Utah Vacation

Almost every summer, we go up to visit relatives in Brigham City, Utah. A few years ago, along with a consortium of competitive water skiers, they built a lake on their farm property, and each time we visit we marvel at the improvements they've made. It's beautiful there, and so peaceful. We love it.

I took this picture from the dock, dangling my legs in the cool water--heaven!

They have a canoe, some floats, kayaks, and a slide. There's a barbecue, bathrooms, a covered patio area, and all kinds of fun to be had!

My niece Carla, with her daughters Sunni and Lana.

Emily's oldest son Dylan, getting ready to play a game of cards with Jessica, planning to cream her he said -- Scum, of course. That's one of the other traditions of Utah summer trips, many, many, many games of Scum!

Ann Marie, her son Trent and his wife Toni. Aren't they cute? Yes, Ann Marie, even you! (She always wants to be excluded from the picture, and demands editing rights.)
Just some of "the boys" having fun in the sand.
Carla and Ann Marie--I was so glad Ann Marie was able to come with her family that day. We don't see them enough.
Ann Marie's daughter Mattie wanted pictures of her jumping in the water.
Ann Marie's youngest--Gracie.
Utah mosquitos never miss feasting on Jessica--she had at least 10 bites on this foot (you just can't see them all). It's a week later now, and they're still itching!
Is it gorgeous there, or what?!

Fresh corn, anyone?

My nieces Emily & Rebecca, corn cutters extraordinaire.

Rebecca's daughter Sarah and Emily's son Garrett, shucking corn that had been picked just that day or the day before. Can't get fresher than that!

Garrett showing off his find - a triple ear!
Even Jessica got into the work, spent some time shucking.
My niece Carla, her daughter Lana, and my nephew Neal, on the Yates corn assembly line.
More of the assembly line--cleaning, cooking, cutting...

B-I-L Kent and S-I-L Karen. There was music playing, and Kent looks like he was doing a Happy Corn Dance!
Here's just a small portion of the finished product. From field to freezer in one day. Oh my goodness it tastes good! I helped out on the line for a couple of hours and was rewarded with a few bags to bring home to California with us. Dee-lish!

Big Red Barn

My brother-in-law Kent says he has dreamed of this "big red barn" for 30 years. I don't doubt it. I understand they converted the old hay shed that was up on the hill behind the old farm house (just north of Brigham City, Utah). It is surely Kent's pride and joy! It's a gathering place for family and friends, their own private recreation hall. (I'm having trouble arranging these pictures in order, so I'm just going to caption them in the order they uploaded. I've tried dragging them, as I used to do, but they won't drag! Can anyone help me figure this out? I'd be grateful for any suggestions.)

This is the upstairs loft--Jessica with her cousin Carla.

Jessica and Carla up the stairs. Bathroom to the left of the stairs on the first floor.

There's a great kitchen, with lots of cupboards and counterspace. Fridge, range, and microwave too! Pretty much everything you could ever want.

Large main downstairs room, with tables and chairs, probably with table seating for at least 60 people!

Here's where they get the name, of course. The BIG RED BARN -- beautiful, isn't it?

Normally I would post the rest of the pictures here, but since I can't seem to get them uploaded in order, I'll just do another post. Aarggghhh!

Finally Done!

Let me begin by saying I have no idea why this text is underlined (and blue). I've tried to delete the underline--obviously without success. Another of the many mysteries one encounters in computer-land.

Well, the floor is finally done! After all that stressing, I actually love it. All the things I worried about are no longer an issue -- it's too cold, it might be slippery, I may not like the color, it's too light, should have done wood, etc., etc., etc. So here's my verdict after all is said & done: it's not too cold (I like the cool feeling), it's not slippery (there's a slight texture), I like the color (it's not too light), and I'm fine that I didn't do wood. So, once again, much ado about, basically, nada.

The furniture's finally all back in place, although all the accessories are not (which explains the "bare bones" look. No rugs yet, either. Although now that I like it so much I'm not sure I'll rush out looking for those. There's still some junk lying around, so just ignore that, please.

Besides the rooms pictured here, we had the laundry room/pantry, downstairs bathroom, and upstairs bathrooms done as well. Love it! Now, of course, I want new furniture to go with! Guess I'll start saving--for another three years.

The living room, from the family room: (Hmmmm... how did that underlining disappear? Again, no idea!)

Family room, from the kitchen:

Kitchen, from the family room:
Living room, from the front door:

I'm so relieved to finally have this project finished. Well, almost finished. Again, I marvel at people who can undertake these things without it taking such a TOLL! It will be good to have to find something else to blog about, too. I'm a bit sick of this topic!

In The Thick Of It - Part 2 of 3

Here's most of our furniture outdoors while this is all going on. More is in the garage.

The family room with almost everything out, including the carpet.

My "tile guy" Craig - husband of a friend at work. Anyone want his contact info, just let me know--he does good work. This was the first day, removing the tile from the entry in the living room.

The stairs were useful for storing some of the stuff...
The very first tiles going in...

Looking good so far...

Tyler and Jaden stopped by to supervise a bit. Here they are inspecting the tile cutter in the front yard.

The next post will be the finished product. I was hopeful this project would be finished by today, as I have to return to work tomorrow and everything is still torn up. But, as always, things take longer than expected--that seems to be some kind of cosmic law that is never violated, at least in my experience. The downstairs will be finished this week, though, and then the two bathrooms upstairs will be done while we're on vacation next week. Woo hoo! Two fun things to look forward to!