Thanks Grandma Rich!

Grandma Rich sent Biscuit and Magnum a care package from California. Inside there were toys for Biscuit and Magnum. Biscuit's was a little doll with a hippie outfit on. Here is a picture of what the doll looked like 30 minutes after Biscuit got a hold of her.


Oh there's one eyeball left...gotta take care of that

Our first major home project

Since we've moved into our house we knew we would eventually need to update our deck. The deck was awesome but definitely had to date back to the 70's or 80's. We threw a party a year or so ago and all of the girls heels were breaking through the wood and by the end of the party there were holes everywhere. It was just rotted out and time to go. We got several ridiculous quotes over the last year or so and finally found a contractor that would do it for us at a reasonable (okay dirt cheap) cost. We'd already priced the wood ourselves so we knew we were getting a more than fair deal here. We still have several more projects to go around the house until it's just like we want it, but getting the deck done is a huge accomplishment for us!

After ripping up all of the top portion we found that most of the deck underneath was in great shape! We replaced a few beams and support boards, but other than that it had done very well over the years.

I was sure we were going to find all kinds of dead animals under there, but all we found were a few possum skeletons. bummer.

Anywho...take a look at our before and after pictures (minus the staining of course):

Summer is coming to an end...

Well we have had a busy month. Our niece and nephew Austin and Kennedee stayed with us for a week in early August. I took the week off to spend with them. First Austin got here and Steve took a couple of days off, so we went to the Astros game and then to see Transformers. Great movie! I didn't think I'd like it but it was actually pretty good. Kennedee arrived on Tuesday and instantly got my kitchen going. She helped make dinner every night and baked all kinds of stuff. She's my little gourmet chef. My house was 100 degrees all week long with that oven on! We also took a trip to Schlitterbahn with Cousin Christine and Thomas. That was such a blast! It reminded me of when I was younger and we used to go the water parks during the summer. I was very sad when Austin and Kennedee left :( My vacation was over and my babies were gone. Hopefully we'll get to spend time with them again at Christmas!

Magnum is growing super fast! He's almost as big as Biscuit and he's only 3 months old. Speaking of Biscuit, she has a total phobia about her feet. Steve recently took Biscuit to the vet to get her nails trimmed for the first time. I warned him that it was going to be a very stressful event and not just a little jaunt to the vets office for a simple nail trim. I warned him to make sure the vet knows to muzzle her. Yes we actually have to muzzle our sweet little smurtle! So they chose not to muzzle her and she lost her darn mind! Steve said she looked like the little tazmanian devil at the vets office trying to remove any digits or limbs in the vicinity of her paws. The vet tried to continue trimming her nails and I guess after he almost lost a finger he decided to muzzle her. After she was muzzled it took 2 people to hold her down for the nail trim. Once the trim was over and the muzzle was removed she was fine, back to sweet little Biscuit. When she got her rabies shot, she spent two days in her kennel. She wouldn't come out for food or to get in the bed. Anytime you touched her she screamed bloody murder.

Then there's Magnum. He lays on his back and sleeps through his nail trims. He got his rabies shot and didn't make a peep. He ran around like nothing ever happened. He could care less. We have found that Magnum also likes to dig holes and play in mud puddles. Unfortunately we don't notice he's been doing it until he's run in the house tracking his little muddy paw prints all over the floor.

In other news I finally decided to get off my lazy bum and start going to the gym with Steve every morning. I figured what the heck, he wakes me up every morning, I fall back asleep and then it's harder for me to get up. So now I get up with him and go. It's been nice hanging out before work and getting the work out over with! He's very good about his schedule so he's been a great motivator.

Here are some pictures from the last month or so:

Rain, Rain go away....

Houston has seen rain every single day since the summer started. I don't remember one day that it has not rained. It definitely has rained every day since we've had Magnum. He doesn't even know what a dry yard feels like. Even if we get sunshine it will rain at some point during the day.

At least one night a week we wake up to Thunder that sounds like our house is falling down. Steve and I just looked at the forecast and we of course are forecasted to have thunderstorms for the next 10 days.

Of course our gutters don't work properly and we have water dripping at the entrance of our back door. It's causing the door frame to rot. We had someone come out and quote us yesterday on replacing the gutters, so hopefully we'll get that issue fixed soon.

One thing the constant rain has done is it has turned our backyard into our own private jungle. It looks beautiful out there but it's swarming with mosquitos! Everytime we go out to take the pups out for a potty break we are swarmed with mosquitos! The pups won't stay out too long anymore because they can't stand the mosquitos swarming them.

Anyway just to give you a picture of what our yard looks like, we've posted a few pictures that I took this morning.

It's official...I'm an adult!

Yep that's right I turned the big 3-0 on Friday. My Aunt Gloria and Aunt Bonnie both called and wished me a happy birthday and said it made them feel old that I was actually 30 now. My Aunt Gloria actually said she cried all day on the day she turned 30. I told her I have not gotten to that point yet. I still have too many things to accomplish (like having babies) to feel too old yet. And just to prove the pressure is on..I got the following e-mail from my 9 year old niece Kennedee today:

Subject: Babys

hey its kennedee i was just wondering if you are pregnant yet.
can you e-mail me back as soon as possible.
love you bunches and tell uncle steve i said hi.
hugs and kisses xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

love, kennedee

I will admit that I did go out and stock up on eye cream and firming lotion! I have also resigned to the fact that I will actually have to work to keep my butt in the same place as it was in my 20's. I hate the gym, but I know I will have to build a stronger relationship with the elliptical machine and the leg press. My dad also called and said he felt REALLY old now.

Anyway my great husband planned a little get together for me at The Tasting Room on Saturday night to celebrate. I was not in the mood to go out bar hopping or do any of that crazy stuff you do in your 20's! haha. I had all of my good friends and most of my cousin's there to celebrate with me. Here are a few pictures from the event:

Meet Magnum

Our 2 Year Anniversary

Tomorrow we celebrate our two year anniversary! We can't believe we've already been married for two years! The time has flown by and we have enjoyed every minute of it. In celebration of our wedding anniversary we've posted a couple of video's that were played at our wedding. Enjoy!