212/365 Farewell Montana!

We leave in the morning (4am) to head home.  I am going to miss this place but I am excited to be getting

home...not excited about the long drive though.The girls feel the same the thing Sophia will miss most is

bubbles.  By the time we get back bubbles will be a huge cat, and everyone is worried she will forget about

us.  She's just such a sweetie pie.

211/365 Farmers Market..With the Dancin' Duo

Went back to the farmers market in Hamilton for the last time this Summer.  I was so excited to see that 

the dancing couple was back.  There is nothing that intrigues me more than strange people.  Why do they 

do some of the stuff that they do.  Were they once just completely normal and then how did they cross 

the line to strange.  I think I wonder about this stuff because that is something that could totally happen to 

me.  I could be a weird cat lady or like this couple.  I call them the dancing duo, they show up at the 

farmers market and they dance the entire time.  Mostly with their arms.  They make some pretty strange 

movements, probably to avoid repetition, when you arm dance for hours on end you see how that could 

be a problem... So they just dance, they don't need any music.  I figure they must be pretty happy people, 

they are certainly very tan!

210/365 Girls in the Garden

There is the most amazing shop in Corvalis, Montana.  She has the most amazing garden next to her shop it

is so inspiring.  It makes me want to grow something!.  They have adorable yellow chairs, a grass sofa, and

a mirror framed with succlents.  She let me take pictures of the girls in her garden this afternoon.  They

turned out pretty good considering it wasn't the right time of day for the best lighting.  I love the grass

sofa...I must grow myself one!

209/365 All Moved In

Now that it's almost time to go home, we are pretty much completely settled into our new apartment.  I

love how everything has come together.  I love the kitchen cabinets and the sink.  It was so much fun to

get to make some decorating decisions that I couldn't pull off at my house but that turned out perfect for

this.  These are some of my favorite areas.

208/365 White Water Rafting

Jeremy, the girls, and I went on a white water rafting trip daw the Salmon River this morning.  It was

absolutely beautiful.  We has an amazing time.  The raft stopped at an old gold mine, that we toured.

Sophia and Jeremy jumped off some cliffs into the water.  The water was way too cold for me.  We all

had a great time.  And on the way home we saw a couple groups of big horn sheep.  It was an incredible

day.

207/365 Painting a Door - Tutorial

OK so more people than I can count have asked me how I painted the blue doors in my house. (This is the only picture I could find of them...http://lisaslame.blogspot.com/2009/06/day-108.html)  Anyways I've been thinking of posting a few how to projects on here if anybody wants to try some craftyness!  I have to repaint a door here that we use as our headboard so I decided to do it in the same style and I thought it might make a good first project tutorial.  So painting a door...

Step one:  Find a door, in San Diego try Architecual Salvage in Ketner.  I have a red door that I will be painting black then sanding through in a couple places to see the red underneeth.  Remove the hardware unless you want it painted the same color as the door.  I wanted mine to look rustic so I removed it.  Start by sanding the door.  Sand lengthwise on the board you are working on.  so the little boards above and beneth the panels are side to side while the long boards on the sides would be up and down.  This is also the way you paint.  It's painting with the grain of the wood.  Since my door is already painted you can't see this but you HAVE to paint and sand with the grain.  Your doors will always look MUCH nicer if you paint them like this.  Here is a picture of the door while I'm sanding it.  I use a medium grit sand paper.

Step two apply the chipping cream.  It's like the consistancy of peanut butter and has a waxy finish.  It allows you to sand through the top coat and see the paint underneath.  All the products I am using are from Caromal Colours.  I highly recommend all their products I have had amazing success with them.  http://www.caromalcolours.com/  You can apply the chipping cream in any willy nilly manner you want, but I still usually go with the grain, again.

Step three:  Wait until it dries completely, then paint it with your top color paint (Go with the grain!).  I am painting my door black, I used Peppercorn by Caramal Colours. 

Step Four:  Sanding.  Lightly sand the door (Don't forget to go with the grain)  Mine turned a little grey after I sanded.  So I cleaned off all the dust with a damp rag.  Then I sanded harder in the areas I want to show through to the underneath paint (second photo).  Use a damp rag to clean off the sawdust and also any chipping cream you can see.

Step Five:  The last thing it to apply the toner.  Again I am using the toner from Caromal Colours, However I think you can get one at Home Depot too.  However I love the results I get with this one.  Brush the toner, with the grain in small sections then wipe off with a paper towel or rag.  Let the toner dry, then replace the hardware.

Now your finished!  I hung my door behind my bed as a headboard.

206/365 Muscle Car Monday

While Fia, Maddy and I were in Washington, Sadie and Jeremy had some fun of their own.  They built a 

model of  Vintage muscle car.  I think it's a 1968 Doge Charger.  Sadie is so proud of herself, She 

couldn't wait to show it to us!  Jeremy has so much fun with the girls when they do projects like this 

together.  He is such a great father and husband, plus he's cute...Now aren't I the lucky woman!

205/365 Whale Watching

After sleeping the wedding off, we all went whale watching.  Orcas Island is of curse known for it's 

Killer Whale Pods.  I was hoping to get some amazing whale pictures, but the Killer Whales had 

different ideas  they decided to swim out to sea this morning, I'm pretty sure it's because they heard that 

Julie has returned my telephoto lens and I am so ready for this.  So instead we saw Minke Whales, which 

in all my photos look like dolphins...but they're not, they are whales.  We also saw Seals, Sea Lions, 

Bald Eagles, some interesting birds related to Puffins.  But we still had fun, Sophia got to spend more 

time with Elijah, and Madison with Mia! 

204/365 Here Comes The Bride

Wendy's wedding was today and everybody had a great time especially the girls.  Madison was a flower

girl, she looked so tall and beautiful today.  I was so proud of her.  Wendy and Steve had a beautiful

ceremony... however I do have one complaint the ceremony was super backlit because of the amazing

view behind them so pictures were impossible!  I did get one of Wendy that I love, but Uncle Lyman is

making this face...Remember this blog is to help me get practice with my camera.  Do the important

people in my life not understand I am terrible with out good lighting?  Well apparently this wedding

wasn't about me it was about the love between two amazing people...blah blah blah.  Just kidding it was

an incredible ceremony and party.  Their vows were so beautiful and I got more pictures of them

laughing during the ceremony than I can count.  Oh well, I guess my life as a famous international

wedding photographer will have to be put on hold until I figure out lighting a little better!  Back to the

wedding.  Wendy looked as beautiful as I had ever seen her.  The girls, and Mia played with their food

at dinner then danced the night away!  There was even karaoke and Uncle Lyman sang the Monster

Mash, while Aunt Doris, looking smashing, danced beside him.  A wonderful night!

203/365 Off To Orcas Island

We left very early this morning to make our way out to Orcas Island in Washington State.  My cousin,

Wendy is getting married...YEA!  Mom had to have a procedure done on her knee this afternoon, so

Jeremy and Sadie stayed to help her out.  I took Madison and Fia with us (me and Dad).  We had to make a

mad rush to catch the Ferry in time, which is hard to time when you are making a 10 hour drive.   But we

did make it, barely.  The cottage we are staying in has a huge deck with the most gorgeous view!  This is a

picture of a very tired and disheveled girl on the ferry to Orcas Island.

202/365 Little Lost Eggs

There is a nest on a light fixture by the garage here.  Inside we found two little blue eggs.  I am assuming

that there is no momma bird sitting on these eggs, because I don't think it's that time of year anymore.  I

didn't touch anything when taking my photo.  We'll keep an eye on them to see what will happen.  On

day 66 of my blog I took a picture of some fake robin's eggs in a fake nest.  I think this is so much better.

201/365 Good Bye Brouwers

The Brouwers left this morning but the kids made sure to get in one last ride before they headed home.  We

had so much fun with them and the kids got along so great!  The kids were all pretty good, except the

asking different parents for the same things, until they get the desired answer (the normal kid stuff).  We

played cards to all hours of the night and best of all we slept in!  It was such a great week.

200/365 Fitting Everything Into One Day!

It is amazing how some days you seem to get nothing done and other days you can do tons.  Today was 

one of those days.  Today we shot shotguns at clay pigeons, had .22 rifle and pistol practice, shot the 

compound bows, took some pictures, rode the quads, shot off some fireworks, had cake pops for Nico's 

birthday, and finished it off with Alana brushing Rex's teeth before bed.  Today was a long fun day.  

Needless to say I took tons of pictures but I will refrain and only share a few.

199/365 Down By The Riverside

Today it was blazing hot...well blazing hot for here, I think about 96 degrees, so we hopped on the 

quads and drove out to the back of the property that runs into the river.  We found a really nice shady 

spot under the trees, where the river spilled over into a small slow flowing off shoot.  The kids floated on  

tubes and found a deep spot for cannon balls.  The smaller kids decided to build a dam and we spent 

most of the afternoon there.  In fact it was almost 8 o'clock before we came home to make dinner.

198/365 Another Fine Day!

Today we woke up really late then went to church.  We hung around here a little bit then went to the

Stockfarm for swimming and followed it up with some BBQ, where the kids showed some nice napkin

tricks, all in all a really nice day.  I just wish they wouldn't make such a fuss when I get out the camera!

After getting home we put the kids to bed and played cards until just

after 1 am.  I can't wait to see what we decide to do tomorrow, it's supposed to be hotter (95ish) so I

think we may hit Montana beach.  This is really feeling like vacation now!

197/365 More Bling!

Mined for sapphires again today.   We used our last four bags, but found some nice gems!  The guys were

having a good time too, even some of the kids joined in.  Nico was most interested, the rest of the kids

eventually ended up on quads riding around the yard.

196/365 Alana's New Best Friend

Although I have already posted todays photos, I feel the need to post again.  Something so extraordinary

happened I just had to share.  First a little back story, Chris and Heidi's only daughter, Alana, is terrified

of dogs.  Well all pets really, gerbils, cats you name it and just the sight of it across the room makes her

scream, wail and scale the nearest human being.  So needless to say, Rex, my parents standard poodle

paralyzes her.  She's been getting so upset the whole trip then suddenly, nobody can figure out why Alana

decides that Rex is her "new best friend." She actually said that.  Now she is dragging him around buy his

bandana!  Amazing.

196/365 Flying High!

Today we had a blast with Chris, Heidi and the kids.   We went on a nice trail ride on the quads and then

the boys followed it up with a stop at the spot we let the kids jump the quads.  We are just sitting there

watching the kids go over this jump then all of a sudden out of nowhere Heidi guns it and goes flying over

the jump.  The boys were shocked, I couldn't stop laughing.   It was hilarious!  Heidi said she needed to

keep us on our toes a little bit more!