A New Visitor!

While visiting with Mom and Dad on our NEW deck, this butterfly came to visit one of our gardens. It didn't even realize that Chris had snuck up on it to take its picture. (We LOVE our NEW camera!!)

Grillin' and Chillin'

We finally decided to get a new grill after using the one that was crushed by the ice. It only took my DH half the summer to go out and buy it. (It really didn't cost him anything since the insurance company paid for it!!) We got the skirt boards around the bottom of the deck today. All we have left to do is put a coat of sealer on it, and then we should be ready to do some Grillin' & Chillin'.

New Caps

Click on picture to enlarge

The posts are cut and the caps are on. We didn't do any other work on the deck today. We are hoping the weather is good so we can finish up tomorrow. Then we are going to pick a date for a family garage sale. We have got so much to get rid of. We need to clear out some room in our basement! Hopefully we can get the sale together in the next couple weeks.

Sprinkler Fun!

This is one of our favorite pictures of our niece. This picture was taken of her on Memorial Day after playing "baseball" with her uncle and running through the sprinkler. You've got to love that smile on her face!

Black~Eyed Susans

Our black~eyed susans are finally blooming. I remember going up to Poppy Bill and Aunt Irenes camp and picking huge bouquets of these, daisies and what ever looked pretty to us. Aunt Irene loved to have bouquets sitting around the camp. She didn't care how many weeds we picked. It always put a smile on her face.

Peter Cottontail !?!

This Little guy was tiring to find a dry

spot during the rain on Saturday. He is under a

pine tree we have in the back yard.

Every time a car drove by he would come into the yard. He isn't like the bunny at Moms house that eats all of her flowers. This one just stops by once in awhile. We never see him/her in the gardens.

Almost Done!

Click on picture to enlarge

The deck is just about done. We finished the railings today. All we have left to do is finish the trim boards around the outside, and put caps on the posts. As you can see from the first picture, we had quite a bit of ice damage. We did all of the tear off and construction ourselves. We are happy with the way it has turned out.

Home at last!!

Mom and baby went home today. All is well!
We tried to finish the deck but mother nature wanted us to take a break.We are planning to work on it tomorrow weather permitting.

(Dawn Thank you for the help on the blog and all the nice comments you have left. We are having fun!)

Baby Girl!

Here is a picture of our new niece. She is one day old in this picture. She makes niece number 3! Mommy and baby are doing well and Daddy hasn't stopped Smiling. I don't think Grandma and Grandpa have stopped smiling yet either.

It's a Girl

July 20th~ After 25+ hours in labor, Kim and Tabatha are the proud parents of a little girl. 7lbs. 6 ounces, 21" long.

Congratulations Brother and Sis!!

2 Days Later

Grandpa's rose has opened. Only two days later and look what mother nature has done. We have decided not to work on the deck during the week. It has been too hot out, and we needed a rest after last weekend. We are going to finish it up this coming weekend. (pictures to follow)

What's the Buzz?

Click on picture to enlarge.

Here are pictures of Bumble Bees (One of Chris favorite things of the summer!) Two of the pictures are from our garden and two are from moms garden.

Stay COOL where ever you are.

Special Rose Bush

This is one of the special rose bushes in our rose garden.

We both get a smile on our face when this rose bush gets a bloom.

This is one of Grandma and Grandpas rose bushes.

Our deck isn't finished yet. We didn't realize how long it would take

to put the railing together. We are getting there. One more weekend should do it. It will be worth all the hard work when its done.

Surprise Visit

Today while working on the deck, we noticed this little visitor in the garden. It took some trying, but we finally got a few good pictures. Our new deck is coming along pretty well. Hopefully we will finish it tomorrow.

Wild Life !!

~ Yellow Finch ~
~ Blue Jay ~ These pictures were taken at Mom and Dads house in their backyard.

Never give up listening to the sounds of birds.

-John James Audubon-

Why The Stress???

For those of you who don't know, we bought a new car in April. On Memorial Day weekend someone decided to pinstripe the drivers side with a key. After being in the body shop for 3 days we went to pick it up today. To our surprise, the paint job didn't look so good. After we told them that we were not happy with it, they spent quite a while buffing and polishing it, and it finally looks pretty good. We will see how it looks after a good bath.

Rainy Day!

We hope this weather is done for the week. We really need to

work on the deck this weekend. This birdhouse is in our

tree in the backyard. Chris made it in boy scouts.

(We won't say how long ago!!!)

Dragonfly on a Daylily

Secret Garden Tour

Mom and I went to the secret garden tour this past weekend.

We went to six different gardens around the area. These are a

couple pictures out of the 75 I took on the tour.

First Post

Cone Flower
We thought this would be fun for our family and friends that we don't get to see as often as we would like. We also thought it would be a good way to keep everyone updated on what is going on in our lives.