The house has paint:)

After many sleepless night, we finally decided on a paint color for the house. Seriously, stuff like this shouldn't make you lose sleep, but, sadly, it did, because I am not gifted in this area. And, when you're doing something like this, you have no one to blame but yourself if it turns out looking ugly. The pressure is ON people!

We were deciding between a really dusty gray/blue, and a more taupe gray. I had to face reality that we are not living on the New England coast, so we chose the gray that would fit the surroundings a little better. What do you think?







We are so excited for this to be over! I had high hopes for the summer, of spending every day in endless fun with the children, but we ended up spending quite a bit of time doing some work at the house(mixed in with a few trips to the lake, of course!)




We painted sealant on all the soffets to save us a little cash-Shawn always works with a smile on his face:) And he whistles.



The girls would pass the time plugged in or digging in the many dirt piles outside.




Well....I smiled, too, when we were all done!


We had three birthdays to celebrate, too. Rachel, the day before school was over, and Kate and I in July.



The cake is a dogbone...not one of my best, but a hit with the birthday girl.



Kate turned two! I can't believe how that girl is growing, but she is still my snuggle bug.





We (meaning me) somehow slipped in doing a little birthday shopping, so the girls wrapped up some toys we had in the far reachings of the toy box and Kate never knew the difference...



Someday, she may hold it against me, but for now, I'm still okay with her:)



Shawn was birthday cake chef for me, and made me a favorite.....



Very serious work. We've had that blue bowl since our wedding. It will never die.



When it finally got warm enough to play in the water, the girls took full advantage:
(By the way, the weather people measure summer by how many days there are over 80 degrees, and by the end of July we had 72 minutes of summer....yippee! Welcome to life in the Northwest!)












We also took a trip to SLC for a college reunion and were able to see our dear family, too! We met Baby Kohl, just days old...



So cute! As are all of our adorable nephews and nieces! We were so happy to see them and visit with grandparents, too!




We got to spend some time at Temple Square which is always a highlight for me. I marvel at the sacrifices people made to travel so far and build a temple. I feel so good there, it's hard to leave.



And, of course, our annual trip to Twin Lakes-always a highlight. And the weather was superb!






All of the cousins were playing with this crawdad-so brave!



They also went off a rope swing. I was surprised at Rachel's "no fear" attitude. You go girl!
She went a little lower to try it upside down:)







Brooke is ready for take-off!






I love you Katie-Boo!

The kids have started in their new school, and we are in the final stretch to get this house finished. This week, we'll be choosing tile, carpet, hardwood, and lights. My brain hurts. More updates to come, but for now, I'm going nighty-night!

house update, bird watching, and photo shoot

Just thought I'd post a few pics of the house. They have the inside framed and are now working on the roof. It's becoming more of a reality everyday. Very exciting:)







Umm....we didn't realize it would be so tall. Luckily the neighbors below us look out the opposite direction, otherwise we would feel even more guilty about destroying the lovely hillside they look at before. Anyhoo-it is what it is. Here is what will be the front entrance:



And the kitchen (with the back stairs). My dream come true:)



Here are some cuties we took home with us:



A photo shoot with Kate-I still have yet to learn how this camera works:








A robin decided to take a rest and let the girls get so close to it. You can't create moments like that.

Happy Spring.....

...or so says the calendar. We're all wrapped in blankets, drinking hot cocoa and staring at the rain coming down in buckets. But such is life here in the Great Northwest.

This blog posting thing is turning into a bi-annual event, so sorry to all of you around the country who wait with great anticipation for the next post. I shall be better. We have been busy with life and all of its excitement-building a new house has taken up most of our brain capacity, but I know a lot of you are interested in seeing some pics-so here is little sampling of what's going on...



First of all, this is what the property looked like last summer when we purchased it. It was very hard to picture putting a house there, but then it looked like this:




then this:



and now this:





As of this weekend, they had the basement framed and were beginning to lay the floor for the main floor. It's all very exciting and we can't wait for it to come together. Every Saturday we head up there to check the progress and the girls are calling it our "tradition". Heaven forbid we miss a Saturday, but we love to go and see what's been done. We buried a fruit snack in the corner of what will be the front porch-why? Just for the sheer thrill-or at least it was to Kristina. Maybe we'll get a fruit snack tree next summer, wouldn't that be a treat:). Just so you know-minimal trees lost their lives during the land clearing, but many a sticker bush and bunny have had to find new homes. We did burn 2 or 3 pretty good sized piles of debris-here is Rachel standing on the top of one:



Some other random pics of the kids playing:





And this one just because it's cute:



I love this guy....



We were married 12 years ago yesterday..wowza! Ne'r a cross word shared between us. Well, okay, maybe just a few...but I am the luckiest girl in the world!!!

Oh-and it was Brooke's birthday last week-she is seven! She had a tea party-very girly and very fun. They decorated hats and drank out of real tea cups and each girl took home her very own mini tea set in a little box.(Thanks Julie-for helping them look so cute!) I think I had more fun getting ready for it than the actual party.















Much love to all of you out there-I'll try not to stay away so long:)