We are finally done... Well, almost...

Chad promised me that this year we would finally finish the yard. We have almost been in our house for 4 years, so I guess I think that I deserve to finally get the dirt all covered up. Back in May Chad and I got going and did little of anything else. We knew that it would get too hot to be out there very soon, and I am so glad we did, we were right! Because our yard is pretty sloped, the first project was the two planters and stone walkway. We picked out all the stone and had it delivered. We did all the labor. Here is Chad hard at work. I was so glad that I have a husband who is not only unafraid of hard work, but is excellent at basically all he does. If it was left up to my skills, it just wouldn't have worked out right.The boys were also hard at work playing with Bryton, our neighbor, and his sweet slide. I think it might be a little bit too small :)After that, we had to finish this area. We knew we wanted a garden, but was unsure about what else to do with it. To see the finish product... keep reading :)Poor Po. While the boys were playing on the slide, Po wouldn't stop chasing them. Sam ended up getting tired of that and decided to attach his leash to Bryton's fence. The poor dog couldn't go anywhere. I looked over and saw him like this a few times that morning, and had to rescue the little fella.Tada! Here is the finished planters and walkway. We also painted the garage door, and that made quite a difference.Well, I am a little bit out of order here, but these are our raspberry bushes in the new garden.We decided to try the square-foot gardening method and so Chad built me three boxes to fill with plants. I have become a big tomato fan and I also wanted to try the "Topsy Turvy's" to grow lots of tomatoes this year. (Sam wanted to be in the pictures too).This is the complete garden. I absolutely love this side of my house now! I love the walkway, and the raised garden beds. We have not seen the fruits or "vegetables" of our harvest quite yet, but I am confident we will soon. It is our first garden, so we are definitely still learning.The other side of the garden with our raspberry bushes on the left and our new window well coverings.. yay!!!So, why did I take so long to post these pictures? Well, as you can see, our deck is still without steps or railings. I was expecting Chad to finish the deck before now so I could post our finished yard once and for all. Well my friends, that finished deck post will have to come next month, or next year, depending on when Chad gets the motivation and the time to do it. However, we did get 2 trees planted, bushes, flowers and bark to finish off the rest of the backyard. Finally I have a dirt free yard, and I am loving it!

LAGOON

In light of Chad's aversion to Lagoon and rides in general, I took my parent's up on their offer to go with them on their stake Lagoon day. Chad's actual words were "I hate Lagoon." (What a party pooper!) Well, I knew that the kids would love it, so we went without him. Most of you may not know that I actually worked at Lagoon, it was my first real job. I was an operator on the kiddie rides and I really enjoyed it... well most of the time. A bunch of new kiddie rides have been added, everything has a fresh coat of paint and the trees seemed to have provided much more shade then there was back in the day. But my kids didn't care about all of that. This was their first experience at a real amusement park... and it was a hit.My boys loved this ride and I know it was because the guns made noises.
Emmi didn't like "Bulgy the Whale" and we had to pull her off even before the ride started. Me and my parents just had to smile because my parents had to do the same for me when they put me on Bulgy when I was a little girl.My favorite ride as a kid, the bumper cars. As I had guessed, my boys loved them too.My Mom and Dad taking the kids on the train. Yea, I had to opt out of that one. I 'm not a big fan of trains. I was very grateful my parents didn't mind going for me.Emmi was a big fan of the Baby Boats. She loved to ring the bell and kept saying "toot toot." When the ride was over, she refused to get out and I had to physically drag her out of it.Sam on the new Dragonfly ride. I was so proud of him at Lagoon. Last year when we took him on the rides in our little town carnival he cried and cried. I had expected him to cry on all of these rides, but he surprised me and loved every one we put him on. Sam and Keek even went on the Tilt-A-Whirl, with me and my Mom, and "Puff" the little roller coaster with me and my Dad. They begged to do them over and over after that first ride. But the biggest hit of the night for the boys was actually the Sky Ride with their Grandpa B. Those of you who have been to Lagoon know how high it goes and Keaton almost chickened out of it. Sam was determined to go and Grandpa was the only one who was willing to take them. (I don't like that one either :) It ended up being the one they talked about all the way home and the next morning. Just tonight my boys were asking if we could go to "the goon" tomorrow. I am so glad that I got to take them and so grateful to my Mom and Dad who went with me. There is no way I could have handled the kids by myself and the discount was a major plus too. Thanks again guys. Lets go again next year!

A Very Happy 4th

We were invited this year again to a really fun BBQ courtesy of the Lunt family. Chad's family was all there (except for my father-in-law who was down working on his new house and we missed him). We had good food, some socializing, some volleyball, and of course fireworks. My boys were especially excited about the fireworks this year. It has been so fun to see as they get older how much they get into holidays.. I love it. I think the pictures I took captured the excitement in their sweet faces. I think this one is super cute of Chaston, my nephew. I didn't know that he was looking at me until after I took it and it was a fun surprise. Left to right: Mccall, (my niece), Sam, Keaton and Chaston. I am so glad that my kids have cousins so close in age. It makes holidays all the better.Pointing to more fireworks a few streets away.I love that "Sammer" smile.Emmi and her Aunt Kristen with 2 sparklers.He couldn't believe they gave him 2!It finally burned out. Now we both can relax a bit :)And for the grand finale I have got a video to share. Like I have mentioned before, Emmi was super excited about the fireworks. Well, she would not sit still or stop talking. Listen for her to say "watch", want us to sit by her with "mon" (short for c'mon), and finally "hands" (or want us to clap) at the end. This was the cycle over and over and over.

One Toothless Grin and One Minor Accident

Keaton lost yet another tooth this week. That means he has lost 3 teeth now and it is another indicator that my little boy is growing up. His toothless grin makes me smile every morning, and I couldn't resist a picture after we got home from church and they were looking all dapper. I'm sure you noticed that Sam is not in church clothes.. Well, to make a long story short, he hit the back of his head on a pipe about an hour before church. It was bleeding pretty good at first, but Chad and I decided that it wasn't deep or long enough for stitches, so we made him as comfortable as we could at home. He did not make it to church, and got to stay home with his Daddy and eat popsicles instead. Yeah, he didn't mind that one bit :) Don't worry, within a few hours it scabbed over and he was back to his rambunctious ways.

Cousins

For too long now I have been meaning to post some pictures I have taken of my Emmi and my sister Abby's daughter Lauren. I have to admit that I was a little worried in the beginning if these two girls would ever become friends. When Emmi was just learning to walk Lauren didn't seem to like her at all, and would always try push her away. Abby and I have had high hopes that these two would grow up to be good friends like we are, especially since they are almost born a year apart to the day. Neither one currently has a sister and who knows if they ever will (at the rate I'm going at :) Gratefully I can report that they are playing so well together now and Emmi is always talking about "Sissy."

There really is nothing like seeing your daughter and your sister's daughter side by side and seeing how each of them look similar to the two of you. The photo above really captures this well of me and Ab and I think it is dang cute. I can't wait to have more pictures like this when my little sister Erin has children. Me and Erin spent a lot of time together growing up and I can't wait to see how much her little ones will look like her.Here the girls are in their princess jammies courtesy of their wonderful grandma, who I know loves her little princesses very much. The feeling is mutual... trust me:)For their birthdays last month I bought them these adorable handmade tutus. My Mom and Dad took these pics of the girls when my kids stayed with them while Chad and I went to St. George.I think they like the tutus and are becoming good friends already, what do you think? Emmi is blessed to have Lauren on my side and cousins Mccall and Brinely on Chad's side as far as girl cousins go. I think she is really lucky to have them all and I can't wait to see their friendships continue to grow over the years.

Goodbye Girls...

I am very sad to say that our neighbors and most favorite babysitters moved away this past week. "The girls" as we call them (left to right) Brooke, Katie, Jen and Annie moved into the neighborhood just months after us back in 2005, and since then we have had one of them over to babysit at least once a month. I have been so grateful to have them just across the road and always willing to help me out. It was mostly because of their help that Chad and I have been able to work in the temple. They are such a beautiful, neat group of girls and I know that my kids will miss them very much.

The Accidental Pitcher

Keaton is playing t-ball again this year. I really think that he likes the idea of playing, but his heart's not quite in it yet. Still, the rest of us enjoy going to the games and cheering him on. This last game he was actually put on the pitcher's mound for the very first time in both years. The thing is he wasn't really supposed to be there. From where I was sitting I could here his coach tell all the kids what position to take on the field, since they all switch around every inning. I know I heard her tell Keaton to go and be shortstop and point over in that general area. Too bad that Keek doesn't know where shortstop is and walked in that direction till he got to that pitching "mound" and just stopped. I honestly believe that he didn't do it intentionally and he thought he was in the right spot. To him, it is all the same and he doesn't know what a pitcher does, since in t-ball they don't even have to pitch. He isn't the type of kid to love all the attention either. I thought for sure that his coach was going to tell him to back up a bit since Keek seems to be the most passive and timid on the team, but she didn't and say a word and he got to stay there while the other team was at bat. In most of the games we've seen, the kids mostly don't hit the ball any father than the pitching mound and the pitcher is the one who gets to handle the ball. From the very first batter Keaton was running after all the balls and throwing them to first base like his coach had told them all to do. I was a very proud mama, even if he was put there on accident.

This video is a short clip of Keaton in action at the pitcher's position. I just love his cute little throw :)