Seal Foundation-- Check!

Well we got the whole messy business finished despite some heavy rains. The foundation is sealed, the drain tile was set, and we filled it all back in. Now we have a solid clay dirt yard. It's really pretty! We also got our sidewalks put back in and we built a cute little deck which we will seal on Monday. Still doing some landscaping. I guess the next big project is finding all the underground sprinkler heads that have been buried. We have a rough idea where they may be.

Messy Business

Yesterday we finally started on the project that we have been putting off for almost 2 years-- sealing the foundation. It didn't take us long at all to "dig in".

While Tim was digging, I was doing some landscaping. I cleaned out the beds and put some new bushes in and added landscaping rocks.

That pretty much took care of yesterday! Today we sealed the foundation and were able to start backfilling. It's going way faster than planned which is really good. But boy do we have a mess! The soil is pretty much pure clay-- just a sticky mucky mess. It's also fun that the house is on one of the busiest streets in Lewistown.

We had sold a recliner to a lady at our garage sale on Saturday, and she was coming to pick it up today. She drove right past our house because she didn't recognize it with all the dirt and gravel piles in front of it! I have some better pictures of all the mess on my camera that I left in town. These are just pictures from my phone. Stay tuned....

4th of July Weekend

Things have been pretty busy around here. Since getting back from Costa Rica we have finally finished the siding and window job out past Buffalo. It's so nice not having to drive clear out there everyday. We have since been prepping our house in Lewistown, getting it ready for the big excavation tomorrow. We've also been working on the basement bathroom. We have one coat of mud on so far.

On Friday we had a little BBQ with some friends and family. We had some yummy buffalo and whitetail brats. It was a nice, casual gathering. It was fun to do some catching up.

Saturday was quite the day. We had what we called a "Multi-Generation" Garage Sale in Lewistown. We had truckloads of stuff from Grandmas, mom's and our house as well. It was unbelievable the amount of stuff we had. We had it scheduled for 7:00 that morning, so we had to get up pretty early. There was only one other garage sale that day. We weren't really sure what the turnout was going to be on 4th of July.

We got to town by 6:30 and there were already people stalking around waiting for us. As soon as we opened the garage doors to start pulling stuff out, people started showing up from every direction! When mom pulled up 10 minutes later, we were in full swing and not even set up yet! It was a lot of fun though. It's so funny to see the kinds of things people buy and when they try to haggle you. We weren't really in it to make money, we just wanted to get rid of stuff, so we took any offer. One guy bought some floor cover stuff that you put under laminate flooring and a margarita glass! We had to send Tim to get us some McDonald's breakfast at one point. It stayed pretty steady up until the parade started at 11:00. Grandma Jo came down and sat with us until the end. Tim and I went to the parade and left them in charge. We stayed open until about 2:30 and we got rid of alooooooot of stuff. It was amazing. It was such a whirlwind. And we all made some pretty good money too!

This morning we went to mom and dads to borrow their skid steer and rototiller for our excavation work. We dropped it off in Lewistown and dug up the sprinkler heads around the house. Now we are resting up from our busy weekend and we will be ready to hit it hard tomorrow. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures.

Springtime in Montana

There's just no better time nor place. The wildflowers are in full bloom now. Tim and I stopped and picked ourselves a little bouquet on our walk tonight.

A few weeks ago when we were doing a siding project way out in the middle of nowhere, way west of Buffalo, a short little rainshower passed through. It left behind this really neat wall of rainbow. It wasn't in the sky like usual, but was ground level.

Memorial Day

We had a pretty nice, relaxing Memorial Day. We had planned on packing a little picnic and taking a drive up Buffalo Canyon. We wanted to go up near the Twin Sisters, but weren't really sure how to get there. We drove through some people's yards and ended up at the edge of their gated pasture, so we weren't sure where to go from there. So we took a different adventure. We took the back road from Buffalo to Utica, then went up above South Fork and found a little tiny campground to have our lunch. I kind of felt like we were on our own episode of "Backroads of Montana" on PBS. It was really nice out, and we had the whole place to ourselves, so it was really peaceful. On the way down, we enjoyed turning off at every road and seeing where it lead. Other than that, nothing too exciting. We finally have our garden all planted now. Can't wait to see what comes up! We are just trying to set everything up with the automatic timer to get everything watered when we are gone. Guess we'll see what happens.

Across the State

I've really been putting on the miles lately, and boy do I feel like it! Last week we went to Billings and I took part in the Women's Run. I know what you're thinking, no I did not run! I walked! I did the 2k. It's a pretty fun race. Joni and I did it last year, but I flew solo this year.

This past weekend, Tim and I went to Helena and stayed with his sister and brother-in-law. We participated in the Susan G. Komen Race For the Cure. Tim signed us up for the 5k! It started and ended at the Capital. It was a really fun time. Our friends are runners, so we caught up with them at the end!

Then on Sunday, I drove to Missoula from Helena. My friend Sarah was scheduled to be induced with her second baby early Monday morning, so I drove over to be with her. She was supposed to go in at 5 a.m. But as fate would have it, she went into labor at about midnight! It's funny how things work out like that. It was a good delivery, and little Charlie Michael arrived at 5:34 a.m. He weighed in at a whopping 9 lbs. 15 oz! He was 22" long. They are all home now and doing very well. I'm so thankful that I could be there during delivery. I was there for the birth of their first son Christopher. Congratulations Sarah & Jimmy and thanks for letting me be apart of this special occasion!

So hopefully I will be staying put for the next two weeks. We leave for our honeymoon in Costa Rica on June 2nd, and I am so not prepared yet!!

Cousins Reunited!

On Sunday, Jessica and baby Ian and Uncle Dale and Aunt Corinne stopped in Judith Gap for a visit. Jessica had flown in from Wisconsin for a week's visit. We last got to see Jess and Ian in December for the wedding. I can't believe how much he's grown since then! He is crawling and pulling himself up. And he has the cutest little front teeth that he's happy to show! It was a nice afternoon to catch up. Joni, Jess, and I were fortunate to have all grown up together, just miles apart. It was great to be together and see the next generation get to know eachother.