Labor Day weekend

We took Labor Day seriously! Friday we had Annandale Rock deliver a load of riprap and fill to the lake to build a retaining wall around our septic in the front yard. The riprap was supposed to be rocks between 6 and 14 inches in diameter but when it arrived there were quite a few really large rocks that were more like 3 feet in diameter! My parents came Friday night so we could get an early start on Saturday and that is when my dad and Dan decided to look into renting a bobcat to help with the project. Luckily Big Al's Rental in Annandale had one available so Saturday a.m. they started tearing away at the hill.

Tom and Becky came that afternoon and then Jeremy and Allison arrived with their kids and some friends. With the bobcat it actually went pretty fast and we got the retaining wall and another little wall around our firepit done before dark. Jon came that evening and stayed over to help us finish up leveling the yard and filling in ruts in the backyard. Dan was able to have the bobcat returned Sunday so we only needed it for one day, when originally we thought we'd need it all weekend.

Dan's parents came up Sunday afternoon with grass seed and some hostas and other plants to get those started this fall before winter. Monday was the work day digging out places for the hostas while Dan tackled fixing the patio.

It was a busy and tiring weekend, but we are really happy with the results. Now we're considering getting some crushed granite for the driveway in a couple weeks, but we've made great progress on the landscaping!

Before picture
Dan digging out the wall
Dan and Tom spreading fill on top of the retaining wall

Allison and Hunter

Tom and Dan leveling the firepit area

Finished firepit wall

Finished retaining wall and view of Roger and Monica planting hostas

Hostas around finished septic area

Jon leveling out the driveway

Cleared out area for hostas

Projects at the lake

This weekend Dan's parents came from Mankato to celebrate Monica's birthday on Monday and mine next Friday. Yesterday we had a couple rain showers, one that came promptly as we were way down the lake on a boat ride :) Today was much better and after church at the Annandale Free Church, we went for a dry boat ride, Monica stained the dock, Roger and Dan dug in the electrical line for the septic, and I weeded the yard.

The septic electrical line thing was a little frusterating because it was the last thing that needed to be done from the construction but our electrician wouldn't call us back to schedule a time for him to dig it in. We've called probably 15-20 times, mostly he doesn't pick up but Dan and I have both been hung up on too. We couldn't have it dug in during the winter so we had to close on the loan and pay the electrician in full with a promise he'd come back, but since he's been paid he's not that interested in coming back... Dan's parents were really helpful and encouraged Dan that we could do it ourselves and it is very nice to have done. Now we can get the rock retaining wall in when the weather cools down and seed in the fall and hopefully have a better looking yard soon.The septic line is covered!

Our freshly stained dock.

Great job, Monica!

This week I'm hoping to get caught up on a lot of things at work after a busy few months of projects. It will be great to get some things checked off my list and then take my birthday off to spend the day with my mom near Lake Minnetonka. I love this time of summer... hot days, being mellow, swimming in the warm lake - soak it in Minnesotans!

Houseguests

Ian, Courtney and Braydon were back in town last weekend for Courtney's continuing education classes and so we were the lucky ones to have them stay with us! We really miss them in our small group and we've never met Braydon before so it was a really fun time to catch up. It worked really well because Ian works for Wells Fargo Insurance and their building is right next door to mine downtown so he jumped in our carpool Friday, Monday and Tuesday while Courtney caught up with friends. Saturday while Courtney had classes, Ian and Braydon caught up with some others from our small group and then Sunday we spent the day at the lake.

Braydon is a VERY cute baby and he had lots of willing people to hold him throughout the weekend. Courtney - I hope he is adjusting to being home with you guys without 6 other people to help entertain him :)

We loved having them and can't wait to come visit in AZ this winter!


Its sunny

Mom, why are you laughing?

Tom and Kara

Scott and Christina

Courtney and Braydon
Scott tubing

Ian and look at those cheeks on Braydon!

2nd annual Momentum camping trip

This past weekend we went camping with the Momentum age group at church. It was the second year we went, and this year we had much better weather. It was sunny and warm and the trees kept the campsite nice and cool. On Friday some of us caravanned to the campsite to setup our tents and started a bonfire for the evening. Despite the noisy dogs barking for a lot of the night the temperature was good sleeping weather.

Saturday was spent hanging around the campsite, eating lunch, and then going into Owantonna to spend the afternoon at the swimming beach. The weather was perfect and although the water was a little chilly a bunch of us took the swimming "test" so we could go into the deep end and swim to the diving dock. The test consisted of swimming from one end of the swimming area to the other, but it was a long ways! Quite a few of our group attempted this task and were rewarded when they passed with a bright green wrist band. After swimming, some played sand volleyball and then we picked up some ice cream on the way back to the campsite. We grilled for dinner, had another bonfire and then braved some strong winds and a brief rain shower that night. The cooler weather was perfect to sleep in and most of us slept until 9:30 the next morning!

Sunday we had a leisurely breakfast and then packed up. We stopped at Cabella's and the Medford Outlet shops on the way home and made it back in time to get a little cleaning in before the work week. I'm not a huger camper, but after the good weather we had made me think that camping is actually pretty fun!

I didn't get any pictures of the actual campsite, but here are a few from the swimming day:

Tom, Dan and Scott getting ready for their swim test

Scott helping Chula get some water

The green wristband club

Dan on the way back from a fun weekend!

Memorial Day weekend and week

Sorry for the delay in posting. We took off some time from work the week of Memorial Day to be with friends and family and here are some of the pictures. Jeremy and Allison came up Friday night and Tom and Becky joined us Saturday. We had a ton of fun fishing, watching movies and watching the hail storm Sunday afternoon. It was too bad all of our cars had a little hail damage, but it was pretty cool to watch the storm. We had no idea it was coming since we were just relaxing and not watching tv, but it came really quickly and then was gone on its way to the tornado zone in Hugo. Luckily we only had hail damage and no tornados, but our grass that was just starting to come in was damaged and washed down into the lake! We might have to wait to plant grass in the fall when there is less of a chance of storms! Other than that everyone had fun kayaking and with the treats Allison and Becky brought we ate really well all weekend.

On Monday everyone headed back, and my parents and Brent and Amber came out for the afternoon and evening. We grilled shish-ka-bobs and pork ribs and the guys had fun kayaking while the girls went for a walk with Bella. The funniest part of the day was Bella trying to jump off the dock. She was a little nervous and crouched at the end of the dock and reached out slowly to dip her toes into the lake. Finally she had enough courage to jump but kept her paws out on top of the water so it was a hilarious doggy paddle. She started learning though, and I think the next time she visits she'll feel more comfortable... maybe the water will be warmer too.

That night Paul and Melissa came with the boys and we got them all settled for the night. It was great Paul III sleeps in a twin bed so that they could have the downstairs level and sleep comfortably. Roger and Monica came Tuesday and we enjoyed walking and fishing, and just relaxing until they left Thursday morning. The kids enjoyed being outside and Paul III kept asking to play in the "sandbox" which we realized he equated to our entire yard because of our loss of grass. He loved looking at the fish that Paul, Dan and Roger caught, holding the worms and the boat ride too. We hope that they can come back for a visit soon so they don't forget the lake :)

After all of our company left, Dan and I relaxed, finished a few projects and came back Saturday to catch up on things at home. It was great to get to see everyone... I feel lonely if we don't have a big group at the lake now! I think we'll have to have guests every weekend from now on!

Allison and Heather fishing - between all of us we caught 50 fish that day and ate the big ones for dinner!

Jeremy in his cool inflatable boat

Allison fishing - we were having a competition about who could catch the most fish... I was winning because she wouldn't put worms on her hook. I only helped after I made her wait until I caught a few fish to get ahead :)

Becky fishing - nice one! I don't think it made the cut for dinner thought :)

Dan, Jeremy and Tom fishing - the girls caught more than the boys!Here is our days work - most of them were too small, but it was fun to count how many we caught all day.The front yard during the hail storm.Tom with the almost golf ball sized hail in the yard

Its hard to see, but the hail was making huge splashes in the lakeCampfire one night

Apparently we only had pictures of Jacob! So, here is an almost smile of him with Dan.

100th post!

I realized we hadn't blogged in awhile and then I realized that we were sitting at 99 posts since we started... leaving the 100th one just waiting to be written! So, although I don't have anything insightful to write about I am going to blog today.

Its been a tough couple of weeks - Dan has been thinking about work stuff and I have been overloaded with deadlines and projects too. My last one is out the door today and I'm really hoping the next couple of weeks go a little bit more smoothly. We are taking some vacation time the week of Memorial Day to be with Dan's sister and her family which will be a nice break from these last few weeks.

We planted grass seed at the lake last weekend, so we're excited to go out there tonight and see if we see any progress... I know it takes awhile for grass to grow but we got it in before the rain (ok during the rain) last Saturday and then we've had sunny days this week so it should have been good growing weather. We might even need to turn on the sprinklers tonight and tomorrow to give it some more mositure. Since this is our first attempt at growing grass we don't have high expectations for this year so we'll be happy with whatever we get and then we'll try and fill it in next summer. Aren't all lawns a work in process? What we'd really like is a lawn that covers the yard, doesn't have a lot of weeds, and one that we can mow every other week.

We also have hung some window treatments in the house. Monica found some great deals on blinds and helped us sew some curtains too. We're going to finish most of them this weekend and then we just have 2 of the big windows still left, but the blinds have been ordered and should arrive at the end of the month. Its nice to see some of the practical things coming together before we have visitors over Memorial Day week.

What else have we been up to? Well, we celebrated Mother's Day with my mom at my sisters last weekend on her birthday on Saturday, and then went to Mankato with Dan's mom on Sunday. We also celebrated my dad's birthday on the 10th, but we're hoping to have dinner with him on his actual b-day next Friday the 23rd.

Summer softball is in full swing (even though our team is really bad) and it will be fun to play sand volleyball every once in awhile with the Momentum group from church.

I am really happy spring has arrived and we're going to enjoy 70's for the next few days.

Bella's first birthday

Yesterday we celebrated Amber and Brent's dog Bella's 1st birthday. It was actually on Friday but we came early to their belated housewarming party with the extended family to celebrate. She had a lot of fun! Here are a couple pictures from the day. It was BEAUTIFUL outside :)

Thanks for having us over to your house Amber and Brent!Me and Grandma

Heather showing Bella her birthday present, new colored tennis balls!

Heather and Dan, Grandma and Grandpa on the new deck

Heather and Dan