Swimming Pool, 4th of July, and Homemade Ice Cream!!

 

Saturday was the big day!  We were able to get the pool set up, and even landscape.  The girls actually braved the frigid water on the first day. Ah- to be young again; it was too cold for Dave and me!  It's great to see the girls taking ownership of the pool...from the landscaping right down to the chemicals.  Lesley has been researching and taking care of keeping the pool water balanced on her own.  Ashley researched plants that would do well in the environment by the pool, then did the majority of the placement and planting on her own.

We're hoping to add more plants over the years.  We like to watch for perennials that don't need much care after planting that are on sale! Ashley found some ornamental grass called Big Twister Rush.  She loved it when she first spotted it, but I wasn't convinced initially.  Now that it is planted, I love it too. It's so unique. The waviness mimics the water, it should do well with the conditions around the pool, and it's deer resistant.  The other plant we used was the tried and true day lily.  A Pardon Me Day Lily to be exact.  Day lilies always do well in this climate.  We have a lot of yellow ones in our landscaping, so it's fun to have some variety with color now.   

We were fortunate to be able to spend some time with family over the holiday weekend.  A few shared meals together helped us to get caught up on each others lives.

 
Little nephews in the pool and playing with the sprinkler, everyone relaxing, visiting, and homemade ice cream...what a nice weekend!

Projects, projects...

We're feeling incredibly blessed these days.  It is so nice to have all of the appliances in the kitchen, to be able to cook, bake, and wash dishes in the dishwasher.  Over the course of the next few days,we'll have a few minor things we need to finish up before the kitchen is totally finished.  We're so thankful for our friend Shauna and all of her help.

Since "Projects" seems to be the theme of this summer at our house, I'll tell you about our latest project. In a word, it's a swimming pool. (Oops that's two words.) The girls have always wanted a pool, and they finally saved up enough money to purchase one.   It arrived weeks ago and was torture to look at inside the box on the few hot days we had in June.  Why not set it up right away you ask?  Well, because there isn't a single flat spot in our backyard.  Initially, we thought we could dig out a nice flat spot by ourselves...I have no doubt we could have done it, but we wanted to swim in the pool THIS summer!  So, a nice gentleman with a bobcat, affectionately known as "The Digger Guy" at our house, helped us out with dirt removal. 

 Before we knew it, we had a nice level spot.  Two feet was the deepest amount that had to be dug.  A lovely dirt circle that was 23 feet across, but we were left with a semi circle dirt wall that tapered down to the level ground from it's highest point of 2 feet.  Time to build a retaining wall!  I've never built a retaining wall or even entertained the idea, but I can now say that I have done it!  Of course I had a lot of help.  Dave brought the majority of the cement blocks from the drive way around to the back yard (not an easy job with a yard on an incline) and the girls and I worked and worked until we had it built.  Lesley had to go to work in the afternoons, so much of the wall was accomplished by Ashley and me.  I have some hard working girls.
 

  

The Kitchen cont'd...

Placing my hands in warm soapy water on cold days in early March was really quite nice, but this morning I am enjoying listening to our dishwasher run.  It's funny how you get used to the sounds of your appliances...this new dishwasher has so many different sounds that I catch myself stopping and wondering if it's working correctly.  I'm praying that it is working correctly, after all, it was the old dishwasher breaking that got us into this whole kitchen remodel!

We're getting close to the finished product.  Through this process, we have learned so many new things, and we've gotten to know a new friend a lot better.  We're very thankful for Shauna and her knowledge of "all things having to do with remodeling"! Shauna told us before we began that once we learned how to tile, we would be confident and ready to do more...I totally feel that way, Dave does not! (Confident maybe, ready to do more, not at all!) :)  The only thing holding me back from ripping out the shower in the master bathroom and starting to re-tile it right now is I don't have all of my own tools.  Annnddd... our remodeling budget needs replenished, and my knees, plus various muscles, are very sore, and Dave would be less than thrilled since we still have the back splash in the kitchen to do yet.  (O.k.... that was five things.) Nevertheless, I love learning new things, and am thankful for learning this new skill, and maybe someday I'll get to use it again.

P.S.
I won't be 'project deprived' for long...we're starting a new project in the backyard either today or tomorrow.

MaX OuT CaMp & Father's Day

<sup>This past weekend, Ashley attended a Fellowship of Christian Athlete's camp called Max Out.  

Max Out camps teach valuable skills for sports, but more importantly, they encourage & challenge high school students to think about why they are playing a particular sport, who they are playing for, and to play for the Lord.   This is Ashley's second time to attend the camp.  This year she went with a focus of volleyball, and last year it was basketball.  She loves both sports and loved the camp!</sup>  

^{Sunday was Father's Day!  The girls and I are so thankful for Dave, he's a great Dad!  After church and picking Ashley up from camp, we headed downtown.  Dave loves Old Chicago so our first stop was for some pizza in the Old Market.  From there we walked to the river front to see how much the river has risen.  It had only been a week since we last viewed the river,so it was higher, but the level hadn't changed much.}

 

Our final destination was to the new Stadium for some College World Series action!  It was a perfect evening to watch a baseball game, and the end of the Texas A&M South Carolina game was pretty exciting.  South Carolina won.  It was a really nice day.

^{We walked past the Gene Leahy Mall on our way back to our vehicle.}  

^{Couldn't pass up this reflection shot.}

Twenty years ago today

It's June 15th, 2011...

What were you doing twenty years ago today? Do you remember? Well, I do, because it's the day that I said, "I DO"!

June 15th, 1991, I married my best friend, Dave Nickelson.

On that day I remember actually wondering what our lives together would be like in 10 years, 20 years, 50 years, and so forth and so on.

I didn't know we'd have two beautiful (inside & out) daughters, I really never would have guessed we'd have two dogs, no way would I have believed we'd be in the middle of remodeling a kitchen & trying to get rid of an old kitchen sink, sending one girl to college, and the other to camp, or beginning another major project before the kitchen is finished (more on that later.) Anyhow, I can still wonder about 30 years from now, but I know now, twenty years later, that we are incredibly blessed! I'm married to a dedicated, giving, loving, man. He's handsome, fun, and loves the Lord. With each passing day it just keeps getting better!! I LOVE YOU, DAVE. Happy 20th Anniversary!!

So thankful for all the Lord lavishes on us.

The Kitchen

Clear back in mid March (it seems like a hundred years ago to me) we noticed the flooring near our dishwasher starting to pop up. After a little investigation, we discovered that our dishwasher was leaking and water had seeped under the floor boards. With our schedule we had to wait until the weekend to tackle the problem, and by that time mold had begun to show its ugly self. We began investigating just how far the water had spread and found that more than half of the sub floor was wet. There was no choice but to tear out the flooring and start new.

So began washing dishes by hand and kitchen items displaced throughout the house (I've had the new dishwasher in the living room for quite some time now!)

It's been a process...actually, it's been a loooonnngggg process, but today marks the beginning of the end. You know it's totally not the end of the world to wash dishes by hand for 4 months, but I can't say that I will miss it. With the expertise and advice of a sweet friend, we decided to take on a little more than just replacing the floor. Both the counter tops and the sink had taken beatings over the years so we decided to include them on our 'things to replace in the kitchen' list along with the floor and back splash.

Today the counters and the sink are being installed. The kitchen is shrouded in a plastic tent to keep dust to a minimum. I peeked in and am excited to say, I like what we chose. It's called Vetro Moretti and it's granite mixed with recycled glass. It's not a great picture, and the slab of counter is covered in dust from the little bit of cutting they've had to do, but it gives you an idea. Next week we will start on the back splash and the floor...we're going to learn how to tile!!

Before








After

Santa Lucia Festival

After taking a peek at the river, we spotted the hustle and bustle of the Santa Lucia Festival and decided to check it out. It provided a few photographic moments...









For more information about Santa Lucia click here.

The Machine Shed makes my Tummy Happy & Happenings on the River...

On our way back home Sunday we stopped at one of our "favorite eatin' joints"...The Machine Shed.

They have fabulous food. The girls ordered a cinnamon roll, and by cinnamon roll I mean CINNAMON ROLL. I am surprised the waitress was able to carry it out to us by herself. Their idea of a roll is closer to an entire pan of rolls if you ask me. We all enjoyed it, but ultimately, the majority of it ended up in a takeout box!
I discovered The Machine Shed has a blog. They have some helpful information you might enjoy.

Tummies happy and full, we headed for home. We arrived in Omaha mid afternoon and decided to stop and take a look at the rising Missouri River. It's definitely rising, and there is evidence nearly everywhere you look that people are preparing for it to continue to rise.

The photo on the left I took over Memorial Weekend, just 14 days ago.

Probably the most interesting thing we saw was someone's front porch (or deck of some sort) with it's recycling bin still on it float right by us. Check out the video I shot...

Walk ways and roads in some areas seem to just disappear into the water. Sandbags are a common sight. Many have unloaded their homes and are waiting for the waters to arrive while they wonder what's in store for their homes and life as they know it; praying for all involved.

Weekend Adventures...

That Willie Nelson song, On the Road Again, is playing through my mind. My husband, Dave, has a board meeting for work and a company outing in Des Moines this weekend, so the girls and I are tagging along. We were up bright and early so we could drop our dogs off at the kennel. We have two dogs. Gracie is our sweet, seven year old Beagle and Liberty is our spastic, three year old Maltese. They always know when 'something is up' and get excited (not exactly a happy excited, more like a nervous excited) when it's time to go to the kennel. Don't get me wrong, the kennel we use is a great place! We've used them for years and know the dogs are well taken care of. I think the nervousness comes from the car ride to the kennell. The pups' tails are always wagging once we arrive, but I think they share my same sentiment...'there's no place like home'. It's fun to get away every now and again too; I'm looking forward to spending the weekend with my family.

Adventureland...

It was a perfect weather day for the amusement park!

On the Ferris Wheel















Soaked from the water ride

















As we were getting ready to leave Sunday morning, we spotted a group praying on their balcony. Pray without ceasing...1 Thess. 5:17.

My Kitchen Smells Wonderful...

I planted a few herbs in a container I placed on our deck this spring. Dill, oregano, basil, chives, and cilantro. I love having them at my fingertips when I need them. They're really growing, so I decided it was time to dry some for future use. Every time I walk past them, the aroma is divine!