the "PERGOLA"

FINISHED!!! (for now...)

Farewell to friends

My neighbor is moving, It reminds me of moving as a kid.
Goodbyes are terrible and not something I like- so it is just see you soon.Our sons are a day apart, we have spent hours together- And I once made her promise that I could call her anytime and she would sing to me.... She's incredible- Best of luck in California- Dont forget to start a blog! Lots of love to Mary, Kristyn, Anthony and Benjamin and of course Miguel!

fishin' with Grandpa

There are times when I know my father wishes he had more men around- this would be one of them.
Grandpa took all the grandkids fishing. None of his sons in laws or even his one son was there.

So he put all the worms on the hooks, he taughts us how to cast the lines and reel them in, then he ran around getting fishes off hooks and getting the hook out of their mouth-
Seth the oldest grandson- 11 years old- he was brave and put one worm on the hook. The rest of us... we just sat around trying to .... act pleasant. Thank you Dad for taking us fishing. We really do hope you will do it again.

And to my sisters, if you have a pictures of Tyler I would love it. How did I not get one of him. He caught a really big one!

Darren's 31st Birthday

Friday the 11th we went downtown to a free concert in the Brigham Young Park by the church office building. Celtic music. It was great. then we rode the "train" down to the gateway and got some Ben and Jerry icecream.
The next morning Darren rode his rode bike up to Solitude- we drove - and met him there with a picnic lunch. We had free lift passes to the top of the lift so we didn't have to hike all the way up. We did a short hike to Solitude lake and had a delicious lunch. We ended up eating leftover for dinner and cooked smores in our new fire pit instead of the birthday brownies Tyler and I cooked.

New Dew

During our hike Tyler got really hot with his long hair, so we decided it was time for his summer time 'buzz'. He wanted me to leave a mohawk but Amy didn't like it so we just went for the 'Alfalfa' look. We all really like it...

Hiking

We went hiking yesterday up Ferguson Canyon. Great place to hike and climb in the summer because most of it is in the shade. No climbing this time just a short hike. Tyler did the whole thing by himself (Only about 1.5 miles, but not bad for the little tike.) Even Toby got to go, it was an enjoyable outing and a nice break.

Ella had the best deal of us all. She got to ride in the front carrier with front row seating without having to take a single step. She did great. She really likes facing forward these days so she can see what is going on.

Almost finished

so we are almost finished with our projects- Darren has put in so many hours and has done a great job.

Our fence looks great- a beautiful Vinyl fence- with a nice cement patio, with great furniture, we watched a movie out there with Dan and Katie the other night- (and Stella) and there is some nice shade over head- (almost finished) and we even got some wood from Pat and Seth so we can have a little fire- the table has a fire pit in the center of it- We plan to roast some marshmallows for smores- come on over - well, give us a few more days to wrap things up-

Our week

Tyler was so happy to be home- he loved playing with Grandma/pa Balls and Ranell all week. But he was so excited to know it was Monday because it means Family Home Evening- He asked me all day, is it still monday... he didn't want to miss it- he had our family home evening game out by 9:30 in the morning and I had to tell him we needed to wait until dad came home so dad wouldn't be sad if we did it with out him. So this is us, after FHE eating icecream as a family- Notice how big Ella is!!!


This is Ella's blessing dress- Our neighbor made it, it is just beautiful!


This is Darren (after an all morning meeting) walking with Ella in Central Park. It wasn't to hot but we did wish we were in shorts and t-shirts-We had a great time in NY- Ella was a champ even on the plane ride

quick update

we need to post some pictures I know... but we are trying to do so many projects right now, I will just write a quick update.

Here is a list of updates:
1. I have bangs and layers in my hair- Hair that has been straight and long for almost 10 years

2. Ella is smiling and cooing alot- sleeping 11 hours at night, and eating like a champ

3. Tyler is at Grandma and Grandpa Balls house in Logan for a week. Darren and I will be leaving for NY on Monday to have a vacation/work conference

4. Darren had Lasik surgery on Thursday and is slowly recovering. He had a more serious kind of procedure due to his cornea being a different shape

5. We have a 25 X 21 foot beautiful colored cement deck- Darren has worked really hard to get the sprinklers all adjusted before the cement was poured.

6. We were supposed to have a fence by now, but all i have to say between the cement contractors and the fence company, I am finished for a while with contractors

7. We get to talk in church today in sacrament meeting

8. Darren has to give a talk/speech at the conference in NY

9. At the conference in NY we are doing a service project - those who know Christi Byrd from VA - we are coordinating it with her, Darrens work and the employees are donating money and we go out and serve/give to the community in NY. So... Darren and I have been come the leaders of our group since we came up with the great service idea. So on Thursday... if everything goes through smoothly...(coordinating between there different groups in NY is very difficult) but if all goes well, we will be helping a very poor school in the Bronx build an educational garden. Very cool. I will post pictures later.

10. It is fathers day, so I will go cook breakfast for my husband!