New Porch!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Our previous porch was at a 6% slope.  That's a bad slope, just ask semi drivers!  And the few people who have fallen down our steps because of it's slope...  With winter coming up when I will be oober pregnant, we decided to fix the porch so I wouldn't fall down it.  We also wanted to do it before school starts for Josh.  So here's how we did it:

We decided to build over it.  This is Quinn figuring out where to put the posts for us :P

Josh dug holes for these neat deck post holders (they'll keep the wood off the ground, helping them last longer).  It took forever to make sure they were in the right place, and to dig through our rocky soil.  So we started Thursday night, and got two holes dug and filled with concrete.  The next morning we did the next two.

Once the concrete was cured, we were able to put in the posts - and yes, we wrote our name in the cement :)

Once those were in, square to the house, and cut to the right height, this is how it looked:

We couldn't put the other two posts in yet since the concrete hadn't cured completely, we started building the top platform.  Yes, it's perfectly level, as opposed to the concrete porch we are building over.  Notice any difference between the two?  yeah, it was 6 inches higher.  Crazy!

Another view of new porch over the previous one.  Awesome crack!

We had enough daylight to put up the railing on one side.

My little poser :)

After work the next day, we were able to get the other side done.

Looks pretty, doesn't it?

After a really stressful Saturday, we were able to get the stairs in.

We had to change plans a bit as we were building because my original measurements of the old porch were a bit off, and I needed to figure out new dimensions for the stairs - which meant we didn't have all the wood we needed.  But we made it work.

Josh absolutely loves this joint where the stair frame we made fits onto the post and the rest of the porch :)

Almost done!!!

After the walnut stain and sealant. 

I love how dark it is.

Finished product over the old porch *shudders*

LET'S REVIEW:

This is what our house looked liked when we bought it.  Gorgeous, right?  Or not...

And after a few renovations, this is what it looks like now!

Summer Time Craziness!

Summers always seem to get pretty busy with us.  We have an anniversary, 2 birthdays within a week and a half of each other, all the holidays, vacation time, etc to fit into such a short time.  So here's a modpodge of some of the things we've been doing!

Quinn Man's 3rd Birthday!

Getting ready for the party: trying to blow up balloons :)

Gabe stayed a few days with us, and was a huge help in getting things ready.

The pack of balloons I got apparently had various sizes in them... so here's Josh before he tried to blow up the smallest size.

He did it!  It took him a while.  He's so proud of himself! *snort*

We decided to add some pizzazz and make a pinata.  Quinn helped me make it over the weekend.  It was a "Bad Guy" for his superhero- themed party.  The kids loved it!

Picking up the candy.

"Look Mama!"

We ended up putting all the balloons in the play room.  That room is awesome enough by itself, but the balloons just added to the party fun.

Cousin Naomi playing.

Quinn was having a blast!

And then the kids stole the camera from me, and took a few of their own pictures:

Uncle Danny

Cousin Katelyn

I just love the smile on my son's face - he absolutely loved having so many people there to play with him!

Just before opening presents.

Oooo... What's in there?

The biggest on of them all, from Uncle Ammon, Aunt Nicole, and Cousin Naomi:

I think his face says it all.  Thanks everyone for the gifts!

The cake!  I made it completely from scratch, took a couple days, as per request made it chocolate cake, and then I made a caramel frosting.  SO YUMMY!

In case you can't figure it out: Captain America is on bottom, with Spiderman in the middle, and Quinn Man on top.

And Iron man on the back (by the time I got to him, I was so tired, and didn't really care about doing a good job anymore...)

Here's a video of Quinn blowing out the candles.  He was so excited, I had to hold him back while we sang :P

New Talents!

...OR just one new talent.  Quinn learned how to wink!  He's so proud of himself!

Camping!

Because of all the fires this summer, we were prevented from going on our week-long camping trip we had planned.  So during that week Josh had off, we did a lot of fun things, including having the boys "camp out" in our backyard one of the nights.

Getting ready for jammies.

They wanted the tent to open towards the mountains, so it seemed more realistic (despite the cats trying to attack them from outside the tent all night long).  I had a good night alone in the house, in my bed (did I mention alone?) :)

Quinn loved playing with the flashlight.

Night night, Mommy!

My boys and their silly faces....

Santaquin's Orchard Days

Monday night was kid's night, so we took Quinn to see what was there.  Of course he had to ride the train as soon as he saw it :)

It was pretty cool, all pulled by a four wheeler.

He wanted to go again, but we wouldn't let him :P

They had a fire truck, cop car, and ambulance you could climb into.  The fire truck was cool, but too high to convince Quinn to get in, so we tried the ambulance... he wasn't too thrilled about that, either.

On our way home - yup, Quinn's driving, sucker in his mouth and everything - He's cool.