This is a wrap-up of the rest of 2016:
THE NEW PICKUP - Theron went for a haircut shortly after we had been home and came back and told me we were buying a new pickup. Fair deal I guess. We bought a new 2016, Chevy Silverado 3500. It is loaded with all the gadgets and features he wanted. We have now driven it about 5900 miles and were backing the trailer onto the finished concrete pad in St. George when what to our wondering ears should arouse, the brake system making odd sounds.As you recall, our other pickup had the rear-end go out, this one had the park brake fly apart and after having it fixed, we were up north and the truck would quickly stop when turning into a driveway, kind of like the brakes ere on. It's in the shop again and we are waiting to hear the verdict. Umm, us or it - which is the cause of the same type of problems in both trucks?
THE RZR TURBO ATV - When staying in St. George finalizing the purchase of our little spot of the world, Steve invited us to go 4-wheeling with his friends from the Heber Valley Girl's Camp. Well, we checked into renting an ATV for the trip and ended up buying a 2016 Razor turbo 1000. Theron has wanted one anyway (I won't admit that I have too, got to keep up my image). The trip was through the mountains out of Colorado City ending up in Zion's Park. It was fun. We now have this toy to add to our collection and hope we have lots of fun trips.
This trip led to a Thanksgiving trip with Adrian, Todd, Cameron and Taylor. We all stayed in our trailer and rode the ATV and motorcycles in St. George at Warner Valley and Sandhollow.
ST. GEORGE LOT - CHEROKEE SPRINGS - Before we left for Samoa, Craig and Judy were living in their son's trailer in a trailer community called Cherokee Springs in Washington, Utah. It was owned by President Webster and he was letting them live there for the cost of the electricity, water and HOA fees. Steve had stayed there for most of the winter in a rented lot and then bought one in the park to fix up. We approached President Webster about selling his lot and he agreed. We couldn't get the transaction completed before we left for Samoa so he held it for us and he paid all the HOA fees while we were gone. It was a true act of charity.
When we returned, we finalized the purchase and then started a remodel. First, we found a Tongan handyman to do the concrete work. One of Steve's friends drew up a shed design for him and we copied it for our shed. The first part of December, we spent two weeks there building the shed and getting the lot cleaned up. The shed turned out great, the concrete works for the new trailer pad and the driveway. The only problem is that our back jacks are a little too low and scrapped the driveway as we were positioning the trailer. It's going to require some modifications in backing our fifth wheel in, but Theron can do it.
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| Before our remodel |
Before the remodel, the pad and parking were gravel. There was a divider with the other property built from old railroad ties that were rotting. There was no shed to store our washer/dryer and other things.
First thing was to put a cement pad for the trailer. Second thing was a concrete pad for parking. Third thing was building a shed. Here's our progress.
CHRISTMAS 2016 - After coming back from St. George, we settled in at Adrian's and spent our days traveling to North Salt Lake to tend the triplets and over to Marc's to take the kids to see the movie Moana, and then to eat pizza while the parents went on a little date. On December 21, Jesse had surgery to finish his circumcision and adjust his urethra track. He did very well and is recovering nicely. This same time, Ali got sick and threw-up; the triplets each took turns throwing up and having some diarrhea, then Melanee took sick, now, all the rest are down with whatever this is. It was a Christmas that we all tried to avoid the sickness and yet, everyone was sick - Adrian excluded. She has a real aversion to getting sick and has been trying everything to avoid it.
On the night we tended Mason, Ali, Tyce and Kacy, Mason took grandpa and asked him to help him fix the train. It was fun to see them work together and finally get the train going.
On the 24th, we traveled to Marc's and watched him open his birthday present. Imagine our baby is now 37 years old. When did that happen. He's such a cute 37 year old!!!On the night we tended Mason, Ali, Tyce and Kacy, I realized that Kacy just doesn't know us at all. She did not want to go to bed and would only let Mason hold her. It's going to be tough to gain her love as she just doesn't know why we just appeared on the scene. I'm glad Tyce remembered us!
That was about all the celebrating we did for him. We wanted to go up Christmas day but they received 15 inches of snow and I just didn't want to travel that day. Curt, Melanee and the babies came to Adrian's home and wandered around trying to figure out what was happening. I have noticed that Jesse is getting much faster at running from one thing to another; he is opening and pulling everything out of a cupboard faster than I can get there. Oh my, how fun this will be to watch them grow. 
These kids have learned to climb the stairs and it was fun one day to watch Melanee call them and say go upstairs for your nap and obediently, they all climbed the stairs.
A family tradition is the Spendlove Christmas party. We again held it at the Henefer Firestation and everyone played games and chatted. At least we get together once a year to see the families. These are a few of the pictures from that night. It's like pulling teeth to get all my brothers and sisters together for a picture, but we did - even though we had to have props to hide some of our aging features.
For our Christmas this year, Theron got a new electric bike - a Scott - compliments of Dawain and mine will arrive on the 2th. I got my PJs that I wanted and we got a lot of family time together. Memories are the best gifts!
