Walt's 77th birtheday

Happy Birthday, Walt. Our traditional family b-day breakfast is donuts and chocolate milk. Then for lunch I made him his favorite: Biscuits and Gravy. Topped off the day with a heart-shaped chocolate birthday cake. Hope you've had a Happy Birthday, Walt. I will love you forever!

The photo below is Walt at age 49 in 1983, when he was called to be the stake president of the newly created Burley Idaho West Stake.

Today, April 17, is the 77th birthday for my eternal sweetheart. He was 27 when we were married on June 14, 1961.

Since "7" is our favorite family number, "77" should be a great year for Walt!

(I'm posting this at 9:57 p.m. on Sunday, April 17th.)

Second installment of the remodel...

John and Walt Monday morning, April 4, finishing the framing for converting our garage/game room into a bedroom and bathroom for Grama A. Details are explained in the post just before this one. (I actually should have done that one first...but.)

This shows some of the bare barn wood of the game room walls.

Grampa and John Friday afternoon, April 1.

So we could say the photos above are the "after," and the photos below are the "before" referring to the walls showing "O, the places we have been and the things we have done through the years with our family."

Here is Grampa Mission with John, Jacee, and Jackson as they get ready to begin the remodel of the game room Friday, April 1. (And that was no April Fool!)

Here's an idea of what was on the walls. The orange bench (which Grampa A built) is open, showing the toys or it would show more of the wall.

This continues what I blogged about the remodel...mostly with the photos above.

We are so thankful for everyone's help and for John's expertise in designing and doing the actual building. Steve also took time to estimate the cost of what it would take to do this project.

Brrr...it's cold again today, as was Sat and Sun. Friday was the warmest day we've had--high 60s. Grampa and I always love to see the grandkids playing in the backyard swings, trampoline, hammock, tree house, and just running through the yard.

Saturday the kids also had spurts outside--between all the work they did in the game room--but they had their coats on.

Time out...up to date live happenings...

The crew...

General Conference was wonderful, as always! For years we have been in SLC for this spiritual weekend, but we had to break that tradition this year.

This Conference again fulfilled what I have written in my scriptures by the Parable of the Sower-- "at General Conference

we receive top soil."

For this blog I am recording events that are happening in our life now with having my mother come live with us. We have asked her for years to please come live with us, but she has always said: "No, I would never live with either of my daughters. I don't want to be a burden on them."

After being out of her home in Gooding for two years and having lived in a retirement center where all the meals are prepared, because of her losing so much of her eyesight and not being able to remember things, she has finally consented to come live with us.

Photo below: My sister, Janice, and I with Mom on her 91st birthday in January.

Janice, Julie and Maddie met Walt, and me at Sizzler in SLC to have a birthday lunch with Grama A. Janice is taking the photo.

My sweet 91-year old mother, Verna Albertson, can no longer live alone in her nice little apartment at the Highland Cove Retirement Center in Salt Lake City.

We have all our bedrooms upstairs and one in the basement, but she is so terrified of stairs, and almost legally blind, so we are remodeling our game room as a bedroom and bathroom for her on the main floor.

John, one of our outstanding sons-in-law, has been designing plans for the layout of everything and on Saturday morning we decided on the blueprint that worked best.

John had come on Thursday night, March 31, to get started.

Friday, April 1, at high noon Walt started taking down our life's memorabilia from the walls of the game room.

It had been our garage until 7 years after we moved into this home. In 1978, when we were starting to have teenagers, we remodeled it into "the game room." So for 33 years now we have been adding items to the barn wood walls.

Walt shared my sentiments as the walls became bare: "It wasn't really as traumatic and sad as I thought it would be to take everything off the walls."

John worked so hard all day and into the evening Friday getting the building permit, a plumber and electrician to come for bids, getting the lumber for the framing, taking the barn wood off the walls--which Walt was able to help with; then pulling up the old orange carpet and scraping the glued mat from the concrete floor. (Walt had two pre-scheduled meetings to go to Friday afternoon, so he couldn't help as much as he wanted that day.)

Saturday morning, Janie & Shawn came with Katie, Heidi, Sam, Ashley, Michael and Ashley. Jacee and Jackson were excited to have cousins here! Julie and Maddie are helping take care of Jen's family this week.

All of them worked very hard throughout the day. We did have Conference on the radio but will have to read and re-listen to the talks. The men went to the Gen'l Priesthood meeting, including Sam for his first time, as he turned 12 in January!

Now the only things left in the room are the pool table, the long bench that my Dad had built for their family room in the 1970s--it held bedding for them, toys for our grandkids now.

Just one of the five tall book shelves from the north wall is left in the room. Only our family will know and appreciate all the effort it was to move everything out.

We can't thank John and kids, Janie & Shawn and kids enough for the quick progress in starting this remodeling. John got the framing done for the walk-in closet and the bathroom finished. He is staying on Monday to finish the framing.

Janice, my sister, will be happy with the great start. She has done so much for Mom during our 6 1/2 years being gone on missions since 1995, and these past two years of almost on a daily basis stopping in to see Mom and care for her in many ways.

WE ARE THANKFUL FOR FAMILY FOR ALL OF THE ABOVE!