Bubble Bath

We do bubble baths every couple months. Lots of fun! I think our kids would do his every night if we'd let them. Ella is literally growing up between to bigger brothers!

One of the things that Ella loves to do right now is float on her back. It drives us nuts because she seems so close to drowning. She is also recoverying from a recent ear drum rupture. :(

Shower Part 5

Here we are building away. Pictures are backwards again. Sorry.

Hellfire and Damnation (part 2)

There are pros and cons to have donkeys on the trail with you. They carry wait, but have to be managed. I remember that hellfire would always try to cow kick you if you tried to get him moving fast. I am pretty sure David found this out for us. And of course a few other of us had to try it ourselves.

Another fun memory was when Trent laid down in the middle of the trail ahead of us to get a good motion shot with the video recorder, and he almost got trampled my the donkeys. Glad that didn't happen.

Some of the fun things in these photos are: Trent's commitment to recording, how little Mark is, David's sweet buff arms, Tupac Timmy, wiffle ball bat (which proved to be a great donkey motivator!), and every one's heads down, including donkeys.

Hellfire and Damnation (part 1)

We had a lot of fun activities planned during Philmont. Thanks dad! You are the master planner. We got to use donkeys or asses (Equus asinus, a female is a Jenny and a male is a Jack). We were obviously looking for the meanest, ugliest and toughest jackasses we could find! The people in charge told us that they just found two of their more wild asses, Hellfire and Damnation, that had been roaming. When we heard this we knew which asses we wanted. They turned out to be a lot of fun!!

The 2nd and third pictures are not Jennies, but they did have a particular liking to Trent and Todd.

The 4th picture has Hellfire and Damnation. George is holding Hellfire and I am holding Damnation.

Shower Part 2

I could have never done this project or any other project without the help of Jeff. He has pretty much taught me everything I know about construction. He has been here since I first bought my house and has helped me do everything. I love that he is a perfectionist and has an unconquerable attitude. He can do everything and will do it well. The other great thing is that he helps me after his day of work.

We floated a slant in the floor, then add the polyurethane membrane. We then floated the floor with a metal mesh prepping it for the tile. Next was the wall boards. We cut out 3 cubby holes for shampoo, conditioners, etc. Again we have lots of little helpers. (This was august 15th through the 17th.)

Blossoms!!

Every spring in Las Vegas I can hardly wait for the blossoms on the trees because that means it is time to plant my garden! The blossoms are from our Tilton Apricot tree.

I love my garden. It is a total financial loss, but I enjoy the work and fresh produce. I also love to watch things grow. There are always new challenges and rewards.

I usually over do it, not a big surprise for anyone that knows me. The first year I drown my garden. I went out every night and over watered it. I have tried a couple different watering techniques over the past couple years and feel like I finally got it and am doing the best yet. Thanks Mike!

I have planted all sorts of plants. Beans, peas, beets, lettuce, tomatoes, squash, corn, hot peppers, sweet peppers, cucumbers, carrots, spinach, strawberries, melons, pumpkins, garlic, green onions, and all sorts of herbs. Most everything dies or doesn't produce fruit. This year I decided to stick with the basics-Tomatoes, peppers, spinach, basil, and cilantro. It is my little salsa garden.

The big problem this year is our new patio cover. We LOVE or new patio cover. It helps keep us shaded and keeps it dry out back, but it blocks the sun to the garden. Every year is a new adventure.

I had to take out the remains of our winter crop. I got a lot of spinach, beet greens and too many turnips. Turnips probably won't be a repeat next year.

I have lots of 'helpers'. Ella has been the big 'help' this year. The first year we did a garden, I can remember Adam stomping on all my plants. Nice. My kids are my biggest pests. My little fence has gotten bigger every year. It has never helped keep the kids out, but seems like a nice protection to me.

I am looking forward to a great gardening year! I am already craving BLTs. yummmmm...

Rough week

Last week was a little rough. Ella totally biffed it and had the HUGEST fat lip. It had gone down before I got the picture. I guess she got a little to much speed running down the driveway and kissed the cement. Ouch! Every time we go out the garage Ella runs like she is escaping from prison. We always have to chase her down. (I'm not sure what is in her mouth.)

Ethan said a branch got his cheek. Who knows.

Adam has some sort of conjunctivitis, which he kindly passed to the rest of us. Pink eye? His eyes are pink, but not the disease you're thinking of. I am sure that is in the near future. You get a lot more than a public education at school these days!