Our First Scorpion

I was in the Arizona room when I spotted it. I wasn't too afraid since it looked dead already. But just to make sure I called Mike to come and kill it. He entered the room very calmly which is not what I expected. Number 1: He isn't calm when it comes to problems. Number 2: He's been especially fearful of encountering a scorpion ever since we got here. He took one look and agreed it looked like a scorpion.

I ordered him to go put on shoes and make sure it was dead. He obeyed and returned with his heaviest shoes and he stomped, and stomped, and squashed it dead.

As I was sweeping it into the dustpan I noticed it looked a little different than I had earlier thought. As it turned out - it wasn't a scorpion after all. In fact, it wasn't any kind of insect. I'm embarrassed to say that Mike and I had successfully murdered our first leaf!

Rookies from the Rockies!

Kenny and Me - Christmas -2005

Kenny is our oldest child. He lives in Connecticut and works at Pratt Whitney. He has been in Connecticut about eight years, and lived in Seattle prior to moving to the east coast. He worked at Boeing in the Seattle area.

He is a wonderful musician, and artist! And, a wonderful son in general.

The pictures were taken at our Clinton Home. Check at that snow! We hardly ever get snow in Clinton, that is more than a few inches.

I said one day that we didn't ever shovel show, and Brian our youngest child said, "what do you mean, I've shoveled six times this year." I answered, "Yeah, with a broom."

There was absolutely no snow when Kenny arrived and the next day it snowed all day long, and we ended up with 2 feet of snow! That snow lasted until March! We had a little deer in the yard, and the snow would get below the deer's nose, and go right back over it again.

By March, it got so hot that one day the snow was up to the deer's nose and two days later it was completely gone.

I was dog tending, and getting paid for it!

Second offer on home

We've been in Arizona about a month now waiting for our home to sale in Utah.

We had an offer a few months ago but it fell apart just before we left.

We received an offer last evening from the same buyer. Except, that she has reduced her offer price $5000 and has a bunch of conditions we can't except. She had odd conditions on the previous offer as well.

We will be giving a counter-offer this afternoon, and hope we can come up with something more fair.

Unfortunately, she didn't accept our counter or make a new offer as we had expected. Hindsight tells me we should have excepted the offer as written.

Could have been a water disaster!

We almost had a disaster!

While we were sleeping Mike awoke and couldn't get back to sleep. He left our bed and went into the guest room.

He fell back to sleep but soon was awakened by the cell phone. It was 1:00 A.M. and he was naturally shaken since only our children would be calling our cell phone and they wouldn't call in the middle of the night unless there was an emergency. Strangely enough, When he answered the phone, no one was there.

He went back to bed but couldn't sleep. Suddenly, he heard a swishing sound coming from the mud-room next to the bedroom he was in. (There are three bedrooms in the house. It's more than a coincidence that he went to that bedroom.)

As he entered the mud-room he noticed the sink was full of water and spilling onto the Parquet floor, and within minutes would have reached the hallway where we had just laid new carpet two days earlier.

Upon exploring the sink he found the drain had been plugged. He drained the sink and mopped up the water, and then finally was able to sleep.

The following morning as he related the details I remembered I had plugged the sink. I had absolutely no reason for doing that and have no idea why I left the plug there.

Mike found the number of the caller and reached a tax service in Salt Lake City, Utah. The man who answered said he couldn't imagine who would have used the phone at that hour of the morning. And assumed it was one of the cleaning people. We're led to believe that someone called a wrong number, but it is odd that no one was there when he answered.

I believe we had a guardian angel watching! (That's my story and I'm sticking to it.)

Thankfully, our carpet wasn't touched. In fact, our home is alright. Water can do considerable damage to walls and other things as well as carpet.

Oh, why was the sink filling up? We have a soft water unit that was recycling and the water empties into that sink.

Bottom line: We will be very careful to keep our sink drain free from now on.

Swap meet

Our first trip to the swap-meet was with George and Nancy. We had a good time wandering around, mostly window shopping, but we did buy a few items we wanted.

My favorite item was a large artificial Azalea plant that I put on my glass table in the Arizona room. It's so large it fills the entire middle of the table. The table is round and it looks very pretty.

I'd like to find artificial plants that look like bougainvillea. It is my favorite plant in Arizona. And this was the closest I could come to find one.

1st Trip to the commissary

Burr! The storm has really turned the valley cold. The temperature is 58 degrees but there is a very cold wind that is making us miserable.

We drove west to Luke Air Force Base for the first time since we moved here. We enjoyed shopping and saved approximately $90.

We enjoyed the trip and it is a trip. It's about an hour each way.
We got home before rush hour and made good time. Afterwards, we ate at the Old Country Buffet.

It was good and the restaurant was filled with snow-birds. Every restaurant is like this no matter what day or time you go.

Christmas in Clinton - 2005

Peggy's always cold! Even In Arizona

Christmas, means family. These are a few pictures of our Clinton home and what it looked like at Christmas time, without the family members in it.

We love getting together, and have lots of pictures of our children, grandchildren, and other extended family members. I will add those pictures as soon as I find them. They are hidden in this computer some place.




Steve Page

Putting up Christmas

We are in the Christmas mood now. We spent the day and evening putting up our Christmas decorations. They look beautiful! It was fun decorating the tree, etc. I had a good time decorating the Arizona room. It looks very festive.

The Arizona room is on the other side of the window behind the tree. It is a pass-through window, which makes it easy to pass items like groceries or food when eating out there.

The door to get to the Arizona room is behind the hutch you can see. So it is very convenient.

Our new table for the Arizona room came on Tuesday. It's glass and rod-iron.

A storm came through and really cooled things down though so we can't go out and eat in the Arizona room which is a screened room.

We finally have the table and we can't eat at it. Oh Well, the temperatures are supposed to be back in the 70's in the next three days and we will have an opportunity to go out and enjoy the room again. Wrong!

Our First Christmas In Arizona

We loved spending Christmas In Arizona, except for one very important thing. Our children were all in Utah! Except for Kenny, who lives in Connecticut. But, those little ones we love so much, 19 of them, are all in Utah.

We plan to be in Ogden this year for Christmas 2007. It will be nice to be with the family! We spent the day with John and Sherri and their family last Christmas. We love being with them too.

Mesa Temple At Christmas

George and Nancy, Tony and Charlie, and Mike and I spent an evening at the Mesa Temple grounds during the Christmas season 2006.

We had a wonderful dinner first at a very nice Mexican Restaurant in Mesa, drove by all the statutes that are up and down main street in Mesa. And then spent the remainder of the evening at the Temple enjoying the lights and decorations, a concert choir, and the visitor center.

Christmas in Arizona

It doesn't look, feel, or smell like Christmas! We go to the mall and other stores where Christmas decorations are everywhere.

We drive around with the air-conditioner running looking at Christmas decorations, and it's 75-80 degrees and sunny. This is new to us.

We like how they put Christmas lights around the palm trees, bushes, and cacti. I'm sorry but the huge blow-up snowman does look a little out of place on the brown grass and gravel. In spite of all this, you can't help but get into the spirit of Christmas.

We went to Mesa Temple and enjoyed the festivities there. Next year we want to go to the Zoo. I hear it is spectacular! We also want to go with George and Nancy, to a church that has the Nativity in real life! A camel can walk right up to you. I've only heard about it, so next year, I will have pictures and more to write about.

Our first day of church

We missed the first two weeks of church here. First week was two days after we moved here and we were not only exhausted but we were both sick with a sinus infection. Mike left Utah with it and shared it with me the day after we arrived.

The second week the infection was still holding on and I didn't want to share it with the whole ward.

It was really nice going and meeting new people. At least three had either lived in Utah or had Utah connections. Two others were from Washington state.

The ward is large, which is different than our ward in Clinton. They divided our ward seven years ago and it still looks like a branch.

We were happy about several things. One: It's a very pretty new building. Second: We have a good organist which wasn't the case in Utah. Third: It didn't freeze me out. I am cold in church in Utah summer and winter. They don't keep it warm enough in the winter and over air-condition in the summer.

Actually, I freeze in this church too. I am cold under 80 degrees.

In Clinton I literally wore sweatpants under my long skirt, and layered sweaters, then a coat with a fur collar that I pulled over my face. It was so cold that I had earaches every week.

I know it's just me though, because some people were fanning themselves. I have post-polio and have been cold since I had polio at age 8.

We love the weather here

So far it is just beautiful here.

I know it will get cooler but for now it's 75-89 degrees.

We love the temperature in the morning, the afternoon, and at night. It's amazing!

We keep the windows and doors open all day.

We especially love the Superstition mountains east of our home. We love our Utah mountains and feel lucky to live in two places that have beautiful mountains.

Both turn pink when the sun sets.

We haven't had time to go to the pool yet, or take advantage of things to do in the clubhouse. We are anxious to play pool, and work out in the weight room. But for now we're too busy getting settled in. It seems like we go to WalMart everyday. There's always something we need.

First meal out after moving

We are so lucky to be blessed with such fun friends. We, George and Nancy, my brother John and Sherri, and a two young men we hired to empty our Budget truck went to a Mexican restaurant here in Apache Junction that George introduced us to. "Los Gringos Locos." I love that name! You crazy lost white people!

After lunch we put paint rollers in the hands of our Mexican helpers and while we were moving our things from place to place they painted the inside of the house.

They didn't have time to cut in the corners, and I wouldn't let them do the kitchen or bathrooms. I didn't want any paint on the cabinets or floor. They were worried about the carpet, but when I made a wave with my hand and said throw away, they understood, and went to work. It takes a brave-unbalanced person to paint her way out of one house and into the next.

Many years ago in the sixties my friend Judy Fisher named me, "Paint Can Annie." Years later after she had moved to another state and I had moved 7 miles away to another city she and her husband stopped by for an unannounced visit. As soon as I opened the door she turned to her husband Jim and said, "see I told you, she always has a paint brush in her hand." It was true. I did.

First night in Arizona

Our new park named Rancho Mirage is a gated community and the gates close at 6:00 PM.

We had of course, just our luck, packed the remote, but luckily pulled through the gate at 5:58.

We left the truck in front of the home, inspected the home trying to remember what it looked like, and drove 15 miles west, back the same direction we had come from to spend the night with my brother John and wife Sherri.

Sherri had a wonderful stir-fry dinner ready for us, and after another grueling 9 hour drive from Vegas the good meal and good night sleep was wonderful!

Arizona Trip-or was it the trip from Hell!!

It was 3 pm when we pulled out of our driveway. A late start to begin with coupled with construction, afternoon traffic, and to make it worse Mike was already exhausted and had recently caught a sinus infection.

The 24’ Budget truck and red Prism I drove were both jammed packed.

We’ve worked especially hard the last several days moving belongings to a storage unit in Riverdale.

We purchased a condo in Ogden last summer to live in when we return in April. Mike and Susan are the owners and we'll buy it from them when things get settled.

I keep joking that we have three homes don’t actually own any of them. That's a bit disconcerting!

When we sell the Clinton home we will pay cash for the Arizona home and put a good down payment on the condo, leaving us with a small loan.

We’ve also worked our tails off cleaning, painting, and getting ready to leave.

I didn’t expect to find anything except empty cabinets when I starting opening doors, but whoops, found water coming from a leak under the kitchen sink.

Mike had done some last minute plumbing and the disposal hadn’t sealed correctly. Thank heavens, I'd left a bucket in the garage.

Once again we had to rely on Carolyn our neighbor to help us. She contacted Jack our neighbor and friend who took care of swiftly.

It was very sad saying our last goodbyes to our friends and neighbors.

We’d already said our goodbye’s to the family the night before at Anna’s 6th. birthday party. That was especially difficult.

It was hard to believe but we were really on our way. We needed to make one last stop in Bountiful before leaving the state to pick up our new dining room set.

The previous owners of the dinning set moved it to Dave and Chris’s home. We were looking forward to seeing Lydia since we wouldn’t see her for several months.

We were still waving our goodbyes when Chris called to see where we were. They needed to leave to take Lydia to the doctor. We picked up our furniture and were very disappointed to have missed them.

The truck was so full that Mike only averaged 45 miles an hour. By the time we got to Mesquite that evening he couldn't stand up straight.

As I said earlier he was sick. Now he really looked sick! I should have insisted that we just get a motel room there. However, We only had one more hour to go and I know he would have insisted we press on. That hour was the reason this post is named “Trip from Hell.”

Mike was not only sick but also extremely tired. He kept nodding off and drifting off the road.

Each time he did that I turned on my bright headlights and clicked them until he got back in his lane. I did that all the way there!

If any of you have seen the movie “Cars” you will remember Mack nodding off and drifting off the road. Mike was Mack. By the way did Cars remind you of the movie Doc Halliday? It sure did me.

I prayed all the way from Mesquite to Las Vegas and was so grateful when we finally arrived at Dee Anna’s house. It was now 1:00 in the morning Utah time. What should have been a 6-hour trip had taken us 10 grueling hours.

PKU

Every baby born in the USA is tested for PKU.

It was very sad when we were told that our precious little Lydia has this disorder.

Chris and David were devastated at first but with education we have all settled down. Chris had to explain it to Mike and me because though I remember my babies being tested for it. Too many years have past for me to recall what it is.

A person with PKU cannot digest protein which includes meat, milk, bean, legumes, eggs, even wheat has too much protein. I was surprised that she will be able to nurse since milk has protein. I learned through all this that mother's milk is actually low in protein.

Lydia takes a supplemental drink that replaces milk and includes protein, vitamins, minerals, etc., from the plant family.

It took a while for her to start to gain weight, but now after two months they tell us she's filling out and even has chunky little thighs. This is wonderful news because when we left Utah she has actually lost some of her birth weight.

This news was very sad to me because I can't tolerate many foods and live on a very restrictive diet.

Namely, any product containing wheat, milk, corn, soy, chocolate, caffeine, and sugars. People ask me what I eat. Plenty, I tell them. In fact, I eat like a queen. What's left? The plant family!

Vegetables, fruit, seeds, beans, legumes, sprouts, rice, and three other grains I learned I can tolerate, teff, buckwheat, quinea.

Buckwheat is not a wheat at all. Buckwheat, teff and quinea, all come from seeds. The diet is restrictive, but I'm left with the foods I love the most.

However, I will say that I miss the other foods terribly!

This is why I feel so bad for Lydia. It will be difficult at birthday parties when she can't have ice cream and cake. Imagine being a teenager and not being able to have pizza, hamburgers, shakes, and many other normal foods people eat.

I was lucky to be able to eat anything I wanted for the first 35 years of my life.

Bless her heart!

New Baby Lydia

Baby Lydia, born October 21, 2006

Baby Lydia was long overdue. Not the baby’s arrival since she came a week early, but rather, long overdue since we have waited a very long time for this occasion.

The anticipation has been exciting and we are finally celebrating the arrival of our own beautiful granddaughter Lydia Christine who arrived the last week of October.

She will be loved and properly spoiled by her parents David and Chris, brother’s Tyler and Travis, and sister Hannah. Plus, too many aunts, uncles, and cousins to mention by name.

We are very excited to start our new (winter) life in Arizona except for one thing - we will
miss our children and grandchildren terribly!

We planned on moving in October, but decided to wait until November because we were expecting a new granddaughter.

I was hoping and even prayed that she might come a little early so we could see her several times before we left.

My prayer was answered and little Lydia came a week early. She's wonderful of course! She's having a little trouble learning to nurse though. That innate skill dosen't come as natural for either the mother or the baby as one would think it should.

She has a small amount of blonde hair like both parents. Actually, Chris has lots of blonde hair, and Lydia has more than her daddy. That's at least true for the top of the head.

She has blue eyes and so far is quite small. It'll be fun watching Lydia grow.

Our new baby Lydia with Grandma, Mom, Dad, Sherri, Eylse and Lisa.

August 2006-The world says HELLO

Baby watch 2006 has come to a close.

My niece Jenny and her husband Daniel have brought a beautiful baby girl named Mercedes Lyn into the world the last week of August.

She will be very loved and properly spoiled by her first time grandparents, namely, my brother John, his wife Sherri.

Aunt Kristin tells Mercedes that her uncle Rob will provide her with lots of cousins and that she will provide her with lots of Barbie’s. I think my beautiful niece Krissy will be providing little Mercedes with beautiful little cousins too.

We were lucky to see little Mercedes at age 1 week while we were in Phoenix buying our new home.

I bought her the pink crocheted dress she's wearing in the picture.

Disney Quiz

This is a side-tract of what my blog is about but it’s rather fun to wander into different areas of the wonderful world of cyber-space.

There is quiz on the internet and it's objective is to analyze one of Disney’s characters and relate it too yourself. I chose Alice in Wonderland.

Alice is the kind of person who likes structure and routine, but at the same time wants freedom.

She's an honest and loyal friend and a very deep logical thinker.

She seems to think too deeply about some things, and not deeply enough about other things.

Wow! I have no problem relating myself to her. This all describes me exactly.

Preparing to Depart

To prepare to depart from Utah took about 9 months.

I started packing things I thought I wouldn't need for next 7 or 8 months.

By the way - I don't care if you haven't used an item for 40 years. If you pack you'll need it.

I washed and painted walls, cleaned out closets, cupboards, and shelves, and hauled stuff off to the DI (donation place like the good will.) Looking back I am glad I started early.

Though I was very organized moving is still very hard.

Things are working out!

It seems like everything is falling into place perfectly.

We weren't sure if Mike would be able to retire this year or not. He has been hoping to take an early out and up until now one hadn't been offered. Well, he got an early out and will retire the end of October as we hoped since we want to leave for Arizona about the middle of October.

Although, we are expecting a granddaughter the end of October so we will wait until November.

We found a place to live in Ogden, and bought a home in Arizona, and it truly seems like things are working out!

We bought a home in Arizona

Early September, Mike and I made a trip to Arizona to find a home.

I have been making jokes for a year that I was going to (have) to live in “Buckeye” because the Phoenix area has had a price boom during the last few years and prices were going through the roof. (No pun intended.)

Buckeye is an up and coming community on the west side of Phoenix way out in the desert where the homes are more affordable.

Mike was willing to check out the city, but kept saying he wasn’t going to live in Buckeye, and that we would find a home on the east side of the valley.

And in fact, he was sure he could find an affordable home in Mesa where we want to be. I want a home on the east side also. I just wasn’t as confident as he was that we could find one.

We looked at several different 55+ communities. Two or three were in Mesa, and three were in Apache Junction. We chose Rancho Mirage in Apache Junction and narrowed the search to three homes, and then went to lunch to decide which one to put an offer on.

As we compared each home to the other I finally said, “ There isn’t three in the running, there’s only one.” Mike held his breath and asked which one. The relief on his face was confirmation that we were in agreement.

The one we both now saw as the perfect one for us didn’t look as perfect when we had toured it earlier.

It had burgundy carpet throughout the home, and I knew I couldn’t live with that carpet!

It needed a new coat of paint inside and out, lacked street appeal, and was in dyer need of a face-lift!

But the upside was that it was priced at $69,500. Compared to the other two at $90,000 and $110,000 this needed to be taken into consideration.

The home we had now decided was ours was larger and offered much more than the other two, and $30,000 would go a long way in making the improvements I desired.

Mike was with me all the way except for one major detail. He could live with the carpet, that was admittedly in good condition, and the outside of the home didn’t bother him in the least.

He definitely had no intention of spending $30,000 on repairs and improvements. Actually, I didn’t either, but I did intend to paint and have new carpet, and eventually spend some money on the outside of the home, and spruce up the landscaping. (No pun intended again.)

We made a bee-line back to the home and without the Realtor knocked on the door.

The 80 + year-old man of the house opened the door and pulled us in in one swoop. They were both so pleased that we liked their home and they weren’t the least bit concerned that we were there without our Realtor.

We were also brazen enough to drive to the Realtor’s home, wake her from a nap and ask her to write the offer and present it before anyone else had an opportunity.

We were nervous because we’d heard there was another interested couple. She presented the offer while we took a third trip through the home and continuing with our brazen attitude we asked if we could bring my brother and his wife through.

They agreed. Our family came. And they loved it.

We have an offer

Finally, an offer.

The prospective buyer lives in a patio home a mile west of us.

Her home is larger with a three car garage.

It was her desire to buy a smaller home in our subdivision, but her husband wanted a 3-car garage.

Unfortunately, her husband died 3 months after they bought their home leaving her in a home larger than she wanted or needed.

The offer is full price and the closing date is perfect! We feel very blessed!

Condo

Mike found a condo in Ogden that seems perfect for us.

It is single level, 1000 sq. ft., and I fell in love with the yard.

The yard is common grounds for the association, but the condo is the last one next to the road, is fenced, and looks like it belongs to this condo.

No one would intentionally walk several blocks out of their way to use it.

There are 11 trees, and a private patio. Our son Mike bought it for us since we haven't sold our home yet.

Of course we will pay him back when we close on our home.

Mike and I put a rent sign in the window and had two calls the first day.

One, a single man with 2 sons, and the other a single woman with 1 daughter. We rented it to a man.

We should have interviewed the woman because we're both feeling a little nervous watching these boys run around our newly painted condo.

I hope we haven't made a mistake.

Open House

Approximately 40 people came through our open house. Half were curious neighbors who hadn't seen our home. We were happy to have them because every one of them have friends or relatives who want to live in “Shady Grove“ our subdivision.

We actually had four open houses all total. The first was 9:00 am to 6:00 pm four days straight.

People started knocking on our door last February asking if we would sell our home. We had to turn them down since Mike wasn't expecting to retire until October or later and we didn’t want to move twice.

Everyone seems to love our home, but we haven’t seen an offer yet.