Last couple of weeks

As usual, we've been pretty busy around here the last couple of weeks. Chad got the garden all ready for me to plant with the help of the cutest lil' cheerleaders, Cassidy and Morgan

We had our friends Kimberley, Ayran and Maddie over for an afternoon and after dinner we took the girls back over to the barn for a ride on Rocky. Maddie got to go first since Cassidy refused to wear her helmet...but as soon as she saw Maddie on "her" pony she was more than ready to put it on if it meant she got to ride.

As soon as she got on, she couldn't stop smiling!

Then we decided to ride double, and that was so much fun the girls didn't want to get off. We ended up leading Rocky back to our house where we had to convince Cassidy she would get to ride again but now it was time to go home.

A little R&R for the hard workers.....Cassidy set that all up by herself so she could "read" with Papa. Check out both crossed legs....

We did have a little mishap along the way...Cassidy got another black eye, but this one was by far the worst. She fell while helping Chad and Jerry on the porch. She's pretty tough and Grandma Margie called her Bruiser.

While Cassidy and I were over in Wenatchee helping Bryce move into his new place, Chad and Jerry kept working away on the porch and got the railing done and then started breaking ground for our walkways.

This weekend Chad and I got all the flagstone down for our 3 walkways. We're going to let the rain do some work for us to get the gravel and sand settled before putting down the bark. It already looks amazing and I can't believe how close we are to getting done!

I couldn't have a better work crew and I know there is so much good stuff to come!

Friends

Easter Weekend

The weekend started off with a bang with Uncle Bryce coming over Friday night. Saturday Grandma Kit, Auntie Lori, Uncle Matt, and Cousins Brady and Lindsay came down and while Matt helped Chad get some electrical work done (something about surround sound and outside speakers) the rest of the crew entertained Miss Cassidy while I got some yard work done. As you can see she was very into the Easter egg hunting wearing her new rubber boots. She is running from her bedroom where poor Lindsay had to try to keep her while the others hid the eggs. The girl catches on quick when there's candy involved!


Cassidy got a great bubble wand too and Uncle Bryce was happy to show her how to use it. They spent a lot of time together Saturday...he was the only one who didn't have the heart to tell her "all done". Now that he is back in the state with visits coming closer together, I'm sure it won't be too long until he's mean like the rest of us.

Sunday Uncle Bryce, Cassidy and I went to church. It was a surprisingly nice morning and Cassidy spent time picking flowers to put in her Easter egg basket. She looked so pretty in her dress...and grown up!

We tried to do the Easter Egg hunt in town after church but we were 5 minutes late and it was already all over. Cassidy's friend Maddie was there too and also arrived too late. The girls were happy just to get to play together for a little while, but soon the wind was too much and we went home.

My first official Easter Dinner...It was great having Jerry and Bryce with us and I have to say I did a pretty good job with the food.

Relaxing with "Papa" after her busy weekend


The rest of the time we've been working hard on the house. The rock is all done except for a final washing scheduled for this weekend. It looks great and Jerry and Chad are now on to getting the railing up. Pretty soon our house will yet again have a different look. It's so exciting how close we are getting to having our big projects done!

Cassidy's battle wounds from all her time outside helping. She followed our cat behind the shop and tried to follow her across some logs. It looked like she slipped off, hitting her eyebrow and nose on the way down (kinda like her mama). She's a tough one though...it wasn't long before she was squirming out of my lap and back playing. It took me longer to figure out what had actually hurt as the bruise didn't show up right away. Sadly, there were no grandmas around to blame...

I couldn't help myself...

She actually seems to like the pigtails better than a pony tail and will leave the "pretties" in much longer, which is a good thing since we're still trying to camouflage her mullet! Oh, the adventures we have...

Busy Weekend

Our Saturday morning routine is to make blueberry pancakes...Cassidy is very happy to sit on the counter and "help"

We also made Uncle Bryce some cookies to help him with his move. We are pretty excited to have him back in Washington. He even gets to come over for Easter!

The big and exciting project is getting the rock going around the house. I have to say just about anything, including the wire mesh we had to put on first, looks better than the Tyvek paper!

Cousin Tanner also stopped by for a visit and Cassidy went from Carharts to ballerina dress and "pretties" in a manner of minutes! She had a great time bringing 4 month old Tanner lots of toys to play with and showing him all of her favorite things. Yes Grandma Margie, her hair is in a ponytail.

Here is what the front of the house looks like now with all the rock up and the bats in place. It looks great!

Cassidy back to her carharts to help me clean up the rock. She is such a great helper and doesn't want to miss a thing.

What a great face!

We are now going to tackle getting the rock on the columns...wish us luck! There is going to be a lot of cutting involved and very similar to putting a jigsaw puzzle together. Hopefully by next weekend I'll be able to share the pictures...

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Spring Time Fun

Here's why it takes an extra 45 minutes to feed horses when Cassidy helps me. I can't think of any other way I'd rather spend my evenings! Ready...Set...Jump!

Our happy girl with mud on her face!

March Madness

This weekend I went down to Mt. Rainer National Park with a group of the most amazing women I know for our 6th annual March Madness snowshoe trip. Stay tuned for some pictures....