How Time Flies!!!

Wow! Has it really already been a month since I posted on here??? I guess once June got here, our family went into overdrive, and we have just now slowed down long enough to take a break! Several people have asked me if we ever finished our room, and I guess we did, so check out the webshots page for updated pictures in that "room remodel" album for the almost final product! We still have not put in actual carpet (it is just a remnant on top of old linoleum), but it works for now. There also isn't really much on the walls, but those things will get added as they come to us. But everything is painted and structual changes are all done. Next winter project, the bathroom, hopefully :)

Another big project around here was the addition of an above-ground pool to our backyard. We have wanted to put one in right off the deck for a while, but didn't think it was possible with the grade of the hill, and had resolved to putting it up in the field behind Heather's parents' barn (not the ideal location). When the excavator came to prepare the site, he convinced us that it really could go where we wanted, without costly retaining walls or drainage issues. He maneuvered that bobcat and sloped/graded our hill like a baker icing a cake! It was amazing! Now we have a pool right off the deck that the kids can enjoy and not have to hike across the field to get to it. Our weekends since the installation have been spent planting grass, landscaping with rock around the pool, and building a deck/bridge from our existing deck to get to the pool! Heather is planning on hopefully being able to teach some lessons later in July to some kids from our home school coop.

Eric and Bay have been busy with swim team this summer-practice every morning and swim meets (the whole family gets involved) twice a week in the evenings. Bay has been practicing hard, and is almost ready to swim in a meet. They love the time swimming every day and making new summer friends.

We have enjoyed some unusually cool summer weather so far up here, and have only just today turned on the a/c because of humidity. It has been nice to have the house open and airy for so long into the summer. Hopefully the a/c won't have to stay on for too long!

I am adding pictures to our webshots album, so explore some new photos when you get the chance.

Memorial Day Visits...

Heather's brother, Andy, from California

Heather's cousin, Laura and her husband, Kevin from Florida

We had a great Memorial Day weekend complete with visits from both Heather's brother, Andy and Heather's cousin Laura and her husband Kevin! We all had a great time catching up with each other, spent lots of time out on the grandparents' sailboat and power boat (tubing, swimming on the beach), cooking out, etc... There are tons of picutres from the weekend on our webshots page, and check out the video of the boys swimming off the sailboat! I will be adding a link in the sidebar of the blog so you can go directly to any other "youtube" videos I may have posted but not included in the blog, so check that out from time to time as well if you wish.

Grandma's 77th Birthday!!

Dennis' mom just celebrated her 77th birthday! She came over for a birthday lunch and cake. Her favorite present by far was the calendar with pictures of the kids on each month. We are so glad that she still has the energy to come over and spend time with her grandchildren on a pretty regular basis. It is so nice to have all of our family close by-we feel very thankful and blessed!

Celebrating 10 Wonderful Years!!!

Dennis and I just celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary, and we were able to plan and go on a weekend trip (our first ever since kids) out to western Virginia along the Blue Ridge Parkway. We had a great time and came home refreshed and renewed! We stayed at Peaks of the Otter Lodge along the parkway, and explored towns and attractions up and down the parkway from there. We hiked on one of the peaks near where we stayed (called Sharp Top peak) and even saw a black bear. The elevation was about 3900 feet. It was quite a hike! We also explored the city of Roanoke, Mabry's Mill in Meadows of Dan, and Waynesboro.

The kids had a great weekend having their Granni & Gramps all to themselves. Leah was so excited to see us leave, she said, "I want to say good-bye to you, mommy!" (meaning, I want you to leave) Of course, they were glad to have us back by the time we got home :)

Eric playing Boccherini Minuet, just practicing!

Strawberry Picking & More

Leah surrounded by strawberries...she hasn't yet figured out she is allowed to eat them!
The kids cooling off at the beach.

We have been continuing to enjoy the beautiful spring weather, and spent a morning this week at a local strawberry farm. The kids picked, played on the playground, on the tractors, and looked at the farm animals. When we came home, the boys helped me mash strawberries for strawberry jam and a strawberry pie...yummm!

Dennis has had a long stretch a work where he has been working 12+ hours a day, 7 days a week, but thankfully that is over now and we are looking forward to having him back around the house and enjoying the visits with family over Memorial Day Weekend!

Check out more pics from the Strawberry Farm by following our webshots link!

Spring Fun!

Here is something new for all you blog lovers out there! We have registered with YouTube and now have the capability to put short videos of the kids on our blog. With the warm weather, we have really enjoyed spending some time down at our beach before the jellyfish come. Leah is getting braver every time, and even after this video, Bay was swimming with his whole head under the water. Stay tuned for more action from our family this summer.

For those who don't know how to operate the video, here are your instructions.
1. Click on the large play button in the middle of the video to activate the controller.
2. Then click on the smaller play button on the lower left of the video screen to play the video.
3. Make sure your sound is turned on, the clip has sound as well!