Before and After......

New back porch and sidewalk

Front porch before the latest and newest model was installed

New front porch--covered, new decking, new steps, paver bricks, and painted railings. I learned how to weld by helping Dad install the railings!

How the back looked when we bought the place

Just in case you think that we have been spending our summertime fishing in streams, lazily dreaming, and watching the clouds go by.......think again! We've been working our tooshes off on the Ioka house--inside and outside. We are officially done inside--everything is painted and finished--all new appliances, flooring, doorknobs, new bathroom, new cabinets, new lighting, new doors, carpet, wooden flooring, tile floors, the WORKS! We've put in new windows, two new porches, paving bricks for walkways and a nice new patio in the front, new lighting, covered the two porches, put on a new roof, tore off old porches and buildings, burned TONS of junk, and cleaned out tool buildings. Now we hope to get new siding on before winter comes. I'm pooped just thinking of the hours we've spent on this house. It's a cute house now tho! I'll post some pictures later of the inside and how nice it turned out. We actually just put renters in it last week in hopes that they would keep it nice and warm through the winter and not let any pipes burst. Anyway, it's been a fun project but am glad that we can finally see the finish line!

Need fire? Hire Terry--he'll burn ANYTHING!

John clearing out one of the tool sheds. You couldn't walk into it when he started!

The original porch on the front of the house

Crazy Family Time

We recently spent a weekend with these two crazies. What can we say about family? Mostly how much we truly enjoy spending time with them. We don't slow down from our overly busy lives enough to just enjoy laughing, story telling, jokes, experiences, and just good ol' BS sitting around and doing nothing time. We had a great time with Anthon and Becky. We enjoyed the late night ATV rides too! ;) Nature at its best, eh? Need to do more of those--minus the mud cuz Anthon is a WILD man when it comes to mud! And next time let's try to find the other boot or maybe a new location for the one left behind!! Thanks for a relaxing and fun weekend guys. Let's do it again EVERY summer! BTW, we were on the very top of a HUGE rock plateau and it was POURING rain. Becky and I were frrreeeezzzzzing--even in August! We're glad our family is crazy--gives us something to laugh and smile about and makes for more fun times. We've never been good at boring and "normal"!!

My New Hideout

Check out my new covered patio that Dad made for me! Isn't it fabulous?  He is such a handy guy to have around.  It is a cool place to sit in the early mornings and in the evening.  I have wanted to cover the patio for several years now but we finally got around to it this summer. It seriously is 20 + degrees cooler under that thing!  I came up with the plan and Dad executed it!  Way to go, hon! You da man!!

Pizza, Tokens, and TONS of People!

A day spent at Chuck E. Cheese.......fuuuuunnnnn times! It was the last day of school here and super crowded with families celebrating the start of summer.  It took Easton waaaaay too long to spend his tokens.  You couldn't get me out of there fast enough.  It was craaaazzzzzyyyy!  Easton had a good time tho.  Dad met us for the pizza eating part!  All in all, it was a good way to spend some time---next time we'll think about the possibility of big things like the last day of school.

Don't Dally when You're Eating a Dilly!

Today Easton and I snuck off to DQ and had an ice cream.  Easton chose a dilly bar and I got just a plain ol' cone. (I am on Weight Watchers, ya know! I've had a hard time staying within my point limits since I have a lil partner in crime!) Anyway, he scarfed that puppy right down in no time flat! It was huuuuggge! We started saying, "Don't dally when you're eating a dilly".  Easton has it down goooooood!

The Dog Days of Summer

Ever wonder what DOGS do on the hot, hot days of summer? Well, wonder no more. This last weekend Canyon and Bailey showed us just what they do on a hot summer day in Ioka. Bailey wanted Shaley and I to throw rocks in the creek for her. She would of course then try to retrieve them for us. Slight problem...the creek was muddy cuz several beavers had built two dams and slowed the flow of fresh water AND when the water is muddy, it's kinda impossible to see the bottom of the creek. Bailey is persistent if nothing else! She would go right in after those rocks. She even put her head and almost her whole body underwater trying her dangedest to find those awesome rocks! I kept thinking that I was gonna have to resort to doing mouth to mouth on my dog!! She bobbed up each time--(thankfully since my cpr skills are a little underused and rusty at best!) sometimes even with her prized rock. It was so fun to watch her. Canyon was content swimming around the private swim hole and try her hand (mouth) at catching local bugs. They seriously were such a hoot to watch. They stayed and played for an hour or more. They smelled like wet dog for quite awhile afterwards tho. So, guess the mystery of "dog day summer" afternoons is now not a mystery anymore. Thanks Canyon and Bailey for the info and the amusing time watching you lolligag in the Utah summer sunshine and the hillarity of your private Ioka swim hole for dogs and beavers!