A busy fall . . .

Coming together is a beginning;
keeping together is progress;
working together is success.- Henry Ford

I haven't posted much lately, we've been so busy around here as a family. We're renovating the upstairs of the farm house for Hannah and Gus, it'll look great when we are done. Drywall is in and painting going on now, then carpet and new furniture, I'll take some pics then.
The other HUGE project around here is my new chicken coop, LOL, we've been almost 4 weeks building it and probably have another 2 to go (I estimated that it would take a weekend). The kids have been working their tails off, I swear Hannah could become a building contractor! She is so smart when it comes to figuring out how to put something together, and can she use the power tools!!!

Well, we will have it done in time for our annual BBQ . . .

. . . which by the way is October 17th! If you haven't received an invitation yet, call me to make sure that I have your correct address. See you there!

Here are some pics of the "Coop de Ville" in progress:

A great husband!

A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person. M. McLaughlin

The best thing about our marriage is how much we truly appreciate each other . . . It's been almost a year now, and here we are still so goofy happy we have to laugh at ourselves. We try to take a few days to ourselves once a month or so. Nothing fancy (who can afford that right now?), but at least a road trip where we can get away from the everyday pressures. (who knew that the 20 somethings would cause you more stress than the teens! LOL)

So, this past weekend we drove up to Spokane to take Ryan to his dads and deliver a pick-up to our good friend Ken. Along the way we got a flat . . . at 70 miles an hour . . . towing a car trailer with a truck on it. My great husband just said "uh-oh", and calmly pulled over to the side of the highway, then proceeded to hop out, with semi's roaring by, and changed the tire.

We were back on the road in 15 minutes! Ryan and I were laughing our butts off, remembering the last time we had a flat in our little Scion; he and Mandy had the instruction book out trying to figure out what to do first LOL! Having a man like Mark for a husband is pretty darn cool!

Mark and friends . . .

Mark and I have spent a lot of time this year talking about what constitutes a real friend. Here are few shots of some of his best . . . John Iverson, Ken Henderson, and Jeff Dunham. It makes our day to have these guys around; the kind of friends who wouldn't hesitate if you called with a flat in a snow storm. Just the best of the best.

First day of school for Hannah and Gus . . .

Ohhh, my little babies are growing up so fast . . . lol! So fast they're bigger than me! Just though I would share a few shots from the first day, new clothes, new backpacks and much to their complete horror . . . I took pictures of them getting on the bus! These two goofballs are off to a great year.

Gus turns 16 . . .

"Summer afternoon - summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language."- Henry James

What a great day spent with family and friends. Celebrating the pleasure we have shared this year watching as Gus grew from a boy to a young man. The kids and their friends floated the Boise river then scarffed down Gus's special request of BBQ Lemon Chicken and Lemon Cheesecake.

Mark and I got him a bike that will go with him to college . . . practical yes, but . . . It's a hand- made/painted/designed by George Barris of Barris Kustoms (the guy who did the Batmobile) and if you know Gus - you know that went over well!

"Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero "

At times one must embrace Horace!

A long while back when my kids were still small; I had the chance to go listen to John Denver, live, in the park, for free. I loved John Denver, and had I known this would be a once in a lifetime opportunity I would have been there in the front row; I would have made sure to shake his hand and tell him that his words found a spot in my soul. But, I was young, and thought that there would always be a tomorrow, so I waited until "next time"; He died just a few weeks later.

Never again will I make that mistake. Thanks to that awakening, I have heard some of the greatest speakers; Mary Robinson tops that list, and listened to some of the greatest singers from B.B. King to Elton John.

SOOO, when I heard that my most favorite singer of all time was going to be in Utah . . . just a short 6 hour drive away . . . I packed up Mark and the kids - all who thought I was crazy - and took them off to see Steve Earle.

Now let me tell you about Steve Earle . . . When I was just around 22 or so my little brother Johnny said to me, "Katy you gotta hear this . . .", then he pulled out a funny little record. When I asked him what it was, he told me it was a "CD". He said the sound quality was unbelievable, and that I was going to love this new singer Steve Earle. So, Copperhead Road was the first song I heard on a CD. Pretty powerful. I've followed the man's career and have every "CD" he's made, my kids have grown up with him in the background.

Just to have the opportunity to hear him live was incredible, but then we got there; the setting was in a canyon between 11,000 ft peaks, the weather was perfect, there were only 150 people at most, I was in the front row with my loving husband, my kids were in awe of the spectacular talent before them - it was day that was worth the sacrifices it took to get there. We had to drive the 6 hours back that night for Mark to work the next day - I truly am married to one of the hardest working men out there.

Here are some shots from the day . . .

Books and friends should be few but good . . .

Our good friend Ken left us today to move back to his home town in northern Idaho. We will miss his face around here, and look forward to the times when we'll see him again

Best of luck to you Ken and April, we expect an invitation to the wedding!!!