Sunday, February 11, 2024

Sand Turkey







This pile of groceries freshly delivered is the best 
thing I could ever see when opening my front door!


Combining a dunes trip with Thanksgiving is always a treat to prep for.
Hours of my time were saved by letting someone else shop for me!
It still never ceases to amaze me the brilliance of this concept!
BLESS!!





Having a teenage driver to help with duties is also an amazing thing!
I laughed so hard seeing Lane pull up from filling
 the CanAm with gas hitched on the back of TT (tiny truck).






This was an exciting trip as we sold our RZR and got a new (to us) CanAm.
She did well on her maiden voyage!







The kids coloring as we finished Thanksgiving preparations.





It was quite the spread!
Minus the sand turkey like the title says.
We took a poll and everyone quickly turned down
 the traditional bird for a brisket! 
We found a 20 pounder at Sams Club and Casey smoked it to finger licking perfection!










This year we had my parents, Figueroa's and their friends Brian and Sierra ,
and  Jefferson/Katie.










Rusty celebrated another birthday at the dunes!
He turned 14, and has probably spent half of them in his type of paradise.
What a lucky kid!

















The girls are getting to be better duners!
They prefer riding over staying back at camp.







Grandpa babysitting all of the toys while we all went shopping
at the shirt mart.




Lane starting smashburgers for everyone.




Birthday cake time!





Landon prank calling Abbey and Camille was absolutely hilarious!
He has a future in phone sales!















Not sure why he is driving but this is terrifying!








 

Thursday, February 8, 2024

Baseball, Birthdays and Some Other Things.





The last day we were in Wyoming Della didn't seem to be her chipper shelf.
We got home and the next morning she had a burning fever, sore throat and
had zero energy. Same story for Lane.
They both got hit hard with the flu and missed a week of school.

I can't remember the last time we had kids that sick for that long.
It was no fun.

This is her at the end of the week feeling much better!
We went outside to get her some fresh air.

You can see how happy she is to put the flu past her!




The youth put on a Veterans Dinner to honor those who have 
served our country.
Casey asked my cousin Leah if she could come speak.
If you know Leah, you know she is a God and Country- fearing woman!
She once taught History to highschoolers.
She is very involved in politics and her community.
She serves on the Queen Creek town council and volunteers for
sex trafficking organizations. 
She even had red, white and blue for her wedding colors.
It was so nice of her to come speak to us about how we need the Savior
to help us through these hard times our world is seeing today.






Rusty started baseball for his school team.
He did great pitching some games and loved being back out on the field.









I heard a knock at the door at 10pm.

I had a hunch it would be for Lane.
I was right!
He was already in bed so I quietly tried to wake him up to go see 
what was at the door.
He moaned and mumbled then rolled over, even after hearing what it was.
I told him I would take a picture and he gave me a thumbs up.

Ha, boys are so different than girls!
I'm sure most girls would have sprung out of bed with excitement.

His friend Phoebe asked him to WINFO.

I shouldn't be complaining, I ended up with a midnight snack!




Treys parents were out of town so he spent the night at our house.
We put them both in the toy room and it melted my heart to see
them playing a game with the girls.






LANE TURNED 17!!

As you can see, he loves posing for pictures.
Candid shots it was.




Oakley sunglasses, gift cards and candy.







And more money from the grandparents. 








Top golf sure got a lot of business from us!

Rusty had his birthday party.
We went down at 5pm for his event to start.


His friends from school.
Daxton, Cannon, Trygg, Redding and Trey.








After their time was up Casey took them to Andy's, then
to play basketball at the church the rest of the night.

I stayed at Top Golf because Lane showed up with his friends
for his party!





 

I love when I can hit 2 birds with one stone!

He didn't want a big 16th birthday party.
And to be honest, he didn't want this party, either.
The kid hates attention!

But this was a good compromise and I pinky swore I wouldn't sing happy birthday
or make a fuss in public:)





Wednesday, February 7, 2024

Sugar Loaf Haven




We did a thing.
We purchased an investment home in Wyoming!

It wasn't even something we were looking for, but happened to fall in our 
laps and felt right to do.

Long story short, my cousin Jonathon called Casey about a home
they rented last winter for a guys snowmobiling trip.

His brother has multiple homes they Airbnb in the area and is always searching. 
 Apparently this one was on the market.

One thing led to another, and we became partners with my cousin on the house!

It was an easy close, and within a month of it all starting it was ours!


We took the kids up to see it and do some work before we
put in on the internet for renters.


You fly into Idaho Falls and from there its an hour-ish drive.

We grabbed dinner before hitting the road.
Rusty spotted this skateboard and had to test it out!





Isn't she cute?!
It is in Star Valley Ranch.
A good distance around many attractions like Jackson Hole,
Teton National Park, fishing, many lakes and hiking trails.
Snow activities galore in the winter!




A VERY big plus to purchasing this home is that it came fully furnished!
A lady named Kathy from San Francisco owned it and didn't want
anything but her bike. 
This is how it looked when we walked in!






The master suite. 






The tub, OH the TUB!!
I don't have a big soaking tub at home, so this felt like luxury!
You better believe I took a bath each night.





Some rooms downstairs.








We ended up with a bonus surprise after we purchased the home.
When Casey stayed in it last year this door was locked.
It wasn't added in the listing for some reason.

But behind the door was a gym!!
And to the right was a big storage area.






It was late and we needed groceries.
Unfortunately in small towns they do not have grocery delivery.

So Casey and I hit up the local store and found Grandma Sycamore bread!
I bought extra to take home even.






This was more of a work trip, not a play trip.
We woke up and got going while the kids checked out the surroundings.






The view from the balcony.






I hate to say the word "work".
The house was in immaculate condition.
Kathy liked lots of nick-nacks and had an overabundance of everything!
Like more towels and sheets than anyone would ever need.
Not a bad problem to have, but the whole house needed weeding out.

So I cleaned out the pantry, every cupboard, shelf and closet.
Casey was doing maintenance things and touching up paint. 



We worked hard then decided to take a break and site-see.
Up the road a bit is Alpine.

In Alpine is the Hall family "cabin"...basically a mansion!
The Hall family owns the business my dad runs.
My parents go every year for a retreat and boy have we heard how
amazing it is! 
My dad gave us the address so we could check it out.

Yep, it is pretty grand I would say!
It is on a runway strip.
The back "garage" is a hanger where the helicopter and airplane can be parked.
Along with a pilot suite upstairs. 
There is a full gym, bowling alley, golf simulators, and who knows what else inside.
 

It is on a lake and has a mini golf putting green in the backyard!
It was fun to walk around and see it all in person.








We stopped for dinner at a restaurant that was attached to a hotel.
I'm glad Casey had been here before so he knew where was good to eat.
If I had just walked in on my own I probably would have left!

It felt like we were in a very old, rustic bar from the movies.
But boy, dinner was fantastic!

The boys played pool while we waited for the food.






I love that we are all old enough to watch shows together.
We started a season of Survivor and watched it as much as we could.
In fact, I believe we finished the whole thing!









Getting in their morning workout.





My pile of weeding out getting bigger!
Rachelle, my cousins wife, was in town and grabbed most of it to 
give to people in the community.
They basically live here in the Summer so she has gotten to know people very well.
It was perfectly good stuff!
A family scored a whole case of wine!
There was no thrift stores around to donate to. 
I felt bad throwing it away, so I'm glad it went to good homes.







I believe it was Veterans Day??
Loved the flags lining the street in the neighborhood.






They were sure tired from watching Survivor all day while we cleaned!






We popped into Jackson Hole for a couple of hours to check it out.

Got some ice cream. 




Got our picture in front of the iconic antlers!






And their favorite part of the trip, shopping!
They each got a shirt they wear weekly.









I ran into TJ Maxx in Jackson. 
You know, just to see:)

I couldn't pass up the chance to make the house
 feel festive with Christmas coming up.













Time to go home.
The Idaho Falls temple has the perfect picture taking shot.




Did you shrink, Rusty?
He started the trip with an oversized skateboard, 
and ended with an oversized taco!









It is named Sugar Loaf Haven on the vacation rental websites
 because the street name the house is on is Sugarloaf Drive. 
Isn't it the sweetest name?

I just know we will have sweet memories in this house
for years to come!