Hester Happenings

We've been working on our crazy backyard again! Here is what the yard looked like before the 2 trees were knocked down: Here's what it looked like after the trees were knocked down and the stumps ground: Next step was to dig up the tarp that covered the whole back yard. We knew this wasn't going to be a fun job! The good thing is that the tarp came up in patches which you can see from this picture: After pulling up the tarp my wonderful father-in-law tilled the soil so that it was all ready for the grass seed. The tilling evened out the backyard as well. You can also tell how much bigger our backyard will be when this is all grass! It'll be so nice when this is all yard and not a dirt pit! Thank you for your help dad! :) On a side note, we found some pretty interesting things hiding under our tarp: a wire shelf, vinyl flooring, carpet, a jingle bell, a flip flop, Cheese Nips package, bird food bag, and a pen. I don't quite ...

We got rid of some trees today. The one tree in the back is completely dead. Like bark falling off, branches falling down, dead! We had to get rid of it before it fell and broke something: We figured since we had to get one tree down, we might as well get rid of another one. The one in the front was just in the way, it blocked our back yard majorly! In the fall we would like to extend the actual grass area, so this tree is kind of in the way:   First they cut the branches off the alive tree: Then they slowly cut down the trunk of the tree: Then they moved on to the dead tree. They actually tied a rope to the top of the tree and pulled it down. That's how dead it was, all it took was some pulling. Now granted they cut a sliver so that it would break a little more easily. But still, pulling a tree down! Crazy! Next, the clean up! The finished product:   Trunks waiting for pick-up: I have to say this is a HUGE differ...

North Carolina is doing this really great thing called Second Saturdays. Here is the website if you want to check it out. Basically there are a bunch of activities you can participate in for FREE. There is only one left-so don't miss out! The activities range from photography at the capital to fun things to do at historical sites. We went to the Duke Homestead. We started with some BBQ sandwiches and some live music. The main singer actually looked like Elvis and had some moves like him too! Next we went up to the home. This guy showed me how to pickle watermelon rinds. I thought this sounded disgusting, but tried it anyway. It was actually pretty good! I didn't know you could eat rinds! Mom got some boiled peanuts: This lady was showing us how they would have made sausage in the Duke Homestead: There was a dress up box full of old clothes...for children. My mom is small enough to fit in them all the way, but my arms wouldn't go through! :( Still ...

Baby Tillie came 3 1/2 weeks early! This cutie pie was born on June 21 at 7:45 am. She was 6 pounds and 13 ounces and 20 inches long. I think pictures explain how adorable this new addition is: I love this picture! Athena is a little jealous that this new baby is getting so much attention, so she jumped up into Lauren's lap while she was holding Tillie. Too cute!

Here are some pictures of people at Lauren's shower: Thank you to everyone for coming!!

We invited my parents and grandparents to our house for Father's day since my grandparents were here from out of town. I made Chicken Marsala, mashed potatoes, and garlic green beans: I also made carrot cake for my dad since it's his favorite: Happy Father's Day!