Saturday, June 27, 2009

July 2009 Is this blog still mine!

We are moving to Hong Kong as of July 30th 2009 - so I have new blog called Heidi in Hong Kong! Check it out...

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

July's Journeys!

The month of July has been very busy for us, we are traveling fools. We have been to Whidbey Island twice, Forrest Grove Oregon (Laura and Heidi), Boy Scout Camp in North Washington (Ron and John) and then it was off to Ohio, New York and Canada. We then found ourselves at the Ocean camping with our family and now we are getting ready to set off again to the Oregon coast for a youth conference. All this traveling and vacationing is making me tired! I can hear the sobs and visualize the tears you all have for us even as I write!




Here is a picture of Laura (17) John (13) and a much loved niece Cristina (16) outside the Palymra Temple. It was a beautiful day!

You can see the sacred grove from this place on the temple grounds. All of us had a wonderful time in the Temple - a special experience.



Later that day we had the opportunity to go to the Hill Cummorah Pagent and of course I got a little crazy with the camera but the girls didn't seem to mind having their picture taken with the " HOT" nephites!







John, Cristina and Laura with Sam, Nephi's brother and his little sister!

Laura and John just outside the Sacred Grove, what a peaceful and very beautiful place.



After some Church History sites it was off to Niagara Falls - the Canadian Side , and we even got our passports stamped!


Laura, John and Cristina with the American Falls behind them. It was picture perfect day!


Journey Behind the Falls - a wonderful wet experience!










Behind Rainbow Falls, Canada











After our Canada diversion it was off to Ohio to meet Audrey and Toren in Kirtland!


Then is was off to the Forsberg's in Columbus Ohio for some much needed rest!













We are safely back in Washington and awaiting our next adventure, the return of our son David from the New Mexico Mission on August 20th. I better go and get his room inorder and stop all this traveling!

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Happy Birthday Dad!!!

Most of you probably don’t know this, but 50 years ago something incredible happened in the world: my dad was born.

Because a person only turns 50 once in their lifetime, I wanted to take this opportunity to tell my dad (and all our faithful bloggers) how much I love him.

One of my earliest memories is riding on my dad’s bike. He’d strap me into the seat on the back of the bike and ride all over our Utah neighborhood. I used to get so excited that I’d sway my body from side to side, which threw off my dad’s balance and made it nearly impossible for him to keep riding. He had to continually remind me to sit still. One time my dad stopped to talk to the neighbors. He parked the bike on the sidewalk and left me in my seat. It was only a matter of seconds before the bike and I toppled to the ground. I don’t remember crying (though I’m sure I did), but I do remember my dad running over to rescue me.

Another fond memory I have is my dad coming to my soccer games. I started playing soccer when I was about 8 years old. My dad drove this ugly, brown Toyota Corolla with furry seats. I’d climb in the front seat of the car on game day, while my dad loaded our dog, Marble, into the back. At the game, my dad would walk with Marble along the sidelines cheering for me. I was usually too happy to even focus on playing the game. He’d spend the whole drive home telling me how well I played.

I also remember playing the piano with my dad from the time I was very young. I just loved to play with him (and still do). I hated when my mom would nag me about practicing, but if my dad would play with me then I’d be willing to play for hours. He’d offer to play the left hand while I played the right. Or we would often just sit at the piano and play duets. Several times we even played our duets in church.

Over the last 50 years, many people (including myself) have become better just because they’ve been around my dad. He’s the most honest, righteous and loyal person I know. It would be nearly impossible to find a man with a firmer foundation than my dad’s. For that, I look up to him. I’m grateful for my relationship with him and for the support, love, and guidance he’s continually offered me.

I love you, Dad! Happy Birthday! (Love, Audrey)

Saturday, May 17, 2008

"Turtlegaileyus"

John and Laura
Proof of Evolution - at least among the Gailey's

The Gailey Kitchen Transformation....


Well it has been almost a year ago this month that we started the

The Gailey Kitchen Transformation

and I am pleased now to post some of the highlights....



The Before shots... Heidi was picking out wall colors - see the wall opening into the living room from the never used dinning room.


Here is the kitchen space we had for almost 5 1/2 months! Now that was interesting. We could not run the microwave and other appliances at the same time - the circuit would pop and out to the garage we would go to reset!



Okay now we are going to show you some of the during photos.

It was an exciting process to watch - and rather dusty!!!

I just looked at my wooden blinds in the living room and remembered that I haven't yet wipe off the 1 inch thick dust that is just sitting there - but that will have to be another day, Audrey is waiting for me to learn to blog and post so the dust will just have to wait!


So John had a great time helping - he took out his homework frustration!

Dust, Sweat and Tears!



Down to the bare bones! Everything must GO.........


They had to move the heater venting, electrical wires, lighting, plumbing and a great big beehive that was up above the bay window - lucky for us they were all dead - that nest was huge - 2' x 4' and the bees were almost 2 " thick! Glad that is gone! The previous owners must of had a problem and sealed the bee escape route and they bit the dust -so to speak!


And now what you all have been waiting for - -- the finished look!

Heidi just loves it! And when Mom is happy the family is happy!



THE END

Saturday, March 29, 2008

John the Airplane Boy

John did a science project on . . . airplanes. Paper airplanes, to be exact.

He made several designs and then tested how long each one flew, on average. Each plane got six throws, and we dropped the shortest time, averaging the best five times.

Check out the pictures to see the clever designs. How long did they fly? 15 seconds? 20 seconds? Longer? Nope, the longest recorded flight was 9 seconds. But, it was good fun.

The Falcon

John's own design

Saturday, March 15, 2008

We're Finally Bloggers

Well, our oldest daughter, Audrey, is in town for the weekend and told us that it's 2008 and we need to get it together. She meant we needed to join the blogging world. So...here we are! Audrey had to walk us through every step of the way, but I think we've got it down.

In this first post I'll just give a brief update on the family:

Audrey and her husband, Toren, are living in Utah while Toren finishes up at BYU. Next month he'll graduate and the two of them will move to Columbus, Ohio. They're excited for a new adventure.

David is coming around the last bend in his mission. He's in Albuquerque, New Mexico and loving it! He's spent quite a while serving on a Navajo Indian reservation. It's been different experience and he's loved every minute of it. He comes home the end of August, and then he'll head back to BYU-Idaho.

Laura is graduating early from High School. She'll be done this June. She has a busy summer planned (EFY, Girls Camp, two vacations....), but she'll be off to BYU-Idaho with David in the fall. She's very excited to be done with High School and she's looking forward to learning how to live on her own.

John is in 7th grade and avidly working towards finishing his Eagle before he's 14. He's ready for school to be out and summer to be here. He plays the bassoon in band and his teacher is in the process of organizing a trip to Disneyland for the class. Not only will they be able to run amok through the happiest place on earth, but they'll also get to perform as a band there. It's not until next year, but John is ecstatic.

Ron and I just finished a huge remodel on our kitchen. It looks fabulous! I'll attach a few pictures in my next post. Sometimes we all just hang out in the kitchen because it's so big and luxurious. Other than that we've been busy with the usual things (Ron with work and High Council and me with seminary and all the running around/mom stuff), and we're also ready for the rain to stop and summer to get here.