Famine and feast

Well, for two days the house has remained dark and quiet with John and Bruce the only ones doing anything.  And Adam, of course, working on the outside porch. 

 Today, however, the morning was quiet and then we had the flagstone delivered for the porch, the HVAC guy here to finish his project and the carpet guy to do the master bedroom!  All stumbling over each other at once.  But we are still waiting on the countertops to come.  Everything else is waiting on him.  AAARRRGGG!!!!

So, yesterday we gave up and went to the movies to drown our sorrows in popcorn.  We saw Interstellar, which was wonderful!  So worth the price of the ticket.

So, Friday morning has dawned sunny and cool.  And…guess what!?  Countertops are here.  Bruce finished the electrical and we have lights!  Backsplash tile guys will be here this afternoon!  Brick is being delivered to finish the wall and life is good.

John was feeling somewhat nostalgic about not conducting Messiah this Holiday season, so he got the youth of our ward together to do the Hallelujah chorus (the silent monk version) for the ward Christmas party.  The rehearsal was pretty funny and we shall see how the performance goes.

We are really looking forward to the Thanksgiving holiday.  My sister, MJ is coming from CA for the whole week!  Her husband, Brad, will come the day before Thanksgiving along with our Joe and James and their families.  So we will have a bountiful table with lots of family (including all the ones already in the St. George area) and food.  We, however, really miss all those who are not with us.  

Flagstone delivery

Fluffy went to the groomers today.  She was getting pretty "fluffy"!  The photo on the left was after the groomer vacuumed 2 times!  This was just before the third.  Crazy!!

Fan and lights on the back deck and John and the HVAC guy putting the intake vent in the linen closet.  

Home again

We have returned back south as soon as we heard that snow was forecast for the north.  We spent a wonderful 5 days at Jonathan's house while he wore out a path to the hospital and home and back again, until the new twins were allowed to come home.  Diana was marvelous, as usual, and is a wonderful mother to her now 4 little boys.

We were also able to see James and Joseph and their families.  We miss them all so much!  The little ones are getting way too big, way too fast!!

Jackson and Brandi



After returning to St. George we finally got the guys back to finish the stucco.

The tile is all done and we are waiting to have counter tops installed this week.

Friday was clean-up day and another huge load went to the dump.  We also filled our new firebox in case winter makes an appearance down here.  It is beautiful and near 70 today.

Tonight we attend another concert at the Cox center.  This one is Jazz and Swing music.

John had another CT scan this week.  It looks like  the cancer has spread throughout the lymph system.  Still, his oncologist feels that at this point any treatment would do more harm than good to an already compromised immune system. Instead good nutrition and exercise is her recommendation for the next 3 months, then we shall check again.

John working on installing the door hardware…

Double double toil and trouble?

Thought we would take a little jaunt north this weekend to see Jonathan and Diana and help out with preparation for the twins.  We got a call the night before we  left saying that Diana was already in the hospital.

We arrived the next day, Nov. 5, and Greyson Bruce (6.4) and Oliver Jon (5.4) were born.  Diana was a real trooper and is doing fine.  Oliver spent a little time in NICU, but all is now well and they should be headed home after the weekend.

We had a nice visit with Joe and family.  Here are Dad and Amelia communicating…

We were able to take a tour with Jonathan of his new venue while we were here.  He is planning to open on Dec. 1, and now has his hands really full…literally!!  Below is his office, where he was working very hard!  I love his "elephant in the room"!  

Today we plan on heading up to see Joe and Diana's new home in Kaysville and meet James and Brandi who are coming down from Logan.  We sure miss being near all the grandkids.

  We will head home on Mon.  Work is still going on at the house.  We hope to be in soon!!

Slight blip on the radar!

Well, it's November, and we are almost there!  Whoo hoo!!

We had a good Halloween.  Bruce was trying to be our Jack O Lantern, which left much to be desired!

We also went to a really fun concert by a Simon and Garfunkel tribute band, honoring all things in the 60's.  Boy that was a long time ago!  Fans and lighting are all in.  Bruce is just now doing all the finish electrical work.

The cabinets are going in and today the guys are working outside on the stucco.  We had lots of rain the last 2 days and even snow on Pine Valley Mountain.  It has definitely cooled off.  I actually might have to find something other than a light sweater to wear!

The tile is going into the master bathroom and our countertops should be here this week, too.

The only downside in our lives has been a surprising diagnosis for John after a surgery to remove a swollen lymph node.  We found out he has a Non-Hodgkins (B cell) Low grade Follicular Lymphoma.  It is Indolent (meaning slow growing).  Following some "staging" studies and tests they will decide a course of treatment.  At present, our extremely competent Cancer specialist feels that it would be best to have no treatment right now.  He will have repeat labs and a checkup every 3 months and unless more severe symptoms begin to show up, we will concentrate on exercise and a good diet so he can remain strong.  He spends most of his time when not working on the house at his computer, researching his condition and working on his legal cases.  He really is doing quite well and, despite this blip on the radar, has a very positive outlook for the future.  I rely on his strength, and the prayers of all our family and friends.

Sunrise…sunset…swiftly flow the days…

Yes, some mornings we are up for sunrises.  Always around for sunsets.  Days are going quickly now and beginning to get cooler.  We actually had to put on a sweater this morning!!

The house is now wrapped in black paper and chicken wire ready for the stucco.  What?  They forgot to put the paper under the window frame below the window?  Ok…flunk inspection.  Back to work.

Fans and smoke alarms are up and door frames going on.  All the lights have been purchased and are being installed.  Cabinets and shelving are going up.  No problems there.  We have a great cabinet maker!!  

Floors down in kitchen, living room, baths and office.  What?  Floor installers forgot the spark guard in front of the fireplace??  Get back here!!  Floor trim going on.  What?  The shower pan doesn't hold water?  Flunk!  Plumber…get back here!!

Oh, well…  Regardless of minor setbacks, we are slowly moving forward.  We even dropped off the Highlander at the body shop this morning to get the dent in the driver's door fixed.  How did that happen?
We so appreciate all the help and support of family and friends.  Everyday is a new challenge.  We love the new shirt from the website "Ranger Up"  this morning  It said, "Suck It Up and Drive On"
That's what we are doing.

Sheetrock, ramp and paint…Oh My!

Finally got the sheetrock done and painting is finished.  It took us a whole day to clean up!  The paint looks really beautiful.  The doors are hung and the door trim is up and painted.  

 Bruce and Sam finished the back steps and ramp.  It looks really good and will Never fall apart!!  They also took off the lattice roof on Mom's deck and replaced it with a solid roof.  

We had so much fun last Saturday when Lisa Heath and her daughter Mandy came to visit (with family).  They had just completed a triathlon and were actually walking and smiling!

We also attended another Celebrity concert and heard the Dallas Brass.  Here is Andy with the trumpeter from Costa Rica.  They were absolutely amazing and put on a great show!

Today, we are moving dirt against the side of the house and finishing filling in the front porch and patio preparing for the cement to come.  Also, the flooring people start today and the guys will start on the outside stucco as soon as the dirt is finished moving.  Daylight at the end of the tunnel!!

New week!

We had such fun this week as our Classical concert season began.  Our first performance was by the Utah Symphony at the Cox performing center at Dixie University.  They did Mozart, Schuman and Dvorak.  It was fantastic!!

We had a productive week at the house.  The sheetrock is in, waiting this week for floating and taping.  The doors are all in and the roof finished.  Except, of course, for the tile on the roof above the porch.  But that was delivered and is waiting to go on.




(Looking down the hall from front door to linen closet.)


(Mom in living room)

We also had a visit from Suzanne, Eric Cunningham and family.  Eric ran in the St. George Marathon this morning and then they will head on to Italy for 2 weeks.

Dave will head down to Arizona to watch their kids for the two weeks.  What fun!

(Roofing tile delivery)

Barbecue at Dave and Kris Cunningham's house following the marathon.  Lots of people and celebrating all the Oct. birthdays!

Joe and Karen Cunningham were also here this week and brought friends.  Lots of people at the condo, too.  They took a quick trip to Las Vegas and picked up a 1970 Dodge charger he has bought at auction.  It was beautiful.

Weather is beautiful now.  Looking forward to some progress on the house this week!