Josh's Cousin Pays a Visit

Earlier this month Josh's cousin Darwin came to visit from Guatemala. This was exciting for Josh and his brother Chris because they have no cousins that live it Utah. Coming from a BIG family, I couldn't even imagine not having cousins to hang out with. Growing up as a child cousins were the next best thing to having a sibling.

Once Darwin arrived it was nice to see everyone get reacquainted with each other and learn about how different things are in Guatemala, and vise-versa. We learned a lot from each other, especially me. I know some Spanish, but within these two weeks I learned just how different the Spanish language is from Guatemala and Mexico. For example:

Guatemalan word used = Mexican word used (English Translation)

Pajilla = Popote (Straw)

Poporopo = Palomitas (Popcorn)

Echoco = Niño (Kid)
Chumpa = Chamarra (Coat)

Haula (Kennel)

Calidad (Cool/Nice)

With this visit it left us with the task of showing Darwin around, and all that Utah has to offer. The first stop was Moab to go to Arches National Park. We took a quick all day trip and went to see the Arches. That was a lot of fun since we had never been there before either. We also took him around downtown Salt Lake and showed him City Creek. We went to Park City for some shopping and to show the beautiful color changes in the mountains that fall brings. We also tried A LOT of different restaurants along the way. And of course no vacation is complete without shopping. We took Darwin to plenty of stores until his suitcase was full to the limit. I mean that literally too. He actually went to the airport a head of time just to make sure.

Over all it was a memorable visit. One that we can only hope Darwin enjoyed his stay in Utah as much as we did.

From the Left: Darwin, Blanca, Chris, Blandina, and Josh

Dessert and Coffee at the Marriott Hotel

A New Addition to the Aldana Pack

Our perfect companions never have fewer than four feet.  ~Colette

On Saturday September 29th, we welcomed a new dog into our home. Yes, our pack has grown yet AGAIN. A family member had a Yorkie that they unfortunately could not devote the time and attention that it needed. It was such a cute dog that we had already grown to love. Just the thought of knowing he would  go away to new strange home again was hard to think of. No sense in letting that happen. Since we did the same for Sophie and Gina, why not open our home to a Yorkie too?

He originally came with the name Scruffy. Although, we quickly found out that Scruffy sounded too much like Sophie and it was causing a lot of confusion. We were then left with the task of renaming him. What to name a cute dog who always looks a little scruffy....
Blandina then thought of the word "raggedy." It then reminded her of her childhood dolls Raggedy Ann and Andy. That settled that. He would be called Andy.

Andy is a really fun, playful and energetic dog. He's definitely brought excitement into the home for all of us. It has been nice to have the help of two older dogs to take Andy under their wings and teach him how things are done. He seems to look up to them. We were warned that he didn't get along much with bigger dogs. Little did Andy know that the only dog that likes to play in this house is the Golden Retriever Sophie. Gina our Miniature Poodle had always kept to herself, and stays by Blandina's side. Gina wasn't about to change her ways now. With a little bit of coaxing on Sophie's part, Andy warmed up to her...and we mean that literally too. Andy learned to trust her and now they have so much fun. Every day they play together until they tire each other out. When there's no more strength left in them they nap together. It's intriguing to watch this unforeseen friendship grow. We couldn't imagine ever separating them now.

Meet Andy

Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.  ~Roger Caras

 

Soffit, Fascia and Rain Gutters

 

Along with all of the other work we have done our first year in our home, one of our goals was to get the soffit, fascia, and rain gutters added to the house.  It would not only give the house a little more curb appeal, but would prevent damage from the rain and snow. 

According to Blandina it would keep "all the free loaders out of our house." She's of course referring to all of the birds that were trying to move in and the wasps making their nests. (Not cool!) 

To most this might not be a big deal, but to us it makes a world of difference. 

Before: Not very pleasing to the eye...

Before: Could definitely use some work.

After

After

Freshening up the House

 

 

It just needed a fresh coat of white

Chris joined in on the fun and gave a helping hand.

A little paint makes a BIG difference.

Our Backyard Project

The next summer project we tackled was the backyard. It was a combination of major cleanup, new sprinkler system for the back, a water source to the back and new sod. 

Were we ready for this one? You bet we were! Our backyard was an awful eyesore. If Sophie and Gina could talk they might tell you that were ready for some green grass too.

Backyard Before

Backyard Before

Yikes!!

...and the demolition begins

The entire yard cleaned out so we could start over.

Next came the trenches and new sprinklers.

More stations and sprinklers are key to our new GREEN grass.

510 ft of PVC pipe later...

Next we had topsoil delivered to even out our lumpy yard

Nothing like the smell of fresh soil.

It can't be all work and no fun. The brother being silly.

We leveled and raked the soil. It doesn't get more perfect than that.

Next was the delivery of the sod.

This was the most exciting moment.

6 Pallets of sod...

Can't go wrong with Kentucky Blue.

Day 5: It's green and beautiful.

The time it took us to complete this project beginning to end was 9 days!! Not too bad if I say so myself. 

A special thank you to the family and friends who were able to lend a hand, lend us tools and give us your expertise advise in the landscaping world. 

We are so blessed to have family and friends so willing to help in the scorching heat. I don't think we can say it enough 

THANK YOU!!! 

 

We like to share the names of companies that we used that were great to work with and have good quality products.

This project was completed with the following companies:

Tomsic & Sons Inc (Topsoil)

Salt Lake City, Utah

801-272-5112

and

Sure-Gro Turf Farm

American Fork, Utah

801-956-5576

Summer House Projects

A lot has been changing at the Aldana residence. There have been plenty of projects going on at our home and we have plenty more ideas to come. 

We found that if we stay focused and do one thing at a time we can accomplish a lot. 

 

We chose to sacrifice our anniversary trip and kicked off the 2012 summer with a cement project. When people asked us "What did you get your spouse for your anniversary?" we just loved responding with "A new driveway!" How unique is that? You can't go wrong with that gift. 

Before the Cement

Before the Cement

 It was an early morning in June when a crew showed up to start prepping the soon to be driveway

Then the big cement truck arrived.

Getting ready to lay the cement.

Now the work begins...

Driveway Complete!

We have no problems giving a shout out to a company that has done work that we are happy with. 

This project was done with:

Mani Construction

Serving all of Utah since 1991 

Call for free estimates

Hene 801-916-6264

MCHomes04@yahoo.com

Shutters and Blinds!

Here are before and after pics of our new shutters and blinds. You will see why we were so excited to finally have them installed.

Yeah..taped up paper and old curtains NOT COOL!

Our new shutters in our dining room.

Custom shutters for our living room window.

Much better! The wife is happy now.

We love to pass on the word of great companies we work with. We are very happy with the quality of their work. 

This project was completed with:

Blind Spot

801-915-0906

www.blindspotutah.com