grass...

"if the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, 

if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, 

if the simple things in nature have a message you understand, 

rejoice, for your soul is alive!"

 ~eleanora duse

yesterday was a fantastic day... another finished project that has been months in the works and years in the wishing & hoping category... another check mark on our backyard renovation project list. we finally have a beautiful green lawn! we bought 73 rolls of sod [about 700 square feet] and with help from dustin, mason & nicole [including me, kels, austin & dad] got it all laid down. it was a beast of a project... but oh so worth it! im just hoping that we can keep it alive under the arizona sun! 

we are so thankful for all of the help that we have recieved during this project... and we arent even done yet! haha... we have the greatest friends and family! :) 

before...

 now...

extra pictures... 

[ps... do people even realize how pooping heavy rolls of sod are? 

its ridiculous. im just saying...]

 the first strip of sod is down!! 

hayley loves the grass too! :)

our pretty grass....

 after our hard day of work, we took a dip in the pool. 

and man oh man do we love the lagoon and umbrella! its just so fantastic!!

'tis complete...

alrighty. so... our pool is done. after a killer long time in the works, it is complete. and we love love LOVE it!! we are so happy with the way it turned out! and after we get the grass in... and some plants in... and some flagstone down in the backyard we can have a party! woot woot!

alright... so here is the pool before...

and now...

wow right? its just fantastic! :)

here are some extra pictures, just because i can!

our beautiful sparkling blue water! sigh... its amazing.

check this out... the dudes that built the lagoon put a little hole in it so we could have an umbrella in the pool! wicked sweet right?!

summer time...

its official. its summer time!

i was closing up the house tonight and saw 3 little gecko bellies on the window screen above the kitchen sink. by the time i had gotten my camera they had scampered away... but there was still on the back door...

yay for summer! :) 

now if only we could go swimming in our pool...

wow...

i can't even begin to tell you how excited i am getting for the pool to be done! the pool dudes came today to do the pebbletec-ing. they were here at 8 i think... left at 1.30. it was such a cool process! i just loved watching them work... and listening to their rocking awesome mariachi music. haha... they will be back tomorrow to do the acid washing and a bit of sanding... then we can start filling our pool back up [which will probably be a 2 day process... lol and then the chlorinator people will come on friday]. it seriously looks so fantastically cool! the parentals really wanted to do tile on the steps and lagoon... to differentiate and blah blah blah. i tried to talk them out of it... but it didnt work. our nice pool guy brought a very nice accent tile though... i was afraid it was going to be a cobalt blue, but it's not... thank goodness! and it actually looks pretty good. i did however convince them to lay the tiles square instead of diamond... go me! haha... anyway. here are the pictures! :)

wow.... right?

::

this is just a funny little video... can you hear their music? haha...

yesterday...

yesterday was just a great day. just great! kelsey, nicole & i went to get our hair cut together in the morning... [which by the way, looks fantastic! kelsey went short and it is so stinking cute!! hopefully she'll post about it soon!] then right after that we left to go meet up with our ward to go the the gila valley temple open house [again... but its okay. i sure loved it just as much this time as i did the first time.] while we were there, nicole & i ran into a few people we knew while we lived there. it sure was fun! and our tour guides were one of our old bishops and his wife. i sure love that bishop. and! we even saw grandma & grandpa farr with our cousin, ryan. it totally wasn't planned at all... just a happy little coincidence! we had sandwiches at thatcher park then drove home.

 [picture courtesy of zac baker photography, inc]

all the while that was going on... the pool dudes were out our house putting in the tile. and it turned out fabulous! since that's done now... monday is a cleanup day [they need to drain a bit at the bottom of the pool again and stuff] and i think they will be fixing the rust spots that day too. i cant recall for certain. and then tuesday must be the pebbletec-ing and then wednesday is the acid wash and sanding. then it will have to sit for a few days then we can add water and have a our pool back... which i really am just about ready for, its getting mighty toasty!

::

also. i was out watering my plants this morning... and i just couldn't help but be amazed at how much it has grown... my beans and cucumbers are still having a hard time, but everything else is just exploding! i really do love everything about it...

...the first day it was planted...

...today...

hello & goodbye...

one of my sunflower plants has bloomed [the other one is close too]. it just amazes me that this tiny little sunflower seed that i planted a couple months ago can be three and a half feet tall and have a beautiful happy sunflower bloom today.

sigh... i love my garden! :)

::

it feels like just last month that nicole and i got these adorable tiny turtles... even though its been almost a year. chip and big bertha have literally quadrupled in size. they kinda stink... but i sure liked them. however... since they were in austin's room... and since he has been the one taking care of them, he has decided that the turtles are too much work to keep around any longer. he is donating them to his science teacher [and a good friend from our ward]. she has a nice gigantic tank in her classroom with a couple other turtles. so chip and bertha will have more room and more friends. it will be good for them.

sigh... i'll miss those turtles...  :(

...last year...

...now [big bertha]...

...chip...

ps... i love that turtles are always smiling! too funny! :)

step 2... complete!

alright. so... kelsey, mom & i finished sewing the top of our quilts yesterday! :) so the next step [which we will learn how to do tonight] is to put the border and the backing on... then our quilts will be all done! pretty sweet right? our quilts definitely arent perfect... but we sure love them!! and we are pretty proud of them too!

:)

mom's quilt top...

my quilt top...

kelsey's quilt top...

hodgepodge of happiness...

ive forgotten to blog a few things... so this is a little ketchup blog. 

be prepared. its gonna be awesome.

:)

so... last night we [a group of 40 of us] went to the gaslight theater. grandpa keith leaves on tuesday... so this was our last hoorah. it was a great time! we love the gaslight more and more every time we go... and this most recent trip was no exception! :)  we couldnt have asked for a better night! we sure are going to miss grandpa when he goes back to washington for the summer...

::

also... i forgot to blog about the fair. i haven't been able to go to the fair in YEARS! i've always been busy with school... so this year was especially fun! apparently im not a big ride rider... but i still had fun! we even got to see the freak show at the fair... complete with a 6-legged steer, a 2-headed baby named rob & rob, and the bones of a dwarf that terrorized the southwest back in the day [he even looked up ladies' skirts!] hahah.... good times.

::

also... here is my one picture of me & nicole from country thunder. ps... for all of you out there who dont know what that is... country thunder is the largest country music festival in the southwest. its four solid days of amazing country artists. we camped out and had a blast! we saw keith urban [nicole's favorite], willie nelson, jason aldean, and my favorite of the weekend... luke bryan. oh freaking baby. it really was a fantastic week! 

::

and the most exciting news of all!! okay, maybe its not the most exciting... but i sure love it! i have a few little tiny baby summer squash starting to grow! woot woot!

the end. 

:)

iron man...

last night was the midnight showing of iron man 2... and man oh man was it a fun time. i really liked it... i thought they did a good job. we got there an hour early, but we still had to sit in the very first row. it was an xd movie... so the screen was bigger, and the chairs were farther back. it was kind of a cool perspective... a bit overwhelming at times, but still a super fun night! ooh! and we all got iron man shirts. heck yes! :)

kelsey, me ... mike & nicole zac ... austin, zac

a busy, busy day!

so we woke up early to start cleaning for nicole's birthday party tonight... and look at what austin found...

yeah. a dead bird on your doorstep cant be a good sign... right? haha... oh goodness.

::

they lagoon men came today to finish up! i'll just let the pictures speak for themselves.... basically because im trying to watch return to me and i want to type as little as possible. haha...

pretty freaking amazing, eh? i CANNOT wait to see it all finished!! :)

::

alright... and finally! today was nicoles 23rd birthday! what an old fart she is... haha. just kidding. i sure do love her! we had a little fiesta for her and opened presents, ate cake & ice cream, and played games! i hope she had a happy birthday! :)

nicole & mason

zac & nicole

roberta, nicole & kelsey

nicole & mike

me nicole & kels

our little group! 

::

sigh. now the day is over and i can get back to return to me. 

adios. and happy cinco de mayo! :)