Paint

With the help of family and a friend, we painted the house this weekend. It really needed it and it looks so much better! Here are some before and after pictures. The pictures were taken at a different time of year so you may notice the tree isn't green in the "before" picture and we trimmed the rhododendron in front of the door.

Before

After

It still needs some touch up but we got so much done the last two days. It was very hot so the paint dried quickly. Originally I was going to go with a green color with white trim but the Khaki complements the brick much better and it was free. (My brother-in-law started to use it on his house and he didn't like it. So I got over 10 gallons for free!)

I posted pictures of the green and brown paint options of Facebook and I got an overwhelming response to go with the brown. I was also told to go with a bold color for the front door. So it's red. I think I like it so far.

Brand New Mazda!

Well new to us anyway...

Megan has been looking for a Mazda3 to replace her 1991 Honda Accord. The Honda has over 170,000 miles and has seen better days. After test drives and lots of research, Megan found a good deal on a Mazda at a dealership in Vancouver Washington. We drove up Saturday and bought it.

The new car is a 2009 Mazda3 with less than 7000 miles. It is pre-owned. I guess someone bought it in October of last year and traded it in a few months ago. It's fun to drive and Megan loves it. I was going to try to take a picture of it last night but I was really busy.

The ad is still on Craigslist so I took these pictures from the ad.

Brand New Honda!

We got a brand new Honda to replace our old one. The old one was getting pretty rusty and wasn't running that well. I used the new one today and it was nice!

It's a lawn mower by the way...

The self propel function of the old one didn't work so it was a lot of work to mow the lawn. Now it's a piece of cake.

On the Boat

Saturday we went out with a bunch of friends on Max's boat. There were 12 of us. We went out on the boat last year and I tried wakeboarding. I didn't do so well last year so I didn't try this time. Max went first to show us how it's done. I had my camera and took a few pictures.

Between the flips and the 360's it was a good show. My camera started acting up after that so I didn't get pictures of anyone else. I think it was too hot out there or something.

I put on sunscreen and still got burnt. I think just about everyone got a little burnt. It was a hot day but it was nice to be on the water.

The Oregon Zoo

We went and checked out the farmer's market downtown this morning and then met some friends at the Oregon Zoo. Melody had a pass so we didn't even have to pay.
The weather was amazing!

Zack and Hyrum

Isabella Kissing the rail.

New Tent

I found a good deal on a backpacking tent at the REI Outlet online. So this is our new tent.


We plan on trying it out this summer. We really like camping but we didn't go at all last summer except for the back yard. We are determined to go this summer. Megan has only been backpacking once before so it will be an adventure.

Keeping Busy

I've been keeping busy the last week by working on the house. We have so many projects that I have started that need to be finished.

My dad helped me put in the windows sills a week and a half ago. We got all the sills in and most of them trimmed. The ones that were trimmed are now painted too.
Last Saturday I started putting up the tile in the shower. It's not my favorite task but it will be nice when it is completed.


I bought some seeds to plant a small vegetable garden. We were going to build raised beds but I think we'll save that for next year.

Megan's parents bought us a whiskey barrel to plant in. I bought a liner a few days ago so now I can get things planted.

The dogs definitely enjoy the sunny weather. They can spend all day outside if it's sunny.