Michael Jr. and his creation...

 Michael Jr. was quiet in his room for a while and then he called me and said, "Mom, look what I made!, Can you take a picture of it?"

This Week In Pictures & Fence and Playset (in the works)

we're climbing...double trouble...

Firefigher of the Month!

Mike's picture is in the Juneau Empire today!
I'm so proud of him!  He's worked so hard at getting to where he is with the Fire Department!

But here's what's in the paper (you can click on the link above too):

Capital City Fire Rescue

Mike Orsborn

Credentials: Firefighter 1, ETT

District: Auke Bay

Employer: State of Alaska, Health and Social Services

How long with the fire service: Two years.

Why did you join the fire service:

To give back to the community.

Favorite aspect of the fire service:

The family-like atmosphere, friendships with the career and volunteer staff, the great training opportunities and serving the community.

Reason nominated:

Mike is a father of four small kids and works full time, but he still finds time to be a volunteer firefighter. Whether it's hose testing, station tours, spring clean up, firefighter 1 class or when something needs to be completed, Mike is down at the fire hall lending a hand. Mike has started coming in once a week to help the live-ins pull duty. When the call for a fire comes, you can be sure that Mike will be there. Give him a hose line, tell him to put the fire out, and you will see one happy firefighter.

• Volunteer Firefighter of the Month is provided by Capital City Fire Rescue Division Chief-Colunteers Beth Weldon.

Progress!

Tonight my mom and dad took all 4 kiddos for about 2 hours and Mike and I worked on the fence.  Lots more to go, but slow and steady wins the race, right?  We're half way there!

I also was able to hang 3 loads of laundry today!  Yipee!  Flowers are in full bloom too...

What We're Up To

So, we're putting up a new fence AND gaining yardage!  Our original fence we put up for our dogs way back when we didn't have any kiddos.  Now that Michael and Connor can climb it, we felt it was time to put up a new fence since we live on a very busy corner and drivers are pretty crazy in our neighborhood.

The fence suited it's purpose for dogs and it was originally stained a dark brown.  Then I thought we would try painting it white last year and I hated white, then I tried another color and hated that too.  So, with this fence being cedar, we're leaving it as it, nice and pretty, until it greys with age, then we'll paint a few years down the road.

So, needless to say, we've been busy and will continue to be busy for some time... probably the rest of the month!  We have a VERY long yard - 130 feet to be exact!  And it's rather expensive too.  So we really wanted to do this nice. 

I'm a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to fencing so I'm putting up all the fence boards and leveling each one and cutting if needed.  Mike's in charge of putting up the 2x4's.  Dad and Mike put up the 4x4's.  After we finish putting up the new fence we'll take down the old fence.