Catching Up!

Be prepared for a long post and a lot of pictures, enjoy!

I've been terrible at keeping up on my blog lately but we have been insanely busy. Chris and I are still remodeling our home. . .Which is taking longer than expected, but will be worth it. The basement will be ready in a couple weeks to rent out. I wasn't going to post any pictures until I had complete before and afters, but I just can't wait. Here are some before pictures of the bushes we got rid of.and after. . .The roots from the bushes ripped up the yard a bit, and we had to plant grass to fill in the gaps so it's not totally finished, but you get the idea. We also took out part of the fence on the south end of the house. That also torn up the grass a bit, but we really wanted to get rid of it. You can also see along the fence tall dead grass and weeds growing from our neighbors. . .next year we are going to put in a white vinyl fence in that blocks our yard from theirs so we don't have that problem:)My beautiful flower beds. . .

Here are some before and during the process pictures of the downstairs bathroom. . .



Chris + blow torch = a scared wife. Just kidding, but if you can't tell from the pictures Chris was having a great time playing with fire!

Here is the bathroom gutted. . .We still have some finish work to do and we're putting shelves on the north side of the shower for a linen closet, but here's the afters of the almost final project!!!



The downstairs kitchen is the farthest from being done but here is a before and after. It is a mess and there is sawdust everywhere but you get the main idea. We also still have to put a couple more coats of white on the walls. We bought cupboards and refurbished them. They now have an antiqued brown look, it will be so cute with the baseboards and counter top we are putting in! The sink will go in the corner with a dishwasher next to it and we still have to hang our top cupboards, and put in the fridge and stove.

Also this last month Chris got a phone call from a friend that works for T-Mobile who wanted to offer him an assistant manager position at the store on Riverdale Road. Of course we couldn't turn it down, it's less hours and more money! Thanks again Bobby!

The month of July started out with parades and fireworks for the 4Th. I went to the big parade in Riverdale with Alan, my father-in-law, Nicole, my sister-in-law, and her family. My brother-in-law Taylor was in the parade, and it was so fun to be with my little niece and nephew. Here are some fun pictures from the parade.
Marty and CameronAlan and KatelynMe and NicoleThe loot, Cameron half way through decided he was done and wanted to eat his candy;)TaylorChris had to work most of the day but after his shift was over we went to a BBQ with Chris's dad's family.
Cameron and KathyTaylor and BradenFunny pictures of us eating food, we look like dorks:)
Me and Chris, I have the cutest husband!A few weeks ago we celebrated Kathy and Heidi's birthdays. Heidi's birthday is just one day before Kathy's so we had a party for both of them with lots of cake and ice cream!
Last week was full of fun because my brother-in-law Casey and his fiance Heidi got married!!! It all started on Tuesday when Heidi took her endowments out at the Salt Lake Temple. It was a live session, which was a really neat experience because I had never been to one before. After the session we were all starving so we headed over to the Cheesecake factory. The next day was spent mostly at Alan and Kathy's putting flowers and decorations together, cutting hair, and eating lots of pizza. Thanks guys! We went to bed late of course, and my morning the day of the wedding started at 4:30. I had to get myself ready before going to do the bride's hair. It was so fun to do Heidi's hair and spend part of the morning with her. They got married in the Draper temple. The ceremony was beautiful and we are so proud of them. After that we headed to Braza Grill for the luncheon(Braza Grill is the same type of a restaurant as Rodizio Grill). They had their reception in a friends backyard and everything turn out very well. Here is a picture of each of them, i'll have to post more when I get copies from my brother-in-law.
Just this last weekend we went up to my partents on Saturday and went in to dinner with the family. We ate at Juniper Take-Out. They have an amazing turkey steak sandwhich combo meal, yum! And some more fun news, my baby brother got ordained an Elder!!!! Which means he is not a baby anymore but to me he will always be my baby brother. He turns 19 in October and is getting ready to send in his mission pictures. We are so excited for him and very proud of his accomplishments. I'm mad though because I didn't have my camera at his ordination.