A Simple Box

Last month I (Alex) decided to make a couple of boxes for 2 people for Christmas.  The names of said people will remain anonymous.  This is box #1. 

The lighter wood is curly maple, also known as flame or tiger maple.  It is a beautiful example of this kind of figure and is what you might find on the back or neck of a violin or guitar.  The top reddish/orange wood is padauk.

The inside of the box is a soft very light sage velvet pigskin suede.  The tray slides back and forth but does not come out due to the angle of the box sides.  To the special person that gets this for Christmas, Merry Christmas.

 

The other box will be finished in December after I finish the bunk beds.  Dawn won’t let me start until I get the bunks finished. :)

Fishing and some other stuff…

Alex took Erik fishing and they caught two fish. Alex actually caught them but Erik got to hold one on the fishing pole…so pretty close right?

Adam cleaned up the living room all by himself. When he finished the toy basket look like this. The leaning tower of toys! I’m surprised it stayed up!

Tyler likes to ride on our little rocking horse that Adam got when he was one. Now it is just right for Tyler! (Adam still likes it too of course.)

Giddy-up baby cowboy!

aww

Big babies

There were some very big babies at my house the other day ;)

(Adam making it clear to Erik that he wanted a turn sooner rather than later!)

more Tyler…

Sucking on the back massager…mmm

and playing with Woody…

Um, hi there Adam…you didn’t want to be in the picture or anything did you? hehe

Tyler

Oh he’s so cute I just want to gobble him up! Look at those scrumptious cheeks :)

I love how his hair almost curls on the sides. His hair is getting rather long and I’m thinking of trimming it anytime now. But I’m not sure I want to yet. When I see pictures like this I definitely don't want to cut it. But it doesn't always look so adorable. Sometimes it's just long and scraggly looking. We’ll see.

Tyler took his first step on September 6th, and now he can walk “all the way” across a room.

This video is from Sept. 15th

1st day of school…and a nap on Erik’s bed.

Erik’s first day of 1st grade was Aug. 16th. Yes we are a month behind, oh well.

And Tyler taking a nap on Erik’s bed :)

Almost home!

At the hotel in Flagstaff.

We went swimming the next morning at the hotel pool and then on to the LAST day of driving!

We were happy to see cactus again (well almost). At least it meant we were almost home.

Passing Picacho Peak…Tucson in 47 miles…

Turning onto our street…

and our house! Happy day!

I had to take a picture of our little green car that took us all that way :)

After we got home Alex sorted and played with his Legos from childhood that had been discovered at his parents’ house. I unpacked and then unpacked some more, and did laundry. Oh what fun.    We had a great time and were very happy to be home :)

And that is the end of posts about our trip. Phew! Finally!

Grand Canyon

It felt like it took a long time to get there. (We had started in St. George and gone through Zion’s and then on to the Grand Canyon.) But now we can say we have seen it, and don’t have to feel silly about living in Arizona for seven years and never going to the Grand Canyon :)

 

That’s a big hole in the ground!

We didn’t get many pictures with people in them…but here’s one.

Scenic Views – Aug. 13th

On this day we left Saint George and drove through Zion National Park. We also went to the Grand Canyon, but that will be a separate post.

It’s cool how the roads are made with the red dirt/rocks giving them a reddish hue.

All the layers of red, white, and brown rocks are pretty neat.

More nifty rock layers!

An arch in the process of forming.

Part of the Grand Staircase.

Vermillion Cliffs.

I love the red cliffs next to the green valley…so pretty!