Our Backyard

Our backyard is taking shape...Scott is building a retaining wall for me to have flowers, but also to have my vegetable garden at an easier height to manage (we are thinking getting older, here, so we don't want to bend too far down...we may not be able to get back up!  hah!!)  Joe who has been with us for three years now building this house, is the biggest help of all when it comes to these 70 pound blocks of cement!  And even Jamie has had many days as Joe's "apprentice" hauling the gravel and stone to Joe!

And thank goodness for Aaron and his excavator to help move dirt and gravel etc.  What would we do without these wonderful and helpful sons-in-law?

There will be two level of plantings with a path along each level for easy access of planting and harvesting!  I can hardly wait until it is done!  In one month we are scheduled to have the driveway, front porch and all the back patios poured!  Yahoo!  Now that will be progress!!

As for the house...well it is still a work in progress.  We finally have someone helping with staining all the window and door trims and also the last bit of my kitchen cabinets!  I told Scott I wanted my cabinets to be the first to have the stain and finish on them so I can finally organize my kitchen and place my things where they belong and I will have easy access to them!  I can hardly wait for that to happen!!

We are going to take another break and go to Coeur d'Alene for about 9 days to relax in the sun, swim in the lake, golf and have fun!  We will have a few days with Dina's family, then they will leave and we will end with a few days with Lacey's family!  We are looking forward to this vacation.  Scott has been working really hard on the yard and getting everything framed for the cement.  He deserves this break!

The World's Largest Bird Feeder/ Shelter????

Lily came over to the house one day and decided she wanted to build a bird house!  So she looked through a pile of scrap lumber and selected her pieces!  With very little help from adults, she managed to put together this bird house, which really is more like a bird feeder, however she feels it can also be a "shelter" cause it does have a little roof over it!!  (And she asked me if I thought this would go i the book of records for being the biggest bird house!...she is sooo cute!)  She got Papa's battery operated drill and screws and managed to do a pretty darn good job of putting it together.  Then her older sister got involved with painting it!  And as they were getting set up, the "feeder" fell and came apart, so then we did call on "Papa" to assist in screwing it in a little bit better to make sure it holds!  One wipe of the paint brush and Lily's leg was all brown!  "I didn't mean to do it!" says Ellie!  (yeah, like I believe that!!)  Then Lily is catching some drips on her side that came from Ellie painting her side and when Lily flicks her brush to clean up the drips, it splatters on Ellie!  Another time Ellie asked Lily to look at her side...and what does she do, but stick her head into the open space to have a look see on the other side and sure enough, now her light brown hair has a big glob of dark brown paint in it!  Oh and get this, Lily says she wants to be a professional painter when she grows up!  OMG that girl had paint everywhere...on her feet, her toes, her hands, elbows, we are talking everywhere.  It sure is a good thing she put on one of my old  T-shirts to protect her clothes!  When they were all done, I had them go home and take a shower and scrub off all the paint!  Such a fun time they had making and painting this wonderful bird feeder/shelter!  It certainly kept them occupied for hours!  (at my house!)  But that is what Grandparents are for, right??

An "Idaho Cell Tower"

Do you remember the cactus cell tower I posted back in May?  Well, now we are in the Pacific Northwest and this is what a cell tower looks like here!  As you can see from the photo directly above and from a distance, it does resemble a fir tree that has died.  Just thought you would like to see it and to be on the lookout for strange yet maybe familiar objects in your own area...you never know it might just be a cell tower!

Family Time, Fun Time, Summer Time

Once again we had a fabulous time in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho at the Gozzer Ranch.  It is such a wonderful place to vacation with the family, there is golfing, pool swimming, lake swimming, boating, paint balling, fishing and so much more!  Both girls and their families had a three day head start on Scott and me, but that was good because we were all (12 of us!) staying in a three bedroom condo!  We did not have the best of weather this year, although it was always sunny and warm in the afternoon, but we had rain most nights and a bit into the morning.
                                                      These are views from the penthouse condo where we stayed.

This is called the Lakeside Resort, Gozzer built this huge complex for its members to purchase.  The word is that Lance Armstrong purchased two 4,000 sq.ft. condos and is having a wall taken out to make one big condo!!

The day Dina and Jamie got there, they saw Phil Mickelson with his family on the course.  Apparently he is thinking about becoming a member....Jamie was a bit star struck!!

Now back to our family adventures...first lots of swimming in the beautiful Gozzer Pool.  They have a whole complex for kiddos...pool, wading pool, tennis courts, basketball courts, fitness center, play structure, swings, food shack, the red barn has a pottery room with a kiln so you can take a piece of pottery and paint it and they will kiln dry it for you.  It has a ping pong table, several computers and a big screen with movies to choose from...lots of activities to keep the younger set happy!

Addie and Jalen getting a push from Dina

Tristan in the kiddie pool

Ellie painting in the Red Barn

Lily painting a little giraffe

Every summer we rent the Gozzer Wakeboarding Boat...it comes with a driver and another very experienced wake boarder or surfer to help all of us who want to try our hand at something new.

Caleb on the surf board.  

Ellie on the wake board!

Lily got up with AJ who is a professional wake boarder...he has traveled the country in competition.

Matt and Jalen on the surf board, Jalen LOVED it!  Notice he has his hand out to touch the wake!!

We are in hysterics during all of this adventure!  Of course, the big deal is to try to dump the ones riding the inner tube.  The boat pulls the kids back and forth across the wakes and gives them some big waves to jump and get drenched with water...Lacey finally had to just let go, Jamie claims Dina was invading Lacey's space and she was pretty much on the very side of the tube anyways!  The finale is trying to get Jamie dumped and he hung on until his arms just could not hang on anymore so then he let go!  It is so fun to watch the facial expressions, we are all just laughing our heads off in the boat!

In the boat heading to "Beauty Bay" for surfing or wake boarding

sunset on the third Tee at Gozzer

On the shuttle boat heading to town for a bit of shopping and lunch