the yard, the missionary, the 4th, the fun

Life has been so super crazy busy lately. We finished the yard. Spent time with AZ friends. Sent Joseph off on his mission. And so many other things! Here's a quick picture catch-up:

THE 4TH

The Youngs were here for the 4th of July and we went to the Provo parade with them. It was such a breath of fresh air to see friends again! Thanks for the fun times, and the girls' night Maile!

kiddos at the parade. the provo parade is HUGE! it was fun.

4th of july babe

this was the elberta parade. the girls each ended up with a grocery sack half full of candy, all from about 5 'floats'. i use the term 'float' loosely...it was more like one tractor pulling the cub scouts, and a couple kids riding bikes. seriously. the 'parade' goes up and down the street a couple of times. i LOVE small town fun though...nothing like it. THE YARD

so the Wise Man built his house upon a rock, right? so why not do the same? apparently that's what Salisbury was thinking anyways.....

so yes, our yard is/was pretty much a rock. clay. everything that is hard and immoveable. we thought getting a yard/fence in would take a week. 5 weeks later...sheesh!

we owe a HUGE THANK YOU to so many people who worked tirelessly with us to get the yard leveled, raked, trenched, sprinklers in, raked again, sod laid, etc...

so thank you to dad, mom, and zach for breaking your backs for our yard's sake. we really could not have done it without you. thank you to josh, justin and esteeb for all of your hard work, and yodeling songs while swinging the pick at the trenches. thank you to heather for being the best pregnant water girl ever. thank you to everyone else who helped us at all with this yard...we really wouldn't have had a yard without y'alls help. and buns: thank you for working every minute of the day/night that you were off work to get the yard done. seriously folks...one night i got home late from a movie with a friend, and as soon as i got home (10:30pm) he went out with a headlamp until after midnight working on sprinklers. you're da man buns...for real. love ya.

i love this pic of josh on the neighbor's tractor. you rock josheenia.

breakin' backs....
go parker-boy! he did about half the yard himself.

pourin' the patio. if only it were 12" wider. (lol!)

someone forgot to tell nate you're not supposed to be IN the cement...

oh boy. more back breaking.

the girls enjoyed playing on the rock/dirt piles around the neighborhood while we were working.

all raked, sprinkler-ed, and ready for sod. phewf...that took FOREVER.

looks like a cake-walk, eh? i got to the point that if i saw another rock i thought i would vomit. i now hate rocks.

here comes the sod....

sod-layin' party. thanks dad, zach, buns and heather. (by the way...i really did work my rear-end off too in the yard. i'm just always the camera-woman so you never see me workin' :o)

aaaaaaaaaaaahhhh....done!

the green. the grass. the HUGE smile on my face.

sod: check. curbing: check. sprinklers: check.

and now the fence: check!

i could look at this picture all day. now we just need to throw a few trees, bushes, and flowers in.

THE MISSIONARY
this is my little bro Joseph. we've pretty much been best friends since he was born. he's such a good kid, he's a blast to hang out with, and the girls adore him. (i'm talking about MY girls...but all girls adore him regardless ;o)

of course cait had to try it

my dad and dennis (aka 'bulldorado') providing some live entertainment at one of the last family get-togethers before Joseph left on his mish

he's also the reason my nose is crooked...in case you've ever noticed. i was laying on the floor next to the couch and he was bouning on his knees on the couch, and he bounced off and his knee went straight onto my nose. (this was probably 15 years ago b.t.w...and ironically enough, that is the exact couch that caused me the crooked nose.)

breakfast before the m.t.c.

one last try at the 'claw' machine...he's pro at these things.

had to swing by the clinic so he could say goodbye to the on-call doc

his last few minutes before the M.T.C. were spent doing this: (smart man...)

New Jersey:

please be good to him! you have no idea how lucky you are to have him for 2 years.

we love you poots...we miss you!!

THE FUN

someone traced this chalk figure of Emma at my dad's house...i thought it was sooo funny how it looked just like her with buns in her hair and all

sare gave the girls MUCH NEEDED trims..

emma lasted about 2.5 seconds before she was done

so there ye have it. busy, but fun things going on. :o)