Julie's first attempt at a blog post (drum roll please)..............................

 Evidently I missed the boat.  I thought blogging would be a passing fad like scrapbooking! Now I see that you are supposed to blog your families activities from the day you met your husband until the end of time.  I've never been very good at taking photos (even these photos weren't taken by ME!) or writing, but I'm going to try.

These photos were taken in St. Martin on our Spring Break trip.  Very fun, BTW!  We took a 3 hour guided tour along the coast of the island and then went snorkeling.  It was awesome.

Julie's office update: here is the finished product with all the computers hooked up. It has proven to be a very wise investment in the short time it has been up and in "operation". Still waiting on the office chairs but they are armless and painted wood to match the cabinets. Even though we will all die from brain cancer, I love wireless!

BEFORE

DURING

AFTER

Julie got her office done, Julie got her office done....

If it wasn't for a 50% non-refundable deposit given in November, I am not sure this would have happened, but now that it is in I must say it sure is nice to have done! Julie worked with an interior designer from our ward to come up with a lay-out, which we didn't use (sound familiar???) and came up with a general plan on what she wanted. She then interviewed three finish carpenters, had them quote the project and then she presented to me her thoughts. After interviewing all and viewing their work at other homes, we hired a carpenter named Peter who really did an excellent job. There are two computer areas, one for "JULIE's" computer and one for the girls and me, chord trays to hide, literally, all of the chords and accent lights along the top. The back board is v-grooved and it is painted to match our dining room furniture. I don't think the pictures really do it justice so hey, another reason to come see us,,,,,right???

Braedyn making sure she is "safe"

Lauren thinking; life is good

Lauren gets a new horse

Green + Green = Black and Blue........this is the lesson learned in the Johnson household as it relates to horses in 2008. Reo did not mesh with the girls....not a single one of the three....so we have been trying to sell her for the past four months. Not many lookers right now but we did find a trainer that was willing to possibly trade. With the temperature at a balmy 5dF, we went to look at this prospective swap and after about 30 seconds of saddle time, Lauren's eyes said it all: "Dad, this is the horse for me!".

SO,,,, meet Butterscotch: a 10yr old Palomino looking Appaloosa. Mojo has been such a great horse that the girls tell me that through their research that Appy's are the only horses worth anything in the world --- I can't believe how intelligent those two are and I don't remember ever knowing as much as they do at their age..... None the less, Nutter Butter (this is what I call her) is a little grumpy in my opinion and yet more estrogen to deal with in the ocean in which I live, but well broke, very responsive, and the apple of Lauren's eye. So far so good, but riding time has been limited to, well, yesterday since it is the middle of winter and frickin' cold!

FENCE IS DONE.

We completed the fence last week and moved the horses! Happy day! I can tell you that 280 planks nailed in a three nail set on the ends and a four/five nail set on the middle post is just over 2800 galvanized nails, 280 short boards, two butane cylinders, two batteries in the Paslode, two complete boxes of tape nails and a whole lot of clean-up. I struggled for days on how I was going to consistently top all of the posts to a uniform height but had a light bulb go off in my head at the local TSC (Tractor Supply Co) when ambling around trying to come up with a resolution. Using a 5" triangle hinge as my template, I marked all of the posts over the top rail, broke out my chainsaw and hammered them home. For the record: holding a 16" chainsaw chin high, on its side and at about a 20d angle will equal three days of really sore forearms and shoulders, at least for me. Note to anyone wanting to build a fence: treated lumber kills a new saw chain quickly and there is no good way to freehand angle cuts so be careful and start in a spot not readily visible... We also installed a lean-to in the top pasture that matches the barn for the horses to get out of the wind and the riding arena is complete. I am happy to say the arena is being used ALMOST three times a week....Braedyn really loves her new horse and he is really helping her gain her confidence back. I learned a hard lesson with young horses: green + green = black and blue.

What to do now.....hmmm......what project is next??????

FENCE FENCE AND MORE FENCE

How many linear feet of 3-rail board does it take to put 2.25 acres under pasture with a riding arena?



I can tell you ours is 1386 total linear feet, which is 178 posts on 7'6" CL, and 260 16 OAK planks that are 5/4" x 5.5"x16' in length. We finished the perimeter with the help of some friends and put the horses in today. I found a local saw mill that is custom cutting the planking for me and we ran out of his oak stock so I am waiting for the next load to come in. I am "OK" with that because this old body is SORE! Of course new tools were needed to do this project and the coolest is my new Paslode cordless framing nailer that runs on a butane cartridge and battery operated electronic ignition ---- Tim Allen eat your heart out!! I will attempt to cut the tops of the posts to a consistent height tomorrow and will let you know how that goes...

Barn Party '08

What better way to break in a clean barn than to have a small barn party before it gets full of stuff.......This got way out of control from an attendance perspective but what a great time! We are THINKING about doing this annually, maybe in place of the White Elephant Party, so that the entire family can enjoy. We could only fit about a third of the folks in attendance in the barn at any one time so if we did it again we would do it on the lawn.

Just look at the pictures and you tell me if this was enjoyed by all....

THE BARN IS DONE!

The barn was completed just three days before our barn party and yes there was some sweating going on! It has turned out really nice with the open spans down below and the hay loft above. I opted not to put the loft over the stalls for ventilation and I think it will work out pretty good once I get hay chutes put in for feeding. The stalls turned out AWESOME and really look nice; not the kind of stalls we had on the farm that is for sure! Now it is on to the fence --- Julie said I needed to start earning my man card back and do that myself....I guess wiring the barn didn't count.