5th Annual 4th of July Family Fun Celebration

It is time for us to remind everyone that we have our 4th of July celebration around the corner again! We love this time with family and friends on our property. The views will amaze you as you can see every fireworks show in the valley, not to mention our own! We fill the afternoon and evening with water games, relays, horseshoes, sack races, and more. Toss the football or just relax in the shade visiting. Hamburgers and hot dogs are provided for the BBQ and everyone brings delicious sides to share. It is a good old fashioned family picnic time and we would love to see you there! Contact us if you would like to attend, so we can count you in the meat purchase. Bring your family and friends with you... all are welcome. Come for just a few hours, for the whole thing, or even to camp for the night! The fun starts at 4 p.m., on the 4th of July, of course!!! Extra chairs, canopies and fireworks are always welcome! ( but don't worry... we have lots available.) Come join us!

Construction update

So we have chosen our contractor and the bid has gone to the bank. The appraiser was up this last week for the bank, the last step before they cut the construction loan and things really get rolling up here. Tuesday the health department is coming up along with our excavator to do a perk test before the replacement septic system can go in. We are growing this house from a 2 bedroom (that it is considered right now) to a 7 bedroom house...for some reason they thought it might be a good idea to put in a larger system. Mark had an appointment with the bank to sign a power of attorney allowing me to sign papers without him having to be here, as one week a month might slow things down considerably otherwise. We are excited with each step and looking forward to actually breaking ground in the next few weeks. Pictures will follow soon.

A Day in Darby!

We took a trip to Darby as a family yesterday. The weather was perfect for us, in the upper 80's. We went to lunch at a small cafe in town. Andrew informed us that he "loved" the food there. His happened to be chicken nuggets and french fries. The highlight of lunch were the ice creams that came with the kids lunches. After lunch we took them to the park in the middle of town and played there for awhile. New playgrounds are great entertainment! We walked just down the small main street, hit the candy shop and walked through the antique stores and gift stores. It was a nice time. The drive was pretty as well, everything is very green right now and the river is quite full. The kids were great and I am glad we went.

Warm Weather...Finally!!!

The kids loved that we arrived in the 80's at last and the water toys came out of storage! The new 3 lane slip and slide was a big hit. Even Maddie gave it a try. Sammie is not in love with water yet...she watched on this particular day. However, she has braved the baby pool with her feet now and I think she will be a little fishy like the others by summer's end.

Sunroom...Before and After

Our sunroom had served as the dog's room for the winter and showed it!!! It was filthy and had wall treatments (ugly though they were) half ripped off the walls. We had to get it in order before our appraisal. The dogs enjoy a nice new dog run and shed home so knowing it would not occupy them anymore we cleaned and cleaned and painted and cleaned and it came out pretty nice inthe end.

24 Week Exam

On Wednesday I had my 24 1/2 week check-up. It was another quick one. We heard Luke's little heart beating away and I was measured and had the usual urine and blood pressure check. There was a trace amount of protein in the urine this visit. No blood pressure problems or swelling though. This has happened to me before and never showed up more than the one visit, but it always concerns me a bit. Though, the Dr. didn't seem concerned at all at this point as it was a trace amount. I plan to check into Lifestream a product from Sunrider that may help support the kidneys...since they are where all this protein issue originates. Overall, the appointment went well, Luke looks great and I go again in a month.

Samantha Plays Chef

We picked up an apron set for Maddie to go with her kitchen for Easter. Sammie decided to try it out the other day and was just too cute. I snapped a couple pics of her "cooking" up some fun. Ethan found her irresistible as well and joined in.