Who Remembers a Bathroom Remodel?

The saying goes, that no one will remember the bathroom that was remodeled, they will remember the vacations and other memories.  Not so, in my case.  This has been a remodel I will long remember.

It was such a simple request, put some time down in the family room for a walk way, paint the bathroom vanity and put a new vanity top on.  Well, the remodel started in the summer and here it is in December and it's not finished.

The time went down and it has been a great improvement for the traffic that goes through the family room and up the stairs to the kitchen.  The carpet was always dirty and matted, now the tile catches the dirt and is much easier to clean.

The bathroom walls and hall walls have all been painted the same color and the bathroom vanity is painted.

Theron wanted to make a funky counter top with a laminar flow faucet, so Robin Schaefermeyer, an expert in concrete counter tops was called up and they went to building the top.

It's now built, but still not installed.  Wait for the update.

 A mold was built, the concrete was poured and smoothed.  The counter was painted with acrylic paints and then a thick expoxy was poured over it all to seal it.

This is the finished look, but not the finished install.  It's coming.

Albuquerque, New Mexico Balloon Festival

We all have a bucket list of things we want to do and see before we leave this life.  One that has been there for a long time was The International Balloon Festival in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  What kid doesn't like to see balloons.  

Duerden's, Wood's and us traveled there this October in our fifth wheel trailers.  We stopped in Durango, Colorado, and a few other places in between but spent the majority of our time in Albuquerque.  This is a marvelous valley.

We stayed right in the balloon park and were just minutes away from all the events.  Waking early each morning, to the inflating of the balloons was a great adventure.  About 500 hot air balloons graced the large field each day.  The only thing we didn't get to see was the night time festival of lights because it rained and the wind blew.

 The sky just danced with so many balloons of every shape and size.  Most of the ones there were character balloons - time flew, frogs bounced in the air, Noah's ark floated and carriages danced in the sky.

The Oregon Coast Trip - September 2014

It seems like we have been keeping the road busy this year.  In September, we pulled the trailer on a thousand mile journey to Silver Falls State Park, Oregon, and then through the redwoods of California on the way home.  It was a trip of many miles of two-lane road, but beautiful country to see and a great time to travel with our dear friends Steve and Jackie Duerden.

These are pictures of the 10 waterfalls in Silver Falls.  We parked a truck at one parking lot and drove to the other end of the park where we started a 6.5 mile hike taking us along a beautiful mountain trail and under many of the falls.  This is literally a rainforest area and the ferns and green moss were sweet to smell and beautiful to look at.

We were able to ride our bikes along several other trails and the best ride was into the redwoods.  These next pictures are the fun time we had walking through the trees.  We were actually on our bikes during most of this redwood trip and that was a great time.  However, the first trail we picked has quite a story.  We were driving on a narrow road and saw a paved road angle off.  We park, unload the four bikes (no small task) and start off.  We barely turned the first bend when we read the sign - Conservation Prison Camp Road, No Trespassing.  Okay, back into the truck and load the bikes.  We did finally find a great road and traveled several miles on it.

On the way to the redwoods, we rode a jet boat in Gold Beach, Oregon, up the Rogue River.  That was great fun.

Our new home.

Island Park, Idaho

This is the first year in about 30 that our "Lake Powell" group will not travel to Lake Powell.  We sort of dissolved the group after all these years and we bought the houseboat share.  However, we wanted to stay together and do things so we rented a cabin at Island Park and all of us stayed there for a week.

There was fishing for Collin and Kelly.  Judy was recovering from a tooth extraction and she is still not very well with her breathing and asthma.  The higher altitude was not really good for her.  I haven't written about Craig's prostate cancer, but it has metastasized into the hip and back bones and manifest into the lymph nodes.  He is pretty much in pain 24 - 7 and will have to endure that until -- well, the end.  They will be living in St. George this winter because of Judy's health.  They really can't do much with us anymore because of these health problems.

Robisons leave October 6 to serve a mission in the Netherlands and so we had a great time using the ATVs and traveling over the Two Top Loop with them and Duerdens.  As the weather would have it, we made it from Island Park to West Yellowstone over the trail and enjoyed lunch.  On the way back, on the very top of the mountain, it started to rain then hail then sleet then blow then freeze -  we all got rather wet and cold during the next 25 miles or so down the mountain.  Another adventure to put into the memory bank!

Upon returning home, Duerdens' went to the Heber Girls Camp for a tour and open house.  They are now going to serve a Church Service Mission there for the next two summers.  We are so happy for them.  This will be a perfect mission for them.  How wonderful to see our friends all stay active in the Church and serve the Lord.

Mason turns 6 Years Old

Wow, how time flies, it seems like Marc and Brittney barely started on their family and now they have three children and Mason, the oldest, is starting Kindergarten this year.  On September 9, Mason turned 6 years old.  He looks so mature doesn't he. 

He is so talented and learns so quickly.  Brittney was even impressed with how well he can spell his full name - without the help of the teacher.  We all had to laugh at this one and it won't be the last time that someone misspells our name.  It's a family hazard.

Happy Birthday
MASON!!!

A Mid-Year Review of What's Happening in the Family

I write about the trips we take but the most important part of life is what happens day to day.  Here's a little review to keep our minds refreshed about the great lives we live and the wonderful memories we are making each day.

Cameron was in his class play, Macbeth.  A fun way to celebrate leaving the sixth grade.

 We had a great time at the Manti Pageant where we met King Lamoni and his family.

 We can't forget Taylor's broken finger.  This is what happens when you swing on the school play equipment.  The splint is the last part - his whole arm was bandaged for a while.

Curt became our first child to wear glasses!  He is now officially a nerd!

Mason has an outfit for all events.  On this day, there was a fire alarm that sounded at the Church across from their house and the firemen reported, as did Mason.  Mason was designated the Captain and was given the full report by all the firemen!  Great job Mason

This picture of Ali says it all - she is a princess, a flirt, a dynamic young lady that just steals the show.

Tyce, upon returning from Lake Powell, found the face paints and decided he needed his face painted.  He did such a good job.  Look at the innocence.

A Trip Back in Time - Returning to the Mine

From the early days of our marriage and raising our family, our family has taken an annual trek, usually around the 24th of July, and camped at "the mine."  The mine is an actual mine which the family closed several years ago due to government regulations and the aging of the family participants.  It is located on Moseby Mountain in the Uintahs near Paradise Reservoir.  There is a beautiful meadow, a spring that provide water, and lots of fun places to visit -- the ice cave, Blanchett Park, Dry Fork Creek, the hole in the rock, just to name a few.  It was and will continue to be a gathering place.  As Grandpa Schaefermeyer once said when asked about the "gold" in the mine, "We have our gold, our family."


This year, Kendall wanted to take his motorhome back to the mine.  So over the 24th of July week, Theron and I, Adrian, Todd, Cameron and Taylor, and our second daughter Allison Goodrich Elliot and her three children traveled to the mine for another visit.

Taylor and Theron went for the first part of the week and Taylor got to have his Tom Sawyer experiences - making a bow and arrow, driving the four wheeler, playing in the creek, lighting fires and being free from parental rules and regulations. (It was for certain that grandpa wasn't going to make any rules.)

The rest of us traveled up later and even Neala, Louis, Elynn and Norman traveled out for a few days staying in Vernal but driving up to the park one day for a look around.

These are times of making memories - building wood boats for the stream, lighting endless matches, riding four wheelers, fishing and just plain sitting around the camp fire talking.  We took several trips down the road to the mine (as we camped on top this time) and everyone enjoyed crawling through the little hole someone had made to get inside the mine, sliding down the other side and walking the length of the old mine using flashlights as a guide.  It was the first time Cameron and Taylor had ever seen inside the much talked about mine.

I recalled the days of seeing Adrian toddle around as a baby through the sticks and paths and watching Grandma Schaefermeyer put her icebox in the tree and bake on the old wood stove in the little cabin.  Then, remembering Curt and Marc climb the height of the overburden dump and slide down.  How dirty they did get, but what fun they did have.  The time we built a golf course in the meadow and the building of the shower in the trees which was fed by spring water, warmed on a fire so we could clean up after a day mucking in the mine.  Who can ever forget the dynamite blasts that grandpa would set off in the mornings and eating brook trout for breakfast.



We took this picture of the family which may be the last time we all get together in this spot.  It's a great memory.  (Carol and John are missing because they were serving a mission in Peru.)