Our crazy new dog

So from my last post you all know we have a puppy. Her name is Roxie. House training is in full swing as well as the usual sit, stay, down etc. She is a work in progress but likes to please!

Happy New Year!!

It has been awhile since I posted so here are a few pictures of what has been going on for the last few months.


Here is our new dog. It is a boxer just like our last one. We liked her so much we went with the same breed again. Her name is not Maya that is just the name the breeder gave her till we pick one out. We get to pick her up on the 24th of Jan.

I went on a deer hunt the first part of Dec. The first few days were very foggy, then it cleared off and was too good of weather for hunting. (no snow)

Here I am waiting for that perfect shot opportunity....too bad I cant hit what I aim at!! Oh well more practice needed for next year.

We got a lot of snow the last few weeks of December. I didn't keep a running total but I know we got well over 2 feet total.

The kids loved it!

Halloween Neighborhood Kids Party

Hunter got the apple! After the kids were done that water was nasty looking!!!

Miranda being mummified!! Scary!!

Here's our play group! Very lucky to have so many kids in our neighborhood!

October Challenge Swim Meet at Aquatic Center

Best Buds Forever!!

Miranda on the block ready to dive

My cute pumpkins

Tme for an update

Most of the interior work is finally done and we can now park one car in the garage!! Just in time for the rainy season.

We decided to get a gas fire insert as opposed to a wood fireplace. It will be much easier to flip a switch instead of going out and cutting down a tree for heat! We plan on having that installed sometime next month.

This is our closet in the downstairs hallway.

Busy Days

Finally, the painting is (mostly) done! Our garage door is in! And we don't live in the brown lincoln log house anymore......Thanks to wonderful family and friends who helped!!!

The only camping we got done this summer was on our back deck! And Mom thought it would get cold so we had every blanket and comforter from the house on us and we were hot all night!! But it was great fun and the kids had a ball! I went back in the house and snuck in my own bed at 7a.m.!!!

The only pic I got of Miranda not hiding under the covers!

Hunter is playing shy with a book while camping on our deck!

I am going to attempt to update our Blog and I am sure Joel will change it soon!!! Kids are off to their new school! Wade King Elementary!

Wow 2 posts in 2 weeks...a record!

After many years this old house needed a face lift. We had all the paint ready but just needed some decent weather to finally paint.

Saturday morning started very grey with low overcast. I got out of bed at 7:00am thinking I was going to get a head start on painting...not so. I looked outside and promptly went back to bed. 9:00 came around and I tried it again. This time the weather looked a bit more promising. Dad showed up to help around 9:45 and by 1:30 I was spraying paint. (Notice the nice new garage door? This one actually goes up and down all by itself!)

By the look of me, the house wasn't the only thing getting painted!!

Ok another update.

I finally got around to jackhammering my garage floor out so we can get a new door put in that actually works. What a job, 2 full days my neighboors really liked me I am sure. The people that poored the previous one made it about 10"-14" thick. That was a real pain.

Now is all in my front yard!!

What a lame blogger I am

Well I signed in for the first time in just over a month. This is the first time I have been able to sit in my house at my computer and update everybody on what has been going on.





First things first. Yes we moved in to our house. I think it was mid march but it is all just a bit hazy now.





We went to Palm Springs for a well earned vacation for 11 days.





We finally got the downstairs carpet in so now the downstairs is livable.





Miranda has done so well in swimming lessons that she got a spot on the Bellingham Bay swim team. They are pretty hard core, 5 days a week 4:30 to 5:45 pm. She absolutely loves it. I was a nervous wreck when she had tryouts for the team. She had to swim 25 yards (the distance of the lap pool) without stopping doing the breast stroke, then again freestyle, and once again on her back. I must not have paid much attention to her in lessons because she did it like a pro!





And last but not least, Cheryls boss had to have a heart transplant after a major heart attack 3 weeks ago. This has kept her very busy at work trying to keep all the loose ends together.















Since no blog posting is really complete without a picture, this is a great shot of my family in the desert. I have no idea what we were looking for maybe a flower, a lost coin or perhaps a gold nugget. Who knows, but I thought is was a great random picture.

Fun in the sun

We have finally taken a vacation!!!! 3 1/2 years of school followed by almost 10 months of remodel and we decided to go to Palm springs for 11 days. I will post pictures when we get home. We made it to Legoland, Seaworld and the San Diego Wild Animal Park with lots of relaxation in between.

Sorry for the delay...I'm just a little busy here...

Welcome to our grand entry!!! The new front door and windows really helped out with looks as well as making that landing feel much bigger than it is. I no longer feel a draft when I walk by the front door!!

I ended up having to completely sheetrock the entire basement (many thanks to Mom, Dad and Cheryl who helped me get it all ready to texture!!)as well as plumb in a bathroom/laundry room and add 10 can lights. I have no idea why people 30 years ago thought a basement room only needed 2 lights. With 2 lights, a nice dark red shag carpet and cedar walls this basement was like a dungeon, the spiders loved it. Mice evidently did as well, we pulled 8 dead ones out of the walls as we cleaned it up.

We ended up going with a very similar setup downstairs as we did up stairs. French doors with windows on either side. This really added a lot more natural light in as well. After all this we now have a basement that I can live with. After all this we can possibly move in by mid February. Jason has offered to help me put the rest of the flooring down in the bedrooms. I am half way done with the slate entry and laundry room. Once all the flooring is down and the stair rail is complete we will get to move in!!!

UW vs. Cal State

Kitchen is almost done! Thanks to Steve who
hooked us up to gas!!

Living room with new stair rail

Guest bathroom that now has 7 different colors

underneath this beautiful color!!!

The basement with the new french doors!!

Thanks Gerald for all your help!!!

Trick or Treating in Fairhaven

AArrrrrgggghhhhh, me matey.... watch out for these tricksters or you might get webbed or have to walk the plank...

WE'RE GETTING THERE....

Look what my husband can do... The kids love skating on it and I just love looking at it!!!

Kids, Cabinets and Slate...check!!

Guess who is about sick of working on the house!?!

This is where the kids play & fight while we race to get the house done!

Finally!! It looks like we are actually making progress! We've got slate with lots of character!

This is the kind of thing my husband is capable of! Quite impressive! Maybe someday I will be able to use this kitchen....

Tme for Cabinets

Well here they sit all ready to go. Unfortunately the corner base cabinet arrived broken so a new one is on its way. It wont be here till next wed. so I will have to work around that until the new one arrives. It is really too bad I cant just snap my fingers and have it all done.

I needed to lay some of them out and get a game plan for this little task.

Here is a look at the first 2 cabinets in place. Now just 14 more to go!!!

Happy B-day to ME!!!

Well, I turned 36 on Saturday...wow, now I feel really OLD!! Cheryl got me an ice cream cake from Cold Stone Creamery and was that ever good. Of course as soon as the festivities were over we were back down to the house for more work. I think we just might be in by Christmas!!! On one good note the kitchen cabinets are going to be delivered on Friday. That will be a huge step towards moving. Cheryl and I both agreed that without a kitchen we are not going to move in!!!

Here is another shot of the living room all painted. The walls just need a little touching up by the ceiling and it will be done.


While I was gone hunting last week (I had a good time but didn't shoot anything) Cheryl cleaned the entire upstairs. Some how I have managed to cart all my tools and supplies back up stairs where they are all in the way again!

The Kitchen now just needs cabinets and a floor...OK counter tops and appliances would be nice as well

This is how the bathroom walls are shaping up. It might be a tad bit extreme but I really like it. It will be interesting how it looks with the floor and vanity in place.