We're Back From Vacation...

More pictures coming soon...

Celebrating Gwynie's 2nd Birthday!!

We have had a great week of celebrations for Gwynie's birthday. Here are some pictures from her actual birthday...

Here are some pictures from Gwynie's Abby Cadabby Birthday Party... (The really great pictures at the end of the slide show with no captions were taken with Kathy's AWESOME new camera)

Pool Update #10

Day 43~ Today is the day that I have been excited about since we started this journey 6 weeks ago (aside from the day that we can swim in it of course). They installed the plaster finish to the pool!!!

The crew getting everything set up
It appeared to be a pretty complicated set-up process
Starting to pump in the plaster
This is what it looked like when I left for the gym this morning around 9:30

And this is what it looked like when I got home at 11:30...I was shocked by how quick the process wentThe spa's plaster finish. It looks grey in this picture, but it is definitely blue

The over all shot of the pool's plaster. They are coming back tomorrow to acid wash the finish and to check for any areas that may need more/less plaster. They will be filling the pool sometime this week...YEAH!!!!

We have started to put in a few finishing touches

This is our new tree...Lance picked it out. Good eye babe!

We also put in some waxmertles along the back fence. We are hoping to have most of the landscaping complete by Gwyneth's party on Saturday.

Happy Birthday Gwyneth!!!

Today is Gwynie's 2nd Birthday!!!! She was very excited this morning when Mommy, Daddy & Sissy woke her up by singing happy birthday. But all she can really talk about it her Abby party...she can't wait!!!

Happy Birthday Gwynie!!!

We Love You!!!!

Just a cute picture of the girls from this morning!!

Gracie's Pre-K Graduation

Last night was Gracie's graduation ceremony from Preschool. The event was a pretty quick one. Each class sang a song and were handed their diplomas. Gracie's class sang "Awesome God". After her teacher handed her the diploma she was greeted by Father Clay & Mother Diana who presented her with a wood cross necklace from St. Philip's. They told her that this necklace would help remind her of Jesus. She hasn't taken it off since. This past year of preschool has been better than Lance and I even imagined it would be. She really had a positive experience and is REALLY looking forward to kindergarten. We feel so blessed that God provided the means to allow her to attend St.Philip's. She has gained so much knowledge. What I have really been blown away by is how much her faith has grown over the last several months. She has no doubt in her mind who Christ is and what he did and continues to do for her. Most importantly she feels close to Him, she talks about him every day. She is about to embark on a drastic environment change when she starts public school in the fall. Our prayer for her is that even though she won't hear His name at school anymore that she continues to keep Him at the center of her life.

Here are a few pictures from the night...

Pool Update #9

Day 35~ Thursday and Friday of last week were big days for the pool. They put up the patio extension, the decorative arbor, the grill island and finished up the stone work on the project. The items really transformed the pool from a big hole in the ground to the backyard we were waiting for.

Putting up the very first post of the porch awning extension

About halfway done

The finished porch extension!!! You can also see some of the rock work they did on the flowerbeds

View from under the porch looking out at the pool

The decorative arbor

The front of the grill island

The back side of the grill island

So here is where we are today. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel. This week they will be doing a lot of clean-up work and having City inspections completed. They will also be putting the portion of the fence that was removed back up. Weather permitting they may plaster the pool next Monday, possibly even this Friday if they find themselves ahead of schedule. As you can see in the pictures Marty is back from Nana & Paw Paw's...welcome home buddy!!

Gracie's Surgery Went Well

Friday morning Gracie, Lance and I woke up super early to take Gracie to the hospital for her surgery. She had ear tubes put in (again) and had her adenoids removed (again). Nana & Paw Paw came in Thursday night so they could stay with Gwyneth while we were at the hospital with Gracie. Thanks you very much Nana & Paw Paw!!! Gracie was such a trooper and did great!! She thought the whole idea of the surgery was pretty neat and actually enjoyed all the stuff leading up to the actual surgery. The doctors and nurses were so great too!! The surgery lasted less than 30 minutes and then it was already time for us to go back and see her. The surgery went off without a hitch. She was still sleeping when we got to see her, but she woke up pretty soon after we went back. She was a little fussy and disoriented when she first woke up but was such a big girl and did everything that the nurses asked her to do. She was released to go home at 9:30 am. She came home and rested and was treated like a queen for the day. Thank you to everyone who kept Gracie in their thoughts and prayers. She hasn't complained about any discomfort at all...Thanks be to God!!!

I didn't want to take too many pictures, but still wanted some for her to look back at someday, so here is what I got...

All ready to head to the hospital

Gracie and her kitty cat "Myra" both got wrist bands at the hospital

Gracie and Myra waiting patiently for their turn

All ready for surgery

The nurses made sure that Myra and Gracie got all of the same wrist bands...Gracie that this was SO neat!

Gracie resting on Daddy in recovery after Gracie's surgery

All done and heading back home...You did so great Gracie, way to go!!!

Pool Update #8

Day 28 ~ They poured the decking on Saturday, here are a few pictures...

The porches new veneer and the extended patio
Looking back at the house from behind the spa
The raised sitting area
This is the overall decking of the pool. The grill island will be built where the electrical and gas lines are sticking up on the bottom left.

I believe the next step is the rock retaining walls for the flower beds and they will begin construction on the grill island sometime soon. The only thing left to do on the pool is the interior finish and to fill it. However, before they can do that they will add the decorative arbor and porch cover that are part of the overall design.

Fun Weekend!!

This past weekend Lance had some friends over Friday night to play cards, so the girls and I spent Friday night and most of Saturday and Kathy & Tony's house. Saturday morning I got up early and headed to Canton with some friends from church and Kathy & Tony watch the girls. THANK YOU BOTH SO MUCH FOR DOING THAT!!! Then when I got back into town we headed over to Kathy's school carnival. It was a lot of fun too. Gracie thought it was SO cool and said she hopes her school does a carnival when she gets into Kindergarten.

Thanks again Kathy & Tony, we owe you one!

Pool Update #7

Day 26~ Last week was a pretty quiet week as far at the pool's construction goes, but things picked back up yesterday and it was a busy day. They put all the forms up for the decking that surrounds the pool. They also laid all the rebar and the gas line was run in the deck framing for the grill.

This is a picture showing the existing porch connection to the new decking. We had them demo the bricks off the existing patio and they are going to poor the decking material over it so that the decking material in continuous everywhere.
Standing behind the spa looking back at the house. You can see where they have framed for the two steps that will get you from the porch level to the pool level.
This picture gives you an idea of the elevation changes that the deck will have.
The picture shows the overall pool decking design and where the grill island will be located.

The next step is to have the rebar and gas line work inspected today. If they pass the inspections and the weather cooperates they will pour the decking on Monday morning.