News for this week

This past week has been an adventure.
My Father in Law came down in June to stay with us. He has a lovely ulcer on the back of his leg that was not improving. Whether it was negligence on his part, the wound clinic or both we arent too sure. He is staying with us until it heals. The boys have enjoyed having "big papa" here.
I was going to start school this fall, but will wait until winter term. There is too much with appointments and working to fit school in at this time.
Its been cool here this week. It rained here yesterday. It got everything good and watered.
I planted some boxwoods last Saturday. I am hoping that they grow tall enough to block the sun from hitting the windows. My thought is that if we block the sun, then it will help keep the house cooler. Its been nice not having the AC unit on. My pocket book will be happy as well.
The middle boys are at Philmont. They will be home Friday. I have a feeling it will be a long 8 hour ride home. 12 days without showers. Magical.
School starts for the boys in August. This year has gone by fast. I cant believe we have been here in Utah almost 8 months. We have done alot of work in the house in that time. My goal for this fall and winter will be to replace the rest of the flooring and to finish painting. Rome wasnt built in a day.

Pictures from our road trip

Cooling down

The temperature has come down, it feels wonderful!

We have had some interesting clouds and an occasional thunderstorm.

I began painting my kitchen. When we moved in, it was half painted. The previous homeowner left 3 1/2 gallons of paint. I have been using it. Got the kitchen and ceiling done. Have been working on the living room ceiling.

It's nice to have walls all the same color.

Friday nite I moved my four young hens in with the rest of the flock. No major problems yet. The hens depend most their day sitting under the tree we took down. It has begun to regrow and looks like a bush. The hens seem to enjoy it, so I am leaving it alone.

We planted two trees last week. We are hoping they will grow and shade the house rom the sun. I hare running the AC. My room stays cool, but I have a huge tree that shades that part of the house in the afternoon. The windows magnify the heat. We hung thermal curtains but the heat is intense in the afternoon/evening.

Here is the tree that we took down. Glad my hens get protection from the heat!

It's so hot

This is what happened to my soda, in my van

And...

Back in Utah

I had a great time in Washington. My sister and I were sad it when it was time for me to leave. Tuesday as we were cooking dinner, my niece was helping. I grabbed my phone to take a pic, and we got photo bombed.

This was while dinner was cooking 

Hubby flew in Wednesday. We then met up with a co worker to get two puppies. They did great on the drive down. We also picked up my father in law. He has some health issues, so we are going to see if we can't get them straighten out.

It was in the nineties when we arrived Thursday. My body was in slight shock.

We filled up the swimming pool for the dogs..

They love the water.

Friday we purchased curtains and a curtain rod for the living room. That has made a huge difference. We have an AC unit, but it's too small for the house. We ran it for a couple hours Friday and Saturday. We haven't needed to run it today. It was 95 today. I don't want an astronomical electric bill.

We have a little swamp cooler. Part of the bottom broke. Hubby took it apart to see if he could fix it.

 Notice the cat is supervising 

Luckily we were able to fix it. It has been helpful!

Back in Washington

Yesterday the boys and I drove up to Washington. It took us 11 1/2 hours to drive up.

The drive was good, except my left arm and part of my left leg got really,really sunburned. I put on aloe as soon as I got to my sisters, but it still hurts. The crazy thing was I didn't have my arm hanging out either.

Here's a picture, Andrew took it when we were in Oregon 

My niece started yelling when the boys and I arrived.

My nephew was excited to see my kids as well. The first thing he did was take Andrew and Ryan to go play with his Legos.

Andrew built him an airplane out of Legos which he has now played with since Friday

Here is my newest high school graduate. He leaves for the navy the beginning of August!

Today's project...