Primary Party "Farm" Style

In Mesquite, we attend church with some friends we've made, Stephanie and Chris Vogel and family. It's nice to always attend the same ward when we're there. My kids love Mesquite. During this trip there was a Primary party so the kids could meet their new teachers for the upcoming year and we were graciously invited to attend. I think it ranks #1 for Primary parties and here's why...

It was held at the home of a family, the Sleppy's, who have a small farm. Preston is consumed with animals right now and he had the time of his life feeding chickens, chasing the pigs and ducks and ridding the horses. This is Oprah, the pig. I guess we know how the Sleppy's feel about the Queen of Talk Shows...

It was a bit chilly, but we bundled everyone up and had a great time. All of these people are so down to earth. We enjoy being here for more reasons than just the warmer weather.

Dasha and Preston don't have any trouble making friends and fitting right in. It was fun to see them integrate so easily.

If you asked Preston and Dasha, they'd like to live on a farm. They thought this day was just swell. As a matter of fact, we learned about it on Sunday and had to wait until Saturday for the party. It was a LONG week of explaining why it wasn't Saturday yet.

Goodbye Grandma

On December 6th, Grandma followed Grandpa in death. Her passing was a sweat release from her tired, worn out body. It was hard to watch her declined and suffer, but we know she is in a far better place.
This casket is perfect for her. She loved roses and the color as well as the flowers on the sides were beautiful. The day was gorgeous as well. The sun was shining and the temperature was pleasant enough considering it was the middle of December.

This is a picture of Grandma's four boys and two of her grandsons. From left to right is Ernest #4, Marlin #2, Steve #3 (my dad), Gene #1, Scott and Douglas (my brothers).

Me and my sisters sang "Consider the Lilies of the Field" during her funeral. I have to say...it was awesome. I believe we sounded better that we ever have during that song (and that's saying something, because we sound amazing together!) Everyone agreed, too. I'm glad we were able to do that for grandma. She was deeply moved by music and I'm sure she loved it. I'm glad Kristen was able to fly back home for the day so she could participate. It wouldn't have been the same without her. You can't see it in this picture, but Kellyanne and Diana are both expecting babies the last week in March. #4 for Kellyanne and #1 for Diana. (Left to right: Me, Kellyanne, Diana, and Kristen.) What total babes!

This is my uncle Marlin. I love him deeply. This was an emotional day for all of us, but particularly for him. He was actually in a recovery program for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder when grandma died and therefore he wasn't with her when she passed. He was granted 48 hours leave for the funeral. I'm sure glad he could make it and I wish him all the best in his difficult journey.

I asked Grandma to promise to be a guardian angel for me and help me raise my children in this wicked world. She readily agreed. I look forward it...

Valley of Fire State Park

While in Mesquite over the Christmas holidays, we decided to visit some of the state and national parks nearby. Our first trip took us the the Valley of Fire state park in Nevada. This took us through a booming metropolis where we stopped at the only diner in the whole city. It was packed for two reasons: 1) it was the only option for a meal out on the town, and 2) the ice cream they sell. Blue Bell. (Kellyanne eat your heart out!)

This is a picture of a wonderfully disgusting banana split. I don't believe I've ever had a "real" banana split from a old fashioned ice cream parlor before. I may never again either. I was only able to eat maybe a third of it and left feeling like a wasteful stuffed pig that needed to be rolled back to the car. Good thing we were headed for a hike...

This is the Valley of Fire, aptly named for the color of the formations. I have to admit, I LOVE REDROCK! Some of my favorite places on earth are carved out of redrock. There's something about its contrasting beauty set against a blue sky and green shrubbery. Wow! We had a good time hiking around and snapping photos. Here are a few of our favorites...

We call this Swiss cheese rock for obvious reasons. This was our third attempt at using the timer on the camera and getting everyone in place. Thanks for the effort William. This is a keeper!

I personally liked Dasha's hiking gear. She is such a girly girl. She pitched a fit earlier that morning when I asked her to wear pants that day to protect her legs. My reasons for being such a cruel mom were validated when she later slipped and fell, scraping both her lovely legs and knees. We both hate it when I'm right. She didn't argue over pants at all when we headed for Zions park later in the week.

This is an old fort. There were three of them. Dasha thought it would be fun to stay there for a few days, so we planned out where we'd put things to make it comfortable and did a little make believe. Soon after, the kids were exhausted and no longer fun, so we piled back in the car and drove the rest the way through the park. The kids slept like rocks, the car was quiet and a good time was had by all.

New Year's Eve

After Christmas, we took off for warmer weather and a change of scenery. Work on our house had stopped for holidays so we headed to Mesquite, Nevada for a week and a half. We contacted my cousin Karrie Nielson and her husband Shane and asked if we could join them for New Years eve. They readily accepted and we thoroughly enjoyed their company.

They have two teenage daughters and a 5 year old, Annabelle, who Dasha loved playing everything girly with. Preston on the other hand, was a awkward third wheel that cramped their style. It's a good thing that kid loves the movie "Cars." That was the only way we could get him to give the girls some space. We let the girls stay up late and finally put them down around 11:00. They wanted to sleep together so that's how they started until Dasha started crying. When I went to find out what was wrong, she said, "Annabelle won't stop talking to me and I just want to go to sleep, Mom." We laughed hard at that one.

Karrie and I were really close growing up and have kind of lost touch over the years, so our visit with them was wonderful for reconnecting and catching up. I hope we can do it again soon.

Ma and Pa Halford's Speak Easy

I mentioned in a previous blog that while my sister was in town over Thanksgiving, we crammed a months worth of activities into one week. Because Kristen was in town, we held our annual family Christmas party the Saturday after Thanksgiving so they could participate for a change. This party has become legendary. Why? Well...


Many years ago my Mom and Dad threw a themed party. They took us on a "trip" to the North pole and everything from dinner to the activities were related to the North Pole. It was a huge hit and started a tradition. Since then we've partied in Mexico, Hawaii, had a cowboy cookout, and attended the Olympics...just to name a few. The last few years, children have changed the dynamic and this year the adults voted to have two parties. One for the kids and one for the adults. (The kids were cramping our style) When we arrived at my parents house, the front porch was decorated like a lawn and garden shop with all sorts of tools. The sign on the door read "Charlie's lawn and Garden Store." My dad was standing in front of the door with a "Security" sign on his back. He told us we couldn't enter unless we knew the password. Finally we got it right. "May we have some Christmas Pudding?" We entered and were offered "drinks" and given our "money" for the evening. There were gaming tables set up in the front room. For dinner, we had to order from a menu that only contained the names of famous gangsters. I actually picked mine dead on and was the only person who received utensils and courses in the right order. The evening was a blast. We finally got home and in bed about 11:00p.m. (Our flood occurred sometime between then and 3:40 a.m.) Kristen, let me know if you have any other pictures of the Speak Easy... this is the only one I ended up with.

Party number one was held earlier that day at the Classic Fun Center. The kids had a blast! At one point William, Me, Kristen and Nate left Grandma and Grandpa with all the kids and took in a game of laser tag. It was hysterical. It was only the four of us and then these two, young, 10- year-old punk boys. The smack talk started while we were suiting up. By the time the game started you'd have thought money was ridding on the outcome. We ran our butts off for a full 15 minutes and left sweaty with bruised knees. We realized how out of shape we all were. Those stinking boys were totally unaffected while we collapsed after they were out of sight. Good times! A video would be both priceless and a source of blackmail.

Grandpa Ed's Funeral

Nov. 8th, Grandpa surprised us all when he died before our ailing Grandma. He was in a care center recuperating from a bowel obstruction. His children visited him in the morning and left to grab some lunch while the staff bathed him. They returned and he was gone. He'd been cleaned up and laid down for a nap. What a peaceful way to die...in your sleep.

Grandpa Ed's headstone. He was always Grandpa Ed. When he married my grandmother, all of my siblings were very young and "Arrington" was way to hard to say. The name stuck for the next 28 years. Grandma was also affectionately called Grandma Ed.

Grandpa was a veteran and therefore had a beautiful flag draped over his coffin. It certainly stirs your soul to see the flag and watch as it is folded and presented to a member of the family. Thanks for your service to this great country, Grandpa!

Grandpa had a love affair with Scotland and a bigger love affair with bagpipes. It was only fitting that a piper play while last respects were paid. The graveside service actually reminded me of President Hinckley's because of the bagpipes. They added such a wonderful touch. I've decided I want them played at my funeral too!

This is Kelly Gee, Grandpa Ed's pure pride and joy. Ed was as much a father as a Grandfather to Kelly. We are close in age and while we're lost touch over the years, I have fond memories of his when we were younger. We have long joked that we were the favorite grandchildren to each of our grandparents. I'm sure it's true...

Home is where the heart is

I thought I'd post a few pictures of our home. Things are moving along, but at a snails pace. We've been out since the first week of December and look to have about 6 weeks left. I know what the saying is (the tittle to my post...), but honestly, I prefer to quote Dorthy today. "There's no place like home."This picture was taken after the water was cleaned up and we were trying to dry things out with fans and dehumidifiers. At this point, I still thought the bulk of the damage had occurred downstairs. Eyes can be deceiving, however. Water is a tricky and cleaver destroyer. Unknown to me was the extent to which the water had soaked the walls behind the cabinets. Over the next week the bad news continued to trickle in. Cabinets must come out.....part of island must be removed....substructure to island ruined...entire island must come out... Finally the tear out stopped and reconstruction began.

In the process of taking out the cabinets, my countertops and backsplash were ruined. That meant the opportunity to get new stuff. While this stinks on one hand...on the other, I get a finished product that will be more reflective of my current taste and style. There are a couple of silver linings to this ordeal. I'm getting granite countertops and tile backsplashes. It will be beautiful!

This is what things currently look like. Insulation, sheet rock, tape and mud are complete. Next will come the primer and paint. The original paint was oil, so we are putting a nice, high quality latex on in a wonderful color. I love color. Go big or go home, I say. The original home owners painted the entire house in the SAME NEUTRAL color. Over the last 9 years we've lived here, I've little by little put some great colors on the walls. I'm excited to see this room come together. We spend most of our time in this kitchen/great room and I want it to be awesome and incredibly comfortable.

Here's the fireplace directly below the origin of the flood. It was soaked. We had to rip everything out. The ceiling were warped and water was running from every light went we went downstairs for the first time. We even dumped over 2 cups of water out of the projector. Not good.

While the basement ceiling was torn apart, we replace the dome lights running down the middle of the room with 10 can lights evenly spaced and insulated the ceiling and storage shed on the other side of the long west wall. Even without carpet, the space is 15 degrees warmer and solid. You can't hear people walking around upstairs like you could before. We also took the step out from under the fireplace and replaced some faulty plumbing in the kitchenette. We are going to put slate on the fireplace and thresh hold and paint the walls a warm wheat color. This place is going to be super cozy.

One evening while coming back to the house, there was a stunning sunset that captivated my attention and put into perspective everything going on in my life. It was a little tender mercy and a gift that I felt was especially for me. I snapped a picture from my deck as soon as I got home. The sunset repeated itself for the next three days. WOW!