curb appeal

Every year since we've moved to this location (2002), we've worked on at least one major outdoor landscaping project each spring a/o summer. When we got our new house in 2010, we had to re-structure some of the landscaping around the property. After working on the property for 10 years, I feel like our backyard is now about where we want to it to be, but I felt like the front was lacking some major curb appeal. I've added minor things to it each year--in 2010, I had a hanging plant. In 2011, I had another hanging plant and a big pot of flowers by the front door. In 2012, I bought 4 more large pots and added flowers along the front. And this year, I decided it was time to do invest in the area and add something more.

 

I'd been thinking for a while about what I could do--in front of our old house we used to have a rounded area filled with red lava rock and antique equipment and ornamental spruce trees. But because this house is a lot wider, there's not a lot of room in front to put in any landscaping of that size without taking out needed driveway space. There's also not any water access in front, so I knew that we couldn't add a lot more plants. The area definitely needed some color though--because our gray house next to all the gray gravel was boring and not very inviting.

So--I came up with a design in my head of a long narrow area in front of the house outlined in orange brick, that would be filled with red lava rock, and large charcoal-colored shale stones set in between the existing flower pots for contrast. During the first week of July, we worked on the project for 3 days.

Step 1: Obtain the brick
I didn't want to spend a lot of money on this landscaping project, so I looked for cheaper alternatives, thus the idea to use brick instead of landscape borders or lumber. I noticed a house on the way to town that had a huge pile of brick in the yard, so one day, I stopped by and asked the lady if she'd be willing to sell me some. She said she would sell the used brick at 10cents each. I came home, measured the area, and divided that length by the size of the brick to determine how many I needed. Unfortunately, I added one section twice into my equation without realizing, so I figured we needed about 160 brick. Josh went back to the nice lady's house with me, and we loaded up 200 bricks (we got a little extra). It was hot outside and we spent 1/2 hour picking the best brick out of the pile and loading them into the truck. It was a tiring project! When we got home, Josh re-measured the space and we realized we only needed about 120 bricks instead (so now we have PLENTY of extra!)! The boys unloaded the bricks for us from the truck into 3 wheelbarrows and 2 wagons.

Step 2: Create outline for the project area
We made some measurements to figure out how far out from the house we wanted the brick line to be placed. Then Josh went along with a shovel, and created a rough line for me by using a shovel to dig out the gravel down to the dirt. He and I also dug out some of the existing gravel rock inside the rough line so that there would be less gravel, creating more room to fill with red lava rock later.

Step 3: Remove the mortar from bricks
The bricks I bought from the woman had originally been on a building that was torn down in town a few years ago, so almost all the bricks had mortar stuck to them. In order to create an exact line with them, I had to hammer off all the extra mortar on each brick. This was very time-consuming and required patience because if you hammered the bricks too hard to remove the mortar, it could break the brick. I worked on it while sitting on the front porch and I got tired of this project, so I would work until I had 15 done, then I would place them on the rough line and take a little break before doing the next 15. Josh took pity on me after a while, and he did a few loads of hammering mortar too.

Step 4: Align the brick edging
This was the most time-consuming part of this project, and I admit that because I'm a little OCD, it was also my favorite part. I measured out from the house before placing each brick so that they would be in an exact straight line. I also wanted them be level with each other, so I had to dig out areas under/around each individual brick so that they would lay just right. There were some major rocks under the previous gravel bed that were difficult to remove and then I had to create some fill under the brick to ensure that it was level which became frustrating at times. It took me about 6 hours total to complete this portion of the project, but the outline looked SO good when I was done that it was definitely worth it! The brick was the perfect outline for this project, and it fits in the surroundings better than lumber or pre-made landscaping borders would have.

Step 5: Obtain large shale rocks
A few miles from our home are some mountain sides covered in shale rocks. Some of the rocks are red/orange--which are the type of rocks that are placed under each flower pot, and some of the rocks are gray/black--which is the type of rock I wanted to add in between the flower pots. Josh and I went on a drive one evening to pick out some good-sized, unique rocks. We walked/hiked along the side of the mountain and rolled down the ones we wanted to keep and then loaded them into the truck. It only took us about 20 minutes and we picked out 12 rocks. I was so happy with our assortment, and the best part was they were free with just a little muscle power! The next morning, Ammon helped me unload the heavy rocks so I could randomly place them in the project area.

Step 6: Fill with red lava rock
This was the last step of the project, and the most expensive part. Josh & I took his dad's old dump truck to the landscaping store in town and ordered one scoop of the red lava rock--which cost $50. We brought the load home, and Josh backed up the truck to the area and then parked the bed of the truck at a slant so that it would be easier to scoop out the rock. Jonah & Ammon grabbed shovels and helped Josh shovel the rock evenly into the area. Kanyon & Micah helped me pick up red rocks that fell onto the gravel and we threw them into the area, too.

I love the final effect--it's not very dramatic, but the project added color and texture to the front of the house. The $70 spent created some much-needed curb appeal, and it is now so much more inviting. The red rock matches the trim on the house, the black shale rock creates visual interest to the area, and the brick outline is very precise and defines the space! I'm so grateful for Josh and the boys' help in making the vision in my head become a reality! I love driving up and seeing the front of our house now!

BEFORE the project:

 

AFTER the project:

 

Our home in 2011:

 

Our home in 2013:

catching, cleaning, cooking, consuming

On the last day in June, we went camping overnight to Wallace Lake.

It was so hot in Salmon, and the cool mountain air was beckoning to us! We hadn't been to Wallace Lake since 2010, and I felt like it would be a good place to go to. Here's links to see our previous camping trips there:

Wallace Lake 2009

Wallace Lake 2010

 

As soon as we arrived on Sunday afternoon and set up camp, some friends of ours were driving out of the campground, and we talked with them for a few minutes and discovered that once they left, we would be the only ones at the campground. It was awesome to have the entire place to ourselves! We loved the peacefulness and the quiet serenity that the mountain lake provided without others there!

 

Kanyon with the "perfect walking stick" he found.

That evening, we walked down to the lake. Some of the boys went fishing...

 

and some of the boys chose to make good use of their pocket knives instead!

I took a dip in the cold water, and it felt heavenly...

until all the little fish kept trying to nibble parts of my body which got annoying and I got out!

Jonah and Ammon were quick to catch fish that evening (sorry, no photos of Ammon with his fish). Jonah caught the biggest one, and the only one worth keeping:

 

Josh told the boys about a time when he was a little boy and was at Hat Creek. He caught a fish, and his dad made him clean it, cook it, and eat it. And that was the last fish he ever ate that he caught. He thought it was an important lesson to teach the boys--if you keep the fish, you need to eat it. So he told the boys he was going to teach them how to clean the fish, so they could eat it, too. We took the fish up to our campsite, and Josh went through the whole process with them, which completely grossed the boys out (as evident in each one of these photos):

 

1. Cleaned it.

 

2. Cut its head off

3. Gutted it

4. Rinsed it out

 Then he grilled it for them--as an after-dinner snack (we'd already had grilled pork chops).

After it was cooked through, I pulled most of the bones out of it and we ate little bits of the cooked fish. I thought it was pretty delicious! Some of the boys thought it would've been better with ketchup on it, though!

That evening, Ammon set up his tent near our trailer, and he got the fire kindling chopped up for us! I love having growing boys that help with the workload!

The fire is the best part of camping for the younger boys! They love to find and burn sticks, burn garbage, and cook food over the fire.

 

I taught Ammon how to play Solitaire that night with face cards, and we played several rounds of that, as well as some Phase 10 and SkipBo, our usual camping card games. When it got dark, we went to bed and had a long night due to Kanyon waking up several times throughout the night (Ammon slept pretty well as the lone man in the tent, though).

 

The next morning, we ate breakfast, Josh made another campfire, and the boys rode bikes around the quiet campground for a while. Then we headed back down to the lake for more fishing in the calm morning water.

Micah was really determined to catch a fish, but unfortunately, he {once again} didn't catch a single bite. However, Kanyon caught two that morning and was so excited about it! They were both small, and we turned them both back into the water after we captured the moments on film.

We got camp all packed up and cleaned up and headed out around 11:00. By that time, several fishermen had arrived and we were no longer alone at the campground anymore. It had been an enjoyable overnight retreat, and we were all a little sad to leave.

 On the way down the hill to re-enter the Salmon Valley, we got a flat tire on the trailer. Josh and Ammon got right to work fixing the problem by removing it and adding the spare. What a good little slave-laborer Ammon has become this summer!

Then as we were driving into Salmon, the transmission went out on the truck. Our short, overnight trip quickly turned into a very expensive one! It's been over a month now since it happened, and we still haven't gotten our truck back from the mechanic's shop, so we were unable to go camping again in July. I'm glad we went on this excursion to Wallace Lake, though, because despite it ending on a sour note, the rest of the camping trip was good enough to make up the difference!

Soccer 2013

Jonah, Micah, and Kanyon all played soccer this summer. This was the 5th year we've been involved in soccer, and the boys really enjoy it and have really improved over the years. Ammon was a referee, which was a first, and he enjoyed getting paid to still be involved in the sport! I also was a coach for Kanyon's team, which ended up being really enjoyable for me, but I wasn't so sure in the beginning that it would be, and here's why:

 

The first year we did soccer was 2009. I volunteered that year to be the event coordinator/president of it. My boys had never played soccer before then, but they were interested in it, and the sport was going to end locally because nobody was willing to be in charge. So I stepped up and said I would do it--it was a huge learning experience for me! It was chaotic and crazy and stressful and I was so busy that fall season. During that time, my Grandma P. had a stroke and I was unable to go visit her until the end of the season. Unfortunately, she died before I could make that visit.

 

The next year, I decided to hand over the reins to somebody else, because I knew it was too much for me to handle, and thankfully soccer has continued to be a local sport. In 2010, I enjoyed just watching my boys play and not having to be in charge at all!

 

The next year, I thought it was time to help out again, so I volunteered to coach a team. I was assigned to coach with another woman, but it ended up becoming my sole responsibility. I also had a boy on our team who really struggled and never made it through a game without having a massive tantrum. Unfortunately, during that soccer season, Josh's Grandma T. became really sick and passed away. The night of her viewing, I coached a soccer game and my assistant coach didn't show up with the jerseys and a boy on my team refused to play and it was so stressful for me, and I cried the whole night after the game ended.

 

So, the next year, in 2012, I decided to once again take a break from being involved, and instead loved watching my boys from the sidelines.

 

That brings us to this year. I volunteered to coach again--knowing that once I said yes, most likely another grandparent would die during the season. Both times before when I volunteered for soccer, something disastrous happened and a grandma died. I was conflicted about what the future would bring during this year's soccer season. But I'm so pleased to admit, now that it's over, that nobody died this year and I had a great time volunteering!!

 

I coached Kanyon's U-6 team with my friend Gina. We had a great team of 4 boys and 4 girls. Our team color was gray, and we called ourselves the "Gray Elephants". We had 5 games in our 4-week season in June, and I think we outscored all the other teams in our games!

 

I was truly amazed at Kanyon's soccer abilities. He really understood the sport, and he was excellent at stopping the ball, defending the goal, kicking the ball, and turning the ball around and running with it to score goals--which he made lots of! He was phenomenal to watch and he loved playing it! I was so glad to have the opportunity to coach him!

Jonah and Micah were on the U-10 league this year. Their team color was purple, and they called themselves the "Purple Dragons". They had 10 teammates: 7 boys & 3 girls, and were coached by Brother Bragg and Faith's mom. They had a 6-week season, and played 6 games.

Both Jonah and Micah are great soccer players as well. They are swift with the ball, good defenders and blockers, and they both really enjoyed being goalie. I loved watching them play, and they both had a good time playing the sport. They only won a few of their games (because 2 of the teams were stacked), but Jonah maintained a positive attitude despite the losses. Micah was very disappointed and angry after some of the games they lost, and we had to have the "positive attitude" and "working together with your team" talks, and thankfully he improved his attitude over the season.

JONAH:

 

MICAH:

The older boys liked wearing long, funky socks during their games, and apparently their colorful apparel became popular with their teammates, too!

Overall, this year's soccer season was a positive one for our family! The boys wished it was even longer, because they enjoyed it so much! I'm happy they were involved in a sport that promotes teamwork as well as individual strength and coordination.