Elijah and Dylan at 3 Months old.

Boy time seems to fly by so fast. It has been way too long since I posted last to our blog. I will try to keep up a little better. I will start with the newest grandchildren.

Dylan is three months and Elijah is only two weeks behind him, but about the same size. We had a get-together on Tuesday night and funny enough they both were wearing green t-shirts and blue pants. They are so close in age they might as well be dressing like twins. We had fun trying to get them to smile together but with no luck, so here are a few pictures of them laughing and being silly together.
They seem to be saying ...ARE YOU SERIOUS, you want us to SMILE? What's THAT!

Okay if you insist....

Alright we have had enough...can we quit already!!!!

These two have grown so fast in the last few months, cooing and laughing lots, it's amazing the changes they have made. Before long they will be rolling over and crawling. They are both very happy babies, and I'm sure their moms are really appreciative of that. It is so fun to watch the cousins growing up together.

Driveway Resurfacing

This week Chris has been working hard to get the driveway leveled and graveled. We rented a Bobcat and it arrived on Monday afternoon. Chris worked hard until dusk to get all the potholes filled in and the stumps removed before the gravel arrived on Tuesday morning at 10am.

Having Fun Yet!?!

The front yard finished.

Leveling out the barn-side yard.
He also shortened our rock wall so that we have more room for cars to back up without hitting the wall; and a big plus might I add; so I don't have to weed so much untamed garden area. The rock wall now ends at the end of the grass in the front yard.

Fixing another turn around spot.
I think Chris really enjoyed this!

New turn around spot.

Driveway all done and waiting for the gravel.

10AM came and went, and no gravel, which he was concerned about because we only had the Bobcat until 2PM. So he called them and found out that they had a truck break down and they wouldn't be able to deliver the gravel until 2PM. He was not a happy camper.

So he made the best use of the Bobcat while he could and leveled out the yard on the barn-side of the house and also at the bottom of the hill in the meadowy area.The gravel arrived exactly at 2PM - 10 yards of gravel!

Wow that's a lot to shovel!
They didn't arrive to pick up the Bobcat until 2:30 so he was able to get most of it moved around before they arrived.Go Chris Go!
It's amazing how much work can be done so easily and fast with the right equipment

He finished up shoveling the rest of the gravel and it looks really good.
We still need another 20 yards or so to finish in front of the house but that will come soon in "phase two" which will probably be next payday.
Here is the finished driveway so far.
Great job Chris, and Thank You so much!

Tree Removal in Driveway

After much planning it was time for the menacing tree, that was crowding out our driveway, to finally come down. Bob had Chris use his old climbing spurs that he used when he was Chris's age. The funny thing about it was that even though they are still in pretty good shape and safe to use, we saw them in a museum in Alaska when we went on our cruise in June. That wasn't very encouraging to Chris when he found out, but he braved the adventure anyway.

Strapping on the climbing spurs.
Chris lopped the limbs as he went up.
And then tied a rope around the tree about 2/3 of the way to the top.Bob, Rich and Paul piled the limbs to keep them out of the way.
Rich and Bob preparing for the next step of cutting the tree down.
Cutting the wedge.
The last cut... Bob wasn't too happy that I got this picture, when he looked up and saw that I was standing too close to where it was going to land.
They tied a pulley around another tree and pulled on the rope to keep the tree going in the right direction as it fell.
The tree fell exactly where Bob wanted it to and they all helped to get it cut up and out of the way.

I had a few more pictures of Rich helping but they all turned out blurry. They were working real fast to get it all done before it got dark and I thought I was getting some good pictures of them working but I wasn't careful enough to get them in motion without the blur.

One of the logs in motion as they pulled it over to the barn with the quad.

Cousins Having fun

Some pictures of the cousins together on the fourth.

I have to sit by her? What?.... doesn't boys have cooties?
At first they both weren't too sure about having to set next to each other, especially when we put Skyler's arm around Hannah....

and Noah just wanted to get it all over with.

We put Noah and Skyler in matching outfits and Noah loved that he looked just like Skyler.

They both had fun sitting in Grandpa and grandma's porch swing.

4th of July Family Time

After we got back from our cruise we had a great week with most of the family.
Cheryl and Josh and kids came down for a visit and Allisha, Rich and Skyler came over too.
We had breakfast at the L.B.A. park with the Eld Inlet Ward. It was all dutch oven dishes, with fruit, and muffins too. Bob made potatoes, cinnamon strudel, and carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, there were also scones, eggs & bacon, and ham. We played a few games at the park and then headed home. After relaxing for a couple of hours and letting the kids nap we headed for Fry Cove Park to take a group picture and then home to play in the kids pool but the water was too cold for the little ones so that ended the afternoon together. Cheryl and Josh had to head back to the Martinsen's for their family activities and the rest of us had a BBQ before everyone headed off to the fireworks and Grandpa and Grandma had a quiet evening at home.

Sunday Cheryl and Josh came to church with us and we all got together for dinner and games afterwards. Carrie Stanton and her kids came over and we all had a great afternoon of relaxation.

Early Monday morning I drove Bob to the airport for Washington D.C. and then home to pick up Chris, and we followed Josh, Cheryl, Noah and Hannah to Point Difiance Zoo for the morning. After a great time seeing all the animals and eating lunch at McDonald's we said our goodbyes and the Martinsens headed back to Bellingham and Chris and I headed back to Olympia. What a great weekend with the family.