The Alligator Farm

Remember the day we went to the Alligator Farm?

I've never seen so many alligators in my life!

Remember when the alligator guy got in the alligator pit with like 73 alligators?

and they were BIG!

Good thing Alex found a nice one . . .

We saw a ton of cool things - and Noah knew all about the snakes and reptiles.

I thought this was the weirdest one of all . . .

and the albino one was pretty cool too . . .

It was a super fun day - I'll never forget it :)

Hey kids - remember this?

I've just been home a little over a week and I miss Noah, Alex, and Avery like crazy. Spending a week with them in Florida was like giving candy to a baby - now I just can't get enough of them.

See why? . . .

Hey kids - remember this?

When we fed the turtles . . .

This place was SO pretty. . . . I love Florida!

It was such a fun week with all of you. Noah and Alex check every day this next week and see if you remember all the fun stuff I do :) Love you lots!!!

The Big Reveal

So today I got the very last part of my kitchen makeover done. Hooray!!! Here's the big reveal for my daughters - it's a big difference from the kitchen you grew up in isn't it?

So happy with how it all turned out. Everything is fresh and clean - I'm loving it!

I love my grandkids . . .

We spent the weekend in Utah so we could visit our grandkids - this is Naomi . . .

She is so cute and funny and at 2 yrs old talks as much as her 3 yr old brother. We took this kids to the park and played and had a wonderful day.

John was scoring some Grandpa points . . .

Naomi is fearless and will try everything the older kids are doing.

"King of the Hill"

We went swimming at the hotel pool the next day. Doesn't she look cute in her swimsuit?

It's so much fun being grandparents - next month I am off to see Summer's kids. The Grandma/Grandpa tour has begun :)

This weekend -

I spent the weekend here -

and it was gorgeous. We went for a beautiful drive Friday afternoon around the Lake.

A wonderful quick get away up to Reno to see a girlfriend (and get away from the paint fumes and utter chaos in my house).

But we are making progress -

Here's a photo of my floorless kitchen by request :

I don't want to give anything away - how fun to have a big reveal sometime soon - in the meantime the living room looks like this -

the dining room table looks like this -

but my pantry looks like this -

clean, white, empty . . . I'm so excited. It almost seems a shame to junk it up by refilling it again so I am going to be careful about what comes back in and how its organized. It would be a dream come true (or a fantasy maybe) to have the perfectly organized pantry that looked orderly and even beautiful when you opened the doors. I'm working on it - even though my perfect version may be a little unrealistic. I'm going to give it my best shot.

Time to say goodbye -

It's time to say goodbye - I've had my knotty pine kitchen for almost 21 years.

It was time for a change. So goodbye pine . . .

My floor has gone from "distressed"

to "hopelessly damaged". Adios!!!

The only down side is living like this for a while -

Everything is out of the kitchen and all over the house -

Time to become a minimalist - I can't believe how much stuff came out of my kitchen cupboards. The best is yet to come :)

So imagine this . . .

So imagine this if you can - John is standing in our living room checking out the new grips on Landon's driver (like the one below) -

Apparently you check out a driver by swinging it around - which John did - to be followed shortly by the shattering of glass (into tiny little shards) all over the living room. John froze like a deer in the headlights. I started laughing. Landon ran out of the den to see what had happened and saw his Dad standing there with his driver and only 1/2 of a light fixture left above the couch - and he started laughing. You really had to be there - I think John figured I'd be livid - but the truth is I never really liked that fan light anyway - and now I HAVE to get a new one.

If we can make it through this next week without anyone getting shards of glass stuck in them by walking barefoot across the carpet or by sitting on our couch then all is well.

You are all forewarned. Sit on our couch at your own risk :)

Happy Memories/Wonderful Day

Love that we just got the photos back from Tanner & Josie's wedding day. Brought back happy memories of a wonderful day . . .

This may be my favorite picture (above) I love Josie's smile!

Happy 2 month Anniversary Tanner & Josie!

Christmas Morning

I will let the photos speak for themselves -