We are still plugging away at house projects. It is so hard to keep with our budget and save up for things before buying them instead of going into debt to just get it all done (we already have plenty of debt from just the house thank you very much!!) but I agree that it is the best way to live so we will just keep having weeds for a yard for now....
But at least we have a fence! It is hard to explain how much work went into getting ready for this. I hauled at least 100 wheelbarrows full of dirt, rocks and sand from piles in neighboring fields to level our yard. Here are the blisters UNDER my callouses to prove it!
You can see my well beaten path in the background of this picture.
Previously, whenever it rained this neighbor's yard would flood into ours, as would the fields so we had to build up a bank all along the fence line. Also, since our neighbor's yard is higher than ours we had to raise the level of ours to meet the fence line so there wouldn't be a six inch gap underneath it in the northwest corner.
Here are the fence guys working away!
And voila!
The northwest corner.
The northeast corner.
Gates! Now Seth can't escape down the street! =o]
The southeast corner.
And here is the front view from the very southwest corner of our property in the front yard.
I built it up all around the outside too, though this will probably have to be done many times.
Another thing we did was to fulfill my dream of a cute little geography corner! I LOVE it!!
We picked out the chair and table on a date. It is so comfortable!
Kent got this map for his birthday from his parents. Isn't it cool! We had a great time reminiscing as we put in all the pins for places we have lived and visited together. We realized even with all our travels there is still SO MUCH to see!! A time and a season, right?
Happy Father's Day to Kent!! We got to go out on a date the night before because we have an AWESOME babysitter! We have hired her for twice a month- once for the temple for free, and once for a normal date at a generous rate. She is the sweetest, most fun, and responsible young woman! We all love her! I feel so grateful to have someone I can trust!
Anyway, our present to him was a blender, because ours died in California and so we just haven't had one for months to make German pancakes. Though I have to say he has gotten pretty good at making them in the mixer in the mean time.
Natalie made him a special lego creation and a card.
The kids wrestled with him mercilessly.
We gave him a new tie (a BoM one hee hee) and a bag of rice crackers and some junior mints. Winners.
I'll tell you what else wins: these pictures! It was even harder than the Mother's Day session!
We made him a delicious dinner and hopefully we made him feel super loved and appreciated!!
We got to go to TWO Murray birthday parties this past month! The first was at a park by a pond that we were not dressed for (my bad!).
The kids all ended up in with their clothes on and I only had a bottom change of clothes for the younger ones.
Have I mentioned how much I LOVE getting to live near so many of my siblings?? Well I do!! I love getting to see them and hear about little things happening in their lives and getting to laugh at old jokes with people who get them!
Hooray for Maris!
And hooray for Rebecca's killer cake making skills!
Jenna picked out one of her toys to hand me down to Maris- a little kitty.
The other was for Katelyn and once again Rebecca wins the awesome mom award for an amazing friend party!! Here is the cake she made to go along with the theme Katelyn chose: books and chocolate. =o]
The kid cousin table of cuteness!
They did SO MANY fun games and activities! Natalie especially enjoyed this one for drawing and guessing, and getting a book in the gift exchange game.
We were with family three (and a half) other times this month:
We got to see Cal and Kathy briefly while they were here visiting Russ and his girls. The boys and Jenna finally got plants for their rooms! Hooray!
We got to see Jonathan, Karl, Derek and Raycelan when we went on a "Make Aunt Melissa's Day Mission". =o] We dropped off some special things for her like we did for Raycelan, but since she didn't officially have an apartment yet at the time to decorate, (she is working for BYU sports camps during the week and her job started before her housing contract) we gave them all to Karl to enjoy and pass along to her. It was fun to see him and the kids got to ask him how to sign dinosaur since I didn't know that one (I think that is going to happen A LOT!). We had dinner with Jonathan and we all met up with Derek and Raycelan at the (much improved since I last saw it) duck pond. We brought some moldy bread and had a blast feeding them- especially the new chicks!
When I handed Seth a piece of bread he threw the whole thing in! Lol! So then I helped him tear off pieces and he would squeal with delight each time one was eaten. He said the word duck for the first time here. =o]
We got to go see and tour the newest building on campus and it was AMAZING!
We even went out on the roof and got to see the gorgeous view! And of course my little junior geologists enjoyed looking at all the landscaping rocks! =o]
And last minute we got to have dinner and FHE with Grandma and Grandpa Hansen (who came to see my cousin off on his mission) and lots of extended family. Jenna cracks me up! She kept calling Matthew "little boy" in this caring voice and totally tried to baby him the whole time.
Raycelan was a champ and jumped on the trampoline with tons of littles! I was honestly surprised the trampoline didn't break because there was like 15 people on it by the time we called them off!
It was fun catching up with Derek too! And everyone was glad to see Kent since he was actually in town to come to a family gathering. =o] Actually he saved the day by making a doughnut and popsicle run when my aunt realized the pot luck hadn't produced a dessert!
I LOVE singing hymns with my extended family!
Jenna was done. This pretty much sums up Seth's sentiments by this point too. Lol!
After all the songs we could handle, Von, Grandpa and Grandma all bore their testimonies and it was so sweet to hear. Grandma talked about how she always knew that Jesus loved her as a little girl because she felt it when she sang primary songs. Grandpa and Von both shared stories from their mission about encounters with opposition and overcoming it using knowledge of the scriptures. Then we had a family prayer and headed home.
AND... We got to see Sam and Jenny and their fun kids! They aren't family I know, but almost!
They were here for a family reunion so we saw them on their last day here before heading back home. It was just like old times- plus 8!!
We had a yummy dinner and talked until we needed some fresh air.
It was a beautiful day for a Sunday stroll! Apparently, President Utchdorf has a cabin in this area, but we didn't see him.
We got to see the horses, which everyone loved!
Have you ever seen a horse with a mustache? I hadn't!! It was totally real too!
Pioneer children.
The kids got along so well! I love it when my kids are friends with my friend's kids! =o]
And then because we needed more sugar, we made s'mores in the fire pit out back!
And then busted out some early sparklers!
We tried with questionable success to get a group shot. =o] We love the Brights!!
We have such an active life here that is so full of friends and I love it!!
Playing in the dirt while I transferred it to our yard.
At the river splash park.
At the neighborhood block party and FHE.
Visiting teaching at the park.
Pre-4th of July neighborhood parade and pancake breakfast, with the local fire department!
Our sweet neighbor is having some health issues and had to miss several weeks of school, so we had her over and did things with her several times to cheer her up and keep her company.
We are living the dream!
I will post about each kid's month in a new post, because this one is too long as it is and I want to feel like I actually accomplished something tonight instead of going to bed AGAIN without actually posting! =o] Until next time!
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