The Rock Work is now complete!

Things are moving along at a frantic pace. It seems like everything is now happening so fast, and seeing as I am quite the impatient person that is just fine with me.

The rock work is now complete and they have painted the rocks to Dave's specifications. Here are a few pictures of the completed work:

They applied another coat onto the rock slide

This is the sit wall...remember how the last pictures were a light grey? They painted the rocks

rock work on the way up to the jacuzzi

Cute moment with Dave and Caiden. Caiden wanted to be just like his daddy, so he took off his shirt too. :)

What do you think they are thinking here? Admiring the rock work, or imagining water in the the pool?

We have concrete!

I don't think I have ever been so pleased and happy to see concrete in my life!!! I am not one for concrete. I tend to like grass and natural landscaping, but this has been in the works for 2 years and it has been the bane of my existence. It is FINALLY coming together. Frankly, I would be happy to see anything other than dirt in our backyard.

Earlier this week, the concrete people laid the concrete and I couldn't be happier. Honestly, I think the concrete looks nice, but I am MORE excited that it is done!!!

Caiden testing the new concrete out...he's walking funny cuz he doesn't want "crumbs" on his feet

It's amazing how a little concrete...ok a lot, can really change a yard. In fact, I think our yard looks smaller now with the concrete. I wonder if it will a case of the incredibly shrinking yard when we put the final touches such as grass, plants, trees in or if the greenery will change the perspective yet again and make it look larger.

right outside our back door

It's kind of hard to tell in the pictures, but it is stamped, colored concrete in a light tan or brown color. Well, here you are...pictures of what we have been waiting for for about TWO YEARS!!!! *Drum roll please*

Follow the stairs to our jacuzzi :)

The windy path on the side of the house (plants will be on the right)


paved area for us to put our trash cans

Dave designed the whole thing, and I think it looks really good. I am proud to have it done finally. :)

Grandparents Day!

Well not really, but it could have been. Gigi came to visit Kiya and Caiden last weekend, and later on that day Papa Jim and Grammie Sue came. :)

Papa Jim and Grammie Sue took Caiden back to Big Bear for a little fun and relaxation, plus they were teaching him how to swim in preparation for our new pool! Caiden came back with stories of fun times of building bird houses, making bird seed pine cones, swimming and going down the water slide, minature golfing, and making boats! He always does something new and exciting in Big Bear with Papa and Grammie, and he is making memories to last a lifetime. :)

Kiya loves it when people smile at her...
And play with her :)

How CUTE IS SHE!!!!

That is rhetorical question, and of course if it weren't, the answer would be...so FREAKING CUTE!!!

Well, I sat and I sat here thinking about which few pictures were the cutest to post. Frankly, I couldn't decide, so I am posting them all. Deal with it :P

Kiya concentrates...she is a very focused little girl.

She find something amusing...

Loses focus, and topples over like her toy :)

Upright again and happy...
So Cute :)

What can I say :) So adorable. :)

Kiya's First Taste of Organic Rice Cereal

Kiya recently hit a milestone...she had her first bite of cereal...organic rice cereal to be exact.

The taste

It says you can add formula (which I don't have), water (which I forgot about) or breast milk (which is readily available) to it, so I added the third, and gave it a go.

She seems to like it...I guess, I mean how can one REALLY be sure.

The reaction
The thumb

Here, you be the judge:

The VOTE: What Kind Of Pebble Tec For the Pool?

Ok, so Dave and I cannot decide, rather Dave and I cannot come to an agreement on a type of Pebble for our pool. Hopefully the time will soon come for us to make a decision on what kind of pebble tec to put in the pool. The problem: I really like one kind, and Dave likes another. We both refuse to budge (although I did come up with a compromise pebble). Much like the Santa Vote at Christmas, I will not be telling you which pebble tec is mine and which is Dave's. I want an HONEST vote of YOUR preferences and then we will see who wins...I mean, which pebble tec we SHOULD choose.

*Note to Dave and other fireman - if you are reading this YOU CANNOT vote for Dave's pebble choice because he tells you which is his, or because you are his friend, co-worker, etc.. This MUST be an honest vote, so Dave...shut it!* (Or course, this was said in the sweetest, friendliest voice I could muster) :P

Before the vote begins, I must say we are looking for a lagoon type of look for our pool. Ok, now the voting can commence. Please be sure that you do not leaving hanging chads...hehe. I crack me up. :P

Here is option 1:





Here is Option 2:


Option 3 is the compromised option:

When Pigs Fly...and it seems like they MAY be flying

When Pigs Fly...that's about when I thought I would get to see a completed pool, but oddly enough...they MAY actually be flying, or at least sprouting wings. Translation: Dave and I recently took out a loan to complete our pool, and it MAY actually happen. I hesitate to even UTTER these words (which is why I am typing it instead :P sneaky, eh?) as I fear that if I do, it may never happen.

We are so excited this this may come to fruition, that Dave and I (mostly Dave) have already started working on the backyard. He pulled all the weeds (notice no pictures, it was actually too embarrassing to even document how unruly the backyard had become) which was a multiple day, many trash can dumping adventure. He then dug a trench, which I am happy to say I helped do (at the very end) and we laid some pvc pipe down in order to relocate the dog's water spicket (as the current one will be behind the child safety fence and frankly we felt bad that the dogs would be able to SEE their water spicket but not use it).
side of the house trench
front trench
Dave adding the purple goo (which I learned was for cleaning the pipe) then the blue goo (which apparently is glue)
attaching the pipe

At first when we thought the pool may actually be completed we thought we would tell no one, but remember, people this has been 2 years in the making and we are so excited, stoked, elated, (insert any happy adjective here) that we could not contain our excitement. After some discussion, Dave agreed to allow me to blog about the recent news.

While I will not bore you with the details (well just yet anyway, more to come), I will show you some pictures. Keep in mind, not much has happened here, but again we are just SO excited that we may actually put an end to this 2 year ordeal of heartache and despair...you think I'm being overly dramatic here, but I'm really not.

So, to start you off, we hope and pray that we won't be screwed over again, cuz frankly we can't afford to take another loan out, and 2. I don't know if we could bear to be taken again. Although hopefully, this time will be different. This new pool man is a friend of Dave's captain at work, so he knows the guy. We went out last weekend to look at pools of people's that he has done, and he had nothing but satisfied customers. After this little outing, Dave and I actually allowed ourselves to think about what it would be like to SWIM in our own pool...yes, this has been a very taboo subject until now. This new pool guy set us up with a concrete guy who came and poured the little wall...

this is on the path to the spa and will be covered with rock work and will be a place for weary swimmers to park their behinds :)
This is behind the grotto rock work and will be a planter with trees and shrubs
closer to the spa...the very corner will be planters so their will be a curve (the rest will be stamped, colored concrete)

Before I go TOO far into detail, let's back up...rewind if you will. *this is the part where the squiggly lines would appear if you were watching TV and the cheesy music would start*. Let's go back in time 2 years so you can remember what our pool looked like. THIS is what our pool looked like BEFORE the latest work...hasn't been touched in nearly two years.

This is the view from the right side (in the back corner is the spa)
and the view to the left side

So far, all we have had done by the professionals is the concrete rock wall. On Tuesday, the rock guys are supposed to come and make this concrete wall 1 ft taller and make it look like the rocks in the pool. (again, for your viewing pleasure)...

rock water slide (Dave's design)
grotto (Dave's design again)
View from the rock water slide (if you look to the upper right you will see the reef...this was built for Flash who does like the water, but panics because he does not have webbed feet and is not a good swimmer.

Wednesday, the concrete people are supposed to come and finish the grading so that they can do the concrete pour for the patio and other concrete areas on Thursday or Friday. And if all goes well, the pebble guy comes out on Saturday. That of course is in our utopia, and the plan for this moment...it changes so often.

After that, we will add the finishing touches, including a removable basketball hoop

Again it is dirty because it has been sitting for TWO YEARS!!!

Some umbrellas, which we can change the position on depending on the sun, some patio furniture, and when we have money a patio covering which will have two ceiling fans under it. (clearly I have no pictures for this because we do not have them - except for the ceiling fans...we do have those).

We can then do the landscaping such as plants, trees, grass (we are contemplating artificial grass that is pet friendly). And of course, put up Caiden's playground set that Dave and Papa Jim built and Grammie Sue made the materials for.

Can you believe it...after two years we might actually have a FUNCTIONAL and beautiful backyard. I can't wait for you all to see it! :)

A Visit from Amy Marco :)

Out of the blue I get this call, that Amy Marco, yes THE Amy Marco is coming into town. Even better? She's driving to see us!

Of course we waited with baited breath as she drove up our driveway. Although she has been down here before (see past postings), she hasn't been to our house yet. Unfortunately, our pool is not done yet, so were unable to completely show off our house, but at least she could see what I've been talking about for the past two years - AND she was able to meet Kiya!

Amy and Kiya...big smiles from both girls!

And of course our furry children, Flash and Hunter

Kiya and Amy again - still smiling :)

Although it was a short trip, we had a lot of fun. I miss Amy, and I wish she lived closer. I mean, what does Idaho have that we don't have? Seriously...they don't have Kiya, Caiden and that incredibly fun girl...what's her name...oh, that's right...me! :P *Just kidding - I do not really have that inflated of an ego*.

This was taken shortly before Amy had to go...see how disappointed the dogs are :(

Of course we snapped a few pictures before she had to leave...I mean, this is ME we are talking about. I guess these pictures will have to do until we see her again...hmm....maybe WE should take a trip to Idaho. After all, I DO love potatoes - oh, and of course Amy and Steve :P