Well, now that Cam and his family have moved back home to Edmonton, we had an empty house in Phoenix that we needed to 'fill up' and furnish! Doug and I decided to take a little time off and head down there to start getting it furnished. It was fun!
We had about 5 days to furnish the house, but what a lot of work! Now we know how hard and expensive it is to move into an empty house, and furnish it from scratch. Luckily, our friends bought a home in Phoenix last year and they rent it out weekly, and live in Edmonton, so they gave us a few good pointers.
They told us to buy all the large furnishings at consignment shops, which are all over Phoenix! Wow! That was a great tip...we really got most of the house furnished at about 1/3 of the cost.
Their next tip was for us to open an account at Kohl's...we saved 35% on all our purchases, even sale items that were marked down to 50% off! We felt like we were ripping them off, we got such great deals!! That made this even more fun!
We hope to get this house all finished up and ready to rent on a weekly basis by the first of September. Doug and I are going down again for two weeks in August for the final touches.
The great thing about the house in Phoenix is that it is only 10 min away from the Pinnacle Peak Temple that is currently under construction It is supposed to be finished next June. When anyone wants to go down for a little stay, they can just say they are going on a Temple Trip! It will be a fun get a way!
We have had fun with Cam, Di and the kids since their return. The girls are certainly growing up!! It is so fun to see Brooke riding a big girl bike now! I can't believe she's five!
Ava is growing up quickly, too! We went down last weekend for her fourth birthday. It was so fun to see her play and enjoy her new 'Ice Cream' truck that she got for her birthday. She even gets to colour the whole thing...maybe her mom and dad will help.
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We had some great BBQ'd steak and potatoes...and made some delicious cupcakes together. It was a fun day, and so wonderful to spend time with Jon and Tiff and their family again. Joshie's new haircut really makes him look grown up!
Two weeks ago we went down the Crowsnest Pass to assist our friend, Dustin Koga, to run in the 'Sinister Seven' race. It's a 148 km race over 7 mountain peaks and it is to be done within 27 hours!! Most people run it in teams, but our friend, Dustin was running it 'solo'! He had asked us to be his support crew and it was so fun (for us) to support him and get him through this. We were so proud of him, he actually finished the fifth leg of the race and ran over 122 km in just under 18 hours!! He didn't finish, and was quite disappointed with himself for not finishing, but we all did our best. It was a beautiful area to visit. He wants to train and try again next year!!
On the way down to the race, we stopped in High River that had flooded two weeks earlier. It was unbelievable the extent of the damage that has been done by the flooding to this quaint little town of about 20,000.
Many of these homes will never be rebuilt, so sad!! It really helped us appreciate what we have!
We did help out in some ways by sending donations down, but it's never enough. Our prayers are with them!!
We attended our first Hindu wedding this weekend! Our dental assistant, Monika Dhunna, got married and invited us to several events. On Wednesday night we attended a pre-marriage reception with full buffet supper and open bar (we enjoyed free virgin caesar's). The next evening, the Henna party, and Saturday the full ceremony. It was spectacular! Wow! What an event!! They are a beautiful, happy couple!!
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