Thursday Janet Pops in to Arizona

I was sorting out boxes and trying to organize wall cabinets (day after day, I am never moving again) when Janet called. She had just flown in to the new Gateway Airport from Washington State where she had been taking photos. We met at Superstition Springs and she treated me to Pizza and we gabbed and gabbed. Then she was off again. I asked a young man to get our picture.

Easter Sunday

Even Grandma got up early to go with Grandpa to Rob's house to watch the Avery and Audrey hunt for Easter Eggs, followed by a wonderful brunch whipped up by Chef Robert. The kids kept missing the eggs hidden in the Lime Tree, they were concentrating on ground level. And - Audrey and Avery found 2 of the strawberries were already ripe so they picked them for us all to taste. There were even Easter eggs in Pappa's Tomato Plants. Grandpa put Rabbit Ears on audrey in the last picture.

Good Friday with Grandkids

Good Friday I got to spend all day with Avery and Audrey and Kylee came over for a couple of hours too. Audrey had a tea party with her stoneware cups. We had tiny Carrot Cookies and Italian Bunnys & Chicks cookie cut outs from AJs. Avery and Audrey love playing Power Ranger Ninjas. Look at how fast they move - the camera can't catch them - they are a blur of speed. We played Hide and seek, sometimes in teams, and we played UNO. We also built snakes with dominos and then castles to knock down.

Last nights Disaster and last nights Success

Reg got off early yesterday so he started right in on continuing work on the kitchen. I was moving stuff and clearing the work table ( AKA the tempory Kitchen Counter table) and I tripped on one of the cartons on the floor and fell on a cabinet that Reg had put together but we hadn't wanted - it wasn't in our plan, we couldn't figure out how we had gotten it - and we were waiting to take it back to IKEA to get our partial refund - anyway, it crashed over onto 2 drawers I had just built and the back split pretty badly - so no it's no longer a concern to take back for a refund.
Reg built the drawered base cabinet that goes next to the refrigerator. Boy was that tricky. The directions jump from 1,2,3, to 10 !!!! But, as we opened the boxes for the small drawers, then the big drawers, we found directions 4 & 5, then 6 & 7, and on a strange piece of wood - wrapped in clear plastic that looked like a too fat shelf was direction 8, and a plastic wrapped long retangle pole had direction number 9 and direction 10 in the orginal booklet of the cabinet. There is a lot of detective work in building your own IKEA kitchen. We were also hesitant to open the packages because, although you can still return them, you get less money for the return of opened packages. As you can see from the picture of the drawered cabinet - it turned out great. Reg figured out how to do all the adjustments so the drawer fronts fit perfectly and they use those auto closer gadgets beautifully.

From the Top Down

Reg/Grandpa is almost finished with the top cabinets and now is finishing asembly of the base cabinets to be sure they will all fit correctly.

Sunday Morning

5:30 am (Good Grief - what Am I Doing up at this hour ?? ). Here's Reg with his Sunday paper. Today, in addition to his banana, I cut him up a plate of oranges from our tree for his breakfast. It was a little wet to pick them but well worth it.

Saturday Rob Helps Dad Building Kitchen

Reg is still working on the kitchen, and Rob came over to help him. The cabinets are VERY heavy and so much of the putting together requires 2 strong people. The guy who we paid to put in the 2 toughest cabinets asked if we wanted "Crown Molding" because it would alter how he put in the supports. We didn't, and he hung the corner wall cabinet and put up the suspension rails for the other cabinets. Turns out - in the secret IKEA Language, "Crown Moulding" is not the ornate, 4-8 inches wide stuff you see on This Old House or HGTV. It is just the 1 inch trim that goes along the top and sides of the cabinets. Reg found this out by going to IKEA and getting sent to talk to the store kitchen Guru Guy. This is why we paid the extra money for the IKEA contacted decorator - who is supposed to tell customers about these things BEFORE they start putting thier kitchens together. Unfortunately - the designer who we got assigned was not up to par. This has caused us a lot of money, time, extra work and (on my part) tears and heartache - plus it is now 4 weeks without a kitchen. I would never ever recommend getting an IKEA kitchen to anybody who I like ( but what a great way to destroy and demoralize an enemy).

Notice in the backgroud of the pictures all the tucked here and there temporary pockets of kitchen areas.

Audrey has Pneumonia

Wednesday Rob called to ask if I could stay with Audrey. She had been to the Doctor's office and he diagnosed her with Pneumonia again. She gotten 2 shots that day (plus medicine to take at home) and she would need to stay home from school.

When I got there on Thursday morning her fever was way down and she was feeling better - but still not up to her usual self. You can see from her eyes that she is still feeling wiped out at 8:00 am. For almost 3 hours she just played on the Nick Jr web site while I plied her with water & juices, and Chicken Noodle Soup for lunch. I taught her how to use the bowl as a cup to drink the broth, explaining about poor manners but when something is good for you it's OK to do it.

She started to perk up and by the afternoon she was her bubbly ball of energy again - wanting to run and play. She loves to have me wrap myself in the long vacuum hose that has a cover that looks like Python Skin. Then she tells me which Power Ranger she is and who I am supposed to be. Then she runs to the next room and waits for me to yell "Help Help Pink Power Ranger (Yellow Power Ranger, Green, etc), I am being attcked by a giant Python snake". She comes charging in yelling things the Power Ranger TV Cartoon characters yell and chops off the snake with her foam sword, pulls all the loops off me and rescues whoever I am (she likes me to be Grandpa or Papa, Avery or Sydney or Kylee, etc). She wants to play this game over and over. She just loves it.

New Oven

New Ovens don't come with plugs already on them these days. You have to wire your own plug. The wall wires are at the very bottom of the floor - here's Grandpa in a tough space getting the wiring set up.

Our 46th Anniversary

We had a great day. We went to the Alta Mesa Park with Rob and the kids. Then we came back to our Sunrise Village Home and went swimming in the 86 degree pool - followed by lunch at Mcdonalds. Then Reg and I came home and had a nap (we needed it). Later on we went to Rob's house and he made us dinner and we played with the kids. Grandpa built great big tall towers with dominos and Avery blew them down. Audrey and I played dominos and she beat me twice.

Pictures of Avery and Audrey in the park snacking on slices of oranges from Grandpa and Grandma's Orange Tree. Avery and audrey getting a rocking/rolling truck ride with Papa being the rocker. Avery and Audrey with swinging on a tire swing with Papa and Grandpa. Avery and Audrey, Grandpa and Grandma in the swimming pool.

An Advantage of Living in of Sunrise Village

Ahhhh, here I sit at my computer, shopping for Blu Ray players, sipping a glass of Orange Juice from the oranges I picked just a few minutes ago off our tree. They are small because the tree was not watered this past year - but they are the juiciest and sweetest "Arizona Sweets" I have ever tasted and there are 100's and 100's of them on our tree. 100's and 100's of sweet, succulent Grapefruits on the Grapefruit tree too. This will truly be the prime lifestyle we will be living. Tomorrow - our anniversary, swimming and grilling with the 2 youngest grand-kids. AzGrandma Valerie