Phase 3 of backyard overhaul

The steps are in--no more jumping up and down!
(Yes I know, we are going to have to repaint the door...)

View from 2nd story of pergola in progress.

Along the east and west sides we are going to have a kind of lattice.

Lego people having a campfire

So great when John is occupied with something productive!

Pictures from Moab

They all passed the Junior Ranger track test.

Unfortunately this is when the strep kicked into full gear and I felt terrible on this trip. After the first night in the hotel I was ready to go home, but we had already paid for 2 nights so we stayed. We drove into Canyonlands National Park to go hiking but I just wasn't up for it and after the first hike I laid in the car for the 2nd. I think I was a little feverish and it was making me weak and out of breath.
The kids spent most of their time in the pool at the hotel. We did a little shopping down main street and I bought my first cowgirl hat. Peter was the one that kind of pushed me into it. Maybe he thinks it's sexy:)

Animals in our beds

Very rare Charlie gets in my bed but he looked so cute here I had to get this picture. Looks like he is sleeping comfortably with my pillow doesn't he?
One of the funniest things about Charlie is how he sits in the car--
like a human on his bottom with his legs out straight.

Caramel spends the summers sleeping in the guest room all day to escape the heat I guess. She is always in some weird position when I walk in.
I love the Superman pose above. I don't know if you can tell but her arms are actually elevated off the bed.

Then when I took the picture she woke up and did this:


Animals have such sorry lives.
Eat, sleep, play, poop. Repeat.

Miscellaneous John

Alfalfa and ice cream!

John has been my pickiest eater.
Here is a typical example of what he will eat for dinner.
Cheese toast, tortilla with cheese, big pile of grated cheese.
Am I seeing a pattern here?
Things John will eat:
Gorden's brand fish sticks, macaroni and cheese, oatmeal, pistachios, Cheetos & Doritos (when he can get me to buy them for him) Cheese-Its, french fries, baked potatoes and chips & salsa --only the bottled kind-- and bagels with cream cheese.
And of course any type of sugar substance.

Came downstairs and found this sculpture John had made. I had just gone to Costco so here we have a basket, box of pull-ups, Electrosol tablets, gardening book, dvd, scrub pads, another dvd, and an empty carton of lemonade. Now if only he could find a space for his beloved Cheese-its!
Recently they had some off delivery at our grocery store and were selling them for $1 a box. I bought our year's supply.

John worships his daddy and he absolutely loves being with him.
Last night I was wondering why Peter was taking so long to read a book to John when I came upon this scene. They are lying in John's bed playing with the itouch.
And again with the Cheese-Its...

The night before Peter had been on a campout with Nathaniel and John was so disobedient all day by the time he finally went to bed I had long before entered mean mom phase and I refused to read him a book. John was not pleased. and yelled from his room, "If Dad was here he would read me a book!"
Then of course I felt guilt.

Jay & Mel visit

Jay and Mel have made their annual pilgrimage to visit us.

Emily was the only one who would stay still long enough for me to get a good picture!

While they were here I took the kiddies to this park in Provo.
I only brought 2 nets, which was a big mistake! The kids fought and fought over them.

Here is Caleb--who is very happy to be getting his turn with a net.

Jarom, Caleb, and John

I love this picture of Charlie with his tongue hanging out.
He had the time of his life at the park!
He is getting more mature now (he'll be 3 in October) and is calmer and better behaved.

We went to Grand Junction where Sariah was baptized. We were all proud of Sariah and how well she answered the questions her grandparents asked her during their talks.

Sarah turns 12

For Sarah's birthday I took her and a few of her friends to Jump On It. Within the first 10 minutes my exceedingly accident prone daughter did some kind of a flip and landed her tailbone on a bar. She was in some serious pain even though I started the Advil ASAP. I was completely helpless to help her with the exception of holding ice on her bum in the car out in the parking lot, watching her cry in pain while all her friends were inside jumping. She could not walk for the rest of her birthday. It was very disappointing. I had a subtle voice in my head questioning the whole Jump On It thing though we've done it many times before. Maybe should have listened?


This is the big box that has been baffling Sarah for the last month. She asked for an ipod docking unit and a longboard and this just wasn't looking like either one. Do I even need to go into why I decided not buy a longboard for this child? She did get the docking unit though.


I think she was surprised and bonus--she liked it! Rebecca and Sarah are taking a 2 week sewing class this month. The machine does all kinds of stitches and has some cool features. I looked everywhere for what I wanted for a price I wanted to pay. I even watched the classifieds but no used machines came up that I was interested in for Sarah. Costco ended up being the best deal with the most stuff.

I ended up making 3 cakes. One burned and one fantistic chocolate, and one lemon that came out kind of flat. I know that those of you who are familiar with my tendency to burn things would be shocked, but try to hold yourselves together.

Jay gets in on the celebration. I had spent the first half of the day with his son lying on my couch in misery. His throat was swollen almost shut and I was in a panic all day that he suddenly wouldn't be able to breathe and was cursing Jay for leaving him with me and so Nathaniel and I took turns watching him breathe.
Peter was conveniently gone at a seminar in Park City.
Jay and Mel and their other kids had gone to her sister's wedding in Salt Lake.
Turns out it was strep. Their whole family has it.
Guess what?
I have strep now. For the first time I have been aware of.
Oh, and a lovely rash all over my face that Sarah says looks really bad.
I didn't think it looked that bad until I felt Peter staring at me last night
and I turned to him and he said, "Man your face looks bad."
Alrighty then.
Do you know what a strep rash is ?
Scarlet fever!
Yea, I didn't know that either.

Patio

We have poured the patio. My brother Jay's family got to be there for the occasion and it was very entertaining for their kids. The night before I came home to see the holes dug for the pergola and kind of panicked it was so big! The patio is already quite a bit larger than I had expected, 20'x20' and the pergola was almost the same size. Our contractor came over-- from across the street where he lives:)-- and was very kind and dug new holes in the dark so the pergola wouldn't be as large. It will be 16'x20'. I was very relieved.

Other than picking carpet or paint we have never made a decision in a design of something having to do with a home improvement, so this is completely new territory for us. We had been putting off getting bids but finally did it. It was pretty painless.

Ground prepared, rock added.

Cement mixer arrives, creating a crowd of neighborhood children spectators.
Very grateful it didn't crack the driveway.


Brackets in place for pergola


We make our mark.

Top color

Stamping

Now just don't walk on it!!

Later the next day Sonny came to power wash the cement to create a distressed look and now we are just waiting for it to be sealed.