Dawn's New Chapter

Well, my baby girl is about the fly from the nest.. I am not excited about it one little bit but she really wants to attend college in Georgia.  So this Saturday (Aug 22) Dawn will be flying back to Georgia to live with her Aunt Jessica for one year in order to gain back her residency for in state tuition.  And thus this will be the worst weekend of mine and Mandy's lives so far when she leaves..

After that year she will begin school at VSU.  She is not 100% sure about what she wants to major in at this point but she has a little time to decide.  Dawn will work and save her money for a year which will give her a good cushion when she starts school and not be so dependent on a job to start with and will allow her to concentrate on school as much as possible in the beginning.

When Dawn lands in ATL Saturday she will be heading over to watch the first Packers game in the dome.. (That lucky duck!!) 

As much as I hate her leaving home there are a couple little things that warm my heart to no end.. There is a little boy (an old Friend) of Dawns who has asked her to homecoming and i think the prom.  Therefore Dawn will be able to attend the homecoming and senior prom that she originally would have had we not moved to Idaho.  I think that is awesome. 

I don't know if Dawn wants me giving out the little fellers name but he is apparently a good little Christian boy and very active in church.  He and Dawn hung out a lot while she and Allie Rai were in Moultrie a few months back.  Dawn became very active in his church ( I think it was Mount Olive Baptist Church).  Mandy and I graduated with some of his family so we are very familiar with them as y'all would be as well.

The No Hot-Tub, Hot-Tub Patio Project

So Mandy and I have been busting tail in the back yard trying to get as much done as possible before winter hits.. (Then is snow sking time.. Whoop Whoop!!)
Anyway, we have a little side patio off of our main patio which was originally put there for a hot-tub.  Well I'm not exactly hot-tub material and frankly do not care for the up keep.  I already have to keep up with a small pond in the back yard..  So we decided to do the following... 
Me and Allie Rai built two benches, pushed them together to form a "L" around two sides.  Then I took my 20 dollar Wall-Mart fire pit I got a while back and surrounded it with concrete pavers from Lowes..  Mandy planed  some new flowers and plans to put some ivy in next spring.

So our "No Hot-Tub, Hot-Tub Patio" is DONE!!!

Side note:  When you ask your wife "So what do you think" and her response is "I like it, And i'm shocked"  How exactly is one to take that?  humm... 

 

Dawn Moving Back Home

Well, the day every parent dreads and hates is just around the corner from us now.  Dawn has decided she will be attending college in Georgia.  Therefore Aug 22nd (3 weeks ) she will be moving back to Moultrie.  She is going to be living with Jessica and Shaun for one year to gain her residency back in order to get in state tuition. 
Dawn has been offered 2 jobs to work during that year.  One of which is in the ER in Tifton and the other is at the  YMCA in Moultrie.  I honestly hope she take the YMCA so there wont be any commuting to work everyday.  So good news for family back home, but sad sad news for me and Mandy.  We have discussed this and prayed about it and this seems to be the best thing for Dawn.

So, one year in Moultrie working and living and she will start the following year at VSU.  Or that is plan as of now.  Due to the fact that she graduated a year early I think it will be a good thing to get another year under her belt before jumping right into college. 

Also, Dawn has started a new blog as well.  Check her facebook page out to get the link.  Her first post was pretty powerful..   Y'all take care.  

New House Update

So, we spent our entire weekend of the 4th moving into our new house.  Since then Mandy and I have worked every day and all last weekend either in the house or in the yards.  The folks before us were obviously not yard people.  Paul (our shop superintendent and my best friend here in Idaho) showed up to help me all day Saturday to clean up the back yard.  After 2 full (and I mean FULL) truckloads of pieces of forest I finally got the back yard presentable.  Heck, I even found a full size purple plum tree in the corner of the yard.

We still have an office which is untouched and full of boxes and an empty basement..  The basement is another story and will be a work in progress.  The basement has a 3rd den or living area which ever you want to call it, a 5th bedroom, and a full bath.  Mandy has generously given me the base to do whatever I want to do with it since the main floor has a living room and a den already.  I am very surprised she said that because there is no telling just how awesome this thing is going to get.. That will be later blog post as it progresses. 

Anyway here is where we are so far.. Pictures below..
**Please do not show Dawn and Allie Rai this post.. Mandy has not sent them a single picture of anything.. She wants everything to be surprised when they get home..

Front

Kitchen

Breakfast Area & Living Room (View From Kitchen)

 

Breakfast Area and Kitchen (View From Living Room)

Entry

View of Entry from top of stairs

Dining Room

Den

Master Bed Rm

Mandy's Favorite.. her new 250sq ft. closet

Unfinished portion of Basement for Storage

Part of back yard..

Allie Rai Baptized 4-19-15

Sunday morning Allie Rai made a decision to be baptized.  Mandy, Dawn & myself are so proud of her.  She has always been a strong believer and follower of Christ.  She has many times been the rock of the family and kept us going in the right direction despite her age.  She can get me so frustrated at times and then turn around and say a prayer that will bring a tear to your eye. 
Dawn was baptized at Funston church same place Mandy and myself were.  Dawn has really done good in her faith and still continues to walk with the Lord and has grown into a great example of how Christ can change and lead your life in great ways.  We are so proud of both our girls.

Some pictures we took Sunday.

 

 

Grand Targhee 4-11-15

Well I finally got Allie Rai up to Grand Targhee for some Spring time snow skiing.  We had a ball.  She has gotten so good that she is able to ski on the steep intermediate slopes with me and other guys from work.  Below are some pictures taken.

Our First Ride up.. She is totally excited to get to see me ski again..

Our first run down on this particular slope has a turn where you can stop have get a great picture of the grand Tetons in the back ground.  

2nd ride up, she is totally chilled and looking like a pro waiting to get to the top.. 

 

Just another spot we stopped to rest for a second on the way down.. Some of the slopes take you about 20 min or so to get down.. This place is huge..

We stopped here also to watch a ski championship going on in the background.  People are skiing down that cliff.  I could totally do it but didn't want to leave Allie Rai by herself waiting on me.

 One of the guys I work with wanted to take this picture of us in front of that sign.  Then I sent it to Mandy.  She didn't fine it as amusing as I we did. 

Kyle was there this weekend too.  So we skied with him for a while as well.

Pretty nice view from the top.  

Video of Allie Rai and Kyle headed down one of the slopes..

New House

We will be moving possible mid-May or into June.  We really hate leaving the house we have grown to love these past 2 years and have done so much work to in order to make it our own, but an opportunity has come up for a house right down the street from us in the same neighborhood and we just can't pass it up.  It is so nice and Mandy and the girls love it.  Allie Rai will be starting jr. high at Taylor View next year (this school is inside our neighborhood as well) and the house is a few blocks closer.

With it having 5 bedrooms and around 4,500 sq. foot its a bit more house than we really need but we want it anyway.    The 3 car garage will allow Dawn to finally park inside without stealing my spot.  There will be plenty of room for when y'all all decide to finally come visit.    I will post more of the new house once everything is done and we are all moved in.  Right now I only have photo from the outside.