HERE A BARK, THERE A BARK, EVERYWHERE A BARK BARK . . . AND WE'RE NOT TALKIN' DOGGIES

This was quite the yard project for Jim, Kevin and I.
This piece of land in front of our house didn't seem that
big. After several weeks of work, I measured it-140' long
and 20'-50' wide in different places; bigger than we
thought. The 1st thing we did was kill all the weeds & have
Jerry (nickname, the gravedigger) come and scrape off
the dead vegetation down to the dirt.

We put some of the dirt on another place in our yard
and the rest we hauled away(too many rocks).

We ordered 10 yards of barkdust and that wasn't enough.

We ordered 10 MORE yards.

Hooray it's done!!!

CALIFORNIA BIRTHDAYS #12, #10, & #2

Jim and I drove to CA for the grandkids' birthdays.
We had lots of fun, grandkids are the greatest!
And thank you to our kids who put us up and put up
with us too. We love you all!!!


Guess who is 2?

Alex turned 10, double digits!

Addy will be 12. Her birthday is on the first day of

school. Her party will be a slumber party the

following weekend.

Alex's dad brought Henry, Alex's buddy from

Albany to surprise Alex. Alex was thrilled!

Annie and Maddie, Payton's friends from Albany

THE WETTER--THE BETTER

Ryan & Crystal rented this and put it in their backyard.
It was a blast for the kids and the spectators.
The more time that passed, the more "creative" the kids
got in their waterplay. Older kids were running, throwing
and "Torpedoing" little kids down the slide. No one got hurt!

The big birthday 10 year old--Surfin' Showoff

Addy, you have a cruisin' cousin on your back.

Payton preferred her mini pool

Thanks for the bathing beauty pose, Sophia.

All that waterplay can wear a birthday boy out.

MMMMMMM SUGARHOLICS UNITE

And we all did!!! I've never seen soooo many toppings!

Dig in birthday kiddos, sugar high on the way.

NO WATERSLIDE FOR THESE 2

Sep. 1st and Oct. 8th just can't get here quick enough.


Crystal organized & Ryan BBQ'ed 2 delicious meals for us, thanks!

Chris & Kelly put us up in Hotel Burks, thank you!

OH BABY, OH BABY

Kelly and Crystal seem to be progressing along well with their pregnancies. Kelly has been haunted with swelling in the legs, but no toximia, thank goodness. Baby boys are growing and developing well as you can see below. Chris and Kelly's baby boy will be Dylan Robert (after Chris' dad) Burks. The jury is still out on a name for baby boy Smith.

WEDDING BELLS

This last week end, Addy and Sophie were in their Aunt Karissa's wedding.
Addy was a junior bride's maid. Sophie was a senior flower girl.
Sophie told me, "Senior flower girl means, the other 2 little flower
girls had to do what she told them."

J.D., Karissa, Sophia, and Addy

Grandpa and Grandma Alley with the girls

COOL TIMES AT THE ZOO

I took Addy and Sophie to the zoo last week. Kevin went along. The animal were cool because of the cool temperatures. They seem to be more active when it is not so hot outside. We ate elephant ears and had a cool time.

Sophie, it's a good thing you are not fish food.

Warning: Speedy sea lion to the right.

The boars were not boring.

No rhino worries here.

2 cute short necks and 1 loooong neck.

ZZZZZZZebra takin' a few zzzzzzzzzzzz's

Hunter's holiday, not shootin' here.

These were magnificent!

How do you measure up? Kevin-almost as tall as

a grizzly bear. Addy almost as tall as a black bear.

And Sophie as tall as a sun bear.