Crazy Weather

I love to watch the storms roll thru our valley its beautiful

But we have had more issues with water in Gracie's window well. We had to use the pumps to drain it. Luckily no water got on the carpet. We were lucky to get the water before that point. We have now adjusted the landscaping to try and change the water flow..we will see how it works

It is just getting late enough in the season that there is snow on the mountains...its amazing and breathtaking.

A Not So Pleasant Welcome Home

After our flight had been delayed for 2 hours and knowing I had to work the next day at 3 am the next morning. When we got home all we wanted to do was bath the kids and go to bed. But Matt opened the door to the house and our 2 cats came running out. We immediately knew something was wrong. We peeked inside the house and all of the blinds were disheveled. Matt went thru the entire house and there was nothing else out of place. Then we came to the conclusion the cats had been locked in the house the entire week. We then went thru the house to see how bad the damage was only to find that we had another problem. While we were gone there was a bad storm and flooded Gracie's bedroom! We ultimately found that the flooding was a blessing. The cats had only peed in Gracie's bedroom. With no other food or water in the house when it flooded the cats drank from gracie's bedroom. Also because they had limited food and water they didn't poop or pee as much as they normally would have. We spent the next several hours sucking up water and unpacking. I finally got to bed about 1230. Because the carpet was so thick it has taken over a week with 4 fans blowing constantly. We cut out the pad knowing we would have to replace it either way and hoping it would get rid of the cat pee smell. After the carpet was dry we tried several different things to get the cat pee out and ultimately decided to replace the carpet. It ended up being a $700 mistake but now we have new carpet in and are just working on getting gracie's room put back together and working on a solution to make sure it doesn't happen again. 

Building A Shed

I would have thought when we built this house that the garage would be big enough for everything but that just isn't the case. So after looking at pricing for building a shed we found a great deal on a lifetime shed and decided to go that route. We were able to build it in just about 8 hours and it is just about the right size for our stuff. It looks a lot like our house and blends well so we were very pleased with that too. We put a heavy duty lock on it to ensure no one could get in easily to take stuff and now the garage looks less cluttered.

 

Shed update...there have been a couple complaints from an unknown person that they think we should have to take our shed down. The CC&R and very unclear about what is allowed and what is not but we followed everything that is written. Originally when the HOA lawyer called to ask us about the shed I was angry and panicked to be honest because we spent over 1000 on the shed alone plus the base and the time to build it. But after talking to him and also looking into our options I'm no longer worried about it. Since it doesn't say in the CC&R that we can't have a shed and we have done everything per them it looks like unless we take it down willingly they would have to take us to court to have it taken down and with as muddied as the CC&Rs are it would pretty much be thrown out. Also this same person complained about our playground stating it was an eye sore and a distraction from the beauty around it. I have decided that some people have way to much time on their hands and need to get a life. So I guess we will see how it plays out

Yard Progress

After getting bids back and agonizing about what we were going to do we decided to put in a rock wall by ourselves. So we put it off for a week and got all our ducks in a row and then on the evening of the 4th once Matt got home from work. Since Em was not feeling good I spent my time taking care of her while he worked on the wall and helped Matt figure out where to place the rocks.

Friday night we needed a break from the wall and went to Alpine nursery and picked up the rest of the plants for that section. The wall was coming along great but just not as quickly was we had hoped of coarse.

Saturday the girls were so great to just play and entertain themselves so I could help Matt with the wall.

Monday when we got home from work we had a giant pile of sand waiting for us to be spread out. The girls were in heaven and couldn't wait to play in it. It took way longer than we wanted it to but by the time it was dark most of it was where it needed to be.

Tuesday morning Matt and I got up early and finished the rock wall before they came to pick up the equipment later that morning. Matt got the dirt leveled and all the rocks in. 

Then Tuesday night we got most of the plants in the ground. We ran out of sun and then the wind kicked up pretty bad so we finished planting Wed morning early. We ran the sprinkler lines on Thursday night and Friday morning we had the remaining mulch delivered. 

All day Friday the girls and I spread mulch. Matt came home about 3pm and helped me finish the last of the mulch. Then we decided it was time to have some fun...see the next post. Matt and I are so relieved to have the yard "done." Although it hasn't been very long really it seems to have monopolized our entire live much like the house did last summer. Im excited to reestablish some fun and just enjoy my little family. 

Mulch Day

The yard is finally looking finished and I feel like the mulch is just another finishing touch. They delivered the mulch on Tuesday afternoon. Monday night we had rented a skid steer to dig holes for our landscape/retaining wall. Unfortunately the hydrolic hose on the skid steer broke and we were unable to use the auger to dig holes. They sent someone on Tuesday to fix the hoses and while we waited for them to fix it we were able to use the skid steer to spread the mulch which was a huge help.

Matt spread the mulch around while the girls and I raked it out to the right depth. I was wishing about half way thru that we had just paid to have it spread...lol maybe next time

Now all we have left is the west side. Since the landscape wall idea didn't work(even once they fixed the auger the ground was to hard to dig the holes) we are now back to square one and will be doing a rock wall so the ground doesn't have to be level and we don't have to be digging holes anywhere. I'm thrilled and relieved to see the light at the end of the tunnel and be able to actually live life without constant projects.

Yard Progress

We are finally getting the yard going as far as plants are concerned. I'm amazed at the difference in the look and how its all coming together.

The girls are loving their play space and they rarely come to me and tell me I'm bored which is amazing. We have all loved having a yard to play in

The grass has now grown enough to mow and I actually missed it. I packed Em on my back and every time I walked by the tramp we took a bounce which she loved.

I'm so ready for this yard to be done so we can go play and I feel like we're getting so close.

Sod Day

The day has finally come for sod! They delivered it about 8:00am. Matt had lined up some help from the ward and his young men for 10 so we took the time to get everything lined up to hopefully have everything run smoothly. We ended up with 5600 sq feet of sod or 10 pallets

At 10 our help started to show up. Its always nerve racking when you aren't sure whether or not people will show up to help you. Matt and I started the sod and quickly realized it was going to be a very long day if no one else showed up. Luckily we had a great turn out and had a good amount of help.

Once we got down the sod to the mid arch I left to Ogden to get pizza for everyone. And I was very pleased to find everything pretty much done by the time I got home. It makes the yard look so different!

Now the real work begins in keeping the kids off the grass for a couple weeks while the roots get settled. But at least for now we are now on the countdown to playing on the grass.

1 Week to Sod

We made some great progress this week with the yard and now only have a week until the sod will be here. Although it seems like it has taken a long time in reality it has come together pretty quickly. I think the unspoken goal has become to have the yard all in by the time we hit the year mark from the time we started the house. I think we might make it. Last night as Matt and I were finishing leveling the back yard Matt said its starting to look like a yard isn't it.....yes indeed it is and we couldn't be more thrilled.