Cool Patio!

The final paver has been laid. Charl tapped into his creative side for this one. At the last house he did a big rectangle, but we had endless possibilites in this space. Charl wanted to make the patio have curves to it which is tricky when you are working with square blocks. SO, this is what we call our cool, funky patio. Now we need to landscape around the patio, but that may need to wait until next year. It's amazing how much things like dirt, rocks, and sand cost! Thanks Charl for all your hard work. It looks AWESOME!

Seth's Birthday

On the evening of the 24th of July, we went to Seth's 1st Birthday Party. He had a really cool cake with a 4 wheeler on it and Anders couldn't keep his hands off the frosting and the truck. They put a sparkler on it...the kids thought that was great.

While the kids were eating I went in the family room to attend to Holly. All the sudden the kids at the table were laughing hysterically. Layne called to me, "Andersen is causing quite the commotion." I turned around and he's eating his ice cream with a paintbrush. I guess the spoon wasn't big enough. He didn't get sick, so I guess it was a clean one.

Pioneer Day

Today we went to Granny Louw's to swim and have a picnic. Teresa and Pews also came. Teresa, Holly, Rachelle, Taran, Timo, Zane, and Gwen posing under the shade tree. We all had a wonderful picnic and a nice swim.

Here's Andersen in the "big" pool. He is totally fearless. As soon as we get outside he makes a bee line straight for the ladder and starts climbing in. We all have to be on our toes with him.

It looks like he a pro swimmer. He doesn't want any help. I get a little worried he may slip and go under, but so far he's been real steady.

Holly just played in the little slide. She wasn't too fond of the "cold" water in the little fish pool.

Teresa and I finally got her to smile.

Check out my Slide Show!

House on Honeydew

We moved into our new home on August 23, 2007. This is what it looked like then. Yardwork, here we come!!!

We have grass and "The Great Wall of China", too. The kids think this is a perfect balance beam. So far, there have been no deductions for falling off the apparatus.

Charl really wanted this tree: a Forest Pansy (redbud). We also planted a peach tree.

My first garden. We planted tomatoes, squash, watermelon, broccoli, canteloupe. Unfortunately, it looks like only the tomatoes are going to work out. It's been a learning experience and maybe we'll do better next year.
Yes, Charl is creating another paver patio. This is still a work in progress, hoped to be completed soon. This sleek patio will double as a basketball court.

Fourth of July

Holly at the park.

Andersen eating a Creamie after a dip in the hot tub.

Too bad the pirate ship pool had a hole in it.

Wow! This was the grand finale. Thanks Pews for entertaining us with fireworks.

The kids must be tired after this very fun day. We took about 10 pictures and not one smile.