Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving. We stayed at home this year. Sally and her family came to join us. Holly and her family stopped by on their way back to Reno. I managed to get a few good shots of everyone.

Home Improvements

One of the major events at our home this summer was all the improvements that were done outside. The EPA, as part of the superfund project, removed about 18 inches of soil that they felt was contaminated. Having seen some of their work the past few years there were some things I definitely didn't want and some that I did. They were very good at working with us. I hired a friend, who is a landscaper, to come in and do most of the finishing work in the yard. As you can see in the accompanying photos things turned out really well.

We also had a shed built to put more of our "stuff" in. They have just finished bricking the exterior to match our home. Yes, all those pallets of brick that were placed around the house are no longer there. We are very pleased with all the work that was done. Our only regret is that it took until mid November to complete it all. Now we have to wait for Spring to see what all the plants will look like in bloom.

Evinn's Hat

This has become one of my favorite pictures. A few weeks ago I was working at my computer in the basement. Evinn crawled in to see me. She then explored the room and found a plastic mirrored half sphere that her dad had been using in an experiment. When I looked over at her she had placed it on her head like a hat. Now she does it all the time. What a blessing it has been for Sarah and I to have one of our grand children so close.

Sarah and I had a great trip to Alan's for our Fall Break. It was good to see them all. Alan is doing great with his job. Emily is a stay at home mom who puts in a full time job raising three beautiful kids. While we were there we went to a corn maze and pumpkin patch. The kids had a lot of fun. You've heard of a sand box? Well Ben found a "corn box" and spent a lot of time there.

Catching Up

We've had a great summer visiting and being visited by our loved ones. I tried to remember to take pictures but only ended up with a few. This posting includes a picture of Ethan and myself on our 4 wheeler. It was the hit of the summer. Everyone got the bug and was out riding around. A week ago we went to Sally's home in Logan for a few days. Sarah can't resist a trip to DI whenever there's one nearby and this trip was no exception. She and our little Claire found a wooden rocking horse and Sarah rushed to it and got there just before another shopper. I managed to snap a photo of Claire enjoying it at home. Finally, I noticed that with all the postings I made I've failed to show a photo of our little Evinn. We see her on a regular basis as her family lives in our basement. She will be one this month.

Meeting #20

Over the July 4th holiday Sarah and I traveled to Monticello and spent some time with our 20th grandchild, Aaron Taylor Nielson. What a good looking kid! And all that hair too! One of the pics shows Logan (#12) wearing my hat. He sure liked it for some reason. Sarah and I went to dinner one night and Logan was worried about where we were. Then he looked in the room and saw my hat. He told his mom everything was okay because we would come back to get the hat. We also took some time and went to the local pool to cool off. That picture includes Parker (#8) and Ryan (#15) along with Logan, John David, and a very pale grandpa.

Vacation Photos--Part 2

The Blog site wouldn't let me upload more than five photos at a time. So these are the next four. Read the previous post for the story on them.