Laying the Deck.

Dad came up Thursday, (and stayed until Saturday afternoon!) and after breakfast at Tom's Pancake House, we headed to Home Depot to pick up some fasteners and other stuff. We kept Abby with us, which is always an adventure!


I thought that putting the Trex down would go faster than it has, but with making sure we have uniform spacing, and pilot drilling/countersinking every hole is taking some time. However, it is looking really good, and I only have another 11 rows to go. Then railings, stairs, fascia board, etc.

We did some testing on scrap Trex to determine if we'd need to countersink them or not and determined that it looked a hell of a lot better when we countersunk the screws.



Abby has been out helping with her tape measure and cordless drill!

A Big Sunday!

Sunday was a big day for deck construction. I called Brian first thing in the morning, then headed over to pick up the last of the Trex 20-footers. We started off the day by finishing up the rim joist.




Once the perimeter was in place, we hung a couple key joist and then racked the whole thing into square. As soon as we noticed Abby had returned from Elisa's birthday party, she was sent upstairs for play clothes.


Abby was really good at keeping us supplied with nails!


After a while, it was all high-steppin'!



Abby making a "special delivery."



We finished the last joist and called it a day.

Bringing home the wood. (Most of it.)

After bringing home the gravel on Friday, and spending Saturday digging holes and filling them with the gravel, we were ready for the building materials!

All in all, it took three trips: one for the lumber, one for pier pads, and then one more a week later, (yesterday,) for the special order 20' Trex boards.


I'm getting pretty good at backing into the side yard!


Three 16' 2x8s, 31 12-footers, 17 16' Trex boards and more 12' Trex boards than I care to count!


I used a hand truck to move the pier pads into place.



Dad came up to visit his granddaughters!



Brian and I managed to get the ledger board up and just started on the rim joist before calling it a day.

Setting the footings...or something like that.

Bill had a busy day getting started on the deck on Saturday. First, he, his cousin Brian, and Abby went to Home Depot to order a million dollars worth of Trex and lumber to build the deck out of. Then, he and Brian dug the holes and tamped in gravel for the base of the deck.





Here's Bill tamping down the gravel.

Brian digging holes. He's so brave...after a trip to Home Depot with Abby, he was still willing to help out more.


More gravel and holes....
And more...
Keep watching. I'll try to get Sunday's progress on tonight.

Bringing home the gravel.

Making use of a furloughed Friday, Abby and I went and picked up two yards of gravel from Valley Landscape Center, for the footings on our new deck.

I borrowed Doug's car trailer since it has a full deck. Our rally car trailer only has decking where the wheels go. Thanks Doug!


Abby was my co-pilot for backing up.



Made it in the gate on the first shot!



It doesn't look like nearly so much laying on the ground there, but when I first put my shovel into it, the pile seemed huge!


Tomorrow: setting the footings.

Bike ride!

Abby has gotten really good at riding her tricycle lately and wants to do it all the time...especially, if she can bring her favorite passenger along. Libby totally loves it! She smiles and giggles the whole time.

Libby's first peanut butter!

Bill's family is a little crazy about their peanut butter. For the last two generations, it's been the tradition that Bill's Uncle Tim feeds all babies their first peanut butter. So, on Memorial Day weekend, it was Libby's turn. She totally loved it! No denying who her daddy is now!

Libby's 6 month check up!

Look at my baby sit up by herself! Libby had her 6 month check up on May 18th. She is now 18 lbs 15 oz and 27 inches long. She is growing so fast. In the last week, she has gotten two teeth! Both on the bottom and in front. I'll try to get a picture of them, but she's not enthusiastic about showing them off.


Abby pretending to be Dr. Wallis.

Libby loves her big sister!

Libby's first real food!

Libby has been watching everyone else eat real food and had started drooling all the way through dinner recently. We decided it was time for her to try out some real food...well, real baby food.

Libby's first bites of rice cereal.

I think more came out than went in.

She's now had rice cereal, sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, and apple sauce. Oh, and she LOVES chewing on pieces of watermelon.

Bathing Beauties!

The weather in May has been very weird for Oregon. We have had several 80+ degree days. We decided to take advantage of the weather and have a BBQ a couple of weeks ago. Out came the wading pools and the sprinkler.


Carly and Libby in the "baby" pool.
Kiera is a total water baby. She started getting excited as soon as we started filling them up!

Abby and Elisa with Emma and Kiera in the background.

Libby loves being naked!

Our House Guest!

This is Suzy. She was our house guest from the middle of April until the middle of May. Bill's dad took a month long motorcycle trip to the southwest and we dog sat. We learned a couple of things during the month...one, dogs are as much work as a baby and two, we are not ready for our own dog just yet.

Isn't she cute?!
Suzy loves to be petted.

Easter!

I am totally behind on this. We have had a very busy month! Starting with Easter...Abby and Michael loved having there own table.


Michael was great at the Easter Egg hunt.

Libby and Mama.
Abby hunting Easter eggs.


Bill's cousin Brendan and his daughter Ella. They just moved to Portland and are loving it.Brendan's wife, Jess.


Doug, Joy, Grammy Paula, and Bill's Aunt Paula enjoy the first ham I ever cooked, which turned out well. Yay!