The Nursery Project

We've been taking all the time that Austin has off from work and putting it to good use:o) Our latest project has been the baby's room. Austin and his dad put up beadboard and a chair rail/shelf along the wall and then we painted the rest. I'm so glad it all went well together with the cute bumblebee bedding I ordered. I'm so excited this room is finished (other than some decorating needed). It's a huge weight off my shoulders since the baby's arrival is getting closer. Tomorrow we are starting on Elena's room:0) We'll keep you posted!

Elena's Birthday and Photos

Okay, so this post is WAY overdue... Elena celebrated her 4th birthday (can you believe it?!?! I can't) on Jan. 5th. We had a fun birthday party for her that Friday with family and then some of her friends came over for a party on Saturday. She was definately spoiled with gifts and LOTS of attention, which she can never seem to get enough of:o)

We also had our good friend, Jill, take some pictures of her for her 4th birthday. It's been a while since we had Elena's pics taken so we were grateful Jill took them on such short notice, especially since the weather was bad. She made a great little studio in her house to do this for us:) These are just a few of my faves:o)

Long awaited pics

We've been promising pictures of the house for a month now

so here they are. There is a lot we still want to do but we are

definately enjoying what we have:0) We didn't post pics of the nursery

because it is currently a project in progression.

Happy, Happy Holidays

ONCE THERE WAS A SNOWMAN
One of the first sundays in Dec. we were driving around looking at all the christmas lights when we noticed all the snowmen in people's front yards. Elena kept saying "Oooh look at that one!" every time we would pass a snowman. Even though it was pretty late and freezing outside, we decided to take her home and build one in our front yard. We were pretty scarce on items for a face, so we used holiday m&m's and gave him a green and red face. The m&m's didn't last long of course and ended up making the snowmans face look bloody and gruesome but Elena was completely content with her cool new friend:0)






























PARTY AND TEMPLE SQUARE
The next few weekends, we had family Christmas parties. Everyone came to SLC to see the new house, have dinner, and see the lights at Temple Square. It was fun to get together and take the kids out to see the lights, even though it was pretty cold!














































































CHRISTMAS MORNING
This was Elena's face when she woke up and saw what Santa had brought her.














And this is what she saw.














This was the first thing she ran to since she had been asking for it for months. It's the toy dog Bolt from the disney movie. She's a huge fan! She also asked santa for a computer and a sleeping bag, all of which she got, plus a few more cool toys like an art easle, rocking horse, camera, and clothes!





























A CARPENTER FOR CHRISTMAS
Austin had wanted a new saw from santa, so thats what he got. However, he did know that by asking for such a gift, he would be entitled to a super long honey-do list of projects from me to keep him busy when he had time off. He was pretty willing, especially since he and his dad got started right away on a BEAUTIFUL mantel for the fireplace. We priced them online, ranging from $600-$1000 for one. Austin was able to make our for under $100! Thank You Santa!!!