Wedding season & other goings on...

I think that 2 years is long enough (too long, actually) to delay adding to our blog!!
We are so grateful that our children are much better at their blogging -

In the recent past we have attended the Brenchley reunion in the family park in Wellsville - the one that has the lazy river (small stream) running through it...lots of families were there, lots of little kids - having fun swinging, teeter-tottering, water sliding into the stream to waiting daddies arms - we ate a fun lunch with bbq ckn, lots of salads, etc...had a nice time visiting with cousins not seen for a while...Just the two of us went - was a nice drive there and back - we stopped in Brigham City to admire the new Temple! It is still under construction, but the exterior shell looks nearly complete, with the Angel Moroni installed recently - interior just getting started - it is a beautiful temple! ...with some of the exterior designs similar to those of the SL Temple!

We also recently attended a get-together at the Carter's where we met Mitchell's fiance's (Kateri) parents.
This next week is their wedding/sealing and open house! ( & Nikole's the next week!)
Yesterday (Sat) was the big wedding day for Andy Proctor & Chantelle his new bride at the SL Temple. We, accompanied by Melissa, attended the breakfast (prior to the sealing/wedding) then the sealing, then in the evening, joined in the reception where Jake/Camile & Owen were, along with Rosanna - it was nice to join with family for this event - we did survive the day, barely, it seemed (we came home in the afternoon for a rest - we had spent about 7 hours for the breakfast & Temple + pics afterward - lots of waiting...) - it was a big investment of time & energy - we were so glad that Melissa could join with us!
Friday evening was a fun evening with the two of us joined by Rosanna & Melissa - we attended the outdoor concert in the Sandy amphitheater of ABBA (actually a group from Sweden, licensed to perform ABBA music), a 70's rock group - it was a good time, especially after the sun went down & cooled off nicely. (toward the end of the concert, the four of us were on our feet moving to the music (dancing?)!)

We also held our annual Pioneer day breakfast on Sat the 23rd! There was about 65 who enjoyed breakfast with us that morning - turned out very nice! It is a lot of work - we decided we do it cause its a labor of love... Myra found a great beehive shaped drink dispenser (glass) at Deseret Book, that had a tap to dispense - & we served the orange juice in it - it was a hit!

Our garden is doing well this year - just had our first picking of green beans yesterday - that we ate for dinner today, combined with a few baby carrots that we pulled out of the garden to thin them out - it was yummy! Our newly planted strawberry plants are finally producing, after a cooler, longer spring - we are now harvesting some yummy berries every few days! we have also started enjoying some zucchini & cucumbers - earlier we ate a lot of yummy rhubarb desserts...our first tomatoes are now turning red - & there are more tomatoes on the plants than previous years - I think we are learning (thanks to our spring gardening class) to do better!

I am hoping to post some pics of some of our recent happenings - stay tuned...

multi-months happenings!!

Oquirrh Mountain Temple tour

Way to go Joe & Sally!!

Dallas for Joe's graduation!!

Memorial Day in Huntsville

Mother's Day in our backyard

This map hangs in our home with pins to show where all of our family are - and the dark line is the journey taken to drive with Peter & moving truck from NY to El Paso.....
Look at the wonderful honey harvest - thank you, bees (& beekeepers) - we love honey!
MORE HONEY!
we were blessed to harvest & bottle lots of beans, more than prior years!!!
this is the next phase of the project - the interior - which we hope to be able to continue working on during the winter...... we have begun framing a new lower ceiling (which is visible in the pic) which will be a real 8 foot ceiling - we have few of those in the rest of the home!
and here is the "after" pic of the north end-
above is the before photo of the north end of the porch remodel...
This pic above is the "after" view of the so. end of the porch remodel, finished adding the insulator in the evening 8-830pm, after the BYU/U football game, yesterday. (the box laying on the ground below the windows is the box of siding which is scheduled to be installed on monday) (tomorrow)!!
Sorry for not getting this pic rotated prior to posting - this is the so. end prior to the insulator
Here is a view (after a rainy day- see the rare puddles - rare because we have had a pretty dry fall season) of the front of the porch remodel - door, windows, insulator, light fixtures, trim around the windows - its slowly coming together (slowly might be the operative word here!?) - but nevertheless, its coming......
this is a tree I came across in my work activity recently (this last week) - the homeowner is a former BYU football player (he is near 70 years old, so he was from a time long ago) - he told me t hat did the shared colors to keep balance in his neighborhood - he also said its gonna be cut down after the game. (this is in Sandy 2200 E. 8000 S. approx.)
This is our quiet back yard - today - Sunday Nov 23, 2008 - it doesn't look much like winter yet - but don't worry, we'll likely get plenty of that soon, enough! The bean patch has been winterized, the bees are quiet most days (some are buzzing out on 50 degree plus days, which we have had many of ....) Later today, Megan, Simon & Rachel will be visiting - so this scene will pick up some welcome activity........ (the grass looks as green as it ever seems!)

Recent Happenings

This past week we had some notable activities: Fri we went to the State Fair and had fun eating navajo tacos, frybread/honey, & your mom - her kettle corn, cotton candy & shave ice (which she shared with me, of course). We went early ahead of my time slot at the booth for my work. We had fun!
Sat we did our annual honey harvest! It went well - a lot of work - but doing it together made it seem more fun than work - we got a lot of honey - your mom thinks about 65 lbs.!! Its great!
Also on Sat - had the Pstd. ldrshp session of our Regional STake conf. (at the Conf ctr) - I was privileged to attend with our Bprc. - it was wonderful, with Elder Richard Hinckley (son of Pres. Hinckley), Elder Ballard of the 12, and Pres. Monson! - Who all spoke! Then, today (Sun), we attended the general session at our stk ctr where we received the broadcast from the conf ctr. - again, a great conf!!
WE had the Kerr's over today for dinner and fun time! So glad they c0uld come over - it added to a very nice Sunday - with no Bprc mtgs this morn or ward council either! just conf at the stk ctr - great!
Thanks for all you r updates on your blogs, etc.
Some time soon we will post some pictures - sorry none today!
Big cheers to BYU for yesterday's big (BIG) win over UCLA!! (59 to 0) - watch for big things this year from the Cougs!!
We love all of you - may the Lord bless you all in all you do!
Love, Dad (& Mom)

This is the left half of the front yard - with the home in view - neighbor's driveway coming into view at left side...
Then, in the back yard, the pool with palm trees!
This is the left side of the back yard - notice the flowers with the very secure stone wall around the perimeter - nice!

This is the center of the backyard .....
and this is the right side of the back yard - I think it is a great place! (and I have a good feeling that they would welcome any of us to visit - most any time!)

We did see quite a few of these - oil wells - as we crossed through Texas........
Some of the time the road looked like it just kept going & going & .........................
Out in west Texas we began to see some of the Yucca cactus in bloom (the tall stems near the rail road tracks)
And ----- finally, we arrived in El Paso, Texas!! Yea! --- after over 2,000 miles and some 30 plus hours later and stops for fueling the truck every 3 hours approximately. We were blessed to accomplish this amazing journey. We had the blessing of having cell phone contact most of the way across the country - and were able to stay in touch with loved ones as we traveled, which we were very glad about! The picture above is the front of Peter & Lindsay's new home...
This is the right half of the front yard with the home at left side of picture. (don't you love the palm trees!!)

This is an old fashioned windmill - west Texas - used for pumping water - usually for livestock. We did see a few of these still operating as we drove.
We saw this eastbound train as we headed west. (saw several trains during our trip)
West Texas is oil country--- this is a refinery there.
Above is a west Texas skyline in the oil country - no mountains!
Look, ahead - some mountains!! Those are the mountains as we approached the western edge of Texas - getting close to El Paso!!