Playing in the Snow

In the beginning of December, the snow finally arrived in Rochester. Camberly was on nights and so after she walked home in the mornings, she would shovel six inches of snow off the driveway. Then Caleb would have to shovel again in the afternoon because there was more snow. For several days there was at least six or more inches every morning. In the winter Sadie and Sylvester don't get to play outside very often, so they love it when they get the chance. There was so much snow that it was deeper than their legs so the would jump/hop to get through the snow. Sylvester in particular loved running new paths through the backyard. They would bury their noses deep in the snow trying to smell things. When they came in they had little snow balls stuck to their fur all over their legs and bellies. When they melted they left wet spots all over the couch and floor.

A Busy Vacation Week!

This week I was off of work and Caleb had Monday and Tuesday off. So our parents come out for visits. Caleb's parents came out last Thursday and went home on Monday. While they were here they helped us do some projects around the house. At first Caleb and Dale were just going to put in a new dishwasher. But as they got to work, the project kept getting bigger and bigger. We needed a garbage disposal and to do that we needed a new sink. When the sink was removed, they realized the counter top was rotten and so it had to be replaced. Then because of the way the new counter top is formed, They had to tear out the faux bricks that were there and put up new drywall. So pretty much everything was new except the cabinets. It was a huge task.

 While the boys were doing this, Judy and I removed the wallpaper in the dining room and painted. When they had to leave, all the hard work was done and some painting and clean up were left.

 The next day was lots of cleaning for me and then Wednesday afternoon my parents arrived. They helped finish the cleanup process and organize the cabinets. Then over the next few days it was a little more relaxed as Mom and I made curtains for the dining room.

 Caleb and Dad put up a new light fixture and did some plumbing for the washer in the basement. We also went to an apple farm where we picked some apples and got a half bushel (that is a lot of apples). We also got delicious apple cider that they made right there on the spot. We had a lot of fun with everyone coming to visit and the house looks great.

Camping Fun

A few weekends ago Camberly and I went camping for the first time since we have been married. It was kind of a spur of the moment thing. I found a campground online and reserved a spot and we drove the 30 minutes to this little campsite when Camberly got done with work. I read online that is campground was dog friendly so we took the dogs with us. They had to stay on a leash but they didn't seem to mind. The dogs were very well behaved and only barked a few times. As we walked around the campground with we noticed that some of the campsites looked a little different. Some of the campsites had permanent RV with decks and flower gardens. To us it looked as though people would reserve a spot for the summer and then go to a warmer place in the winter.

Justin's visit to Rochester

This weekend Justin came out for a visit. Friday was kind of a boring day for him because Camberly was just coming off of nights (sleeping in the day) and Caleb was at work. But that evening we all went to see the movie Rush Hour 3, which was pretty funny.

 Saturday was a little more exciting. We drove about one and a half hours to Corning, New York to see the glass museum. While we were there we got to do a little glassblowing workshop and make an ornament. For these workshops they basically do all of the work for you and you get to blow some of the air into the glass. We are not quite sure what the end product is because when the colors of the glass are hot, they are very dull. It takes about 24 hours for the ornaments to cool down and then they ship them to you. So we will all have to wait a few weeks to see how the ornaments turned out. After we made the ornaments, we spent several hours looking around the museum. We watched some cool demonstrations of how to make glass vases and glass flowers. It is amazing what they can do. Some of the flowers on display look amazingly real.

Today Justin got to come to the branch with us. After church we drove out to Palmyra. At the visitors center we watched the video "Joseph Smith Prophet of the Restoration." Then we went over to walk around in the Sacred Grove. It is so green and peaceful there. Then we went to the top of the Hill Cumorah. Tomorrow, Justin has a bright and early flight leaving Rochester a 6:15 AM. It has been fun to have him out for a few days to visit.

Weed Garden

The first year we moved to Rochester, we thought it would be fun to plant a garden. We picked out one corner of the yard and got it ready. We planted corn, tomatoes, green beans, carrots, squash, and zuccini. One cornstalk grew; supplying us with one ear of corn about 3 inches long. Other than that we had several green bean plants that grew. It was highly unsatisfying. So, since then we had given up on the garden. So this year when we saw our neighbors working in their garden, we went out to talk to them. Then we noticed that our former garden was now growing great (although nothing was edible). In particular we had an enormous weed in the corner that was six feet tall. Needless to say, it was kind of embarrassing to see what a mess that corner of the yard turned into without any attention. So, this week, Caleb got to go cut and mow it all down and now it looks like the rest of the yard. So for now, no more garden for us. But our neighbors always have tons and tons of tomatoes that they give to Caleb (which is a lot easier than growing our own). Next time we decide to do a garden, we will have to prepare the area a little better if we hope to get much of a result.

Lilac Festival

 Each year in Rochester, they have a lilac festival at Highland Park during the month of May. The park has hundreds of lilac bushes, in hundreds of different types. So for the first time since we have lived here, we decided to go. (It is funny it took us so long to go because the park is only about 5 minutes from our house. But work schedules in the past have been inconvenient.) First we went on a Friday night. There were food vendors, music on stage, a magician, game booths, a craft scetion, and all sorts of other people selling things. Then as you went into the hilly part of the park there were the lilac bushes. As you walk through the bushes you can smell the beautiful fragrance drifting by on the breeze. There are so many different colors and sizes of the flowers. It was so pretty. A week later we went back to take some more pictures and took Sadie and Sylvester with us. They had a fun time sniffing around and exploring the park.

Crazy Books

So I read books every once in a while. There are only two kinds of books I can read mystery books and car books. I just finished reading this mystery book called The Hour Game. After I got done I was thinking that I need buy a gun for protection. You see in this book the murder would randomly stalk a person. He would then research the person and find out very thing he could about that person and their family. That made me wonder if anyone was stalking me and if so how would I protect my family and myself. I think I need to take a break from mystery books but if I do that then I won’t read. So what is a man to do?