Homer Fuzzbucket's Miracle

 When our children were young, we went to the Antelope Valley Fair one year and ended up purchasing a big two-legged orange furry animal puppet that you can pretend to walk around. My kids liked him and played with him for a time, but he spent most of his days in a bedroom closet. 

I was always fond of him so I have kept him for over 30 years. He was never given a name until recently. When introducing him to Kessler and Wesley last December, I said his name was Homer Fuzzbucket. I'm totally sticking with that name.

Meet Homer. Isn't he cute?!

Unfortunately, it is very easy for the strings to get tangled up while playing with Homer - especially when little children are involved. I don't know how many times I've had to untangle those strings, and it's never an easy job.

Last April when Cheryl's family was here visiting us, I pulled Homer out of the closet and reintroduced him to Kessler and Wesley. They were having a fun time playing with him. At one point, Wesley (who is only 1 year old), got the puppet strings very tangled up.

A few people tried to untangle the strings, including Eric who was here visiting. Homer continued to be a tangled mess. Finally, we gave up and Homer was given back to Wesley to play with. Soon after that, she brought Homer to me. As I accepted him from her, anticipating that I would continue to try to untangle him, to my surprise as I raised him up to repair him, he was completely untangled! What in the world??? There's no way Wesley could have untangled that mess. I definitely consider it a miracle.

I BELIEVE IN MIRACLES. THEY DO HAPPEN!

And So It Begins!

 We have been working for months meeting with our contractor and his wife putting plans together for the remodeling of our kitchen, laundry room, and half-bath just off the kitchen. The day to begin this remodel finally arrived yesterday.

Our kitchen before demolition

Just a few hours later - part way through day one.

Day two

Prior to demolition, we had to remove EVERYTHING from the kitchen cupboards, desk, and fridge. It was a two-day job, but we finally finished it. Most everything was moved into our upstairs family room. We covered most of it with sheets in the hopes of keeping dust out of all our dishes and appliances.

We are, basically, living downstairs during the day now. We had to turn our basement into a make-shift kitchen. Not fancy at all, but we can work it out.

We are not ones to eat out all the time, so I am having to make meals in this make-shift kitchen. Not an easy task, but we can make it work. It's only day two...and the project will take about 6-8 weeks to complete. It's only just begun!!!

Epic Birthday Party

 

Today - July 12th - is Kessler's birthday. However, Cheryl and Parker threw a party for him at the Stronk's house five days ago (before they flew back to CA). 

Kessler is a huge fan of Jack Skellington from the movie "Nightmare Before Christmas", so that's the theme he told his mom he wanted for his birthday party. Many people on both sides of the family were in attendance and it was a very fun party.

This is the party invitation, which I thought was very cute.

This is the cake that my niece, Heather Bremner, made for the party. She is so talented! The cake was a big hit. It was not only cute, but very tasty as well.

Kessler posing with the cool cake.

While we were all enjoying the delicious hamburgers Parker grilled for us along with other delicious foods, Kessler got a very big surprise. His uncle Ryan (one of three) entered the room dressed up as Jack Skellington as music ("this is Halloween, this is Halloween") from the movie  played in the background.  It was an epic moment. Only a handful of us knew Ryan was coming dressed as Jack, so it was a very exciting moment. Kessler was so shocked to see "Jack" that he didn't know what to do or say. He just stared in awe at him. The other kids were excited about it, too!

Neither Kessler nor Wesley was afraid to sit on "Jack's" lap.

Ryan brought extra make-up with him so Kessler could get his face painted like Jack. Grandma Karla was happy to be the make-up artist. Kessler patiently held very still for the whole procedure.

Our two handsome "Jack's"!

Having "Jack" visit the party was a true highlight. I'm sure it made Kessler's day. It took a while for Kessler to discover who "Jack" really was. I think someone had to tell him. Great costume, Ryan! You did a terrific job playing the part of "Jack" and I don't think any of us will ever forget that awesome surprise at the party.

SIDE NOTE: Ryan didn't get the idea to dress up as Jack until about 4 hours before the party was to begin. He, luckily, found the costume on Facebook Marketplace and purchased it for $10. Someone he knows did his make-up, which took 2 hours to do. Pretty miraculous to pull all of that together in just 4 hours. I'm sure glad he made it happen. It was a magical moment!

Fun at the Zoo

It's always a fun, and busy time, when Cheryl's family rolls into town. They were in Utah for two weeks, but part of that time they were at Yellowstone and Glacier National Park with the Stronk side of the family.

It was great to be able to get together with them and those of us to live here. One thing we did was go to the Hogle Zoo. There were 8 of us in attendance: Alan, Ryan, Cheryl, Olivia, Evie, Kessler, Wesley, and I. The weather was great and we were able to see a bunch of animals. These are just a few of them.

This polar bear put on quite a show. He kept going under water and coming up right in front of the kids hovering around the glass partition. That's about as close as one can get to a polar bear.

There are play areas and a Merry-go-round to enjoy when you are not looking at animals.

Olivia was such a good sport to go on the 

Merry-go-round with Kessler.

Kessler loves eagles, so that's the animal he chose to ride on.

It's always fun to go to the zoo...especially when you have little children with you. I'm so glad we could do this with some of our grandchildren. Wish everyone could have been there.