New Year's Eve "Fun" :-(

It was a tough day today at the Rimington's.

This cute little split in a pipe . . . 

Resulted in a "lovely" flood in the basement.

The restoration company came immediately, took out wet wallboard, ceiling and insulation and fans were set up to try and salvage the carpet.

On the down side, the verdict is still out on Ken's custom fireplace. The workmen were positive the wallboard and insulation were wet behind the fireplace but the insurance company will need to authorize the costs of tearing out and replacing the custom woodwork. (sigh) Unfortunately, no way to get to the wet stuff behind the woodwork without virtually destroying the fireplace.

On the up side, my bookcase of childhood books was literally soaking wet from the spraying water but the books on the shelves were entirely dry! Not a single one was even damp! 

We're told it will be weeks before the studs are completely dry and work can begin to close up the wall and ceiling. Even longer if the fireplace has to come out. Although discouraging, the damage definitely could have been a lot worse. We're grateful the pipe was discovered before Ken left for the day and was located in area relatively free of anything irreplaceable! We were definitely being watched over today! 

Hope you all have a very happy (and DRY) New Years!

Gingerbread Fun!

This year a few of my children found their way home during the holidays to make gingerbread "houses". 

Conley, Tammy & Kevin

Amid a great deal of fun and laughter, three very different and amazing gingerbread creations emerged.

And then the next day . . . 

The Galactica blew up the house. :-)


Hope you all had a great Christmas!

Christmas Squid

Earlier this month I enjoyed a short visit from a few of the Arizona Rimingtons. It was a busy weekend (Teagen's baptism/Oliver's blessing) and the girls were thrilled to see each other.

Teagen, Bekah & Moriah - Baptism

Although a great weekend, we didn't have a lot of play time. However, the last day Bekah and Moriah sat down to make Christmas mice. This was a tradition from Ken's mother and she made them almost every year. Peanut butter candy shaped bodies, peanut ears, licorice tails and mini chocolate chip eyes. Bekah and Moriah thought they sounded fun and went right to work.

Making Christmas Mice

Suddenly Bekah turned to Moriah and very excitedly said "We could make Christmas squid!" Christmas squid?!?!?!? 

Those busy little hands went right to work and in short order we had a lovely tray of Christmas squid. :-)

Moriah & Bekah - Making Christmas Squid

Michael and I dutifully admired and ate our Christmas squid while we quietly gave each other a wink and a smile. Definitely a Christmas moment to remember for years to come!

After my company had left for home, I found this Christmas letter which Michael tells me is Bekah's. So cute I thought I'd share.

"Dear Santa Claus,

Thank you for all the presents last year and the last and the last and the last. I hope you have a good Christmas, too. I know some people still call you fat, but I don't think you're fat. You're just really chubby. Merry Christmas!   PS - This is how I imagen you."

Christmas smiles to you all!

Matthew 18:4 - The same is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven

What a busy weekend we have had!!! How often to you get to attend two important events in one family on one weekend! :-)

Teagen's Baptism . . . (Saturday)

Grandma & Grandpa with Teagen

 Heather, Teagen, Justin & Oliver

 Cousins - Teagen, Rebekah & Moriah

Grandpa & Teagen

Teagen looked beautiful and was so excited. Her father (Justin) gave the talk on the Holy Ghost using a compass to teach how the Holy Ghost can help us find the right way to go. The children were fascinated and gathered around him to see how to work the compass. It was pretty cute.

Oliver's blessing . . . Sunday

Justin, Oliver & Heather

 Grandma, Oliver & Grandpa

Oliver looked adorable on his special day, too. In fact, he was wearing the blessing outfit his father had worn over 30 years ago! 

It was an awesome weekend and I wish we'd taken pictures of everyone who came. During these two wonderful days we were able to spend time with our family which is truly the best blessing of all!

Lots of love to you all!

Frozen (not the Disney version!)

Ken's work offered discounted tickets for the Aggie football game today. We thought it would be fun to go to the game with Kevin and with John's family, both staunch Aggies. When the tickets were purchased several weeks ago we were having beautiful Fall weather. Today however . . . 

We saw this lovely crabapple tree coming into the stadium . . .

Scraped ice off our seats . . .  

Cooled down our hot chocolate in the cup holders

Tested out our winter gear . . .  

And had a great time!

PS - The Aggies won!

Halloween Fun!

Had an awesome time at our annual family party!

There were lots of spiders . . .

Lillian & Megan making spiders

A few spiders . . . 

artistic pumpkins . . .

Kimberly & Alicia

Abigail, Teagen & Natalie

great costumes (with a definite emphasis on the movies) from the silent era to Frozen and Dr. Who! :-) . . .

Keith, Olivia, Conley, Tammy, Ken, Me, Kimberly, Alicia

Natalie, Lillian, Abigail, Teagen, Megan

Conley & Tammy - my favorite Silent Movie Stars!

high-flying pancake flipping . . . with a few on the roof  :-)

Junior flipping

Older division

an adorable baby to cuddle. . .

 Tammy with Oliver 

a birthday to celebrate . . .

Megan

yummy brains . . .

witches brew . . . 

Kimberly and cousins

and individually cooked stir fry by my wonderful husband . . . 

Ken cooking stir fry

best of all . . . time with our family!!!

All in all . . . a great day!

What's Up Doc! - Carrot Harvest 2014

With all the things going on this summer, the garden was pretty low on the priority list. However, we did get carrots planted in the new grow boxes Kevin put in last year.

Kevin's 2013 summer project - Grow boxes

Kimberly and Alicia were here this weekend and helped with the harvest. They were pretty excited by our one "Goliath" carrot. 

Alicia & Kimberly - Carrot Harvest 2014

As I watched them digging and cleaning the carrots, I was reminded of a time 30+ years ago when their dad helped with our very first carrot harvest. The memory definitely brought smiles.

Marian & John (& neighbor) - Carrot Harvest 1979 

We must have harvested much earlier in the summer that year because its definitely not swimsuit weather right now!

I'm a Grandma!

Oliver Davis Rimington

Born: September 11 - 2014

7 lbs. 11 oz.

Grandma, Oliver & Teagen

The new family!

Heather, Teagen, Oliver & Justin

Loving big sister!