Hay Is For Horses!

Part of our 9.5 acres is a hay meadow....so last week, it was transformed from long grass to huge round hay bales....very cool! I snapped pictures every step of the way....the whole process took 3 days, from mowing, to raking, then baling and finally loading! Now, you may be asking yourselves, what would the Foxes need hay for? Very good question, we don't! So, the fella, Manny, who put up our hay and who has agreed to do it again next year!, bought it from us. So, not only did he do ALL of the work, he paid us for it! Now, we didn't get all of the money, he took 2/3, but after all, he did do ALL of the work, while I sit on my lawn chair, sipping ice tea, and taking pictures!! Enjoy!

Mowing the hay!

Raking the hay into nice and neat piles!

Rolling the hay into round bales!

Loading the finished product...in all, we had 17 bales! Manny said next year we should have a lot more. Because the hay was not put up last year, it decreases the quantity and quality of the hay. Who knows next year we could be millionaires from our little hay patch!! HA!!!

We're BAAAACCKKK!!!!

Well, well, well, where does time go??!! It is hard to believe we have been here for 2 weeks! We are 99% unpacked, there are 3 boxes of dvds to be unpacked as soon as we get the entertainment center downstairs all set up! We have mowed the lawn 4 times...yes 4 times since we have been here, hung curtains, cleaned out 25% of Greta's basement, made 15 zillion trips to Target, Walmart, and Lowe's, and made about that many returns because I am challenged in too many areas!! HA! I had forgotten how crazy hot it is here...sure I can watch the weather channel and see 100+ degrees, but I had really forgotten how that felt! As I sit here in my wonderfully air-conditioned house, I am also forgetting, but will be brought back to reality in about 2 hours when I am sitting outside watching Gabe play football! Oh yes, we practice in even this crazy, hot, icky weather! The only good coming from this hot is I am getting DARK....I can't believe how dark I am getting...I have been a very good girl wearing sunscreen every time I walk outside, but it's still happening...I'm sure the 12+ hours on the mower has nothing to do with it! Well, I just thought I would let you all know we are here, we are alive, we are well, and we are hot! Hope to check back later this week with finished pictures of the house....of course, we would like all of you to come visit for yourselves, but for those of you who can't, we will get those posted by weekend!

****By the way, the picture was taken from our front yard by Grady on our first night at the house....BEAUTIFUL! Sunsets like this make the 100+ temperatures a little more bearable!

Happy Birthday, Gabe!!!!!

In the midst of all of the craziness....our big guy turned 9!!! Thankfully he is a pretty low-key kind of guy, so he didn't mind a pretty low-key kind of day! We started off the morning with Reeses' pancakes and bacon!! We then headed off for All-Star sports and Arby's! This was not his first choice...but since we have been gone for a few years, we are not fully aware of everything that has closed down..boo! The boys played every arcade game All-Star Sports has, and unfortunately it was blistering hot, so we didn't do any of the outside stuff.....our big guy is now a football player and as per coach request, on the days of practices or games, NO OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES ALLOWED! That evening we had tacos before practice and cheesecake and gifts after!!! Gabe received many great gifts, cards, emails, phone calls and visits!!! Thanks everyone for making our big guy feel so special! We love you, Gabe and are so proud of you!!!! H.A.P.P.Y.B.I.R.T.H.D.A.Y.G.A.B.E.

The Blog.

I have contemplated back and forth about this...to keep or not to keep. Well, for now I have decided to keep the blog....I will update it once a week and it will range from various musings of mine, to the boys doing something crazy, their crazy active sports and school activities, to maybe just a picture of me on the mower....who knows, but for now it will stay alive and well!

I had also planned this "Ode To Washington", but as you may imagine, I have been just a tad bit busy this past week....so my tribute will wait until things have settled a bit....it could take me a month at the rate I am going...so be patient, it will come...I will blog about how much I am going to miss this crazy rainy place where I still need a coat in July, how I will miss being drug to yet the top of another hill in Washington, and some other not so sarcastic stuff, like the wonderful friends we have left behind and the once in a lifetime memories we've made!

I am truly thankful for the time we spent up here...it really was a once in a lifetime opportunity that I hope we get again....maybe when the kids are graduated...Shawn and I will jet off to Malaysia or someplace crazy like that....but for now, I think I will be happy having my feet firmly planted at least for 13 years or so!

The Finished Product!!!

Yes, it is finished and nothing like squealing in at the very last moment!!! I was determined to have this trunk finished by the time the movers came, and by golly, I did it!! So, here is the before and after....unfortunately, I never snapped a picture of the inside of the trunk before, but believe me it was hideous...and it smelled! I am so extremely happy with the way it turned out---and a might bit proud of myself as well! This was definitely one of the hardest projects I have started and actually finished.....I may be inspired to try something else.....you just never know!!!

Like Two Peas In A Pod!

Today was a very hard "last". We had our last group lunch with Carla and Josiah. I am sitting here in tears as I write this....I had never planned on meeting such awesome friends when we moved here 3 years ago! We were going to focus on the 4 of us....spending tons of time together and I was determined to not make "close" friends just because of knowing this was not a forever thing, we were definately leaving....but guess what....things often don't work the way you plan! God decided I needed a pal and he paired me with someone just like me---I never knew someone who would click so well with me existed, let alone move to Seattle the exact same time I did!! The biggest perk...it was a twofer....I got a pal and Grady got one too! Carla and Josiah (and Dustin!) have been the most awesome perk of living up here! They are friends that will be ours for a lifetime....1500 miles may seperate us in a few days, but that is nothing when they are in your heart! I love this family dearly and I can't imagine not seeing them every week....but thankfully we are in the cyber age now...we can talk everyday!!! I will miss my Carla and Josiah hugs, but I know I will always have a place to stay when I visit!!! We love you guys!!!

Jetty Island!

On Tuesday, the boys and I headed to Jetty Island with a couple of Gabe's buddies!! We had a fantastic and relaxing day....which was exactly what I needed! The boys played football, played in the seaweed, swam in the water for a bit, and dug a sand hole that went up to Gabe's stomach--that was some serious digging!! I wish we would have made more time to venture over to Jetty Island during our time up here....it is a man-made beach, so there is real sand, not the rocky stuff at the beaches around here....plus you have to take a little passenger ferry over, so it is not extremely busy...I think a lot of people are deterred by the fact it is a first come, first serve on the ferry. I am so happy we were able to fit one more day at Jetty Island in!!!

One Last Hurrah!!!

Sunday we left for a quicky vacation....nothing like taking vacation, after a week of vacation and a week before a move.....just call us crazy!! Crazy it may be....we had a great time! We started out in Spokane on the 4th of July for a Spokane Indians baseball game and fireworks! We have never been to Eastern Washington..the drive there was really nice! We had been told that Eastern Washington was like night and day from Western Washington and it was! It was very much like driving through Kansas only not as flat! Monday we decided to head over to Montana....this had not been a part of the original itinerary, but after getting to Spokane and seeing how close we were, we decided to cruise on over to The Big Sky Country! Montana was definitely the highlight of our vacation----it was beautiful! We ended up in Missoula where we went to Fort Missoula, an Elk Reserve and a Bison range! All very outdoorsy...which made the hunters in my group very happy!! On Tuesday we ventured to Idaho....I realize we drove through Idaho to get to Montana, but we actually never stepped foot in Idaho on Monday! We started out at Schweitzer Ski Resort in Sand Point where we took the lift to the summit and hiked the summit all morning! There were all kinds of animal prints...including bear...thankfully, we did not come across any bears on the hike! We had fantastic views from the top all morning.....gorgeous! That afternoon we headed south of Sand Point a few miles and hiked Gold Hill! It was a 4.5 hour round trip hike that took us to the top of Gold Hill where we enjoyed the evening sun over the lake at Sand Point! The hike was exhausting, but well worth the work once at the top! On Wednesday we stayed in Spokane to enjoy some of the local sights! We started the morning at Cat Tales, a big cat zoo! There were tigers, lions, bobcats, pumas, lynx, leopard, and even a couple of bears! The place was pretty small, but it was pretty neat how close you were to the big cats! That afternoon we headed to downtown Spokane to the Riverfront! This area was awesome! There are eateries, shopping, an antique carousel, a huge radio flyer wagon playground, ducks and geese to watch along the river, and Spokane Falls! We had a yummy lunch, followed by ice cream, carousel rides, antique shopping, and strolling and relaxing along the river! Unfortunately, we couldn't spend all day there...time to start heading back to reality! We decided to take the scenic route home...we had gone to Spokane on I-90, but came back towards home on HWY 2! This was a very curvy, scenic view through farmland and apple, pear, and cherry orchards! We came back through Leavenworth and Stevens Pass one last time.....I'm so glad we found time to take this trip.....it was a wonderful way to end our time up in the beautiful Pacific Northwest!

Work, Work, Work!

Bitten off more than we can chew?.....Maybe! Gonna love every minute of it? You Bet! Last week, I worked harder than I thought possible! I successfully dewallpapered 3 rooms, painted the entire upstairs (except for the very tippy top peak of the living room!), and mowed around a third of the property in 4 days! I worked from 5 in the morning until 10 at night...thankfully Shawn would come in with my happy hour soda around 5 giving me the second wind and the working partner I needed!!! We absolutely LOVE our new house and can't wait to be there for good!!

While we were in Kansas...it wasn't ALL work, we saved a little bit of time for play! Thursday was Greta's birthday, so I took the day off and spent time with her!! The boys had a chance to spend some time with the grandparents and Aunt Greta (thank you for rescuing them from their crazy Mom!!) and even got to squeeze in some time for fireworks with their cousins! What a fantastic week......the 17th can't get here fast enough!!!