For Sale, Again

Yesterday I found out that the house we owned in Pleasant Grove is for sale. Evidently the owners, for whatever reason, need to move on already. While I don't really care (since it's not my property), I am amused at a few things. First, it appears that the current owners haven't pulled a single weed since they moved in and the front yard looks like serious carp. Now that they are trying to sell, they want to do something about their jungle and have asked the local ward to come and fix the yard up for them. Second, I am amused at their asking price. According to the listing the house is "Priced to sell quick." We listed the house at, what we felt, was a very fair asking price,... $229,900 in December 2009. We sold the house, in 3 weeks, for $228,000 plus a counter top allowance and some closing cost assistance. Based on information in the newspaper yesterday, the median price of a house sold in Pleasant Grove during the second quarter of 2011 was 17% lower than the median selling price in 2010. So, house prices in Pleasant Grove are still on the decline. So the owners have listed the house at $240,000 and are offering a $5,000 allowance if they have an offer by August 12. Ummm, good luck. Evidently the owners believe that they are the exception to the downturned market. I have always felt that the PG house value was right around the median selling price. In this case, the house should sell for around $195,000 (and the house across the street is also for sale and is listed at $186,000). Sorry owners, but you are priced way high. The last thing that amuses me about the listing relates directly to the first thing- yard condition. I noticed in the listing that the front yard looks really nice in the picture... that's because they used my picture from our listing! Our lawnmower is even in the picture! Too funny. Well, I wish the owners luck in selling and hope they find something better suited for them. I wish for great buyers to move in that will love the house and the neighborhood, and will stay around for a while.

In case you are interested, the rest of the listing description is... Don't wait to see this immaculate home with beautiful new granite counters. Price includes a $5,000 seller paid allowance to be used at buyers discretion until Aug. 12. Other improvements include new undermount stainless steel sink with new faucet, under-cabinet lighting and new paint upstairs. Perched on the hillside gives you a million dollar view of the valley and sunsets. The garage is oversized. Water the lawn easy with the secondary water system. Neutral colors. Great floor plan. Nice neighborhood.

Crayola Goes Politically Correct

Since forever, I've been frustrated that there never was a good skin toned marker. Pink wasn't right. Brown wasn't right. So I always left my people "paper colored" when drawing. Crayola tried to have sort-of-skin colored crayons in the big boxes, but I never thought I was any of "those" colors either. I've never considered myself "Peach" or "Apricot". I even once tried "Melon" but that only worked if I wanted to portray myself with a sunburn. Crayola has finally realized that they have been neglecting the skin tone colors. Fear no more... Crayola has come up with the Multicultural Crayon Pack. They sell an 8-pack of crayons (or markers) that are a variety of skin tone colors.So my question, whose skin tone is actually "White"? Is "White" in the pack for the albinos? Not even the albinos are truly white. Get that marker out of the multicultural box! The best part about these special special is the product description... "Multicultural colors in an ethnic-sensitive color palette" and "Answers the need of today's teachers who are instructing about diversity and respect for others in schools." Go Crayola and how long until Rose Art copies this idea?

Hydrogen Peroxide is Amazing

Friday night, Dan and I took Nolan and Miles to Trafalga. It got really dark while we were miniature golfing. Miles was trailing along behind us when Dan heard Miles crying. Dan turned around and picked Miles up. Blood was pouring out of Miles' mouth. I grabbed him and ran him to the ladies room and tried to get the bleeding stopped. I tilted him forward and the blood started pouring out his nose. The general manager of Trafalga saw us rushing to the bathroom and came barging into the bathroom to see if we needed help (and the GM was a man). There were two sweet young teenage girls trying to be helpful as well. Eventually the bleeding stopped and Miles stopped screaming. I cleaned him up. I cleaned the bathroom up. The blood was all over his shirt though (and I mean all over and of course, it was the one shirt of his that I really, really like) After reassuring the GM that Miles was fine and that there wasn't anything he could do for us and we weren't going to sue Trafalga, we hung out a while then left to go get Jonathan. We picked Jonathan up, went home, and I saturated Miles' shirt with stain remover because we were out of hydrogen peroxide. I washed the shirt Saturday morning, then examined it... blood stain city. Because I really, really like this shirt, I wasn't ready to declare defeat. I went to the store and bought a bottle of hydrogen peroxide and soaked the shirt in it for several hours before I washed it again. This time, the shirt was stain free!!! Hydrogen peroxide is amazing.

So what caused all the blood in the first place? I don't know for sure. My suspicion is that Miles was picking his nose and (because it was dark) tripped and fell and the fall caused him to jam his finger far enough up his nose that when he was standing upright, the blood poured out his mouth, but when tilted forward, it ran out his nose. Maybe this incident will inspire Miles not to pick his nose.

Family Reunion 2011- Belnap Style

Dan's immediate family held a reunion this week. We did a whole variety of activities... family night, yard work, an evening in the canyon, Snowbird, a movie night, etc.

Dan's parents live on 2.5 acres and it seems to have a mind of its own. Newell passed out a chore list and everyone got busy. Joel the Weed Whacker!
Newell the Pruner
Kevin the Tiller
Jonathan the Weeder
Parley the Paternal Farmer
Miles the Shoveler
Emily was a lifesaver as she watched over the little ones!After yard work, everyone cleaned up and headed up South Fork for dinner and a wild baseball game.. kids vs. old people.
Jackie and Joel
Nolan
Lynn and Sierra
Holly, Bona, and Parley

The next day we met for lunch at Chuck-a-Rama then went up to Snowbird to play. Everyone chose their activities- tram ride, zipline, alpine slide, mechanical bull, ropes course, etc. Nolan on the Ropes Course
Hannah going for a ride
Dan
Lynn and Sierra
Sydney
Jonathan the Cowboy!

We took a family photo (including one with everyone, but I don't have a copy of that one yet!)
Here's the grandchildren picture... I think we were only missing 1 grandchild!

Skinny Dipper

Garden on Steroids

I planted a vegetable garden just after Mother's Day. For weeks and weeks it did nothing... it was too cold. Yesterday I had one o those "Whoa" moments as I looked at the garden and it seems to go viral overnight. There must be steroids in the irrigation water.The peas are inaccessible due to the overgrowth of tomatoes and pumpkins. The peppers are still lame though... growing, but not impressive. I poked around to see if there were any soon-to-be ripe veggies. Here's what I found.

Keeping Up with the Brothers

Anything they can do, Miles attempts it too...


He's jumping off everything that is high up now... dressers, desks, couch arms, etc. I think it's just a matter of minutes/days until we are visiting the ER with a broken leg or split open head. Fearless is not necessarily a good thing.