Let the roofing begin................

It’s beginning to look a lot like “roofing” in our neighborhood. As a result of our April hail storm , it seems almost every home needs a new roof—ours included. Some people have hired their roofers and the signs are everywhere. Here’s a sampling of some of the signs we see each day as we go for our walk. Yes, we need a new roof, too. I wonder what our roofer’s sign will look like. Oh, and the advertising fliers and cards continue to show up on our door knob, steps, in the mail box, and some are hand delivered to us as we go walking.

Some people are using the same roofing company, but these are some of the choices

Men at work on one roof----some of the fliers and cards we received

Visiting the Beautiful Northwest

We feel very lucky to have relatives that live in the greater Seattle area. It means we have a reason to visit there often. This year we expanded our trip and included a first-ever Verne and Bessie Thorpe children’s reunion.

Our first few days were spent with Kathy in Monroe. We enjoyed playing board games every chance we got. Kathy and I took her dog Teddy for many walks and went to the fantastic tulip fields in Mt. Vernon while Russ did some household jobs for Kathy. Kathy’s daughter, Wendy, hosted the Easter dinner gathering at her house. We enjoyed great food and company.

Next came two nights at the wonderful Greenlake Guesthouse Bed and Breakfast near downtown Seattle. The children of Verne and Bessie Thorpe gathered together and enjoyed all the amenities of the Bed and Breakfast, as well as the beautiful park and walking trail around Green Lake. Just hanging out together and reliving memories from childhood and talking about our rich heritage was wonderfully wonderful. Russ and I presented each sibling with a beautiful Legacy Family Tree. We were inspired by the Legacy Family Tree our daughter, Julie, gave to us at Christmastime.

Finally, we spent our last five days in Federal Way with my sister, Tamara. My brother Randy joined us and together we all worked on many house projects and enjoyed some good food at Roundhouse Pizza and Azteca.

The pictures below tell the story best. Thanks, family, for a wonderful visit in beautiful Washington.

Easter Dinner at Wendy and Dave's ------------ Tulips at Roozengaarde Gardens

Tulips Fields at Mt. Vernon, WA ---------------------a close up shot


Dinner at Ivar's Salmon House on Union Lake ----- Breakfast at our B&B

One of the lovely rooms at the B&B ---One course of our breakfast prepared by our hostess

Playing the Thorpe/Brown Trivia Game -----Sharlene & Kathy love the B&B robes

View of beautiful Green Lake - - - - Kathy and Randy enjoy a snack in the Sun Room at B&B

Sharlene presents Randy, Tamara, & Kathy with their Heritage Family Trees

Close up of the Verne & Bessie Thorpe Family Tree

It's less scary when.....................

Yes, it’s less scary when you are 2,000 miles away. We were vacationing in Seattle when the storms and tornadoes hit our southern states causing extreme damage and many deaths. We who live in Knox County were lucky to just have somewhat minor damage. Many broken trees, windows, blown off siding, etc. Hail (the size of golf balls) damaged some of the wood trim on our home, ripped through 10 of our window screens, shredded our canopy, tore off rain gutter parts, pulled the post away from our fence and other minor stuff. When we think of what could have happened, we feel lucky. Our prayers and thoughts are with those who were less fortunate. Since we were away our children checked on our house and reported the damage and checked for leaks inside. We’re all waiting for insurance contractors to check our roofs. Many will need replacing. Tomorrow (Sat.) members of our ward, including my husband and sons-in-law will travel to Chattanooga, TN to help with the clean up there. They were hit harder than we were. I’m borrowing pictures my daughters took of the hail so you’ll have a visual of the hail.

Lisa holds hail in her hand with the gathered hail on her decking in the background.

Carter, Jared, & Claire add ping pong balls to show comparison - Lori holds hail from her house.

DAMAGE TO OUR HOME (NOT COUNTING THE ROOF)

This was a beautiful Hosta plant before we left town; now it's mostly torn to shreds.

It's hard to tell, but if you look closely, you'll see many hole in the screens. We will be replacing 10 window screens and we haven't checked the side windows yet. Guess we should do that.

Pre-Easter surprises--and not.

Just days before Easter, I found the most wonderful surprise in my mailbox: a package from Cara, Will, and Lincoln. (notice how cute those three bunnies are in the card) I was totally, totally surprised. What a sweet surprise and when I say "sweet" I do mean sweet. Cara sent some of her favorite Easter treats: Cadbury creme eggs, Cadbury mini eggs, and Starburst crazy beans. Thanks Dahlquists!

Easter Treats from the three Dahlquists

The next surprise was when the fertilizer man fertilized our front and back yard on the very day of our annual Easter Egg Hunt. What to do, what to do. Didn't really want to hide eggs in grass covered with fertilizer. Fortunately, Lisa said we could hold the hunt at her house, and it turned out very nice. Thanks, Sextons.

Traditional photo shoot required before the egg hunt

And they are off and running---------Our six granddaughters pose with baskets full of eggs

Now, a few things that were not a surprise: Sydney traded money for chocolate. She and Allie both came away happy. Allie and Carter found their own corner of the yard to sort out their candy and money.


Allie swaps chocolate for money----Carter and Allie sort out the goods

Just to make sure everyone had enough sugar I baked cookies with lemon frosting and sprinkles

The History of Swings---a pictorial

I remember the swing set that I grew up enjoying. When I had my first child my parents were determined that I should also have a swing set for my little ones, so they presented us with it as a Christmas gift in 1970. These were the metal type that usually had a glider included. Well our first swing set moved from Sunnyvale, to Walnut Creek, but when we traveled 2,000 across the country, the swing set stayed behind. But a new one was purchased soon enough, and Russ built a super fun fort. When we moved 2 miles, we didn’t bring the swing set, but we did bring the fort. Even before my first grandchild was born, I knew we needed to have swings again. After spending Grammy days with Trey (first-born grandchild) looking at swing sets, I knew we needed one in our back yard. I would take Trey and push him on the swings that were set out as floor samples. So I talked to my husband Russ and told him I knew we needed swings in our backyard. While at Lowe’s, I also found a nice slide that could come down out of the fort, a climbing rope, telescope, steering wheel (accessories for the fort), and yes, SWINGS!! Russ built an A-frame extension to the fort and hung four swings/bar/rings. As we went from one grandchild to many, the swings were in constant use. And actually, the swings were used by my own older children. (see pictures) As the number of grandchildren grew and grew, I realized, I needed more SWINGS. It took me about a year to convince Russ. Finally we bought more swings, and Russ once again, extended the A-frame, adding two more swings. I’m in heaven when I see six grandchildren all swinging at once, with the familiar squeak as they go back and forth, higher and higher. Take your time and enjoy the pictures as you review the “history of swings.” One picture was taken of a young man asking Russ permission to marry his daughter.

April 1954 - Richard, Kathy, & Sharlene backyard swing set in Provo, Utah

Summer of 1971 in Sunnyvale, CA --- Troy and Lisa enjoy swing set

Aug 1974 - Lisa and Troy husk corn by swing set ---- Walnut Creek----Feb 1974 - Julie & Lisa

July 1975 - Julie and Lisa swing on my old swing set in Provo--Sept 1976, in Walnut Creek, Joel enjoys glider

Summer 1981 - Brad and Lori in Walnut Creek

Spring of 1984 - Brad, Julie, and Lori look cool -- S. Monticello in Knoxville swing set

June 1997 - Trey and Allie on new swing set in backyard of Butternut Lane home



August 1997 - Lori and Scott, followed by Scott asking Russ permission to marry Lori--and of course this important discussion took place at the swings -- Butternut Lane Swing Set

July 2003 -Cousins Hayley, Dillon, and Mali from Washington visit the Langford and Sexton grandchildren

October 2003 - Grandpa with the Knoxville grandchildren

2008 June - Jared, Carter, Claire ---July - Lydia, Grandpa, Josh, Emma and Ben

Two more swings = a total of six - Connor takes his choice - Oct. 2008

October 2008 - Grandchildren

2008 Oct - Sydney leaps from swing

2010 May - Sydney pushes Afton in baby swing --- 2008 Dec - Grandpa pushes Andrew

2010 April - Grandchildren at play ---2010 July - Silas, Hale, and Koen visiting from Utah

2011 March - Emma flies as Lydia watches

Afton and Lydia are amazed as Emma walks down the slide - 2011 March