We bought a house!!

Dear blogging friends, sorry for the neglect...we've been awful busy with buying a house, finishing the basement and remodeling the master bath! It's been such an adventure for us, but I think we're almost settled in. In the next little while I'll get a slide show up, but until then...

We were planning on postponing the finishing of the basement until later. when we bought the house it was already 1/2 finished. we had a plumber look at it, and discovered this unique way of doing the piping for the tub...he said if we would have used the tub it would have flooded our whole basement!! we got a new tub and had it installed without the use of duct tape (plus painted, tiled, etc) but now we have a 'Guest Suite' if any of you want to come visit us!

Our master bath, before-- the dark man-cave as we called it. the Shower doorway was only 16 inches wide.

the shower was kind of a rocket, completely enclosed by walls and made the whole bathroom feel the size of a closet (it's not that big anyway)

Step one: remove rocket shower

Step two: paint white

Step three: custom cultured marble complete with leg-shaving shelf

This is cute Maya; I couldn't resist posting this pic!

Winter Fun!

We've been enjoying the winter! The snow was less than optimal for traditional rolled snowmen, so JL improvised, had the kids lay right on the snow, cut them out, and lift their snow persons to display! He even got Lily's hair!

Santa brought sleds and the kids LOVED speeding down the tiny hill (made from a freeway overpass--it was safe, don't worry), hiking back to the top and doing it again, and again, and again!! Yes, they go by themselves and tow their own sled. Maya liked it too!

Keoni's Birthday

I have a 5 year old!! Because his birthday is so close to Christmas, he got two parties this year!!

Happy Birthday, Bud!

Merry Christmas!

A Merry Christmas to you all! We had a very merry Christmas, indeed and loved being closer to family this year!

Christmas Jammies this year were 'Zippies'

What every Christmas morning should look like...

Yes, Lily is nearly inside the box!

No spitting!!

When I was trying to take a kid pic, I caught this one and just love it--Sisters, Sisters, never had a better friend than sisters...

Maya's newest talent...spitting. Lily often reminds her that there is No Spitting!

"I love you!" Maya knows sign language!! Just kidding, this is how she soothes herself to sleep, sucking these fingers! this is also a classic shot of her 'wild hair'

Boo!

'Happy Halloween' to all!

This year we had 2 medieval maidens, a dragon, a florescent frankenstein and a gorilla--that scared all the little trick-or-treaters.

As always, we enjoyed 'Dinner in a Pumpkin' before trick -or- treating. We tried a variation this year that we enjoyed-- I saved the pieces we cut from our jack o lanterns (done Halloween afternoon) and peeled off the skin. Then I cubed it and popped in the microwave to jumpstart it. I made the usual rice and meat mixture, but tossed in the half cooked cubed pumpkin, and baked the casserole. The presentation wasn't as cute but more kid friendly. I even told Lily the orange chunks were cantelope--she didn't ask questions and devoured it. (I later told her it was pumpkin; and she likes it!)

Baby Playtime!

This intense baby playtime is brought to you by 'Bumbo', the amazing baby seat, and a 'floor gym' in an effort to not mess up her hair before church.

Maya's wild hair, the pigtail phaze