We had our first dinner guests today -- Joe & Carol Townsend from Denver -- on their way back from a friend's wedding in Yuma, AZ with a stopover in Mesa. We hope you will be next at our door on your way to anywhere.

Reminder -- you can click on any photo in the blog and it will open a larger photo version. Then click on the "back" key to go back to the blog page. At least I think that's how it works.



This is the "almost finished" living room that adjoins the dining room -- at the entrance. Still waiting on shutters for the windows. Do you remember the carousel table from the old barn. The monkey table is also in this room. The chandelier is fun piece that I found on line.



This is the dining "room" ... not quite as cozy as it was at the old barn ... but still filled with the same warm memories of our many gatherings with family and friends.



Now this is a transformation "after photo" of the kitchen and great room. The distressed black pub table with six stools is a fun find from Craigslist. Can you believe the before and after transformation - with display shelves above the cabinets ... finally an open and bright kitchen with a cathedral ceiling ...




Remember that old pine wood wall unit in several pieces on the floor of the family room -- this is the finished product without books (so far) but with the TV, and birdcages and ferns on the top display shelf - and table games stored in the cabinet, lower left.

Still waiting for window shutters to arrive in two weeks. Late last night we stopped long enough to watch our first movie on the new set up -- a favorite entitled "Seems Like Old Times" with Chevy Chase -- thanks to Micah who connected components and shows me how to make it work. It is a user friendly system - as long as the user is Micah. ;- )





This is the "Hall of Fame" photo gallery that used to be in the upstairs hallway of the old barn in SLC. Now it is just off the kitchen -- where I pass it many times a day.



Next is a "before" photo of Tom with his trusty hammer -- tearing out the old closet to make way for Closetmaid organizers from Home Depot -- that he put together over three days.




While Tom de-constructed the closet -- Micah washed his car. ;- )



























Can you believe -- after all three PODS were finally emptied and 50 boxes of "essentials" were unpacked and put away -- with 50 more still in the garage -- Micah still found room for his car in the garage to keep the desert dust off of it during the night. Notice Micah in the car -- talking with Kait on his cell phone !!!






This is Nathan Speakman, our master plumber and new father of firstborn son born this past weekend. Nathan is giving the "thumbs up" sign -- that the "pot filler" is installed and working fine. Notice the "pot filler" really is filling the pot -- the scrub pail -- on the floor. ;- )

Reminder -- you can click on any photo on the blog -- and it will open a larger photo.




















True master carpenters at work -- Ray Moyers and his son who did the finish carpentry on the wall unit and installed crown molding on the kitchen cabinets. They are a great team. Ray is the father in law of Denyce (Dever) ...


I threatened Tom not to include this photo -- of me ironing the sofa -- but then I thought -- hey, its my life story, and this is what I do -- I iron sofa slip covers ... on the sofa in the sunshine, in my pink PJ's and slippers ... my "uniform for the day."



This is what things really looked like for about a week after the PODS arrived ... while we unpacked and put things in their places. Noticed the laptop on the pub table -- which was our communications center -- and work bench for that week. Notice the Frosted Mini Wheats on the counter top. It was Tom's night to cook supper. ;- )





Sunset over the pool ... red sky at night, sailors delight.























Home Sweet Home about a few days later. Can you see any progress in unpacking the boxes? Also, notice the bag of taco chips on top of the box on the kitchen bar. It was Micah's turn to fix supper. ;- )









This is Micah -- in his "uniform for the day" -- opening the lock on the last POD. Wow, what a three day whirlwind, moving it out of the PODS and into the house and garage ... with lots of boxes still in Jennie's room waiting to be unpacked -- while I play grandma in Hawaii visiting Matti and Jon, and baby Eden -- now age 2 -- and their newest baby boy Parker -- a charmer with big blue eyes !!!

These two "huskies" from ABLE Movers -- were life savers. They arrived in the nick of time to help unload the PODs and do the heavy lifting when we were exhausted from three weeks of hard work renovating and getting the house ready for furniture to arrive. The mover behind the grandfather clock pulling the dolly is from Logan Utah -- moved to Phoenix 9 years ago.


Notice the smiles -- as we opened the first POD in Mesa six months after we packed it in SLC last September. WOW what a journey ... thanks to family and friends who took us in, lifted our spirits, set a place for us at your dinner table -- and a room for our air mattress. ;- )




















The cabinet painters re-did all the cabinets doors - sanded them down and re-painted -- using ladders stretched between paint cans in the drive. It was a meticulous all day project and the cabinets look great. The painters finished just as the first POD was being delivered ... perfect timing.

The first POD to be unloaded was the last one we loaded in SLC. That is Jennie's bike from Jackson Hole on the left.

This is the PodZilla used to "walk" the POD from the truck to the garage door for unloading. Sure was an easier "walk" than at the old barn in SLC between the huge pine trees.