The Making of a Back Yard

These first pictures were taken when we bought the house. I don't know what this structure was supposed to be: planter box? fancy sandbox? homemade hot tub? It had water pipes running to it for whatever reason. It wasn't anything we would ever use, so we had it removed along with the horrible mosiac block patio and had a new concrete patio poured. That's Kyle digging in the dirt, in case you were wondering.
The fence was in pretty bad shape. It fell a few times when it got windy and was being held together by rope in a couple of spots. We removed the dead grape vine and the clothes line pole that was cemented into the ground. If I remember right, we found a few more cinder blocks buried in the backyard (there were at least 15 buried in the front yard).And as beautiful as that brick pillar was, it also got ripped out.These next pictures were taken a few years later. That big pile of trash is from the re-building of our patio, which partially collapsed in a big rain storm and then we discovered wasn't build correctly in the first place. The tree was mostly dead (and ugly), so we had it cut down. This is the same photo, just a few years later. We put in a block wall and new gates (no we aren't building a separatist compound - that's they way they build fences that last here in AZ), we extended the brick patio to the back of the house and around to the cement patio, and we built a couple of garden boxes.Here are some close ups of the garden taken today. We've planted tomatoes, corn, broccoli, yellow onions, jalepenos, carrots, green onions, and watermelon. We tried lettuce and peas, but the lettuce never came up at all, and they peas did great for a couple of weeks and then died. I guess it's the wrong season for those. And thanks for a wonderful family in our ward whose kids have grown up, we got this awesome swing set for free. And we scored the table and chairs at a yard sale for $25.The next step was installing the sprinkler system which Clint did with the help of his dad and brother. Once that was complete, it was time for the sod to be delivered. Horray! While Clint and his helpers laid the sod, I finished painting the back of the house.And then it was all finished! I love my backyard!But not as much as the kids do!Okay, little side note here. That area that's still dirt will eventually be more cement patio. We decided it made more sense to connect the patio with the RV parking area, than to put grass there. And we're planning on planting a tree or two sometime in the future as well. So I guess technically the backyard isn't finished, but it's good enough for me.

One backyard...Five years in the making.

Baby Powder

Note to self: Don't ever leave the baby powder within reach during nap time.

Oh yeah...Easter Pictures

The Kober kids got double the Easter fun with two egg hunts - one at the park and one in Deedum Kober's backyard. It was a beautiful and didn't feel hot at all, but apparently it was a bit too warm for the chocolate.

Hurts to Watch

Clint wanted to know why I didn't post the other video of Jared bowling on the blog. My response: "Because it hurts to watch."

*No bowling balls were injured in the filming of this video. And Jared wasn't either...it just appears as though the ball landed on his head.

The Happiest Place on Earth!

4 Adults

9 Little Bladders, er, I mean Children

7 Crazy Days

It wasn't the vacation we had hoped for, but it was definitely memorable. Clint started the week off sick and I got sick half-way through it. That put a damper on some of our plans, but we still tried to have fun. We got to ride almost everything that we wanted at Disneyland, Clint got to body-surf at the beach, and the boys each got a new lightsaber (which was their favorite part of the whole week.) Hayden was devastated when they wouldn't let him get on the Indiana Jones ride after he had waited in the long line (he was millimeters too short). Jared, who was the bravest out of all our boys, was so sad that he was still a couple inches too short for most of the big rides. On my sickest day, Clint took the kids bowling so they could get out of the hotel for a little while and Kyle's finger got smashed by a bowling ball (luckily he didn't need stitches.) Jared asked me if we can go again next week. Sounds good to me!

Jared is Still Three!

It only took me two months to get around to getting Jared's birthday pictures taken (yes, his birthday was back in January). My biggest excuse is that he desperately needed a haircut and I could never find time to get that done. Jared's hair is double-crowned so when his hair gets even slightly long it starts to stick up in the back. And if I really let it get out of hand it will begin to look like a mohawk, which is the state it was in until last week. I cut his hair over the weekend, so I had to get to the mall today and get it done. Here are the results. Oh, and if you are the very first appointment at JCPenney, it isn't a total nightmare. I need to remember that for next time.

Wii Mii

Jared loves playing on the Wii. Not so much the games (because he doesn't know how to play most of them, although he tries), but he loves to make Miis. If you aren't familiar with a Mii (pronounced "Me"), it's a character you can create and customize to look however you want and you can give it a nickname. We have quite a few Miis on our Wii now, most of them created by Jared. The best part is the names he comes up with for them:

Ricky Pudd
Wicked
Hot Dog
CrossBones
Hippopotam
Heart Burn
Rock Star
Pickle
Mr. Mickey
Witch
Zeerapeer (Zeer-A-Peer) Clint was saying this one wrong and it sounded bad.

The day he made Hot Dog I was helping him decide what features to use and I was showing him the different skin tones. Want to know the one he picked?  "Oooh, I want the chocolate one!"  **Hanging my head in shame....and to suppress a giggle.**

February Top 10!

Here are the top ten things we did in February that I ,uh, forgot to take pictures of:

10. Clint and I took Kyle to see the broadway musical Mary Poppins that was in town last month. Although they had a hard time staying awake (they both go to sleep so early) we all really enjoyed it. Most of the songs are the same, but the storyline is different from the movie.  Our favorite part was when Bert danced on the ceiling.

9. Hayden's kindergarten teacher is back after taking an extended Christmas break for her last cancer treatement. We are so excited to have her back and that she is doing well. The class met her at the park for a picnic the week before she returned and Hayden ran up to her and gave her a hug. If you know Hayden at all, you'll know that is HUGE for him and shows just how much he loves his teacher.

8. We finished building our raised bed garden boxes so that we can plant our garden this week. They look pretty good if I do say so myself. Never mind the fact that we spent more on those boxes than we have on vegetables our entire married life. :-)

7. Kyle performed in the 2nd Grade production of "My Country." This one I did try to take pictures of, but he was too far away and the pictures were dark and blurry. But he did a great job. His favorite song from the show was "Yankee Doodle."

6. We counted up all the change we've been saving for the past three years in our Disneyland fund. It took quite awhile to put it all into paper rollers. I'll just tell you that altogether it weighs 15 1/2 pounds. That's a lotta coins! Disneyland here we come!

5. Favorite Jared quote: "Mom, if you go to jail then I won't have a mom anymore." 

4. Clint celebrated his 32nd birthday at the beginning of the month. His mom bravely had all the kids sleep over at her house and we had a fun date night and then were able to help some friends move the next morning.

3. We all had a great Valentine's day! Kyle and Hayden did a great job decorating their boxes to take to school and Jared had to get in on the action and made valentine's to give to his friends at the park. And I woke up to a few fun surprises too.

2. Allison is finally getting some hair. Not so much on the top, but the back is getting longer and it curls into cute little ringlets. She still doesn't like having bows or barrets in her hair though.  Clint is still trying to convince me to get her ears pierced so she'll look more girly.

1. New living room furniture! Now that the living room remodel is mostly finished (we still need to replace the flooring) we splurged and bought a new couch and ottoman. And contrary to what Clint believes, I really do like it. Now, if we could just get the kids to stop jumping on it...

I'll try to get the camera out more often and get some new pictures posted this month.
Happy March Everyone!