The Downside of Neighbors

This week has been an eventful one for us neighbor-wise.

Monday we came home to find that 4 of the big, beautiful trees in the neighbor's front yard were no longer standing upright. Our neighbor had told us that he was planning on cutting down all his big trees to protect his house (an ugly house at that), so it wasn't a complete surprise to us when we came home Monday...

However, when we got home on Tuesday all the other big trees were down in the back yard too! These were not sickly or dead trees either! They were beautiful, healthy ones. I counted 100 rings on one of the medium sized trees.

So we've been mourning the loss of these beautiful trees (the only redeeming factor of their yard), as well as the drop in our property value from the whole proximity factor. *sniff, sniff*

As a memorial to the fallen trees we are going to plant a wall of trees along our property line between our yard and theirs.

***

Also this week I confronted the new neighbors on the other side of us about our fence. Remember them? Well, looooooong story short: It's been 7+ weeks since they had agreed to put up a fence around the part of our yard that they intentionally bulldozed. They've done nothing except plant some very small Emerald Green Thujas, even though they had originally agreed to put up a 6ft tall fence. They gave me every excuse in the book why they didn't or couldn't put up a fence, and numerous reasons why they decided to clear out our woods in the first place... They even tried to convince me that I can't install a fence even if it's on my property... HA! :)

So after a lengthy heated argument about boundaries and property rights, we started driving metal fence posts into the ground (on our side of the property line) and will eventually finish it up with a nice roll of chain-link fencing from the original dog & goat pen.

Stick around to see how this one turns out... :)

UPDATE: We put up a fence!

• Read our comments below to see why this is such a "big deal" to us.

Table Rock, South Carolina

This past weekend our band took a trip to Table Rock, South Carolina to provide the music for Bryan's dad's church retreat. Bryan had originally been asked to be the guest speaker, however the rest of us were also able to make it, so we also provided the music.

Sabbath morning the band lead out with worship songs for "song service" and then Bryan gave his "sermon" with a few of his songs scattered throughout his message.

After church we had a good potluck dinner and then spent the rest of the afternoon down by the lake, lazing around on blankets... Then we were treated to another yummy meal of burgers & fries with homemade ice cream. Mmmmm...

That night we built a bonfire behind one of the two cabins, and then sat around talking until bedtime.

All in all, it was a pretty fun weekend. . :)



Oh yeah, we also had a dead mouse in our tub...

Gettin "Comfortuhbuhls"

Here's a short video of Sir Arthur making himself "comfortuhbuhls" on Jane11's computer while watching CuteOverload.com.

Leaving Comments - 101

Labor Day Trip

Several weeks ago we took a trip to northwest Arkansas to visit Jane11's Uncle Dan & cousins, Kay and Greg. While we were there we went out to the lake to swim, boat and ride on the jetski. Here are a few pictures...





This is Kay and Greg's house - front & back.



Many thanks to Kay, Greg, and Uncle Dan for a wonderful weekend!

Dominican Republic - August 2007

Here are some more photos from our trip to the Dominican Republic for Er!c's cousin's wedding. The wedding was held in a outdoor gazebo at a nice all-inclusive beach resort on the North side of the island (map). We went swimming, sailing, sea kayaking, beach walking, etc... and enjoyed lots of gourmet food and drinks (virgin of course) from the many all-inclusive restaurants and bars in the resort.

Tofu & Arthur (Music Video)

Here's a video montage of Tofu & Arthur playing.
The song is Veggie Tales - "I Can Be Your Friend"

Friends AT LAST!

We decided to name the new little kitty Arthur (as in Sir. Arthur), and he and Tofu seem to be getting along purrr-fectly! They no longer growl or hiss, and enjoy playing tag and chasing each other around the house (I'll post a video soon). They even share food and water without any squabbles. :)

Arthur did very well at the vet on Monday, and purred the whole time. He's currently being treated for hookworms and got all the necessary shots, but otherwise is as healthy as we could have hope for! Woohoo!!!