, we made a major pile of things she has out grown; I would say there was at least enough to fill up two large black garbage bags. Alexa is now a 4T. Tomorrow there is a Deseret Industries drive in their area so we made a big pile on their front porch. I hope they do come to pick it all up. There is still a lot of stuff in their garage including ten or so large bags of clothes yet to be sorted and taken care of. Molly went over there with me and baby sat which took a lot of pressure off Niki and me so we could do the work. The mess in the upstairs playroom was driving Molly nuts so she cleaned it up on her own. Alexa was asleep when Molly and I left (she chose to take a nap on her own) and when she woke up and discovered Molly was gone she started bawling. Niki called and put Alexa on the phone with Molly and I guess that alleviated the trauma somewhat.

PIPE DREAM?????

Tuesday, April 07, 2009 Feeling sorry for myself. Here I sit broken hearted Came to poop and only…well, you know the story. The other day my Jim and I were in Brent Brown Toyota in Orem looking at hybrids. Jim is badly in need of a car. While we were there the salesman showed us a 2002 Toyota Avalon; mint condition-drives like a dream; only 80,000 something miles on it, driven by an older gentleman who traded it in on a new car. I went back in today and talked to Bob Sanders, one of the head salespersons. With my Camry as a trade-in I could get it for $7,000-7,500, an absolute steal. It is much nicer than the Camry and should last twice as long. The only problem is coming up with $7,000-7,500 plus tax and license. I really SHOULD get it but how? It is such a nice car. Alas!

MOVING DAY NUMBER ONE

Wednesday, April 01, 2009 Niki and Greg have yet to close on their house. They thought it would be as early as last Wednesday but they keep having it pushed back on them. It is now looking like tomorrow or Friday. At least they got permission to move their stuff into the place. They need to return the truck and trailer this afternoon. Problem number two The carpet layers were, as of today still laying carpet. They had said it would be finished Monday, the day before yesterday. In their defense there have been just the two of them, James Bjork and his helper. Today as they frantically labored they were both covered in sweat. So, we moved everything into the garages, one double garage and a single attached garage. That means this weekend and, I am sure, through the following week and probably later they/we will be moving stuff into their individual places in the house proper…Moving day(s) number two. The hugemungiously big-heavy office desk which, thankfully only has to go into the room which is just off the front door, is going to really be a chore. I recommend renting two, four-wheel dollies, placing one under each end of the desk and wheeling it out of the garage, down the driveway, down the sidewalk that goes along the front of the house and down “their” sidewalk to their front door and from there, manhandling it into the foyer, around the corner and into the office. Whew, that makes me tired just typing it. On a lighter note it was wonderful to see Greg and Alexa reunited after the week and a half or however long it has been they were separated while Greg was in Queen Creek getting ready for the move. Greg’s father Dave flew down and helped him the last few days and put his back out when it came to moving the previously mentioned heavy desk from the Scottsdale office to the trailer. The truck was the biggest one U-Haul has plus the trailer plus what I brought back in our van a couple of weeks ago. Whew again! Niki, Alexa and Stacey made a pizza run to Little Caesar’s and diet or no diet I ate a couple of pieces. In total there were the following helping with the move-in; Greg, Jim, Corey, Stacey, Bryant Llewelyn, Danny Palmer and me. I hope I didn’t leave anyone out. It was funny in a way. Everyone had their cell phones and they kept ringing with work stuff from their fellow employees and clients and it chewed up a lot of time but I am glad business is going so well that, that was necessary.

FUN WITH GRANDKIDS

Saturday, March 28, 2009 Today Judy and I met Niki, Alexa and Gavin at the Cheesecake Factory at Fashion Place Mall for lunch. From there we went to RC Willey nearby to checkout washers, dryers and refrigerators for Niki, wood flooring for Judy and babysitting for me. Later we drove to their new home in Herriman to see what’s happening with the new carpeting. The carpet layer was there. He said it would be finished by Monday night; most of the pad had been laid. While we were at the Cheesecake Factory I told Alexa, “You’re a good communicator.” She responded with, “You’re not an alligator!” Last week I promised Jayden that today I would take him to Liberty Land to ride the rides and play the games. (See last Saturday’s entry). Today while Judy and I were at Niki’s new home, Jayden called me on my cell phone to remind me of my promise. I said ok, I would be there a little later. I had forgotten. A bit later Corey called and said Jayden was “still sick” and we needed to wait until next weekend. I could hear Jayden in the background madder than a wet hen. Corey mentioned that Jayden had had a bad night and earlier today he had tried to eat a peanut butter sandwich and could only handle a third of it. That is so not Jayden. He is a good eater; ala Corey. Next Saturday Jayden; I promise!

KISS TAG ACT TWO

Tuesday, March 24, 2009 This evening while we were at their house delivering pizza and some other stuff, Stacey mentioned that when she; or was it Corey, picked up Bailey after school, she jumped in the car, yelled out the window to a boy named Kegen and blew him a kiss. He shrieked and ran away and Bailey giggled.