remodel

The month of June this year can be characterized by three things: cooking camp, summer school carpool, and home remodel.  Oh yeah, and an infusion for Jack.  We might have squeezed in a trip to the park, a visit to the zoo, stocking up at the library.  The usual.

Here’s what my iPhone revealed about June 2018:

A last-minute visit from my parents and aunt Jill over Memorial Day weekend.  (Yes, I realize that’s still in May.  I’m not here to get technical.)

The final day of school coincided with National Donut Day, so naturally we combined the two celebrations.

Tim and Anna all geared up and ready to cheer on our runners at Boise’s annual Capitol Classic race downtown.

The runners themselves.  Alongside their biggest fan and photobomber.  Betcha can’t guess who crossed the finish line first…

Eve’s cooking/sewing camp with friends.  Rachel and Anna both did cooking camp, too, but I neglected to take pictures of them.  They all loved it.  SO much more fun learning to cook with friends.

Jack strapped to my back for a quick visit to the zoo.  (Giraffe is in the background… sort of.)  He had just completed his second day of infusions and I was on summer school carpool duty.  Rather than waste my time driving home only to have to leave again, we made the most of the 95 degree heat and spent it with the animals.  Jack looks thrilled, doesn’t he?

Celebrating our favorite dad on Father’s day.  With Strawberry Custard and Cream Pie.  Delish.

Summer rain.  Otherwise known as, another reason to delay working on our remodel.  Living in the west I should be grateful.

Jack helping us pick out granite for our new countertops.  Considering how many times we took him to the showroom, he was an angel.

Grout options for the tile in our bathroom (and for our kitchen backsplash).  So many decisions.  Tim and I spent early mornings selecting tile and carpet, lunchtimes looking at hardwood, and Saturdays picking out doors, trim, lighting, and all sorts of nonsense.  On the bright side, we got lots of “dates” in this month.

Eve, all dressed up for a photobooth picture during a family history activity organized by the church.

My last day of summer school carpool!  Happy day!

The one picture I got of our Roaring Springs trip this summer.  Note to self: leave the toddler at home next time.  For heavens sake.

Our most enthusiastic raspberry picker!  The berries were aplenty this year.  We were lucky enough to be in town for the harvest.

Not pictured: an enormous battle with our HOA over a policy change requiring us to remove fruit trees from the common area.  We had planted them 10 years ago with permission from the HOA board and in response to a wildfire that had occurred in our neighborhood.  The trees have provided an effective fire barrier in an area that is dominated by dry weeds.

Our HOA board decided to alter the existing policy to exclude fruit-bearing plants from the allowable plants that homeowners can cultivate behind their property lines in HOA desert common areas.  It was a arduous battle that generated ample support from many homeowners in the area and still resulted in being denied the right to plant firewise edibles in the common area to protect our homes.   The HOA board wants to maintain the area as they see fit (which means they will do pretty much nothing).

The fight occupied way too much of our time during a month where we had little to spare.  Losing our battle was a big blow.  Fighting the battle was, however, heartwarming because we felt the support of our friends and neighbors as we argued for the benefits of fruit-bearing plants in otherwise un-maintained common areas.  We felt loved.

And that’s a wrap for June.