May 2024

 Wednesday 5/1

HaPpY MaY DaY

It must be true, April showers really do bring May flowers !

Thursday 5/2

The warm weather is on the way so . . . .

The sprinklers had to be turned on - both front and back yards. The good news is, everything works !!

Friday 5/3

Tonight we attended another wedding reception. 

This one was for a grandnephew.

Chase and Carli Wasden

Son of Mishelle & Todd Wasden

(Steve's sister, Cheryl, and Ron Fuller's daughter)

Top: the Fuller family
Cheryl, Heather Ogden, Nathan, Mishelle Wasden, Andrew, Mindy Godell, Ron
Left: Nathan, Heather, Mindy, Andrew
Right: Ron Cheryl - forefront, Nathan, Todd, Mishelle, Sally at table

  

The reception was held at the Prairies Edge barn in the outskirts of Kuna, Idaho. It was fun to hug and visit with several nieces & nephews that we don't get to see very often.

Saturday 5/4

Tonight, our ward had its annual "Talent Fair"

Many wonderful talents were "on display"

Ceramics, Stained Glass & Woodworking were just a few we enjoyed.

After dinner, we were the first "act" to be performed

Linda started out by giving an introduction, Reese was a good sport about getting all dressed up - pioneer style, Linda played the Rendezvous Overture while Steve played the slide show which was projected on the back wall of the stage from our laptop.

After the talent show part of the evening our brave Bishop was the main attraction in the dunk tank

It was rainy and cold outside, but he boldly sat in the chair beneath the "soak 'n wet" bucket and let the kids take turns throwing beanbags at the target. Several of the kids were able to hit the target !!  Poor Bishop Walke

Monday 5/6

This morning we went to Parma

Ron & Cheryl picked up Dave and they headed to Parma. At the same time, we drove our car and arrived at Marilyn's house about 10 minutes before Fullers & Dave. 

We had a nice visit and got to see all the "projects" Marilyn has been working on since Keith's passing. Marilyn served up a yummy lunch and then we all headed for home.

On the way home we made a couple of stops . . . 

1st stop was at the Cemetery to visit Keith's grave site and see his unique marker. It is a small cemetery, but very nice and peaceful.

Our 2nd stop was at Zamzow's in Middleton where we purchased three Early Girl Tomato plants and a pony pack of  alyssum for our back yard.

Wednesday 5/8

Today Steve had an appointment with the skin doctor to remove a spot of skin cancer in his right ear

1st They numbed the ear - then . . . .

took the first sample (that's his ear in the middle of the blue) and sent it to the lab while Steve sat in the waiting room with several other patients that were doing the same thing.

Once the lab report came back  (about 40 minutes), It indicated there was still a little bit, on  one edge, that needed to be removed sooo . . . .

They did one more sample. After another 40 minute wait, the report came back clear and he was done!

They put this dressing on his ear and gave him instructions for taking care of the wound. He will keep this dressing on for two days then start changing it daily until his follow-up appointment in five weeks, on June 13th. 

Thursday 5/9 

Today is a BEAUTIFUL day. It is the perfect day for working in the yard, sunny and warm with temperatures in the mid 70's

Remember those tomato plants we bought on Monday?  Well, Steve got them planted today and while he was doing that . . . 

Linda trimmed our Clematis plant. Before she did, there were lots of gangly vines all over the purple side of the plant. After she trimmed all of those off, it revealed all the buds that were buried under all that overgrowth. Now we can't wait for all those buds to open up.  

Last fall the tail got broken off this little fountain bird . . . .

Today, Linda gave this little birdie it's tail feathers back !

Friday 5/10

Once upon a time, our two Golden Green Dogwood bushes looked big and full like the top picture . . . 

Now, sadly, they look like the middle picture, sooo . . . .

Today we bought two Potentilla plants to replace them. Their bright yellow flowers will bloom all summer long and be a beautiful addition to our back yard.

We also had a few "firsts" today

Our first duck "couple" wandering around the front yard. The first Iris opening up and our first  purple clematis bloom. Spring just keeps showing us Mother Nature's beauty

Saturday 5/11

Today was our Ward Temple Day so we decided to go online and make an appointment. It will be the first time we have been back since Steve's surgery.

Before our session, at 2:00, we saw Steve's sister, Marilyn, and two of her daughters, Melissa & Jennifer, and we had a short, quiet visit in the hallway. Our session was nice with more than half the seats filled.

It was such a beautiful day that after our session we walked around the temple grounds then we drove through the Epic Shine Car Wash and had something to eat at Costa Vida. It's been a good day!

Sunday 5/12

Happy Mother's Day

Flowers, cards, phone calls, visits and surprises all made this day pretty special

This evening, to top the day off, we had a nice ham dinner - mmm mmm good !

Monday 5/13

It was the perfect day to work in the yard. Warm temps but overcast with a slight breeze. We decided to finish up our "planting" project.

Remember how, "once upon a time" it looked like this? . . . . then . . . .

like this ? 

Well, Matt dug  the two dead plants up for us and then . . . .

Today, we planted the new Potentilla

One bush planted under the Gum Tree and . . . 

.

One planted next to the Hibiscus on the back of the house.

We also got the Sweet Alyssum planted

Three in the barrel under the gum tree, one in the lamp post pot out front and two in the front planters. The hope is they will grow quickly and spread to make a beautiful clump of fragrant purple flowers.

Wednesday 5/15

We love our sidewalk planter that leads to our front door

Cute little ducks wandering around through the pansies add some fun to our front yard landscape, Mom's fountain, clematis, ajuga, lamppost, rose bush, and hostas plants all welcome visitors to our house. 

Friday 5/17

Today we decided to drive into Meridian and check out the new . . 

Scheels Sporting Goods store. We were surprised at the number of cars in the very full parking lot (and store).

Inside we found the full-size, 16-basket, Ferris Wheel. While we were watching it load/unload (30-minute wait and $1 per ride) . . . .

Our nephew, Brian Waldrop, walked up behind us to say Hi! He and his wife, Lisa, live in Henderson, Nevada and are in town for a high school track meet. It was a fun surprise to see and visit briefly with them.

As we wandered through the store we found this amazing Wildlife Mountain up on the second floor.

There were all kinds of,  life-size, stuffed critters all the way around the mountain from little prairie dogs, foxes and skunks  . . . .

to deer, elk, bear and moose. It is quite the store and has just about anything you could possibly imagine.

Saturday 5/18

When we looked out the window this morning this was what we saw

It just gets more beautiful every day, but the blossoms will soon fade and fall off the vines leaving the empty green vines to enjoy for the rest of the summer. So glad we have the technology to preserve a memory like this !

Tuesday 5/21

It's another beautiful day so . . . .

out to the front yard we went with our clippers in hand

Steve begins Trimming the bushes in front of the house that have too much bushy new growth on them

1 - Just getting started . . . .

2 - Just finishing up . . . .

3 - All done and looking beautiful - nicely done Steve !!

While Steve was busy doing that . . . .

Linda was busy trimming one of the Ajuga plants

1 - These beautiful blooms turned to  . . . .

2 -Not so pretty, dead blooms so . . . 

3 - Off they go, one little bloom at a time - and looking much better.

Thursday 5/23

It's almost June and our Rhododendron is finally blooming

 From the funny looking bud to a bright pink flower, it's a beautiful plant. We wish it was in a more visible spot so it could be seen by more people.. It finds its home on the east side of our house, tucked in between our house the the neighbors, just in front of the backyard side gate. 

One week later... it looks like this !

Friday 5/24

As we backed out of our driveway this evening this is what we saw . . . .

The sun was shining, for just a moment, on a little spring shower. It didn't last very long and it wasn't a full rainbow, but it was sooo bright - beautiful

Sunday 5/26

This is Memorial Day weekend so . . . 

Up goes our flag to show our gratitude for the sacrifice given by so many in an effort to preserve the freedoms we enjoy every day.

A couple of weeks ago Matt surprised us with a new Bosch dishwasher, sooo . . . .

Out with the old 17 year old Whirlpool and . . . .

In with the new !!

The installation didn't go as smoothly as he hoped

It started out fine but it wasn't long before he learned that

He had to install an electrical outlet and . . . .

do some plumbing work. Here he is checking for leaks. During the first attempt, there was a bad leak that required ordering a new part. With the new part installed, everything was good and no leaks !

Once the electrical and plumbing were all hooked up, the new dishwasher had to be put in place and then leveled. After lots of adjustments the job was done and the new dishwasher was looking beautiful. We've already loaded a few dished in and can't wait to run our first load.

Thursday 5/30

Last night we ordered a cover for our office chair. It arrived early this morning

 (5 a.m.) from Amazon

About a year ago we repaired the chair with some leather patches and it looked really good. However, after a years time the patches started peeling and more of the faux leather/vinyl was bubbling up, tearing off, and making a mess. This new cover looks great and hopefully will last more than a year!

Friday 5/31

Another beautiful day for working outside

Steve did a little tree trimming and . . . .

Linda did some trimming of her own

Two weeks ago, our clematis was big, bushy, and colorful, nearly covering the children playing in the fountain. Then, the wind came and blew all the beautiful flowers off. Today Linda trimmed it back and, with Steve's help, spread all new mulch for the turtles to play in.

We give this "all-spruced-up" planter a big thumbs-up!

We also had yet another "first"

Yesterday our first rose bud started to open up.

Today it was a beautiful open flower

And with that, we have come to the end of the month of May. We have loved being outside and working to beautify our homes landscape.