Fun Trip...

We're back from California and we had a great time. The wedding was beautiful and we got to see practically ALL of our old and very dear friends from our Corona ward (we lived there for 15 years). We had a very enjoyable "road trip", stopping in the middle of nowhere for Stacy to shoot his gun at some targets he had brought along, and, of course: Tommy's! We have loved Tommy's chili hamburgers since we were teenagers and would stop at the original stand in a scary part of L.A. on the way home from the L.A. Temple. Seriously, at the original stand, armed guards patrol the parking lot, alongside the limos and fancy cars, as well as the regular cars - good food for everyone! Here is Stacy, enjoying a pepper with his chili fries. We stopped there on the way there and back - delicious!


It was great to see my sisters and their families and my parents. The weather was beautiful and Stacy got 18 holes of golf in, so he was happy about that. We also spent the night in Logandale with Jeff and Deanna on the way home (more shooting for Stacy) and had a nice visit there too. Now, back to the house and back to work! (Up until midnight last night painting - will post pics later today or tomorrow).

I'm Outta Here!

Thankfully we are leaving town for a few days tomorrow. We are leaving poor Shane here, holed up in the basement, the only place that is merely covered with dust, not filled with displaced belongings.

The new kitchen: (It's gotta get better soon, right?)

Yes, that's the fridge wedged into the entryway, blocking the front door on the left:

The great thing is that when we get back, the pantry and closet will be ready for me to fill up with many, many of the items that are currently residing all over the house!!! The other fantastic thing is that the drywall dust is over, now that the painting is happening - so - when I dust something, it will now stay dusted - more or less.

Here is the fabulous new pantry - Yes, that's 6 shelves, plus the floor!!!Note the place for the electrical outlet that will power my can opener, an unsightly appliance I enjoy...

The puppet show theater is no more:

Before:

After: (sort of)

This will hold all of my scrapbooks and more! Hooray!

Ready for the "Round Robin"...

Finished up this bad boy this morning (while virtuously doing laundry):

I can't wait to see what the finished quilt will look like!

On the Design Wall, etc...

This is what is currently on my design wall. These will be "raggy flowers", after I applique on stems and leaves. It will be the center block of my "round robin" quilt that I am doing with my bee this spring. Everyone makes a center block, then each month, we pass our block around to each other and put a border on the quilt center we receive. This happens for 4 months, then we get our quilt back with our original center block, but now it has 4 different borders on it from 4 of our friends. I'll be sure to post it when it's all finished.
On the kitchen remodel - 2 hours and a quite a few dollars at Lowe's this morning and we are now getting all new appliances!!! Very exciting! Danny will be painting next week, so hopefully more to show soon.

Hey, Everybody, It's Family Night...

FHE Activity - sanding the stair rail! Shane tried to get out of it, but he finally agreed to help. Becca was quite willing. Stacy sanded lots of posts, and took this picture. I'm glad it's done...now to sand the other stuff.

The brick work is done (Cement stairs will be poured under the door), now we just continue to wait for the drywall guy and the cabinets.

P.S. The chaos is starting to get to me, that is why we wait about 2 years between remodeling projects, it takes me that long to forget how bad it is!

Progress?

The puppet show theater is no more-

First coating of the drywall "taping" done today. Even though it is very exciting to get some more work done, it is kind of messy to actually "live in". (We did order our new front door today too! Very cute - "craftsman style". )

The kitchen is completely "out"...

Today Danny and crew finished getting all of the cabinets out, re-working the floor, and dry-walling the "puppet show theatre". It is looking great, although I am starting to feel like the rest of the house is closing in on me - so much of our stuff is "displaced". Also, there was a small problem of a FLOOD in the basement while the guys were taking out the sink. (disclaimer: Danny wasn't here at the time). So, I am washing lots of extra towels, throwing away some stuff that we didn't really need that has been stored in the basement since we moved here and re-washing and re-packing clothes that were in boxes that got wet. All the suitcases got wet too, so they are propped up with a heater blowing on them - argh!

P.S. The outside steps are totally torn out too!