The 7 year Kitchen

We have been in our house for 7 years now. It has gone quickly and I can hardly believe we have been away from Montana for that long. Every 7 years (I actually thought it had been 8) but Colett corrected me), I get the itch to repaint, remodel, and renew. There are some things about the house that were done amazingly well such as the crown moulding, the cabinets, and the drywall installation. Other things ....not so well. The tile, the counter tops and the carpet were low grade and poorly installed. I got the chance to change that this month.

Wayne and I installed the new tile in the entry, but needed the pros to do the rest. We re-carpeted the upstairs, and then had new granite counter tops installed.

This is the new tile entry...

next to the new carpeting.

The stairway...

and the living room

With new counters came the need to do some plumbing. Wayne was trying to hook up the Insinkerator and found himself with a little helper. He couldn't seem do anything without a little hand giving him a wrench or a new part.

Here is the counter

The view from the opposite direction

The drawer bank by the stove

The counter by the fridge

Although this is not officially in the kitchen, it is right in the dining room. It's my antique side board and I felt it needed a topper so I had them make one for this too. Now it all flows together. I am also having a topper made for my antique dresser that used to be my Grandma Eyre's.

Yes, I am spoiled and happy to be so. The best part is, it's already paid for.

The next project is my craft room. I didn't have carpet put in there because I paint, sand, glitter, sew, glue, and everyting else in that room. I want Pergo that I can just sweep up or blot up when I need to. That will be the next project. Stay tuned. Right Wayne?..... Right?

We had two birthday dinners in a row. Mine and Nick's.

His was a big deal this year. Mine was not. He is now a teenager. 13 sounds so much older than 12 doesn't it?

He got a chocolate cake with fudge icing and mini chips on top. He did say that lemon is his favorite but I got that last week for my birthday. Maybe his Mom will make him two cakes, one for us and one just for him.

He got a cool new shirt from Wes, Amy and E

Is this one handsome kid? He is a good kid too. We love our young Nicholas.

His other gift was just cold, hard cash. That's what he wants as he is saving for some computer

program to play games with his friends.

Yes, he is happy to be turning into a teenager. His parents are a little dubious,

but they will eat the ice cream and cake anyway.

Happy 13th Nick!

Happy B-Day to Me 2010

I turned 59 this week. This has not been a good year as far as aging goes. This is a warning....at this age you will look in the mirror one day and see nothing, and the very next day you have eye wrinkles, neck wrinkles, yellowing teeth and your hair starts to fall out. How come the outside never reflects the me inside? I am glad that Wayne has to wear reading glasses now because he can't see my defects as well with his glasses off.

Have you ever tried to paint a face? When you are younger, it is harder to draw or do portraiture of those young faces because there are no lines or character in them. This year I have officially reached the character status. Do I care? Yes, a little. Who wants all those things? Does it bother me a lot? NO! I would prefer not having jowls or having to dye my roots so often, but in the scheme of things, it just doesn't matter that much yet. I will continue to use my moisturizer, pluck the extra hair out of my chin once in a while, spend money at Sally's beauty supply and wish I could fit in my high school jeans and yet not obsess about it. I try to eat healthy things, hope to ramp up the exercise and to continue to take my supplements. I don't want this body to wear out before it's time and despite my short comings, I really do love myself for who God made me to be. He gave me a great working body with a loving heart, a contrite spirit most of the time, my own special talents, and family and friends who care about me. How great is that?? I can smile.

Amy made me this beautiful handmade lace and floral card. Ahhhhh! Thanks Amy.

Oh, but here is the inside. We have a family joke that at Christmas Santa comes, at Easter the bunny comes and at your birthday, it's the birthday badger. Scary isn't it? And oh so funny at least in our minds. Tee hee!!

The attending grandchildren dog pile. Nick always gets the worst of it because he is always on the bottom.

My birthday hug.

Isabelle, Emerson and Mama Amy. Let the party begin!! Emerson LOVES ice cream just like his Mama, but it always gives him brain freeze and a cold throat so he cries while eating it but he won't stop.

Millie Moo, my youngest granddaughter and cutie patootie

Colett, my daughter and chef of the lemon birthday cake tradition
which is one of my favorite traditions.

Nick...my soon to be teenager (next week) grandson

Matt... my son-in-law and my personal computer tech

Wes, the sous chef and son -in-law

Top chef and birthday coordinator

It's always nice to have help blowing out the candles. We just put on 9... for the 9 years.

The extra 50 would have burned down the house.

Spring Fever

The reason I have spring fever... already

Can you blame me?

An Adventure

Wayne and I have been to a few of the large aquariums in the U.S and I just love them. Oh, how I would love to pet the dolphins, and frolic with the seals. We went to the largest one in the U.S. at the Mall of America and I was just fascinated when a whale or a sting ray would float over my head so closely that I felt like I could just reach up and touch it.

Photo Credit Lisa Vandenbiggelaar

Now this would be an adventure as long as I had a comfy mattress and someone to lift me up in the morning.

Sleepovers
A unique overnight adventure at the Vancouver Aquarium!
Sleeping with the belugas - an experience you'll never forget!

After everyone has gone home, and the Aquarium has closed its doors for the night, we invite you to join us for an exciting night of exploration! Stash your gear, meet your adventure leaders and get ready to explore the Aquarium through a variety of special activities, tours, presentations and guest speakers.
After a delicious evening snack, we head into our behind-the-scenes marine lab to continue on the second half of your adventure, where you can touch local invertebrates including live sea stars, sea urchins, anemones and more!
Bed down in front of one of the Aquarium's spectacular marine galleries. In the morning, after a calm continental breakfast, tour the Marine Mammal Deck and Amazon Free Flight Gallery as the Aquarium wakens for a new day.
The Aquarium offers two exciting and unique programs:
The Family Themed Programs are offered to the general public: families, adults, individuals and Aquarium members through a variety of special activities, presentations, tours and guest speakers based on that evening's theme (selected dates)
The Ecosystem Expedition Program is designed to meet a school-based curriculum and environmental badge requirements for Scouts and Guides. Fun-filled and interactive activities focusing on the various ways animals, plants and humans interact within each ecosystem (seven days a week)
Hugs and Fishes, A Valentine’s Sea-fari - Spend Valentine’s at the Vancouver Aquarium on Saturday February 13, 2010. No kids, no crowds! Just you, a few other couples, and 70,000 amazing animals.
To get started on your journey, please call (604) 659-3504 or e-mail us at: sleepovers@vanaqua.org.

From the Deseret News and KSL:

How do you describe ‘The Wondrous Gift of Christmas’ concert presented by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square which delighted the more than 84,000 people in the LDS Conference Center in Salt Lake City? Perhaps noted historian Pulitzer Prize winning guest artist David McCullough said it best. At the conclusion of the Sunday mini-concert, he noted that John Adams toward the end of his life was having a conversation with young Ralph Waldo Emerson who had been studying at Harvard. President John Adams looked at the young scholar and said that he would to God that there was more ambition in the land. By that, said Adams, I mean ambition of the laudable kind -- the ambition to excel, not to have more money or power or fame. “Excel” the more than 750 performers and technicians did. Natalie Cole said it was “Unforgettable.” And she would know. Clearly this year’s audiences were not only on the edges of their seats, they were on their feet applauding and cheering from the processional of 85 dancers early in the program to Richard Elliott’s organ solo of built on the theme of “Good King Wenceslas” to the finale with the Choir and Orchestra, bell ringers, a combined children’s choir of 140 singers in what has become the signature closing of Choir Christmas concerts: “Angels, from the Realms of Glory.” Soloist Natalie Cole thrilled the audience with her warmth, her admiration for the voices of her 360 “backup singers” and her presentation of the Biblical account of the birth of Jesus Christ. The setting was a bit different for David McCullough who is more used to book signings of his fine historical accounts than on an elaborate stage with enormous baubles suspended from the ceiling and trees lit behind him. The Choir is “a noble attainment,” he said comparing it to the likes of the Brooklyn Bridge – his written account of its construction is compelling – and the Marshall Plan. “I include the Choir as one of the proudest achievements of our country,” he said. “It is an expression of the human spirit for all.” .

I was able to get tickets for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's Christmas concert again this year. I felt so blessed. You are only allotted 4 tickets so Wayne, Colett, Amy and I decided to make a afternoon and night of it. The sons-in-law had to stay home and babysit this time. We drove to Sandy, ate an Italian dinner and then took the train into the big city. We had to wait about 15 minutes for the train because we had missed the first one by about a minute. The girls froze. Amy had on little cute shoes and Colett had on thin boots and even wore a dress. They looked mighty fine, but they also sacrificed their comfort and almost died from hypothermia to look that cute. We finally got on the train which dropped us off just a block from the temple and since it was a very cold night, that was a big plus. Our tickets were only "OK" but at 7:30, the people who had better tickets than ours, but hadn't shown up, lost their seats so we moved into their's. It ended up being a packed house so someone who was very late got our first seats. Let that be a lesson to you to always be on time. Last year we had very good seats but because of sitting in traffic for over an hour, we lost ours.

That's why we took the train this year.

You are not supposed to take pictures once the concert starts

so we have a few of what the conference center looks like before.

Colett's feet just would not warm up so her Daddy took off his nice warm shoes and let Colett wear them for a while. What a good father he is. He has always spoiled his daughters.

The orchestra warming up

Beautiful music and lots of Christmas spirit so I REALLY hope we get tickets again next year.

Christmas 2009

Everyone has to have a Christmas posting don't they? I will have a few different Christmas posts, but I will start here.

This is actually the "end of Christmas" pictures and I will work my way back to the beginning of the Christmas season on my next posts. Christmas morning and gifts are actually the anticlimax to my Christmas joy, although they are very nice.

Wayne's new jammies

I tried my hand at an origami money tree for Amy instead of giving her a gift card . I was not too successful, and I don't plan to start doing it as my new favorite hobby. I just don't get it most of the time. I can't follow folding instruction pictures.

Nick was thrilled with his new video game box and cool hoodie.

It's tool time for Amy

Millie is the maternal one and got a baby doll and a Fur Real puppy.

Isabelle opens a new Fashionista Barbie Doll

Colett got a new sweater and (the oh so coveted) gift cards.....Nordstrams, here she comes.

Amy is the tool girl this year as her list included a sander along with her set of tools. Better follow her craft blog and see what see makes this year.

Amy's H is for Handmade

I got a new over-night bag. Now I need to go somewhere over-night to use it. Are you listening Wayner?

Colett and Isabelle try to get to the bottom of that pile of goodies.

Isabelle admitted that she got spoiled. She must have been VERY good this year.

Take a close look at this little face and guess what Millie got for Christmas?

Santa knew that there was a construction foreman staying at our home.

How much did we enjoy Christmas? You be the judge!