Justin & Jamie

Finally, dust free!

2011-12-14T12:42:00.000-07:00

Our kitchen finally got completed a few days before Thanksgiving. And as promised.... here are some before and after pics. I absolutely love how it turned out. It's just "so me". Everything about it! I guess since I chose everything, it should be "so me" right? ahha! Anyways....

Here is the kitchen before an over the range microwave was installed, and before any can lighting was put in.

This is what it looked like when we bought the house. Different paint, new counters, and an over the range micro added. Sad that my mom did all these upgrades to help sell the home, and I ended up buying it and ripping everything out. Yes, that makes me a brat. The can lighting we installed made a HUGE difference. It made everything look better.

Are you ready to fall in LOVE???

This is what it looks like today:

Some people may not be a fan of this... but I LOVE LOVE LOVE the distressing that was done on the creamish cabinets. It's yet again "so me."

So let's refresh your memory:

Before:

After:

And now that all the work is done, and the dust is gone... I can finally say "THAT WAS WORTH IT!"

Whats next?? NOTHING!

Come spring-- I'll transform more of the yard. But for now... I'm good to do nothing! haha!

While I'm at it...

My honey and I celebrated 10 years of marriage November 10th! Crazy huh!

And Buddy Boy grew a mullet!

That's about it for now! I'll put some more before and afters on my blog in the future- the house is pretty much all transformed to my liking, so once I get around to taking some after pics... I'll share! Now... onto Christmas!!

Got Dust?? We do!

2011-11-03T12:13:00.002-06:00

This is what we have been doing the past couple of weeks. Are we crazy? If we aren't at the moment, it may turn into that!

My kitchen sink full of dusty insulation.

Welcome to our current kitchen.

(the garage)

I didn't realize how much I'd miss a kitchen sink till I took ours out. We are going on 2 weeks now without a full kitchen. And it's looking like another 2 weeks until our counters are set. FUN! ;)

The starting of the demolition of our kitchen.

Ripping out the drop ceiling..

Tile removal.

My mom plucking staples from the wood sub floor. We had to remove all the scraggly staples that were from the tile underlayment. I scooted around on my butt for probably a good 20 hours prying up and plucking staples. At one point in time I started crying because out of everything, for some reason that sucked the most. It seemed like it was never going to end. haha... Why do I do this to myself??

Here is the staple bucket. Hard to tell how many staples there is but I'm positive there are at least 234982374023948203948203948239487324098230492384987 staples in this bucket, and at this point I was only about half done.

The final cabinet removal. Goodbye old kitchen!

You think your blinds are dusty? I *hope I have you beat on that. hahah..

The last of the prep work for wood floors. Sanding the uneven edges.

DANGER!

This is how you do it.

Load all the garbage. Take it to the dump....

....and then let the trailer unload it for you! It's the only way to go!

Time to paint the molding! Our neighbors probably think we are insane!

And since we aren't crazy enough just ripping out the kitchen we decided to rip out all the flooring and molding in the whole main floor (other then our bedroom). So... if you look into my house it currently looks like we are hoarders.

We are at the tail end of this remodel... finally! The only thing we are waiting on is the countertops. Once those have been installed I'll post some before and afters. It's gonna look amazing and I'm so excited! For now... here are some sneak peaks...

Cabinets:

Flooring:

I love love love how everything is looking!!

Anyways- back to work!

2011-11-03T11:14:00.000-06:00

Family photoshoot.

It doesn't hurt to have such photogenic subjects

Blurry Tag

My daddio

Julie and I even got in some pictures. We didn't plan on that. But I'm glad we snapped some. I don't have many pics of just Julie, my dad and I.

Gotta love having a sister that is 9 years younger then you. Sure can make you look old! I told Julie that when I looked at this picture I thought- wow, Julie.... this is what you'll look like in 9 years. haha!

Halloween

2011-11-03T10:56:00.000-06:00

Pumpkin Carving night... aren't they cute??

We don't do scary here.. haha

Sometimes I wonder if my mom is okay in the head.... hahaha...

Julie and Payton's costume. I can't stop laughing at Paytons mustache. Looks like roadkill. He said his costume was children's costume. Size "husky" hahah.. They always have the best costumes.

The Seattle kidlets.

My mom as the extreme home makeover electrician.

Don't be jealous of her stache.

Kaizley and Dawson were good sports and let me wrap them up in mummies.

Cool pic huh? However the "fire" look happened who knows!

This is as good as my costume got. haha..

I can't believe October has came and went!

I hope everyone had a fabulous halloween!

BOO!

Summer Happenings Part 1

2011-10-18T15:04:00.002-06:00

In July my mom treated us to a family vacation to the Oregon Coast. Our beach house was in Manzanita, Oregon. It was way fun! Doesn't happen very often that my whole family is together so it was a really nice vacation! We had a ton of fun, and we hope that we can make that a yearly tradition.

Astoria, Oregon

Astoria Column. This is the highest point in Astoria. Amazing views. You can go to the top of the column by going up 146 steps. Pretty dizzy hike up to the top, but it was funny. I hiked up with Kaizley... She was so funny, she just kept laughing because you couldn't tell how much further you had to go. You just kept going around and around and around, and then bam.. you were at the top.

At the top of the column.

Haystack Rock

Cute little Kaizley

My mom, being the traveler she is, decided to take us on a little road trip... for what? None other then PIG RACES. Yes... you heard right pig races at a county fair. We pulled into the parking lot, paid to get in, and almost missed the very event we went there for. But, we made it in the nick of time and it was so funny!

Aren't we attractive?? Gotta love this pic! Especially my moms hair! hahahah!

This is Gibson looking for Grandma Chris. He was out on the beach for like an hour looking for something, I went out to see what he was doing and he was really concered about Grandma and was looking for her. (she was walking on the beach.) Little Gibson, such a sweet heart.

Miss Kaizley

The amazing beach house!

Dawson writing his name in the sand

Kaizley was pretty proud. She found the first star fish.

Sexy Sexy Justin

Ellie Bell. See her hands? Her hands were like this 99% of the time. She hated sand on her hands.

Ellie must love to sit like this on Justin's shoulders. Doesn't look very comfy to me!

Tillamook Cheese Factory. Gibson's the driver!

Silly Cousins!

Ellie was so cold one day. I put my coat on her and she just stood there, like a sad little girl. She's so funny.

Since she was so cold she refused to walk, so Grandma carried her.

She thought it was pretty funny, obviously...

Proud of my man! He ran his first 5k while in Oregon... in the sand!

The Seaside Beach Run

The runners

I faced a huge fear of mine. HORSES. I used to love riding horses, but for some reason I got really scared of them. Like, I don't even like to drive next to one in a car. They could KILL you so easy. Julie and my mom really wanted to go on a horse ride, and they couldn't pass up a ride on the beach. I drove them to the meeting spot, and they ended up talking me into it. I was SCARED TO DEATH! But, now that I am over that fear, I'd for sure do it again. It was AMAZING to ride a horse on the beach. Very relaxing even though I was so nervous that the horse was going to go bazurk on me. I survived though!

Don't you love how this picture makes me look HUGE, and Justin look small? I sure don't! hahah!

Marshmellow Guns

The girls, minus Jeri and Kaizley

Of course I've got to squeeze in some flower pics!

Seaside Aquarium:

Interesting looking creature huh?

Hot Tub fun!

Payton using his bottle cap opener that was on the bottom of his shoe. haha.

Don't I seriously have the cutest nieces??

Can't have to many camera's!

Thanks Oregon for the fun memories! We'll be back!

Until next time....
Summer Happenings Part 2-- previous post...

2011-10-18T14:13:00.000-06:00

Summer Happenings Part 2

My little Wids. Bad hair day and all... and still the cutest little thing...

Wellsville Founders Run

Sand Dunes!

We wish Gibson and Ellie lived closer. It fun when they visit and can play with the cousins.

Razor Rides! Gibson loves the razor!

So does Ellie!

Do you like her beauty mole? ahha.. It's actually a scratch. Looks like a big mole!

Had to take advantage of a sunny day with sunflowers!

Willow Park with the cousins!

Little Monkeys...

Bear Lake RV park...

Kaizley giving Ellie a ride on her four wheeler. Such a good little driver!

Cosmic Bowling!

Gibson got a glow in the dark mustache, he thought it was pretty cool.

Sleepover with the cousins!

They had to much fun!

One last Razor ride!

Davis Family Reunion:

Lounging on the grass with Wids:

Us.

Lovely summer sunsets

Muddy Razor Rides...

Boys love mud.

My buddy boy.

Thats all for now!

2011-05-23T14:19:00.000-06:00

This last weekend was the annual Antler Fest in Jackson Hole, WY. So, we headed up to Jackson and enjoyed a quick stay and helped Steve a.k.a "The Antler Doc" with selling antlers. Here are some pics from the event. Most of them are from my iphone so sorry for the quality.

Steve's truck. I know you are all jealous of the hood ornament. ha ha.

I even brought home some antlers for decoration. Yes, decor. Something must be happening to me.

A funny sign at Bubba's:

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Jayson's kids have also been in town visiting while their parent's are off to Italy for 2 weeks. *jelous! So we've been having some fun spending time with them.

Gibson with his go go goggles:

Little Miss Ellie:

Balloon fun!

Ellie and her butterfly:

Me and Gibs:

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We attended the Smithfield Health Days Play to watch Jaxon. I didn't even know they had a play. Jaxon was a monkey. I missed getting his pic with his whole uniform but here he is all monkey'd out (this pic cracks me up- doesn't even look like him with the face he is pulling)

_____________________________

Gotta squeeze in some pics of my doggies:

Buddy:

What a happy fella!

Wids loving the grass:

__________________________

And here is a pretty pic of the Wellsville Mountain range that I snapped with my iphone while Justin was driving. SO PRETTY!

XOXO

B and A

2011-03-29T12:31:00.000-06:00

Time for an update! It's been a while!

We've finally moved!

HOORAY! So glad to have that behind me!

We chose the best weekend in Feburary to do it too! The snow was practically gone, and on moving day this is what we woke up to! Wasn't exactly what I had planned!

Sad to leave my house, but it's been a fun change!

Prior to moving in we tried to get as much remodeling done as we could. You see, I bought the house I grew up in, and I HAD to make it mine, or I would have felt like I was living in my families house. Here are some before and after pictures of what I've changed. We still have a long list of things that will be done.. and I'll post pictures of the new stuff that we do...

Before of the Upstairs Family room:

After:

(We painted, added can lighting, rocked the fireplace and added a timber mantel!)

Things to come: Wood floors, new doors, new banister railing, new finish molding!

Bathroom #1 Before:

After:

(yes, that's the same cabinet... painted, antiqued and added handles! What a difference!)

Bathroom Tile Before:

Bathroom Tile After:

Master Bedroom Before:

(this was a few years ago)

Master Bedroom After:

We painted, added can lighting and a chandelier.

(Still to come- curtains, wood flooring, new doors, hardware, floor molding and crown molding!)

Dining Room Before:

Dining Room After:

We added can lighting, different chandelier, painted, new blinds...

Still to come- wood flooring, floor molding!

More pictures to come when I have some more time!

I've got a whole house of changes!

Pirate Party!

2010-12-30T09:41:00.000-07:00

Gibson turns 6!!

To celebrate he had a Pirate Party!

Delicious cake made by Jeri - decorated by Jayson!

Decorations by Jeri!

Pirate Kaizley and Pirate Ellie:

Pretty Kaizley:

Pirate Julie and Payton:

(yes, I know the pic is blurry- but I just love Julie's face in it!... and Payton's gold earings!)

Ellie and her Grandma Pete!

Ellie is quite the entertainer!

Me and my mini me:

Happy Birthday Gibson!!

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The other night we were messing around with photobooth. The kids loved it! It was sooooo funny!

Here are a few of our favorites:

I can't stop laughing!!

(this one is by far my favorite of my mom. Look at her unibrow and her nose! hhahahaah!)

Funny huh!?!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

2010-12-28T09:51:00.000-07:00

Can you believe that it is almost 2011?!

Our Christmas was awesome! We love spending time with our families!

Grandma and her grandkids:

All the cousins!:

Enjoy the rest of the Holidays!

See you in 2011!!

Gingerbread House Competition!

2010-12-22T12:17:00.002-07:00

BEWARE- TONS OF PICTURES!

Last night was our 2nd annual Gingerbread house contest. And... guess who won?

WE DID!

I don't know if you remember our first attempt at a gingerbread house (last year), it was horrible! Check it out HERE. I'm pretty sure it collapsed every 10 mins. ahha. This year we knew exactly what was entitled!

We had so much fun using our creativity, and spending the rest of the night laughing with my family at everyone's houses.

The kids made sleighs. I love their creations. They are SO cute!

Kaizley and Ellie:

Gibson and Dawson:

(this is the best pic I could get of them)

Kaizley's sleigh:

Ellie's Sleigh:

Dawson's Sleigh:

Gibson's Sleigh:

His sleigh is packed with gifts. Isn't the snowman's face so cute?!

Now onto the houses...

Mom and Steve's:

Steve gave up after it had collapsed several times, so Gibson joined Grandma's team.

Their house is complete with a fence and a rodent!

Here is the rodent:

Julie and Payton's:

Jayson and Jeri's:

Theirs is definitely the cleanest!

And ours!

Definitely a fun night!

2010-11-29T13:16:00.000-07:00

Let the Christmas Season begin!

Tree up, shopping done and wrapped... I'm ready! (first time ever!.. ahah)

For the past few years, the weekend after Thanksgiving Justin and I have normally braved the cold in search of the perfect Christmas tree. Most of the times, they were far from perfect, and for the most part I couldn't stand how they looked once I got them home. (they always look perfect in nature) This year, Justin convinced me to drive a few blocks and purchase one from one of those Christmas tree lots. And here is the beauty we found!

All I can say is - this is by far my favorite tree that we've had, and I didn't have to freeze my toes off in search of it!! We bought a very short tree- cut the bottom off and made a table top tree. You may disagree, but I think it's the perfect size. I love how it doesn't take up any space in my living room, looks like a decoration, and will be a cinch to dispose of!

That's all for now! Have a good last 2 days of November!

Bring on December!

2010-11-12T19:19:00.002-07:00

Time for an update! Even though it may be boring! Can't believe it's already November, and that we are only a week and a half away from Thanksgiving! Crazy!

On November 10th - Justin and I celebrated our 9th Wedding Anniversary! Our wedding day seems like it was just the other day. How could it possibly have been 9 years already?! Makes me feel REAL OLD!

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Halloween!

My mom hosted the 3rd Annual Halloween Party! So fun. The whole family gets together, dresses up, eats spooky food and treats, and plays a bunch of games with the kids.

Here are the few pictures I took that evening. No, these aren't the only hooligans that came. Just the only ones that I wasn't *scared to take their pictures of. haha. (really, I was just a slacker with my camera)

Here are 2 of the guests--

Amalthea- The Last Unicorn (Julie) and Schmendrick the Magician (Justin)

They had no clue they were going to the same party. Ever seen the movie The Last Unicorn? It's one of Jayson and I's favorite childhood movies, I swear we watched that every night. Check it out HERE

Julie and Payton sporting their children costumes.

Mom and Steve as black belt ninja's.. or whatever they are called.

As you can tell- they sure had fun playing the part.

I had more pictures but they were taken with my phone and being the smart one that I am- I deleted them accidentally.

Since Halloween was on a Sunday, we had spooky dinner. Complete with Mummy meatloaf, gremlin apples, and mud pie with worms.

Aren't they spooky?

Once again, I deleted the pics of the Mummy meatloaf and mud pie. Ooops!

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Next up!

My mothers bday! On October 21st, we celebrated her 29th birthday, and she became in with the times with a new IPOD! Watch out world!

We also celebrated the 4th anniversary of our car wreck! (Who celebrates that?!) Well, we do! I'll never forget that day. So super lucky to be here and lucky to still have a leg!

Check out how big my leg is!

This is my ankle x-ray. I still have all that hardware in my ankle. It's pretty amazing what can be done these days that that I can still bend it!

Be careful and alert on the roads! You never know what is going to happen- and your life can change in an instant! No text, call, changing the radio, loss of sleep....etc... is worth your life or someone else's!

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We've also spent a lot of time remodeling the basement of the home we are buying.

Gotta love painting! ha ha!

And, you want to know what we found out when we finally completed the basement?

OUR HOUSE IS BACK ON THE MARKET!!!

The 3rd time was not the charm!!

We've sure had the worst luck. 3 contracts failed. Not one of those contracts failing was due to the buyer backing out.. The first 2 had financing problems (and they were both pre-approved!) The last one- well..our contract was contingent on their home selling. It was under contract, with a pre-approved buyer-- and guess what? Their buyer couldn't get financing!!! So... back to square one we go!

So... if you know anyone that is looking for a home, and has CASH IN HAND... send them my way! Ok, I'm dreaming, there aren't many buyers with cash in hand. I'll take any buyer... just as long as the 4th contract WORKS!

Send them to my blog for further info!! Please and Thank you! :)

http://riverheightshomeforsale.blogspot.com/

2010-09-22T12:20:00.000-06:00

We are under contract yet again! The 3rd time has got to be the charm right? We'll, we are hoping. I really don't have much excitement at this point, because of being let down 2 previous times. So, I'm just going with it. I'm pretty sure this time around everything will go thru... but you know, anything can happen, especially in this economy. Closing date is set for November 18th, but will probably be a few weeks earlier. The buyers are relocating and that is just how it panned out... I wish it was sooner. The sooner this is done and over with... the sooner I can release a sigh of joy! I'm terribly sick and tired of showing my house! Ever since putting it on the market we have averaged 2-3 showings a week... that gets old really fast. I think most of the people that came just wanted to see what I had done to it. We had absolutly no negative feedback from any agents or buyers that came thru. Between Friday and Saturday of this last week we showed it 6 times. More then anything, at this point, I'll just be glad that my house isn't open to a bunch of strangers. After everything is said and done though- I'll definitely be sad to leave the place I call "home", our yard, area, neighbors...etc. Onto new adventures in life we'll go though!

9.16.10

2010-09-20T14:45:00.000-06:00

September 16th is a great day. Not only is it my dad's birthday, but I also received my first niece on this day 6 years ago... Miss Kaizley! We had a great celebration- pinata and all!

Here are the stars of the evening:

Princess Kaizley and Prince Jay!

(notice the sweet crown and pin on my dad? Julie and I sure had fun shopping for the event! ahha!)

YUM-O!

2010-09-07T13:12:00.000-06:00

69 blogging days past due!

Can it really be September?

July and August, along with the rest of the year has just buzzed on right by. Here are some things that we have been up to the past 69 days...

The first part of August we finally decided to give in and list our home with a Realtor. I'm a control freak, so the thought of losing some of the control with using an agent really turned me off. We had tons of showings FSBO. We had one older couple that made a verbal offer that we agreed on, we arranged a time to write up a purchase contract and they backed out literally at the last moment. A week later, they came back wanting to purchase again. And guess what happened? They backed out again! Serious cold feet I guess! I also had another previous buyer come back after listing with my agent. We wrote up a purchase contract, agreed on everything, and then her financing failed! This is really testing my patience! We have had a few nibbles the past week, and we are hopeful that an offer will be placed soon. We'll see!

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I tried jumping on the Bountiful Basket's wagon. Wasn't to impressed by the freshness of the fruits and veggies, so I haven't tried it again. Sure was a bargain though to get all this produce for only $15! I'm pretty sure I'm the only one that wasn't satisfied because EVERYONE is obsessed with it!

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Justin renewed his driver's license. Usually not the funnest of occasions, especially when you sit in the DMV for 2 hours just waiting in line for something that should take 10 mins. I'm sure he'll *love* me posting this on the world wide web, but it's to funny not to share his before and after pictures.

BEFORE:

This is pretty much what he looks like right now...

Sorry the pics are horrible quality- they came off my phone, and I had to crop some info out of them so it made the quality worse!

AFTER:

This is what his new DL picture looks like! AHAHAHAH!! Doesn't even look like him. He looks like he's gained 300 pounds and was beat up right before the picture was taken. ahhaha!! I can't stop laughing!

Gotta love the DMV's camera and photography skills! hahaha!!

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Gibson and Ellie came to visit.

They love riding the Razor...

We went fishing....Where Gibson caught a fish!

He even wanted to eat it for dinner, so Grandma cooked it up and they had a fresh fish dinner. He said it wasn't as good as the fish from Seattle. ahha..

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We've been camping a few times... (for some reason my camera has been on sleep mode... or... maybe I'm the one on sleep mode) This last weekend (Labor day weekend) we decided to go by ourselves and have no itinerary. So we packed up Saturday and went up to Cottonwood in Idaho. My dad has made a road on his families land to a personal campsite nestled in a bunch of pine trees. Perfect place for relaxing, and very private. I love not having to camp right next to someone else. We took our dogs and let them run free. They loved it, and were so pooped by the time we got home.

Doesn't Justin look overly excited?

Nothing like being out in the peaceful wilderness. We took our razor, thinking we were going to go on a ride- but we only rode it for a matter of 10 mins. Instead our time wast spent next to a fire, eating delicious camp fire meals, napping, and just relaxing. It was a perfect weekend! Can't wait to do it again!

That's it for now! Let's hope September goes by a little slower!

Proud Aunt and Uncle!

2010-06-29T10:13:00.000-06:00

I have the world's cutest nieces and nephews! And here are some pictures to prove it!

Here are all the Davis Cousins:

(Rigth to Left) Kaizley, Ellie, Gibson, and Dawson

Ellie walking her baby...

See...! I told ya! They are the CUTEST!

Busy! Busy! Busy!

2010-06-02T11:12:00.000-06:00

Wow. I've taken a lot of pictures the past week or so. Here's what we have been up to!

Kylee's Kindergarten Graduation:

Razor riding with Ryan and Amber:

We went up Providence Canyon, and were only able to make it up a little ways before we hit to much snow. This time of year we normally can go pretty much about anywhere.

While up there Justin and Ryan fulfilled one of their life long dreams... Some people were up there shooting their guns, and one of them had a 50 Caliber BMG sniper rifle. (whatever that is! hah!) If you know Justin, you know that he is a gun fanatic. (He would own every gun out there if he could.) When the guy offered to let Justin and Ryan shoot it, they couldn't decline. Justin is still talking about the experience! I personally don't get what all the excitement is about, but I'm glad Justin was excited about it.

Justin:

Ryan:

Enjoying my home grown flowers!

This is one thing I will miss about my house. The yard is so nice, with tons of blooming plants. So fun to be able to go cut flowers and have fresh flowers whenever I want!

Memorial day fun!

Every memorial day Justin and I try to go on a four wheeler ride. This year my family joined us and we went up to Aunt Flats.

Justin and I... ready to hit the muddy trails!

(yes, I'm aware that I look like a hoodlum)

Justin made me do it. But I didn't want to have mud soup in my boots, so I chickened out and backed out.

On the way back to the truck, Justin and Payton had some fun in the same mud "puddle". I'm glad I chickened out earlier because when they went thru the "puddle" it filled the floor of the razor with mud and water. Our opinion is, if you are gonna get a little muddy, you mind as well get muddy! It's fun while it lasts, but it sure isn't fun cleaning the cemented mud off the four wheelers.

Payton and Julie:

Payton sure was a trooper. His four wheeler was out of commission so he rode on the back of Julie's, with Julie driving. She sure didn't mind getting him muddy! haha! Good times!

Mom and Steve enjoying the view:

Let's go June!

2010-05-24T17:58:00.000-06:00

May sure has went by fast. Here we are, pretty much the last week of May. We've had a busy month. Here's a recap of our May. :)

We've enjoyed the sunshine, well.. what there has been of it anyways, and the nice green grass. The dogs love it when it's nice outside... Can you tell? They look so happy don't they?

We've enjoyed the pretty flowers that have bloomed so far....

I've even enjoyed the dandelions. (taking pictures of them anyways) They can create quite the artist picture...

We've had a little visitor in our yard too.... Isn't he cute?

We've put our service van in a few parades. Talk about excitement! haha!

We've went to the Sand Dunes, and just got back from our annual trip to Jackson Hole, WY for the Antler fest. Boy, was it cold!! BRR!!

I don't get what all the excitement of antlers is about- but there are a lot of people out there that will pay a pretty penny for them. I'm surprised at how many women are interested in them. Anywho... here are some pictures from the event-- courtesy of Justin! :)

Lets hope June has a little more sun then rain. I'm ready for some CAMPING!

Private time!

2010-05-14T17:21:00.000-06:00

It's time to go private. It kind of freaks me out that people from other countries are viewing my blog almost every day, and I have no clue of who they are. If you left your email address last time I was debating on the private thing- I will keep you on the list. I'll give everyone else a few more days to leave me their email- if you want to continue reading my so called blog. I hate that I have to do this- but I'd rather know exactly who is looking at my page. I'm not a fan of private blogs myself- but.. oh well!

2010-04-27T10:34:00.000-06:00

It's true! After letting our yard green up a bit from the harsh winter, we have put our house up for sale! Wish us luck! I'm ready to move onto another adventure! Just not so ready to leave my home that I love so much, and the location! But I love a change in homes and am ready to move on!!

Send anyone you know who is interested to our *River Heights Home For Sale* blog!

Further info, and pictures posted there!

Happy Birthday Curtis!

2010-04-26T13:58:00.001-06:00

Curtis would be turning 30 today. We sure wish he was here to celebrate with us. Happy Birthday Buddy! We miss you everyday, and can't wait to be with you again....

This is one of my favorite pictures of Curtis. He sure loved his kids.

Oh.. how I miss that smile of his!!

The memorial party for Curtis turned into a success. The weather ended up being perfect, and we had a great turn out. Here are some pictures from that. I didn't take to many pictures- to much going on!

Here are all the Andersen boys. They all look so much a like don't they?

Eric (One of Curtis' Best friends), Justin, Chad, and Ryan (Another one of Curtis' friends)

April (A good friend of Curtis') and Justin

Some family and friends shooting skeets:

Curtis loved guns, target shooting, hunting.. etc- so this was a great way to bring a bit of Curtis to our life!

Travis (bro in law) and Kaden (nephew) operating the skeet thrower

Nephew Chase shooting his bb gun:

The balloon realease was a hit again. We've done this both for Curtis and Tami on their birthdays. We all right a special note to them and then realease them all at once. Since we were up the canyon we had a bunch of shooting going on around us, along with noise from fourhweelers and motorcycles, but as soon as we released all the balloons it was SILENT. I still get chills from it. It's like the whole canyon had a moment of silence for Curtis. It was amazing.

The little kids were so cute, with what they wrote on the balloons.

Here is Chad sending up some Mtn. Dew (one of Curtis' fav's) with his balloons:

Part of the crowd:

.... and there they go!

Curtis, Thanks for being with us on that day.... as well as everyday. Miss you like crazy. Happy 30th Birthday!!

2010-04-22T10:33:00.003-06:00

This Saturday we will be holding a little get together in remembrance of Justin's brother Curtis. He would be turning 30 this year on April 26th. We wanted to organize an event in honor and in remembrance of the life he lived. Everyone is welcome! (Obviously I didn't want the whole internet world to know our phone numbers, or the location - so if you'd like to join, let me know and I'll give you the details!)

WE MISS YOU EVERY DAY!!

**********************************

Last weekend Justin and I attended Kylee's (Curtis' daughter) first gymnastics meet up at the spectrum. She is quite the preformer!! In order to avoid any tension/drama between the families we went knowing that Kylee might not know we were there supporting her, because we weren't able to go and personally say hi to her. What a great feeling though when she picked us out of the audience and started waving uncontrollably and blowing kisses our way. She knew we were there supporting her, and that's all that matters!! I know I haven't mentioned any of the problems that we have had, but it has been pretty hard trying to stay involved in Kylee and Jaxon's life. We may never get to personally spend time with them, but as long as they see us supporting them one day they can make up their own mind on us being in their life. It's been HARD!

**********************************************

Home Improvements!

Yet again!

This has been the last thing on our house needing to be done. The covered patio/sun room ceiling. I can't believe I have not done anything about it till now. We'll, I've tried- but Justin didn't want to mess with the fiberglass insulation... I've been hoping that he'd just give into my request.. but... he didn't! (which, I don't blame him!)

This is what it looked like before (kind of hard to get a good picture of it)

Complete with layers of dust, lovely fiberglass insulation between the trusses, painted sky lights (the previous home owner had to paint them because her eyes were sensitive to light)

This is what I wanted it to look like- but that would require removing the fiberglass insulation. (itchy! itchy!)

(the trusses showing, and painted)... and of course, I'd like this view too.. hahah

And this is what it ended up to be:

Justin gave me 2 choices: Remove the insulation myself (haha), or think of an alternative...

But it's still better then this:

Don't ya think?

And... how could my post be complete without a lovely picture of a flower??

Road Trip!!

2010-03-29T15:27:00.003-06:00

A month or so ago we added to the Andersen Family.

Here she is... isn't she pretty?!

In celebration of our new addition we decided to take a ROAD TRIP!!

WARNING! PICTURE OVERLOAD!! :)

First stop!

The Dalles, Oregon.

We drove all day Wednesday and ended up here. This is the view from our hotel.

This picture is a picture of "The bridge of the Gods"

Second stop!

Multnomah Falls!
This water fall plummets 620 feet from it's origins on Larch Mountain. It is the second highest year-round waterfall in the nation. Quite the impressive waterfall!

Look how green and colorful everything is.....
So PRETTY!!

(yes, I am aware that the picture above is not totally in focus. haha. my camera, or should i say "I" was having issues using my camera. I'd rather blame it on the camera though. hahaa)

Third Stop!
Cannon Beach, OR
View from our Ocean front Suite:

We SO enjoyed the beach. It's such a relaxing place. It was Justin's first time actually being to the ocean, so he totally soaked it up. We loved walking down the beach, listening to the waves, and picking up tons of sea shells.

Haystack Rock:
Here is some info: Haystack Rock is a 235-foot (72-meter) tall monolith (or sea stack) on the Oregon coast in the northwestern United States, the third-tallest such "intertidal" (meaning it can be reached by land) structure in the world.

When it was low tide - Justin and I walked up to the base of Haystack rock and found some tide pools. It was pretty neat. We found a bunch of star fishes, sea anemones, and sea sponges. I would have taken pictures but it was raining and so windy at the time! So fun to see!

Manzanita Beach...
Loved this beach!

We finished driving up the Coast of Oregon and crossed over the Columbia River via the Astoria-Megler Bridge. Its the longest continuous truss bridge in North America. And then we were in Washington! We drove up part of the coast of Washington and then headed towards Seattle to help my bro move to a new place!

For your enjoyment- here's a pic of my bro's cute fam!

They were not aware that we would be showing up, so they were so excited to have the extra help moving!

Check out all the flowers they have right out their front door! The funny thing is--there are more flowers then I have pictures of.. and they are ALL right outside their front door!! SO JEALOUS!!

We also decided to bring Gibson and Ellie back home with us! Yes, we are crazy! We decided to exchange a quiet drive home for a 12 plus hour drive with 2 kids! It was fun and they were super good! Ellie was so excited to get on the road with us that she jumped in the car as quick and she could and waited for us to finish packing up their stuff. Taking them with us sure spruced up our long drive!

..... and we survived!

GREAT ROAD TRIP!
Now... back to reality!!

2010-03-10T17:05:00.000-07:00

The last little while I've been pretty ancy. I've had my break from my house being finished, and now I need a new project! Hopefully in the next week or so we will be able to put our house up for sale again. We wanted to wait until spring, so that people could see our backyard. Now that the snow is gone, we just need to tidy it up and get that for sale sign up! I'm so ready to move! Can't wait to get into the project of remodeling the house I grew up in! We have some fun plans for it!

So in the meantime- I've had to find some other projects. Here is one I've been working on. I scored this saaawweeeet sewing machine table at the DI for only $20!

The top has 2 compartments that open. One for storage, and the other side you secure your sewing machine into it and it folds down when you aren't using it! Nice huh?!

I wasn't so in love with the way I bought it.. so I gave it a little makeover... It's amazing what a little spray paint and stain can do.... Love it now! Now, I just need to get my sewing machine out, dust it off (haha), secure it in place and I'm ready to sew!

Oh how I LOVE the DI!

(Aunt Lynette- I took your advice one weekend and went to the Centerville DI... LOVE IT! Now, every time I'm down that way I have to stop! ... Might not be such a good thing.. ahha)

On a side note: 4 days till daylight savings begins! (can't wait for that extra hour of daylight!)

and... 10 days till Spring officially begins!!

Where did February go??

2010-03-01T12:58:00.002-07:00

Anyone know where February went?

February cruised right by me. Which, I'm glad- cause it ended up being a month full of nothing to exciting! My camera tells me how boring it was- because I only took 3 pictures in the entire month! That's the reason for no blogging activity- I usually don't blog if I don't have pictures! Let's hope March is a tad more exciting!! :)

First off- My brown eyed buddy Dawson (my nephew) celebrated his 7th birthday! CRAZY I KNOW!! I seriously can't believe that my youngest brother has a 7 year old!! Dawson has been such a joy to have in our family! He's quite the kid!

The Birthday Boy!

LOVE HIM!!

He didn't want his picture taken. He would only have it taken if he could show off his helicopter. Funny boy!

Second piece of exciting news! Justin's youngest brother Chad had his first baby. A baby girl. They named her Taylin. She's quite the tiny little thing with tons of dark hair! So cute!!

(Photo provided by Misty's facebook)..

I hope you don't mind Misty! :)

Now we are to a total of eleven nieces and nephews - including the ones on my side. Maybe one day we'll have to add to the family. We'll see. haha.

And the last picture of the month is a lovely flower. Surprising huh?!

I purchased a macro lens for my camera and I seriously can't wait to put it to work this spring and summer with my favorite subjects: FLOWERS! :)

20 more days till Spring offically starts!!

Let's hope I can survive 'till then!

Melt Snow! Melt Snow!

2010-02-01T17:56:00.007-07:00

I've been meaning to post this link to this video's for a while- and am just barely getting around to it.

The first one was put out by Zero Fatalities on the dangers of texting while driving. If you haven't seen it- please take 15 mins and watch it, and then pass it on!

Click the links below to view!
Zero Fatalities-Texting While Driving

The second video is from the Oprah Winfrey Show-America's New Deadly Obsession.

America's New Deadly Obsession

I promise if you take the time to watch both of these video's it will change your mind about texting while driving, talking on the phone while driving, and plain out driving distracted! We all need to be aware of what we are doing while driving.

2010-02-01T13:07:00.003-07:00

Here are some of the things I've been missing:

1. Sunshine

2. Blue Skies

3. Green Grass

4. Flowers

Will spring EVER arrive??

2010-01-20T17:32:00.004-07:00

Introducing my new found obsession:

ANTIQUING GLAZE!

This is why. Watch this transformation:
First look:

Second Look:

Final result after glaze is applied!

And yes, this lovely "mail holder" is yet another one of those sweet finds at the DI. :)

Craft-i-ness

2010-01-12T13:16:00.007-07:00

I used to be crafty. But, for the past 4-5 years I just haven't had the knack. So when I want something "crafty" I usually buy it. (It's easier and less messy that way anyways! ha!)

Well, something must have struck me and I've been in a super crafty mood! This last weekend we made this:

Lately I have also loved the DI. I beg Justin to go in there with me at least every weekend.
Why?
Good question.

I always think I am going to go in there and find something cool that I can transform into something amazingt. Well, I usually walk out empty handed- or with something that I will probably just send right back to the DI. Well, I saw this great idea with spray painting glass- And this is what I did $1 later, thanks to the DI. :)

Old jar with no lid... BEFORE:

AFTER!:
Transformed into a lovely pot! Thanks to spray paint!
Also, the green cup is an old glass ice cream cup, transformed into.. whatever you want to use it for!

Also- when it comes to going private with my blog- I'm thinking I am gonna hold off for the time being. I really am not a fan of private blogs- they are just inconvenient in many ways. So... for the time being... my blog will be open to all readers! yay! I'll let you know if I decide otherwise! Happy Blogging Everyone!

Jaxon's 3!

2010-01-12T12:52:00.005-07:00

Last week we were able to go celebrate Jaxon's birthday.

He's such a little stud!! Reminds me so much of his dad.

Jaxon's 3!!

We don't get to see them often, so every chance we get we make the best out of it! Hopefully in the near future we will be granted some visitation so that we can see them on a regular basis throughout their lives. We love them so much!!

Miss Kylee- One of the strongest 6 year old's I know. I sure wouldn't be able to live thru what she has, in her short 6 years. I love her to pieces!

Notice!

2010-01-06T09:24:00.003-07:00

I'm debating on going private with my blog. I don't really want to - but lately I've been paranoid with not knowing exactly who is viewing my blog. (I guess I've caught the paranoid bug- because I am not a fan of private blogs myself!) I'll decide weather or not I should go private within the next few days. If you would like to continue viewing my blog, please leave me your email address in the comment section. Thanks so much!

First post of 2010!

2010-01-04T17:42:00.007-07:00

Crazy to think that it is already 2010. I remember everyone freaking out over the year 2000 because they thought everything electronic would crash. (remember that?! ahah!!) I can't believe that it's already been 10 years since then.

We rang in the new year in style. In bed by 11:30 and I personally fell asleep at 11:55. I couldn't handle the excitement I guess. We are getting old!! Or maybe we just don't know how to party it up!! (which I'm thinking it's a little of both!)

I'm really excited to have a fresh new start with this year. I'm envisioning a great year ahead and I am so excited about it! Happy New Year to you all! Let's make it a good one!! :)

New Years day we took Jayson's kids to the farm and had some fun in the snow with a bunch of my family and Justin's family... It was fun!

All bundled up ready to go!

Justin pulling the kids around on the Razor:

Elliot, Gibson and Jaxon...

We also had a little birthday party for Gibson before Jayson and his family packed up for their long trip home. Gibson is a crazy little guy. Love him to death! Happy 5th dude!

2009-12-29T09:16:00.004-07:00

We had an awesome Christmas! We hope you did too!

We had a great surprise Christmas morning when Jayson and his family showed up to surprise us! He was not going to be able to come home for Christmas but they decided to drive all night from Seattle to surprise everyone. It was great! There is nothing like having all your family together for the holidays! We spent the weekend visiting, eating to much food, playing games, getting spoiled, shopping... always a good busy time! (I would share pictures of our Christmas, but I only took seriously like 5 pictures. oops!)

*********************************

Saturday we finally received the washer and dryer that we ordered on Black Friday. So, we had a little makeover of the laundry room. (As you have probably noticed- I'm obsessed with change when it comes to my house)

BEFORE:I was never in love with the color of my last washer and dryer, but we got it at a super deal so we couldn't pass it up. When I saw these were on sale for less then 50% off I had to jump on it. We bought the LG Steam Clean Washer and Dryer. LOVE THEM! They make doing laundry somewhat enjoyable, well for now anyways. ;) They even play a lovely jingle when the cycles are done- instead of the annoying beep or buzz. I'd recommend these to anyone.

AFTER:
If you are ever in the market for a front load washer and dryer- you MUST spend the extra money and get the pedestals. You won't regret it. I didn't have pedestals with my last set and it makes a HUGE difference. The height of them on the pedestals is PERFECT.

******************************

Also an update on our house: Justin and I decided to take it off the housing market 'till the spring. It wouldn't be fun at all to move in the winter, and since we don't have to move, we'll just stay put 'till the spring, and then put it back up for sale. In case you were wondering... :)

Holiday Parties (Continued!)

2009-12-24T09:01:00.012-07:00

Last night we had my families Christmas party. It was so fun even though only half my family was there.

Here we are building our gingerbread houses! (So fun!)

Here are the end results:
Mom and Steves A-Frame:
(First time gingerbread house builders!)
IMPRESSIVE!

Payton and Julie:
(obviously they know how to do this. haha. Theirs comes complete with a garage and car! ahah)

And, last but not least:
JUSTIN and I's!
(First time gingerbread house builders... and it's obvious! ahha)
VERY NON-IMPRESSIVE!

You can't tell, but our house had an earthquake and our lovely roof collapsed right when we were taking the picture.

But, you have to love the blackman snowman! CREEPY!

We had a judge clear up in Seattle pick the winner. (Jayson) He picked ours, but thought it was Julies. He must have felt bad. haha...

We also did a white elephant gift exhange. Great gifts I tell ya!

We had a fun night!
Missed you Jayson, Jeri, Gibs, and Ellie!!
Ryan, Amber, Kaizley, and Dawson!!
Next year you better be able to make it! :)

Here's a pic of our lovely Charlie Brown Christmas Tree! I'm a sucker for the scragly ones. ;) I just love the glow a Christmas tree puts out. So warm and cozy...
Merry Christmas Everyone!!

HoLiDaY pArTiEs!

2009-12-23T11:23:00.002-07:00

I really can't believe that it is already this time of year. It's crazy how fast time flies. We enjoyed some family time at the Andersen Christmas Party last Saturday. Here are a few pics of my cute nieces and nephews!

We aslo enjoyed time at the annual Meyer Christmas Party. I'm just amazed at how big my family is. (we had to do the gathering in a school gym!) I love being part of such a big family. Santa even made a stop! Here are a few pics from that! (I obviously didn't take many pictures)

I sure love my family!!

Super Size Me

2009-12-15T15:32:00.005-07:00

Justin and I rented Super Size Me the other day, and I can't stop thinking about it... It's a documentary about a McDonald’s lover who subjects himself to a month of nothing but the restaurant’s food, eating it for breakfast, lunch and dinner to prove to everyone what that kind of food can do to you. Before he started his experiment he had a bunch of different tests done to measure his health so that they could see what changes were made by eating only McDonald's food. It was disgusting to see what happened to him-in only a short month!! It's a good thing I am not a fan of Mcdonald's-because I promise you- if you watch this show you won't want to eat there again. This documentary definitely makes you think twice about eating fast food. Go ahead, watch it!

Oh Christmas Tree!

2009-12-11T13:40:00.006-07:00

We are a tad slow, but we now have our Christmas Tree!

Last weekend we headed up to the hills of Idaho and braved the FREEZING temps to hand pick our very own Christmas Tree!

It's a fun adventure but this year was FREEZING! We all jumped out of the truck and quickly hustled to find the perfect tree. I think we were up there for a matter of 20 mins, then we hopped back in the heated truck and left! SO COLD!

I can't believe it's this time of year already. Christmas is in about 2 weeks! Crazy!!

Happy Holiday's Everyone! Stay warm!!

One year ago...

2009-12-05T23:12:00.008-07:00

12/05/2008

One year ago today- we received some life changing news:

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

You never think anything like this is going to happen to you. You never think a loved one will be gone in an instant, without a chance to say goodbye. It's a very hard thing for your mind to grip. If only we had one more day.. the thing's we would have done or said...

At the accident site...

Some of Curtis' co-workers:
Curtis sure was loved by all at Malt-o-meal.. It was fun to hear their stories of all the funny, crazy things Curtis did at work.

Curtis could make anyone smile... And always had a huge smile on his face...

Tami and I back in the day:

Oh, how we miss you both. Not a day goes by that we don't think about you.
Love you always and forever...
We are one year closer till we meet again..

Hug your kids tight. Tell your family and friends that you love them. You never know when your last day may be.

Also, I wanted to thank everyone for their love and support throughout this last year. It means the world to us!!

Love you all!

2009-12-03T09:57:00.000-07:00

I love this guy!!

Seriously... What are we thinking??

2009-11-28T21:14:00.004-07:00

We are selling our house!!

Ever since my mom put her house up for sale.. we've thought long and hard about buying her place. The one thing that keeps the question open is this...

If you know us- this sure would be a nice addition to us- to store misc business stuff, along with all of our toys...
So.. we've decided to take the plunge and go for it!
I told Justin that the deal was- if we buy the home I grew up in that we would have to remodel it. I would have to make it "mine" and not my families home. So- It looks like we'll be jumping into another remodel. (What are we thinking? We just got done with ours!)

I'm actually pretty excited. We'll see how the home selling goes. I know it's not the most fabulous time to sell- but, we'll see what happens before the snow flies...

Please forward anyone you know who is looking to buy to my "home blog"....
http://riverheightshomeforsale.blogspot.com/

Wish us luck!!
:)

Something to think about...

2009-11-12T08:38:00.005-07:00

Nobody ever wants to think about their own death. Nobody ever thinks that they will die at a young age. No one ever thinks that their children will be left parent-less.

IT IS SOMETHING THAT NEEDS TO BE THOUGHT ABOUT!!

Who will be in charge of your estate? Who will inherit your property? If you have minor children, who will serve as the guardians for your children until they are adults?

Having lost 2 family members, that didn't have a last will and testament- I know exactly how important it is. I've seen what happens, and not all of it is good- add a bunch of grief to the whole mixture and it can make it so much worse! I wonder all the time what today would be like if they had a Will in place. Was/is their property being handled how they would have wanted it to be? Are their kids where they would have wanted them to be? Are they being raised the way they wanted them to be?

Another thing to think about is that in the state of Utah siblings have absolutely no rights. The only ones that have rights are the Grandparents. Since there was no will in place- legally between the grandparents it was pretty much a first come-first served basis. If you didn't have keys to the house, keys to the cars, instant access to the kids.. you could be out of luck! Is this how you want it to go out if you die?

Once again- Nobody wants to think about their own death. Nobody ever thinks that they will die at a young age. No one ever thinks that their children will be left parent-less.

PLAN and PROTECT YOURSELF, YOUR ESTATE, and YOUR CHILDREN!
and if you do so... it will make it that much straight forward for the ones left behind....

Crazy 8!

2009-11-10T11:38:00.004-07:00

8 years ago I married my best friend!

Crazy to think we have been together for 10 years! (man! we are old!)
The saying is true- Time flies when you are having fun!
Happy Anniversary Honey Bunches!!
xoxox

Pumpkin Carving Night!

2009-10-21T12:11:00.011-06:00

Last night we had our annual family pumpkin carving night. This is by far my mom's favorite activity out of the whole year. This year especially because we tied her bday into it. (Happy Bday mom!) It's always fun to see everyone's creative side.

I created a little man of squash.

Ain't he cute?

Justin did a ghost!

Kaizley and her pumpkin!

Dawson loved scooping out the goop!

We take this seriously. No messing around here! haha.

Seattle October 2009

2009-10-05T16:27:00.024-06:00

This last weekend my sister and her husband Payton and us, took off to visit the Davis family in Seattle!! Oh boy, we had a lot of fun! Here are a bunch of pictures from the adventure!

The first two days while Jayson and Jeri worked Julie, Payton, Justin and I took off to explore the city. This was Payton's first time going to Seattle so we took him to the normal Seattle sites. (Pikes place.. and what not) It was fun spending time with just my sister and Payton.

At the "gum wall" in a cool alley right by Pikes Place:

As you can tell we had fun at this spot. haha! Or, at least Julie did!

We also added our own signature to the wall. 2 J's. We'll see if they are still there next time we visit!

We also went to the Seattle Aquarium.
It was fun being able to touch and see some of the sea life.

Saturday we went to the Issaquah Salmon Day Festival. According to Jeri this is World famous and was 2008's most popular event in the world. (or something like that!) It was a HUGE event. Tons of people, booths, food, entertainment.. etc.

Ellie and Gibson enjoying the festival...

Jeri and Ellie havin some fun!:

My bud Gibson:

Sunday we went to a cute little place that had a bunch of little stores and a train that the kids could ride. It was a really cute place. Here are some pics from that.

The kids riding the train! They were so excited!

Ellie cracks me up! Love her "cheese" face.

We had so much fun! Can't wait to go back!
:)

2009-09-14T15:20:00.004-06:00

My brother Jayson came to town this past weekend, so we took advantage of the time and went on a four wheeler ride with everyone, and then enjoyed some time sitting around a campfire eating dutch oven cobbler. (yum) It's always fun to get together as a family and spend time together. Hopefully one day soon we will have the WHOLE family together. We missed you Amber, Jeri and the kids!!

2009-09-08T15:27:00.007-06:00

Ever been to Almo, Idaho?
That is where we went for Labor Day weekend. It's a nice small town in the middle of no where!
My dad's band was heading up to play Saturday night at Almo's last summer weekend bash. We figured it would be fun to just go somewhere different and explore on the four wheelers. It was actually pretty fun!

We saw plenty of dirt roads, cows, sage brush, and who could forget these cute little donkeys!

We went to City of Rocks:
Nothing to exciting, but cool to see.
I didn't take really any pics because we quickly rode thru the park. Apparently our four wheelers aren't legal to ride on a dirt road. ahah. We later found out that it was legal- but the guy that pulled us over has a thing against four wheelers.

Can you see the man?

We also drove for miles into the middle of no where to find an AWESOME canyon. It was such a nice day! As you can see we covered some ground! Around 100 miles round trip!

Dad, Payton, Beemer and Tag - in the buggie
Justin on the wheeler...
The city celebration was quite the success. I was amazed at how many people showed up. We enjoyed the night eating good food, great entertainment (Wasatch Back Band), and people watching. (there are some strange people out there! haha)

Good times!

2009-08-25T12:17:00.002-06:00

This will probably be the last before and after picture of our house. I know you are all bummed about that!

Yesterday we had our new windows installed. That was pretty much the last major thing needed. Justin and I both agreed that windows made a HUGE difference, both outside and in. We are so excited to be able to open our windows for some fresh air! The wood framed windows would open- only if you had a sledge hammer available.

Before:

After:

Whats next on our agenda now that our house is pretty much done??
The yard. It has been very neglected. (as you can see)
Anyone want to help? ;) (I'm not much of a fan of dirt and weeds)

2009-08-17T13:51:00.004-06:00

Sorry to bore you all- but this is exciting to me! haha!

This last weekend we installed and painted our new front door!

Here is a picture of the old front door... complete with water damage, dirt, scratches and cob webs:
(It doesn't look to bad in the picture, but if you were to walk up to the door on any given day you would think that you were going to be walking into a haunted house. It was bad!)

The new door...

Looks SO much better doesn't it??

By now Justin is probably wishing that he didn't know how to do everything! I swear, there isn't one thing that he can't do! He's the best!

2009-08-10T18:10:00.004-06:00

This last weekend we took a ride up to Mount Logan in the Razor. Sure was chilly! I really thought at one moment it was going to start snowing! You could see our breath! I love being up in the mountains for this reason:

SO PRETTY and PEACEFUL!!

2009-08-03T10:26:00.006-06:00

Our basement bathroom/laundry room is FINALLY done! I've been waiting to post some pictures of it 'till the shower was done. I swear, we ran into every possible problem with that shower. (the joys of remodeling) We planned on putting in a tub/shower. After we demolished the old shower we soon realized we wouldn't be able to. So, we had to stick with the small corner shower.

Here are some before pics:
My favorite-- the winking owl toilet seat:

The sweet gold and red velvet wall paper:
(this pic brings back demolishing nightmares! ha!)

In process:

The end result! Love it!

I'm proud to say that the basement is 100% done!
Yahoo!!

Exterior Facelift

2009-07-20T11:31:00.005-06:00

My dad was able to find some pictures of our house throughout the years. I believe they were taken each time it was appraised. Wouldn't it be cool if there were pictures of the inside too? I thought it would be fun to post pictures of what it used to look like- to what it looks like now. I don't have the year of when the pictures were taken but you can tell that they go in order because the bushes in the front "grow". Enjoy!

I'm guessing this was taken in the early 1950's:

1960-1970's?

1980's?
This is what our house looked like when we bought it.
The nasty spider infested bushes where the first thing to go.

July 2009.
Not a very good picture, but this is what our house looks like currently.
The outside is *almost done. New windows coming soon...

If anyone ever gets the itch to remodel a house- I have plenty of tips that will make your life easy. One of them is-if you are going to re-roof your house- do it before you landscape. (We just got done with that ordeal- that would also explain the halfway dead, smashed down grass)

I seem to always learn the hard way. haha.

2009-07-17T13:49:00.002-06:00

Have I ever told you how much I LOVE bright colors and flowers??
I could just take pictures of flowers all day long and never get sick of doing it.
There is just something about flowers and bright colors that make me smile.

:)

Just thought you might want to know.
(obviously I have nothing exciting to blog about)

2009-06-25T14:42:00.004-06:00

Our life really boils down to 2 questions:

1- Should we get another dog?

(p.s. this is not our dog! ahah! yikes!)

OR.......

2- should we have children?

It's a toss up for us!! ahah!
(this was an email that I received, we really aren't deciding on either!)

2009-06-11T15:55:00.006-06:00

Mouse Attack!!

We have always wondered what Wids would do if she saw a mouse. (Silky Terriers are bred to kill rodents - who would have thought!) She's quite the bird catcher too. So, we bought a toy mouse, that moves back and forth on it's own. Wids goes absolutely crazy!! Pardon her messy hair- she just had a bath... You can hear Buddy in the background, poor dog! He didn't think it was very nice that Wids got to play and he couldn't. (He would crush the mouse in 2 seconds)

----------------------------------------------
Our Garden is growing!
We planted just in time. 2 weeks of straight rain was nice cause we haven't had to water it yet!

I love it when my seeds sprout! I get so excited over it for some reason!

Now lets hope I can keep them alive 'till it is harvest time! :)

2009-06-02T18:19:00.003-06:00

Call my crazy...
But I really wish I could buy this house and remodel it.
Maybe one day....

MeMoRiAl WeEkEnD!

2009-05-26T10:41:00.011-06:00

Wow! What a great weekend!
We paid tribute to family and friends that have passed on and went on a trip to the sand dunes. We love spending time with our families!!

Chad, Bruce, Angela and Justin:

Saturday marked the one year passing of Justin's best friend Ryan. I can't believe a year has already flown right by. Ryan always went up to the Sand Dunes on Memorial weekend, so we took a trip up there just for him! We miss you Ryan!!

Sand Dunes!

Justin and Payton getting some sick air! haha...

Justin had to much fun riding his nephews motorcycle. :) Sorry for the not so good picture. It was taken with my "who cares if sand ruins it" camera. :)

Fresh cut flowers! I love having a yard that produces such pretty flowers!

2009-05-20T19:45:00.005-06:00

Curtis and Tami's monument was finally installed. It looks so good! Isn't it great that we can have something like this that will be there forever? I love how they are now putting pictures on them, it makes it so much more personal.

I had a hard time taking a good picture because of all the stuff that was up there... But you get the idea of what it looks like.

This is the backside: I love how they were able to imprint Kylee and Jaxon's hand prints. That will be so special to them in the future.

Warning: The below picture will break your heart! But, I wanted to take a picture of it, so that when Kylee is older she can see it. Kids are so precious!!

2009-05-20T19:32:00.005-06:00

I thought it was about time to update my blog, but I don't have much of anything to post! I am a picture blogger, If i don't have pictures- I don't blog! So... Anyways.

Last weekend we went to the annual Antler Fest up in Jackson Hole. Justin is just in awe the whole time. I just don't get what is so fascinating about antlers. haha! It's a fun little get away though.

We also took a dusty four wheeler ride up Blacksmith Fork Canyon. And came along this "crime scene." Ever seen a burnt to crisp car? Well, now you have. It was pretty interesting. I wonder what happened... Anyone know?

Swine Flu

2009-04-30T17:06:00.001-06:00

How do we get swine flu anyways??

Hahah!! I recieved this in an email, thought I would pass it on!

2009-04-26T17:41:00.010-06:00

Happy Birthday Curtis!!

Today would have been Curtis' 29th Birthday.
It still doesn't seem real that he is gone.

The Andersen family got together and celebrated his life. Many smiles and tears were shed in memory of him.

Curtis' siblings
Jennifer, Chad, Justin and Angela...

We headed up to the grave site and everyone wrote a personal message to Curtis, then we released them to go to Heaven.

There isn't a day that goes by that we don't think about you.
We all love you and miss you sooooo much!!
Happy Birthday Buddy!

2009-04-20T16:24:00.002-06:00

It's amazing how much the sun can affect your attitude and motivation.
I'm lovin the sun!

Bring on the 70 degree weather!!
:)

Easter Weekend

2009-04-13T14:05:00.005-06:00

We hope everyone had a great Easter!

Justin and I, along with the whole world- went down to the Little Sahara Sand Dunes for the weekend. It was fun to spend some time with Justin's bro Chad, and his sister Jennifer and her family.

Uncle Justin and Kaden:

Brothers!:

Kaden ready to ride!
He looked like a little bobble head with his helment and goggles on. He's quite a little stud!

Auto Addiction...

2009-04-08T17:24:00.002-06:00

I am addicted to new cars/trucks. For some reason after a year of owning a car or truck I get sick of them and need a change. I've done pretty good though, I have kept the same truck for 3 years now... but, after seeing this beauty I couldn't pass up the deal that we got on it. Isn't it the sexiest truck you have ever seen? I could stare at it all day long. Hahah.. I have a problem.

2009-03-30T10:12:00.003-06:00

Thankfully, the weather agreed Saturday and we were able to go and play with Kylee and Jaxon (Curtis and Tami's kids) at the park for a little bit. It was a little chilly and windy, but we made the best of it.

All the Andersen cousins:

Kylee was just as bubbly as ever. I am just so amazed at her. Only 3 months ago she was all banged up and in a body cast, facing a child's worst nightmare. Saturday she was running and jumping all over. You can tell that she still hasn't gotten all the strength back in her legs, but she doesn't let anything get in her way. She is one amazing kid!

Kylee:

Jaxon is a little minature Curtis. I had keep holding back tears cause he is a spitting image of his dad.

Jaxon:

The time flew by way to quickly, and they had to get on their way.
It's been so extremely hard having to deal with the loss of Curtis and Tami along with all the drama of what to do with everything of theirs... including their kids. Hopefully through time everything will work itself out for the best interest of everyone.

Hold tight to the ones you love!!!

2009-03-09T09:26:00.003-06:00

Our basement is pretty much done now! FINALLY! Now is the fun part- putting everything together and making it look good!

Here is what our master bedroom looked like (after a little demo):
Just picture the whole room with wood paneling, acoustic tiled ceiling with a lovely scenic wall mural. I didn't take many before pictures, because I was to embarrassed of how it looked! Plus the ghetto-ness that it used to be- is burned into my memory forever! hah!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I absolutely love my basement now!!
Remodeling a old house is a mess- but worth it in the end. I just will NEVER EVER do it while living in it! I can't stand the mess of it all....

2009-03-02T11:46:00.012-07:00

Julie has wanted some bridal pics taken on Crow Mountain and at the farm, so yesterday, my Dad, Julie, Justin and I- took advantage of a nice spring like day and attempted getting up to the top of Crow Mountain. We went in the morning when the snow was still frozen, and we made it!
Who needs a snowmobile when you have a Razor? ahha!

The View of the Wellsville's on top of Crow Mountain!
On top of the world!

I've taken probably a good 300 bridals of Julie, so here are a few more of my favorites!

Double L Ranch Barn!

My dad protecting us from the mean head butting Lamb...

White dress, mud and manure... not a good combination! haha!

The good ol' Farm House!

Weekend Project!

2009-02-23T09:46:00.003-07:00

We did the tile in our basement bathroom this weekend.
Not fun at all and very time consuming laying each 4x4 tile down- but it turned out great!

Happy 100th post!!

2009-02-17T11:59:00.004-07:00

I'll celebrate my 100th post, by posting some bridal pictures that I took of my to-pretty-for-her-own-good sister Julie. We took advantage of a pretty frosty freezing morning, to get some pics of the frost! It was SO cold!! We are both hoping to go out and get some more less-winterish bridals some day soon. So, I'm sure there will be more to come.

I can't believe that in a month she will be getting hitched!! When did she grow up?

Bad Hair Cut!

2009-02-16T11:31:00.005-07:00

In my 9 years of cutting hair I have never done this:

I totally spaced that I had taken the guard off my clippers. OOPS!!
It's a good thing that the victim was Justin. I would have died if I had done that to someone else!
We had quite the laugh! Even though Justin didn't think it was as funny as I did! ahah!!

Sorry Honey!! :)

2009-02-14T10:32:00.001-07:00

I took this pic at the Logan Cemetary. It's really not a bleeding heart.. its actually a Horse shoe heart with wind chimes on it, covered in frost. :)

Happy Vday everyone!

2009-02-10T12:01:00.003-07:00

My poor vacuum hasn't been used in almost 3 years. (Our upstairs has wood floors that I use our central vac on.... but for carpet.. I prefer the good old Hoover.)

I never thought that I would be excited to vacuum... until now...

Our basement finally has CARPET!! The end is in sight!

I will post pics of the finished furnished rooms as soon as they are put together!

YAY for CARPET! :)

Grocery shopping...

2009-02-06T11:11:00.003-07:00

You know you need to go grocery shopping when your fridge looks like this....

But yet, I still can't get myself to go. :)

2009-01-29T12:52:00.004-07:00

Last Wednesday night, Justin and I were able to spend a good amount of hours in the ER. I swear, sometimes it seems like I live there. I started having back pains around 6, and I knew exactly what it had to be. A lovely kidney stone! By 9 oclock I was rolling around in a ball on our bed. Justin had to drag me out kicking and screaming to the ER. But, I am glad he did. They drugged me up as soon as I got there. Funny thing, Justin said - when I was getting my IV put in. "That is the worst pain ever, getting an IV." Obviously, he hasn't seen much pain. Anyways, as of today, I still have my little stone baby which measures to be almost 1/4 inch! My biggest stone yet! Hopefully it will come out sooner then later. I spent the weekend in bed, trying to entertain my Texas friends that were up visiting! Sorry for the boring weekend Jordan!

The Benefit dinner was a success! But, I must admit, that I mis-advertised on here! (oops!) Thru the string of people that we received the info from, it ended up being not all the way correct! All proceeds went to Kylee and Jaxon. I guess the Roach Family wasn't involved in this, but they were their to show their support! They also didn't have an auction. They had raffle drawings instead. Each person paid for their plate, and then was able to buy raffle tickets for the drawings. It was amazing how many prizes were givin away. It took 2 hours to go thru all the prizes. Its amazing the support those 2 amazing kids have. I was only able to get 2 pictures the whole night. I went to the dinner with a major fever, and looked like death- so I didn't exactly want to walk around taking pictures. :)

This is Kylee. Out of everything she has went through she still has a big smile on her face. She has been everyone's strenght through all of this.

I was quite lucky to get this pic of Kylee in her wheelchair and her body cast. She was having to much fun zooming up and down the hall with her cousin. We sure love this little miracle girl!

Benefit Dinner and Auction

2009-01-20T09:23:00.009-07:00

Andersen/Roach Benefit Dinner and Auction
Mark your Calenders and spread the word!!
*This Friday. January 23rd, 2009.
Coppermill Restaurant
Logan, Utah
From 6-9
All proceeds go to Kylee & Jaxon Andersen and the Hannah Roach Family Fund.

As most of you know, my niece; Kylee (5) and nephew; Jaxon (2) lost their parents in a tragic car accident in December. This benefit dinner/auction was put together to help aide in future living expenses for these two amazing kids, along with helping the Roach family with the piled up expenses that they have from losing their only child, Hannah.

I'd like to thank in advance- The Coppermill Restuarunt along with Iron Gate Grill, and The Old Grist Mill for providing the great food. Also I would like to thank the many local business' that donated many great items for the auction.

Thanks everyone for your love and support! We hope to see you there!! :)

Got Paint??

2009-01-19T11:41:00.004-07:00

This was my first experience with a paint sprayer. After I primed the basement, I was covered in white over spray, but it wasn't to bad. Then came the white ceiling. I came upstairs when I was done.. looked in the mirror.. and FREAKED OUT!

The picture doesn't look as bad as it was in person. I thought for sure that I would have to walk around with a white face, and gray hair. Thankfully it came off. :)

Sheetrock..

2009-01-08T15:05:00.004-07:00

FYI. If you ever have sheetrock done by a company be careful.

Did you know that when a company comes, measures, and hangs the sheetrock... that if there are any left over sheets of Sheetrock, that it is just a bonus for them? (I know this because Justin used to work for a company hanging Sheetrock and that is how it worked.) Well- we had a company come and measure our basement for Sheetrock. They were going to hang it, but Justin decided last minute to hang it himself.

Well.. check out this leftover stack of Sheetrock, and this is only part of it.....

They would have scored. Its a good thing, we personally paid for the Sheetrock. Its over $300 worth of extra Sheetrock. Do they really think I wouldn't have said anything??? All they are probably thinking now is.. SUCKERS! Now we have to shimmy each sheet up the stairs, around some difficult corners to get it out of our basement, load it on our trailer- to return it. Lovely huh?

Update on Pumpkin..

2009-01-08T09:28:00.003-07:00

We have found a great home for Pumpkin!! She is now a part of the Daryl and Ashley Larsen family. She will be well taken care of there!! Thanks for everyone's help in finding Pumpkin a good home! We really appreciate it!

2009-01-04T18:33:00.007-07:00

Meet, Tami's little Pumpkin.

Due to the passing away of her human mom and dad, Tami and Curtis, Pumpkin is looking for a new forever home.

A little over a year ago, Justin was out on a call, and our customer who had Pumpkin, was saying that she needed to find a new home for her, since they were moving. Justin, being the dog lover he is- took Pumpkin home that day. We instantly fell in love with the little dog, but our Lab didn't want a thing to do with her. We knew Tami had been looking for a little dog to love, so we called her up, took Pumpkin over to meet her, and from that day on Pumpkin was at her side.

The day after the accident, we went and picked Pumpkin up from the empty house. It may sound dumb, but Justin and I cried for that little dog. Pumpkin knew, and I am sure she cried for her "mom" all night. I just feel so bad for the little dog. Dogs have a hard time adjusting to new things. They get depressed. They have feelings too.

Anyways, my mom has had Pumpkin since the accident. Her husband finally said Pumpkin has to go. He's not a pet lover, especially if they have to be inside. So, now I have to take the step, as hard as it may be- to find her a new home. It just sucks, the whole thing with Tami and Curtis, and now having to find a place for Pumpkin to go. She is one thing that we have left of them. I just want to make sure she goes to a good home, where she is loved to pieces.

Info on Pumpkin:
Purebred Silky Terrier
Female
8 years old
Weighs around 13 pounds or so
House trained
Gets along with most dogs- and cats
Loves to snuggle on your lap :)
Has TONS of love and companionship to give

A dog doesn't care if you are rich or poor. Give them your heart, and they will give you theirs.

If anyone knows of a good home that she could go to, please email (jamaleee@yahoo.com) or leave me a comment. Thanks everyone!

Snow fun!

2008-12-22T14:45:00.004-07:00

We spent a good hour or so the other day enjoying the snow. Jayson showed up in dress shoes, slacks and a light sweater. He must have forgotten how cold snow is. Justin gave it to him though, we pulled sleds around behind the Razor and Ranger. Jayson got dumped a couple times, and he decided it was time to give Justin a taste of his own medicine, and boy did he give Justin a ride for his money.

Gibson and Jaxon loved being pulled around. Double click on the picture below to see a better picture of Gibson's expression. He thought it was pretty fun. :)

Jayson also tested the limits of his trusty Passat. (sp?) He drove it all over in the fields and was spinning doughnuts, with his head stuck out of the sun roof. What a nut.

In loving Memory....

2008-12-16T11:52:00.006-07:00

Curtis DuVoy Andersen
April 26, 1980- December 5, 2008

Curtis,
I remember the day I met you. I remember all the fun times we had together with your brothers and sisters. I loved how all of your brothers and sisters where friends, and how you all shared the same circle of friends. I remember people mistaking you for my boyfriend- because you look so much like your brother. I will miss those out of the blue visits- where we would just sit and talk about nothing. I will never forget that smile on your face, that you had no matter the circumstance. I will never forget your laugh, and the unconditional love that you have for your children. I love how you started out being my friend, and turned into my family. I love you so much, and will miss you more than you know.

Tami Adella Andersen

July 29, 1980- December 5, 2008

Tami,
I remember the day I met you. You were working at a shoe store in the mall, and we started talking. We both found out that we were starting beauty school at New Horizons. We quickly became friends. For the 2000 hours that we had to put in for school, we sat next to each other day after day. Roller set after roller set, hair cut after hair cut we made fun memories that I will never forget. Shortly after starting beauty school I introduced you to the love of your life, Curtis. It was fun to be dating brothers, and I always knew that we would end up family. I will never forget your personality-you could make anyone laugh. I will never forget the day Kylee and Jaxon were born. You were such a proud mom, and everything you did was for the best interest of your kids. As with Curtis, I loved how you started out being my friend, and you ended up being family. I love you, and will miss you always.

Curtis and Tami--United in Marriage
May 3, 2002

"Curtis, I Love You" I heard her say
"Tami, will you marry me down there someday?"
"With all my heart I'll take your hand
and lead you through our earthly plan
And when our time is drawing near
We'll hold our loved ones, oh so near
Then on our journey we will go
to places we'll have yet to know.
We'll tell our loved ones left behind
Don't cry for us, it was our time.
God has a plan for us
and in him please lay your trust
Our heavenly journey will then begin
As we help bring souls back to him
Then when that joyous day arrives
we'll welcome home those who've cried"
"So will you join me in this plan?"
"Oh yes my dear, I'll take your hand"

Dedicated to Curtis and Tami,
With much love- Jennifer Staten (Curtis' sister)
------------------------------------------------

Funeral services were held Saturday December 13th. What a great tribute to Curtis and Tami it was. The viewing that was held on Friday was supposed to go from 6-8, but ended up going from 5ish- 10. Tons of people showed up to honor Curtis and Tami, and to support their family members. After the funeral we had a police escort from the College Ward church to the Logan City Cemetery. It was amazing. I had tears in my eyes all the way up to the cemetery. We didn't have to stop once, policemen were in every intersection stopping traffic. It was like time stood still to honor Curtis and Tami. It was just amazing. The cemetery was beautiful, but cold! A snow white blanket covered everything. Here are some pictures that I took of their beautiful caskets, and flowers, along with some family members.

---CURTIS AND TAMI- YOU WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN---

I have had a lot of people asking me what they can do for Curtis and Tami's kids. Donations can be made for Kylee and Jaxon at any USU Charter Credit Union (www.usuccu.org) Account No. 808082.

Justin and I also want to thank everyone for their love and support during this rough time. We have had a flood of love come by our home. From family, friends, neighbors and strangers. It's been amazing the love and support the we have felt. Thanks to everyone!

Life is precious....

2008-12-07T01:16:00.002-07:00

Justin and I received some very bad news late Friday night. I can't even believe that this has happened, it is so not fair. Its so unreal- it can't be true..... Justin's brother and wife were killed in an horrific car accident Friday night. Below is a news clip from KSL.

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

Time is precious. Don't take it for granted. Take many pictures, because once someone is gone- they will mean the world to you.

Tami and Curtis- We love you so very much, and we will miss you more then anything.

2008-12-03T10:38:00.004-07:00

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!! We had a great Thanksgiving eating yummy food and visiting with family. It was so nice to have a 4 day weekend. Its amazing how much more you can do with one more day off. I think every weekend needs to be a 4 day weekend. :)

We spent the weekend shopping and doing some stuff on our house. I was surprised when we went to the stores that there wasn't to many people shopping. It must have been the time of day or something. We hit the stores and bought a saw that Justin has been eyeing, a bedroom set for our new bedroom, and a bunch of decor for the basement. So, I'm just waiting and waiting for the basement to be completed so I can be out of this mess for good!

Now for the update on the remodeling mess! The framing and electrical is done! We have stayed up till the wee hours of the morning the last couple of nights helping our friend, the electrician, finish everything up. I'm so ancy to get the sheetrock done, finish work done, and painting and carpet. I'm hoping by Dec. 19th, we will be able to get the carpet laid.

Last night we ripped out all the old electrical, and now we have quite the mess! Its going to be nice to know that our house isn't going to start up in flames from the rigged up electrical. We replaced all of the old electrical work, all the way up to replacing the fuse box with a new breaker box. We put in can lights in every room, and stair lights going down the stairs. (if you ever build or remodel, stair lights/hall lights are so nice to have!)

This is what a lot of the floor looks like right now. We have our work cut out tonight!

Just some pics. Its hard to take pics with bare framing, cause you can't tell what it is! Do you like my laundry room? I refuse to go to the laundry mat so I am making everyone work around my washer and dryer! ahah!

Let the sheetrock begin!