Playing catch up!

Looks like I need to pay a bit more attention to my blog!

Update on us since February:

We finished the kitchen remodel. It looks awesome! Even though we have a small kitchen it feels bigger with all the new changes we made to it. It's easier to keep clean too! I'm always wiping things down, trying to keep it all looking new! We still need to finish the baseboards in the living room, which I plan to do this summer. They are all painted I just need to take off the old ones and glue the new ones in. We are going to be changing things in the living room in the next week or so and I'll probably finish them then.

The boys finished school and we are now a couple weeks into summer break. They are loving having a later bed-time and being able to play more. We're hoping our pool opens soon so we can spend some time there. Nik had his scout week long summer camp and had a blast fishing, shooting and swimming. Jaydyn has his day-camp next month and he's looking forward to it.

 Adam got a new job in AF so it's just me, the boys and Bella during the week. I have lots of time to go through all our crap and decide if I really want it! We've decided to start school full-time when the fall semester starts. Lots more work but it will help keep me occupied while Adam is at work and the boys are in school.

Nothing else new to report. We're just enjoying spending time together and enjoying the summer!

Remodel Pt. 3

Here are some more updated pictures of our remodel. All we have left is the couter-top above the dishwasher, some flooring and some baseboards. Almost done!!

New Flooring:


Kitchen:

Remodel Pt. 2

Like I mentioned in my previous post we are remodeling the downstairs. We started with the kitchen, as it needed the most work plus we were going to be starting from a bare room. Once the kitchen is done we'll do the hardwood floors into the hallway and the living room.

In our condo the main walls on either side of us are cinder-block. In some rooms they've spackled over it, in other there is a flimsy wood paneling up. That was the case in the kitchen. The wall behind the stove had paneling. Adam loves the look of exposed brick/cinder-block so we decided that while we were tearing out everything else we were going to take off the paneling and see what condition the wall was in.

Can I just say that I am amazed we haven't been killed yet in this house!!! The paneling was nailed in with cement nails in a couple spots throughout the wall. Our cabinets were then nailed to the paneling with finishing nails! I'm kinda surprised they haven't fallen off! Once all the upper cabinets were torn off and destroyed (I hated those things!), and the paneling was off we started to unhook the appliances. Here's the fun part! There was no plug from the stove to an outlet. What the previous owners - and I have no idea if it was the ones we bought it from or farther back - did was hard-wire the dishwasher to an outlet. From there the hard-wired an extension cord from the dishwasher to the stove plug! None of the wires were covered or wrapped in electrical tape. It was quite the shock to see that crap and how awful it was done!

We finally got everything cleared out of the kitchen and the fun began. Here are some pictures to show what we did, and the progress we've made.

Bare room:




Old floor:


New paint:



New stuff:




You can kind of see the hardwood floors in some of the new stuff pictures. We've been putting plastic down to protect it from the oil we put on the counter-tops as well as scratches and paint.

I will post more when we finish some more!

Kitchen remodel and flooring!

We decided to remodel our kitchen and put hardwood floors throughout the downstairs. We researched, budgeted and finally found stuff we like. Everything has been ordered and tomorrow we start the demolition of the kitchen tomorrow morning! I am excited yet not at the same time for this project! I can't wait until it's done and I have a new downstairs but we are doing the entire project ourselves so it will be a lot of work! We figure it should only take us a week or two so I will post pictures as we progress with everything.

Pinewood Derby 2012!

The boys had their yearly Pinewood Derby last night. They both entered cars this year. Jaydyn's car was a bit too light so he didn't do as well as last year - he informed us that we need to fix that for next time! He still got a trophy for most colorful car though!

Nik won 3rd place in his class! His weighed a bit more than Jaydyn's so it went a bit faster.

The boys love doing the pinewood derby every year - they get so excited during the races!

I didn't take pictures sadly but I'll get some up of their cars and trophies!

Christmas 2011!!

We had a great Christmas this year! On the 23rd we went to Salt Lake and had dinner & visited with my Dad, My Grandma & Grandpa, my Aunt & Uncle and their daughters. They have a gorgeous house and it was fun to see it and visit with them!

Christmas Eve we went up to Adam's parents and visited, had dinner and did our annual stories/songs. This year we had some new additions! Chase & Ashley had their little boy, Miles. He is such a doll! He's starting to get more interactive and is so much fun to play with! Steve is also engaged so his fiancee was up there with us! Lindsey is so much fun and always so happy - her and Steve make such a cute couple! I can't wait for them to be married!

We did the traditional 1 present opened and Adam and his brothers exchanged gifts. The boys got their Christmas pj's! We enjoy going to the Raymond's so much. They are such a happy, loving family that you feel welcome and loved the second you get there!

We left cookies and milk for Santa and he left the boys a cute little note! The boys have had so much fun on Christmas break that I had to wake them up this year! I usually TRY to get them to sleep at least till 7 but they are usually up at 6. This year I woke up at 8 and they were still sound asleep. I enjoyed waking them up and seeing their eyes light up as they remembered it was Christmas Day!

The boys have done so good this year in getting along and with school. they have both worked so hard to keep A's in their classes. Santa has been watching and they got a bit spoiled this year! They got some "adult" presents - A new TV for their room, their own XBox 360, clothes, movies, games, candy and some Lego sets! They were so excited to get all their stuff set up and to play with everything.

As I look back over the year and all the memories we made it really makes so grateful and thankful that I was given my family! They bring me so much joy (and some frustrations :) ). I don't know how I would live without them!

Here are some pictures of the fun!











We hope you all had a great holiday! We love you all and hope for nothing but the best for your families in 2012!!

Family Pictures!

In October one of my friends, Kamie, took some family pictures for us. She did an amazing job! I loved how they all turned out. We'll definitely be using her from now on for all our professional shots!! Here's just a few of what we had done!









If anyone is interested in using her for pictures here is her information:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Touch-of-Fun-Photography/126190487447978