Sunday, December 21, 2008

Snow Day!

So today being the first official day of Winter, I should not have been suprised to see several inches of snow on the ground when I woke up this morning. I love the look of snow much it can be a nightmare. Anyway I was unsure of what Oscar's response would be. So, this afternoon Tyson shot the gate and we let him out. I don't think that I have ever seen anyone enjoy the snow more.

He just ran all over, jumped in the deepest drifts and kept eating the snow. He just played in it for ever, running trough it and flicking it in his face. Tyson and I of course were freezing so we just wanted to go back inside. Oscar just kept playing thoughand didn't seem to mind the cold and the wind at all.I'm glad that he likes the snow because it looks like we are expecting a lot of it over the next week and beyond. Good for Idaho, bad for driving.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

One More Update...

I can't believe that I forgot this little piece of news. Earlier this month the adoption was finalized for my little sister Krystal. She is now Krystal Mary Kesler and ours forever! The adoption on the other five kids should finish up early next Spring. But anyway, now that she is ours I can post a picture and show you all just how beautiful this little girl is.She doesn't smile for the camera well so this is one of the best that I could find. She loves to play with Oscar though and can keep our puppy in line.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Some Updates...

I keep meaning to get online and update our blog but I never feel like I have that much to say. Anyway, life continues to go on. About two weeks ago we went and picked out our Christmas Tree, which is always something that I love to do. We have this nice big window in our living room that faces the street so I figured that was the perfect place for it. However, our piano was living there. Tyson threatened my life if I tried to move the piano by myself, but I was bored and waiting for him to gt home from work so I moved the furniture around myself and got the living room ready. I think that he was right though, I kind of over did it. BUT, now we have a fantastic Christmas tree and I love it! Oscar is still trying to decide how he feels about it though.
Speaking of Oscar this month on the 28th he turns 6 months-old. He is growing up and is ready to do some training! Tyson has been spending sometime on his days off training him on Come and Sit. I contacted a dog trainer out here and now that he is 6 months-old we are able to enroll him in a 10 week training course, so we are excited about that. He's a good dog, but a puppy to the core.
Also, about a week ago we were able to schedule our 20 week ultrasound which I am very excited about. I have been DYING to know the gender of the baby and now we have an end in sight (Tyson really wants to know too but he plays it cool, like always, but I know better). Anyway, we were able to schedule it for January 7th so 3 weeks from now we'll know! Though I am kind of hoping that my visit next week goes about the same as my appointment three weeks ago. They had to do a quick ultrasound then because they couldn't find a heart beat so I'm hoping that the baby is hiding again this next week so that I can get an early peek. Either way though, I am excited about it.
Anyway, that is about it for now. Next week we will be going to Utah for a couple of days to visit family for Christmas and then we'll head back up to Boise to spend the rest of the holiday with more family up here.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Medical Equipment Malfunction...

Today I had yet another doctor's appointment. Between my OB and Endocrinologist I'm at a doctors office every two weeks. Anyway, I was excited for this appointment. I've been feeling kind of worried (I couldn't tell you why other than that I worry) so I just wanted the reassurance that everything was progressing just fine. I sit down, talk to the doctor, everything is looking great. As a final step she grabs her little Doppler device to listen for a heart beat, and well, it doesn't want to work. The little gadget keeps breaking down on her. At first that got me kind of upset because it is VERY reassuring to hear that little heart beat. But, it turned out great. Instead of trying again with her Doppler she just took me right on down the hall and had them do an ultrasound instead. So, instead of just getting to hear the heart beat I got to see our little one moving around all over the place! I know, it doesn't sound all that exciting, but it was to me. I had really been hoping to get another glimpse at the baby before January.

Monday, November 10, 2008

First Anniversary

It has officially been one full year since Tyson and I were married. My little sister Ali was married two days ago in the Boise temple. It was fun to be able to be there with them and remember our wedding day. I thought that I might share a few pictures of our day...

The classic coming out of the temple shot...

Just a sweet picture....

By this time the rain was getting a bit heavier...you can see the rain drops on Tyson's jacket.

We ended up needing an umbrella...

So, it has been a year, we haven't killed each other yet so by all accounts everything is going great. It really has been wonderful, so much has happened and so many things have changed. We've gone from being two single people concerned with our own little lives to a married couple with a mortgage and a baby on the way. I love my husband and I am so grateful for him!

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

I Voted!

To begin I must say that since I was about 14 I have found myself completely dissatisfied with our bi-partisan system. I believe that the parties do nothing but hinder progress because they are too busy worrying about staying in line with the group than actual progress. If you don't believe me, just watch a State of the Union address. You'll see those clapping and those abstaining are separated by an aisle and no one crosses on the other side with be break rank. I am always so disheartened by it. I have never affiliated myself with any party, I don't even call myself independent, because that is a group. I am unaffiliated and very proud of that. I am also a political junky. I started getting excited for this election two years ago and doing my research and watching potential candidates since then.
I got excited as the primaries got into full swing, but by the time that Idaho's primary came around my favorite candidates and withdrawn from the race. At the end of the process I was utterly disappointed. I was left with two major party candidates whom I did not feel like I could support. I decided that the I would wait it out and see who the vice presidential candidates would be and perhaps that would help sway me. When Obama chose Biden he was out of the running for me. I don't trust Obama, but I hoped he would perhaps make a good choice. His choice however could not have been worse as far as I am concerned. There is not a single senator that I dislike more than Joe Biden. So, I waited for McCain to make his choice. I was excited when he picked Sarah Palin. I don't care what you say, I like her. However, she was not enough to sway me. I don't trust John McCain either.
So, my dilemma. I have to vote. I always say that if you don't vote you'd better keep your mouth shut for the next four years because you've lost your right to complain. I had to vote, but I couldn't decide what to do. Do I go with the all too common lesser-of-two-evils option, pick a third party candidate (I didn't really like any of them either), or just opt out? I made my choice about a week ago. I decided to go with another option. I picked None of the Above. I wrote in my candidate's name. He may not be on the ticket, but he ran and I still feel like he would be the best president. Living in Idaho I know which way the vote will go, so it won't really make any difference. I just feel like I need to be able to be proud of my vote, and in order to do that, I couldn't pick one of the options handed to me.

Friday, October 31, 2008

Fabulous Fives

My sister-in-law Brandie tagged me on this one so here is goes...

5 Years Ago:
1. I was working through my senior year at BYU
2. I lived in a very run down apartment, but I loved it! Good friends make all the difference...
3. I swore that I would never marry a Utah boy...
4. I lived on so little I can't even fathom it now
5. We made our annual Fall trip to Zions and I haven't been there since

5 Things on My List Today:
1. Go to the grocery store
2. Survive the work day without killing a few clients
3. Give our dog Oscar a bath and pedicure
4. Get some sleep
5. Actually cook something for dinner tonight

5 Snacks I Enjoy:
1. Popcorn
2. Most any fresh fruit
3. Yogurt
4. Ice Cream
5. Chips and Dip

5 Things I Would Do if I Were a Millionaire:
1. Buy 20 acres and build a new house
2. Quit my job
3. Spend one month every year in another country
4. Finish my masters degree and get my PhD
5. Open a private school

5 Places I have Lived:
1. Blackfoot, ID
2. Boise, ID
3. Provo, UT
4. Auburn, CA
5. Sacramento, CA

5 Jobs I Have Had:
1. Day Care Worker
2. Student Manager at the Creamer on Ninth
3. Server at Brick Oven
4. Account Manager for Market Research Firm
5. Insurance Producer

5 People I Tag:
1. Liz
2. Sarita
3. Becca Clawson
4. Tamara Kelm
5. Rachel Fisher

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

So, we have some news...

We just wanted to let our friends and family know that we are going to get an addition to our little family next May...This little picture was taken at our first ultrasound when I was only 6.5 weeks along. We are now 10 weeks along (1/4 done!) and so far so good...

What a Crazy Month!

October has just been a wild ride for us. We have had some very fun and exciting things happen this month. First, my nephew was born on October 10th. He was a full 10 lbs 15 oz and 23 inches long! He also came with a stunning full head of blond hair! He really is precious. Sarita seems to have recovered pretty well and she and Eric are adjusting to life with a newborn. It is fun to get to be the aunt and just hold him and such when we are together and then hand him back to his mom when he gets hungry and fussy. It is really sweet though. He is just under three months younger than his uncle Jack (and nearly the same size) so it will be fun for him to have some family close in age to play with as he grows up.

Also we have been working very hard this month with our dog Oscar and we are proud to announce and he is officially house trained! I know, not very exciting to all of you, but it is great! (Those of you who have potty-trained a child will understand the joy). He is also crate and kennel trained and is doing well with the command "come." He has grown so much and we are excited about that, though he still thinks that he is a lap dog. We found a wonderful obedience class that starts in January that will run for ten weeks. He will be six and a half months old by then, so the perfect age. He is a smart dog and catches on quickly (it took about a week to potty train him) so I think that this will be wonderful for him.

We have some other fun news to share but that will have to wait for another post...

Monday, October 6, 2008

Gone with the Wind

As I was writing my last blog a funny story came to mind that I have to share.
A few Sundays ago I was feeling pretty worn out and sick. That afternoon I really wasn't up to doing much of anything, so Tyson suggested that I pick out a movie for us to watch. He usually makes some stipulations (ie: no Jane Austin, no foreign, etc.) but this week he didn't say anything like that. So, I thought that I would give him a bit of a choice in the selection process and I asked "Red or Yellow," which were the colors of the DVD cases. He picked red so our movie for the afternoon was Gone with the Wind. It is an absolute classic so I figured that everyone knew about it. When I told him what he picked he said "Oh, isn't that a Western?" I nearly died laughing. It was just what I needed to make me feel better. I told him that it was not and that it was a great American classic. He said "Oh, okay. It's the one with Dr. Zhivago in it right?" I don't think that I drew a breath for a few minutes after that one. I love my husband, I really do, but I forget sometimes how very different we. I love the classics, he loves the modern, so we get to experience both so it works out well. Really though, we are much more alike than I think any else suspects.

Shopping...

I really don't enjoy shopping all that much. I think that I must have just missed out on that gene. I am the type of person who walks into the store knowing what I want, I grab it, buy it and leave. If I know that it will take some time I shop around online first to find out what I want and where to go. When I shopped for my wedding dress I looked around online for a few days, found one I liked, called a store in town that carried it and my total time in store was under 30 minutes. So, I don't go shopping much and up until recently, I hadn't taken Tyson with me unless we were shopping for groceries or clothing for him.
So, this last Saturday, fo the first time since we have been married, Tyson and I went shopping together to get something for me. I needed a new purse, my birthday was over the weekend, so I decided it was time. So, we went in and wandered over to the purse section and I proceeded to browse through the selection. I'm rather picky about my purses so I was taking longer than usual. The problem was, that in the purse area they have all of these little islands that are about five and a half feet tall on which they display more purses. I'm only 5'5" so I could not be seen behind these. My poor husband, one the other hand, is 6'4" and was perfectly visible. It was actually very entertaining to see the way that people looked at him. Here is this somewhat rough looking guy standing around looking and purses and pulling them off of the shelf (they were up high and I couldn't reach them). He really could not have looked much more out of place and he knew it.
It was just to funny because we had never gone shopping together to get something for me before so he wasn't quite sure what to do with himself. I was informed that from now on, whenever we go shopping for me, I need to wear heels so that I can at least be seen over the top of the racks.
It may have been a little uncomfortable for him, but I came out of it with the greatest purse ever and a nice little laugh.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Poor Frog...

I had bought a few toys for Oscar so that he would have something other than my furniture and such to chew on. He didn't seem to really take very well to those. I was reading a book that mentioned that for a puppy a stuffed animal is best as it is much softer. So, I had this stuffed frog from a while ago and I decided to pass it on to Oscar. For several days he just loved it. He would chew on the legs, but not rip anything. We forgot to put it in his crate one night after putting him to bed and he cried for hours until we figured out what was wrong. Well, I think that he is moving past his strong attachment to the frog because he has shredded the thing. At first it was one little tear one day and then the next day he started ripping out the stuffing. Finally he got to the point when he would stick his entire face in the frog searching for more stuffing to rip out. It was actually very entertaining. Tyson and I watched this behavior for days and enjoyed it quite a bit.
Unfortunately, now Oscar is a little down because the frog that he used to lay his head on as he slept it now just a flat mat with two large plastic eyes. Maybe I need to find something new for him...

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Meet Oscar...

Our little family is growing. Last night Tyson and I picked up our baby boy, Oscar. Tyson and I have both been wanting to get a dog,but we knew that it would have to wait until we bought a house. Well, now that we have a house and we have it ready to go, we decided that it was finally time to get the dog we have been waiting for. So, yesterday we picked up our little nine week old black lab puppy. He was already named Oscar, and I loved that name so Tyson let me keep it.
He already likes Tyson better than me. I figure that it is just because as soon as we got home last night I gave him a bath (which he didn't like much). After that he ran right to Tyson and didn't come back to me for a while. Oh well, I should probably get used to it since it will probably work the same way when we have kids.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Home Again!

This last week Tyson and I went down to Sandy, UT to visit family and take some time off. We got home last night, and while it is always so great to get to see those we love in Utah it is also wonderful to be home again.
Our trip was rather simple, the basic purpose was just to relax and visit family and friends. While there we went down to Provo one afternoon and went to lunch with my brother Ricky at the Brick Oven, which is always fun. Tys enjoyed lunch but didn't much care to be in Provo and near BYU, which he rather dislikes. Don't worry, I'm working on him, someday he'll be a BYU fan.
Tyson decided that we should visit Hogle Zoo while in town. He hasn't been there in ages and I had never been so we spent our Friday morning there. It was actually a lot of fun. The weather was cool and comfortable and the zoo wasn't crowded at all. Tyson had some fun over by the great apes. Turns out he is bigger than a gorilla...he checked. Though I guess his arms aren't quite as long. Really it was just a lot of fun and a nice way to spend the morning. It is funny how much it made me feel like a little kid again. I was just fascinated with all of the animals. Tyson enjoyed the building with all of the reptiles. Creepy crawlies terrify me, but he loves them. I told him he would have to visit them in the zoo then because we won't be getting snakes, lizards, or the like as a pet.
On our way home from the zoo we also made sure to stop by Tyson's Grandma and Grandpa Spencer's home. They are always a lot of fun to visit with.
Overall, it was a fun little trip and a break from the everyday routine and constant work on our house or in our yard. Of course, starting tomorrow we are back to the daily grind, but that's alright, the holidays will be here soon and then comes another break or two.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Time Off...

Today was our Friday! Tyson and I decided that is has been too long since we headed south to visit our family and friends in the Salt Lake area. Also, we were long overdue for some time off. Tys and I have very different work schedules and thus we haven't had any of the same days off for about four months now. So, we took the next FIVE days off. I know, not a lot, but it is for us. We'll be down in Utah from Wednesday through Saturday (so if anyone down there wants to see us let me know). And then, the most exciting thing of all, we'll be back home Saturday night so that on Sunday Tyson will get to go to church with me! I know, not so exciting to all of you, but it has been months since he was able to come to church because he has to work every Sunday. (Silly prison, I just don't see why they can't just close for the day). Anyway, we are off tomorrow. Don't worry, I'll make sure to bring some interesting stories back with me.

Saturday, September 6, 2008

I Love Craigslist!

I just have to share the joy, I Love Craigslist! Not just because i have mastered the art of finding fantastic items on there for next to nothing, or my real speciality, finding great items for free. I have found a new reason to fall in love all over again. A couple of weeks ago when I decided it was high time to move the rose bushes I realized there was a large chore involved that I didn't want to do. You see, the bushed were in a bed that was five feet wide, fifty feet long, and three inches deep full of decorative rock. That is literally over a ton of rock. I had no desire to shovel that all out and haul it to the trailer to take to the dump. So, I posted it on Craigslist as free for the taking, but whoever took it had to come shovel it all out on Tyson's day off. I got dozens of responses. The first response I got, I called the guy back and within an hour he and a friend were at our house. By the time that I got home from work three hours later, they had taken it all. It saved me a lot a time not to mention aching back. Yeah for Craigslist!

Update on our work in progress...

I always refer to our home as a work in progress. I guess that it is bound to be such when you buy a 93-year-old bungalow that has been sadly neglected. We love our house and we are thrilled at the progress that we are making on it. I thought that I might share what we have been working on over the past couple of weeks. First off, we finally got a back yard! Tyson went and picked up the sod and put it in on Thursday while I was at work. We have had a back dirt patch for the last couple of months, so as you can imagine I am thrilled to have grass back there finally. As you can see, we are setting up to put in a walk way, I'll have to get Tyson to finish that up before the winter comes.

Our next project was something that I have wanted to do since we bought the house but I couldn't do it on my own. Again, I put Tyson to work. We pulled out (yes, I did help) the old rose bushes that ran along the sidewalk and moved them over in front of the house. They were beautiful bushes, but I hated where they were located. Three of the bushes are over fifty years old so you can imagine how large they were. What a good husband I have. We started putting in a border to create some beds, but as you can see, it still isn't finished yet.

So, after he finished moving the roses Tyson tilled up the dead area around our front lawn and up where the rose bushes were (poor guy, never gets a break). The lawn was very uneven so we were able to level it all out and till under the dead weeds. Once we get back from our trip to Utah next week we'll put down some grass seed in the areas that we tilled up and also in the existing lawn to thicken it up a bit.Once Tyson finished tilling I put in a border along the front of the property to create a bed that was about half as wide as the old bed used to be (see, I help). Once I finished that I planted some new Nandina, heavenly bamboo shrubs that I believe we will like so much better. They aren't as thick and bless them, they are evergreen. Not really, the leaves turn red in winter, but they don't fall off until new green grown replaces them in the Spring. We went looking for five more because the ones we have are spaced out a little far, but every nursery in town is out of them. I guess we'll have to wait until Spring.Our other project that we just finished was putting in a bed on the southwest corner of our house. It was just kind of dead space so I thought a raised bed might look nice. I'm still not sure what all I will plant there, but I did find two beautiful hibiscus plants which I placed on each corner. I need to find a nice item to put in the back corner, if anyone has suggestions let me know. In front of this bed we'll continues the shorter bed that runs all the way around our house (or will once I finish putting in the border).

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Memory Lane...

So last week Ali and Chaz were over at our house and Chaz made a comment about the beard that Tyson had just started growing out. So, the subject of beards continued and I was reminded of a photo that we had from last August when Tyson and I got engaged. Since they were over I have been looking for that picture and low and behold, I found it. This picture was taken on the day that we went shopping for my engagement ring (Tyson didn't trust himself to pick it out on his own). He was gone on wildfires pretty much all summer. This was during one of his relatively longer stays at home, about 38 hours. He would be out for about 14 days at a time and then home for about 2 days. Hence, the beard. I guess that when you are camping all summer long shaving is just too much of a hassle. The best part about it all was that two weeks after this picture was taken Sarita and Eric got married. So, the night before the wedding when all of the family was gathered, Tyson showed up to meet my entire family with this bushy beard and wild hair. Quite the first impression... The beard was gone by the following morning in time for the wedding.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Salsa!

My plans today changed a bit. I had planned at first to start painting my kitchen today, and then I was going to go pick some peaches and can them, and then I was going to go to the lake with my family. Well, none of that worked out for me today. The lake idea got shot when Tyson got scheduled to work overtime, and then I couldn't get a hold of the right person about the peaches, and I can't reach my kitchen ceiling because I'm too short.
So, I changed my plans. I went through my garden this morning and it seriously needed some harvesting. I decided that I would go ahead and make a couple of batches of salsa. Tyson loves my mom's canned salsa and so when we planted our garden we made sure to plant what we would need to make salsa. Luckily our garden is producing what I need at the rate that I need it. I had exactly enough ripe tomatoes and jalpenos to make two batches today. We pulled our onions a week ago because they were set to go. We found a great variety of tomato that we love. It is called a Jet Star Hybrid and it is perfect! It has a really good flavor with a lot of flesh to it. I know, not overly interesting to all of you, but I'm thrilled with it. Anyway, that is my exciting day...

Sunday, August 10, 2008

We got a lawn!

This last week we bought our first batch of sod for our yard. Basically our entire back yard and side yards were non level at all, the grass was weak and the lawn full of weeds that just would not die. So, we killed it all, tilled it up and re leveled the yard. So now the process of putting in sod has begun. We purchase 500 sq. ft. this last week and we need about 800 more so we'll be getting that in a few weeks. But in the mean time it is really nice to have our west side lawn done. I'm excited about it!
I hadn't posted an update on our garden lately, so here it is. My garden is insane! By the 4th of July our corn was taller than Tyson and it is just getting taller. It is producing well though. We are having some of the corn for dinner tonight and one of our cantaloupes as well. I took over a dozen tomatoes to my parents yesterday because I had more than I could use and I have dozens of jalapenos and bell peppers. This is fun! More fresh veggies and less money spent at the grocery store. Tyson and I finally decided how we are going to do our garden beds next year so I can't wait to get those put in this Fall.
This next picture is just for fun.
I love my petunias that I put in the planter box next to our front door. It will all get taken out in the next month or two though. The planter box takes up a lot of space and doesn't offer up much planting space in return, so we are going to tear it out and widen our front patio. I figure that once we put in a new railing I'll just buy a planter box to hang over the railing. For this summer though I though it would look silly to leave this box empty. My grandma also had barrels of petunias all over her front and back patios so I went with the petunia.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Losing my mind...

So I have a funny story to tell about what happened to me this morning. I set an alarm to get up early, which by the way is something that I never do. My husband has to be up at 5am so I usually wake up with him and then go back to bed for a little while, but I knew that this morning I needed to get up and get some things done because I had an assignment to speak in Sacrament meeting today and also to teach gospel doctrine today. So even though I went back to bed after Tyson left this morning I still got up early. I hurried and got myself ready for church so that I would not be late. I wanted to make sure that I was ready to go in case I ran out of time while I finished preparing both my talk and my lesson. Anyway, I had my whole schedule planned out and had set myself to leave at 9:15 to make sure that I got to church about ten minutes early. Anyway, I went into my bedroom this morning at 9:07 to grab my shoes and cardigan when I finally realized CHURCH STARTED AT 9:00! I don't know how I forgot that. We've been going to this ward for three months now and I have never been late but for some reason the day that I need to speak I forget what time church starts at. Anyway, I ran out the door and actually drove to church (it is only a block away) and walk in right as the Sacrament Hymn was finishing. I was so embarrassed because of course I had to sit on the stand. Anyway, I was a little but shaken by that so it took me a little bit to gather my bearings. Then, after than embarrassing situation did I get to just sit back, NO, I had to go and substitute Gospel Doctrine. Needless to say, I was glad when it came time for Relief Society so that I could finally step away from a pulpit and sit down and be quiet. Anyway, it made for an interesting morning which I am grateful is finally over.

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Finally!

So I started this project on July 2nd and today I finally finished it! Okay, so I've been a bit lazy and I keep getting side tracked...but today I finally finished painting my dining room! These pictures are a little dark for some strange reason. My dining room really is the brightest room in our house with all the windows and such. Anyway, I love the color! It was the one room in the house that I knew that I could get away with painting red, so I did it. It fits rather well with the gold colored living room as well. Now the only room that I have yet to paint upstairs is my kitchen, but I'll get that done next month. I can't wait until that one is finished. Anyway, I'm thrilled with how it turned out. I love owning my own house and getting to do whatever I want to it!

Monday, July 7, 2008

My Living Room is Done!

I mentioned in a previous post that I had finally determined what colors to paint the rest of the upstairs of my house. Until at least the Winter I am ignoring my basement. We don'd need the extra room down there and it needs a bit of work before I can do much of anything. Anyway, I have been working on getting my living room and dining room painted for about a week now and I finally finished the living room. The dining room is coming along (it takes a few coats when you are using red paint), but it should be finished by Wednesday. I had promised some photos so here they are. Prior to being painted the walls were just plain white and dirty, despite all of my attempts to clean them. I love this new color though. It is just so warm and inviting. I had several people tell me I was a little crazy with my color choice, but I love the way that it looks with my dark wood and especially my antique door with the stained leaded glass. Now that I have the room painted and our furniture back in there I have a good idea what style of fabric I need to buy to reupholster our couch and chair. Again, that will be another Winter project for me, but I am excited to get going on it.

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Lucky Peak

Saturday my family went up to Lucky Peak for the evening after spending most of the day at Sarita's house working on some projects. It turned out to be a fantastic day. It didn't get above 88 degrees so it was very comfortable. We had a lot of fun. The kids just love to play in the sand (I'm still not allowed to post pictures online) and to take some easy rides in the tubes. The older kids just tubed and wake boarded all evening. Rick and Jake were a bit restless though. There was a cliff relatively neat to the dock and back where we had set up camp, so while the boat was out doing some tubing they swam on over to the cliff to see if the water underneath was clear enough to jump off. It didn't quite work out for them, but it is funny to see that even though they think that they are all grown up they are still silly little boys. After thy boys came back from playing on the cliffs they went out again and Jake worked with Tyson to teach him how to wake board. He is really starting to get the hang of it and hopefully before summer is over he'll be pretty confidant with it.

Friday, July 4, 2008

One Man's Trash...

So, I have developed a new hobby over the last year. I love to take used and unwanted items from other people, refurbish them, and then use them for my house. Yesterday I made another fantastic find. I went on Craigslist and found a gal who had two little bistro sets that she wanted to be rid of. I called her and picked them up last night. On the way home I went to the store and bought a couple of cans of spray paint. I hosed everthing off really well last night and let them sit overnight and then got up this morning and started painting. I love how they are turing out! I ran out of spray paint so I need to go and get some more to finish, but they are great. Again, I let Tyson pick the color and he really wanted the copper color. I had no idea that any guy would have such strong opinions about color, but Tyson does. Anyway, it is just another fun project that I am in the middle of. I have also been painting my dining room and living room today, so I am painted out right now! Just taking a bit of a break and then...back to work.

Sunday, June 29, 2008

I learned something new...

Did you know that the peanut is actually a relative of the pea family and that it isn't actually a nut at all? I had no idea! Though I guess I had never thought about it before. Anyway, earlier this week Tyson was working in our garden and found a peanut that had sprouted. We assume that it came in the load of donkey dung that my brother brought us a month back for our garden. In one end and out the other whole I guess. My mom said that the digestion process it probably what caused it to sprout. Anyway, being the guy that he is, the first thing that Tyson thought to do with it was plant it. So he pulled out a couple of marigolds that I had planted (they were nearly dead) and he put it in pot. Well, I went to go look at it today and low and behold, we have a peanut plant! I guess that peanuts are produced much like potatoes. Who knew? I have no idea what we'll do with it or if it will even grow here, but only time will tell I guess. In the mean time, Tyson keeps his potted peanut next to the garden to make sure that it gets watered with the rest of our plants everyday.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Tyson's Pride and Joy

I've mentioned before that I often lose Tyson to the garden sometimes. Well, he spent the whole morning in it again getting it weeded and raked out and such. So when I came home from work this afternoon it looked fantastic! Everything seems to be growing rather well. Our corn is chest high (for me that is, it comes about to Tyson's waist). I'm glad that we bought tomato cages when we did a couple of weeks ago because they have really taken off. The yellow pear tomato plant is already over three feet tall and our cucumber is taking over, the the cantelope is also trying to invade the corn patch. My goodnss, doesn't it know that it is only June, we have a couple of months more to go still! I'm not really complaining, I love our garden. We picked our first cucumber yesterday. I know, it is silly, but it is our first garden so we are pretty excited about it all. We've started planning out the beds that we will build next Spring so that we are ready to get going on that project when the time comes. Unfortunatly, given when we moved into our house, we didn't have too much time for planning, we just bought and planted.

As far as our upcoming projects go, we have our work cut out for us for next month. We are going to be painting our living room and dining room. I have been racking my brain about this for months because it is a somewhat open floor plan, the rooms flow together, so I had to figure out the whole scheme for the living room, kitchen and dining room before I could move forward on anything. Anyway, the other day I finally figured it out. The dining room will be the red, the kitchen will be the lighter shade of green with the cabinets painted white and the living room will be the yellow color parallel to the green there. All of the trim, doors and ceilings are going to be the same beach white color (a pattern I have been keeping up throughout the house thus far). Anyway, some have said I'm a little crazy, but I think that it will be great. I'll post pictures next week when I'm done and you'll see, it will be fantastic!

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Gardening...

I know, I know, you are all eager to see how my yard and garden are coming. Okay, I'm sure that you really aren't all that excited about it, but I sure am. I have never had a garden of my own so for our garden to be growing as well as it has been is VERY exciting to me!
I was asked yesterday what we were growing so here's the run down. Behind the corn we have a cantaloupe, then of course the corn. In front of the corn we have a cherry tomato and a cucumber. Then there are six more tomato plants, one of them being a yellow pear variety. In front of those are our peppers, red and green bells as well as a jalapeno. You can's really see them in this picture, but in front of the peppers are our onion plants. Our primary purpose in planting our garden this year is to be able to make salsa this fall, everything else is just for fun and to save us money at the grocery store. That and to have tomatoes untainted with salmonella.An then of course, there are my flowers. My petunias and daisies on my front porch are growing wonderfully and just getting more full and beautiful every week. We are finally supposed to have warm weather all week, so I'm excited to see where we are at in the next couple of weeks.
I had to put this picture up because I simply love the color of the roses on this bush. It is a little wild to Tyson is working on getting some starts going so that he can train a new bush that will give me the same vibrant orange color with fewer thorns.
Okay, this last one is where we laid some sod last week. This was where the dog run was and we moved that because we wanted to have a little more backyard and I also didn't want the run right up next to the garage anymore. I'm glad to see it all taking so well.