My backyard

I have lived in this house for 6 1/2 years now. We finished the basement in Feb-Mar '09. Now it was time to finish the backyard. In May we had someone come and put in a sprinkler system while we were in California. We thought about doing it ourselves but after looking at things closely we knew it was out of our league. Then it was time for grass. David took off work on Tuesday the 1st of June. It rained so we couldn't work in the yard. On Thursday we were able to go out and till the yard some. Weeds were an issue. I used the tiller during the day and David was able to come home and work in the evenings. I put in 4 terraces on the south side of the house all by myself. I leveled most of the yard. David moved more rocks than we ever thought possible. But after all this prep work, we had sod delivered on Wednesday the 9th of June. With the help of two wonderful people in the neighborhood we were able to lay the sod on both sides and the back of the house. We no longer have dirt in the backyard. The kids want to go play on it but we must wait. We are going on vacation for just over 2 weeks so when we come back the kids should be able to play on it. The timing of things was done on purpose so it would be easier on the kids and us parents. We have been having some rain so the grass is staying wet. The temperatures are in the low 60's which is strange for Utah in June, but works out great for the new grass. David made a comment about everything being done with the house. I made sure to tell him our next project is hardwood floors in the upstairs. But that is for next year.

Milestones

Lila is now a 3 year old. Her birthday fell on Mother's day this year. We were in California on our Disneyland vacation so we celebrated at Grandma Harriet's house. We gave her a fabric sided market and lacing books. Grant gave her a Snow White crown. Grandparents gave her a bunch of new clothes, (little girl had very few shirts). Her cake was pink with princess things on top. It said Happy Birthday Princess Lila. It was a quiet day. The week that followed was crazy. We went to Disneyland 5 days that week. We are now ready to rest from playing. The kids had a great time. We made Grant ride the Tower of Terror in California Adventure. He covered his ears the entire time and wouldn't go on it again. Lila was afraid of the Matterhorn, but she liked the ride when it was over. We made her go at least 4 times. We did get to the beach, but we only stayed for a short time. The water was cold and the temperature was only in the mid 70's. They kids collected shells and sand. We went to some tide pools where we found some hermit crabs. We had breakfast in the park with Minnie. It was expensive but the smiles and laughter from my kids was worth it. My favorite ride was the Toy Story Midway games in California Adventure. Grant gives me a list when I ask him what his favorite was. Lila doesn't have a favorite but she asked for Alice. We saw more characters than we did two years ago. Lila went to see the princesses. She was brave and went up and gave them hugs and had her picture taken with them. The weather was perfect every day we were there. The kids stayed happy most of the time. Now we have to plan for the next vacation in June. I have two big bike rides before then. School is almost over. Summer is coming. Full steam ahead!

A Journal

I went to a wonderful Family History fireside last night with David McCullough as guest speaker. He was amazing. He told of finding journals and how that brought these people from the past into the present, making them alive again. No one lives in the past, they lived in their present. You must learn to understand their present if you want to know them. He told us how he found a diary of a US ambassador to France during the times of Napoleon when Paris was engulfed in civil war. He found this diary in the Library of Congress of all places. He then said to write a journal and give it to your library or college or even the Library of Congress and then you will be forever quoted because it will be the only diary in existence from our time. Then I thought of what I will leave behind. I need to write things down. I have wanted to organize a project for a while now. Both of my children have been named after a great grandparent. I want my children to know who these amazing people were. I am hoping to get stories of them from the living children, that would be my parents, aunts, David's parents, aunts and uncle. If we don't write things down in some form, think of what we will be depriving future generations of. A young John Adams wrote in a small book with tiny script about wanting to read about the world and famous authors. He even wrote at the age of twenty about probably being a man of little consequence. We never know if we will be influential in the coming years. But I am grateful a young man decided to write his thoughts down so he comes to life for us years after his death. So I will write something for my children and my children's children, so when they read my words I can live again for them.

Working in the Garden

I love my new raised bed garden. I have planted the lettuce starts and green beans went in today. I will add zucchini when the time is right. I am thinking about growing roma tomatoes to make spaghetti sauce this year. I don't think I will do peppers since I am not planning on making salsa. I have a yam that put out greenery that I will put in the ground and see what happens. I did this with a red potato the first year we were in this house and it was the only thing that produced. I love having a garden.

First Ride of the Year.

I love getting on my bicycle and just going. I signed up months ago to ride the bike tour that is in connection with the Salt Lake Marathon. I was going to do it with a friend but due to medical circumstances she had to back out. It was on April 17th. The ride was only 24 miles long and was mostly downhill. I got to ride on Salt Lake City streets very early in the morning. We left from the George Eccles Bridge at the U of U at 6:00 am. It was still dark, but the temps were already in the low 50's. I finished in just under 1 hour and 30 minutes. I got to the finish line at the Gateway a few minutes before the 5 K runners left. I was given a medallion for finishing. The bike tour wasn't timed like the marathon was. After I was done I felt like I was just starting. I hope to find another ride this year where I will get to go a greater distance. There were no stops on this short ride, but that was okay because it was such an easy ride. I might do this ride again next year. Maybe I'll make David ride it with me. The feeling I get while on my bike must be the same that some people get when they run. I hate running, but riding a bike is a great high. Plus I get to see so much more on a bike than I would just running. I hope to work my way up to being able to do a century ride. That's 100 miles in a single day. I guess I have some crazy in me.

A New Vacuum

Well, my Electrolux vacuum that I have had since 1997 became possessed a few months back. I was cleaning and while holding the vacuum had a major shock. This must have shorted something in the machine because it started having issues. The machine would turn on when I touched the machine anywhere. Then the head no longer turned and it would turn on all on its own. Telling you it was possessed by the Vacuum demons. This demon gets into your machine and makes your life horrible because you can't clean your house anymore. Then it plays the dirtiest trick, it destroys your vacuum so you need to buy a new one. Oh well, my vacuum had a good run. Over 12 years with mostly minor problems. So I did the crazy thing and bought the new model. It is lighter, has better suction, no handle board to get shorted out, a true HEPA filter, 20 year parts and labor warranty for the canister, 5 year warranty on the other parts. So if the demons come back for this machine the problems will be covered for the next 20 years. I really like the fact that customer service comes to my house to see what is wrong with the machine. Areus electrolux is a great company. Someone tried to sell me a Kirby before Christmas but she took over 3 1/2 hours of my day without telling me at the beginning that she was trying to sell me a machine. She told me she was just out cleaning a room for free. I thought it was a cleaning service that if I liked what they did I could buy their services. She made me so angry that I will never buy a Kirby simply because the customer service was manipulative and deceiving. Back to what I bought, I also bought an upright for the downstairs for quick pick up. A Spring Cleaning sale went into effect at the beginning of the month and with my trade in I got a great deal on the machine. In the end I spent $1604 for two vacuums. The tax was over $100. I will not be buying another machine for at least another 12 years, hopefully more like 20 years. I know you think I am crazy for spending that much money on a vacuum, but it beats buying a Hoover or a Dyson every 4 to 5 years. In the end the cost would be the same, and I have a better machine in the intervening years. Now I am off to use my new vacuum in the house where the old machine has been causing problems. My house will finally feel clean.

Big Day

Today is a big day for our Lila. She begins potty training. So far we have had much success. I took her 3 times this morning with no results. Not ten minutes after I took her the third time, she took herself and finally tinkled. She has now done this four times already and it is only noon. We had a bit of an accident because she was playing outside and didn't get into the house in time. We'll see how the rest of the day goes. I told her to say goodbye to her diapers because she won't be needing them anymore. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.