Yard work is the pits!

We spent the weekend at home doing yard work.  What a drag!  Saturday, we ripped out the dead bushes out front, trimmed the Mexican Fan Palm, blew the leaves out of the courtyard and power sprayed the entry.  The yard looks so much better now!  I think cleaned the house and we had friends over for drinks and pizza last night.  It was a late night but a lot of fun. 

Today, our big project was ripping the stump out of the side yard.  We lost 2 of our trees a year ago and we just covered up the one stump.  In the spring, it started growing, so we dug out around it and spent today pulling it out of the ground.  What a chore!  We tried to hook a tow strap on to the Joyner and pull it out, but the tow strap broke.  So we did some more digging and cutting and then got the bright idea to use the winch on the Joyner to power it out.  Ultimately, this was successful!  We were able to pull it out and drag it to the curb.  I'm hoping to sneak it into someone's trash can on Friday since ours is full with yard debris from yesterdays project.

Once we conquered the stump, we got cleaned up and went to lunch and shopping.  We went to Chino Bandido Takee Outee for lunch (YUMMY).  We then went to Big 5 for shoes and to Sam's Club and CostCo to look at vanities for our bathroom.  Nothing.  Then it was home to watch movies and relax.

Have a great week!!

Picture:  the stump from the side yard.

Saturday in the forest

It's Saturday afternoon and we had a great ride in the forest.  Dennis and I ventured out with the dogs about noon.  We took a forest road that went all the way to an incredible canyon.  As far as I can tell from the map, it's Jack's Canyon.  It was incredible.  I'm posting a Picasa album of some photos we took while up there.  On the way back, we ran into a killer storm.  We drove right into it.  Heavy rain, hail, thunder, lightning.  We stopped and got out the rain ponchos and covered the dogs with their towel.  A couple of times, we stopped to take it all in.  We tried to take pictures of the hail but they didn't turn out too well.  It was pea sized, nothing major.  Before we got on the highway for the short trip back to camp (<1 mile), we stopped to wait for the rain to let up.  It didn't, so we just went for it.  I have to admit the rain hurt a little! 

We got back a little after 2, and I've been cooking and uploading photos ever since.  I hope everyone has a great rest of your weekend!

Picture:  Me with the dogs. 

Labor Day

We got home today from a great weekend up north.  We left about 3:30 Friday and arrived about 5:15.  We stayed at Patrick & Lisa's cabin in Munds Park.  We had a great time Friday.  Saturday, we went garage saling in the morning.  Saturday evening, we had our friends Jeremy, Brandon, Jim and Chuck over to the cabin for dinner and karaoke.  They were dry camping in their motor homes very close to Munds Park.

Sunday, we hung out while Lisa and I farmed and Dennis and Patrick played XBox.  About 4, we went over to the motor homes and had some cocktails and appetizers.  It was fun.  We got back to the cabin just after dark and put dinner in the oven.  I think we finally ate about 11:30pm.  It was hard to go to bed with a brick in my gut!  :-) 

Today, we got up and had breakfast, then got packed up.  We learned there was a crash that closed I-17, so we delayed our departure.  We left about 1:30, and got home about 3:15 or 3:30.  It was a difficult drive home, and the freeway was busy.  Traffic was bumper-to-bumper in several spots along the way.  We finally got off the freeway at Carefree Highway and took 29th/Norterra home. 

It was a great weekend.  Check out the Picasa album to the left.  Lots of pictures!!  Enjoy!

Picture:  Dennis, Brother Boy, Drama

Mid-week

It's Hump Day!  Only 2 more days until an extended weekend!  I wanted to post a quick note about our fantastic weekend last weekend with Jim & Ray at the motor home.  They brought the dogs up for the day and hung out with us.  We had a great time.  So did the dogs!  I've posted a Picasa Album with the pictures.  Enjoy!