Little Miss Cross-y Legs

It never ceases to entertain me when I see this.


Sydney's such a little lady.


She even crosses her legs when she floats.

Spooky Photos

Tonight for Family Home Evening we took photos at the old abandoned Water and Power Building here in town. We had a lot of fun with our photo shoot. If you want to see what Allyson did with the photos, check out her "Do You Believe in Ghosts?" post. Cool, huh?


Julie helps Maddie decide on a pose.

Who is this pypsy (pirate gypsy) waif?


Is she really this sad? (What a model!)

Ally, looking spooky...


We couldn't bear to make the babies into ghosts...Maybe I'll post some of the photos of them all with the statues in the Reflections Park...tomorrow...

House For Sale

Yesterday a "For Sale" sign went up in our front yard.

Jeff and I have debated about this for several years now, but most especially this past year as we have struggled in this depressed Las Vegas economy. Jeff would love to move somewhere else and start over. I feel like at this point in our lives it would be counter-productive to start over and that we should continue to build what we have worked on here for the last (almost) twenty years until we can retire at some point.

Nevertheless, with only three of us left in this house full-time, 3000 square feet is too big. We have three bedrooms that we almost NEVER use (unless we fill them with company or Amy is home for the summer.) Our living room is only used for family parties. Our yard is large and in need of a major overhaul. It's just too much house and yard for too few people.

There are several options. We could sell this house and move to our Mt. Pleasant home. We could sell this house and move to our apartment above the shop in Boulder City. (Too small! Only one bedroom! Jeff says he could sleep in the office downstairs. Ha ha. Not funny.) We could sell this house and buy a smaller house in Boulder City. Or, considering the housing market here and the fact that Jeff says he won't take less than a full-price offer, we could keep this house listed for six months, then take it off the market, and stay right here waiting for the market to improve.

Then there is the debt question. We are seriously trying to eliminate our debt and selling this house would free up some cash to pay down other debts. Always a good plan.

So, yesterday a "For Sale" sign went up in our yard.

And NOBODY likes it. Not even Jeff. We'll see what happens...

Sydney is STILL a Good Eater

This picture is not so good, but it's the only one I got. Sydney loved Papa's birthday cake last Sunday night!

It's Autumn Time....

At our house in Mt. Pleasant...we have trees. Trees have leaves. In the fall, leaves...well...FALL...

Aunt Joy and Grandma S. have already raked up two pickup loads of dry leaves. This morning we raked up another one. This afternoon...well...the yard is covered with leaves already!

As Grandma said, "What better thing to do on a beautiful fall day than rake leaves?" (And deliver them to the neighbors's farm to feed the cows.)

And Speaking of Farming...

We've only had a garden once before in our married life. "We" had one this year in Mt. Pleasant, courtesy of Grandma S. She planted the seeds, she watered, she weeded, she harvested...we ate. Wow. That's my kind of garden!


Amy helped a little when she was there. We met the "herb lady" in town and she gave Amy some plants. It was a little late in the season, but she planted some anyway. She would love to be a gardener.


We ate some of the first corn when we were there for Labor Day weekend.


For not planting much, Grandma sure had an abundant harvest.


The squash was especially prolific. (Surprise, surprise.) She made zucchini "applesauce," (tasted, seriously, JUST like the real stuff!) zucchini brownies, zucchini crisp, and I don't know what all else. The acorn squash looks to be just as abundant. I think Amy counted 40- or 50- something when we were there!

Happy Birthday, Jeff! (Or, "Oh, no! My Dad is a Senior Citizen!")

Today Jeff turned 55, which in some cases means he is a discounted senior citizen, (as was sweetly pointed out by Maddie this morning!) Here he is wearing his John Deere hat his mom sent him and holding the magazine he gets as a result of owning green-belted property in Utah. (The closest he's gotten to farming so far is buying a riding lawnmower.) Happy birthday, Jeff!