John's Birthday

John's birthday this year was a 2-day celebration!!  His actual birthday was on a Friday so he opted to take the day off from work for some extra relaxation.  When I got home at lunch he was still in his PJ's and had just finished playing several hours of video games.  Relaxation indeed!!

After having lunch, we decided it was time for him to open his presents from me.  Nala helped too!

Nala gave him herself and lots of licks!

That evening, John wanted to go to Kavika's for dinner and invited some of our friends and family.  Delicous food and a good time was had by all!

Mmmmm .... fresh chocolate chip cookies with Susan and Linda.

Make a wish!

Auntie Cynthia, Christian, Deanna, and Jazmin

Jim, Michelle, Dave, Steph, Amanda, Clay

Deanna and Loryn

Daryl and Pinky

Zoltan, Bill, Ashley, Sam

Philip and Nicole

John definitely had a fun time.  I also had a fun time getting him into bed that night!!  The next morning he had to get up bright and early though to work on the tree in the backyard.  He seemed fine!  After a few hours of hard labor, it was time to open the gifts he received the night before.

That evening Joh thought we were going to the balloon festival in Temecula with Deanna and Loryn, but I had a surprise for him ... dinner at The Melting Pot!  He had never been there and I knew he would love it.  I was right!!!  We had a fantastic meal and look forward to going back for a special occassion. (It's a bit pricey.)

Getting warmed up for our appetizer

Appetizer ~ Spinach Artichoke Cheese fondue

Main course ~ Beef/Chicken/Potstickers/Veggies with Coq au Vin broth (We got a package deal so the meats were sort of a mish-mosh from their regular menu.)

I can hardly wait!

Dessert ~ Chocolate S'mores fondue with everything you could possibly think of to dip in it!

The meal was heavenly!!  We were so full when we left and can't wait to do it again!

John ended up having a fabulous birthday!  Thanks again to everyone to participated in our 2-day celebration.

Removing the tree

To the horror of just about everyone we've told, John and I decided this Spring to remove the tree in our backyard.  Yes, this is the same tree in which John carved "Will you marry me" when we got engaged and yes, we are obviously sentimentally attached to it. 

And yes, it provides AMAZING shade during the most of the year that we love.  However, until all you horrified readers have lived with a Jacaranda tree in your backyard, with a dog, we are turning a deaf ear to your protests! 

While very beautiful during the late Spring/early Summer when it blooms, the flowers are very messy (and stain carpet, cement, etc).  The drop continuously for several months.  Then, once we have finally survived the blooms, the tree re-grows all of its leaves and then continuously drops them, plus sticks and seed pods, throughout the other 9 months of the year.  It's a yearlong battle to keep the backyard (and house) clean and I was losing my mind. 

For those of you unfamiliar with Jacaranda trees, here are a few pictures from Google images.  (Notice the pavement beneath the trees.) 

We told my Dad and brother that we wanted to take the tree out.  Of course their response was "cool, we can use chain saws".  They would have been crushed if we had hired someone to do all of the fun stuff, so we decided to tackle it ourselves.  How hard could it be right??

Backyard before:

We decided to take out the bushes along the side of the yard at the same time.  We always knew they were going to go and this seemed as good a time as any.:

Nala did not love the noisy chain saw.  She hung out in the house.  At least we didn't have to worry about limbs falling on her.

At the end of the first day (and a trip to the dump), the bushes were gone and the tree had been relieved of its limbs.  No more flowers or tiny leaves!!  Woohoo!!  The backyard looked a bit barren though.

Then the job of digging out to the roots started.  Unfortunately this turned into the job of all jobs.  My Dad has taken out many trees over the years, and he says he has never seen anything like these roots.  John and my Dad worked and worked and worked and seemed to be getting nowhere.  The root ball was ridiculous!

Finally, after days of trying, they decided to throw in the towel and pull it over with Bobby's come-along.

They got it all hooked up, turned it on, and ..... nothing.  Didn't budge.  The dang tree just wouldn't give in!  So, they tried shooting water into the roots to loosen things up.

Nothing.  The trunk didn't even list to the side or anything.  At this point, after all the time they'd spent, they decided to break out the chain saw again and chop it down!

Then we called in some professionals to grind the stump.  It took some work, but they had it done in a couple of hours.

Now the backyard looks like this:

It's really dusty and dirty out there, but the tree's gone and now we can move onto the next project .... rewiring the electrical to the garage, sprinklers, new lawn, new tree, and landscaping!  I can hardly wait!!

Riley's Birthday Party

It's time dust things off around here and get caught up on what's been going on these past few months!

On May 8th, we went out to Claremont to celebrate John's cousin's daughter's birthday.  :0)  Riley turned 6 years old this year.  Riley is not your typical girly-girl, so instead of princesses she had a dinosaur party!

John got into the theme

Check out that blow up dinosaur!

Presents!!

Adoring fans

 Pin the tail on the dinosaur ... so cute.

Check out this awesome cake Kristie made.

John is such a fish.  He can't resist a dip in the pool.

Flying Home: Day 9 – Saturday, 5/1/10

• High: Yummy breakfast with the whole family!
• Low:  Squeezing into the little tiny seats on the little tiny plane from Ohio to Texas.
• High: Getting our own row on the flight into LAX.
• High: Taylor destroying a magazine and passing out mid-tear. So cute!

• High: Seeing our puppy again!
• Low: Vacation’s over ….

Ohio: Day 8 – Friday, 4/30/10

• High: Peaceful drive out to the lake.
• High: Checking out Nancy’s lake house that we’ve heard so much about.

• High: Visiting with Nancy.

• High: John and Dad went to the flight museum and I stayed at the hotel for some R&R.
• High: Another feast for dinner!

Kentucky to Ohio: Day 7 - Thursday, 4/29/10

• High: Visiting the home of Mary Todd Lincoln’s family.

• Low: Driving to the wrong airport in Cincinnati to drop off the rental cars.
• Low: Cincinnati traffic.
• High: Making it to Fairborn!
• High: Amazing rooms at the Homewood Suites.

• Low: Getting lost on the way to Nancy’s house.
• High: Nancy made a feast for dinner.

Alabama to Kentucky: Day 6 - Wednesday, 4/28/10

• Low: Taylor REALLY unhappy about being in the car all day.
• High: Taylor playing and watching the turtles and ducks in the pond when we stopped to stretch our legs.

 

• High: Eating dinner at the very first Kentucky Fried Chicken and checking out the “museum” of collectibles.

• High: Taylor’s funny faces when eating potatoes (which she normally loves).

• High: Speedy diaper change on the road. Somethin’s wrong here ….

• Low: Driving from hotel to hotel in Lexington looking for vacancies. 
• Low: The DISGUSTING carpet in the elevator up to our room at the questionable Sleep Inn.
• High: Finding the hotel room would be ok for one night. 
• Low: The ridiculous amounts of Febreeze our room was doused in.

Alabama: Day 5 - Tuesday, 4/27/10

• High: Getting to have a “slow” day and relax a bit.

• Low: Crazy weather patterns! Wind! Hail! Rain downpour! Sun!!
• High: Visting Harrison’s Hardware store and buying a few things.
• Low: Driving around and around looking for an Alabama t-shirt, and coming up empty!
• High: Buying some last minute barbecue to bring home.
• Low: Saying goodbye to Iva Jean.