A lot has happened in the past 6 weeks.

Wow.  I'm a little overwhelmed at the thought of trying to capture all that has occurred in the last month and a half.  It's been quite a ride - so fun - but a lot.  So we'll do this update via pictures and their captions.  Hang on!

The Big Move:  We did it - we sold the Park House, bought the Dreamwood Circle house and got all our stuff on the moving van - wait two moving vans.  Oh my gosh, we have a lot of stuff.  We packed our car and truck with the excess and anything living and headed north to the great Northwest.  We arrived to gray skies and cool weather, but it was absolutely gorgeous.

The kids were so excited to be out of the car and to have a lake to run to!  Liberty lake is a relatively small lake, something like 700 acres of water.  It seemed big to us initially but once we got on our boat it did get small quick.

Stanley had the right idea - grab the sun while it's out and enjoy the view.  The dogs got to their new home and really enjoyed their freedom, for a day.  The second day we were there we had an invisible fence installed and they said goodbye to roaming the neighborhood.  Unfortunately the invisible fence does nothing for the massive amount of deer that live in the nearby forest.  I've been told on several occasions to give up hope of gardening.  I, being the newbie, still have an abundance of hope and a few tricks up my sleeve for keeping the deer at bay.  

Boxes, painting, more boxes.  But Balin is doing just what he should, sitting down and relaxing while reading a book. The house is going to be a mess for at least a couple more weeks, so relax and enjoy the mess.

My first Northwest purchase - a bright yellow rain jacket.  I got plenty of use out of it for the first month we were here.  The dogs unfortunately do not have rain jackets and well, they need them.

My cute, fluffy dog looked like the above for the first month or so…and talk about smell.  Yuck.  Surprisingly he cleans up pretty quick though he's gotten in a very bad habit of getting on my furniture when I'm not home…


And the furniture is white….here's a great picture of our living room as a before picture.  Gray tile, big built in bookcase, sisal colored walls and ceiling.  It's all about to change.
I had the help of my dear friend Kate Hamman for two weeks and we did some real damage to the paint in the house.


The kitchen had a great paint job - Tuscan Sun I would name it if given the opportunity.  But it was just a bit….orange for my tastes.

And the color didn't really go with my furniture.

So we got busy and painted some cottage white all over the walls and ceilings and I have to say that I think it looks GREAT!!!!


My helper Kate Hamman, on the right, was SUPER great to have around as we talked about life, theology and all the different and exciting plans she had for the upcoming year as a college grad.  Another friend of hers and mine, Hannah Berve, from Prescott came to visit and we sat outside and enjoyed ourselves.


It was a glorious day on the lake and we were so excited to eat outside.




With the kids getting on the bus for school at 8:30am, I had the whole day to get creative and do some projects.  Project #1: rocking chairs.  These bad boys were on our front porch in Prescott perfectly content and happy to be there.  When the got to the Northwest they railed against the rain and threw off their poly coat and were in quick decline.  I rescued them with the help of Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint.  The stuff is amazing and I don't think I'll ever use another brand of paint for furniture painting.  You've got to try it - you'll love it.


Balin and I had to pinch ourselves when we found out the trail to hundreds of miles of mountain biking was literally out our door.  Wow!  So off we went and found out that those gorgeous mountains in the vista are actually really steep. But the scenery along the way is breathtaking and worth every sweaty moment.


Yogi the wonder dog has been joining me on my mountain bike rides and absolutely loves it.  We've got a quick little 5 miler we do in the mornings that makes both of us a little tired.


Remember the little deal I made with the kids in Costa Rica?  "Gatos?"  Well, they didn't forget.  We got Mr. K and TJ in May and boy they're quite the addition.  They were sleeping in Sam's room for the first week until we decided cat pee was not a very pleasant smell.  They're banished to the garage now but the kids still go out and play with them or bring them into their rooms to hang out and play.  The kids love them - but give it 6 months and my guess is they'll be a little less engaged.





Mother's Day came and Balin gave me the best gift ever; time and money.  I quickly took what he offered and headed to Home Depot to splurge on my favorite flowers: hydrangeas and impatiens.  I'm no surrounded by beautiful blooms and color, at least on the porch.


After planting we all headed out on a mountain bike ride.  It was glorious.  The environment was beautiful, the kids were happy to go and everyone had a lovely time!

Well, the saga continues, but I must go to bed.  I'm going to look at updating the blog like I do weeding; a little at a time makes it much more enjoyable.