Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Loren turned 33! We finally have enough friends here to have a party and we had a great BBQ on Sunday. It was a perfect amount of people and a nice crowd. The yard will be really fun for entertaining in the future.
We're putting off tearing down the deck on the trailer until the last minute when we haul it off. It's been crucial for hanging out.

The new pool was entertaining for a few folks. Taylor was very kind to let the boys wack her with water noodles. She did get to splash them with water.
We gave free guided tours of the new house and the garage was a cool place to hang out.
Happy enjoyed all the attention and baby Rosemary thought she was pretty fun.

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Summer weather is still going strong and we're taking advantage of it. Both boys have been sick for about a week and I've got it now as well, but it's a nice time to be sick since all we want to do is lay around and relax anyways.
We've been eating dinner out on the deck occasionally.
My friend Nancy and I took our boys and went blueberry picking. Owen and Nolan did very well however Caleb and Isaac ran around and ate more blueberries than they put in the buckets!
The boys have let their wild sides out as well. Nolan has been increasingly easier to handle, but is still a joker and likes to test all the boundaries he can. He still loves antagonizing his little brother, although Caleb is fighting back now (really).
If my back is turned for more than 5 seconds they are into something (or out the door and into something worse). The other day I found them on dads quad. Caleb found it first and was disapointed to be shoved to the back by a bigger driver.
The boys got into the bird seed and spread it all around. Happy later ate it and we found it in piles all over the yard.

Caleb has been climing and scaling everything including any pile of lumber he can find, rocks, logs and play equipment of course.
Here my back was turned and they climbed up a pile of firewood Loren brought home

After seeing Nolan escape and bolt over to the second story of the unfinished house and watching Caleb grab nails and put them down the new plumbing pipes we finalized our deer fencing around the yard in front of the trailer and much to their dissapoinment their yard and play area is much reduced. It's much safer and less stressful though.

Tuesday, July 18, 2006



Sunny weather is finally here! We're all very happy to finally have some sunshine and we've been getting out and enjoying it as I had imagined. I'm finally wrapping up most of my work projects and feeling a lot more relaxed and just in time!




Nolan has been a great big brother, but Caleb is learning how to say "No" in many ways. He's beginning to get irritated with Nolan at times and often pushes him away or gets upset when he's playing alone and Nolan comes to play with him. They're still pretty cute together though.















We've had a few friends come to visit including our friends Cole and Acacia. Our friends the Slopers came to visit too and Aidan and Taylor played in the sandbox. Good to see everyone is still enjoying it although it could use a little more sand.



Overall there's a lot to be happy about!

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

We finally got to go see Crater Lake. It was just as beautiful as we thought it would be. It was great to get out and see more of the Pacific Northwest as well.
Nolan was very excited to see the snow!
He liked to practice making snowballs!
Grammy may have been a pitcher at one time and was a formidable adversary in the snowball fights.
The boys did really well on the carride, but they had their limits in the car. Luckily for them most of the roads around the lake were closed.
We actually got a family picture together!
Nolan has been very into rockets and spaceships and this is his rocket impersonation.
Caleb got frustrated trying to walk on the snow, but enjoyed splashing around in the runoff and pointing at all the new sites.
Both of the boys enjoyed seeing their Papa.
There were tons of butterflies and very few flowers. Perhaps the snow was hanging on too long. These were the only flowers I saw above the snow line. Some sort of buttercup.
Not only can grammy throw snowballs, she can also make ice sculptures. Very impressive for an Arkansaw native that lives in Southern California.

Monday, July 03, 2006

The house is going up!! I've gotten behind on adding photos of it, but here is the progression. Slightly out of order due to technical difficulties loading photos.

The guys took their time and did a great job framing up the foundation.



Caleb made sure it was square! We were amazed at both the boys ability to balance and walk along the stem walls. Nolan was very into learning what each room would be.


We spent a lot of time walking around inside.
Dad put the insulation in the floor before the plywood went on.



Here was our very own dancefloor/soccer stage until they put the walls up. We learned that they call if the "deck".

Caleb takes a lunch break, while on his nail pickup rounds. If only I had a penny for every nail.....

The slab was poured on a perfect day and turned out really nice.

The dogs were very bummed that they didn't get their pawprints in it. Ozzy is shaved for the summer and Happy is almost his size. The jobsite is generally full of dogs and the shovel has been used almost daily to keep the landminds down.



Here's one last photo of the framing with sheathing before the second story got framed and trusses added.

Sunday, July 02, 2006

I could have posted this photo before, but Nolan is still playing with his trains every day and Caleb loves them too.
Nolan, Jarin and Cole are still having a great time together at school. Nolan is going Tuesday and Thursday again so he gets to see both of them. He misses his buddy Sean though.

Here is Nolan getting excited about his performance, even though he didn't sing!
Caleb has his three favorite things, blankie, thumb and Daddy (not necessarily in order of importance) =)
He's a smiley guy!
Nolan has been taking swimming lessons at our local gym Healthsport. In these photos he was obviously still aprehensive about his teacher Neil, but he's blowing bubbles and kicking well now. He's even using his arms a little and putting his face in the water. I take Caleb in with me. He loves jumping in and doesn't seem to have a lot of fear yet. They both love the hottub and Caleb says "ooo dats ot!"




Nolan still loves playing with his best buddy Cole.


We're still getting some time in the sun. This picture was from the week before last. It's nice to be able to play in the sprinklers!

Nolan had a singing concert where they sang "This little light of mine." and some other songs. Nolan had his finger up his nose for most of the performance which was embarrassing, but I laughed so hard I cried. Another parent looked over at me and said "nice job Tami!" I managed to catch him singing in this shot (center front)