All posts by ML

My fun 10 day vacation – Gutters!

After Tom and Matt went back to Tucson, it was time to get to work on the project I went home for – mounting new gutters around my moms house. She had called a contractor to do the job but he never called her back (probably because it was just too much fun) and so I thought “why don’t Joe and I just put them up? It can’t be that hard right?”

Well…let’s just say that this being my first ever project of putting up gutters, everything that could have gone wrong DID go wrong and it was a major undertaking.

 First off, all of the home improvement places in Alamogordo (the town closest to my mom) did NOT stock the color we needed which was brown. We had to drive about an hour and a half away to get all of our supplies which burned valuable time that we needed. Then it turned out that the ladder my mom had wasn’t tall enough to get the job done – so we had to buy a new one…however we found out later that it was still somewhat useless when trying to put it on the slopes around the house.  THEN the drill that she had was older than time and didn’t work so we had to buy a new one. Then mother nature decided to mess with us and poured rain during the first couple days of the project…and then decided to let the sun shine through so it could heat up the shingles on the roof so hot, we couldn’t even sit down on them.  

I was starting to stress that we weren’t going to get it done in time and worked on the damn thing until the day before I came back. Honestly, I was miserable the entire time but it got done and now it’s over. There are still a few things left to tweak but the afternoon after it was finished, it rained like crazy and water was gushing out of the down spouts instead pouring off the roof…Yee haw!

Removing previous hardware
Same thing on the other side
Super hot up there
Since we can't be up on the roof (too hot) we fixed my mom's bay window - some guy had tried to break in to the house and messed it all up!
Putting them together
Long run
Me and my little man
Working on a corner
Back porch
Getting the slope right
Joe doesn't like heights
Joe trying not to fall off the ladder
Trying to balance and attach at the same time
Making a few adjustments - yes I am a total perfectionist
Finishing touches
Working on the last piece - Tim and Amanda came over to help
Henry loving on Amanda
Final push - Tim helping me on the roof
Pain in the ass! That corner was so exposed - scary!
Everyobody helping!
Now just details...
HOORAY! Joe and Henry celebrating

Getaway weekend in NM

We invited our friend Matt to come to NM with us for a fun little get-a-way weekend from the heat. We were going to ride motorcycles, play paintball and shoot, but the plans fell through and so we were left trying to find something to do. So, instead, we climbed, had a barbecue out at White Sands, got dressed up for some old fashioned photos and went shooting in the canyon.  Action packed and a lot of fun.

Highway from Hell - our view
Making my way up the shady side on Bandit 5.11
Starting to get pumped
Almost done - super fun
Matty taking his turn
Tommy tearing it up
Tommy getting ready to clip
Getting some exposure in Mid-Town on the warm up route 5.9
Reaching over the lip
Matty showing his stuff
Getting high
Heel click at the finish!
Tommy brings it home
View of basin
What we see at the top - scary!
Pancho Villa, a gambler and a saloon girl
Pancho Villa is a little drunk in this pic

 

Time for toys! Henry, Lenni and Lex at the sands
Lenni and Lex getting wind blown
Tommy, Henry and Matty chilling out
The little ones playing around
Me and Lenni catching up
Matt
Henry loving the sands
Lots of people
Different View
Beautiful Sunset
Messing around
Chasing after Lex
Having fun
The boys getting ready to shoot - Tom, Matt, Tim and Joe
Joe and his XD
Matt and his XD
Tim and his Glock
Joe and the .44 mag - that "Can blow your head clean off" - name that quote?
Tommy showing us all up with his Kimber
Me and my Kimber
Tim and his shotgun
Matt and his brand new Benelli
Joe getting in on the shotgun action
Long range practice - HARD!
Tom checking out the new scope on the SKS
The gang

Happy Father’s Day!

April had a great idea for this Father’s Day. Let’s all go up to Mt. Lemmon and let the boys climb while we watch the babies. We met up at 7:30, got some coffee and muffins and headed up the mountain. Paul and Tom did really well and we all had a lot of fun.  After we were done climbing, we came back home and then later met up with Grandpa K for dinner and dessert. YUM-MY!!

Paul, Tom and April heading up the trail
Juniper foliage along the way
Cactus flower
My favorite boys
Checking the gear
Paul leading
Buddies - Silas and Henry hear Morgan coming
Tommy's turn
Henry lovin' on April - so cute!
Beautiful boys
Grandpa's famous chocolate wafer dessert - DELICIOUS
The whole gang

Swimming Saturday

This past Saturday was busy and fun. First we caught up with our friends Steph and Jared down at their place. It was hot so we swam in their pool and played with their cat. Henry LOVED the water and refused to get out even though he was visibly cold. I basically had to lasso him with the towel and force him inside. He was so angry! More angry than I’ve ever seen him – he didn’t get over it for a good 15 minutes. FUN.

Then we went up to Paul and April’s place for a barbecue swim party. Well, once again Henry would not stop trying to swim. His lips were blue, he was shaking and he could barely babble at me. So I kidnapped him again with the towel and took him inside to warm him up. I think it’s probably time to get him swimming lessons. All in all we had a good time hanging out with friends.

Steph's cat Agusto providing some entertainment

 

Tommy and Henry enjoying the pool

 

April and Paul's show dog, Morgan - look at her go!

 

Paul, Morgan, Henry and Tom playing in the pool

Sunday Roundup

We had a good weekend and got a lot done. Tommy spent most of it working on the trailer and updating a few things and I cleaned the house, fertilized the plants and trees and gave Henry a new haircut. Last night Matt came over and worked on his wood project and then messed around with the baby. All in all it was a nice relaxing weekend.

Matty playing with toys

 

Playing telephone

 

"She really wants to talk to you..."
The new look

 

Cuties