Halloween 1984

I can't believe this was 25 years ago...
Jason (the Dragon) was 1 years old and Brandon (the Clown) was 2 years old.
Next to Christmas I think HALLOWEEN is my favorite holiday!

Pumpkin Patch.......

......looking for the perfect pumpkin, can be hard work, not to mention "Cold" work! Mckai & Grandpa heading out to find some pumpkins.

I think Mckai has found just the right one.

Erin had more fun pulling the wagon, and watching Mckai run around. I think the rest of us just tried to stay WARM!

4 wheeling....

Bruce, Erin, And I went 4 wheeling up Bountiful Canyon a few weeks ago. The fall colors were spectacular. And the road was flat, which is just how I like it!


I just love the fall colors it makes the mountains look beautiful.

Here is Bruce.....He is wondering if we will ever venture off the (flat) road, and actually do any 4 wheeling?

A view of the "Great Salt Lake".....and Erin patiently waiting for us to get going again.

More of the lake.

Bruce let me take the lead on this trip, big mistake....because he knows I don't go over 10 miles an hour and I stay on the flat ground. I'm pretty sure this was my "First" & "Last" time I get to go in front! We traveled about 20 miles in when we discovered that my 4 wheeler was nearly out of gas! So the trip was cut short and we headed back. I had to pretty much coast my last 1/2 mile down the canyon. I love watching Erins face when we go, because she has so much fun, I honestly think she would ride from sun up to sundown.

Life is Short.....

Break the Rules,

Forgive Quickly,

Kiss Slowly,

Laugh Uncontrollably,

and never regret anything

that made you Smile.

Working hard....

I love to watch Bruce at work. So does Erin. If she could she would have me go every day to see her Dad. We have sometimes taken Bruce (..yes the crew also) a drink or something to eat when He and his crew are in a hurry to get a job done and don't have time to take break or a lunch.
Instead of like some supervisors who usually stand by and tell everyone what to do. He works right along side his crew. Whatever they are doing he is doing. Just one more reason why I love him!

And Nope he didn't know I was taking pictures.

A Plant? or a Weed?

There is this plant out front that looks just like a weed. I am sure I have pulled it several times, only to have it grow back. The other night we got home late and I noticed the plant (weed) had flowers on it. Really pretty yellow flowers.

And I suddenly remembered that JoAnn had plants out front that only bloomed when the moon was out. So needless to say I won't be pulling the ugly plant out any more. Wouldn't matter any way if I did it would just come back!



So here is the plant during the day when the sun is out....looks like a weed huh?

And here it is at night in the dark when the moon is out. Very pretty. I'm sure it has a name I just haven't found it on google yet.

Just goes to show you that "You can't judge a book by its cover".

The Yard....

I am a big fan of "Before" & "After" pictures. I love it when things come together.

When we moved into Winchester we knew the yard needed a little help......so 2 summers later we are at the end of the project......Yeah! One Summer to tear it apart...and one to put it back together.


It took awhile to go from the above picture........

To this picture above.......And we couldn't have done it without help from the kids. (again....The reason I had kids is to do the stuff I don' want to do)

We did have to get a mini back hoe to pull out some big stumps and posts.

I can see why our boys loved playing out back at grandma's when they were little. It was a virtual jungle back there, with an irrigation ditch thrown in. I always remember JoAnn saying "You boys stay out of that ditch now" Which of course made it all the more appealing. Oh! the water snakes that were found back there!!

We took out everything but two big trees.

We thought about pulling the trampoline out, but decided to just replace it, since there was allready a big hole in the ground.

We rented a mini excavator to move dirt and gravel around. Even Mckai got in on the action.

One of our biggest helpers was Erin, she wanted to do whatever we were doing. I just love that sweetie!

Finally a couple loads of dirt, and we got it leveled out.

We put in a small retaining wall. And fenced off all of the back yard.

We decided....Ok fine "I" talked Bruce into hydro-seeding. We have always done sod in the past on other projects, but its always good to try something different, right?. After "Way to Much" research we went ahead and hydro-seeded.

And we......yes "We" are glad we did. I love the new grass they did an awesome job. It sprays on green (above) and takes about 5 weeks........

.......and then you have GRASS, wonderful green grass! No more dirt. YEAH!

We just have to baby it a little, cause most of it is in the shade, and only gets sun in late afternoon.

Now when Erin and Kai run from the trampoline to the swings, they don't have to stop and put their shoes on, they can just run across the grass.

I just want to say THANKS A BUNCH to Bruce (Your the Best!...you hung in there even when I kept changing my mind, and never complained, but I did see you roll your eyes a couple of times) and thanks to the boys for always helping out when we needed you to.

Next Project: Basement Windows Believe me I wish we didn't have to!