The Handrail

We've got STAIRS

I realized the other day, as I stepped out on the new landing to help my dad with something, that I have a natural hesitation to take the first step out our door. I laughed moments later when I realized what I did (it was a quick hesitation, only something I noticed but, funny nonetheless) Feelings of "Oh, I hope this holds me!"
Raced quickly through my mind!


My dad spent Thursday and Friday finishing the stairs up. Hoping to have it done before the sun leaves and the rain comes.

The next project is the handrail

BRENT'S FIRST BIRTHDAY

Chatting on the phone. Whenever someone says "Hi" Or "Hello" Brent puts his hand up to his ear like he is talking on the phone. Observant little boy

YUMMY!

He enjoyed digging into is own special cake...His first taste of sugar

WHAT A MESS

All cleaned up and time to open gifts. Brent is walking all over the place now.

Present time!

The beginning of our wood stairs

Another blessing...The guys in the picture are from my Dad's work and they spent all day Saturday helping my dad build the stairs!

Yeah, for the bigger landing..No more stepping down a few steps just to open the door


They started with dry weather and continued on through the thunder storm! That's dedication and good friends!

The rock wall is completed this side of the driveway! It is massive/impressive

HELLO!!!

You can all just assume that when I write something it is going to be in the form of some kind of apology! ;) Or so it seems anyway. Sorry, for not posting any new pictures lately. I've been taking pictures with my "old school" camera..ya know the ones where you have to go and develop your film...And scanning has not been an option for me so Lord-willing I will snatch my dad's digital camera from him again and update everyone on our front yard and Brent (who by the way is doing very well at learning to walk!! And his Birthday is coming soon, September 17th, can you believe he will be a year old!!!)

Also, for those of you who may not know Kevin and Jenny are expecting their new miracle in December (IT'S A BOY!) Can't wait to meet him! :D

Three Generations (one missing)

I wish we had a picture of the four generations together! What a blessing to see one generation to the next.

Great Grandpa and Brent Alexander

Kikka and Sonic

After playing rough together...Kikka is a Husky, Lab mix and Sonic is pure Siberian Husky.

Been Away

I'm home again..This past week was the Hillcrest/Trinity Family camp and my parents and I were gone for the week enjoying some wonderful fellowship with God's people.

The pictures below are just updates on Brent and our front yard...Hope you enjoy and there will be more to come.

Brent's First Hair Cut

There's the little boy.

It's coming along

Pete is nearing completion...One rock at a time.

Landscaping Continued

A dump truck of boulders for our rock wall along the driveway

Here we go...

Almost there!

And it's down! HE IS AMAZING. This is Pete and he has picked up, carried and placed EVERY rock on our wall! And he LOVES it!

Our old front porch

Our new front porch! ;) Or, so I thought it was. This is the pit I fell into and by the grace of God came out with minor cuts and bruises

Computer Difficulties

We are experiencing some computer difficulties which has prevented me from posting the most recent pictures of our landscaping adventures. I just recently bought a notebook so now I get to learn all the ins-and-outs of it all and as soon as I get the hang of it I hope to use this one to post the pictures...We are praying that we didn't lose all of our pictures on the Desktop computer but, unfortunately, it might be a possibility.

Anyhow, I will do my best to give you all a mental picture of the latest work...We now have the second tier up along the front. The side wall on the side of the driveway is nearing completion as well. Our front stairs are ALL gone ..Including the slab of cement in front of the door which I just happened to fall into and amazingly enough came out with only minor cuts and bruises (Praise the Lord!) Just another "Melinda Moment!"
So, things are coming along nicely and we're all looking forward to the finished product! :D

San Diego Adventures

The kids at the main pool in the fountain area at the Resort

The Van Voorhis Family!! They are a good looking family if you ask me!

This was one of the highlights and a must see at the zoo. Samantha LOVES Pandas. Thankfully the Panda was out and about for us to see.

Stopping for some Dippin Dots at the Zoo..We just got done going through the Panda exhibit and the line was very long!

I made sure Brian and Meredith had their on private ride (kid free) on the Skysafari (It was their anniversary day) Brian took this picture of Me, Tyler, Brendan and Samantha going across the San Diego Zoo

Here a are a few shots of the whales at Sea World. They were amazing to watch

Hanging out with Brent

Believe it or not but these pictures are all from one day! He is such a good sport!

Cassie and I were going through all of his 18 month clothing and decided to try a few outfits on him..I think he looks a LOT like Dad here (his dad.)

Yes, he is wearing snow gear in the middle of summer! We HAD to try this on him...He wasn't too happy at first but he soon warmed up to it. No pun intended.


He is just too adorable!

Here Brent is showing off his teeth! He now has three and one on its way!

These are some of my favorite times...He is fun to watch play but, nothing is better than snuggle time. He gives great kisses too! What a sweet boy!

He is getting into everything now...One day Cassie watched him as he pulled a big Pooh Bear off his little rocking chair and then climbed and STOOD on it in order to reach a frame hanging on the wall. Too clever! She has some pictures of it..I'll have to see if I can get them.

The Rock Wall

This is where the curve around begins...Pete is doing an amazing job!

The beginning of our rock wall

Been away

Lord willing I will have some more pictures to post soon. Hopefully of little Brent whom I haven't seen in what seems like soo long! I was in San Diego with my 'other family' last week (got back Sunday afternoon.) Brian and Meredith took the kids and me to the Paradise Resort right next to Sea World (and not too far from the San Diego Zoo) for some good times. There was a conference going on that they wanted to go to and so thought it would be a good idea to take us all for a mini vacation. We had so much fun, the Lord really blessed our time there, nice things happened to us during the entire trip which made for a very pleasant and relaxing stay. Brian and Meredith ended up skipping a lot of lectures to hang out with us...They took us to Sea World, Old Town and the Zoo!! Over all the trip was wonderful and just the right amount of time...However, I could get use to walking on the beach and swimming in the pools in the morning very easily. ;)

As for my parents...They have been working really hard in the yard and getting projects finished. The back yard is coming along nicely and we all look forward to having the fence completed. Pray for my dad has he still endures a lot of pain.

Let The Excavating Begin!

What our front yard looked like before the demolition began

Some more before pictures


Brendan suggested we put in a slide right here instead of more stairs. :D

Before, Steven and my Dad used a Jack Hammer to take out the first half of the stairs (with a lot of pain and hard work!)

After, and with a little help from our neighbor, the job gets done with less work and a lot less pain! (Pete happens to be in the landscaping business...notice his nice yard in the background)

What a mess (we just pray rain is not in the forecast!)

We are extending the driveway juuuuust a little.