Babysitting Baby Ryanne

This week Damon and I babysat little Ryanne while her parents enjoyed dinner out at their favorite restaurant. It was our first official babysitting experience...we were a little nervous, but it turned out fine. Ryanne was very involved in her Baby Einstein DVD and was ignoring us...so we promptly turned off the video to start playtime. That only lasted about 20 minutes until she realized that her mom and dad were gone...so the Baby Einstein was put back on and her tears magically disappeared. Isn't she a cutie???

On our walk home, our own daughter gave us a little surprise, she was waiting for us on the front lawn, meaning that she escaped out of the side yard...which is not a good thing! The consequences of having an athlete of a dog is that she is a good jumper and can easily scale a 6 foot fence. She is also a loving dog who loves to be around her mom and dad, which is why she jumped the fence. We walked to Leana and Tyler's to babysit around the same time that we usually take the "kids" for a walk. Shasta watched us walk down the street and decided to try and find us. Our poor neighbors noticed and chased her back to the house...not once, not twice, but three times. And each time she re-escaped. Needless to say, we are not locking her in the garage during the day, Damon will be building a new fence and we exchanged numbers with the neighbors. So, our Tuesday night was a memory with our niece and our daughter. The joy of being parents :)

Full Moon, Big Owl and Deer Video

(Now isn't that a great title for a post? Very descriptive, not at all creative.) Last night the moon was beautiful at the ranch...it was so round, bright and large.

On the way back to the house we saw a huge owl...we tried to get a picture of him looking at us, but it didn't work. Still, that is one big owl!

Here is a video of a deer eating blackberry's in a ravine off of the road. I am finally downloading videos and learning how to edit on my new computer...watch out- now the blog will have lots of pictures and videos!! Now, the quality isn't the best, but it is nice to be able to post video without uploading on youtube first.

Fun Picture

I have been lighting alot of candles around the house...they really do a miracle for relaxation, I would highly recommend it! So, of course, I had to take a picture last week and share it with you. Isn't the candle holder that Kris gave us for Christmas cute?

So, take my advice and light some candles tonight!

More Huntin' Pics

I promise that we have done more than hunt lately...but, the only pictures that I have recently are from up at the ranch. This batch is from last weekend with Randy, Casen and Trenton. Enjoy :)

Another Night of Deer Hunting

I cannot stop taking pictures of the beautiful place that Damon's parents and grandma call home. One reason why I love deer hunting is for the million dollar views and the fact that every night they turn into something more breathtaking.

Damon and Shasta on the quad:

A picture of the gun barrels on the rack with one of the lakes in the background...the black gun is Damon's fancy new rifle.

Trying to get artistic with the pictures of the trigger...the new shooting bench is in the background.

Here is just a close up of the trigger...

The sun bathing the hillsides...

And, another beautiful moon...

All Done (For Now!)

The countertops are in the kitchen and they look great...next up is the lighting, refinishing the cabinets and, finally, selecting and painting over the yellow. (Right now we are thinking about a tan/off-white color since there are a lot of colors in the house and we want the appliances and counters to stand out.) It is very exciting to have another big step taken in the redo of our new home. Here are two pictures of the kitchen before we moved in:

After!

We love our new faucet and the sink, it is so nice having the sink seamless with the rest of the countertops...much easier cleaning!

The Start of Deer Season

On Saturday morning, the age old tradition of deer hunting on opening day began. The morning was a little rough for me, I don't really enjoy 5:30 wake up calls these days. Randy came with us in the morning and my parents joined us in the evening. Despite the recent changes on the Morelli property, there were still plenty of deer to view (just not too many to shot, although I did come close). We are headed out this evening, wish us luck! (We need to restock our freezer with deer chops and hamburger!!!)

Kitchen Construction

This week major steps in the kitchen remodeling are happening. Damon and I have been working to prepare for the new cabinet and countertops...we took down the cabinet above the bar and hung it in the garage (lots of extra storage) and ripped up the floor where the new cabinet is going. I stayed home on Monday while the work crew set the cabinet and tore out the dingy tile and sink. They created quite a mess and we haven't had a kitchen sink all week, but it will be worth it on Friday when the new countertops, sink and faucet are installed.

Where the new cabinet will go:

Old countertops:

No countertops:

The new cabinet:

Later I will post a "before" with the cabinet over the bar, but it is on my old computer that I cannot get the pictures off yet!

Pics of the New Place

Here are the pictures of their apartment...as you can see, super close to the beach. In the first picture, the three windows are all from their apartment and in the second picture you can see that there are two more buildings after theirs to the beach.

A beautiful flower from the deli where we had lunch on Friday, looks like Hawaii.

Damon and I are home now, but we are looking forward to returning to San Diego again :)