(Almost) Moving In

Christmas 2016: 3 bathrooms are done, and the family room has a couch, rug, and TV. We're finally (almost) done and ready to officially move in. The boys are in their new rooms, and the main things we have left are the kitchen counters, fireplace mantle, and master bathroom.

Temple Lights

The Lights at Temple Square are always worth coming to see. It's amazing how much time and effort it must take to create. We were there with the Cub Scout pack, which at the moment our boys are half of, so we didn't get to see everything, but there is a new Christmas video that we saw in one of the visitor's centers that was really good. We also took a tour of the Lion House that was  pretty interesting.

It's pretty cool that we live so close to this.

Halloween

 Halloween was very serious business this year. Noelle was so excited to trick or treat and could not believe that people were giving her candy at each door. Between the ward party, the school party, and actual trick or treating, I think we have enough candy to last until next summer.

 

Owl City

We get to see some pretty cool wildlife in our little forest in the city. This owl has taken up residency in one of the trees in front of our house. There also is a hawk in another tree and she's really vocal when the owl gets too close.

A Cash Design

 Every year the boy's school has a t-shirt design contest for their school shirts.

That's Cash showing off his summer Minecraft skills by creating this Phoenix and winning the contest.

Yeah, my third grader just out-designed your sixth grader.

Now every Friday he gets to see his design on everyone's t-shirts and sweatshirts all year.

The Crazy

 "Show me your new jammies!" And this is what you get. Noelle has added a whole new element of crazy to the house. She is a very energetic, fun, and entertaining little girl. Plus she makes sure those boys know who's the boss.

Would You Like Some Buffalo Wings with That?

Oil going down. Maybe it'll lighten?

Things don't always go so smoothly. For several months we'd planned to use oil on the floors. Apparently it's a very European thing to do, and after a lot of research we were sold.

In our last house I still remember the gut-punch I felt after sliding the refrigerator in place and seeing a three foot long

Why's it so red?!?

scratch in the new polyurethane finish. One of the major advantages of using an oil finish is that the oil seeps into the wood so scratches and wear will hardly show.

With our crazy ones, that was a big advantage. We ordered some samples from Europe and used our scraps of floor to choose our color. The problem was that it didn't go down nearly the same color as our samples.

Let's sand this off!

It was sooo red. It made the family room feel like a TGI Fridays bar.

Break out the drum sander. This floor was way too much work for us to not love it. We're going back to the old reliable stain options.

Summer is Over.

First day of school! The kids were ready. The parents were ready. We'll see if their 3rd and 6th grade teachers are ready.

Floor is Down

Very early in looking into design options for this house we were drawn to putting in chevron floors. That pretty much led to all the other considerations. I was a little apprehensive since it's obvious that if you get out of whack at all, it can mess up the whole floor.

So for this floor we decided to do it differently. We went with a character grade solid walnut. We set up a "stop" outside to cut each piece to the same size and we pre-install sanded each edge of each piece with a belt sander. We used a combination of floor urethane glue and standard flooring staples to put it down, and the pattern was very tedious. I'll admit that a few rows went in and had to come back out so we could make minor tweaks.

We're really excited about it, and neighbors who have heard about it have already had to stop by to see it. It was a lot of work, but it's super unique and turned out just how we were hoping. We were sure we were going to be short on wood, but finished the install with literally a just few square feet left.

Don't Smile Cash

Pioneer day tradition here. Lawn chairs, mini doughnuts, and parade.

Cash is going through this thing where he thinks he looks better in pictures if he doesn't smile.

Aquarium Visit

Marta has been wanting to take the kids to the new Aquarium ever since it opened. We finally did it as part of the twins 9th birthdays, and honestly it was way cooler than I thought it'd be. Lots to see and do, and the shark tube that you walk through was incredible. Watching a snake eat his lunch was one of those things you don't want to see but can't stop watching.

Master Bathroom Floor

Finished floor

Heat pads in place

It was pretty fun putting in our bathroom floors. Tile is a lot of work, but are pretty rewarding as you can turn around and see the progress. We fell in love with these cement tiles, and have ended up using them in a few different patterns throughout the house. We also found out how nice it is to wake up to a warm bathroom floor so we also installed under-floor warming systems into each of the bathrooms. We're almost two years into this remodel and it will be very nice to have a second bathroom for the family.

Pattern taking shape

East Canyon Lake

About 45 minutes from home into Immigration Canyon you come to East Canyon Lake, which is a really nice place for some boating. We've had a lot of fun on a couple of summer trips up there this year.

Just don't ask Jeff about his wake-boarding skills.

Zion National Park High Adventure

view from the top of Angel's Landing

that peak is Angel's Landing - 1488 feet up

Last weekend was our High Adventure Scout trip at Zion National Park. It was pretty awesome. The Angel's Landing hike was one of the clear highlights. It's a steep 5 mile hike, but it's the last half mile climbing with the aid of a chain and a drop off of 1400 feet on either side of you that makes it famous. A few things stood out to me: 1. I can't believe they let you do it at all 2. I was shocked at the number of people on the trail. There's just one trail, so navigating people coming from the opposite direction was the biggest challenge 3. Although there are some people who have fallen, I'm surprised it's so few. The view from the top is incredible, and what makes it such an attraction.

We also did some repelling, an ATV tour, and a water hike through the Narrows. We're pretty lucky to have this in our backyard.

slot canyon 150 foot repel

the whole crew

not my photo - no way was I reaching into my bag to pull out the camera at
this point of the hike, but you can see how crazy Angel's Landing is

not a terrible place for lunch

Spring Break in Denver

We had a blast hanging out in Denver for a few days of Spring Break. We went on a factory tour of Hammond's - the largest handmade candy makers in the US. They were making twist lollipops and caramel at the time, and watching them pull the hot sugar to twist and stick the pops was pretty cool.

We also hit up the Denver Museum of History & Science, and I'm pretty sure we could have spent a couple of days there. Highlights for us included some really cool space exhibits, lots of dinosaurs, and some Egyptian mummies.

The places were cool, but the company was better. The best part of the trip for sure was just laying low and watching the cousins have fun together.

Ready for Trim!

Master bedroom is all windows

The upstairs is ready for paint, so next, while I trim out windows upstairs, Marta will continue mudding and taping the main level. Then we'll sand the main floor, and then prime and paint!

Upstairs hallway

Tricky angles galore in the office