Happy Easter

We hope everyone had a nice Easter. Here is a photo of the kids in their new easter garb. We went to Moab on Friday and Saturday to Pinz around before coming home for Easter in Durango. The weather was very nice although I didn't get to quilt at all! I heard Mom's new purchase is attracting visitors. Hopefully we will make a pilgramage at the end of the month.

A new expenditure

Monday, April 2, 2007

A new expenditure

I went to California to visit my mom a couple of weeks ago. I flew over and rented a car. We went shopping and out to lunch a couple of times.
She is doing well living alone and she is happy to be back in her townhouse. She has a care giver come in a couple of times a week for 2 hours. It was fun to visit with Alan and Connie, Wes and Jan and Julie and her fiance.
I went a little crazy Thursday night and bought a quilting machine. It was set up in the spare bedroom on Saturday night after the quilt show. I thought it was going to be much easier than it is. I have a long way to go before anyone will want me quilting for them! I was planning to give the baby quilt on the frame to Abe and Angela Schoppmann, but it may not be something someone would want. We'll see how it looks once it is finished. It may make a good packing blanket.
We are hoping to go to the title company with our current offer on the house on Thursday when dad returns from Colorado. We have had one other person really interested. So, it may sell! We will keep you posted.
Mom

To call this last week our spring break would be a bit of irony, though our children were off school for a week. Theo in his usual form, worked like a madman to get as much done on our addition as time would allow. On Monday we did foundation prep, Tuesday and Wednesday were concrete pours #2 and #3 for the laundry room and garage. Thursday through Saturday were dedicated to framing the lower floor which is going to be our family room. Not to say that the week was without challenges. We had more rain in two days than I think we've had in the last six months combined, and the concrete truck was so heavy, it broke a piece off of the edge of our driveway. We were fortunate enough however, to have lots of great help. The use of all of Dad's top notch power tools have greatly expedited the process, Theo has some really really good friends that work for Pepsi, and we were able to hire a framer to help us get all of the details right. We have a long way to go yet, but we are so excited to be this far with such fabulous results for our hard work.

Claire's birthday pictures

all in a day's work

well, as some of you already know, i got a job! i have been working for fry fabrications since may (it started as my summer internship and turned into my second job) and they have offered me a full-time position after i graduate. woo hoo!

business is going extremely well and we're growing like crazy! a couple weeks ago, fry fab went to las vegas for the nightclub & bar show to gain more business. we ended up doing far better than we could have imagined and now we need to hire more people to keep up with the demands. we landed huge deals with monster energy drink and the hilton hotel chain among many others. things are getting busier and busier every day. fortunately for me, there are always new products to come up with and new designs to incorporate! our new website is up and running, so you can go there to see what's what. let me know what you think!

www.fryfab.com

Michelle's Award-Winning Soup

WOW! Michelle, thank you so so so much for the soup recipe. At the ward party, by the time Bradley and I made it through the line my crockpot was empty. So we didn't even get to try it. But it must have been pretty good, because at the end of the evening, my soup was voted third best of the evening. We won a lovely prize of a bag of M'n'Ms (I thought about sending them to you because it's your recipe, but...um, yum. They somehow disappeared today. Ooops.), and bragging rights until next year's chili and soup cook-off.)

Guess what we had for dinner tonight? Since I still had a cup of cream left over, and broccoli, and we didn't get to eat any at the ward party...

Yum.

The Photo

Claire's 40th-39years birthday!!!

Happy birthday John! I didn't realize that Claire was born on your day. She is so lucky to have such a fun and kind uncle like you. Hope you feel better.
Claire had a great day,even though her molars are coming in in fours; ouch! I think her brothers enjoyed the day a little more they could not wait for her to open their presents. They practically opened them for her.
We also went to Jamestown (1607-2007) pretty fun the 400th anniversery of the english settlement and we visited Yorktown and Williamsburg, so many historical sites so little time. There is an open invitation for anyone to come and visit. Tons to see, plus you get to see us.

40 and not dead yet!

John had his 40th birthday on Tuesday this week. I have tried numerous times without success to upload a picture from his party. Unfortunately with turning 40, his health has got downhill at breakneck speed. He has what is known as walking pnemonia. So instead of a huge B-Day bash, he managed to climb out of bed for an enchilada dinner and a few photos. Nonetheless, He said He had a wonderful day and is looking forward to the next 40.

News: Not good, but not too bad

Just for your interest, our deal on the house fell through. The buyers were not able to get the needed financing. Oh well, such is life. We will put it back on the market and hope for the best. So, tell all your friends (Nicole, is Shawndene [sp] still in the market?).

In other news, on Monday I start my marathon of meetings - three in a row. Lots of preparation so they should go fine. Then on to retirement.

Love Dad

Soupe du jour

2 bunches of broccoli-chop into big chunks
steam until tender-drain and set aside
(I have also used just a bag of frozen broccoli-florets)

3/4 C butter
3/4 C flour
5 C chicken broth (or 5c h20 and 5 bullion cubes)
1 C Milk
Combine these ingredients and stir until thick

Then add:
1 C Heavy whipping cream
2 C cheddar cheese grated in
Salt and Pepper to taste

Add Broccolli


Looking at this recipe it is easy to see why it tastes soo good (butter, whipping cream, cheese, etc) and you can see why I serve it when we have company-not the type of soup you make every day if you want to live to see age 40 like John just did!! :)

Happy Birthday Johnny G

Happy 40th John!

Cream of Broccoli Soup

At least twice when we've been at your house, Michelle, you've served this divine cream of broccoli soup. Would you mind sharing the recipe here on the blog? We're having a chili and soup ward dinner, and I thought I might bring that--as long as it's not a secret family recipe.

Wait a minute--I'm family! So that's okay, right?????

RE: Pinewood Derby

Dude, Drake, that is one good looking car! The fact that it was the fastest thing around is just icing on the cake. Good job!

Grandma told us about Drake's poor finger--ouch! My nephews are having a hard time this past two months--Drake's finger, Blake's arm, and my brother's three-year-old split his head open and had to get four stitches. Hope you all get better fast.

Drake participated in his second Pinewood Derby last night with all of the boys in our ward. Drake and Theo had some spirited debate as to the design of the car. A little background... Last year, Drake and Theo created a gorgeous car modeled after the General Lee from the TV show Dukes of Hazzard. Although it was leader of the pack in the looks department, it was unable to duplicate the speed of the car that inspired the design. (I think it was literally last place.) This year when Drake announced that he wanted to model his car after Doc Hudson from the movie Cars (yes apparently we are watching way too much television), Theo tried to talk Drake into a faster more pinewood derbyish design. Drake decided that he cared more about looks than speed, and Doc Hudson 2 was created. Once again we arrived at the derby with the most fabulous looking car. Much to our surprise and delight, it had greasy fast speed too! Even though our wheels came off more than once (it is legal to make "minor" repairs), Drake's car was undefeated. He kept declaring to everyone, "It has looks and speed!" What a night!

We sold the house!!!

Just to let you all know, Mom and I sold the house yesterday. At least we got $500 earnest money for the sale. A few of you may know the couple that bought it. His name is Trampus Mansker; her name is Bonnie Quilter. I think they are planning to get married soon. They came to look at the house on Friday and called to make an offer on Saturday. We had it posted for $220,000 and took an offer of $216,000. At first Mom wanted to hold out for the full $220, but Nicole told us about a new development that is going in soon and will have over 40 houses right in our price range. We decided on the "bird in the hand."

We really are going to miss this wonderful house. Many memories are here as well as some super room upgrades and wood floors that Nicole and Theo installed for us in our back rooms. Nicole is an unbelievably great carpenter. Who knew???

And even more painfully, we are going to miss all of the Martins when we move. I guess we'll just have to visit very often.

I'm getting very close to retirement. June 1st is the date. This month and next I have 3 big Spring Training meetings to do. It will be my last big assignment... except they just informed me that they want me to re-do the Houseboat video for our seasonal renters.

Once I retire, I'll start to move items in earnest. Thanks to John's horse trailer, the task will be very manageable and easy to do, even alone. Our final move will be at the end of June, on the weekend of June 30th. If any of you find you have nothing to do, we could probably put you to work loading and unloading.

Love you all!
Dad

wishing you a...

Happy Birthday Nate!!!!

Puzzle solution

You've all been chomping at the bit to get the solution to the puzzle I posted earlier. And then I went and forgot to post the solution! I've now remedied that. Go check out the comments on that post below if you're curious about the answer.

My Big Gid

Gideon had two appointments up at Primary Children's on Thursday--a bladder study and an orthopedic doctor appt. Both appointments went well, and we have further evidence of the Lord's mercy on our little boyo. He truly is doing better than we could have ever hoped.

The bladder study was pretty uncomfortable (he yelled the entire time, but not with pain, he was just ticked off), but the results were very comforting. Many children with spina bifida experience bladder reflux, when the urine is pushed back into the kidneys. If there is any bacteria in the urine, then serious kidney damage can occur. Aaron Fotheringham lost the use of one of his kidneys this way. Gideon's bladder, even when full of fluid, didn't reflux. Yay! Now we can take him off the precautionary antibiotic he's been on since birth. We get to do this all again in six months, but for now, we don't have to worry about his bladder/kidneys at all. (By the way, this test really doesn't say anything about his ability to be potty-trained in the future, but we're just taking this one step at a time.)

The orthopedic doctor decided that only Gideon's left foot needed to be casted--the right foot should be okay with a lot of physical therapy. All the bones seem to be in the right spots, and we have a pretty good chance of being able to correct his club foot with the casting--although club feet on spina bifida kids don't respond as well to casts as other types. If it doesn't work then we'll have to explore surgery options (yuck). But for now, Gideon has a huge cast from below his toes to the top of his thigh--they get much better results if they cast the whole leg. This is what it looked like when we got home Thursday evening:
And this is what it looks like now that I've had a chance to decorate it:

Gideon gets a new cast every week for the next four weeks, so if anyone has any great decorating ideas, speak up! I'm thinking I'll have to go invest in colored sharpie markers so I can do trains next time.

Here are a few more pictures of our addition as it comes along. Theo had some friends help him with the first concrete pour. We then hired someone to lay the block. So this is what it looks like now. We are so excited to really be under way! Hopefully someday we will have lots more room to have all of you come and stay with us after mom and dad have flown north.

Why Why Why

Nicole, why must you torture my husband so?

Polar Bear Boarding

Theo's friend Paul has a goal to go wakeboarding at least once in every month of the year. Theo decided that this sounded like some fun he needed to get a piece of. So, four grown men, all with families, children, careers, and presumably some sense of reason, suited up and headed to Lake Powell on Saturday to ride the glass. The water temp. was a balmy 47 degrees, yes that is farenheight. The air was downright toasty at 58 and nothing but sunshine.

Theo claims that the only parts of him that ever got cold were his feet.

At last, a confession!

Ah haaa. Now the truth is out. You DID fall in love with Theo when only 16! Remember, I told you to "cool" your relationship. You told me that he was only a good friend. I guess fathers know best. However, in hind sight, Theo was a great choice. I wouldn't trade him for the world.

Kim, let this be a lesson to you. Lock Lauren in her room until she turns about 24. Then let her out to date a little. Only kidding (make it 23).

I often marvel at the wonderful group of spirits that Heavenly Father has blessed me and Mom with. Our sons, daughters, and grandchildren are the best. I must have earned a lot of blessings in the preexistence. (Actually, I'm sure it was Mom who earned the blessings.)

Retirement is getting closer and closer. We are excited to get on with this new phase of life... sleeping till noon, watching TV all day, golfing till we are exhausted, visiting you all till you're sick of us. It can't get better than that. And, oh yes, perhaps serving a mission or two in between.

Love, Dad

Love You All

Wow Lauren! What a hottie! And the total package, beautiful inside and out!! You know, I don't want to freak you out Kim and Steve, but I was Lauren's age when I fell in love with my sweetie. Whoa, crazy!
Virginia Rosses, it is so good to hear from you. What a fun bunch of pictures.
Brad and Keryn, what a precious little family you have created. No clue on the puzzle, never was a lover of math. (-;
Thanks everyone that took care of our Corbin up in Salt Lake. He had such a great time, I don't think he missed us much at all.
Happy Valentines day Ross family. It has been great to see some of the recent posts with all the pictures and news. Everyone looks and sounds GREAT! We love all of you so much, and hope you have a great day with the ones you love!

Glimps into the future

Lauren is on the Prom Team for a local bridal shop specializing in modest dresses.
As part of the Prom Team she models prom dresses as well as wedding dresses for fashion shows. She also appears in their ads and does other publicity things at bridal shows and local high schools. In return for her service she receives a free dress! Our young women went to the shop for a private fashion show this week. It was the first time I saw Lauren in action. It was so fun watching her come out in all the dresses new for the season.
Then came the wedding dresses..... this freaked me out a little! Seeing her standing there in a beautiful white dress... she looked so grown up. She is still a little girl to me, but I guess I'd better get ready because that day may be right around the corner!

A Blessing on Your Head...

Although it was sadly impossible to get a proper family portrait, given my three-year-old and my almost-two-year-old, we did get some amusing family pictures. It was a beautiful day, all the more so because of the uncertainty gone before.
(Notice that Mercy is inspecting Gideon's shoes. That girl loves loves LOVES shoes.)
Thank you to everyone who made Gideon's blessing so wonderful. I am truly glad to have married into this most wonderful family.

The latest from Richmond

Hello from Virginia. We do still exist. Sorry we missed the blessing, we heard it was wonderful. I did not know how to get on to this blog until tonight. I will probably forget how to do this tomorrow. We are enjoying life here in the east, glad to miss all the snow in Colorado. We finally sold the house and are happy to move on.

Jack and Sam are enjoying playing basket-ball, and Blake and Claire enjoy cheering them on. Blake enjoys Running and jumping, which are generally frowned on in the house, and he found out why when he ran and dove into the couch, he broke his arm in two places on Monday. Being the great parents that we are we told him he was fine and the pain would go away in a couple of days and that's what happens when you run and jump into the furniture. We realized it was serious and took him promptly to the Doctor on Friday. We feel terrible.

Skip is enjoying his new job. Claire is such a joy she gets attention where ever we go, strangers even ask to hold her, apparently we live in an area were babies are a rare happening. It is kind of strange. She is cute, but we are her parents of course we think that. We are doing well we miss all of you. Living this far away is tough, we know we will miss many family happening good and bad ,we have already missed several things. We are really trying to make it to the reunion, pray for us. We don't want to be the cousins out east that nobody knows or ever sees. We love you all very much and pray for you and your families.

Nicole we are also grateful for truth, it's what strengthens us and helps us to progress. I am daily amazed at how my children innately grasp and understand gospel truths. What a privilege it is to teach and be taught by them. I know you all have experienced this, as a parent, you watch your child struggle, you want to step in and save them, but you have to sit back and let them hurt, guide them ever so gently, and let them try, fall and get back up again. As they become stronger and grow, you realize how much you love them. You get a small glimpse of what our Father in Heaven must feel for us. This is a truth I am so thankful for, I know I am a child of God. I am grateful to be part of such a loving family. Laurene

A Puzzle and a Plea

A speaker at the conference I was at last week in Vegas used the following puzzle to illustrate a point. I thought you might enjoy it. Post a comment if you think you know the answer. (Usually we turn off comments, but we make an exception for puzzles!) In a few days, I will post a comment with the correct answer if it hasn't already been given.

In bucket A, you have 1000 red marbles. In bucket B, you have 1000 blue marbles. First, you randomly select 20 marbles from bucket A and put them in bucket B and then mix. Then, you randomly select 20 marbles from bucket B and put them in bucket A and mix. Repeat this three times. At the end of the experiment, which bucket will have more foreign colored marbles in it?

And now for the plea. Will you please send me high quality versions of any of the pictures you took at the baby blessing?

Happy Birthday Laurene!

What a BLESSING!

We had a great weekend! It was so fun to see Mom & Dad and Corbin too! We were so sad the other Martins were feeling under the weather, but it was fun to get to know Corbie (Steve asked Corbin if I was the only one who called him that... he said, yes!) a little better. He was so sweet and polite and very obedient.
The Gilleland gang also came in and even managed to play in a little of our famous Utah powder. Jebb is growing like a weed and is curious about everything. Jackson announced to everyone he won the "Piston Cup" (a medal Eric won for reading in elementary school) when he found it in Eric's room and carried around all day in his pocket for safe keeping. Elise and Lauren found a little girl time together. (Elise had the great hair-do to prove it!) We sang a belated b-day to Seth with Corbin at his hip. (Those two had a great time playing their favorite Hannay video games together.) Gabe and Nate also spent time strengthening their cousin bonds jumping on the tramp and running around together. And everyone enjoyed going to Nate's basketball game.
Mom & Dad squeezed in an inspection of the wiring on their basement finish job (Which is coming along nicely thanks to their fabulous GC! hee hee) and did some all important shopping while here in the big city. We are getting excited to have them move here this summer.
On Saturday night we enjoyed a dinner together. Brad & Keryn were a little late joining us. Upon arriving home from their business trip to Las Vegas they found their furnace had died. Thanks to quick repair visit to avoid freezing pipes they joined us... better late than never.
But the highlight was the blessing of Gideon. It was so great to be together to witness the blessing of this little cutie!
Living far apart is hard, but seems to make our visits together all the more special and sweet.
Thanks to those who travel to keep family ties strong. We are looking forward to July when we can reconnect again!