New Landscaping

Well, it's finally finished.  Ok, so it's actually not finished, but it's close enough; so we are going to post the pictures.  We've still got to repaint the block wall we had to tear down to get all the equipment in the backyard (the stucco is almost set for painting) and we have a few more minor items to address, but the yard is certainly pretty enough to post some photos.

I'll start straight with the good stuff.  In the backyard, we filled in our pool, tore down an old pergola, removed two 50' pine trees that were causing trouble and moved our gazebo to a better location. We put down sod over the area the pool and deck used to occupy, build a large stone paver patio with a fire pit, put down artificial turf in the sideyard and put down gravel and plants all around.  The  front yard also got a clean-up.  We trimmed up our pine tree, added gravel, a pair of new pots and colorful plants and a new (although very wimpy looking right now) dwarf cherry tree.  Cherry trees do quite well here in Albuquerque and we hope to have fun picking cherries in a few years.  Not to mention that we installed an irrigation system to sprinkle and drip on all the grass and plants.  The irrigation system has a very fancy controller that has moisture sensors attached so it only waters each area of our yard if it's needed.  We also bought five large pots to place plants in and ran drip hose through the bottom of all of those.

Here is a slideshow of the finished product:

And for those of you who know that this stuff doesn't come without hard work.  There is a whole litany of demolition and construction photos.

This project took over 5 weeks.  I can't tell you how proud I am of Tiffany for dutifully overseeing this project during the day and putting up with the inconvenience of it all (and the dog...oh how Jones hated the people in his yard for so long). 

We are so excited to get to play and use our yard as a functional part of our home.  Our two favorite parts right now are the seating area that wraps around the wall of the stone paver patio and the artificial turf.  The wall seating is actually pretty comfortable, is the perfect distance away from the firepit to get some warmth and is large enough that we'll be able to entertain quite a few people.  

The turf was a big surprise.  We wanted to put something in the sideyard that didn't need to be watered (saving us money in the long run) but we wanted a surface that the kids could play on too.  We had heard quite a few negative reviews from people about artificial turf.  It's ugly.  It looks too fake.  It feels fake.  It burnt my wimpy kid's feet at so-and-so's house.  Well, those people either didn't buy the good stuff or were just wrong.  We love our turf!  We did shell out for the highest end product available, but it was affordable (considering the scope of our project) and we couldn't be happier.  The turf does not get hot.  It feels the same temperature as the sod in the back, perhaps even cooler after a short rain.  The turf feels so soft, we can't get the kids and Jones to stop rolling in it.  Titus has asked to go play with his T-ball set on it more times than I can count in the past few days (even once when it was POURING the rain).  Yes, you can tell it's fake by looking at it (see the close up photo with my hand in the slideshow), but I personally think it looks great.

Enough from me.  What do you guys think?

Summer

We have been in the midst of waiting and praying for a few months now. We are waiting to hear about a job opportunity, waiting for God to bring us another child, waiting for answers about many other little things. I know that many of you reading this have been praying for us as well, and we truly appreciate it. We feel like we are in holding pattern. But God's grace is sufficient! We have been able to just be a family. Enjoying the everyday events.

sick days...


Zoo days....


just a Tuesday...

Fun with the Williams Family

We had friends visit this past weekend. We had so much fun. Stu had some work in town, and Sara got to tag along for fun! We enjoyed a double date with some great food, and a local brewery and skeeball. Serious fun.

We also went to an Isotopes game. We got buy one get one free with a receipt for honey. (seriously? honey? we always need more honey, so easy) Then we actually got front row seats! And no I don't have a picture of that because I forgot the camera. Bummer. But what I do have a picture of is the baseball that Titus got! The batter hit a pop-up to left field and the out fielder caught it, it was the third out. So as this outfielder was running back to the dug out he tossed the ball straight to Titus!! We were all so stinkin excited. This was not our first baseball game, but it was the first time in the front row and to get a ball! When we were leaving we saw the mascot Orbit, and we got a photo op. Titus was petrified of this thing. You can see a photo of it at Stu & Sara's blog.




All in all we had a great time with our friends in town. Spoiled children, lots of green chilies and New Mexican food, and great conversations with old friends. Good times.

The day the sun turned red.

So maybe Harold Camping was just off a few weeks...because things around here in Albuquerque are certainly looking more apocalyptic by the day. Well not really, Camping is still a loony; but the weather around here has been pretty unique over the past few days.

The Wallow fire in Arizona has already burnt more than 60,000 acres and this, coupled with La Nina winds have brought that giant wildfire's smoke to Albuquerque. So despite the fact that we haven't had any real rain since early May, we've had "ash rain" over the past few days. The smoke is visible and it really does smell like a campfire outside. In fact, Tuesday Albuquerque's 911 system was being clogged up because so many people assumed that something was on fire in their neighborhood because of all the smoke.

We aren't in any danger of the fire. It's over 200 miles away and there isn't much forest left for it to consume, to be honest. The biggest "danger" is the air quality from the smoke. We are being advised to stay indoors (not too difficult since it's in the mid-90's here right now) and folks with existing respiratory problems are having additional woes, so pray for all the Albuquerqueans with asthma and other lung conditions.

One of the most eerie phenomenon's of the smoke and ash has been the coloration of our sun. It's bright red! The skies are also a pale yellow and just before sunset, the whole town has an almost heavenly golden glow. Take a look and let us know what you think.

P.S. We are aware that we haven't put up pictures of the kids in a while and we will correct that soon. Just wanted to share this!

Christmas in May??

Yup, you read that correctly, Christmas in May. We received a "late" Christmas gift. The arrival of this gift was perfect timing, and was our doing that took us so long.

ta da! A new Grill



Fancy huh? The very first thing we cooked were hot dogs... yummmy.


Don't these kids just look terrible and starving??? ha ha... they love the hot dogs, and so does Jones!

Happy Easter!

We are all dressed in our Sunday best for Easter this year. Its so much fun to dress up for the day. Elsa's dress is a handmade special from Momma and she loves it. Today was a very special day as we were able to celebrate Jesus' resurrection and our freedom from sin as a family.

This year for the kids "Easter Basket" they didn't get the traditional basket of candy and eggs. But since Earth Day coincided with Good Friday this year, Momma took advantage of the opportunity. They each received a gardening tools set, including a watering can and we picked out some flowers. They love digging, planting and watering (maybe watering a little too much!). If only they liked getting baths as much as getting dirty. Oh well, we can't have everything.

I can't say it enough, they just love playing in the dirt, and I love that they can learn from growing and caring for some flowers. Easter is celebrating life and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. What better tangible object to portray that Life than a beautiful flower garden.





This is gonna be their little garden to grow things. We are still working on the finishing touches and clean up. We are glad that we have found a way for the whole family to participate. Hopefully it will continue to develop and be finished soon!

Photo Shoot

Here is a glimpse of mom's attempts at Elsa's photo shoot.