I hate coming up with titles....

So to make a long story short, our camera is not the most reliable and really needs to be replaced. So here are some pictures that I have taken with my phone.

My good friend Katie stopped by for a short visit from Portland on Tuesday and brought her new puppy Kerby. She is just a little dolly and I really wanted to keep her. Gage and Olive really liked her too. Gage was a bit overwhelming for her but Olive was just her size. Here are some pics. She was really fast, so these are just a few pictures that are not blurry.



Gage finally calmed down a little bit and Kerby got used to the idea of a 90+ pound dog, and they did well together, but here is poor Gage longing to be outside playing with us. He is inside looking out the window, whining. We finally gave in and let him have a try at being gentle. He did very well.

I also have to share my new toys with all of you (all two of you who read this). I received two new very cool toys for my birthday. I already mentioned my awesome new phone (from Nick), which I would take a picture of if the camera was not stuck to the back of it. And I got a new vacuum from my mom. My mom asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I told her a new vacuum, and I told her the one I was looking at down at Costco (it was $80). She went down there to buy it and came home with the below model instead.....
A Dyson Animal....I have to say I am in love with it and the attachments are so amazing for my really hairy dog. If only he would let me vacuum him (I tried....it did not go over so well). Anyways, I recommend it for anyone with pets, and who really appreciate great cleaning tools. I am so spoiled, and so blessed!!

Fun Birthday at the lake...

Nick, Gage and I went to lake Cocalala for my birthday. It was wonderful. Not only did we get a break from "the house" but we relaxed and just hung out together (which has not happened without a hammer in our hands for a while). So we read and played and had fun. Nick also got me a new phone for my birthday (a palm/phone). What I did not realize was that even if the palm is on, that does not mean the phone is on. So I had my phone turned off for two days and did not even realize it. I felt selfish, but it was weird that no one called me on my birthday. Then I realized on Saturday that my phone was off. So once I figured out how to turn the phone part on, it told me I had 8 voicemails. So thank you to everyone who called! Sorry I didn't answer, I didn't even know how at the time =-)

Anyways, here are a lot of pictures from our weekend o' fun.

Even though Nick and I had a blast, I think Gage had the most fun of all. He finally figured out how to NOT splash himself while he swam. And lots of rolling, rolling, rolling.
My first attempt at a self portrait
Second attempt, almost got it.
Yeah, the third time is a charm
My boys
Gage had lots of dry land fun too.
I love this picture, especially the tongue
The turtle I caught
The turtle Nick caught.
Thanks for a great birthday!

Is it really already July 6th?

I cannot believe the year is already half over. Especially since Nick and I have so much work to do on the house before it snows!!! Wait....wasn't it just snowing? Anyhoo.....

Here is what we did on our relaxing 4th of July weekend. Not much too say except I have a lot of cuts and bruises, siding looks a lot better when it's level and a skill does not work properly when you cut through the power cord...whoops. But Nick still loves me, and he is proud of me for using the skill saw, the nail gun (which is sooo heavy that my right shoulder is now 10xs stronger) and all the caulking that I did. So enough construction talk, look at my pictures.

This is our house the day we bought it. So this is the "before"


This is after Nick and Brad and Morgan tore off all the original siding. And that is me down at the very end putting up the Tyvek paper.Here is the house all wrapped up ready for trim and siding!!

Just a close up of what it looks like.
Here is after the siding is done on this side. You really feel like you have accomplished something after you see this. Now it is ready for paint!
Here is the a picture to compare to the first one from the day we bought the house. A pretty big difference huh?
And here is my cute husband!