Weekend update

So, after posting the last post it was too late to post my weekend update. I was going to do it yesterday but it was a way long day too. So, better late then never, rigth?

More signs of spring, this is in the tree garden before leaving for sisters weekend

This is a picture I took of my sad daffadill the morning I left for sisters weekend. Glad I got to spend some warm time in Vegas! It was snowing when I got back. But, by the weekend it was nice again.

I had a great weekend. I worked some on Friday to make up for sisters weekend, but then stopped at the store for more garden supplies, put the peas into soak and get some prep work in.

Saturday I did lots of digging and spreading, and planning. Then I went to watch Sarah do the splash and dash. And to watch her kids since Carl had another race scheduled that day (this was a last minute thing for Sarah). Carl was battling the flu so he was there in body which was good because Sarah needed someone to count laps and it would've been dificult with Max and Noah. The kids were super fun and cute! Noah didn't want Sarah to take off at first, but we hit it off while she warmed up and were good to go for the remainder of the afternoon. We played with the knights/army men I brought, Noah rode his bike, we drew the the chalk on the sidewalk, and Noah played in the dirt with his truck.

Sarah told me that she wasn't feeling that well, and her warm up tired her out. That didn't really slow her down though.

Noah watching his mom swim way fast. Then he wanted to make an "angry" face for the camera. Too bad he didn't hold still longer for my silly phone camera.

I tried to take a picture of Max while we watched her swim, but since I couldn't set him down on the wet tile, I tried to do it while I held him, but he wanted to grab the camera.

Sarah did a really good job! She looked great. And for feeling bad she did a great job. Here are the results:

If you click on it you can see Sarah won the women's. If you look closer you can see she came in first. That means she beat everyone. That means she was 30 seconds faster then the boys. Quote from Sarah " Good, I like it when I beat the boys."

Max was so good. He was in a good mood and just really happy to be outside. The same can be said for me!

Too bad Carl wasn't feeling well because it was a beautiful!

Noah playing with his truck after the race.

Picture of the winners.

I stopped to get some more cow poop and peat moss for the garden and got the peas and lettuce planted. I was going to do the carrots, but one of the packets said to wait until no more frosts. And since it was going to snow, I figured why risk it. I've since rethought that and wished I just got the seeds in the ground.

It was funny how this project took me longer then I thought. First I needed to rake things out and get out the grass and big rocks. Then I remembered I wanted to burry the soaker hoses but first I had to turn them on and make sure they had no big holes. Then I had to get them where I wanted. Wich made me realize I needed to clean out and get the strawberries in order before putting the hose down. Then I had to get the unwieldy hose where it should be and bury it. But then I remembered to put on the soil additives (ie poop, etc). I don't know why but the cow poop this year is really, really stinky. And since I didn't put it on until After I had burried the hose, its not deep so the garden is pretty stinky. I sure hope that wears off soon!

They were out of innoculent but had this organic stuff that does similar things, but I forgot to put it in so I put it into the holes that I droped the peas in. It will be interesting to see how that works. Anyways I feel I got a good start on things.

Then it was onto the next project. Strawberry bed. So I used the $25 coupon from Gurneys and the 2 for one specials and I ended up with 50 plants. I thought with shipping I had until mid April before they arrived but they got here before I left for sisters weekend. They are kind of whimpy plants and so I won't be able to get fruit off them this year. None-the-less they are waiting to be planted and I didn't yet have a place for them.

So I measured and dug. And put in the edging. Then I turned over the dirt and Kate helped. That went a lot quicker. Thanks Kate! Unfortunately I think I saw lots of morning glory evil bindweed plant in there. Pulled out what I could, but since its such a notorious weed I haven't decided quite whate to do since I need to use the soil. I'm going to use plenty of poop and peat moss for the raised bed but I don't want to deal with an infestation in my new strawberry bed! (I haven't put the boards up, just laid them out to help stick to the right demensions).

The other project I completed is buying a shop light and setting it up for a grow light. I got the fixture for less then the two bulbs. The guy helping me picked out bulbs particulary for plants which made them more expensive, but I figured it works ok. The only problem is that I thought they would put out some heat and it doesn't which would be helpful in my cold house. The fixture came with two little chains so I put a rope and connected them so I could hang it from a chair with the plants underneath. Now I've got two flats growing under there. It makes me smile :)

I also had to get another basket out to organize my seeds better. Now they aren't spread all over the living room which is great and I will be able to see what remains to be planted easier. I still need to get some Japanese Eggplant seeds and some marigold seeds but I think I've got plenty of other seeds.

It was so pretty Saturday. I got just a little sunburned, but nothing bad. I had some wierd muscles sore from digging and planting, etc. The wind blew in and was cold. I was sad to see this Sunday night

However, it made the mountains pretty.

Sister's Weekend

WARNING: loNG poST:



Vacation, and Sisters, two of my favorite things! Oh what fun! Didn't really matter what we did, because being together, and away from "real life" was fun no matter what. In this regaurd I feel bad for Melanie because she doesn't get to leave her life and go have fun somewhere else with her sisters. Also Melanie, as you know, is a stress ball, trying to make sure everything is perfect and planned out. Silly Melanie.



So I don't have anything new to add from the posts by Melanie and Neita, but I did take some pictures with my dumb phone camera that were blurry, so here you go! In lots of Melanie's pictures I've got my phone out. Its cause the silly thing fills up really fast so I was having to send the photos to myself and delete them and that all took time. Also my phone kept dying so I missed some good oportunities. Also I think some photos got lost. Oh well, still plenty to look at!






Thursday, Sister's weekend tailgate party. Jenny picked up Neita and I from the airport. That was fun and as Jenny's family was there, it was a crowded ride to Melanie's place. There was Bethanie waiting for us. I raided Melanie's fridge and cabinets and then we all ate her food. Thanks Melanie! Anyways Tom and the kids headed out and Neita, Bethanie, Jenny and I had some good discussions which would continue on for the next 3 days. Whoo hoo for girl time. Melanie came home from work and we ate more food (she brought us Pizza, whoo hooo!), then Mom and Angela got there and we talked and laughed and Bethanie and Mom went to bed so the other girls went to watch the fountains (thats my favorite part of vegas). We even got some gellato, yum! Then went to bed so we could be all ready for the next day.
We did stop for a minute at the Belagio garden. It smelt very good in there from all the spring flowers, but wasn't my favorite set up.

Fountain pictures: Neita had to step away as Jenny and Angela were singing with "the prayer" that was one of my favorites but we heard it 3 times while there so I was a bit disapointed. Can you pick her out? Probably not but she is there.

The next 3 are taken from Friday night, but I decided to put them in here anyways.





FRIDAY (or day 1): We woke up early. Ok we didn't. Its a vacation! We went to Ross as that was fun last year. It was fun this time too, but my feet got tired quickly. Thats what you get from having a desk type job.

I got some shoes, a pair of pants, and a table cloth. Whoo hoo for Ross. I also got some stuff at Target- a purse, a necklace, and nail polish so I could wear my new sandles. I still don't know why everyone complained about me putting it on in the car :)
(I can't remember what this picture was from, but Jenny is running away from me taking a picture)

We went to Lunch. I sure like eating and all you can eat places are great! Red Rocks has this awesome pool/fountain in front that no one really sees. I want one. I took a picture but it got lost.

Next to the Mirage to check out the dolphins and tigers. It was fun. I've never seen dolphins before. The second dolphin was playing with a frisby and it was fun to watch. In this next one if you look close you can see some of the girls on the other side of the pool. I never could catch a picture of them jumping out of the water.

It was a beautiful day and I enjoyed all the plants too. Lots of flowers. Didn't really like the fact that the two male white tigers kept spraying. YUCK! Even though this picture is blurred, you can see how close you can get to the animals. They sure look a lot bigger then on the tv! The next picture the tiger decided he was hot and went for a swim/shower under the waterfall.

The baby jaguar was really cute. I watched him play for a bit and when I went back to get a picture he was asleep. CUTE.
Pillow is a regular sized pillow.

If I thought the tigers were big, that was nothing compared to the white lion. Wow he was big. I think I liked the panthers because they were just like bigger domestic cats. They didn't spray either which was nice.

This is the wishing tree. I know what I wished for....The rest of the pictures are of the girls in various poses and activities.

Yay, I'm a llama again. Llamas chew a lot which means you can do voice overs for them. That is funny. But maybe just me.

Hmmm if I was a chicken I don't think I'd want to live here.

After that we went further down the strip to the Venitian. That took awhile, and part of the group went shopping. As previously stated, my feet were tired (also because I was wearing my new sandles I got some nice blisters) and so I mostly just sat and watched. I do like the canals and singing people. Saw a minister meet his 7 o'clock wedding. She was really pretty and he looked to be twice her age. I thought it was a little wierd to get married someplace like the middle of a busy casino, but the next day I found out that that was classy compared to some other options in Vegas.

Dinner was a little late as we went back to the Belagio Cafe. But it was tasty and Angela managed to help us get a nice table. Guess thats why we bring her along :) We strolled through the gardens and then went to watch the fountains again. Did I mention I like the fountains?

I really liked this tea house set up. It was very calming even in the middle of all the noisey people. I think I need one for my house.

Then we went home and went to bed, or read first.

Saturday (DAY 2)

We woke up bright and early again. Ok, we didn't. We went to Bonnie Springs which was way ghetto. It could've been nice, and with the money from their cost/donations they really should keep it up just a little nicer. But it makes a fun memory and story. Lunch was boxed Jimmy Johns. Thanks Melanie for thinking ahead because I don't know that eating at Bonny Springs would've been safe.
There were peacocks every where and they are loud!

Melodrama/middle school acting... Bethanie is trying to listen to the play while Melanie and Neita smile for me.

It was so beautiful weatherwise, but then the wind started to kick up around 2pm and it wasn't quite so nice . Still warmer then where most of us girls hail from. There were two wedding scheduled at Bonny Springs that day. HUH? The place was grungy and not very sanitary, but Maybe the people didn't check it out before deciding to get married there. It does look fun on their brochures.

PS sorry to be such a whimp about the black and white photos thingy. It was just so pricey and the whole place was so smelly and icky dirty. I have some guilt about this now incase anyone really wanted one of those pictures. I would've put something on....

We stopped at red rocks, and thanks to Angela we got in free. We just had time to stop at the visitor center, drive around the loop and get out for a minute to look at the rocks. I like red rocks and recommend it to anyone going there. You might see wild burros. We did this time, a big one was chasing around a little one and that wasn't very nice.
High fiving the cougar! Kissing the goat

We went home for a bit to spruce up and relax before heading to the planet hollywood casino for the Steve Wyrick magic show. I've never been to something like that before and it was entertaining. Made me want to go to some of the other shows to see what they are like. I love the picture with Steve and the girls (Melanie and I were taking pictures).

We wandered around the casino, and I liked the rainstorm thing they had. Melanie thought it was lame, but any fountain/water thingy I'm a fan of. Unfortunately we didn't get people fed early enough that night, but I thought Panda Express was fine, especially once they gave us all that free food (thats what happens if you walk in 10 minutes before closing apparently)


Just a reminder of where we were :)

Sunday (DAY 3). Day of rest. We got up early. Just kidding! Melanie's ward doesn't start until the afternoon and we were actually early. It was fun to be with all the sisters. I did get distracted by all the note passing....

After dinner we rested and then watched some Jane Austin movies, and were silly.

Not Bethanie though

I don't think Neita finished this book, but she did finish her other one. I got a couple of books read too. Love vacations!


Here is aMelanie, Bethanie, Angela, Neita, and Jennie looking at Melanie's pictures that she downloaded onto the laptop.

I sure had a great time and was sad to leave Monday. I also feel bad that Mom, Angela, and Jenny left before I said goodbye. Goodbye you guys, can't wait to see you again! Thanks again Melanie for hosting!