A year in the making.

The work begins the night before

 Ok so maybe not a year but close. We have owned our home for almost 10 years, and we have always talked about extending the porch. Last year we finally decided to break ground. We were so excited. We dug the perimeter and had a huge hole where the porch should be. Then, wind storms struck and blew down our fences on both sides. They were in dire need of replacing. Our porch funds were redirected to the fences. All of our time  was consumed with the fence construction so our porch was on the back burner. Which meant a giant inconvenience when using the back yard.

Hoping it will turn out

 Finally flash forward....we made several calls to have professionals come do this for us.  Either they would not call us back or they said they were too busy to do small jobs like ours. We were told this on several occasions. Very irritating. We wanted it done and with Seths travel schedule we only had certain time frames to do it. A Few weeks before I had been flattening it out, digging out another foot of earth (we decided we wanted it a bit bigger) and trying to figure it out. Seth lined up the equipment and man power and we were ready. Seth and I framed it our the night before and had it mostly complete. Then we hit the ground running the next day.

Laying out the rebar

Ready to be poured.

Thankfully my Brother in Laws were willing to help, THANK YOU! Seth and Dan did the mixing and transport and Luke and I did the actual porch. 8000 Pounds of concrete, a few runs to Chick Fil A and  5 hours of hard labor and it was pretty much done. Not bad considering none of us really knew what we were doing. It actually took us less time than we thought, but it was back and knee breaking.
It is so nice to finally have it done. Now to the rest of the yard that has been neglected for the last 10 years.

Wishing it were done already. Seth, Dan and Luke

Hey it kinda looks like something

Half way there

BOOM! its done!

Luke needed some action shots.

So. so. happy. Couldn't wait to use it.

The next day

The kids wanted to model it.

I had seen some tricks with bricks on pintrest that allow you to mow right up to the edge.  I decided I wanted some color and convenience out there so I have been working on this border all week. We just need to get the tools to put it there so it wont move and it will be done. Still on the agenda is to build a pergola overhead, planter boxes, benches and landscape. I am bound and determined to have this yard fixed up this year!

The Dentist

Getting her teeth painted

I am pretty diligent about taking the kids to the dentist, as long as we have insurance that is. So every six months I drag my littles to see the local pediatric dentist. Last week was no exception. They all did really well. No cavities for Abigail, she hasn't had one yet :) Brigham had his first set of x-rays and was a trooper. I was just really happy he didn't throw up on the assistant with his sensitive gag reflex, and Nems did awesome too. The dentist even said she had beautiful teeth and that she had all of them!

Unfortunately  Briggs had one small cavity and Abigail has all of her molars. So we needed to come back in a few days to fix the cavity and put a sealant on Abigail's molars. Since this was going to be a little more intense I got a sitter for Nems( Thank you). Thankfully I did. It did not go well. That is for Briggs anyway. Abby did well, she listened and was a little anxious but she made it through. As for Brigham, they tried to give him laughing gas. He refused to breath through his nose. He said he didn't know how. He kept swatting it off and calling it stupid. He also yelled that he didn't know how to breath out of his nose. Granted he was slightly congested and it made it harder but he would not do it. 

Nothing like watching a movie as you get worked on.

We tried everything, he can be rather stubborn. So we had him inhale through his mouth for a minute to try and calm him down and see if he would then let it be on his nose. No such luck. Finally the dentist came in, and just went to work. The cavity was really shallow so it probably only took maybe two minutes tops, but Briggs screamed and cried. Lets just say there were four of us in there keeping him from causing in damage. There was lots of tears and screaming. He was mostly angry, it didn't hurt him, but it was rough. Hopefully he wasn't too traumatized. Maybe it will help me to get him to brush better.

Before the drama

What is this....So the melt down starts.

School pics

**Yes, these are pictures of pictures. Ghetto. My scanner isn't working at present**

 

Abby's 1st grade pictures.  That's right first grade. I have to keep reminding myself of that fact. For some reason these pictures make Abby seems so old and mature. If it were not for the missing tooth, I would easily think she was much older than 6.  Seeing these make  me so proud and sad. She is growing into such a beautiful little girl, smart and helpful. Making me a proud momma most days. But it makes me sad as well. Because these days are going by too fast. She will be 7 in less than two months. Each day with kids seems long and hard, but retrospectively, time is flying. Too soon will she stop snugging and kissing me in public. Too soon will she have to choice to be baptized and the "too soon's " keep on coming. But thankfully, she is still a kid and reminds me all the time most particularly when she's flopping on the floor throwing a tantrum. Yep, she is still a kid. I do love her so, and I would hope that my little girl stays little a lot longer.

Cattle Drive

The Cattle

 In my 12 Years of living in Texas I have never been to the stock yards to watch them drive the cattle, something Fort Worth is Famous for. I imagined there would be hundreds of cows passing by and it would be chaos. In reality there were like 10 Cows and it lasted about 5 Minutes. However it was really cool. Their Horns are crazy long and the cowboys had to keep them strictly in check as I imagine a goring of spectators wouldn't be good press. When it was done Abby said "is that it?" Well yes it was, but you can then go look at the longhorns where they are kept. We went with some friends which  always makes things more fun.

Waiting for them to come

You aint in Texas if you cant catch a coach

Little poser

One of the few moments he sat still.

Checking out the longhorns

2 moms, seven kids. We were out numbered

Such cute kids

its like herding cats trying to get everyone to look at the camera.

Papa Ken

Jensen, Dad, Papa ken, Me, Abigail, Jamison and Briggs in 2010

 My Papa Ken, my dads dad, passed away late February. It was a shocker to us all. He has been declining in health for several years but was still up and about. On a trip through town, my Dad and Cindy, my family and my Papa Ken, Frankie and Tommy all had lunch together at Saltgrass earlier that month. While he was moving slow, he was doing OK. Unfortunately, later that month he fell and his injuries took his health from poor to terrible over night. We said good bye to our sweet papa Ken on February 25, 2014.

2010

 We spent time with papa Ken over the years, swimming at his lake house during some summers and playing pool at his house while visiting. Since living in Texas we have been able to see him a little more often since he lived in OK. We often met at restaurants and visited. Or when he cam down to go to a cowboys game (which he loved, but I think he liked the cheer leaders more) we got together as he watched his great grandkids run wild.

He was such a sweet and loving man and he will be greatly missed. In fondness I remember as his granddaughters entered the room he would always sing "Here she comes Miss America" and as my dad said at the funeral, we never really understood the meaning but he would always say "Hubba Hubba Edi Wa Chop Chop!" I always thought it was so funny.


For more on my papa Ken you can visit http://www.brownsfuneralservice.com/sitemaker/sites/browns1/obit.cgi?user=1256005Cornelison

The kids with papa Ken in Early 2013

Codee was able to come for the Funeral. This is she and I driving to OK

 My Dad and Cindy drove from Albuquerque and My sister Codee was able to fly down from UT. Unfortunately Cassidee wasn't able to make it on such short notice.  There were many people who loved Papa Ken and so many people came to pay their respects.  There are several grandkids from Frankies side who only knew Papa Ken as their Grandfather and he loved everyone one of them as his own. While we are sad to see him leave his earthly body, I am happy he is heaven free of the physical pains he constantly endured. Many hearts grieve at his loss but we all know he is in a far better place than we are. Until we meet again Papa Ken. We love you.

My papa Ken as a Young Man

Cindy, Dad, Codee and Lacey

Some of the Funeral flowers, I believe these were from Robin, RD and Tracy (my Step-siblings)

My dad and Phyllis. A women my dad has known since he was 4 and is still good friends with my Grandma Major. She was sooo Sweet
 

My dad and Papa Ken When we had lunch last Month........My dad and Papa Ken many years ago...

 My Papa Ken and his siblings....................................My great Great Grandparents, Doris and Guy

 My papa Ken with my dad in the middle and his Brother......Papa Ken being a stud as a youth. This reminds me so much of my dad!

Funeral Collage

Headed to the Burial site

One last good bye

Sad sisters at the gravesite.