Grandma's on the Road Again! - Idaho and Utah

I took a quick road trip to Idaho before going to Utah to help Hillary and Jake get their house painted. 

Thursday April 19

 Above is a view I liked as I drove east on I-84. 

 Below is Jesse's view from her dining room window. What a great scene to look at each morning with your breakfast!

Although I was only in Idaho for a couple of days, I was able to see Parker's first soccer game of the season.

I also visited Lalo and Cintia Chavez and their new little son, Eduardo.

 Parker, Tyree and Clancy liked playing in Ximena's room.

Sure love these grandbabies! (Yes, I consider Ximena one of mine 😉)

It was a very short but sweet visit and I am looking forward to going back for a while when we finish this job in June.
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Sunday after dinner with Jesse, Kelly, Tyree, Clancy, Gideon and Parker, I drove down to Utah to give a hand to Hillary and Jake.

Monday morning April 22, this was my wake up call at 7 a.m.

We spent Monday moving furniture and masking and taping everything off. Tuesday was a different story for the me and the boys. We went to the Living Planet Aquarium!

This was my first time to go on an outing with all three boys by myself. 

Oh what fun we had!

We got to see Penguins, and fish and ducks and birds. We saw this Iguana eating a mouse for lunch, ..

and these tortoises giving "piggy back" rides.

It was a very educational day! 

Gabriel and Ezra had no fear getting right up to the big fish, 

But it took a little convincing to get J.J. to touch the glass. 

We went to see the 4D cartoon about the sea turtles. The wind would blow, the water would spray,..

The fish seemed to swim right over our heads and we just about had the whole experience to ourselves. Right after I took this photo a mom and her young daughter came in. That was it, just the 6 of us.

Loving the swinging rope bridge.

Gabe checking on J.J.

Z-man loves the frogs.

When we came home the downstairs had a whole new look.

I stayed and helped until Thursday, and then on Friday morning I was off on another adventure.

A Little April Fun in Oregon

Just a little peek into what we were doing in April.

 The last couple of years I have come to enjoy starting my mornings with yoga. It keeps me in shape without beating me up. 

As we drive around Forest Grove, Hillsboro, McMinnville, we see these huge trees! They are massive and beautiful, and I wish the photo did them justice to just how majestic they are.

Everything here is green! Green and lush and gorgeous. But we are still in the cloudy, rainy part of the year. I do hope it will end soon. I am ready for some sunshine!

I went to a quilt expo here in Portland. It makes me miss my quilting machine! I have so many good ideas for new quilts!

Applique quilts seem to be making a big comeback! It was like going back to the 70's. 

Probably to our detriment, we go to the local auction regularly and to antique stores and malls and garage sales where we always seem to find bargains that need to come home with us.

These will probably be a mother's day project someday.

On Tuesday evenings Darryl goes to visit Glen Hitchens and they work on clocks together.

I hang out at this place.

 The Loaded Brush Art Studio. 

I am taking watercolor classes from 

Master Watercolor Artist - Peter X. O'Brian.

The whole point of this crab was not so much to make a pschyadelic critter, but to experiment in blending different paint colors and hues. To see how different paints work together.

It was time consuming but so much fun.

Another watercolor done at class.

I have discovered that I really like painting with watercolors.

Easter and April Fun!

Wow!!!! Today is April 30th. Where did this month go? 

Easter Sunday -April 1st

I made an Easter Basket for Darryl and the missionaries, and one for our friends, Robyn and Eric King.

New Church socks and lots of candy! What else do you need in your basket.

Okay... it doesn't hurt to have a couple of toys around just in case.

You guessed it! The Easter Bunny even hides eggs for old people! 

A special clock egg just for Darryl. 

When Eric and Robyn came over Sunday afternoon I made them hunt for Easter Eggs too.

I told them we couldn't finish our dinner until they found the eggs. They laughed and had a good time. Neither one had hunted Easter Eggs since they were very small children. We had more fun watching them.

When the found all the eggs we fixed Golden Rod, sausage and a nice salad for a light dinner.

A couple of Days after Easter I went to the Temple. The flowers on the grounds were beautiful..

and the fragrance that filled the air was just delightful.

All of the trees were in bloom and it was such a beautiful sight to see. 

I love to see the temple anytime, but the blooms in spring make it more special to me.

(More to come tomorrow)