Lumberjack John

John can now cross this off his Bucket List. He has been talking about milling wood from his own property for years. I never thought his dream would be realized, especially since we live on a 1/2 acre lot in a suburban neighborhood.


We had 3 trees cut down in our backyard. One was dead, one was on it's way out and one was in the way. Instead of having the trees hauled away John hired this guy to come over with his portable saw mill.

It was really cool to watch and I was amazed at how fast it was. I actually wanted to hop down there and help, but I am the family historian and John wanted to make sure that I was taking pictures. A lot of pictures. I probably have about 50. Be grateful I didn't share them all.

Now we have a pallet of hickory 2x4's and 1x8's that he will use to build a shed. And in case you were wondering, John is awesome and our new and improved backyard will be awesome too, thanks to him.

The big 35!

Yesterday we celebrated John's 35th birthday. The little girls picked out the plates, napkins, and cups from my party stash. They were delighted that the plates had "bootiful butterflies and flowers that daddy will love." And he did.
We had a restaurant style dinner complete with appetizers (potato skins, buffalo wings, shrimp, spinach dip), bacon wrapped filet mignon, spanish rice and steamed vegetables. The meal ended with a yummy key lime pie (that I didn't make). It was fun night with good food and great company!

Anything but boring

John has been gone for the last 8 days. A few nights ago he called and said he was so bored without us. I knew he was missing us, but bored? I cannot imagine how heavenly that would be. I will say in his defense, that being cooped up in a nice quiet hotel room minutes from beautiful warm waves and soft sands, wait..what was I saying. Oh yes, being bored. I think what John means is that he misses us. The noise, the chaos, the fun, the crazy, all of it. We've missed him too and it's good to know that he actually misses all that, cuz sometimes I'm not quite sure.

*how hardcore do those boys look... especially in the dinosaur jammies!