The Finished Product

Thanks to everyone getting on my case about posting pictures of the completed project, here they are! These pictures don't show the color very well, but at least you can get a general idea of what it looks like. This took all Summer to build, and there are still a few lingering things to finish, but for all intents and purposes, it is done. AND WE LOVE IT!!!

This is the view from the backyard.
This view includes the gas fire pit on the left. (Sorry about the sun glare.)

This is the lower patio with the fire pit and sitting wall. (The pit isn't done yet. There will be some flagstone all around the top of it.) That fire pit is the best! All you have to do is turn the gas on and light it! No matches, no smoke, no sparks! And yes, we can still cook marshmallows over it!

The colors probably won't come through too well, but this is what the cement on the patio looks like. We were a little hesitant about it at first, but everything came together so well in the end.
This is the deck up top.

A different view of the top deck.

So thanks for everyone insisting I post pictures! We are so thrilled to be able to enjoy our backyard even more, and love having friends and family over to enjoy it with us!

Come on over!

I'm in a jam!

We went to a local farm last Friday morning with some friends and picked some strawberries. It was a lot of fun, and the boys really got into searching for the berries. Before we knew it, we had a whole flat of strawberries! I hadn't really planned on getting that many, and had no plan of what to do with these berries that we had just worked so hard to pick!
So I talked to the boys on the way home and we decided that we wanted to make jam. Now I am not opposed to just plain strawberry jam, but if I have a choice, I'll always take the strawberry and something else jam! So since I was the one with the keys and my ideas always win out (more likely the first reason!) we went to the grocery store and picked out many different kinds of fruit to add to our strawberries. Blueberries, raspberries, peaches, and plums were what we came home with.
We washed everything, put them in a blender, and made our different combinations of freezer jam. It was fun! The boys were like little scientists mixing and trying out flavors until we found our favorites: strawberry plum. strawberry peach, raspberry/blueberry/strawberry, plain strawberry, and of course, one container that had every flavor mixed together! (You knew that was bound to happen! It's pretty good, though, really!)
So from the beginning of the day not knowing what we were going to do that day, we ended up with 15 cups of freezer jam! Of course I had to make homemade bread to go with that jam, and that was a "berry" good way to end the project!

Making Progress!

The deck project is finally starting to wrap up. There is still a lot left to do, but it's getting exciting now that we can start see more of the finished project. The boys are already doing a little Summer evening reading out on the deck. Boys after my own heart!

This is going to be a sitting wall around the fire pit. It will have flagstone on the top of it. There will also be brick around those big posts holding the deck up. I really can't remember what my yard looks like without tools, wood, and dirt everywhere!
This is the front of the wall facing where the fire pit will be. That black hose sticking out is the gas line. Hopefully the brick man will come again tomorrow and do the pit. That would really get us excited! I can smell the smores already!
So keep your fingers crossed that this will all be finished soon and we can enjoy what's left of our Summer nights!

Bring On Summer!

Hard to believe, but another school year has come to a close! We wrapped it up last Thursday, and now the boys and I are entering Summer Break mode! (Yes, poor Eric is quite jealous. But someone has to foot the bill!) We've got some fun busy activities planned, some lazy days planned, and hopefully many memories to make. Bring it on! Here is what we've been up to lately:
This last Saturday the whole family ran in a 5K race. The boys did amazing! Not one complaint and they really pushed themselves to do their best. (top - before the race. bottom - after the race.)

Devin turned 8 in March. The night before his birthday a major snow storm hit, and school was cancelled! So we spent his birthday sledding with friends and celebrating him.

With turning 8 came the baptism milestone for him. We are so proud of Devin and the choices he is making. He is an amazing boy who is not afraid to choose the right and be himself. He has quite the sense of humor and is always making us laugh with his antics and witty comebacks. We love you Devin!

Many friends and family joined us for this special occasion. Thanks!

Both boys got suits for the occasion. Man, talk about catching a glimpse into the future! They had tags that said "Future Missionary", and it won't be too much longer until those are real missionary nametags!

Devin has started another season of soccer and is doing very well. He is the youngest player on the team, but has scored a couple goals and loves the game!

The latest home improvement project we've started is building a new deck and patio. No, this one is not a do-it-yourself project! The old deck was taken off, and a new one is in the beginning stages. We are really looking forward to having a place to relax and enjoy our Summer nights!

That covers the highlights of the last few months. As we go through Summer Break, and as I remember, I'll post some more. Yes, I will finally even post some long-awaited pictures of THE car! Happy Summertime!

Riviera Maya!

We were fortunate enough to be able to take a trip down to glorious Mexico courtesy of Eric's work. We've been home now for 3 weeks so I think it's high time I let you all in on what I've been daydreaming about since our return home. It was an amazingly fun trip and it was really hard to come back home! Here are some of the pictures we took:

This was our room at the resort. Each day our room was made up we received a towel animal and flower petals. This is a butterfly. We also had an elephant, a swan, and a fish. The beds themselves left little to be desired, but the animals more than made up for that!

The front entrance to the Iberostar Tucan Resort.
The main lobby. (That is Eric looking over the vast amounts of vegetation!)
The other side of the lobby exiting out to where the rooms were. Every night this place was bustling with entertainment and food. Quite the party! We went to a place called Xplor. There we drove ATVs through the jungle, did zip lines over the jungle, and swam in rivers in huge caves under the jungle! Here I am getting ready to zip out over the jungle. Some of these lines took you over crocodiles and leopards!

Eric zipping down into the water.

A water slide!

Eric driving the ATVs.

Jamece driving the ATVs! (I was amazing in those narrow caves!)

Rafting through the caves. Those are hand paddles we are using.

Swimming through the caves.

(Getting good at spotting the photo ops by now!)

After the swimming, we were given hot chocolate!

Last photo op in the cave.

Fun day - don't mind the helmet hair!

At our resort beach we took out a catamaran. Beautiful day for sailing!

Oh captain, my captain!

Warm water, sunshine, great times!

This is out on the ocean looking back at our resort.

We also went on another snorkeling adventure!
I did much better this time!I am the one curled up in a ball getting attacked by hungry fish!

Back at the resort - surrounded by jungle...
and animals!This picture was taken from our room balcony!
I know - hard to wake up to this every morning, huh!We spent a lot of time just chillaxin' on the beach and in the ocean.
On our way home to Denver - beautiful sunset up in the clouds!
And this is what greeted us when we arrived home-
SNOW!!!
It was an amazing trip. We spent Valentine's day down there, and it was just the best.
Can't wait to do it again sometime!