Labor Day

 This Labor Day weekend we met my family in Jackson Hole. Saturday was pretty rainy so we played some games and watched movies. Sunday after church we went and drove through Yellowstone and enjoyed some of the pretty sights.

 Here we are stopped for lunch.

 We saw a bunch of buffalo, elk, and a couple of black bears.

Here is Eric being suprised at the Suprise Pool hot pot.

 Baxter had a pretty good time except for all the car time. At the Suprise Pool we ran into a group of Chinese tourists who thought that Baxter was about the best thing ever. One of them said "shake" which is one of the two things he knows how to do, so Luke had him shake, and they all ooed and awed. It was pretty awesome.

Monday after we checked out we went for a bike ride and then headed to the alpine slide. 

 Mom and Dad racing.

 Luke got a little carried away trying to beat Eric down the hill. He overturned coming around a curve and tried to slide down on his skin. Ouch! It took off a lot of skin and melted holes in his shorts.

 A better shot of the loss of skin.

A fun weekend with family. Always makes it hard to head back to work!

The Deck

 Our deck was in desperate need of a makeover. The original stain was worn off and the wood was getting weathered and starting to crack. I spent one day sanding all the old stain off. We rented a big floor sander for the big stuff and did the rails and bench with the hand sander.

We decided to paint it with an enamel paint instead of a stain because Luke's friend who works at Sherwin Williams told him it would last at least ten years. Here I am putting on the primer coat.

I plan on repainting the house at some point a light gray. We painted the deck a darker gray so it will match someday. It has taken so long to paint the deck that it may take a few years to work up the motivation again.

 Almost done! The paint turned out looking blue not gray which was a bummer. It looked nicer stained but live and learn.