I almost cried!

So I stopped by the house on the way home from work today (which I never do) and I screamed! I don't know if there is anyway to get my excitement across in this post, but I will try by using A LOT of exclamation points!!!!! I went to Clyde and Normas and made Mike go back to the house with me to share in all the joy!

I present to you . . . . . Our Kitchen!! Complete with cabinets and floor!! I love it! I love it! I love it! I love it!

Kitchen with "Breakfast Nook"

And yes, I am still insanely excited that I will now have a laundry room - and here it is! (weird picture, I know, but its a hard one)

Can't wait for you all to see it in person!!

Weekly Update

I know you have all been dying to see what has happened at the house in the last week! Painters have been over for a visit :) It was very cool to see the paint with the "high hide white" contrast (I love that name).
I am trying to take the same pictures when we visit to show the progress in each room. Today was a very exciting change and um yeah . . . I am ready to move in! It is amazing how much more it feels like a home now - I just wanna see our stuff in it.

Mike will never be in the pictures - I was glad to get this one. That opening is the doorway that leaves the garage.

Here is the house prepped for stucco! If you look up at the window of the soon to be office there is an advertisement for the stucco company. It says "we will get you plastered." Mike and I thought it was pretty funny.

OK so this is a call out to anyone who knows anything about houses or construction.

This is our backyard.

Mike and I noticed this large piece of equipment and trench about a week ago. WHAT ARE THEY DOING? It seems very bizarre to us and we are hoping that some of you could share your knowledge --- Thanks!

Requested Recipe

Today my nephew Dallin was baptised and I was asked to make dessert.

Cindy Gilmore introduced me to my new favorite recipe blog which is http://www.mykitchencafe.blogspot.com/ so I decided to try something new. I made the "Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake Bars" and they were a big hit! Many people asked me for the recipe (which is SUPER easy) so I thought the link would be more fitting.

Enjoy!

Oh Happy Day!

Here is your weekly update in our home building process :) VERY EXCITING - During today's walk through, there was heat in the house because the drywall and mudding was done! It was super cool to see the actual layout of the rooms, hallways, etc. February 24th is looking more and more realistic!

This is the front door and the stairs up to Mike's office (the bonus room)

The top of those same stairs, and as much of the office as I could fit in the picture

I know this is a weird picture, but I was excited to show the layout of this hallway. Starting at the left of the picture is hall bathroom, closet, extra bedroom, extra bedroom, and laundry room. I was standing in the doorway of the master bedroom when I took this picture

These pictures are of the garage. I took them showing the door in both so you could see the ridiculous size of this thing! (I really am kidding, we need the room.)

Here is the outside picture - Now with brick, yeah!

Moving Right Along

We went to visit the house again today. It is looking really good! You can see sheet rock in most of these pictures, hopefully that is going in soon.

Here is a picture of the soon to be kitchen. I love that you can see where the lights are going to be. The drain you can see in the picture is for the island. Also, we were told they are doing the cabinets on February 3rd!

Another picture of Mikes "man cave." Here is the entrance from the stairs - This room is really cool, and incredibly difficult to take a picture of!

This is a picture of all the cable that Mike pulled - what a hard worker!

Look - The roof is done!! Also, you will notice another counter has appeared. We have been given an estimated completion date of February 24th! I know I should expect delays, but I am me, so I am counting down to that day (cross your fingers!)

Mexi-Feast (2008)

Oops - I am a little behind on this post . . . . . . oh well. Anyway, every year Mike's family gets together for their traditional "Mexi-feast". (By the way that means we get together, eat Mexican Food, play the candy bar game, and do a pinata). I am not really sure how it started, but I know they have been doing it for quite a while. My favorite part about it is getting to see a bunch of Mike's cousins (who I quite enjoy) that we don't get to hang out with often enough.

This is Mike's Dad (Clyde) and Uncle (Lynn) hmmmmm - can you tell they are brothers??

I love this picture because Halle is known for not liking me. When I pick her up it is quickly followed by screaming and tears. She isn't smiling, but we will work on that next :)

These are pictures from the candy bar game - I didn't know what this was until I married into this family. You sit everyone in a circle and put a bunch of candy bars in the middle. Pass around 2 dice (and a bowl helps) and each person rolls. Roll a 7 or 11 and you get to take a candy bar - (doubles rolls again). You go round and round until all the candy bars are gone. BTW - when you get a candy bar you should hide it somehow because once the candy bars are gone you keep rolling for 3 minutes and if you get a 7 or 11 you can steal candy from other people. Trick is you have to know who has what candy. After 3 minutes are up, you keep the candy you have. As you can imagine, there are typically tears, but it is always a good time and part of the tradition. (Don't steal from your own family!!)

This picture is after Sam got his first candy bar. See how his mouth is kindof an "o"? He is saying "open it" -- he wanted his chocolate and had no more interest in the game. I loved it!

Here are some pictures of the annual pinata. Poor Spiderman wasn't staying attached very well and this was the result!

I had a fun night and I am excited to see all the kids grow up with this tradition!

And Now . . . . 2009

Happy New Year Everyone!

I am VERY excited it is 2009 because I can now say "I am moving into our new house this year!!" I always had to say 'next year' until today, and it makes it feel much closer. Here are some pictures from our visit to the house today. Yeah!

Probably hard to tell, but the opening on the left is the front door, the stairs going up are to the bonus room (Mikes' office, which has already been named "his man cave"), below the stairs going up are the stairs to the basement, and across from those stairs is the door to the garage. I am excited that it really looks like a house now!

Here is the back of the house. One bump out is the master bedroom and the other is the "breakfast nook". Below the one bump out is the door out of the basement to the backyard (we are very excited about that)

Starting to come together huh?