School's out for summer!

     The front porch is still a favorite spot to hang out but it can be a little warm in the early afternoon.

This was Beau hanging out on the porch and our attempt at keeping her shaded.

   Did I mention Isaac is my favorite child? He asked me what I wanted for Mother's Day and initially I'd said flowers for the front porch but when he asked me again, a couple weeks after Mother's Day, I said what I really wanted were new Nike's and without blinking an eye he got online, showed me the options, asked for my favorite pick and ordered them without mentioning a price, super generous and these were not cheap! Needless to say, they are awesome and I've already put a few miles on them. Isaac WINS!

    The puppy is getting big and likes to spread out.

     What a weird end to our 2019/2020 school year! There was a little parade for us to drive thru at the elementary school this week and a quick spot to jump out for the sixth graders to take a photo with their teachers. Brock was embarrassed about this, for some reason, but he participated, under duress. 
     Here's Brock with his favorite elementary teacher, Mr. Jolley.

So long elementary school!

     And in honor of all the high school graduates all the Alpine school district high schools shot off fireworks simultaneously. (At least 8 schools that we could see.) We found a high spot and watched the short display and it was so cool. I think they should make this the tradition for every year.

     And while at our 'high spot' we had to take advantage of the views of Salt Lake Valley.

     And speaking of views, our view of the corner mountain area, here in Alpine, is spectacular from our new front porch. I can't get enough of this view!

       So I guess it's officially summer break for us even though it's felt like summer for a couple months now. Hopefully we can find some fun things to do this summer but for now we're just anticipating a carpal tunnel procedure on both of Greg's hands in a couple weeks and maybe another project at some point once his hands are healed.

All the stuff

     Baby Beau's parents left her with the grandparents, for a bit, Saturday afternoon and grandpa Mitch thought it was a great time to introduce her to popsicles, she thinks they're great.

     Charlie wanted photo evidence of her hair-do on Sunday. The photo of the bangs was the unfinished look.

    Charlie had a really fun time with her cousin Elsie at her Kmetzsch grandparent's house this week.

     Carter, Brock and McClane were hard at work loading wood onto their grandpa's trailer while Charlie was having all the fun.

Carter, dressed to work!

     Hard work was just what these boys needed!

     And Carter and his good buddy are not only Ruckus boys but now they're the 'dickie' boys!

    And Georgia finally got a proper grooming with a full cut and she looks adorable!

     It's so weird to think this would have been the last full week of school! It's felt like summer for the past two months! At least we can officially stop worrying about school work or at least we don't have to worry about getting notifications about school work! Ha ha I'm definitely the worst home-schooling mom I know. Let the REAL summer vacation begin!

Finished porch and a few fun things.

      Such a nice week. Carter got overalls so he"s ready to work and fish.

      Charlie and her friends got to spend some time at the nearby pond. She loves the water!

    Working like a shirtless man in overalls!

      Mother's Day was great! My family did a great job spoiling me. I loved my blender bottle and note from Tanner. "Dear Grandma Joey, Thanks for being my Mother-in-law. If I had a different Mother-in-law, I would punch her in the face and go find you. Love, Tanner." I won the son-in-law 'lottery' with him!

    There's nothing sweeter then 'loves' from cute Beau! She's the happiest baby I know.

     McClane's teacher gave him a Cold Stone gift card since they can't have their end of year ice cream party so that was a great excuse to get out of the house and get a treat.

     And the porch is all DONE! I love it! The reclaimed wood turned out better then I expected. Greg is so amazing!

    And these photos below are of the porch before the redo in case we forget what we had before. This porch served us well for the last 15 years.

    This new porch is going to be so nice!!

    And this is a perfect example of the difference between cats and dogs. The cat hides in a closet/sock box to avoid everyone and the dog follows me everywhere and lays outside the bathroom and waits for me.

    So that's our week's highlights. Life may not be completely normal but there's still so much good in our life to enjoy.

A fun week and project progress.

     Church at the Kmetzsch's can be quite entertaining if not 'churchy'! Half in pjs, half in Sunday dress. Isaac taught the lesson or gave the talk, however you want to look at it. Thankfully his dad had a last minute idea for him since he couldn't remember his assignment from one Sunday to the next.

    Charlie has taken to dressing like either her mom or dad. This was a 'copy-dad' day.

From the hat to the boots!

     Mark's birthday present arrived a day or two late but never too late for a motorcycle ride.

    After a long wait I finally got to remove the nasty blinds, that do nothing but collect dust, and replace them with a much simpler window covering, curtains! (Lets be real, Greg did the replacing, I did the ordering.)

Now the dogs have an unobstructed view of the neighborhood.

     And the front porch is 90% complete. The stairs still need a little tweaking before he can cover them completely with Trex and then the front and sides of the porch will be covered with reclaimed wood, hopefully this all gets done over the weekend.

    And most days I walk with my two good friends, one friend goes early with me and the other goes a little later. This morning they both bailed on me so I did the whole 8 miles in one fell swoop and loved every minute of it and I never get tired of the spectacular views that are all around this lovely little town. I do miss my visits with my friends but sometimes it's a pleasure to just be alone with my podcasts.

     Well it's still life as we've known it for the last several weeks. Thankfully things are slowly opening back up and I was able to go tanning for the first time in over a month, now my life is 100% complete.

Porch progress & Birthday fun!

      Greg has made significant progress on the front porch project. Thanks to great neighbors for making the work a little lighter for Greg and sharing time and tools!

 More framing underway.

     There's nothing better then Sunday afternoons with cute baby Beau!

Naps with babies are the best!

     Two boys had birthdays this week so we enjoyed yummy cake and great dinners at least twice this week. Carter is the big 15 and as soon as things calm down maybe we'll attempt a trip to the DMV so he can take a test and maybe get permission to practice his driving skills.

That hair, seriously!? Why!?

He had to wait a day or two but he got his birthday gift, a custom Xbox remote and charger.

     Speaking of hair, this long haired, tall drink of water turned TWENTY! That's a lot of candles and plenty of yummy chocolate cake!

    Mark and his friend and former roommate, Allie, had a fun day together. They went on a nice motorcycle ride, saw a cool flyover of a few F35's and hung out with a few other friends at the apartment.

Mark is also patiently waiting for his birthday gift to be delivered, a new helmet, lets hope it fits and gets here soon.

Kayli never passes up free dinner and dessert.

And we never pass up a visit from this baby doll!! She's the smiliest baby I've ever seen.

     And porch framing is complete! Now on to the finale, Trex to finish the deal!

That stair framing is a feat to be admired! Thank goodness for a neighbor with a little more experience under his belt who was happy to lend a hand.

    And because he's easiest to photograph when he's sleeping Isaac at his best, device in hand but fast asleep!

He's a hard worker but also a YouTube junkie!

     Next week I'll have finished photos of the front porch to share. So exciting! I'm currently sitting on the front porch while watching Greg screw in the Trex as I type this. So happy for a handy, hard-working husband.