Moving on.
Thankfully.
Some of our favorite neighbors are moving. They are right next door and since the day we moved in have been amazing. They have shared their garden vegetables, homemade grape jelly from their grapevine, the honey their bees make, their water, and Christmas goodies all 11 years. We also head there first on Halloween and they take a picture of the girls on their porch. Every year. Where will we go now?
For their gift this Christmas I did something special. In August I spent an hour taking macro pictures of almost every flower in their yard. I put them together and made this.
They loved it! Little did we know it would be our last Christmas to exchange gifts. It was such a hit that I decided they needed a goodbye photo. Only problem was that they were always home! Something about packing. Blah, blah, blah.But last night when we got home we noticed no cars. I ran (literally) to get my camera and got to work. My three look-outs kept yelling, "It's their car!" I would then run like crazy to get to the street to pretend I was taking pictures of the girls riding bikes. Of course, the first 6 times it wasn't their car. It looked nothing like their car. But I digress. The final time they yelled I of course trusted them again and headed to the street. Of course, not them. The car didn't even come down our street. It passed a block away!
As I was preparing my lecture another neighbor came outside and asked me to take a picture of him with the girls. As they were posing and smiling and moving bikes guess who drove up. Yep. Okay, so I'm glad I believed them again. And luckily I got a cute picture of Terry and my girls.
He and his family live in my house that I grew up in. Now if he ever moves...I don't know what I'll do. Enter therapy most likely. Or throw myself on the ground in front of the moving truck and refuse to move. It could happen.But back to the gift. After 65 pictures I came down to 13 that I loved and edited just right. I tried a different template but sadly was not smart enough to figure out how to use it. So I used the same one from Christmas. I wanted it to be different....but I do love how it turned out.
Since the writing is so small...the top says;If you keep the royal plan of Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself", you are doing right. James 2:8
And the bottom says;
Thank you for the wonderful memories and the sweet friendship.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go cry. And maybe let the air out of several tires.
What?
I was kidding.
Sort of.
Just imagine these yellow circle Plexiglas thingies
in the slots on the body of the light.
My lovely assistant took it apart and helped me slip the thingies out and then put it back together.
And then the paint. Hammered Copper spray paint. 
I found the idea 
Now here's the problem. There's no way that I'll put those yellow Plexiglas thingies back in. We've tried two different light bulbs and this time might have a winner.
Over an hour later (yes, it took over an hour to put little tiny pieces of tape in and around the numbers. In some places I had to use tweezers. It's all about quality here.
Hello gorgeous!
Big surprise right?
And now the after.
I am so glad this banged up, gouged scratch now looks like it belongs.
As I walked up to my front door with the sanding block I held my hand out and just couldn't do it. My front door is different. It's grander somehow. Not that we live in a mansion or anything, but it is a more formal entrance than my back door. I had to have a second opinion. I called my neighbor whose house is beautiful. She couldn't come until the next day so I went to bed tormented.
But then the grapevine wreath horseshoe (as we lovingly call it) just didn't stand up to the grandeur of the door. And after the 
Now I need to find another home project to work on.
To begin we (and by we, I mean Shawn)
had to use acid to etch the concrete to prepare it for the stain. This meant pouring it and using a broom to rub it in for about 15 straight minutes. It foamed up and Shawn had some fun sliding around entertaining the onlookers.
After a quick wash down it was time to measure. Shawn had a great plan for the border and pattern and since I am not 
My cousin Tyler came over just in time to save me from helping score.
To keep a straight line someone stands on a 2 by 4 while Shawn follows the chalk line.
When we did our den I had cement dust in places I didn't know I had.
Luckily my brown was dark enough to mask my over zealous paint fling.
We had 
It can easily be sanded right off when necessary.
Well, it does need a few things.
A bench for 
Not bad. If I do say myself!
Anyone want to come sit and chat??
Kennedy, my cautious one, had to talk herself into it each time. She had four great jumps though.
Oddly, each time she got out on the balcony she thought about it more and more.
Then she stopped going to the bridge.
Luckily there were other things to do.
While the food was being cooked,
I just sat back and took pictures. 
I wasn't the only photographer though.
My sweet friend Lacie was also there.
She just started her own 
To add a challenge to everything, some tried to climb the bridge back to the top. It was hard and I watched lots of children fall off. McKinley was my only one who made it.
Some just watched.
every one got right back to the fun. 
fire works, and more jumping.
Smiles and fun were everywhere.
But my favorite part of the evening? Watching 
I might have mentioned that I felt the need to be adopted so we didn't have to crash again.
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