Maren's Birthday

We were planning on having Maren's birthday party at our new house. But since we had problems getting our carpet in, we had it at my parent's house.

It was a nice party and we are thankful for so many family members that came to support us.

Abundantly Stressed

These last couple of weeks have been very stressful.

Our bathroom countertops came in the wrong color and since their printer they use to create the countertops is broken, there is nothing that they can do about it. We have been fighting with them on what they can do for us. I have had to talk to 5 different people and finally the manager had to come out.

Next we got our carpet. Exciting huh. Well when they tried to make seams, they found out that the color was not consistant and the seams stuck out badly. So they had to stop. All three rolls of carpet were bad. I had really had it by this time that I had to sit down and cry.

Next our cabinet panels, which we had ordered for the third time, came in. I was so excited to have the cabinets finally done after working with these people for a month and a half. Well, when the panels came in, they were the wrong color again. So they have had to order them again for the 4th time. I just had to laugh by this point.

Next, we needed a deck before our final inspection. The bids that we got for decks were much higher than we wanted (after waiting 3 weeks for a bid). So we decided that Ryan would build our deck. After 3 days of slow progress and wanting to get in as soon as we can, we opted to have some other guys finish the deck.

Finally, I called Qwest so that they could put in my phone line and they told me that I needed to dig a trench so that they could put in the phone line. They told me that I needed to contact my contractor because they should know this. Well, since I am the contractor, and I didn't know this, I will have to figure out something.


This was on top of railing people, alarm, heating and air-conditioning people, and my ever trusted Rick that has been doing electicity, tile, painting, and plumbing.

By the way, DON'T EVER BUILD YOUR OWN HOUSE. I'm sure I'll feel differently later, but it is a lot of stress!!!!

Abundantly Blessed

This week I have been extremely blessed. Last weekend we were able to watch conference. Usually my kids won't let me really watch, but this time they did. In fact Maren watched most of it with me. What wonderful messages of hope and faith were given to help us in these trying times.

We were also blessed with an addition to our family. Kristy Wells, Ryan's step sister, had her baby, Wesley Glen Wells, on Sunday October 5th. He was 8 lbs and 8 oz and 21 inches long. He is a beautiful baby and a welcome new member of the family.


Our house made so much progress this week as well. We had the concrete poured including our front steps. YEAH!!! I have been jumping up to our porch for 7 months now and I'm so excited for real steps.



We also got in our bathroom sinks and window seals. They look great! We also got toilets in on Friday. Yeah again!! Tuesday they will come fix a few things in the bathrooms and then after that, my bathrooms will be all finished. No more port-a-potty!

They also finished the tile in the basement kitchen and finished up the built in hutch. Everything turned out so nice. We also got the hanging bar stools put installed. They turned out really well.



I did manage to have a little fun this week when I got to visit my friend Tammy who just moved back. It was fun taking our kids to the park and just talk. Tam, I'm so glad your so close.

Last but not least, I gave my first Relief Society lesson today since I got the calling. Everything went so well. It was poignant that so there were many talks during conference about trials and that was what my lesson was on. I am grateful for my opportunity to teach.

Halloween Routine

My mom before she left on her trip put up her Halloween decorations. Maren loves to look at them and give them love. This is a short video of her with the decorations. We do this routine 5-10 times a day. It never gets old...for Maren.

Priority and Postponed

This has been another exciting week for our house. I have been trying for a week now to find out who is supposed to run the gas line from the street to our house. I found out Monday after much back and forth that Questar has to do it. So they sent me a contract and a bill (of course) late Monday and I mailed it off on Tuesday. They told me that it would take 10 to 14 business days to get done. Well I must have been on somebody's priority list because Thursday morning they came to dig the hole for the pipe and today they are filling it in. Yeah!! I will have heaters before winter.

We also got priority treatment from our concrete guys. I have been getting estimates on concrete for the past week and on Tuesday I found out that they wanted to start on Thursday. So Ryan and I quickly decided what we wanted done and they started laying it out yesterday and will be pouring today and Monday. Wow. I never thought that I would ever be to this stage.

However when one door opens, another closes (or is that the other way around). Anyway, our bathroom sinks and window seals were supposed to be here this week, but they weren't quite ready, so we got postponed until Thursday next week.

Also we were supposed to get our basement kitchen countertop and laundry room folding table countertop yesterday. But their saw was having problems so it won't be here until next week either. Of course they failed to call me to tell me this, so I waited all day for them.

But I haven't blogged about the countertop that we did get on Monday for our main kitchen. I decided to go with Quartz since you can put hot pans on it and cut on it, but you don't have to seal it or do any maintenance. That is just the kind of girl I am, the one that needs low maintenance. It turned out so beautiful. I am ready to use my new kitchen.

Oh we've also had some more tile laid. Here are some pictures of the tile.

House Update

This week has been an exiting week for work on our new house. The best part is.....WE HAVE LIGHTS!!! I know it seems like a little thing, but it makes it feel like a home when you can flip a switch and the lights come on. I have been frequenting Lowes to buy more lights. I have had to resort to going to multiple Lowes because I keep clearing them out of my favorite light fixtures.


We also have some tile laid. We are putting tile in the kitchen, laundry room, kitchenette and all the bathrooms. The rest of the tile (including the grout) will be done this upcoming week. And yes it is all different shades of tan.

They also started a little over a week ago on our cabinets. Most of the base cabinets are in, but due to some errors in ordering and some broken cabinets in shipping, we have to wait until October 6th to get the rest of our cabinets installed. Sigh! But what can you do.


Our banister has also been stained and is starting to look beautiful. They are still going to sand it a little and put more varnish on it, but I am very happy.

Pokemon Party

We had our 5th and final celebration of Logan's birthday. He wanted a Pokemon birthday this year. Of course you can't just go to the party store and buy stuff for a Pokemon party (they don't have any) so I had to get creative.

Ryan says that the party was really for me since I spent so much time on it and was so excited for it. But that's ok, I let Logan share some of the glory. If this explanation gets to Pokemonish for you, you can just skip the explanation.

First each kid got a folder with baseball card protection sheets in them. Each kid got a different color folder (one color for each type of pokemon - there are 8 Pokemon types in total).

For the psychic type - We played "guess how many candies are in the candy jar". For electric type - we played hot potato with a Pikachu pillow. For water type - we played a game where they were supposed to use water guns to squirt bubbles. For dark type - I tied black "Gastly" balloons to their legs and they had to pop the other kids balloons before their balloon was popped. For Steel type - we played hit the bulls eye with team rocket on it (I know this doesn't have anything to do with Metal but Team Rocket try to steel Pokemon so it worked for me).

For fire type - we played pin the tail on Charmander. For grass type - we played find the hidden grass pokemon in the backyard. And finally for fighting type - we played "Makey" says which is just Simon says pokemon-style.

If you have survived that long explanation, I applaud you. For each game they got Pokemon cards. Then for a treat we ate Pokeball cupcakes.

It was a really fun party and now I'm not sure what I will do with myself since I spent most nights this week getting ready. I have to thank my husband for helping me with a lot of the preparations. Thanks Ryan!!