Let the Landscaping Commence

I am way behind on posting, but rather than going into the past and quickly posting about the last six or seven months I am going to jump in to the present.  As I find the time I will try to catch up on past events and memories.

I've really missed the garden that Rob and I created back in Aurora.  We worked very hard over the twelve years we lived there to create a yard that we loved.

We hosted many parties and two wedding receptions in our backyard.  I spent countless hours planning, planting, transplanting, watering, weeding and nurturing the plants that were (mostly) thoughtfully selected.  I'll admit there were plenty of spur of the moment purchases too.  Some worked out.  Some didn't.  But it was always rewarding and enjoyable to see the progress.  

Rob will be the first to admit that he didn't love spending a lot of time outside because of the bugs and the humidity so even though we had an awesome patio it didn't get used as often as it could have been used.

It's been tough for me to wrap my head and my heart around starting over with the garden and yard here.  The soil is different, the climate is different and the planting zone is different than what I taught myself to garden in AND I am older than I was twelve years ago.

(Note:  when I say garden I mean all trees, shrubs, flowers, herbs and the occasional vegetable - I feel that needs to be clarified because a lot of people here in Utah seem to associate the word garden with only or mostly vegetables)  

But, one can't mope around forever.  We want to be able to use our backyard.  We've discovered we like to be outside here and want useable spaces.  We'd like to be able to have the option of hosting parties in our backyard again and having more than dust and rocks in our yard.

So we discussed what we'd like to do with our backyard and how we see it being used.  We created a priority list and started moving forward.

The first thing we wanted to do was get in our hardscape.

Planting trees, so we could get them growing and established to start creating shade, was our second priority.  As it turned out, we actually planted some of the trees before we got the patio in, but they weren't in a spot that would impact the ability to get the machinery in and out of the backyard.

We hired a landscape designer to come by and draw up a plan for us.  We liked some of her suggestions, but being an impatient and opinionated gardener I had already come up with a design for our patio.  I wanted the new patio to match the existing patio, so it looked like an intentional design and not like an addition.  The existing patio was basically six rectangles so I doubled that to create the dining patio and then stair-stepped the rectangles to connect the dining patio and the existing covered patio.

I laid out the rough outline using some of the extra rocks we had laying around.  This gave us a chance to consider the size and the design before committing to it.

Rob and I had been talking about adding a fire pit since we designed the house.  We even had the builder add a gas valve to the back so we could use the natural gas if we wanted to.  We realized the rock wall created a nice wind barrier and also offered seating so I created a simple oval design for the fire pit and tucked it next to the rock wall.  It intersected the patio layout a little but we both agreed that made for a nice way to connect the two parts.

Rob dug a fifteen foot trench and buried a 4" pvc pipe eighteen inches deep so we can run the natural gas pipe from the house to the fire pit through this sleeve.  We thought having natural gas would be a good option because we wouldn't have to worry about random sparks escaping during the dry summer months and we wouldn't be restricted from having fires in the winter if we decided we wanted to.

The yellow line shows the stair-step rectangles that lead between the dining patio and the covered patio.  The blue line shows where the fire pit will be.  You can see the capped pipe Rob buried.

We selected a landscape company and after waiting for almost two weeks they finally came out and started digging.  Noah was so excited!  He ran from the back porch to the front porch watching Chito dig and dump the dirt (can you see his green socks sticking out of the deck railings?).

They probably could have finished the job much more quickly, but we were a small job and they've had a busy spring.  It took one afternoon to dig, one afternoon to frame it out and spread the gravel and then it rained.  So we waited for the concrete.  Waiting for the concrete seems to be the thing up here in this neighborhood.  

I had spent the day at my folk's cabin, trying to get it dried out from a small flood and came home to a very pleasant surprise.  We had a patio!

When I arrived they were just finishing floating the last rectangle.  Then Chito grabbed his broom and worked on matching the finish of the existing concrete.

I don't know how many times I had to say, "No, we don't want a special finish.  No, we don't want a stain.  No, we don't want it stamped.  We want it to match the patio that is already there".  It seems that having plain, broomed concrete is not Cool or Trendy.  But, it's what we wanted.  

Once Chito understood that he did a great job matching the finish . 

It is such a pleasure working with someone who takes pride in his work and catches the vision of what we are trying to achieve.

Well, almost.  It took awhile for him to catch the vision of what we are doing with the fire pit.  But I don't think he'll be installing that.

He wanted to know why we didn't just make it all concrete.

Hopefully, I'll be telling that story in the next week or two.

Fall for Alaina

(Alaina is missing fall and this is my attempt to share it with her - Sorry I can't ship you the chilly nights, the smell of campfires and a reason to drink hot chocolate but I hope you enjoy the pictures at least)

Rob and I went to the first session for the Brigham City Temple dedication Sunday morning. That freed up a good chunk of our day since we weren't splitting up to attend two different wards and he had no after church responsibilities either.

I'd told him how pretty Sardine was when I went down to pick him up on Thursday so he wanted to see it too and suggested a drive through the canyon. We got to 4th North and he started heading towards Sardine when I realized that I really wanted to see Logan Canyon this time. So, after a quick u-turn we headed up the Scenic Byway (along with a bunch of other folks who had the exact same idea).

It was a perfect day to have the top down and as we drove higher up the canyon the colors became more intense and the hazy smoke was left behind in the valley.

This is right behind Zanavoo.   

(I can't decide which of these pictures I like better so I put them both in.  

Even though they are the exact same spot.)

Rob pulled off at the Lomia exit and drove a little ways up each fork until the road got too gravelly (since we were in the car and not the truck).  That was where we saw the most amazing reds!

At one point Rob said he felt badly that I couldn't smell the campfires as it really added to the whole experience.  I laughed and said that he could enjoy the smells for me and I would enjoy the 3D experience for him.  But, looking at the pictures...the 2D version was still pretty spectacular.

Disney Day 2

Alaina wanted to use her 40% off dining discount at a nicer restaurant while we were visiting so we planned on starting the day early with breakfast at The Wave restaurant, in the Contemporary resort.  She's smart this girl and knows how to plan for Win Win situations.  She got to eat at a good restaurant and have her dad pick up the tab, which he was willing to do because of her cast discount. 

We got going early Wednesday morning and caught the bus to Magic Kingdom so we could take the Monorail to the Contemporary (you don't need a car to get around DisneyWorld, you just have to figure out how to utilize their transportation).  To our delight, we arrived at the Magic Kingdom gates just as they were finishing up their welcome show.  The train pulled into the station with the Fab Five and Friends just as we walked by.  Alaina ran up to the fence, waving, cheering and singing along. 

Apparently this was her first time at the Park Opening and she was beyond words (in fact I think there were tears). 

After the excitement died down made our way over to the Contemporary and met up with her roommate, Katie, who was going to spend part of the day with us.

We had a yummy breakfast (sweet potato pancakes with pecans and maple syrup?!?!) and got back onto the monorail headed to the Magic Kingdom.

Alaina graciously gave up two of her precious park entrance guest passes so Rob and I could get in free.  (that was part of the deal of us coming for such a short visit - it is RIDICULOUSLY expensive to pay for one day park entrance).

Rob and Alaina wanted to ride Space Mountain first, so we headed over there to get Fast Passes for them.  Katie and I rode Buzz Lightyear while they were on Space Mountain and amazingly we finished both rides at almost the same time.  By the way, I am a lousy shot and Katie beat my score by several HUNDRED THOUSAND!  I don't know how she did that because I was barely winning for the first third of the ride (but it was close) and then she suddenly had HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of points and I was left hanging my head in shame. 

Alaina and Katie stood in line to meet Chip and Dale and Buzz Lightyear.

While visiting with Buzz, Alaina opened her autograph book to the page that Woody and Jessie had already signed.  When Buzz saw that he put his hand on his heart - to indicate that he LOVED her.  Alaina smiled and nodded and as Buzz stamped his autograph his big red button fell off!  This is the button that makes his wings go out and is very important so he can "fall with style".  He picked it up and tried to push it back on, but it popped off again.  OH NO! So, his character attendant whisked him off-stage to repair the damage. 

We went on a few attractions that Rob and I hadn't been on before, including the Tomorrowland Transit Authority People Mover and Aladdin's Magic Carpet.  We really liked Winnie-the-Pooh and love the new interactive queue.  It is adorable for children and even fun for us adults.  It makes you feel like you are a part of the story that takes place in the 100 Acre Woods. 

We went into Monster's Inc Laugh Floor and were surprised and delighted to find out that Rob was selected to play the part of Mike Wazowski.  Every time they mentioned the name, Mike Wazowski, the camera focused on Rob and he got to act along to the story for a couple of seconds.  Alaina thought it was amazingly awesome that they chose a guy with one eye to play a monster with one eye!  Rob, being much more pragmatic, said it was because he happened to be wearing a green shirt. 

Alaina loves The Enchanted Tiki Room and wanted us to see it with her.  Maybe it will grow on me if I go again?  Maybe not.  I can at least say I've gone in and seen the show.  We had to go on Pirates of the Caribbean and enjoyed the changes that update it to be more like the movie.  Which is funny, because the movie originally came from the ride and now the ride is more like the movie and it's just a crazy magical circle of life.  Even though we ride the Jungle Cruise every time we go to the park we decided it would be fun to do it again.  Yup, the jokes are still the same, but we laughed anyway.

We really wanted to ride Big Thunder Railroad, but it was closed for repairs when we got there.  We got Fast Passes for it anyway hoping it would be open by the time we came back, but it wasn't.  We were given the option of using our Fast Pass on any other ride or waiting to see if Big Thunder would be up and running.  We decided that we'd given it two chances and didn't want to waste our time on a third chance so we used the Fast Passes on Splash Mountain instead.  Yup, we got wet, but it was so hot outside that it felt good for a little while.  Then it just made everything feel even more humid and uncomfortable (at least for me).  We went back to the other side of the park and rode Goofy's Barnstormer, to make up for missing Big Thunder Railroad.  It wasn't quite the same, but fun nevertheless (just too short). 

It was fun to see the construction happening behind the walls for the NEW and EXPANDED Fantasyland.  We listened to a cast member talk about some of the new attractions that are coming and it is going to be a great addition to the park.  They are adding Prince Eric's Castle with the Journey of the Little Mermaid and includes a meet and greet area for Ariel.  There will be a new mountain for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (complete with tippy carts) and you will be able to eat dinner in the Beast's Castle.  Of course, there is much more than that, but those are the highlights that you can actually see over the construction walls.  Now I'll have to figure out a way to come back again after it opens in 2013 and 2014.  Oh well.  That will give me lots of time to save my money. 

During the course of our day we managed to catch the Celebrate a Dream Come True parade, the last few minutes of a dance party in Frontierland, the Electric Light Parade and Wishes.

Alaina jammin' out at the Dance Party.

 

Disney's Electrical Parade is always amazing to watch.

We were at the front entrance when the park opened (even though we didn't officially enter for another hour and a half) and stayed until the park closed.  It was a long, hot, tiring and very fun day and we were glad Alaina had the day off to share with us.

Disney Day One

I'd been missing Alaina, and she admitted that even though she wasn't officially homesick, she missed us too and was eager for a visit from family.

As Rob and I looked at his work and vacation schedule we wondered if we could fit a quick trip down to Florida at the end of our visit to Iowa for Cora's blessing.  We had enough miles to get us to Florida from Iowa and that meant we could use a couple of standby legs to fly home.

We decided that two and a half days were better than none and so we had Alaina book us a room and we booked the flight.  We decided to try out Port Orleans French Quarter because it was a moderate priced resort with queen beds and it seemed like it was in a good location.  We'd never stayed there or even visited while resort hopping and we thought it would be fun to discover a new place.

We arrived in Florida late Monday night.  Alaina met us in the lobby with open arms and we stayed up for a while chatting, catching up and planning the next few days together.

Tuesday morning we got up and headed over to the food court for breakfast.  Since we were staying at the French Quarter, we HAD to try the beignets.  They are basically raised dough which is deep-fried and sprinkled generously with powdered sugar.  What's not to love?

Our resort was very charming.  It is one of the smaller resorts in Walt Disney World so it has a quieter, less frantic pace.  The streets connecting the buildings were all cobblestone and the balconies were wrought iron.  The theming carried through to the names of the streets (say the name of the street in the bottom left hand corner and see if it makes you giggle like us).  The food court took a minute to get used to because the designers brought in parts of Mardi Gras floats and had them hanging from the ceiling, or mounted on the walls.

We decided to spend the day Tuesday taking it easy and just being together.  After breakfast we walked down to the river and took a boat to our sister resort, Port Orleans Riverside for some fishing.  This resort is supposed  to feel like you are staying in a low-country mansion house.  When we saw the first building along the riverfront we were charmed, but then realized that this is actually quite a large resort and the buildings go on and on and on which means that there is a lot more walking to the food court, to the pools and especially to the buses.

It was a fun walk to get to the fishin' hole.  We rented some cane poles and each got a container of red worms.  I have to admit, I was a little squeamish getting the first worm on the hook.  By the time we arrived, it was going on 10:30 so it was getting a little warm.  I got one bite, but he only took part of my worm and, honestly, I don't know enough about fishing to hook one anyway.  After that, it was pretty quiet.  We saw the fish swimming around the bottom, but they just weren't interested.  So, then we tried feeding the minnows.  That was fun for a few minutes.

We grabbed a quick lunch and decided to cool off in the pool for a few hours.  Our pool was not too crowded, considering how hot it was outside.  There wasn't a very long line for Alaina and Rob to go down the sea serpent water slide and swam and splashed and just generally had a good time cooling off.  We even stayed long enough to play Pool Bingo.

While we were getting ready for dinner a storm front moved in.  We had planned on taking a boat to Downtown Disney and then catching a bus from there over to the Beach Club Resort where we wanted to eat dinner.  But, the boats don't run when there is lightning around.

So we started walking over to the bus stop but got distracted at the gift shop.

By the time we finished in the gift shop it was POURING BUCKETS of rain.  We sat in the lobby for a few minutes, then when it seemed like there was a little break we ran for the bus stop.

The first bus was to Epcot so we got on that.  Once we got there, we took the Monorail to the Ticket and Transportation Center because we assumed that the all the resort buses went there.

They don't.

So, instead we took a bus to Hollywood Studios and took a bus from there to the resort.  We actually got off at the Yacht Club instead because it was a closer stop and it gave us a chance to walk through the resort on our way to the restaurant.

We arrived at Beaches and Cream, which is an AMAZING little diner and soda fountain.  It is small and doesn't have many tables, so we had to wait just under an hour.  We said we'd be happy to sit at the bar so we got seated a little quicker.

Alaina was hoping that someone would order a Kitchen Sink while we were there.  And sure enough, one table ordered TWO of them...then they had a competition to see who could finish the fastest.

I really enjoy this area.  The resorts are beautiful, as are the gardens and the Boardwalk is a lot of fun.  This isn't actually considered to be part of a park, so it is open to the public and free to wander around; which is exactly what we did while we waited for our buzzer to go off.  The gray hotel is where we are going to be staying in November, when Rob and I go with my sister, Karen (her first time!) for a week.  Alaina is going to stay with us and take as much time off as she responsibly can.  But, we're close to Epcot so it will be easy for her to get to work on the days she can't get off.

After dinner, we headed over to the Boardwalk for the evening.  

We explored the shops, checked out the restaurants, peeked at their pool (Scary CLoWN!), watched a magic show and just enjoyed walking around, soaking in the atmosphere.  Amazingly, it wasn't crowded at all.

Getting home was much simpler.  We took a bus to Downtown Disney (and discovered That is where the crowds were), found our boat and took it home.

A Boy and his Tractor

When Gracie Met Cora

Sunday afternoon, Emily & James called to say that I could bring Gracie to the hospital to meet her baby sister. 

Gracie was so excited to see her mommy that she climbed right into bed with her.  She was so happy that she was jumping for joy (literally) and kept trying to hug Emily and climb into her lap.

After she settled down, Emily got Cora so the girls could be introduced to each other.  Gracie wasn't too sure what to think about this little blue bundle that everyone kept calling the baby.

I wish I had video of this but still pictures will have to suffice. 

  Gracie is about as far away as she can get from the baby without actually getting out of bed. 

She wanted to be close to her mommy, but not the baby.

Here she is using the blanket as a shield.

Emily had the perfect attitude about this.

Contact has been made! 

That's as close as Gracie was willing to get to the baby for the first few days.

Ah-hah! 

Gracie has figured out how to connect with "Mamma"

without having to get too close to the baby! 

Sweet.

Adventures in traveling standby

We are so fortunate to have a son who is a pilot because it allows us to travel practically free, as long as we are flexible about when and (as it turns out) where we fly.

Rob & I had planned a trip to Iowa for Cora's blessing and decided to add a short trip to Orlando, so we could see Alaina.  We missed her and she missed us and it seemed like a good idea to combine the two trips into one.

Originally we were planning on flying home Thursday evening so we could have a few more hours with Alaina Thursday morning.  Mark let us know that the flights we were hoping to take were filling up and suggested we leave earlier in the day.  Alaina was disappointed, but also understood that we couldn't really just stay in DisneyWorld for an indefinite number of days.

So, Rob rearranged our reservation on Disney's Magical Express and after eating our last Beignet together, we said our goodbyes and headed to MCO (the airport in Orlando) for our first flight of the day.

We landed at DFW and headed to the gate for the next scheduled flight to SLC.  When we arrived the gate agent was making an announcement that the flight was oversold and that they were looking for volunteers to give up their seat.  They were offering a $200 travel voucher and a guaranteed seat on the 7pm flight.  Rob and I looked at each other and realized that we were going to have a long day at DFW.

As we sat waiting for the plane to board the gate agent asked again for volunteers.  This happened several times.  The offer increased each time until they were offering a meal voucher, a $400 travel voucher and a guaranteed seat on the 9pm flight.  At this point Rob & I realized we wouldn't be flying into SLC at all that day. 

We were #17 and #18 on the standby list and as "parents", we have pretty low priority status so we knew we would be one of the first people bumped lower on the list.  Due to bad weather in the midwest there were a lot of people who had missed earlier flights or other connections and since they had paid for a ticket they had the highest priority of getting a seat.

I asked Rob if we should go find a hotel room and he suggested we grab some dinner instead while we mulled over our options and checked in with Mark.  Luckily for us, Mark was home yesterday so he jumped online and started looking for other options for us.

We found a fantastic restaurant in Terminal D.  If you ever have a long enough layover at DFW, go to Gate 33 in Terminal D, go upstairs and eat at Reata Grill.  Their guacamole is delicous and we shared the Tenderloin Tamale and Stacked Chicken Enchilada!  YUMMMMY

While we were leisurely enjoying our food and chatting with the waiter we got a text from Mark asking if we wanted to fly to Jackson Hole instead.  We were a little confused about how that helped our situation but then he offered to drive up to Wyoming and pick us up.  We said, "Okay, Let's DO This!" and realized we needed to RUN because the flight would start boarding in less than ten minutes.  We quickly paid our bill, headed for the SkyTrain (thank goodness we didn't really have to run) and arrived at the gate just as the first passengers started walking onto the plane.

When we started our approach it was interesting to see how smoky the air was from the wildfires.  The view of the Teton's was definitely obscured, but it was kind of cool, because it created an interesting silhouette. 

Mark and Emily showed up less than half an hour after we arrived and we went into town for dinner at the Silver Dollar Bar & Grill.  Emily had Elk Sliders, Mark had a Kobe Beef Burger and Rob and I shared a Buffalo Burger.  Good Food but it was so slow coming out.  We didn't get on the road until 9:00.  Somewhere in Idaho I realized we didn't have a key to our apartment with us.  Mark and Emily thought they knew where the extra key to the duplex was so we headed to their place.  We didn't have any luck finding the key so Rob and I made an executive decision to crash in the guest room at Mom & Dad H's.  Thank goodness for the guest room and for the wonderful and welcoming hospitality of Mom & Dad. 

We arrived in Logan sometime between 1 and 2am.  At that point, Rob & I had been up for about 20 hours straight (counting the time change from Eastern to Mountain). I was so tired I could hardly think straight.  Rob was a champ and drove home from the rest area at the beginning of Logan Canyon.  Mark had done an amazing job driving for six plus hours and was ready for a break.

I felt so badly for Emily having to get up and go to work in the morning and Mark had to pack and be ready to travel to DFW for the weekend and we are so grateful for their willingness to help us out of a jam and give up their evening for us.  You guys ROCK!