Grandma House

At the graveyard.
"Where are all the dead bodies?" Israel wanted to know. Once I explained they were buried under the grass he said emphatically "this is boring".

Grandpa's carvings and some few of his rocks

The wonderous rock pile. No visit was complete without taking a few rocks home. When I was younger the pile was even bigger.

The ottoman that became a boat for every child old enough to flip it

Grandma's rocking chair made when she was 3 by her grandfather.

Grandma loved roses. Here are some of the beauties in bloom while we were there.

The bobcate that always scared me as a kid. Can you see his sharp teeth?

One of the many paintings Grandma painted. She was a wonder- landscape, indians, trains.

I'm Home

The kids and I had a surprise trip to Utah this weekend. My Grandma Ashcraft passed away at the age of 97 and a half. Although we're sad she has died, we're glad that she is now in her right mind and with Grandpa again (he died 10 years ago so she's been alone for a long time). Some of you may know that my parents have been caring for her for the last 2 years and it has been quite the challenge. They were glad to do it, but the work definitely took its tole. All of my siblings except Chuck (who had just arrived back home to Alaska after a year serving in Iraq) were able to be together. It was really nice to see family and get out of the heat. I also discovered the quick way to get to Vegas and that if I have to I can drive all the way to Provo all by myself. I drove straight from here to Cedar City before stopping and then all the way to Provo. It was tough driving back even splitting it into 2 days. My cousin Melanie let me stay with her in St. George on the way home. She's such a nice cousin. I've always really liked her. This is the 2nd time she's opened her home to us and I'm so glad she's willing. I have pictures I'll post shortly of the trip.

Just a few side notes:
I love tile floor, but it's not so good of bowls (we lost 2 bowls alone yesterday)
I made a ribbon blanket today from a crafty blog I like. I'm really happy with how it turned out. I did not do the applique letter as I don't know the name of the baby this blanket is for.
Our swamp cooler is back in action AND we were able to successfully change out our locks (for those of you that don't know Stan went out the front door last week and the handle came right off. We've been having to go in and out through the garage.

Note from Israel:
Jesus wears sandals in heaven all the time because it's so hot in heaven
Question from Eliza:
Why do we have to wear heaven clothes when we die?
Julia statement was the pallbearers are carrying grandma from the funeral home:
"I poop, I poop, I poop"

Update

We had our first rainstorm on the 2nd- notice out ineffective gutters:)


I tore down the old nasty pantry with Israel and Eliza's help. (I know we have a picture somewhere, but I haven't found it yet) And Stan and I put up a new one- this included tiling a small section of the floor. Now we get to see if it can hold the weight of food like it's supposed to. (yes we anchored it into studs)



I made a purse from the Moda Bakeshop
one of 2 inside pockets
We put up the tire swing (sadly my bottom is too big to enjoy it)

Stan taught Julia to say "I . . am . . tired" over and over. It's rather funny, but she wasn't so sure of the camera.

"When's it going to rain?"

Israel likes to ask me. Well today I finally had the answer because we got rain-lots of it. It was pretty exciting once it got going. Water running down the street, off the house everywhere. Jumping out of the gutters and all over the patio (we still have about 3 inches of water on the patio AND that's after I went out and "bailed" for a while. Pictures and maybe video to come (if I can load it). Not only did it rain, but we got hail as well. Quite the exciting afternoon if I do say so myself:)