April

 

Lunch with Sheri my old college roommate

Beginning of the month I was able to meet for lunch with one of my old college roommates, Sheri Fairbanks Smith.  It was so fun to visit and catch up.  It has been about 21 years since we last saw each other when I had a BBQ with Steve Johns, Devin Allred, Brenda Butterfield McCann and Sheri.  It was so fun to see her again.

Friday, April 3 we flew to Pensacola Florida to begin our week vacation in the Gulf Shores.  We decided to fly in a day earlier than our condo check in, got in around 8 p.m.

Lunch at Whataburger on our way to 
Gulf Shores.

The next day we got up, had breakfast, packed up and headed to Goodwill to look for some t-shirts for Ben.  We listened to General Conf. as we then drove down to the condo.  On the way we stopped at Whataburger.  

We arrived at our condo and the views were amazing from our place!

View from our front balcony

Ben's family

Dock at the back of the property

Pool at back of building right by the 
dock

Checking out the beach

Picture of our living room

Picture of our bedroom

After checking in we went out to see the pool and then down to the beach.  The weather wasn't hot, but it was pleasant.

We were hungry so we went to dinner at Lulu's...a place suggested by  one of Jason's coworkers.  It was not just a restaurant.  It had a gift shop, a ropes course, an arcade, etc.  Since the wait was an hour it gave us stuff to do and look at.

Dinner at Lulu's

Elias eating a Po Boy sandwich.  Teneya
had some grits

Jacob eating his Po Boy

Jason had grits and I had a shrimp taco.
I tasted his grits and they were good!

After dinner we headed to Walmart to get food supplies for the week. This was roughly 10 p.m. and the store was packed!  I made a list and Jason and I divided and conquered.  It was sooo busy.  

Sunday was cloudy, cold and rainy.  That was Ok as we stayed in to watch General Conference.  Afterwards some went out to the beach to walk around.  My hip was kind of sore so I stayed in and worked on dinner.

Monday I got up and went to the small gym on site and because it was still cloudy and chilly, in the afternoon we went to Fort Morgan.  It was used mainly to protect the area during the Civil War.  It was pretty interesting.

Jacob in the cannon kiva

In the kiva looking place, at the bottom was originally a cannon.  It was on a pedestal and chained  to the walls.  They would load the cannon, pull the chains and it would lift it up to the top of the wall height to fire.  Then it was let back down to reload.   

Teneya, Jacob, Ben and 
Elias as the base of the 
REALLY steep stairs

At the top of the fort

Down inside the fort

This shows how steep the 
stairs were

 

When we were done with the fort we went to Tacky Jack's for lunch on the way back.  It was Ok, but wouldn't go back there again.  Can't remember what I had, but Jacob had a burger.

Tuesday was still a little cool, but late morning we went down to the beach.  The water was COLD!  Once you got in (apparently) it was better.  

Enjoying the beach.  

Jacob and Elias out doing the boogie boards

Jason and Ben doing the boogie
boards.

A view from our balcony.  Ben, Andrea, and the 
kids are by the right most umbrella.  Under it
and in front of it. 

Dinner at sunset

Look how the ocean made a "shelf" out of
the sand to sit on.  The next day it was 
flat like normal.

After the day at the beach we came back to house and Ben and Andrea did dinner.  While they prepped dinner Jason and I went down to the pool and got into the hot tub.  I just put my feet in as it was so HOT!  Came back in a  ate out on the deck.  So pretty with the sunset!

That night we watched Goonies.

Wednesday morning we left at 10:45 to drive to Mobile to catch our air boat tour at noon.  It was an eco tour and the guide was very knowledgeable.  

Starting on the airboat

If you look REALLY hard you can see
the alligator

 

Riding the airboat

Riding along the inlet

After the alligator airboat ride we drove over the the USS Alabama battleship.  It is huge and you can walk all through it.  When you enter the building to pay they have an entire warehouse size room with WWII airplanes.  It was cool to see!

Jacob and Jason with the planes

USS Alabama 

So big and so many levels to climb down.

From there we went to Felix's and I had crab soup.  Jason had grits again, which I tasted and they were very good!  My soup was OK.  Jacob had a burger.  That was pretty much what he wanted all week. 

After Felix's we drove back to Gulf Shores and went to the famous Buc-ee's.  It is pretty big and has tons of stuff in it, but since we didn't need anything we just walked around.

We then continued back home and stopped at The Warf.  Ben and Teneya watch Survivor every week and at The Warf they play it on the big screen.  So we sat on the fake grass and watched.  It was fun!

Beautiful night.  A little cool.

Getting ready to watch

Here we go!

On Thursday it was cool again so we went out to the beach later.  It was still pleasant.  I walked along the beach with Jason and Jacob quite a ways.  My leg had been feeling better (I believe due to lack of walking and the cortisone shots), but by the time we were done walking back it was sore!

Beautiful beach

Catching some sun

All week we had been going to restaurants and asking if they served fresh caught fish.  Amazingly most do not.  The Catch was recommended to us so we tried it.  We go there and it was an hour wait.  Jacob and Elias decided they would rather get McDonald's so Jason left, drove them to McDonald's and then back to the condo.  He got back just as we were being seated.  The specialty of the night was swordfish.  Yum!  I got that and Jason got coconut shrimp and grits.  They were both so good!

Linde, Jason, Teneya, Ben and Andrea
The boys were back at the condo eating
McDonald's

Yummy swordfish

A beautiful place

We were talking about Gulf Shores and what we thought.  Other than the beach there isn't a ton to do unless you drive quite a ways.  I thought, for people down there, it was probably similar to us going to St. George for a few days.  You drive down, stay and hang out. As a "destination" it was good, but we wouldn't fly out there again.  

On Friday we left mid morning to get Ben's family to airport.  We stopped for lunch before we had to go back for our flight.  

What did we eat?  Burgers!

March

 Birds (starlings I believe) are RAMPANT this time of year!  On our neighborhood FB page someone wrote, " Does anyone else feel like they are living in the Alfred Hitchcock movie The Birds?"  It was funny and yes, it does feel like that!

This does not do the thousands of birds that have been landing in our trees!

The birds land on our porch overhang
and I guess eat the berries that are
all over the trees.

They they drop the remains in a line on the porch
in front of the front door.  SO messy!!

We forgot to take a picture before Chris left

On Monday the 2nd, while Chris was still in town after the wedding, Joy, Chris and Erick came to my house for lunch.  It was so fun to visit--especially since we don't get to see Erick very often.  

It is hugely sad that we couldn't  have Heidi and Kristina with us.  I wonder if it will every get better in this lifetime.  It is so sad!

On the 4th we went to USU Next Steps night.  Met with a financial counselor, visited the different majors, office helps they offer etc., and then got some Aggie ice cream.  For going they give you $250 to be used your first semester on books, etc. on campus. Compared to when I went to school they sure send a lot of info.  Much more that what I had!  

USU Next Steps Night

Texas Roadhouse for dinner

Saturday was my 62 birthday!  I did the gym, Jason and I went to Costco, and that night we did dinner at Texas Roadhouse. 

Got together with the girls for Margaret and my 
birthdays. Fun to visit.

The weather has been wacky!  
Sunday was a high of 80 degrees
and that is how it has been all
week.  Next week will be the same.

For Jacob's 18th birthday we took Jaxon and him to Sims Flat Out racing on the Saturday before his birthday.  They could pick their cars and track and it was fun to watch.  They seemed to have a good time.  

Monday, the day of Jacob's birthday, was a teacher workday! That alone was a gift to him!  He went to play pickleball with Luke, Benji and Henry.  

Monday, around noon, Catheys came over to
bring a birthday gift and sing happy birthday
to Jacob.  It was so cute and fun!
They brought him a huge bag of Mike and Ikes
and some cans of Arizona Mango.

It all fell apart!

The things they wrote on the bag were hilarious!  

"Buy 5" is a Steven He reference

Chili Lime steak dinner with the fam.

That evening Jacob had invited 5 friends over around 8 p.m. for pizza, cake and a movie.  Inviting them in and of itself seemed to be a lot of work.  They didn't respond to texts if they could come or not....but it seemed, in the end, that 3 were coming and then 2 others said they were coming.  Last minute 4 of the 5 bailed.  I couldn't believe how rude they are!  

Anyway, Paul came.  He seems like a nice kid.  Jacob also called Jaxon and he came over.  They seemed to have a fun time.

We sang Happy Birthday and had messy, but delicious
cake!

Jacob is now and "adult"!  

On Wednesday the YM/YW went to the Lindon Temple open house.  I went along to help drive, but they didn't need me for that, they needed me to be in a car so there would be 2 adults.  I was in the car with Peyton.  She is such a fun girl!

When we got the the line was SO long!  It was outside the front fence, went in up one side of the temple and then reversed back and around the front of the temple to the other side, up that side, around the back, through a tent and finally into the temple.  It took 1.5 hours to get in!  As usual the temple was beautiful.  There were just so many people that it was kind of hurried.  

Saturday morning Jacob and I went to Draper park to take graduation announcement photos. It went pretty well.  His eyes were bugging him so it was hard to get a shot with his eyes open.  

Our Senior Boy!

We headed home and Jacob went to lunch with Karen before going to buy a skateboard.  

Sunday was Palm Sunday.  Someone decorated the pulpit area with palm ferns and flowers.  It looked so good and the meeting was very good

In Activity Day we worked with Melanie Messam, from our ward, on an activity where the kids made cards with a message on it and then decorated with stickers.  That was last Thursday.  

Then on Monday we took them over to the senior care centers in our stake, had them sing a few Primary songs and they passed out the cards.  It went really well.  

Monday evening the Church came out with a new meeting schedule to begin in September.

Later that evening I did my nightly Wordle.  Look how fast I got this one!