Spaulding Family Reunion

Pat sneaking some tape on grandpa's bum

Lexie, Laci and I on top of Pike's Mountain

JuLy...

July has been an eventful month. We were just leaving to go to Utah and pick up a friend of ours at the SLC airport when I discovered a leak in our basement ceiling--the ceiling we just had sheet rocked a few months back and had it ready to paint. Anyway we had a toilet leak on the main floor, ruining the hardwood in that bathroom. We aren't in that bathroom enough to have noticed. So you know what that mean? Yep, the same floors that we just sanded and redid have to be done all over again because the leak on the bathroom floor continued out into the hall and they can't guarantee that it will all match up so they just re-do the whole floor. I about died!! So now we have to remove everything from the entire main floor again and move out for a week while we have a company come in and do it. This time we'll leave it to the experts. I'm trying to just go with the flow and not let myself get all upset over it--overwhelmed is probably a better word. Anyway, on the 23rd, 24th and 25th we had our Spaulding Family Reunion that our family was in charge of. It was a lot of work and I worried about having enough food---we do like to eat---but we had more than enough. We had such a great time and hope everyone else did too. We really appreciated Jake and Lexie's help with all of the games for our Olympics. They probably put more work into the reunion than we did. They are awesome!! We missed having Cole and Pam (who were driving back from Washington DC) there, and McKenzie who was in Logan practicing for the Martin Harris Pageant and of course Taylor who's in Arizona. But it was great having Laci, Lex, and Jake. We missed all who were not there.

A little help?

Hi everyone. My mom is frustrated right now. She has been an avid scrapbooker for years now and has put together numerous books for each child. She has a million more pictures that she wants to use, but is starting to wonder if she should move to digital scrapbooking. Do any of you do your scrapbooking this way? She needs some insight!

Just shoot me!! Two years ago when we bought this house we knew the hardware floors needed to be redone but were just anxious to get going on all of the other remodel. We now have everything done except the basement and I told Jim that I didn't want to paint and recarpet it until the floors were done. I was overwhelmed just thinking about it. We had to move everything out of the house or into other rooms---the stove, fridge, dishwasher, toilets, EVERYTHING---which basically resembled moving and took as much effort. Jim and I worked our rears off for 3 days sanding and cleaning. We finally put the first coat of epoxy (or whatever it is) on and spent the night in a hotel because of the fumes. Came back the next day to put on the 2nd coat, but before doing so it has to be sanded again. I've had a cold during this process which left me with no energy or desire. Then Jim had to leave town for a week and I started in on the task of washing down walls--only to find that I couldn't get the dark colored paint on my walls to come clean. After several attempts and a few phone calls I found it is better to wipe them off with microfiber type clothes that aren't wet. But every room on both floors need to be completely cleaned. The task is more than I can handle. I'm still sick but can't just sit in a mess like this so I putter around. Then I look out the window and see all of the flower beds and garden that need attending to, along with the storage units I need to get swept out so they can be rented---and then there's my scrapbooking that will take years for me to complete. All I know is if these floors ever need to be done again, I'm moving. It would be easier. Sat. (May 16th) I said to heck with everything in the house and Laci and I went out and weeded, then planted the garden. We were out there all day and really enjoyed ourselves. And by the time I went to bed I felt like I could see a little tiny glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel.

Taking Taylor to the MTC

We took Taylor to the MTC on Wed. Oct. 29th and it was awesome to have everyone with us except Jake (Lexie's husband). It was worse than I remember it being with Coleman---maybe because I knew what to expect. We were all just crying like babies--I think Cole and I were the worst. Taylor and Cole have been such "buddies" their whole lives that I know this will be hard on them. But I felt like Taylor would be okay once we left. And of course, on the way home we had to stop and do a little shopping which is exactly what we did the day we dropped Coleman off at the MTC. That day Kenz was crying her eyes out and said, "how can you shop at a time like this?" I said, " a girls got to do what a girls got to do." This time she was worried about getting to a Young Women activity in time. Actually she will also really miss Taylor a lot because for the last several years she's been Taylor's jujitzu partner--whether she wanted to or not.

I Have Now Entered the 21st Century

Well it snowed today (Sat.) so Laci took the time to finally show me how to get pictures off my camera and onto my computer. This is a big technological step for me...and I have pages of notes to prove it. Some of these pictures are from this past summer. The top two are from a trip we took to SLC to see Cole and Pam and while there went on a tour of the Conference Center (Pam had to work). The next is of a day Jim and I went golfing and Lexie had the afternoon off so she went with us. It was great! Another day when the family was all home and playing games in the back yard, we got the next picture of Jake and Lex. And finally, in September our family went to San Francisco to spend a few days together. We couldn't have had more fun. The kids got a picture of Jim and I in the hotel. Wow! I need to get out in the sun more often.

Working Away

We are using Taylor's help as much as we can before he leaves.