Mirian's Traveling Antics

We just got home from our quick weekend trip to Cali. It was a long drive but totally worth it. We got to attend Jeff and Marlena's ring ceremony and the baby blessing of their little boy Shade Vivaldi Carter. Pictures while in Cali to come when we aren't exhausted.

However, Mirian LOVES to do a few little things when she travels.

1. Play peek a boo
2. Love her baby
3. Make animal sounds (all the sounds are a roar so we ask her to make the sounds of any animal that roars, LOL)

Unfortunately, we only got video of the first two, but the good news is, we got video of the first two!!!!! The videos were only taken from Russ' phone so the quality isn't great, but it's enough to make you smile. Enjoy!!!!!!

Trip to Oregon

We just got back from a weekend trip to Oregon. We left on Friday morning and drove all the way to Yamhill, OR. Russ has a cherry supplier there, so he got to tour the plant, while Mirian and I played outside. Afterward, we took his client out to dinner. Mirian was so good the whole time!

The next day, we met up with Russ' brother Dennis and his wife Hannah, and their three adorable children. We had breakfast with them at the hotel and then we headed out for the beach! It was Mirian's first time at the beach, and she was pretty unsure about the whole thing. We had a great time though, even if it was a little chilly.






After lunch, Hannah and I did some power shopping at the nearby outlets. I needed to get Mirian some fall clothes and we only had 1 hour to shop. Thanks Hannah! You were awesome. We then hurried back to the hotel to get cleaned up and got ready for my cousin Sydney's wedding reception. It was fun to see Syd and her new husband. They are the cutest couple!!

After the reception, we played games with Dennis and Hannah all night, and then continued the games on Sunday until it was time to go. On the way home, we stopped in Portland and had dinner with our sis-in-law Olivia and her two kids. We had a great trip, even though it was short.

New Blog

Well Russ has enjoyed the benefit of having a blog. It's a great journal opportunity and it shares family experiences and pictures with everyone who wants to enjoy it.

That being said, Russ has decided to start yet ANOTHER blog. However, Russ has also delegated Emily to keep it updated. It is just barely in the beginning stages so it is definitely rough around the edges . . . . . and in the middle.

The new blog will be a journal of Home Remodels. It will also serve as a help to those looking to do work on their own homes (maybe we do something that gives an idea) and vice-a-versa. If people have ideas, they can throw them out and maybe help us create our home. It will also stand as a way to monitor our goals and timing on the remodels that we do. Finally, it will act as a sales tool (I said tool) when selling this home as potential buyers can take a look at what we've done and see the befores and afters.

Have a look at the new blog and fill free to pitch in on thoughts and ideas of how to set up the blog and possible polls that we could run. We are VERY open to suggestions. Feel free to share the blog with friends as the more that look at the blog, the more thoughts and ideas we can get for our home remodel. Check it out!!!!!

Matthew Robinson/Kitchen Cabinetry

This post is dedicated to Matthew Robinson and our kitchen Cabinetry.

What a good man and friend Matthew is to us!!!! Many have offered and tried to work out a time to come help put together kitchen cabinetry, but always scheduling conflicts come up with each others' schedules. Matthew Robinson has twice been able to come help put together cabinetry. He is SUPER busy with school, work, family, etc. I mean this guy does homework ALL HOURS OF THE NIGHT, practically every day of school. But he found some time for us. Thanks for all your help Matthew!!!! I wish we'd have taken a picture with you working on cabinetry so we could prove to everyone that you do actually work . . . . .

The cabinets come from the shop like this.
You open the box and this is what you see.



You pull out the VERY underdetailed "Assemble Literature". This one below is actually very detailed compared to some. One set of instructions literally said for one of the steps, "Assemble all the pieces". They are horrendous.

Below are two of the finished cabinets. One of them is a Base Corner piece with two lazy-susans and the other is a 3-drawer base cabinet.

So far, this is our stack of cabinetry. It's going to look great once we assemble it all into the kitchen which appears to be taking place over Christmas break. Can't wait!!!!!

Thanks again for your help Matthew!!!!!!

Dog Sitting

As you know, we love dogs. We love cats too, but this post is about dogs. Russ' sister-in-law Melanie's parents are in town and they brought their puppy. The family wanted to do a small two day trip together and asked if we would dog sit their puppy Gretchen. Gretchen is such a sweet mild mannered and very obedient puppy, especially for her age. She is only 18 months. Maced has loved having a friend around to play with. Maced is 6 years old and so even though she still has lots of energy, she has calmed down considerably. But Gretchen is even more behaved than Maced.

It was fun having Gretchen around. Here is a photo of Maced and Gretchen (the puppy) being so well behaved.
Oh and by the way, Gretchen is 90 lbs and is a Bernese Mountain Dog. She (at 18 months) dwarfs Maced (at 6 years). She is a little skinny for her breed. Skinny is not bad, but average for her breed at this age is about 105 lbs. Maced weighs about 50-55 lbs.

Happy Anniversary to My Sweetheart!!!!

Today we celebrate 9 years of being married!!!!!! Woot!!!! One more year and we will be "an old married couple".

Emily is such a sweetheart and has been wonderful to me!!!!

She's quirky, which is absolutely perfect for me.

She puts up with my stupid obsession.

And she's creative!!!!And she puts up with my strange desire to move out of a home right after we finish it.

I love you Emily!!!!! Can't wait for our cruise!!!!

Mirian Walks!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay so it's sideways, and poor quality because it's from Russ' phone, but here it is, the first ever video of Mirian walking!!!!! Woot!!!! Way to go Monkey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We love you Mirian!!!!!