Last Thursday we went to the climbing gym to get a little sessioning in before we went to Flagstaff for the weekend. Well, as luck would have it, Tommy ended up tweaking his two injured fingers on a crimpy problem! So, knowing we’d probably get rained on and Tom would be incapacitated and not able to pull down on any hard climbs, we decided last minute that instead of going to Flag, we’d take a weekend trip home to start the renovations on my mom’s house. She’s putting it up for sale next spring and she needs to do some improvements to it before it goes on the market. We tried to suprise her late Thursday night, but Monty would have none of it and tried to attack us on our sneak approach! What a good guard dog!
A month or so ago, I took a trip home to put new gutters up and during this trip we finally dug out some trenches for a few of the downspouts and ripped out the bottom deck that had been rotting from water damage. It felt good to get some work in and we had fun visiting with mom and Joe. Henry, of course, couldn’t let us leave with him completely scratch-free as he managed to somersault backwards down the outside staircase and then do his little stunt tricks for us at night. Last Thursday at the gym, Henry fell in love with two blonde, beautiful college girls who taught him an important life skill – how to throw your hands up in the air when your team gets a touchdown. Priceless.
Henry and Oma working on wordsMe and Joe working on the patio step above one of the downspouts – we had to try and drag the tube away from the house because it has been raining so much, it flooded moms basement!Tommy tearing out lower deck and rotted out stairs
Working awayPutting down the stones – dirt is so much harder to work with than sandMom chilling with MontyAll doneHenry and Uncle Joe riding togetherTommy installing the new stepsSo pretty, Tommy
Went to Flagstaff again this weekend in hopes of getting on some hard climbs. We almost didn’t make it after being attacked by a massive rain storm on Friday. Cars were floating underneath the bridge up to our campsite and we later heard that some crazy guy was kayaking down the street because the water was so deep! It rained most of Saturday and then by divine intervention, my uncle called us and said we should probably come stay at his house that night so we wouldn’t drown from the approaching super cell. We were able to take warm showers, eat some great meals and have some wonderful company. We went back out again today and I was able to tick off “Anorexic” but unfortunately Tommy hurt his hand 3 moves from the top. No worries, though. With a little rest and some Target brand caramel-cashew trail mix, he’ll be back to 100% in no time.
The storm awaiting us...The picture does NOT do this storm justice...I could not see anything!Working on Anorexic Nerve Dance - V6Those finger pockets are ridiculousSlowly making my way up...Tommy showing his stuff...Loving those pockets...Getting in a pinch...Henry falling asleep on the hike back to the truck...poor little guy didn't sleep very good the night before. This was the most comfortable position he could find 🙁Messing around with Uncle KetoSecond day on - Henry's new playmate "Boulder"Playing fetch
We went up to Flagstaff this past weekend to get away from the heat and get some climbing in at Priest Draw. We crashed with our friend Linda at her campsite the second night and it was BEAUTIFUL. Surrounded by huge pines and aspen trees. It was a fun time and we plan to go back in a couple weeks to actually send some problems. 🙂
Henry eating some grapesFirst nights campsite - not too bad but kind of muddy
Tommy, Keto and HenryKeto, Henry, Chico and DanaHenry making a new friend, Brett, at the bouldersSecond siteGorgeous aspens
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 sideSuper hot up thereSince 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 togetherLong runMe and my little manWorking on a cornerBack porchGetting the slope rightJoe doesn't like heightsJoe trying not to fall off the ladderTrying to balance and attach at the same timeMaking a few adjustments - yes I am a total perfectionistFinishing touchesWorking on the last piece - Tim and Amanda came over to helpHenry loving on AmandaFinal push - Tim helping me on the roofPain in the ass! That corner was so exposed - scary!Everyobody helping!Now just details...HOORAY! Joe and Henry celebrating
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 viewMaking my way up the shady side on Bandit 5.11Starting to get pumpedAlmost done - super funMatty taking his turnTommy tearing it upTommy getting ready to clipGetting some exposure in Mid-Town on the warm up route 5.9Reaching over the lipMatty showing his stuffGetting highHeel click at the finish!Tommy brings it homeView of basinWhat we see at the top - scary!Pancho Villa, a gambler and a saloon girlPancho Villa is a little drunk in this pic
Time for toys! Henry, Lenni and Lex at the sandsLenni and Lex getting wind blownTommy, Henry and Matty chilling outThe little ones playing aroundMe and Lenni catching upMattHenry loving the sandsLots of peopleDifferent ViewBeautiful SunsetMessing aroundChasing after LexHaving funThe boys getting ready to shoot - Tom, Matt, Tim and JoeJoe and his XDMatt and his XDTim and his GlockJoe and the .44 mag - that "Can blow your head clean off" - name that quote?Tommy showing us all up with his KimberMe and my KimberTim and his shotgunMatt and his brand new BenelliJoe getting in on the shotgun actionLong range practice - HARD!Tom checking out the new scope on the SKSThe gang
