Yard/Garden

I should probably put these in 2 separate posts, but they kind of go together.  We ended up pulling out our garden early so we could put topsoil and get the area hydroseeded and the curbing done so when we pulled out the tomato plants these are 2 of the plants we had:

They kind of reminded me of Christmas trees!  We had lots of green tomatoes so it was sad to throw the plants away, but there is always next year.  Obviously the plants were not all going to fit in the garbage can so Ryan stuffed them in the

 trunk and drove them down somewhere (I still am not sure who was lucky enough to inherit the plants).  It was pretty funny watching him drive off with them in the trunk, I don't think I would have thought of putting them in the car.  We also got some watermelon, but even though they were really big, they weren't ripe when we pulled the plants out, and we have had tons of squ

ash and peppers.  We even had some corn on the cob from the garden.  Luckily the cantaloupe plant was on the part that isn't going to be grass so we can continue to have that.  I am sure that was more than anyone wanted to know about our garden, but we were pretty excited that stuff actually grew!  

Alli was very helpful by playing in the wheel barrow one day while we moved and leveled the top soil.  I thought it was so cute, she was very interested in what I had put her in, but managed to stay clean and didn't eat the metal.  Never mind the fact that she is still in her nightgown, we were all looking a little rough by the end of this project!

So now the yard is finished!  So much work.  Ryan and I both hope we never have to do another yard, and if we do, I think it will be worth it to pay someone else!  It got hydroseeded yesterday! We had packed down the soil so it would be settled correctly so then we had to loosen the top so the seeds could take root.  All of a sudden we were running out of time so my "little" brother came and helped us finished up. Luckily we got it all done and Ryan re-smoothed it out and it all looks great.  Here is a picture after the curbing was done, and in a few weeks hopefully there will be grass!  

Ryan has worked so hard all summer and especially the past few weeks.  He did such a good job! The ground is all level, all the rocks are gone (also thanks to my brother Phil here for getting all the rocks into piles), the top soil spread out and leveled, the sprinkler heads capped off (I had no idea there were soo many steps in a yard or sprinkling system!!) and programmed. The sprinkler system works just like he hoped and there are even 50 heads (I didn't think there would be so many!), I am impressed that he could figure out how to do it all.  So just a little shout out to Ryan to say thanks for all your hard work, the yard looks fabulous!! I am so excited for next spring and summer when we will have flowers and Alli can play on the grass! I am also excited because our house won't be nearly as dusty!

Tagged by Kristen

How to play this game: Post these rules on your blog: List 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 random surprising facts about yourself. Tag 5-6 people at the end of your post by leaving their names.

Joys:

1. Time with Family, especially Alli-playing with her, making her laugh, holding her, watching her discover things. . . 

2. Reading a good book, especially if I have just accomplished something.

3. Going out to eat or spending time with friends

Fears:

1. Something seriously bad happening to Ryan, Alli, or my family

2. SNAKES

3. Someone breaking into my house when it is just me and Alli.

Goals:

1. Finish the marathon (this will be my second, yay!)

2. Have my house clean for more than 20 minutes ( I don't know what my problem is, I only have 1 kid and she is not very mobile yet!)

3. Attend the temple more than once every 9 months ( or longer).

4. Lose the rest of the baby weight :)

Collections/Obsessions:

1. Baby tights/Baby bows

2. Children's books

3. Cook books ( you'd think that I'd be a good cook, cause I sure love to read/look at cookbooks, too bad I don't use them more often).

I tag Natalie, Cori, Erin, Staci, and Tanya and anyone else-it is fun to learn about different people. (I think you just did this tag, but if not than Annie) 

6 months old!

I have to say I wrote this 2-3 weeks ago, but didn't put the pictures with it so it was just saved in the drafts.  Here it is: I can't believe that Alli is already 6 months old.  I went to a baby shower for a good friend and there were 2 other babies there, one 9 weeks and the other 3 weeks.  It was crazy to think that not too long ago Alli was their size.  Now she is so "independent" because she knows what she wants and she wants to try to get it.  She gets upset if you take something she is playing with (even if it is the t.v. remote or the cell phone).  I love seeing her little personality come out and just watching her change.  Being a mom is truly the best.  I really miss teaching my little kids, but there is no way I could leave her just because I want to.  It seems that this past week she has changed a lot.  She can now roll from her tummy to her back so sometimes she does a roll and a half across the floor.  She also will try to support/balance herself if she is tipping when she is sitting.  She loves to jabber with consonants now (just about the cutest thing ever!), and she is oh so close to crawling.  She does this cute caterpillar type crawl to scoot herself a little bit.  She is just soo smiley and it just makes you realize what is really important in life.  It isn't money or possessions, or even the things you know or have done that matter.  She doesn't care what I did in high school or college or even better she doesn't care what I didn't do that I wanted to.  She just loves me for me.  I am her mom and I am good enough for her.  I love how excited she gets to play peek-a-boo or many other little games.  Her smile can brighten any day and her laugh is the best sound in the world.  I am so glad I get to be a mother and so amazed at how much love I have for this little person.  

So now- just a few weeks later, she does great with those skills she was working on- still not a traditional crawl, but she is good at scooting.  She likes to go after rolling toys and it entertains her because they keep getting away.  She also has 2 teeth that have broken through, the 2 bottom teeth.  It is hard to get pictures because she covers them with her tongue, but they are all the way through, now they just need to finish coming up.  We got her this duck to use as a bath seat a

n

d she loves it!  It is great because then she can't really slide in as easily and the toys stay closer so she isn't going to face plant in the water trying to get them.  The duck bill also quacks so

 she always looks around trying to figure out what is making that noise.  

We also finally purchased a high chair.  I love all the bright colors, and who knows maybe she will learn her abcs since they are all over it? When we put her in it she kept looking around trying to figure out where she was at. She seemed pretty happy though.  

Last week Bryan and Annie came down and visited.  It was so fun to see them and their cute little girls.  At first Alli wasn't sure what to think of Bryan.  She kept looking over at him like she was checking to see if he was still there.  I wish I could have gotten a picture.  Once she warmed up to him though, she was all smiles and laughter for him.  Alli also really liked Julia.  It will be so fun to see all these little kids grow up together!  The full day they were here we went up the canyon and ate lunch.  Julia enjoyed exploring the river.  Then we went to a lake and fished for part of the day and it was so fun to see Bryan with Jason, Phillip, and Ryan.  Now if only James could have been there also.  Later we went out to eat and get ice cream and we went to the park so the kids could play, but somehow all the guys started an intense game of tag.  I think all 4 of them got workout.  I didn't have the camera, but I wish I would have because they are all grown men (3 have kids) but that didn't mattter.  It was just really fun to see them "playing" together.  We were sad to see them go back home, but no trip out here is complete without a trip to Cafe Rio and I did have my camera then so here we are at Cafe Rio(Ryan is taking the pic). 

 I offered to have Julia come live with us.  She said she would, but I don't think she would have been so happy about the arrangement a few hours later.  It was so fun to see you guys and can't wait until you move back out so hopefully we can live close enough to get together often!   

Yay for Yellowstone!

This has taken me a long time to finally put up, but last weekend (over Labor day) we went to Yellowstone with Ryan's brother Colin and his family. We were hoping their whole family would be able to go, but it ended up just being us and his brothers' family. We had a lot of fun hanging out and seeing all the cool stuff. They had gone in July so they showed us all the best things including Old Faithful, Mammoth Hot Springs, more Hot Pots, the Paint pots, and more that I can't remember the names of. We were hoping to see some bears and wolves, but try as we may we saw lots of buffalo, some elk, a mountain goat (which was really cool), a bald eagle, and an osprey. We tried fishing, but found that Yellowstone must be over-fished as they did not have much luck. The food was great (thanks to Colin and Cori's extensive camping experience, without them meals would have been very simple!) and the weather was really nice until the last night so we packed up camp in about 45 minutes and had a "sleepover" at their house in Rexburg. Alli did really well, but she was glad to wake up Monday morning at their house! They were so nice to show us everything and to teach me and Ryan more about camping. We learned that camping (especially with kids) is an art that they had mastered and we need a lot more practice!!! Thanks again guys for such a great vacation!