Storage Shed Finished!

For the last week and a half or so, we’ve been working on putting together a metal storage shed in the backyard for tools and other items we don’t want stored in the garage.  We did drive to Tucson on Thursday for a visit and lunch with our Idaho hunting partners, Jim and Mary Lou.  It was great seeing them again as it had been about 2-1/2 years since we had last seen them.

I didn’t take any progress photos of the storage shed being put together, but here are a couple of photos of the finished project.

With that project completed, we’re ready for a day off tomorrow to get caught up on grocery shopping and whatever else catches our interest.  And with this post, our blog is again up to date.

Dinner at Glenn and Sheila’s

We would never pass up on a dinner invitation to Glenn and Sheila’s.  Sheila is a fantastic cook and we always enjoy whatever she prepares.  Here are the photos of our dinner and dessert on the 25th.

Met Life Blimp Flyover

On Tuesday February 21st, the Met Life Blimp flew over.

The Work is Completed and it’s Time for Fun!

With the patio pour complete, we had Saturday and Sunday for fun with the kids.  Logan wanted to go to a team roping event in Goodyear, so we headed that way in three vehicles.

Here are a few photos from the event.

There was no way we could convince Eric to sit on a horse by himself at first, so big brother Logan got on first to help him.

With Eric’s confidence built up a bit, Logan dismounted and left him on the horse by himself.  From left to right:  Eric on the horse, Butch just to the right of Eric’s hand, Logan, Gary, Peggy and me.

On Sunday, we headed to Picacho to Rooster Cogborn’s Ostrich Ranch.  Once again, Eric was a little scared of the animals, but overall, I think he had a good time.

Here he is feeding the goats.

and the deer.

And here are the ostriches waiting for their next meal.

Since we had last been at the ostrich ranch, they’ve added something new.  That is the lorikeet viewing and feeding area.  When we paid our admission fee, we each received feed for the ostriches and deer and also a small container of nectar for the lorikeets.  When you enter their enclosure, they land on anyone and everyone carrying their nectar.

Here are Bailie, Ken, Logan, and Butch.

The lorikeets also landed on Peggy.

Eric used my camera to take a photo of Butch and Logan.

Three lorikeets were after the nectar in Bailie’s hand.

Butch and Logan left for Cheyenne around 3am Monday morning, and Peggy’s brother Gary drove her and Bailie and Eric to the airport around 5am.  Needless to say, we chose to sleep through their departures.

Concrete Poured for the Patio Extension

The concrete truck arrived early Friday morning with 4 yards for the patio pour.  Since there was no way for the truck to get in the backyard, wheelbarrows were used by Peggy’s brother Gary who showed up early to help out and Logan to deliver mud to the patio.

Here’s Butch waiting for the next wheelbarrow load of mud.

Gary dumps a load of mud.

Logan unloads his wheelbarrow load.

Butch and Logan use a 2x4 to even out the mud.

And here’s a couple of photos of Butch doing the finishing work.

We sure appreciate all the hard work of Butch, Logan and Gary on our patio extension!

Setting Forms for the Patio Extension

Butch and Logan arrived early Wednesday evening, and we put them to work Thursday morning setting the forms for the extension to our patio.

The forms have been set.

Butch and Ken placed a PVC pipe with holes in it next to the house for future termite treatments.

They added an extension to the sewer cleanout for future changes.

And the trench gets filled again.

After that work was completed, we all went to In ‘n Out Burger in Casa Grande.  Butch had never been to one, but Logan had and was anxious to try it again.  Later that evening Butch and Logan headed to Phoenix to pick up Peggy, Bailie, and Eric.  They wouldn’t be back until the wee hours of the morning, so we chose not to wait up for them.

Visits with Friends

 

When not working on the house, we’ve been visiting with friends.  On February 12th, we met Diane and Andy for lunch in Casa Grande and had a good visit with them.  We met them during our Alaska trip in 2009 and this is the first time we’ve been able to meet up with them since then.  They’re getting close to having a lot at the SKP park in Casa Grande so we should be able to visit a lot more once that happens.

Then our friends Bruce and Nena arrived for a visit on the 13th and 14th.  We all had dinner in the house on their first evening here and made plans for the next day to go to the SKP lunch in Casa Grande followed with a trip to the Casa Grande Ruins.

Bruce and Nena continued their trip east on Wednesday morning and we did some last minute shopping on preparation for the arrival of our son Butch and grandson Logan later that day.