Getting ready for Ragnar

Okay so the first two pictures have nothing to do with the Ragnar, but they were sunsets from the beginning of July 2011.  This is looking out the front of our house.  So cool huh!  It looked so much better in person.

 For Ragnar it isn't uncommon to see crazy costumes and crazy decorated cars.  Robert was getting ready for his Ragnar race and he was looking for some good costume ideas.  He was looking for wigs and all that.  The girls were helping him with the wigs he found. 

 Robert got some cool pink sunglasses to go with the pink wig.  Then one of the girls tried out the crazy wild black hair.  She felt like a rock star!  I think Robert found some fun glasses to go with this one too. 

 Amber looks a little funny with this hat and wig combo.  You gotta love her poses.

After all that digging in the costume box, finding matching glasses at the store....  Robert forgot all about bringing it, so he didn't even use them.  Too bad, it was good stuff!  Maybe some other race time.

Starting of July

Before I start this, I want you to know this will be a ReAlLy lllloooooonnnnngggggg entry, so if you don't have time to read it all, or you just don't like to read long ones, then wait for my next one that will have the highlights and the pictures too. 
July was a super busy month!  Back in June my Uncle Wayne was in poor health and at different times I thought he was going to pass and then he would recover.  My dad stayed most of June with him in California.  It looked as if he was getting better and the medical team decided he was ready for a rehab center and shortly after he got there, his body gave up.

My little family was planning on going to WA for the majority of July anyway, so we were busy getting ready for our trip, but instead our trip took us to California first to meet with other family members for the funeral of Uncle Wayne. 

I know it sounds odd that a funeral was a fun thing or a fun place to go to, but it seems the family I was born into has parties no matter what the occasion is.  They know how to have fun and live life.  It was a very emotional strain as well, I felt much sadness for my dad, losing his sibling and also Uncle Wayne's wife (Phyllis) left to pick up the pieces and move on.  Don't get me wrong, there were many tears shed!  I seemed to have been sitting in the sobbing section, or was that just me sobbing?

I met my parents and most of my siblings in California.  I was the only one there with kids so it made it kind of tricky figuring out what to do with that and how to entertain them and yet still get family time in too.  Robert was wonderful!  One evening as we were at Phyllis' home, Robert took the kids to see a movie so I could visit and spend time with family.  Many of my aunts and uncles were there along with several cousins.  It was great to sit around such wonderful people and enjoy the moment.  I wouldn't have been able to do that if Robert hadn't taken the kids or entertained them for me. 

I am not sure why crazy things happen to us when we get together as a family but they do.  "The Boys" (my dad and his brothers) had car races with little cars, then others were able to race their own cars too.  My aunt Margie who wasn't able to attend sent a care package with all the goodies in it, the cars, dum dum suckers for the "dum dums" who didn't want to race, and a book to record the events of the race and other messages too. 

Following the funeral (the funeral was held on a Friday I think and then because of 4th of July, the graveside wasn't until Tuesday) as the weekend ended most of us all headed back home, or for us Utah Girls that meant starting our trip to WA but now we were making the drive from California up to WA.  My parents and Kelly (brother) stayed for the Graveside services and then would drive back to WA.

We decided to make a fun trip out of it, and take the scenic route along the coast on highway 1, go through the redwoods, see the ocean, stay a few nights and then drop Robert off at the airport in Portland on my way to my parents house.  Unfortately for me, I missed many of the cool scenic things because all those windy roads equals car sickness to me.  I ended up trying to sleep off the nausia and the head ache of it all.  I'm not good at those scenic drives unless I am driving.  I thought I would be okay, but I always think that and I never am. 

Because we were on the road for 4th of July, we really didn't do anything.  No fireworks, no celebration.  I think we might have seen a few fireworks on the beach but instead we polled the girls and a movie and popcorn won the vote.  Kind of boring, but it was so cold and windy that I was okay with staying inside instead of trying to brave the crowds and the winds in a town we were unfamiliar with. 

With all the driving and stopping we did, somehow we ended up with some car problems.  I am normally pretty laid back about things, I figure it will all work itself out, it won't really matter much in the end and it will end up being no big deal.  Robert on the other hand gets a little more upset or worried about it.  It first manifested itself as we were waiting in line at a drive through redwood tree park.  We smelled something really bad like melting rubber and then heard a funny squealing noise too.  We shortly discovered the car heating up but we couldn't really pin point what was happening with things, the cause of it, only that it was happening.  We thought we would get it looked at down the road, but then it was 4th of July.  We decided to say a prayer and chance it and keep going. 

It didn't seem to be much of a problem except for when we were stopped and idling.  As we were driving especially at higher speeds it seemed to cool the engine off naturally and it was no problem.  The problem was that the whole way back from the coast to the airport we were in stop and go traffic the whole time.  The car would over heat, then it would cool off, then it got scary HOT and then we would go and it would cool a bit down.  We even got off a different exit because we saw our exit was backed up and we couldn't sit there at that high of engine tempatures. 

Poor Robert, he was so stressed!  About the car acting up, getting to the airport on time, the traffic we were in, leaving me with a car that was having problems to get up to my parents house.  He was so stressed about it all.  I kept telling him we would be fine and that all would be okay, it would all work out okay. 

We all made it, we got Robert to the airport, he caught his plane on time, I made it to my parents, and all was good.  Well except for the large repair bill we paid as we were on vacation.  All in all, our car did good!   Funny thing, well not really, my sister Lorri, had car trouble coming home from CA too, and I think my parents' did as well. Lorri's car lost the A/C and my parents' lost OD in the automatic transmission. 

We stayed at my parents house then for a few weeks and then Robert came up and ran yet another Ragnar Race.  I was able to hang out with lots of my siblings during the time I spent there.  It was so nice!  My sister Lorri took several days off work to come hang out with me and my girls.  Along with my other sisters who spent lots of time at my parents house. 

It was kind of odd and sad at the same time.  My parents are putting their papers in to go on a mission.  In doing that, they will be selling the house and Pony Poop Farm will no longer exist.  It seemed kind of weird and strange as I looked around at things.  I thought, this will be the last time we do this, or this or go here. 

One day I went out to my dad's shop.... I was immediately overcome with tears and emotions of sadness.   My dad has wanted a shop for as long as I can remember, he finally has one.  As I looked around inside at all the tools and things hung around, I wondered what would it take to keep the house.  What would it take to keep this shop.  My dad's dream was now going to be lost.  I couldn't take it.   I sat in the barn shop, and wept.  As soon as I could get ahold of my emotions I called Robert and tried to see if there was something we could do, anything?  (If only we didn't still have our rental house, that would be enough to take care of my parents house for sure!)

I later talked to some of my sisters about it.  They had all thought about different things too, but nothing really would do it.  Nothing would really make things better or keep the place for my parents.  I couldn't handle it emotionally, how could this happen?  No matter what we could all do within our means, none of us combined could make it work out.  I have since dealt with the idea of it, and am okay with it.  Not that if I wasn't they would change anything.  It is just a house, it is just a place, it is a place where many memories have been made, but those memories are with each of us.  They do not stay there.  They will not fade away as PPF disolves and becomes someone else home. 

I don't mean to make it sound like my parents mission is a bad thing.  It is a wonderful oppurtunity and I am so grateful for their example to me... and especially to my children.  They are trully sacrificing EVERYTHING!  All the things they love, all the things that they have worked hard for, and the things that they have dreamed of, they are giving up or setting aside for 18 months.  From the house that they have lived in for nearly 40 years, the horses, the farm animals, the playground area my Grandpa made, the shop my dad and his brothers built one summer, my mom's dog, her bird, the roses, and not to mention my mom's whole family lives all right there too.  This is a sacrifice for them!  What an example, all the things they are giving up to serve our Heavenly Father.  It seems like such a huge deal, but then when you really think of it, it is just stuff.  (Stuff I am very attached to though.)

I think as this chapter of the book ends, with my parents' place gone, all of us kids are aware of it.  We are aware of what matters most.  Family.  It seems that each of us are a little more aware of each other, a little more motivated to stay in touch and stay close.  My parents will be leaving, and it brings up questions in my mind.  What does that mean to me and our summer vacations for next year?  Will we all still gather at their house when they return?   Will our WA trips be over?   I guess many of these questions have no answers now, but in time they will.  It is kind of the unknown and it is scary.  I think of when my Grandparents left their home in CA, their house was the big gathering place.  When they were gone that was the end of gathering together really.  With the exceptions of funerals, we don't get together.  Our families get bigger and we focus on our own.  It seems strange to me, it seems like I won't be able to lose those bonds with my family, but will I?  As I departed then, it was a little harder to leave, not knowing when I will be back, things feel uncertain, and I get more teary eyed when I leave, it is getting harder to leave my family as this transition is getting closer.  I wonder if my siblings and I will lose touch or have long periods of not seeing each other.

Our journey took us 29 days and 3600+ miles, and many thoughts to think through.  We finally made it home.  I wonder if that will be the last time my children will experience Pony Poop Farm.   I know there will be other adventures in other places, but it makes me a little sad too having our last visit at Pony Poop Farm, or was it?

I got some trees!

It takes so long to get everything all ready.  You plan and plan things out how you want your yard to look.  Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't work out.  I carefully thought it all out how I wanted everything to be, where I wanted this and where that should go.  I have visited the store countless times looking for great deals and things that will be perfect for my yard.

I found 4 trees that I loved, one in particular that I had to have the minute I saw it.  It took some time to get ahold of the right people to get them.  I was so excited the day we picked them up.  4 trees for our yard!  I could hardly wait to put them in their places!

After all my hard work and planning, I think my yard is done!  It is such a accomplishment when you get it all taken care of and it is finished.... well almost! With all the excitement of doing our yard, the neighbor kids wanted to help and so did my own girls.  For the most part it was helpful, but the idea and picture in my head wasn't the same outcome of their helpfulness.

See here it is... my finished yard.....  for HALLOWEEN!

I must admit it looked better at night.

 There's Spiderella!  It was formed after Emily.  I wanted to do another one this year for one of the other girls, but didn't ever get around to it.  I was so busy...  life has been CrAzZzY!

 We covered our lights with these pumpkin buckets.  If only I would have remembered we had 3 with broken handles, I could have used those instead and used these are real treat buckets.  Oh well, they were $.97 a piece.

 This was my FAVORITE tree.  I loved the black bird in it. 

 Would you have guessed these use to be tomato cages?  They are turned upside down.  Then I put lights on them too so after 6pm the timer would turn on these lights and any lighted pumpkins.

 Here's our graveyard... it was so windy, I didn't ever put the grave stones out.  I was afraid they would blow away. 

 We had tons of bugs and snakes on our front door.  The kids even put some on our door bell.  They didn't decorate how I had it all in my mind, but they had fun decorating and it was okay.  I am getting better at letting go of things being done MY way.

 Here's one of our trees that we got... from the garbage pile at the public works building.  Robert that I was crazy!  Perhaps he is right.  "You got dead trees for Halloween?  Why?" 

 This is Jack, he come back every year now.  Him and Spiderella.  The girls told me I put his shoes on the wrong feet.  Ooops!  A neighbor boy told his mom, "did you know that Jack is just fake?"  Kind of funny!

Then I also got some sticks...  I think they were from my trees mostly.  I put them in a pot and we had spiders and snakes and bugs hanging from them.  The girls put spider webs all over them, but I didn't want them that way.  I took most of them back off.

Up all night

While Robert was running the Ragnar and basically staying awake all night... I was up all night too.  I got this last minute idea when I was getting contact solution for Robert late one night.  I have been looking for some solution for our bedroom, fabric that I like, comforter/duvet cover that I like.  I wasn't for sure what I wanted.  I did want a bedskirt which we didn't have, I wanted a pretty place to unwind and a place that would be desirable to be in.  (I was going to get him a holding banquet type table.)

While I was shopping I ran across a "bed in a bag" kind of thing, which had sheets, blanket, sham covers, bedskirt all in the same package.   Most the one I see and like are upwards of $100 or $200.  I am cheap... I am VERY cheap and don't like spending that kind of money on things.  Robert on the other hand, he is not cheap, he doesn't even look at the price tags I don't think. 

This bed set was $44, so I thought.... I can do that for a KING size bedding set.  I can live with that.  Not to mention fabric may be at least that and then I would have to sew it too.  At that point I thought... this will be for Robert's father's day gift.  I grabbed the bedding and then went to look at fabric.

I got fabric for the curtains, for $5....  a piece that would do shear under curtains and then grey outter curtains too.  I also picked up a grey flat sheet for $3 which I thought would come in handy.  (I love buying cheep fabric from other things to fill my needs.  I often will go to second hand stores and buy sheets that I like for other things, or even curtains to turn into different things.)

I also have been wanting to get a headboard for our bed, which we have NEVER had for any of our beds.  I remember seeing something with wooden pallets that people have used the wood from them to make other thigns... then I also remembered seeing a wooden fence like look for a daybed or a girls garden kind of bed.  I decided I would kind of go that route. 

It was Friday about 2pm and I found some wooden pallets off KSL classifieds for free... picked them up and then went to get paint from Walmart.  I also got some sand paper.  (Later found out we already had sandpaper, but that is okay.) 

I came home started pulling the boards off the pallet... and my goodness, they are stuck on there really hard!  They have those pallet nails I guess they are called, they are twisted nails, so they are inbetween a nail and a screw.  They don't pull out too well.  I had a hard time getting them out without breaking the boards or splitting them in half. 

I finally just got Robert's circular saw and cut down the sides of the pallet, then I just had the middle nails to get out of the boards.  Some of the boards would have 4-6 nails in just one side of the board.  Once I started cutting the boards things went much smoother.

At about midnight, after putting the girls back to bed (they were having a friend sleepover) I started to sand my boards.  I had shut my garage door, and spent the next 3 hours sanding my boards.  I then played with the salvagable boards to make a headboard.  I didn't have enough of them to make a full headboard without spaces, so I moved things around and played with it. 

I then decided to paint some of the boards pink and some grey.  I painted all my boards and about 4am, I ran out of paint.  Ugh!  I didn't want to go to the store to get more paint with the kids at home.  I knew I needed to clean the house too, so I went inside and cleaned the kitchen starting with the dishes. 

Once the paint was dry (it didn't take too long) I started arranging the boards together, and then nailing them together.  I have to admit, I wasn't loving it... something was missing.  I couldn't do anything more, it was now 5:30 am... I swept the floors and did some laundry and sent a few texts to Robert who was trying to figure out why I was awake.  Finally at 6am I went to bed, knowing I needed to wake kids up at 8:30 to get breakfast before the sleepover girl had to go home at 9:30ish. 

I woke up at 8, took a shower and suprisingly felt pretty good all day.  I think it was because I was too busy and was on the go all day so I didn't have time to be tired.

I talked to my sister for ideas... since I wasn't loving it and was afraid it wouldn't look rustic but instead just look like it was unfinished with the screw holes and the cracks in the boards.  I was afraid the fabric style and the headboard style wouldn't match. After talking to hear I decided to putty some of the holes and paint the whole thing grey and leave the pink out.  I puttied and sanded, then repainted.

In the meantime of it all, I made the curtains, hung them and cleaned all the toys out of our room and tried cleaning things up in there.  I made the bed and pulled it out so I could attach the headboard.  I sanded the corners of the boards and got a call from Robert that was saying he was on his way home... I quickly took the headboard up to my room (it was in two parts) and screwed it to the wall.  I pushed the bed back, put all the pillows on it and it looked great, or so I thought!

I am always trying to be frugile and Robert knows that... so once he saw it and we were laying in bed, I was asking him... how much do you think the headboard cost me?  He answered $4.  I told him to guess realisticly, then he said $40.  He knows how frugile I am I guess.  The headboard cost me $17... wood was free, paint was about $13 (including the pink that I repainted) and the sand paper was about $4.  And the curtains were $5, oh and the curtain rod was like $7.  I did buy 2 extra pillows too for the shams so that was extra too.  With all that, even though it was a good buy and things were pretty cheap in my oppinion, I was out of grocery money... which is what I used.  Oops! 

Amber seems to like our bed too! Almost as much as she likes her hat which she wore to the girls' baptism.

Now I just need to work on the furniture in our bedroom that I would like to replace...  Maybe that will be for Robert's birthday in September?

Mowing the lawn and thinking

This last weekend we went to our old house to mow the lawn.  I thought the kids could play with friends or in the backyard as we mowed the lawn.  That way I could help Robert and he didn't have to do it all.  It turned out the lawn mower lost a wheel and the gas hose was all cracked and leaking.  We called it quits after the front lawn and almost half of the back was done, which is when the wheel fell off.  I told Robert I could go back on Monday since it was early release with the kids and they could watch the little girls while I finished (and fixed the hose and the wheel). 

On Monday I was mowing the lawn and just thinking...  it brought back so many memories of that house and living there.  I recalled birthdays in the back yard, summers spend with kids in the pool and where I would set up my chair to watch them.  I pictured the girls jumping on the tramp and sometimes even having the sprinkler under it while jumping on it.  We had a few croquet games in the back yard... the endless hours of me pushing the girls on the swings out there...  the snakes we would chase.  I remembered what the yard looked like in the back by the apple trees when we first moved in and were just renting.  It was all tall orchard type pasture grass.  It took lots of work and time taking all that out and seeding grass.  Robert even lost his cell phone out there when he was dragging the dirt getting ready to plant seed.  It was a miracle we even found it. 

As I mowed the grass I remembered the different places we had the garden, and how I would change things again to make better use of the large yard.  I mowed past the different mulch piles we had.  I mowed over rocks that the irrigation water brought in, I mowed down the small hill the kids would sometimes roll down.  I mowed the areas that we had a tent set up to camp out in the back yard.

I spent several hours mowing the lawn and just thinking of all the things that happened in this house...  all the birthdays, Christmas', new babies that we brought home to this house.  We had lots of game nights playing "Don't eat Pete" which was a favorite, but also played many other games too.  I remembered when Robert was going to school on the weekends, so every Friday night was movie night.  The girls and I would rent a movie, pop popcorn and sometimes have some sugary treats while we watched a movie. 

It was both happy and sad for all of these memories to flood my mind.  It made me grateful for the memories we have made, the traditions we have started in our family and some that we have carried on from our childhood.  I am grateful that I have healthy happy kids to have all these memories and that I am able to be home with them. 

It made me realize how coming to this house makes me feel like I am coming home... even though it isn't our house really anymore and we have a new place somewhere else.  I still feel like this house is my home.  I feel like this is where my friends are, this is where I belong, this is where I would like to be, where my life is.  I pull up to the house or drive down the street and I am recognized and greeted by those around.  Those that I love are here.  I miss each of them.  We lived there for over 8 years so of course it feels like home... and since we have been at our new place just a little over a year it doesn't really feel like home yet.  I know it will come one day and I will feel like I am home and my new place is where I belong. 

It kind of made me sad that Amber didn't remember our old house... she didn't remember it had a swing in the back or what it looked like inside, she does still remember her best friend Jacob.  I knew Samantha wouldn't remember anything at all.  The girls looked at the house and commented on how small our old house was.  Which is precisely why we moved.  My older girls will remember the house, the friends, the memories that all belong to our old house.  I will still probably hear them say, "I wish we never moved" for some time to come.  I hope one day they will feel like our new house is where they belong too.  I am glad that they have those memories of our old house and all the wonderful things that were a part of our lives there.  I hope those memories never fade for my girls. 

Sick House

It seems that we keep getting the stomach flu which brings on throwing up, or as my girls call it, "the throw ups" and they aren't very fun. 

It started about 3 weeks ago when Emily was sick in the middle of the night, then Lauren was the next morning which made her miss church.  Then that next weekend Amber was sick, then Lindsey, then Samantha, then Lindsey again, and again, and Samantha too, then Lindsey, and Samantha again, and I got it, then Samantha threw up again, then Lauren threw up last night, and now Robert is throwing up today. 

We are just sharing this thing back and forth... it is crazy!  I want to complain and be mad as Robert has been laying in his bed most the day and texting me to bring him things... and I am mad and want to complain because when I was sick... I was home with the girls, had to get them to school and home from school and then also take care of the little girls.  I am so jealous that he is just feeling awful by himself in his bed.  I wish I could have done that. (The day that I was sick, Robert did see the twins off to school while I laid in bed wishing I didn't have to get up.)  I even took the girls to gymnastics that day, although I called and had Robert pick them up because I needed to be closer to the bathroom.  He did take the older girls to dinner that night and to parent teacher conferences which I was grateful for, but I was still home feeling yucky with the younger girls. 

Sometimes it is just so hard being a mom...  sometimes it is no fair either!

Chrismas Eve Masked Visitor

On Christmas Eve we went to some friends house for a party.  After we spent a wonderful evening with their family (parents and siblings of the Johnson family) we came home.  I still had tons of wrapping to do.  I was up until like 2am wrapping and finishing things.  I still didn't complete all the projects I wanted to, but I just gave up at about 1:30 and said forget it, I think this is good enough. 

As I was putting some cardboard away in the recycling container in the garage... our cat was going crazy meowing at me and all.  When I opened the door the cat let out this big HISS!  I thought it was just a neighbor cat in the garage he was upset about but when the what I thought was a cat looked up at me, it had a black mask around its eyes...  It was a big FAT racoon.  He stared at me for a few seconds and then walked back to the kitty door and escaped the same way he came in. 

I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it with my own eyes!  Then I was thinking about the garbage sack that was torn into a couple weeks prior to that, the kitty door that was broken, the cat food sack that was scratched through, no to mention the large amount of cat food we have gone through lately. 

I just hope the racoon isn't a she and decide to make a nice little home for some babies in our garage.  It is so messy in there I don't know that we would even notice her.  We have since seen little coon tracks in the snow to our garage kitty door.

We have moved the cat food inside the house but if the racoon can get in the garage kitty door, I am sure it is capable of getting into the house kitty door too.  Robert complained once that there was something LARGE in our kitchen when he came down in the middle of the night.  I told him he was just seeing things.  I am maybe not so sure now that he was maybe seeing things...   I would like to set up a camera to see what that little critter does in our garage (or house) all night. 

Graham Cracker Houses

We made graham cracker houses again this Christmas season.  I thought about making the gingerbread and then I thought about buying the kits but instead we just used graham crackers and I did make some royal frosting to make them hold together better. 

This is Lauren with her house. 

Lindsey with her house.

Emily with her house.

Amber and Samantha didn't really make any.  We did this activity with some neighbor friends that Robert home teaches (and they home teach us too).  Some of them made it "rain" candy on their houses.  Emily when I was taking her pictures she said, "I wish it would have rained candy on my house too so that I would have more candy to eat."  That is just silly because she still have the majority of her halloween candy left and would have more if the little girls hadn't been eating it too. 

Halloween Decorations

This is our first guy we made... his name is Jack.  We put newspaper in some old clothes and then zip tied him to a chair covered in a garbage bag. 

Amber always calls the kids we see at the store cousins or brothers or sisters.  We teased her and said her cousin Jack was here to see her.  She hadn't been around while we were creating him.  She came down stairs all excited and with big smiles and then saw Jack and was a bit upset and afraid.  She said, "I don't like Jack.  He isn't my cousin."  We thought it was funny, but she didn't see the humor.  She still isn't real fond of Jack, although today she said she thinks Jack is funny.

We moved Jack to the front porch by the door. 

Next was a mummy lady, we call her Spiderella.  She was formed in the image of Emily.  I layed Emily down on a cardboard and took wire and wired it to one side, then put the wire over Emily and then measured and cut the wire to wire to the other side after Emily got off the cardboard.  I think I will redo her next year.  I used a garbage bag over the wires to make the form, but I wanted to use cheese cloth and didn't have enough for it.  I think next year I will redo her.  After she was formed, we rolled her in spider webs and then added a few spiders to her.  She was kind of cool.

Last we put up a grave yard.  I bought some supplies at Home Depot and then spray painted them black.  When I spray paited them it made a giant blister on my finger... I guess it froze me.  It was uncomfortable for about 2 weeks at least. 

I added the skulls to the posts and then draped some spider webs over too.  I didn't put the grave stones out until Halloween, since I was afraid they would blow away.  The wind blows often here.

The girls helped with the cobwebs too.  They draped them over the rocks in the front.  We didn't really have anything to stick the cob webs too.  At our other house we had bushes and trees and our bricks and all that they stuck to really well.  We had some cob webs up from the beginning of the month.  Finally on the day of Halloween I had the idea to stick some wire here and there to stick the webs on.  That worked really well, and I added more cob webs. 

Now I just wish we would have gotten that fog machine we saw... although we didn't have the money to buy it.  And I wish we would have bought the skeletons too that I wanted... again that was a money issue.  I coudn't see spending $40 on decorations when the girls still didn't have costumes.  Maybe next year I will buy one of them.  I hope next year we have better decorations.  It is fun now because the girls really get into it.  Before Lauren was pretty scared of Halloween things, and she still is a bit but not as much.  Now the girls love to think, "we have the spookiest house on the street" even though maybe it isn't true.  I think they take pride in helping things look spooky. 

Now we have to figure out Christmas stuff... which will be REALLY hard since we have no trees bushes or anything like that to put lights on.  Maybe lights on the rocks?  I guess there is time to figure it all out. 

Yard Update...

Here is the latest updates of our house, from beginning to current condition. I am a little frustrated with the grass, but I think it will end up okay, I just get frustrated right now over the large bare spots due to the rain and wash out after the hydroseeding. *grrrr*


Our house when it was on the market...

Our house as of a day or so ago...

This is the side/back view of our house, prior to us buying it.

This is again, on the market picture....
and current view....

This is what our yard looked like this spring before we started doing the yard work.

This is what it looks like today....

This is before the yard work. We added to the corner of the rock walls, its hard to see but their was a bit of a gap.

This is during the winter, in our muddy yard, where Lauren got stuck in the mud.

This is a picture of our front side yard from the balcony that the kids took.

This is after our rock wall in the front and side of the yard.

Here is our trenching... for sprinklers.

More trenched yard....

Other side of yard after trenching...

Back yard, you can see the added rocks here in the corner...

South of front yard, after sprinklers where covered up.

Curbing...

back yard curbing and future cement slab/patio

More curbing and ready for the hydroseeding...

Future spot for our playground...someday... (where the bobcat is)

This is what our grass looked like when we left for Washington... beginning of July.

This is what the grass looked like beginning of July...

This is what it looked like when we got home around the 27th of July.

Back yard when we got home...

Back yard now...













Front yard when we got home... (compare to the above picture of what it looks currently)

Front North yard when we got home....

And now.... a bit of a different view, but it is coming along.












Rob has planted some seed in our back yard which seems to be the worse of the bare spots... hopefully it will all work out. We also have a bare spot along the South of our garage, I guess the sprinklers there aren't working out good or something. Looking at the whole picture, it is a big improvement... Can't wait to get PLANTS in here. Although that will have to wait until next year. *sigh*

Sorry, I tried and tried to fix the gaps and the formatting but couldn't make it work out... Sorry!