Project Clean Up

The home we are in this summer has quite a bit of land around it and we found (much to our delight) that there are some already established flower beds around the house.  However, when we arrived they were fuller than full with weeds and one out in the yard was absolutely filled with quack grass.  So we went to our new favorite store (Menards) and bought a shovel and rake and we went to work...here is some of our progress:

 I wish I would have taken before and after pictures for all of the flower beds but alas I did not.  This next one was full of quack grass and old tree roots.  Evus is holding up one of the larger roots we dug out.

Willard wanted to model in the next couple pictures.  Notice we have now planted some flowers in the beds.  I got some lily starts from a Relief Society activity and we found some Irises out under a tree in an overgrown mess...we couldn't resist.  We have also planted a bunch of little seeds in there--please grow little seeds!

 The side of the house is really ugly right now.  We decided to create a bed along the house to make it look a little more attractive.

 This is a raised bed behind our house.  We planted herbs, veggies and some strawberries I got from the RS activity.  Oh I hope they grow!

 The boys love being outside and helping out around the yard.  While helping me pull weeds Willard fell down.  He got up and said "Oh, I fell down...I need to be careful, I need to be careful with my body!"  I asked him where he learned that he needed to be careful with his body.  He answered, "I learned it in church".  Thank you nursery leaders!  So cute!

 I asked Porky to say "cheese" in the picture below, but I think he thought I said Jesus because he began to say "Jesus, where are you?"

 My little Tigger

 Our weed pile!  Its hard to truly appreciate it in a picture but there it is in all its glory.

 The big trees in front of our house...I am glad we will have shade in the summer heat, but they scare me in a wind storm.

Welcome Ta Braska!

 This is our lovely Nebraska "summer home".  We will be residing here in the summers for the next couple years (and possibly some winter time as well).  It is a wonderful little home with lots of area around it for the boys to explore.  Everyone keeps telling us that it hasn't been lived in "for a long time"...haven't been able to get a straight answer as far as how long "a long time" really is.  I can say though that there are two couples in our ward who have lived in this house before too when they were grad students.  One couple has a very large family now and the other couple have grandchildren so its been around for a while.

 This would be the remnant drifts from the blizzard we had the day after arriving...FUN!  We brought Idaho weather to Nebraska.

 This would be the main pipe that exploded the second night we were there (also the night of the blizzard)...when we drained the bath tub we heard a waterfall coming from downstairs...yup.  Thats a lovely crack isn't it...but we're all better now.

 The boys were a lot of help when it came time to make Willard's birthday cake.  I can't believe he is three! 

 We had fun celebrating Willard's birthday with cake, icecream and the birthday fish named Bob.  We took Willard to Wal-mart and let him pick out his own fish.  Thanks to his Aunt Jessis he had all he needed at home to give it a good home (thanks sis!).  Before he got out of the car he was determined that it would be a BLUE fish.  Once we pulled the best looking blue fish we could find down off the shelf, we told him he needed a name.  Without hestation he said "BOB!"  That may be because that same afternoon the maintenance man came to check up on us and he is named Bob...it also may be because of a book his Auntie Em gave him where all the animals are named Bob (including the fish) but either way he is now Bob the Blue Beta from Braska and we love him.    Every time the boys enter the living room/kitchen area they great him (Hi Bob!) and when we leave they make sure to say bye. 

 Last but not least--who needs a pink flamingo in your yard when you have a herd of deer...or as Willard calls them "reindeer" or as Porky calls them "cows".  Either way they make for hours of entertainment for the boys...and Evus and I have fun too.  Don't know how I'm going to grow anything in our yard with these guys around but I'm still going to try.

Saying Goodbye to Idaho

 There we are, infront of our Uhaul after packing up Tuesday night.  Don't we look excited! (actually I think all of us were absolutely exhausted and we hadn't even traveled yet).  Mostly I was just emotionally exhausted.  Its so hard saying goodbye to people that you love and we love a lot of people in Idaho.  I'm grateful we got to spend a week with each of our parents in their homes before we left.  It was hard being unsettled that long before we moved but we made some great memories with our families.

We also got to have some fun with friends before we left.  Our bestest pals the G family came out to my folks' home the weekend before we left and got some hands on experience feeding baby cows!  My mom and dad have become quite the farmers.

To all the people in Idaho--WE MISS YOU & LOVE YOU!!!

We're Moving On...

 Evus finally made it!  At last he was able to receive his diploma cover...and we're hoping that soon he can fill it with that much sought after college diploma.  We are all so proud of him for working so hard and for all that is ahead of us too.  It was such a great day celebrating his graduation.  Evus' dad works at the university we have been at these past four years and he received permission to be give Evus his diploma (cover), that made the whole experience even more special. 

P.S.  Do you recognize the dress?...yes I wore it, the cardigan covered the major mistakes. Yeah for making your own clothes!