The Real Reason we went to Provo

We are now "empty-nesters". Well, only temporarily. Dana and Matt are transplanted in beautiful, rainy, Utah valley and Dad and I are home.

We loaded up the car and drove up on Wednesday, June 17. As you can see, the car was really loaded. Trust me, the trunk was FULL. We had a good trip. The weather was cool. We stopped off at Lee's Ferry to pay homage, as Dad puts it, to those early ancestors who crossed the Colorado at that point.

Rain does have benefits. More than reviving thirsty plants. Why are rainbows so fun?

We arrived at Rodney & Marja's about 10:30 pm, tired, a little damp, but very glad to share Jeff and Melanie's news with them.

We parked Dana in Alpine Court Apts on Thursday. Took about 3 trips up the stairs to the third floor to get everything up to her room. No one was in, but they had left a note welcoming her.

Matt went to SLC with Jeff to catch the wedding of one of his companions in the SL temple.

Friday, I did grocery shopping for Dana while Dad and the boys had adventures in Spanish Fork and Springville. The shopping was fun. Macey's has all kinds of neat stuff. I'm talking food storage stuff, although the bath poof critters were cute. Dad found an old friend who works with rocks gone from his shop and Jeff couldn't find the printer he was assured was in Springville. The address was in the middle of an alfalfa field.

We got Matt's books and moved him into his room. Sorry, Dana took photos, I didn't, but if you've seen one cinderblock-walled dorm room, you've seen them all.

We met Melanie's parents Friday night as they stopped on their way to Park City. Then Saturday, Dad and I were headed south again. In the rain. We had fun along the way with a motorcycle "gang".

We spent about an hour in their company, either behind them or in the middle of them before we could pass them. This was between Hatch and Junction. This are not a lot of passing lanes through the canyons there. They were riding along about the speed limit. There was about 12-15 cycles, most carrying double riders. Got very frustrating.

We got home about 5:30, Arizona time, and were able to get unpacked and back into the groove.

There is one good thing to come out of this change. I am getting faster at texting. We had text sessions going with Matt and Dana on the way home, mostly checking of move-in questions. But Dana helped speed the day along.

About Kanab came a message, "Mom, how do you make no-bakes?" "Call your sisters."

Then Flagstaff, "Mom, how do you make no-bakes?" "I don't remember. We'll be home in 3 hours."

Then Phoenix. Low battery signal. "Are you home yet?" "1 hour. Low battery." "So? Tell Dad to put the pedal to the metal." "He's pedalling as fast as he can." "What. Dad's speeding?" "LOL" "No! I forbid you to use LOL."

Riggs Road. "Are you there yet?" "20 minutes. What is this? 'Are we there yet?'." "Sure!"

We laughed. It sure helped Dad and I stay awake and alert the last bit to home. She did finally get the recipe and the cookies turned out fine.

So Matt and Dana are spreading their wings and Dad and I are going to learn how to do things with just the two of us again. Life is good.

It's Emma's turn!

Same event. Different place and people. Same fun. Does that make you feel like you are interchangeable? Naw, you are all unique and we're glad it's that way. So . . . Ohio. Beautiful weekend. Nice temperatures and, as Dana says, "It's green!"

Dana and I flew into Columbus on Thursday evening and were able to spend the next three days with Katie & Michael and kids. We enjoyed playing with Jacob and Rachel. Had a good time at the zoo and really got a kick out of watching the menagerie that lives in their backyard. Sorry. When all you're used to seeing is lizards, occasional cats and birds, and the odd scorpion, squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, and cardinals are very interesting.

Our trip to the zoo was fun, especially for Jacob and the boatride. He was so enthralled by the boats that he watched them more than the animals. I liked the aquarium and the clear sides that let you see all the fish.

One afternoon we played in the backyard, blew bubbles, watered the garden and other stuff.

The fun doubled Saturday evening when Peter and Kristy and family and the Simpson grandparents came in. Katelyn and Josh moved right in and all the cousins had fun playing together.

The blessing Sunday went off without a hitch. Emma was quiet during the whole thing and didn't protest until we took pictures. Sound familiar?

We had a great time, just visiting and talking about families, jobs and other stuff. It's amazing what kind of conversation you can have about someone's cell phone directory. Ask Dana about it.

One thing we girls decided was that we need a girl's day, night, or weekend (right, Janessa?). We just need to figure out when and where. We realize that may need to be postponed a bit until the babies are bigger and can be left with daddies, but put your thinking caps on and let's see what we can come up with.

A note to close with. I am just a little annoyed when the pilot of my airplane does a sales pitch over the intercom for a company credit card. It's bad enough that my knees are scrunched and it's a four hour flight. I just wish I had my caller ID so I could "Mo-o-o!" back.

Richard the Fourth

So the fourth Richard Gibson has been added to the line. What fun. Dad and I went out to Dallas and its environs to attend the happy event. We flew into Dallas in the middle of thunderclouds and then spent 2 hours struggling with map directions from the internet and Texas highway reality to make a 45 minutes trip down to Mansfield to spend the weekend with Craig, Janessa and the kids.

Mansfield is a nice little town. We enjoyed the clouds, the greenery, the critters (saw squirrels and rabbits), the rain and the company. Craig has some swallows that have taken up residence in the roof of their patio. It's a beautiful nest. They like to perch on the fan and go around as the wind blows the vanes.

Janessa's family came in on Saturday also so there were cousins galore and lots of talking, stories and food which makes for a good visit. Craig grilled hamburgers and hotdogs Saturday evening and we had Janessa's yummy enchiladas (in three versions: chicken, beef, and veggie) Sunday.

Corban slept through his blessing and Sacrament meeting. When it came time for pictures he was ready for dinner and yelled through the whole thing.

We got to take time for walks on Sunday and Monday before everyone took off. Sunday evening was fun with lightning bugs and rain. Monday was cool and a nice stretch of the legs before we had to leave for the airport. It was too short. We'll have to go back.

Does he not look like his Daddy? I've got find the baby pictures!

IT'S FOR REAL!!!! As if there was any doubt.

As Jeff commented, he can now put "Engineer" on his resume instead of "student". It was a fun weekend and I'm sorry I'm so slow on this. The end of school is always crazy. I can see all your heads nodding in agreement.

We had a great visit in Provo. The weather, as usual, played along and gave us a beautiful graduation day that degenerated into a wet, snowy weekend just for Dana's benefit. Heaven knows that the rest of Provo and environs was heartily tired of the white fluffy stuff. Allison Leybas spent her Spring break from Alpine Elementary just the week before in Arizona with her Mom and Dad because she was tired of the snow. I know, Peter, there's no accounting for taste.

Back to Jeff and the reason we were in Provo in the first place. Elizabeth and Grandparents Larsen went with us (us being Mom, Dad, Matt and Dana) to the Smith Field House to watch the commencement excercises for the School of Engineering. It was a very nice program and it moved along nicely. I guess they have to if they have 3 or 4 taking place in the same building and you have to move all those people in and out in a timely manner.

We were sitting and waiting for "Pomp and Circumstance" when I realized that we had failed to find out from Jeff which side he would be on. Someone said to just look for a real tall graduate. That lasted about the first 30 seconds. Do you know how many tall robed men there were? And quite a few were taller than Jeff. However, we found him and watched him walk. So now it's official. He's a grad student! Check out our graduate.

We got together at Rodney & Marja's Friday evening for dinner. Jeff cooked the steaks and Marja and Whitney provided the salads and dessert. Austin and his fiancee came with Whitney and Craig. Jeff's friend, Melanie Bird, came also to share the event.

We had a good time, although it was too short. Dad and I came home Saturday morning. Dad was officiating at Marilyn Cooper's wedding in the afternoon and I was taking my editors to meet with the Herff-Jones artist to create our cover for next year's yearbook. Matt and Dana stayed over until Sunday evening. Dad's instructions to Jeff were to show them a typical BYU weekend. From what I've gathered, they helped Melanie move, went bowling, walked to church in the rain and walked out in snow. Sounds typical to me.

We enjoyed the visit. We enjoyed meeting Melanie and spending time with Jeff and the rest of the Larsen clan. We are very grateful to Rodney and Marja for opening their home for us. Let's see. . . what's next? Oh yes, baby blessings. The fun never ends.

Two Not So Easter Stories

Story #1

There was a contest at Dad's office for all the staff. It was a coloring contest. Everyone was given two Easter eggs on paper to color. They cut them out, put their names on the back and voted on the best one. There was a prize involved, which stimulated the competitive juices to a high degree. Dad colored his first one at the office with crayons, but he brought the second one home, seeking some artistic input from his wife and daughter. He wouldn't let us help, but we could advise.

He took me up on the offer of colored pencils. We talked about the colors to use, which I then selected and he set to work. Dana thought this was great and grabbed the camera. It's not often you see a 61-year old man coloring an Easter egg.

Although I offered to help speed up the process, Dad was adamant that he do it all himself. The ladies at the office were being really strict about this. We thought the finished product looked very nice. He did a good job of staying inside the lines. Sometimes, you have to. Evidently, the people at the office really liked Dad's work, because he won the contest. When it was discovered who had won, there were cries of unfair advantage and how he must have had help, which were only somewhat in jest. We never did find out what the prize was because Dad gave it to the secretaries and never did see it opened.

Story #2

We had a hunt in our backyard on Friday, but it wasn't for Easter eggs. It was for a septic tank. We are beginning an addition to the house and needed to find the septic tank and "take care of it". This means poking holes in the top and bottom so water won't collect in it. Matt and Dana did some preliminary digging in the garden. They got down about four feet but were only hitting caliche, not a tank cover. How deep was the swimming pool you guys dug out there that one summer?

Friday morning, Rusty Riggs brought in the big guns, er shovel. Dad said, "You've got neighbors." When I looked out the window, this is was I saw.

It was a very amazing process, watching the driver inch the backhoe into the yard between the house and the shop. He put out the shovel as far as he could, pushed it into the ground and used the hydraulics to pull the cab into place.This is how close the cab was to the buildings on either side.

Once the driver was set, the hunt was on. He started by digging up the garden area. It was much faster than Matt and Dana and fewer blisters. No septic tank.

After some discussion, they moved closer to the lawn. No tank. Closer to the orange tree. No tank.

After more consideration about the lay of things and the sewer pipe, they tried again, in front of the shop. Bingo!

The sewer pipe ran across the top of the tank. They carefully moved the lid and proceeded to "poke" holes in the tank with the backhoe. Every time they hit that thing, the house vibrated. Finally they were finished and filled everything in. Then the driver carefully inched back out and they were gone.

We meet with Rusty Monday evening to talk about scheduling and other stuff. So it begins.

It's been four weeks and what do we have?

Let's play a game. Look at the two pictures and see if you can tell what is different between them. The clutter on the counter doesn't count.







Look closely.

Ready? You may have picked out the microwave above the stove. Matt, Dana and I hung it Thursday evening.

Anything else? "En-n-nt" (That's a buzzer sound, in case you can't tell) Time's up! There isn't anything else that you can see. It's a trick question. For about a week we had a beautiful kitchen as you can see in the first photo BUT no water and no electricity. The electricity was finished on Friday. The water was connected on Thursday but we had sediment blocking the flow until Saturday. Now, it all works. I cooked dinner with the stove and microwave and we are running our inaugural batch of dishes in the dishwasher as I type this. It doesn't seem real in some ways. I know Janessa asked about being able to cook on a real stove again. I have to admit that it was a bit of an adjustment to use more than one burner at the same time. And the water was hot in less that five minutes!

So this is the new kitchen. We still need to attach handles to the doors and drawers and finish the floor under the fridge and freezer. The appliance garage had to be reordered. We need to move back in. It certainly makes the kitchen much bigger. More room for bodies.

I have been warned that it won't stop with the kitchen. The rest of the house will look shabby and need to be redone. I hope not for a while. Now you all need to come visit so you can see the end result. The best part? I can put the roaster up in a cupboard and leave it there.

New Kitchen Part 3

We are beginning our 3rd week of chaos. Actually, semi-chaos. The gritty, dust-all-over-the-house, trip-over-extension-cords part is mostly over. There is still dust in odd corners and still an extension cord plugged into the freezer, but we are making progress.

We smoothed over the new wallboard with mud. Then we sanded it all down. The plastic sheeting kept the dust localized.
Then we textured all the new stuff. I finally
got the hang of it towards the end.
That was Monday, last week.


Tuesday - We took the rough edges off the texturing, primed it and painted the ceiling and the walls. We got finished about 1 am. FYI - the kitchen walls are NOT white. They are "moonlight white", a very, very, very, very light yellow.


We did find time to celebrate Dana's
birthday on Tuesday. For the first time ever, she had enough chocolate and pizza to last a lo-o-o-ng time. We were reduced to lighting one lone match and sticking it in her cake since the candles are buried in a box somewhere.







Wednesday - The cabinet guy came in and installed
cabinets. I came home from school that afternoon and the kitchen was no longer a great, big emptiness. Matt even got to help set the shelves. The cabinet guy's name is Rick. He spends his winters here, doing cabinet installations. He lives in Alaska the rest of the time. Has a 4500 sq ft custom-built log home, spent his early years working on the oil line and building homes in his off-hours, and never stops talking. A very nice gentleman, and very helpful as we make this transition to a new kitchen.








So now we have cabinets. Very beautiful cabinets. They are cleaned out and the shelves are in most of them. They have no handles yet, but we'll take care of that. And I can begin moving stuff back in. The only problem is . . . I don't know where to put things. The whole layout is different.


Monday, they installed the countertop. It all fits together, the paint, the cabinets, the countertop, and the floor tile.



We ordered the stove, microwave/vent, and the dishwasher last night and they will be delivered Friday. Then we get to assemble it all. Lots of details to take care of, but we're on the downhill side of events. Wow!